Andover Law Ponders Bush Admin. War Crimes

From the moment the Bush Administration began skirting the law and basic tenets of human decency, a few citizens began pondering what to do about the Administration's illegalities. Should they be impeached, tried at the Hague or simply wait to administer justice until after they were out of power? Well since the Congress has done almost nothing about the issue and is only beginning to learn how to exercise their power of oversight, independent groups are taking matters into their own hands. This isn't about a mob mentality to take down the powerful, but for those with decades of legal training to carefully examine the actions of the Administration and determine what should be done. Experts at Massachusetts' Andover School of Law hoped to do just that this morning.

From RawStory:

Saturday morning, the dean of Massachusetts School of Law at Andover will convene a two day planning session with a single focus: To arrest, put to trial and carry out sentence on criminals in the Bush Administration.

The conference, arranged by Lawrence Vevel, cofounder of the Andover school, will focus on which of Bush's officials and members of Congress could be charged with war crimes. The plan also calls for "necessary organizational structures" to be established, with the purpose of pursuing the guilty "to the ends of the Earth."

"For Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and John Yoo to spend years in jail or go to the gallows for their crimes would be a powerful lesson to future American leaders," Velvel said in a media advisory.

Mentioning Bush, Cheney and "the gallows" in one sentence is a very powerful statement for anyone to make, especially so for a distinguished law professor. In our highly-charged partisan society, half of us will immediately see this as a cheap trick by the liberal elite with nothing to back it up. Those critics would be wrong though, because this goes beyond party and straight to the heart of our democracy.

If our leaders are allowed to subvert the rule of law and commit ghastly crimes without fear of retribution, what is there to stop any future President from doing the same thing? It doesn't matter what someone's party is if they condone torture, start illegal wars or strip the rights of American citizens. Holding Bush and his cohorts accountable is the only way to show that America is serious about holding up its ideals and not simply whither away like the Roman Republic did two thousand years ago.

Palin Caught In Bold-Faced Lie, Continues To Show No Shame

Charlie Gibson confronted Sarah Palin about her repeated lie that she never supported the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere." Yet she shows absolutely no remorse for misleading and lying to the American people about her position, despite the indisputable facts on the matter:

Paterson Sides With Senate GOP Over Home Heating Aid

Even though it wasn't a surprise yesterday, Governor Paterson's home heating aid plan was a pitiful cop out to the Republicans in the Senate. After getting the Assembly's assistance in cutting nearly $600 million from the budget, he offers a pittance to those that are wondering how they will pay for the skyrocketing cost of heating oil this winter. Paterson may be witty in front of audiences when he speaks about service, but when it comes to actual policy he only serves wealthy oil companies and forgets about those that will struggle to keep warm in the cold months of December through March.

From The Times-Union:

Gov. David Paterson, as he said he would earlier in the week, has come out with a plan to boost home heating aid programs by some $49 million this year. The plan includes increasing the maximum grants through the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, which are supposed to offset heating oil costs to poor to $800 — compared to the $540 limit. The governor also wants to set up free clinics where people can learn to better weatherize their homes and in some cases offer do it yourself weatherization kits.

The $49 million is far less than the Democratic Assembly’s $800 million plan which would have slapped a windfall tax on oil companies. And it’s not even close to what Senate Democrats wanted, which would have raised to to $85,000 the threshold for which families can get heating assistance.

Notably, in yet another example of where the Democratic governor is closer to the Senate Republican Majority, Sen. Dean Skelos quickly issued a statement praising Paterson’s move, noting that it’s ’sensible,’ realistic and ‘fully funded.’

Of course Skelos will praise this and so will the rest of the Republican caucus. The price of heating oil will be far higher than the $340 rise in credits Paterson offers. While that may pay for December and part of January, what are New Yorkers supposed to do for the rest of the winter Governor? Oil companies could have afforded to pay that windfall profits tax, even if they and their compatriots in the GOP kick and scream. They'll whine about anything you try that takes away from the rich and gives to the poor, so it is far past the time to start making them cry.

Obama Asks McCain, Who's Country Do You Put First?

