I Read The News Today, Oh Boy: November 20, 2008

Life: Sightseers hanging out of the windows in the crown of the Statue of Liberty w. the NJ shore in the bkgd., 1951, Photographer Margaret Bourke-White

If I were President, I'd reopen the head of the Statue of Liberty to tourists as a symbol of change and a salute to freedom.

David Brauer at the Minnesota Post says Al Franken netted 43 votes yesterday, the first day of the Minnesota Senate race recount. [If you want to play Recount along at home, Minnesota Public Radio has pictures of 11 challenged ballots; you can vote who you think should have gotten the vote (if anyone) and see how others voted on the same ballot. It's interesting.]

In the other outstanding Senate seat, the odious Saxby Chambliss maintains his lead over Democrat Jim Martin. Time for Obama to weigh in; he should be using his email list to fundraise, and voters in Georgia should be told to go to the polls for Martin because "Obama Sent Me".

In one of the last three Congressional races yet to be decided, Republican Steve Stivers lead of 149 votes over Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy could be erased, as a federal judge rules that 27,000 provisional ballots must be counted. (As you can imagine, Democrat Kilroy brought suit, and Republican Stivers was arguing against counting the votes.)

The indefatigable Henry Waxman (CA), has succeeded in his bid to take the chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee from 82-year-old John Dingell of Michigan, who has been in Congress longer than I have been alive (since 1955). Waxman is a bulldog who will put the environment ahead of the auto industry, reversing the committee's priorities under Dingell. Who should replace Waxman on the Oversight Committee? Emptywheel recommends Elijah Cummings (MD) or Dennis Kucinich (OH).

John Kerry will become Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (the committee he testified to against the Vietnam War in 1971) when Joe Biden resigns from the Senate. Kerry has an ambitious agenda according to the Boston Globe.

Arizona governor Janet Napolitano will be named Secretary of Homeland Security. John McCain must be happy to hear this news, as polls show she would beat him if both run for his Arizona Senate seat in 2010.

The economy sucks roundup: Unemployment claims hit 16-year high; stock markets fell to new lows; home starts the lowest since records started being kept over 50 years ago; Congress is delaying the vote on the auto industry bailout. The Bush Economy continues to implode.

Economic glimmer of hope news: The price of a barrel of oil drops below $50 for the first time since 2005; Congress will extend unemployment benefits, and even dumbfuck Bush will sign the bill.

A federal judge has ordered the release of five Algerian men who have been held unlawfully in Guantanamo Bay for seven (7) years. Bush's illegal torture chamber is the greatest shame of his eight shameful years in office.

Barely political and a huge time-waster: Super Obama World, where a Super Mario-like Obama collects American flag points and has to watch out for lipsticked pigs.

I Read The News Today, Oh Boy: November 19, 2008

Life: Yr. End Issue-Sculpture Garden
"Monumental Head," bronze sculpture by Alberto Giacometti photographed in garden of Hirshhorn estate in Greenwich, Ct., 1973, Photographer Gjon Mili

The morning news shows are leading with today's message from Al Qaida threatening and insulting President-Elect Barack Obama. I am greatly amused to see the corporate media identify "house negro" as a racial insult, as Rush Limbaugh has been calling Obama "Barack the Magic Negro" for over a year and they have ignored his blatant racism.

Obama will appoint Eric Holder as his Attorney General, the first black AG in history. Pros: Holder has come out strongly in favor of the Geneva Conventions and against torture and Guantanamo. Cons: His corporate work, with Scooter Libby to get Marc Rich a pardon, and getting Chiquita Brands a slap on the wrist for hiring death squads to kill union organizers in Columbia. As I always say of defense lawyers, he's the best lawyer money can buy, so hopefully he will bring his prodigious skills over to the light for Obama. Here's a dailykos diary on the value of corporate lawyers.

Much gnashing of teeth from the corporate media about Hillary Clinton as SOS. Must be a good appointment then, if David Broder and David Ignatious and Thomas Friedman and Maureen Dowd are all wailing "Not Hillary!" They might get their way anyway, as Hillary is said to be unsure whether or not to accept the appointment.

