The telcos don't need immunity. All they have to do is to bring a claim against the government for reimbursement of all damages they incurred as a result of illegal acts they performed at the government's behest.
It's the Bush Administration which needs immunity for the telcos, so that they can keep their lawbreaking secret. They don't really care about those little "technical amendments" of the bill, either. It's all about their fetish for secrecy.

Posted at April 22, 2008 2:58 PM in response to Talks Start Again on Surveillance Bill

Barack's comments about Pennsylvanians weren't "elitist," whatever that means. Rather, they suffered from being too generalized, simplistic, and just not having the ring of truth. Referring to the loss of jobs in Pennsylvania over the past 25 years and government's failure to do anything to help, he said people "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
Well, are they anti-immigrant because unemployed or unemployed people who happen to dislike immigrants? Are they rascist because they are out of work, or are they unemployed people who happen to be rascist?
What the hell could Obama -- or anyone -- accomplish by lifting the lid on such a Pandora's box? The comments were a momentary lapse into glibness and pop sociology, and they were unconvincing.
I am for Obama. He's smarter than Clinton, who has proven that she wouldn't hesitate to jump naked into a mud-wrestling pit to be President. That's what her campaign has become, and it doesn't bother her that her tag-team mate is
John McCain.

Posted at April 17, 2008 4:12 PM in response to The Ur-Story Behind Obama's 'Cling Gaffe'

"ABC reports that the CIA was still nervous and returned again and again for approval from the Principals Committee for the OK for certain "enhanced interrogation" techniques..."
Here we see a bureaucracy seeking to insulate itself from blame for acts it knows to be illegal.
And the Administration, addicted to torture, purported to authorize the crime and absolve the perpetrators at the same time.

Posted at April 11, 2008 11:03 AM in response to Today's Must Read

Lieberman is so busy,whispering in McCain's ear one moment, decrying Islamofascism the next, but always the cheerleader for war.

Posted at April 8, 2008 12:43 PM in response to Lieberman: Hooray!

Registration at polls would probably cause additional delays. In the 2004 Presidential election, long lines in Iowa (with delays of many, many hours) resulted in large numbers of voters giving up and going home. It looks like institutionalized voter suppression will be an issue in the next election. We're going to need Democratic bull-dog lawyers and poll watchers to growl, cajole, and fight poll officials who feel it's their job to disqualify minority participation. Just as heavyweights descended upon Florida to help Republicans prevail in 2000, Democrats will need litigators and heavies of their own.

Posted at April 5, 2008 1:32 PM in response to Appeals Court Reverses Ruling on Florida Vote Suppression Measure

Siegelman's case has been a shocking example of political corruption -- of the Bush administration, and of the Alabama court that supervised his conviction.
I don't think he'll see the inside of a jail again.

Posted at March 27, 2008 5:07 PM in response to Siegelman Released from Prison

Solzhenitsyn wrote about a prosecutor in the USSR whose motto was "Give me a man and I'll make a case."
These are the kind of prosecutors we have at DoJ today. Their procedure is: first, select the target of the investigation, then find the evidence. If the case is thrown out, as occurred with Siegelman, try again with a friendlier judge. The same approach has brought down Gov. Spitzer, and the DoJ hasn't even charged him yet; it wrote highly prejudicial and scandalous material about him in a complaint against other invididuals, then disclosed the identity of "Client 9". Who knew that being a prosecutor for a Republican administration could be such fun!

Posted at March 27, 2008 1:03 PM in response to House Panel to Seek Hearing with Jailed Alabama Ex-Gov

The Feds will spare no expense to take out a Democratic politician: two wiretaps were authorized, and at least one stakeout near Spitzer's hotel room. The stakeout was wholly unnecessary to prosecute under the theory that Mr Spitzer attempted to structure cash transfers so as to avoid triggering cash reporting rules. Did the FBI bug the hotel room, too? Is this how we want law enforcement money spent? Unfortunately, the DOJ has no resources available to charge ex-White House employees who ignore a Congressional subpoena regarding the politicization of prosecutions.

Posted at March 12, 2008 3:41 PM in response to Today's Must Read

This is too clever by half. We are toying with sophistical notions, but the catalogue of crimes of the Administration is long:
Displaying contempt for new laws it dislikes through the use of signing statements.
Approving and carrying out torture which resulted in the deaths of prisoners.
Invading a country which posed no threat to the U.S., then issuing one pretext after another for staying.
Conducting extremely broad illegal surveillance of American communications.
Destroying the independence of Department of Justice prosecutors; requiring the DOJ to improperly prosecute Democrats because they are Democrats and to level baseless charges of voter fraud.
The list goes on and on.
Now tell me, should we waste more time on academic pursuits, or are we going to insist that Mr. Bush be brought to justice?

Posted at March 5, 2008 12:12 AM in response to Mukasey's Paradox

Re: "I believe we ought to say thank you."
Yes, for the gang-rape of the Constitution, we should all thank the perpetrators.
What an abomination this President has been. Yet he couldn't have done his work alone. He needed, and got, all help he needed from Congress.
We can only hope, since our government -- his accomplices -- failed to remove and prosecute this gentleman from office, that after his retirement he will be detained abroad and prosecuted for his many war crimes. That would show proper gratitude, albeit from citizens of another country.

Posted at March 4, 2008 2:04 PM in response to Today's Must Read