Bad Deeds for 6-18-2007

Defense Lawyers In Different Cases are Raising New Questions About Government Prosecutors and Potential Political Biases – For months, the Justice Department and Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales have taken political heat for the purge of eight U.S. attorneys last year. Now the fallout is starting to hit the department in federal courtrooms around the country. Defense lawyers in a growing number of cases are raising questions about the motives of government lawyers who have brought charges against their clients. In court papers, they are citing the furor over the U.S. attorney dismissals as evidence that their cases may have been infected by politics

96 Members of Congress Paying Family Members – More than one in four members of Congress who hold top positions on committees and subcommittees or are in the House Leadership have used their position to enrich family members, including 55 Republicans and 41 Democrats .

Republicans and Democrats Point to Empty Boxes as Proof of Support for Comprehensive Immigration Reform – At a pro-immigration rally Thursday, a group of politicians including Senators Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) addressed reporters while picturesquely standing in front of an impressive tower of boxes they said contained letters from a million supporters of comprehensive immigration reform. Maybe moving boxes that are actually full of letters is work that Americans don’t want to do?

Administration Agencies Ignored Law After 30% of Signing Statements – The Government Accountability Office issued a report showing that US government agencies ignored Congressional legislation on 30% of the occasions when President George W. Bush issued a ‘presidential signing statement’ after signing bills into law.

PBS Network’s ‘Wall Of Separation’ Has Religious Right Genesis – “The Wall of Separation” is a production of Boulevard Pictures, a California outfit that describes itself as “a motion picture production company committed to bringing moviegoers high-quality stories from the world’s most innovative filmmakers—films that bring hope, inspire us to the good, and that show us what the human spirit can attain.” But there seems to be more there than meets the eye.

Brownback Aide E-Mail Says Our Jesus Is Better Than Romney’s Jesus – Emma Nemecek, the southeastern Iowa field director for Brownback’s presidential campaign and a former state representative candidate, violated campaign policy when she forwarded the June 6 e-mail from an interest group raising the questions, the Brownback campaign said Sunday. The e-mail requested help in fact-checking a series of statements about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Among the statements: “Theologically, the only thing Christianity and the LDS church has in common is the name of Jesus Christ, and the LDS Jesus is not the same Jesus of the Christian faith” and “The LDS church has never been accepted by the Christian Council of Churches.”

Regards,

Jim