The WAWG Blog

1999 war games foresaw problems in Iraq
(but Republicans did it anyway)
The U.S. government conducted a series of secret war games in 1999 that anticipated an invasion of Iraq would require 400,000 troops, and even then chaos might ensue. Some scenarios are similar to what actually occurred after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003:

•”A change in regimes does not guarantee stability,” the 1999 seminar briefings said. “A number of factors including aggressive neighbors, fragmentation along religious and/or ethnic lines, and chaos created by rival forces bidding for power could adversely affect regional stability.”

•”Even when civil order is restored and borders are secured, the replacement regime could be problematic — especially if perceived as weak, a puppet, or out-of-step with prevailing regional governments.”

•”Iran’s anti-Americanism could be enflamed by a U.S.-led intervention in Iraq,” the briefings read. “The influx of U.S. and other western forces into Iraq would exacerbate worries in Tehran, as would the installation of a pro-western government in Baghdad.”

•”The debate on post-Saddam Iraq also reveals the paucity of information about the potential and capabilities of the external Iraqi opposition groups. The lack of intelligence concerning their roles hampers U.S. policy development.”

•”Also, some participants believe that no Arab government will welcome the kind of lengthy U.S. presence that would be required to install and sustain a democratic government.”

•”A long-term, large-scale military intervention may be at odds with many coalition partners.”

Fox News Distorts TX-22 Poll Against Nick Lampson
This is one of those double take situations. FOX just ran a segment on the TX-22 race. Notice that graphic from the network of “fair and balanced”, that says the GOP candidate is now leading in the race for Tom Delay’s old seat. Now watch this clip and listen to the actual numbers of the poll, as well as the explanation given by Democrat Nick Lampson.

Video

So the poll has Lampson leading by 36%, while the GOP candidate is at 28%. To FOX news, being down by 8 points apparently means the candidate is in the lead. Now that is some interesting math right there. Now to be fair, the Republican is leading in the polls – amongst the write in candidates. Lampson is not a write-in candidate though.

More Dirty Tricks
Terry Nelson, an unindicted co-conspirator in the TRMPAC Tom Delay scandal, and the boss of Jim Tobin, the convicted felon in the NH phone-jamming case, is the head of opposition research for the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee. So it’s not a surprise that these kinds of unethical dishonest tactics are being used.

Sources in Bergen County are reporting that an autodial robocall is being made that starts out sounding like a positive Bob Menendez message. If you hang up, it repeatedly calls you back. If you listen all the way to the end, it finishes by saying that Menendez is an embezzler and under criminal investigation.

This is a voter suppression tactic being used nationwide by the GOP. Initially callers will think they are hearing a call from the Menendez campaign asking for support. If they hang up, it will repeatedly call them back. The intention is to annoy the voter so much that they no longer support the candidate. For those who actually listen to the entire call, they are presented with a series of lies and smears against Menendez, also with the intention of suppressing turnout. It’s a win-win tactic for them.

The NRCC is doing the same exact thing in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and at least 53 other races across the country.

Terry Nelson is a key GOP operative, a senior advisor to John McCain and someone heavily involved with both Tom Delay and Karl Rove.

Republican National Congressional Committee May Face Fines For Violating “Do Not Call” Registry Rules

And something that could turn bad – It did last time…
Cheney Going Hunting on Election Day
Vice President Dick Cheney will spend Election Day on his first hunting trip since he accidentally shot a companion last February while aiming at a covey of quail on a private Texas ranch.

Regards,

Jim

Sekula-Gibbs flip–flops on pro-choice
On her website, candidate Shelley Sekula Gibbs says she is Pro-Life. But Documents from a 2001 Survey conducted by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, (a PAC) Sekula-Gibbs indicated she is pro-choice to try to get their endorsement.

Smither to Republicans – Please Stop Vandalizing our Signs!
The campaign of Bob Smither, Libertarian candidate for CD-22, has received information connecting a Republican official in Fort Bend County to the destruction of “Smither for Congress” and “Republicans for Smither” campaign signs. The official is a prominent supporter of Republican write-in Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, and has close connections to her campaign.

