Bad Deeds for 11-19-2007

US Provides Haven to War Criminals From Abroad – More than 1,000 people from 85 countries who are accused of such crimes as rape, killings, torture and genocide are living in the United States, according to Department of Homeland Security figures. “America has become a haven for the world’s war criminals because it lacks the laws needed to prosecute them, Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said Wednesday. There’s been only one U.S. indictment of someone suspected of a serious human-rights abuse. Durbin said torture was the only serious human-rights violation that was a crime under American law when committed outside the United States by a non-American national.”

Tom Tancredo Says Irrational Fear Is More Important Than Healthcare, Education or Anything – Tancredo:

If you are going to ask people to actually vote for you for President of the United States of America, you’d better tell them what you are going to do about this problem, because I’m telling you it supercedes all other … It’s more important than healthcare. It’s more important than education policy. It’s more important than trade. It’s more important than anything, because what does all of that matter if you do not do what is necessary to protect this country?

Really? More important than healthcare? More important than anything?
Pardon me for even entertaining the specious link he makes between illegal immigration and terrorism, but let’s walk down that crooked path just a little, ok?

Not to say the threat of terrorism isn’t real or that we shouldn’t do anything about it, because of course we should, but we should have a rational, sensible policy based on the real threat, not an over-hyped perception of one. The fact is that even “if terrorists were able to pull off one attack per year on the scale of the 9/11 atrocity, … your risk of dying in a plausible terrorist attack is much lower than your risk of dying in a car accident, by walking across the street, by drowning, in a fire, by falling, or by being murdered.” Terrorists would have to pull off six 9/11s every year to equal the roughly 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year coming from the more than 40 million uninsured in this country, and if there is a terrorist with the will and the capability to pull that off, there will never be a border fence that will stop them, and nothing could be more dangerous to this country than a paranoid politician whose brain is so ate up with Lou Dobb’s Disease that he’s willing to sell every other issue down the river in search of a cure. Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 2006

Wounded Troops Face Home-Front Battle With Veterans Administration – More than 28,500 troops have been wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom, including about 8,500 that have needed air transport, according to the U.S. military. A recent Harvard study found that the cost of caring for those wounded over the course of their lifetime could ultimately cost more than $660 billion. In Ty Ziegel’s case, he spent nearly two years recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas. Once he got out of the hospital, he was unable to hold a job. He anticipated receiving a monthly VA disability check sufficient to cover his small-town lifestyle in Washington, Illinois. Instead, he got a check for far less than expected. After pressing for answers, Ziegel finally received a letter from the VA that rated his injuries: 80 percent for facial disfigurement, 60 percent for left arm amputation, a mere 10 percent for head trauma and nothing for his left lobe brain injury, right eye blindness and jaw fracture. “I don’t get too mad about too many things,” he said. “But once we’ve been getting into this, I’m ready to beat down the White House door if I need to.”

Red Cross Was Barred From Guantánamo – A confidential 2003 manual for operating the Guantánamo detention center shows that military officials had a policy of denying detainees access to independent monitors from the International Committee of the Red Cross. The manual said one goal was to “exploit the disorientation and disorganization felt by a newly arrived detainee,” by denying access to the Koran and by preventing visits with Red Cross representatives, who have a long history of monitoring the conditions under which prisoners in international conflicts are held. The document said that even after their initial weeks at Guantánamo, some detainees would not be permitted to see representatives of the International Red Cross.

Fox News Host is For Tasing Anyone Belonging to the Code Pink Anti-War Group – Brian Kilmead shared his ever-so-evolved views on crowd control Monday morning in a Fox & Friends discussion of a Code Pink-disrupted Hillary Clinton speech. His answer to annoying anti-war types? Tasers or Billy clubs. “They should Tase this guy,” Kilmead says. “At one point with security so high and tensions on edge, don’t you think they’re going to get at the very least Tased or beaten to a pulp by somebody? These people look threatening.” Kilmead’s Taser-lust came one day after a 20-year-old Maryland man died after being shocked by police. Fox re-played the famous “don’t Tase me bro” sound-bite from a University of Florida student. The student’s screams seemed to delight the hosts, and Kilmead clearly wanted to hear more of them. “I would be for Tasing anyone in Code Pink,” he says. “I’m pro-Pink Tasing.”

Louisiana Democratic Rep. Jefferson Accused of Two New Schemes – Prosecutors are accusing Rep. William J. Jefferson of Louisiana of soliciting bribes in two suspected schemes that are separate from the bribery charges he already faces, according to a published report. The government alleges that in 2002 Jefferson, a Democrat, asked a lobbyist for a U.S. oil services company for payments of $10,000 a month for a family member. In exchange, Jefferson said he would help the company promote business in Africa. The lobbyist turned down the request, according to the document. Jefferson later made a deal to urge NASA to do business with a U.S. rocket launch services and technology company, according to the filing. The company is accused of agreeing to pay Jefferson’s family business and a relative in exchange for his help.

Army’s New $2.6 Billion Helicopter Can’t Fly in Temperatures Over 80-Degrees – The Army is spending $2.6 billion on hundreds of European-designed helicopters for homeland security and disaster relief that turn out to have a crucial flaw: They aren’t safe to fly on hot days. During flight tests in Southern California in mild, 80-degree weather, cockpit temperatures in the UH-72A Lakota soared above 104, the point at which the Army says the communication, navigation and flight control systems can overheat and shut down. The Army is scrambling to fix the problem — adding millions to the taxpayer cost.

Seventy Percent of Iraqis Without Access to Decent Water – Despite the fact that Iraq and U.S. officials have made water projects among their top priorities, the percentage of Iraqis without access to decent water supplies has risen from 50 percent to 70 percent since the start of the U.S.-led war, according to an analysis by Oxfam International last summer. The portion of Iraqis lacking decent sanitation was even worse — 80 percent.

Rudy Giuliani Jets to Campaign Stops Using Casino Kingpin’s Plane – Rudy Giuliani is jetting around the country wooing Bible-thumping conservatives, but his plane is often provided by a king of Sin City. The Republican presidential hopeful anted up more than $122,000 last summer alone for jets traceable to casino kingpin Sheldon Adelson, whose Las Vegas Sands empire has made him the third-richest American

Chris Dodd Gets Priorities Wrong at Debate
The candidates at the Democratic debate in Las Vegas were asked, “What is more important, human rights or national security?” Chris Dodd replied, “Obviously, national security, keeping the country safe. When you take the oath of office on January 20, you promise to do two things, and that is to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and protect our country against enemies both foreign and domestic. The security of the country is number one, obviously.” However, the president’s oath of office, as specified in Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution states, “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” The job of the president is to defend the Constitution. The Constitution first, the Constitution last, the Constitution always. Nowhere is the president given one inch of leeway to consider setting aside that Constitution in exchange for an illusion of security. Every citizen, as well as every candidate, should understand this.

Regards,

Jim