Headline of the day: Texas grand Jury indicts Cheney, Gonzales

Rich, heartless bastard Mittwit Romney says: Let the auto companies go bankrupt. Yeah, let hundreds of thousands of workers eat cake. The progressive policy must be precisely the opposite. Here's a more responsible solution: The Right Way to Bail Out the Auto Industry

The Minnesota Senate recount starts today, with Norm Coleman holding a 215 vote, .008% lead. As Franken's spokesperson said, the score is 0-0 with 2.9 million votes to be counted. And as an aside, Traitor Joe Lieberman wrote an editorial for a Minnesota paper defending his pal Norm Coleman. The Senate Democrats should be ashamed of letting Judas Joe keep his committee chairmanship.

Looks like Missouri is no longer the nation's election bellwether, as McCain will take the Missouri electoral votes with a 4355 vote margin.

Wuzz Happenin?

Today's cave, from wikipedia:
Photo by Dave Bunnell showing stalagmites, stalactites, and draperies by a pool in Lechuguilla Cave, New Mexico
Today is the day the Senate sells out the Constitution. It's just the fucking constitution, after all, no biggie, just the founding source of law and order for this once-great country. Congress now has a pre-1776 mentality. King George the Tyrant can now outsource violations of the law. Smirky McConstitutionFucker can order a private entity to violate the Constitutional prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures and Congress will say hey, no problem, whatever, it's OK by us, we had our spines removed a decade ago, just do it. And the private entity can invoke the Nuremberg defense: They were just following orders. Javold, Herr Bush.

Here's what Congress is going to pass:

H.R. 6304, THE FISA AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2008 (6/19/2008)

The ACLU recommends a no vote on H.R. 6304, which grants sweeping wiretapping authority to the government with little court oversight and ensures the dismissal of all pending cases against the telecommunication companies. Most importantly:

• H.R. 6304 permits the government to conduct mass, untargeted surveillance of all communications coming into and out of the United States, without any individualized review, and without any finding of wrongdoing.

• H.R. 6304 permits only minimal court oversight. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court) only reviews general procedures for targeting and minimizing the use of information that is collected. The court may not know who, what or where will actually be tapped.

• H.R. 6304 contains a general ban on reverse targeting. However, it lacks stronger language that was contained in prior House bills that included clear statutory directives about when the government should return to the FISA court and obtain an individualized order if it wants to continue listening to a US person’s communications.

• H.R.6304 contains an "exigent" circumstance loophole that thwarts the prior judicial review requirement. The bill permits the government to start a spying program and wait to go to court for up to 7 days every time "intelligence important to the national security of the US may be lost or not timely acquired." By definition, court applications take time and will delay the collection of information. It is highly unlikely there is a situation where this exception doesn’t swallow the rule.

• H.R. 6304 further trivializes court review by explicitly permitting the government to continue surveillance programs even if the application is denied by the court. The government has the authority to wiretap through the entire appeals process, and then keep and use whatever it gathered in the meantime.

• H.R. 6304 ensures the dismissal of all cases pending against the telecommunication companies that facilitated the warrantless wiretapping programs over the last 7 years. The test in the bill is not whether the government certifications were actually legal – only whether they were issued. Because it is public knowledge that they were, all the cases seeking to find out what these companies and the government did with our communications will be killed.

• Members of Congress not on Judiciary or Intelligence Committees are NOT guaranteed access to reports from the Attorney General, Director of National Intelligence, and Inspector General.

Of course, FISA is just the tip of the government's abrogation of the Fourth Amendment; every branch, every agency, every law enforcement entity, they're all spying on us.

Tiny ray of light: Judge in Guantanamo case tells the government, no, you're not getting any more postponements, you've had these poor men in jail for six years. If you've had enough evidence to keep them in jail for six years, you're ready for trial right now. Go.

Hire these losers: Mark Penn starts a consulting company with Karen Hughes. Really.

I'm going to the studio to make pears. Reality is too depressing today.

In The News

Library of Congress/Flickr: Palmer, Alfred T.,, photographer.
Electric phosphate smelting furnace used to make elemental phosphorus in a TVA chemical plant in the vicinity of Muscle Shoals, Alabama
1942 June

This was done in your name: The United States illegally used white phosphorus and chemical weapons in Fallujah in 2004; now babies are being born with birth defects.

Many of the supposed "terrorists" tortured by the Bush Administration at Guantanamo were actually innocent. Again, this was done in your name. Chilling.