Barack Obama took the gloves off yesterday when addressing John McCain. For a while now McCain and Palin have viciously attacked Obama by making things up out of thin air, such as the lipstick on a pig craziness and accusing him of wanting to teach kindergardeners the same sex-ed as a seventeen year old when the bill in question was designed to go after pedophiles. Obama has weathered this barrage of culture war punches with grace and dignity, now he's delivering solid upper cuts to the increasing desperate McCain campaign.

From ABC News:

A pretty scathing charge from Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., this morning as he spoke to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and assailed Sen. John McCain's, R-Ariz., position on free trade.

"Just ask the machinists in Pennsylvania who build Harley-Davidsons," Obama said of McCain's record. "Because John McCain didn’t just oppose the requirement that the government buy American-made motorcycles, he called Buy American provisions 'disgraceful.' Just ask the workers across this country who have seen their jobs outsourced. The very companies that shipped their jobs overseas have been rewarded with billions of dollars in tax breaks that John McCain supports and plans to continue.

"So, when American workers hear John McCain talking about putting 'Country First,'" Obama said, "it’s fair to ask –- which country?"

Jake Tapper of ABC spins this as an attack on McCain's patriotism, but that is highly off the mark. Obama is finally getting into full swing with his attacks on McCain's dedication to keeping jobs in America and not sending them overseas so corporations can pad their bottom lines. It isn't a question of patriotism, it is a question of economics and a question from someone that is tapping into the economic populism of this country. That sentiment has been buried several times over by conservative wedge issues and outright lies told to the people in order to hold onto power at all costs.

No one is questioning McCain's patriotism (actually the traditional media hardly bothers to point out when McCain questions Obama's patriotism, often in very subtle ways), we just refuse to highlight it anymore for him. There are seven weeks and three days to go in this election season and it is time to get down to business. Obama is going to fight hard to show the people that he is working for them and that McCain is working hard for the same wealthy few that Bush favored for the last eight years.

New Ad Shows Sarah Palin's Savagery

Savagery is a strong word to use about someone's actions. But after you see this one minute describing Sarah Palin's actions as Governor in relation to the killing of wolves (warning: graphic images inside) then you'll understand where Defenders of Wildlife is coming from.

McCain Bombs On The View, Lies About His Lies

There was no singing about Iran today when John McCain went on The View to face the primarily female crowd. The choice of Sarah Palin didn't help much either and despite having a friend in Elisabeth Hasselbeck as a co-host, he got grilled on an assortment of issues. Mentioning his wish to overturn Roe v Wade elicited a round of boos from the crowd. Whoopi then took his "strict constitutionalist" line to a logical conclusion and wondered out loud what would stop the court from overturning amendments that abolished slavery. Then to top it all off, he blatantly lied that he's never flip-flopped on an issue and challenged anyone to refute that.

Well ThinkProgress was ready to hit that bullshit right out of the park:

The flip-flop document notes that McCain has changed his position even on the four areas he cited — spending, climate change, the war in Iraq, and torture of prisoners:

SPENDING: The McCain campaign has said that it will balance the budget by the end of McCain’s first time. But chief economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin said McCain would balance the budget by the end of his second term.

CLIMATE CHANGE: In 1999, McCain opposed lifting the ban on offshore drilling, saying that it was just the “special interests in Washington” that advocated it. In 2008, McCain announced that “there are areas off our coasts that should be open to exploration and exploitation.”

IRAQ CONDUCT: He said in 2004 that Donald Rumsfeld was doing “a fine job” and was “an honorable man.” But by 2008, McCain was arguing that he was “the only one that said Rumsfeld had to go.”

TORTURE: In 2005, McCain pushed President Bush to sign a bill that would prohibit “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” of anyone in U.S. government custody. But in 2008, McCain voted against the Intelligence Authorization Bill, which requires the intelligence community to abide by the same standards as articulated in the Army Field Manual and bans waterboarding.

See our full document here. Steve Benen has compiled another flip-flop list here.