Bush approved publication on the Internet of plans for building an atomic weapon under pressure from Congressional Republicans who had said they hoped to leverage the Internet’ to find new evidence of the prewar dangers posed by Saddam Hussein

Officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency fear that the information could help states like Iran develop nuclear arms. The documents, roughly a dozen in number, contain charts, diagrams, equations and lengthy narratives about bomb building that nuclear experts who have viewed them say go beyond what is available elsewhere on the Internet and in other public forums.

Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction shut down by Republicans
Investigations by this office have sent American occupation officials to jail on bribery and conspiracy charges, exposed disastrously poor construction work by well-connected companies like Halliburton and Parsons, and discovered that the military did not properly track hundreds of thousands of weapons it shipped to Iraqi security forces. Congressional Republicans don’t like that.

Republican National Committee Accepts Money From Army Porn Movie Distributor

Fox News Rearranged Schedule To Air Conservative Hate Film On Weekend Before Elections
Fox News will air a 40-minute version of Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West this weekend. Fox News rearranged its weekend lineup to air the film before the midterm elections. The film will air 5 times! They claim to be a news channel, but they are taking off the news to show a partisan film.

Republican Rep Paying $500K To Ex-Mistress Who Accused Him Of Strangling Her…Payment Meant To Keep Her Quiet Before Election Day

Diebold report flaws kept hidden
What makes this report, “The Pentagon Papers of Electronic Voting” as some computer experts have described it, so important is that:

It shows, in black and white, that what Diebold says to election officials and voters across the country is not the truth.

It shows that there are virtually no security protocols in place for certain Diebold machines and that the recommended security protocols were purposely removed from the publicly released version of the report.

It shows that the analyzed Diebold machines were not functional nor secure for use in elections and raises serious doubts that they are ready for the November 7, 2006 Midterm elections.

Regards,
Jim

Global Warming Could Devastate Economy
Unchecked global warming will devastate the world economy on the scale of the world wars and the Great Depression, according to a new report from the British government, eventually costing the world the equivalent of between 5% and 20% of global GDP each year. The report emphasized that global warming can only be fought with the cooperation of major countries such as the United States and China, and represents a huge contrast to the Bush administration’s wait-and-see global warming policies.

Climate change: ‘One degree and we’re done for’
Further global warming of 1 °C defines a critical threshold. Beyond that we will likely see changes that make Earth a different planet than the one we know,” says Jim Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.

New Global Warming Movie – Better Than An Inconvenient Truth?

Some say The Great Warming is a better movie than an Inconvenient Truth. It talks about what you can do about and what others are doing about it. Instead of featuring one rich white male, Al Gore, it interviews all kinds of folks around the world. It talks about the morality of global warming including interviews with Christian environmentalists, such as Dr. Matthew Sleeth. “It’s more than just the heat …. our children’s planet is at stake …” says the movie.

The Great Warming will open Friday, November 3rd, at Grand Palace Stadium 24, 3839 Wesleyan, that’s between I-59 and Richmond between the Galleria and Greenway Plaza. To get a free energy audit, return your ticket stub to the volunteer at the theater or mail it to The Great Warming

The major corporate sponsor of the movie is Swiss Re, the global insurance company. Climate disruption threatens the insurance industry more than any other. The huge re-insurance companies, like Swiss Re, end up holding the bag. How do you insure Gulf Coast homes against torrential rain and hurricanes if the climate is changing? Swiss Re and Munich Re have taken a hard look at the science and now work for climate protection.

Regards,

Jim

Tom Delay Says That Waterboarding is Not Torture
So I guess it’s OK if Ronnie Earle uses it on Tom?

Cover Up Attempted: Senior Republican Aides Had Foley “Damage Control” Telephone Calls Before Scandal Broke

Two senior aides to National Republican Campaign Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds participated in “damage control” conference calls concerning correspondence between Congressman Mark Foley and a former congressional page — two days before the scandal became public, and earlier than previously reported.

