Why I Support the ACLU

Craig To Argue Foot-Tapping A Constitutional Right
TPM Election Central

By Eric Kleefeld - October 26, 2007
Larry Craig is now taking yet another path in his quest to legally absolve himself: He is legally arguing that the law under which he was arrested and subsequently pled guilty to disorderly conduct in a men's room is in fact unconstitutional.

This puts Craig with an odd ally for a conservative Republican: The ACLU, who argued in an amicus brief that foot-tapping and hand gestures alone, absent a real sexual act, were protected by the First Amendment. Craig's lawyers will file their briefs by mid-December, and have asked to make oral arguments before the appeals court in St. Paul. More ...

Conservatives like Larry Craig frequently criticize the ACLU for protecting the constitutional rights of political or social outcasts. What sweet justice that Mr. Craig's defense is supported by the ACLU - the bete noire of the neofascist right. It gives me great pleasure to imagine that for each dollar of my annual ACLU dues, hypocrites like Larry Craig find it just a bit more difficult to defend their intolerant positions.

Beginning of the end?

Photos like these signaled America's realization that Vietnam was a tragic mistake who's cost, in dead and wounded on both sides, could no longer be justified. At the point when a majority of Americans turned against the war, our death toll was over 31,000. By the time we left at 8:35 AM on April 30, 1975, the toll exceeded 58,000. What photo or photos will be the catalyst that finally moves us to bring the Iraq debacle to its end?

Is MSU-YAF Anti-Semitic?

YAF Watch
Michigan State University Young Americans for Freedom have established their Anti-Muslim and Anti-Hindu ideology, and believe in a narrow form of fundamental Christianity, to the exclusion of other Christians. However, now YAF seems to be taking on an Anti-Semitic Agenda.

YAF announced they are bringing Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party, to campus. The British National Party (BNP) is political party that supports white supremacy and anti-immigrant stances. Griffin himself is also a well known Anti-Semite and Holocaust denier. The BBC did a special report on the BNP and Nick Griffin. Read more ...

The majority of the MSU YAF is not overtly anti-Semitic - just ignorant of the centuries old anti-Semitic philosophy fueling the European Right. One should not be surprised that a canard so carefully constructed that it brought down several European governments should hold sway over MSU’s farm-raised cognoscenti. It’s disheartening that these students, favored with the opportunities provided by a university education, should be so ignorant of world history. I suspect that their world-view is strongly shaped by a mid-West religiosity that disrespects all but the one true Christian faith. This populist fundamentalism has inspired generations of political malcontents. “History,” said Thomas Jefferson “furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.”

Duyba's Hired Guns

Media Mouse

Today, Representative Henry Waxman, chairperson of the United States House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter to Erik Prince, chairperson of Blackwater USA informing Prince that he is concerned that Blackwater may have engaged in "significant tax evasion." In a 13-page letter, Waxman writes that:

"I have received documents which suggest that Blackwater may have engaged in significant tax evasion. According to an IRS ruling in March 2007, Blackwater violated federal tax laws by treating an armed guard as an "independent contractor." The implication of this ruling is that Blackwater may have avoided paying millions of dollars in Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, and related taxes for which it is legally responsible. Read more ...

DRIVERS who can position their car in the middle of a parking space at a supermarket are sliding closer to extinction, conservationists have warned.

Research teams have recorded a sharp decline in numbers over the last decade, despite strenuous efforts to educate the public about how easy it is to just put your fucking car in the middle of a parking space.

Yet another symptom of climate change? Or is he just an unspeakable bastard who deserves to die?
Full story...

This second in a series of ads for Stella Artois beer is a must see.

The Frankenstein Franchise

Lawyer: D.A. doubts 'cutter'
By KITTY CAPARELLA
caparek@phillynews.com

The chief "cutter" in the national body-parts scandal - in charge of removing the often-diseased tissue of 244 late Philadelphians - is trying to cooperate with authorities, but "they don't believe him," his attorney said last night. Lee Cruceta, 34, surrendered shortly after his ex-boss, Michael Mastromarino, 44, of Fort Lee, N.J., the reputed ringleader of the body-parts scandal and the owner of the now-closed Biomedical Tissue Services, in Fort Lee.

In 2004, Mastromarino arranged to buy tissue from three Philadelphia funeral-home operators who supplied the 244 corpses - without survivors' consent - during an 18-month period, a grand jury found last Thursday. BTS paid the operators $245,995. BTS then sold the tissue to five companies that processed it for hospitals, where surgeons unwittingly used it for implants.

It's shit like this that suggests there’s a need for federal and state regulators to enforce whatever minimal regulations govern the human body parts industry. Under the Bush administration, enforcement was transferred from government agencies to the industries themselves. But unlike the Enron and mortgage debacles that just robbed citizens of their financial assets, a lack of enforcement within the human body parts industry stands to rob citizens of their very lives. The next time you hear a politician wax eloquently on the advantages of privatization, remember the swindles perpetrated by people like Ken Lay (Enron), Michael Milken (Drexel), Gary Winnick (Global Crossing), Dennis Kozlowski (Tyco International), John Rigas (Adelphia). Bush’s six year experiment in allowing industry to police itself has been a failure. There’s a role for government in providing the big stick deterrence behind any effective regulations.

What a Difference a Day Makes!

October 1: Child Health Day, 2007 A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America
Our Nation is committed to the health and well-being of our youth (19 Michigan men and women younger than 21 have died in Bush's war). On Child Health Day, we reaffirm our commitment to helping children develop good nutrition habits and active lifestyles, so that they can grow into healthy and productive adults. Children today face many risks, such as alcohol and drug use (which consumed a major portion of Bush's adult life), obesity, smoking, (the Iraq War) and other dangers (like poorly-armored Humvees). As parents and role models to America's youth, we have a responsibility to teach them about the importance of healthy behavior, daily exercise, and good nutrition (especially when you don't have health care because your parents belong to the working poor).
GEORGE W. BUSH

October 2: GEORGE W. BUSH Vetos the SCHIP Bill