The Taliban -- remember them? -- attacked a prison in Kandahar, Afgahanistan from within and without, and 1100 prisoners escaped. The resurgence of the Taliban is another complete failure for the Bush Administration.

John McCain has a former Texas gubernatorial candidate organizing a $300,000 fundraiser -- a guy who joked rape is like the weather, when it is inevitable you should just lie back and enjoy it, in 1990. At first, McCain announced the fundraiser was cancelled. But there was money for the taking, so they're rescheduling it, with all the same donors -- except now the rape joker is not invited. Just his money and his moneyed friends. Any Hillary Clinton supporter who votes for McCain is a fool.

John McCain doesn't use a computer. Who doesn't use a computer anymore? My 80-year-old friend is on her third. McCain: Too old, too out of touch with modern life.

The odious Rudy Giuliani is back. He's trying to retire his campaign debt -- by selling his appearances at fundraisers to other Republicans. Hey Rudy -- there's no "I" in "Team". But it was always about Rudy.

Read this article on the Bush/Rove response to Katrina. You want to cry, but you have to laugh -- bitterly -- at this:

[Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco] gave Bush a two-page letter detailing everything the state needed to cope with the disaster -- troops, buses, supplies, money, and more. It would not be until several days later, when Blanco's aides released the letter to the press and got frantic phone calls from Rove's aide Maggie Grant, that it became clear that Bush had taken the letter Blanco had personally handed to him -- and lost it.

President Dumber-Than-A-Box-of-Hammers Lost. The. Letter. Heckuva job, Bushie.

Go Read

Good news story of the day: the Supreme Court ruled that The Great Writ, the writ of habeas corpus, applies to the Guantanamo Bay prisoners: The Rule of Law Prevailed The prisoners are entitled to challenge their detention in federal court; the Bushies have failed in their attempt to create an extrajudicial SuperMax prison for the world. But it was only a 5-4 decision; our democracy rests on the weary shoulders of 88-year-old Justice John Paul Stephens. Elect Obama, save the Court.

To understand why this is so offensive, you must know that in contemporary jargon, "baby mama" means unwed mother: Fox News calls Michelle Obama "Obama's baby mama"

36-year-old right-wing nutjob Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal keeps getting invited to McCain's house for ribs as a VP candidate. Perhaps he's banished a few spirits while he's there? After all, he's an exorcist! Is Bobby Jindal -- Who May Be On McCain's Veep Shortlist -- An Exorcist?

We all know the corporate media is bought and paid for. And then we see the concrete evidence. David Broder, the supposed "dean of the Washington press corps" is selling his own corpse to speak at coporate events. If they're lucky, he then features their issue in a column. Presstitute. David Broder’s Moonlighting: Post columnist benefits from corporate speaking deals

Go Directly to the Dock at the Hague

ABC reports that war criminals Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, George Tenet and John Ashcroft discussed and approved of specific methods of torturing prisoners during meetings in the White House situation room. And though the reporters do not mention him, I have no doubt that the Master of Disaster himself, the psychopath-in-chief George W. Clusterfuck was right in there with them, gleefully discussing violating the most fundamental of human rights, the right not to be tortured.

Under the rules of their own religions, they will certainly go to hell. Before, that, I hope most sincerely that they are taken to the Hague in shackles and paraded in front of the world as the monstrosities that they are. I think the fact that each of these church-going hypocrites approved of torture proves that there is no God, for if there was a God, surely she would have struck each of them down by now.

ABCNews: Top Bush Advisors Approved 'Enhanced Interrogation'
Detailed Discussions Were Held About Techniques to Use on al Qaeda Suspects

ABC cited a top official as saying that Ashcroft asked aloud after one meeting: "Why are we talking about this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly."

Reuters: Top Bush aides approved interrogation tactics: report

"Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects -- whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding," ABC reported.

In addition to Rice, the principals at the time included Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft, the report said.

Close Guantanamo

The Guantanamo Blog
Sez the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — The chief of the U.S. military said Sunday he favors closing the prison here as soon as possible because he believes negative publicity worldwide about treatment of terrorist suspects has been "pretty damaging" to the image of the United States.

"I'd like to see it shut down," Adm. Mike Mullen said in an interview with three reporters who toured the detention center with him on his first visit since becoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last October.