See the thing is, McCain thinks he can just absolve himself of everything he's ever said up until the moment he goes on The View, or at one of his town hall events and without a doubt at the upcoming debates. He'll lie about anything and do so with one of those fake smiles on his face. To him it is all about putting out a narrative, regardless of the facts. That is why we on the left (center and right are free to do so as well) must combat his lying from one moment to the next. With that litany of lies, we can craft it into a narrative of our own, one of truth and honest to goodness muckraking that exposes the campaign McCain has run and ultimately the type of President he would become.

NY Assembly Investigates Ethics In The Dark

Even with the indictment and arrest of Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio, the legislative body is up to their old tricks while considering what to do about their tarnished ethical image. The take down of Seminerio is significant because the Assembly realizes that they can be infiltrated by law enforcement for their shady ways. Recently re-elected captain of the ship Sheldon Silver must have been worried about the situation, because he held a secret meeting specifically concerning ethics in the Assembly.

From The Gothamist:

After longtime Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio's arrest on bribery charges, the State Assembly apparently held a secret meeting to discuss, per the AP, "tougher rules over disclosure of outside income by lawmakers."

In the criminal complaint against Seminerio, there were also references to "Assemblyman No 1," Assemblyman No 2" and "Senator No 2"--prompting lawmakers to wonder who's who. Seminerio's $500,000+ in bribes were apparently accrued after he set up a shell company to accept payments; current rules do not require lawmakers to disclose who their clients are.

While Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver wants an overhaul of the rules, it's unclear how far he will go. As the Post reports, Silver "earns an undisclosed income from powerhouse Manhattan law firm Weitz & Luxenberg." And for reference, the Post adds the current rules allow them to "earn unlimited amounts of outside income" while their "official salaries can exceed $120,000 a year and are the third highest in the nation."

Of course no one but the women and men in the room know what went on since it was held in secret, away from New Yorkers that pay their third-highest-salaries in the nation. We also do not know how many other Assemblymembers take bribes because the state house would never investigate itself or else it would probably be nearly empty after a full reivew.

Their leader would also never go far enough to root out the corruption, because he doesn't want anyone to know what exactly he does at the law firm that pays him x (anothe unknown) amount of dollars a year on top of his legislative salary. I'm not holding my breath on any reform from Silver, other than a cheap gimmick to make people think he cares about the Seminerio fallout.

McCain And Obama: Empty Slogans Vs Real Change

While McCain spouts off empty slogans (and trying to co-opt his opponents message), Barack Obama speaks to the voters about real change:

Tony Avella Comes Down On The Right Side Of Term Limits

Mayoral candidate and Councilman Tony Avella is known as a reformer and agent of change in the New York City Council. On the issue of term limits though, he wants things to remain the same unless of course the voters decide to do things differently. While no one wants to explicitly repeal the law, they are more than a few that are thinking of extending it. Avella's bill would put an end to that type of talk.

From The NY Daily News:

Council Speaker Christine Quinn is being put on the spot with warring term limits bills.

A bill by Bronx Councilman Oliver Koppell calls for allowing term-limited incumbents to run next year for a third, four-year term.

A second bill, from Queens Councilman Tony Avella, would bar any change without a voter referendum.

"If they write the bill for Koppell, they better damn well write mine [too]," said Avella.

With a little bit of legislative maneuvering, Koppell's bill can be sidelined while either Avella's can be adhered to or both could be discarded. Of course, the way things pan out has a lot to do with the politics that both currently term-limited Speaker Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg decide to do.

Quinn - who as speaker has the power to keep a bill that is written and presented to the Council from coming to a vote - and Mayor Bloomberg insist that they have yet to discuss changing term limits.

Bloomberg stoked the flames this week by vowing to veto any bill repealing term limits, but said he would "think long and hard" about legislation permitting term-limited incumbents, like himself, to run again.

Also facing limits are 34 Council members, including Quinn, who once opposed changing the law but now refuses to say if she would permit a vote on the matter.

Quinn, Koppell and Bloomberg probably wanted this to float in under the radar but it didn't work out that way for them. Now the question is how much public pressure has to be exerted before they back off from trying to change the will of the voters. If legislation is passed in this matter, Avella's bill is one that reflects the spirit of the original term limits law, not Koppell's attempt to tweak it so he and others can stay in office another four years.