NRCC Communications Director Carl Forti and Reynolds then chief-of-staff Kirk Fordham both took part in the first call the evening of Wednesday, September 27, and one call the next day, Forti and other sources familiar with the call confirmed. Forti’s involvement and the NRCC’s role in the run-up to the Foley scandal add another link between the disgraced former congressman and Reynolds, who has said he knew only indirectly of questionable emails, and that he reported them to his House superiors. They also reflect another moment at which House GOP leadership was aware of concerns about Foley and pages.

Foley resigned Friday, September 29, soon after ABCNews presented him with a sexually explicit instant message correspondence with a page.

MIKE STARK: MY ACCOUNT OF BEING ASSAULTED BY SENATOR GEORGE ALLEN’S STAFFERS

Republican Negative Ad Hits New Low: Flyer Made To Look Like Sex-Offender Notification

The mailing was paid for by the state Republican Party,

Ann Coulter Won’t Cooperate With Voter Fraud Investigation; Case To Go To Prosecutors

Knowingly voting in the wrong precinct is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson said his office has been looking into the matter for nearly nine months, and he would turn over the case to the state attorney’s office by Friday. Anderson added that Coulter, since the allegations surfaced, made “efforts to distract and divert focus on the process regarding this complaint. … I did express my frustration to the state attorney in a recent meeting and warned him I may need his services,” according to an article in the Palm Beach Post.

Regards,

Jim

Republican Ft. Bend County Commissioner Paid for Hateful Signs; Republicans Cut Down Bob Smithers Sign and Put Hate Message on Smithers Sign Poles

Tom DeLay Says “I Haven’t Had No Ethical Problems”

Former Republican congressman Tom DeLay, currently under indictment, last night told a sympathetic Fox News interviewer, “I haven’t had no ethical problems”. Strictly speaking, as a double-negative, that’s true; he hasn’t had no ethical problems, he’s had at least thirteen according to Think Progress tally.

DELAY KILLED INVESTIGATION INTO LABOR ABUSE IN MARIANAS ISLANDS
DELAY RAISED CORPORATE CASH FOR TRMPAC
DELAY BRIBED CONGRESSMAN TO VOTE FOR MEDICARE
DELAY USED TAXPAYER MONEY FOR PARTISAN STUNT
DELAY PAID FOR GOLF TOURNAMENTS WITH CASH MEANT FOR KIDS
DELAY PROMISED ‘SEAT AT TABLE’ FOR DONOR
DELAY TOOK MONEY FROM TEXAS PRISON COMPANY WITH LEGISLATION PENDING
DELAY BLOCKED LEGISLATION FOR PARTISAN VENDETTA
DELAY TOOK SHADY DONATIONS FOR LEGAL DEFENSE FUND
DELAY LEFT ETHICS BEHIND ON EUROPEAN VACATION
DELAY LEFT HOUSE RULES BEHIND ON ASIAN VACATION
DELAY KICKED ETHICS OUT OF HOUSE
DELAY TRIED TO CHANGE RULES TO PROTECT POWER
He may not be in Congress, but his legacy is still there, and will remain until his buddies are gone.

Republican Blogger Criticizes Nick Lampson for Saying “God Be With You” in Arabic at a meeting hosted by two South Asian political action committees

Republican sees Nick’s courtesy to Muslim community leaders as a threat and a reason to vote Republican. Yeah, Republicans wouldn’t want to elect anyone who is courteous. They prefer rant and rave hate mongers.

The wife of U.S. Rep. John Sweeney called police last December to complain her husband was “knocking her around”