Wear Orange on Friday

ACLU: Close Guantanamo

JANUARY 11, 2008, is the six-year anniversary of the first arrival of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.

On January 11, we are calling on everyone opposed to torture and indefinite detention to WEAR ORANGE to symbolize their sadness and disgust with the national shame that is Guantánamo Bay.

Sign the Pledge

Talking Points

Before Guantanamo There Was Romney's Dog Carrier

Ann and Mitt Romney with a station wagon they called the ''white whale.'' (Romney Family Photo)

That's the car they strapped the dog's carrier onto.
And I thought I hated the Mittwit before. The Boston Globe has run a multi-part series profiling our carefully coifed, multiple choice Mittwit. Part Four of the series started out with what he and his family seemed to think was a cute story that showed how clever he is; what the story really shows is a cold-hearted cruel man.

He strapped their dog to the roof of the car for a 12-hour trip.

Repeat, he strapped their dog to the roof of the car for a 12-hour trip.

The dog, understandably, freaked out and crapped all over the car.

Romney's reaction? He pulled into a garage and hosed the dog and car down. Although the story doesn't say this, presumably he continued on the trip with the dog still strapped to the roof; only now the dog is cold and wet.

What a sicko. I don't even like dogs and I can't imagine doing something like that to a family pet. Another reason why the Mittwit is not fit to be President. Hell, he's not fit to be dogcatcher.

Here's the Globe story:

Before beginning the drive, Mitt Romney put Seamus, the family's hulking Irish setter, in a dog carrier and attached it to the station wagon's roof rack. He'd built a windshield for the carrier, to make the ride more comfortable for the dog.

Then Romney put his boys on notice: He would be making predetermined stops for gas, and that was it.

As the oldest son, Tagg Romney commandeered the way-back of the wagon, keeping his eyes fixed out the rear window, where he glimpsed the first sign of trouble. ''Dad!'' he yelled. ''Gross!'' A brown liquid was dripping down the back window, payback from an Irish setter who'd been riding on the roof in the wind for hours.
As the rest of the boys joined in the howls of disgust, Romney coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station. There, he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway. It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management.

Blue Mass. Group: Mitt Romney, dog torturer

TIME.com: Romney's Cruel Canine Vacation

Itchmo: Why Mitt Romney Is Not Fit To Take Care Of Your Dog, Let Alone Run For The Presidency

The Hill's Pundits Blog: Mitt Romney’s Cruelty to His Dog (Bill Press)

Good Reads

SI Neg. 77-10004. Date: 1977...Mammoth, Ice Age Hall, National Museum of Natural History ..Credit: Chip Clark (Smithsonian Institution)
flickr
I'm on the road today, so here's a sampling of online reads:

Boston Globe: Doctor blogs about his own malpractice trial; opposing lawyer finds out, case settles. Arrogant dummy.

New York Times: Greywater Guerrillas in California reusing household water with Rube Goldberg contraptions. My favorite part of the article is on page two: "Two years later, as the Guerrilla Greywater Girls (at the time, Cleo Woelfle-Erskine was a woman) they published a “Guide to Water,” a crude sheaf of photocopies...." So California.

The guy Rachel Paulose replaced as USAttorney for the District of Minnesota, Tom Heffelfinger? The LATimes reports that he was ousted because he was too vigilant in protecting the right of Native Americans to vote.

Digby on the latest suicide at Guantanamo: It's a terrorist attack! Asymetrical PR!

From McClatchy, Joe Lieberman gets a message from the troops he visited in Iraq: "We don't feel like we're making any progress." Joe Lieberman responded "La la la, I can't hear you." Well, not really, but he may as well: "I think it's important we don't lose our will," he said. "To pull out would be a disaster."

From the Consumerist, a comparison of fast food salads v. fast food burgers. Go ahead, have the burger, it's healthier.

Of Course He Plead Guilty

Just read the post on Huffington Post and ask yourself, what if this were my countryman? How would I feel about the United States of America holding itself out as a moral paragon? These are the depths to which the Crawford Caligula has led this nation. He may as well have opened a brothel in the White House for the shame and revulsion he will be held by history.