Upper West Side Shines For Obama

Here and there we hear about the GOP's chances in New York on the upswing though in reality there is no question about which way our electoral votes are going to be cast this year, as they were for the last twenty years. Barack Obama is going to win here and win big but that does not mean New Yorkers can just sit back and be complacent about things. In the most solid and active Democratic enclave in the city, things are heating up and people are turning out to make sure Obama is elected President in less than two months time.

From The NY Observer:

“You would think this being the Upper West Side, this being a bastion of progressive and reformer politics, that everyone would be energized and ready to go,” said Tim Foley, a former Obama new media director for New Hampshire and New York who now works for the SEIU and organizes many Obama events on the Upper West Side. “But it’s human nature to put things off. So just the sheer number of people who just possibly wouldn’t have been registered in time if we hadn’t been out on the streets is amazing to me.”

Foley was registering voters at 110th Street and Broadway on Labor Day Monday, along with two local Democratic groups. It was the third day of tabling over the long weekend; four additional events were scheduled for the remainder of the week.

On Monday, Steve Max, a longtime member of Three Parks Independent Democrats who has lived in the neighborhood for most of his 78 years, had stationed himself at 105th Street, in front of a temporary phone banking station being painted by a bevy of young volunteers. Max called the weekend’s crop of voter registration forms, which he estimated at several hundred, “totally, totally remarkable.” The registrations came from a mix of people, he said, though young people and African-Americans were heavily represented.

There are events happening all over the five buroughs but things are heavily concentrated between Riverside and Central Park(s). Not only are people doing the standard Get-Out-The-Vote operation but expanding beyond by getting on buses to canvass in Pennsylvania and writing personalized letters to swing voters as far away as Florida and Ohio.

Of course this doesn't mean that if you don't live in the area that you yourself can't get involved. Simply go to my.barackobama.com and sign up, then see what events are going on in your neighborhood. If there isn't much nearby, then create an event yourself. Whether it is a bakesale, tabling on your corner with Obama buttons and voter registration forms or getting together in someone's home to talk about the election, getting connected is essential so that we turn out as many voters as possible on November 4th.

Uncle Sam Takes On 9/11

The only thing missing is the Bush/McCain hat on 9/11's head:



Current generally makes fun of politics and our society, but this one has a great message as well.

Sarah Palin Scares The Crap Out Of Me, Charlie Gibson Seems To Feels The Same Way

So tonight Sarah Palin gave her first real, live interview and she was scary as hell. Her tone made her seem like she was trying to be overly tough and macho. She attacked every question with Bush/McCain talking points, except for when she didn't have a clue what Gibson was talking about. What seemed like a softball question about Bush's foreign policy was swung at by Palin like she had too much too much to drink and was sloshingly around in the batter's box.

From DailyKos:

Charlie: Do you agree with the Bush Doctrine?

Palin: In what respect, Charlie?

Charlie: What do you interpret it to be?

Palin: His worldview.

Charlie: No, No, the Bush Doctrine. He enunciated it in September 2002, before the Iraq War.

Palin: I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is to rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hellbent on destroying our nation. There have been blunders along the way, though. There have been mistakes made. And with new leadership--and that's the beauty of American elections and democracy--with new leadership comes the opportunity to do things better.

Charlie: The Bush Doctrine, as I understand it, is that we have the right of anticipatory defense. We have the right to preemptively strike any other country that we believe is going to attack us.

The 'cocky wacko' (not my words, just an observation from another Republican) struck out hard tonight. Sure, her base will love her regardless, she could cut out a still-beating heart from a child and eat it and they'd still vote for her. Those aren't the people I am concerned about. The moderates are the ones that matter and before tonight she only got a 35% favorability rating from them. When you make threats against Russia, you scare people that are already tired of fighting two wars. We can't afford a third, especially with a nuclear power, not economically, not mentally nor spare the human cost. Chafee is right about his assessment of Palin, and the American people are beginning to understand it very clearly.