Today Australian David Hicks plead guilty to breaking a law which did not exist until September of 2006; he has been in Guantanamo for five years. The original charges were all dropped. Before the hearing, two of his three lawyers were dismissed by the court; the third was threatened, and his request for additional counsel was denied. Justice, unAmerican style. Unfortunately, this happened under the American extra-legal system established at Guantanamo. It is truly shameful. Some day it will be in the history books along with the unconstitutional internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.

HuffPo: Justice Guantánamo Style

David Hicks, the Australian man that has been held in Guantánamo for five years, (the last year or so in solitary confinement) agreed to plead guilty yesterday. There are a few things you should know about his plea. First, and most importantly, Hicks is pleading guilty to a crime that did not exist on the books until September of 2006.

All of the original charges (the serious ones) were dropped against Hicks because the military had no evidence against him. Mr. Hicks was confined at Guantánamo until a new law could be passed that he could then be charged with. Never mind the fact that our constitution prohibits ex post facto (retroactive) laws, I mean that is why we are holding him at Guantánamo right?

The other thing you should know is what was clear to anyone paying attention: there was never going to be a hearing. The most recent evidence of that was when Hicks stepped into his arraignment yesterday and the first thing that happened was that two of his three attorneys were removed from representing him. Hicks' civilian attorney was removed because he refused to sign a statement agreeing to abide by military rules that had not yet been drafted and another attorney was removed because she supposedly did not have the correct credentials for the commission. That left Hicks with only one attorney, his military attorney, Dan Mori. Although Mori has been doing an exemplary job for Hicks, there was a little cloud hanging over Mori: the prosecuting attorney has suggested that Mori should be brought up on charges of misconduct for his zealous defense of Hicks. Mori was still trying to figure out how that threat by the prosecuting attorney would affect his representation of Hicks. Mori sought a short continuance to get legal counsel on this issue but that request was denied.

So yesterday, after two of his three attorneys were removed from representing him and the prosecuting attorney was attempting to intimidate the third, Hicks asked the military judge for additional counsel to help level the playing field. That request was denied... leveling the playing field is not what the military had in mind. The writing was clear on the glistening red, white and blue walls of the commission hearing room and David Hicks did the only thing that could possibly make sense in this abhorrent proceeding. He pled guilty to something that was not even against the law when he was arrested. Hicks' only hope is that he will be sent to Australia to serve his sentence and that perhaps, in time, a court in Australia will agree that pleading guilty to a crime that did not exist when he was arrested should be considered a nullity. Only problem is, Australia does not have a constitutional prohibition against ex post facto laws... I wonder if that is how the phrase "kangaroo court' first came to be?

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Is The Easter Bunny

I have this Easter Bunny scoop EXCLUSIVELY here at Main St. USA based on superduper topsecret authority. Bushco is suppressing that particular confession for obvious reasons, as it does not fit into their "get Gonzo off the front pages" plan.

Apparently, while we've been torturing Mohammed for the past five years, he's confessed to EVERYTHING they've ever asked him about. 31 terrorist acts in total. Who'd a thunk it? Torture works. We get everything we want. He has also confessed to being the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and Borat.

WaPo (front page): Alleged Architect Of 9/11 Confesses To Many Attacks

Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, confessed at a Guantanamo Bay military hearing that he planned and funded that al-Qaeda operation and said he was involved in more than two dozen other terrorist acts around the world, according to documents released by the Pentagon yesterday.

In a rambling statement delivered Saturday to a closed-door military tribunal, Mohammed declared himself an enemy of the United States and claimed some responsibility for many of the major terrorist attacks on U.S. and allied targets over more than a decade. He said that he is at war with the United States and that the deaths of innocent people are an unfortunate consequence of that conflict.

"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z," Mohammed told a panel of military officers through a personal representative, who read off a list of 31 terrorist acts that were either carried out or planned but not executed. According to transcripts released by Defense Department officials last night, Mohammed later spoke in broken English and Arabic, saying, "For sure, I'm American enemies."

This last sentence proves that he is the real Borat.

I mean, really. The "hearing" at which Mohammed "testified" (in a language other than his own) took place on March 10th. The purpose is to determine whether he is an enemy combatant. The Washington Post has a pdf link to the entire transcript. On page 10, Mohammed asks to present witnesses. His request is denied on the grounds that his witnesses are not relevant. The 31 terrorist acts to which he confesses are presented in the form of a written list which is read into the record by his "Personal Representative" (question, was this a lawyer? Embarrassing if so.) This list was clearly written by someone other than Mohammed as his broken English is miraculously repaired. He says things like "I was the Media Operations Director", "I was the Operational Director", as though al Quada was really a modern US corporation. Jeez.

The whole thing is a kangaroo court and the corporate media is jumping up and down as though this farce had some basis for respect. It is a farce. The guy may be guilty as hell, but the US makes him look like a victim by torturing and railroading him. Couldn't we just have subjected him to the greatest legal system in the world? Just another way in which the Bush Administration has used 9/11 to attack our Constitution and degrade us in the eyes of the world. The shame.

Guantanamo Unclassified

Inventive lawyering by some public defenders in Oregon who were assigned to represent one of the disappeared souls in Guantanamo Gulag. Since Bushco's draconian rules don't allow the lawyers to really represent their clients, they've put together a video of some of the interviews they did with witnesses in Pakistan who know the man is an innocent caught up in our anti-Muslim dragnet. The video is about 9 minutes in length:



I saw this story on BoingBoing

I Read The News Today, Oh Boy: January 9, 2007

Commander Codpiece with his buddy Jack _____off
Today is the 5th anniversary of the founding of that abomination, the Guantanimo Bay Gulag. (dailykos)

John Edwards speaks out against the war escalators and their lies. (Atrios) Edwards seems to be making a concerted effort not to be a mealy-mouthed milquetoast or managed to death by consultants. Go Johnny Go.

In not-news, Joe Lieberman is despicable. But we already knew that. (Brilliant at Breakfast)

Photo of Chimpy McFlightsuit and his enabler (above) dug up by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). You know, Bush and the guy he can't remember, but nonetheless has spent the last four years disappearing all the official records that might tell us they met. That guy.

Today is the Home Office tribunal hearing on whether England will grant Clint Dempsey a work permit and let him join Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra at Fulham FC. The Boston Globe thinks it's likely the permit will be granted as Dempsey was injured for one of the matches that he didn't play. If he had played he'd qualify for the permit automatically because he would have played in 75% of the US National Team matches in the last two years. You can check in at the boy's website to see how he made out. I wanna see him do the Texas Two-Step celebration on the banks of the Thames!

Blogtopia* Roundup, Monday December 18th, 2006

Tagged shearwaters are tracked as the birds criss-cross the Pacific. (Tagging of Pacific Palagics)
Professor Juan Cole says Elliot Abrams, war-loving felon, must go.

Atrios points out another instance of mindless journamalism. Note to corporate media: Both sides of every story are not equal and do not deserve equal billing!

Americablog links to a New York Times article on the imprisonment of an American in Iraq and the depravity of our Iraq policy.

Digby on Guantanamo and the psychopath in charge of the innocents held there.

The photo, above, is taken from a Washington Post article on how technology is allowing science to learn even more about and understand the sea and its creatures: Technologies Changing Insight Into Seas


*yes, skippy coined that phrase!

Happy Birthday To Me ... And Stephen Colbert

Bush contemplates sending Colbert on all-expenses paid permanent vacation to Guantanimo for his 42nd birthday.
We're kind of a freaky lot, the May 13ths, weirdos like Jim Jones and Dennis Rodman (not that I'm equating their weirdness), and tons of artists, actors and musicians. This year for the first time I notice I share a birthday with Stephen Colbert. Go watch the Correspondents Dinner roast again to celebrate.

Wikipedia: May 13

# 1882 - Georges Braque, French painter (d. 1963)
# 1907 - Dame Daphne du Maurier, English author (d. 1989)
# 1913 - Gil Evans, Canadian musician (d. 1988)
# 1914 - Joe Louis, American boxer (d. 1981)
# 1923 - Beatrice Arthur, American actress
# 1931 - Jim Jones, American cult leader (d. 1978)
# 1939 - Harvey Keitel, American actor
# 1941 - Ritchie Valens, American singer (d. 1959)
# 1944 - Armistead Maupin, American author
# 1950 - Stevie Wonder, American singer and musician
# 1956 - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder of the Art of Living Foundation
# 1961 - Dennis Rodman, American basketball player and actor
# 1964 - Stephen Colbert, American comedian and actor
# 1966 - Darius Rucker, American singer (Hootie & The Blowfish)
# 1978 - Barry Zito, baseball player
# 1978 - Mike Bibby, American basketball player

Wikipedia missed one: Oguchi Onyewu, defender for the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team, born May 13, 1982.

From thisyearthatday.com, add

1950 : Peter Gabriel, rocker (Genesis-Against All Odds)

and from BellaOnline.com

1943 Mary Wells, singer ("My Guy")

All I wanted for my birthday this year was frogmarching, but I guess that will have to wait. Maybe next week?

truthout: BREAKING
Jason Leopold:
Rove Informs White House
He Will Be Indicted

Reaction Shot

Bush contemplates sending Colbert to Guantanimo after Correspondents Dinner
For your viewing pleasure, here's a YouTube video showing seven minutes of Bush's reaction to Stephen Colbert's Press Secretary Audition video.

Pissy, pissy little man.

I saw this at DailyKos: Wow! He was PISSED! Bush Reaction to Colbert : New ABC Video

This Photo Begs For a Caption

Here's the photo with the caption from yahoo:

President Bush, right, holds up a pair of swimming trunks presented to him by the Auburn University Women's Swimming and Diving Team as Crystal Langhorne, the captain of the University of Maryland women's basketball team, looks on during an event honoring 2005 and 2006 NCAA athletic champions on the South Lawn of the White House Thursday, April 6, 2006. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

My suggestion: "These will come in so handy for interrogations at Guantanimo!"

Ethics, Schmethics

Surprise, surprise. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has already made up his mind about the Guantanimo Bay enemy combatant cases. And he's in favor of lifetime detention without the right to counsel. How constitutional.

WaPo: No Legal Rights for Enemy Combatants, Scalia Says
'War Is War,' Justice Tells Audience

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia reportedly told an overseas audience this month that the Constitution does not protect foreigners held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

He also told the audience at the University of Freiburg in Switzerland that he was "astounded" by the "hypocritical" reaction in Europe to the prison, this week's issue of Newsweek magazine reported.

New Chief Justice John Roberts has already recused himself from the cases, as he was a member of the federal appeals court panel whose decision is under review.

Odds of Scalia recusing himself from hearing these cases, about which he has already made up his mind and announced his position publicly? That would be about a gazillion to one. Sheesh, Scalia didn't even recuse himself from the case involving Cheney's secret energy task force meetings after he went duck hunting with Dick Cheney. (He's lucky he's still alive, but that's a separate matter. Or is it? Maybe he didn't recuse because Big Time threatened to give him the Harry Whittington treatment. Hmmmm.)

Ethically, of course, he should recuse himself.

U.S. high court judge said to slam detainee rights

Ethics experts said the impression that Scalia had already made up his mind before the hearing should mean that he will voluntarily drop out of the proceedings. However, Newsweek said he did not refer specifically to this week's case.

"He should remove himself when there is a reasonable doubt of his impartiality," said Father Robert Drinan, a professor of law at Georgetown University and long-standing human rights campaigner, who teaches judicial ethics.

"It should logically be a reason for his recusal but I don't think he'll do it ... he's so stubborn" said Drinan.

[]

"A judge has to have an open mind; when he hears the articles and reacts to briefs. If he's made up his mind on a particular issue, he shouldn't be sitting (in)," said Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

"Here he has publicly said that this is what my position is, before the arguments ... It's really stacking the deck," Ratner said. CCR has argued for Guantanamo prisoner rights.

The Little Red Hoax

Federal agents' visit was a hoax
Student admits he lied about Mao book

And I fell for it:

He Knows What You've Been Reading

I was thinking about this kind of thing the other day while I watched coverage of the latest day of Saddam Hussein's trial. Hussein was claiming to have been beaten while in U.S. custody. A few years ago I would have laughed at such a claim. Now, after Guantanimo, Abu Graib, dozens of prisoners dead at the hands of their U.S. captors, I had to think. Maybe we did torture him.

And that's one of the tragedies of the Bush Administration. Their conduct has been so anti-democratic that everyone now assumes the worst about them. There's no presumption of innocence once you've broken the law so many times.

I'd believe just about anything they're accused of. Sad.