Houston Homebuilder Bob “Swiftboat” Perry’s Group May Not Be So Honest
Americans For Honesty on Issues, an organization that registered as a Section 527 with the I.R.S. on August 28, has no third quarter disclosure report (through 9/30) or pre-election disclosure report (10/1 to 10/18) available to the public on the I.R.S. website as of noon today. The organization is believed to have received at least $3 million in receipts, with the sole known donor being Texan Bob Perry.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s misuse of state resources
Video of everything from Abbott’s news conferences to the latest bust of suspected child predators can be found on his campaign and official state Web sites — all shot by his $70,000-a-year state-paid videographer. Bill Burns, a retired state employee who was a videographer for four attorneys general, including Abbott, said the job changed when Abbott took over four years ago. It became more about promoting Abbott, he said, as opposed to doing the legal, internal work. “There is nothing more important to the Abbott administration than his name identification,” Burns said. “It’s all about him.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s Vote Suppression Scheme
US District Court Judge T. John Ward granted a preliminary injunction stopping Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams from enforcing a Texas Law that makes it a crime to simply mail or posses a sealed ballot. This year, Abbott has aggressively prosecuted at least 13 individuals, most of whom had done nothing more then help senior citizens vote by mail. Virtually all of those prosecuted are minority senior citizens and all are Democrats.

Cocktail waitress accuses Rep. Jim Gibbons of trying to sexually assault her in a parking garage

Air Force Requests Emergency Funding To Help Transport Killed And Wounded Soldiers

White House-Tied Company Floods Competitive Districts With Phone Calls Meant To Suppress Voter Turnout

The following is a good thing:
“Straight Talk From The Candidates” will air on Nov. 5 at 11 a.m. on KPRC Channel 2. Candidates from selected congressional, statewide and regional offices will discuss their platform in an unedited pre-taped message. Each candidate was given 2½ minutes to speak and asked to respond to the following question, “Why should the voters cast their vote for you?”

Regards,

Jim

Top Twenty Iraq Oversight Outrages Uncovered by the Democratic Policy
Committee
(Why we need a change of leadership and a Congress that will do the oversight and enforce corrective action.)

Over the last three years, Senate Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) hearings have uncovered massive waste, fraud, and abuse relating to government contractors operating in Iraq. This report presents twenty of the worst oversight outrages, as documented in testimony and evidence presented at DPC hearings:

1) Halliburton billed taxpayers $1.4 billion in questionable and undocumented charges under its contract to supply troops in Iraq, as documented by the Pentagon’s own auditors.

2) Parsons billed taxpayers over $200 million under a contract to build 142 health clinics, yet completed fewer than 20. According to Iraqi officials, the rest were ‘imaginary clinics.’

3) Custer Battles stole forklifts from Iraq’s national airline, repainted them, then leased the forklifts back to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) through a Cayman Islands shell company – charging an extra fee along the way.

4) Halliburton allowed our troops in Iraq to shower, bathe, and sometimes brush their teeth with water that tested positive for e. coli and coliform bacteria. One expert has said that the troops would have been better off using the highly polluted Euphrates River. Halliburton has admitted that it lacked ‘an organizational structure to ensure that water was being treated in accordance with Army standards and its contractual requirements.’ (It’s hard to shoot straight when you’re bent over clutching your stomach.)

5) Halliburton served the troops food that had spoiled or passed its expiration date. Halliburton managers ordered employees to remove bullets from food in trucks that had come under attack, then saved the bullets as souvenirs while giving the food to unwitting soldiers and Marines. (It’s hard to pursue the enemy with your pants down around your ankles.)

6) Halliburton charged taxpayers for services that it never provided and tens of thousands of meals that it never served.

7) Halliburton double-charged taxpayers for $617,000 worth of soda.
8) Halliburton tripled the cost of hand towels, at taxpayer expense, by insisting on having its own embroidered logo on each towel.

9) Halliburton employees burned new trucks on the side of the road because they didn’t have the right wrench to change a tire – and knew that the trucks could be replaced on a profitable ‘cost-plus’ basis, at taxpayer expense.

10) Halliburton employees dumped 50,000 pounds of nails in the desert because they ordered the wrong size, all at taxpayer expense.

11) Halliburton employees threw themselves a lavish Super Bowl Party, but passed the cost on to taxpayers by claiming they had purchased supplies for the troops.

12) Halliburton chose a subcontractor to build an ice factory in the desert even though its bid was 800 percent higher than an equally qualified bidder.

13) Halliburton actively discouraged cooperation with U.S. government auditors, sent one whistleblower into a combat zone to keep him away from auditors, and put another whistleblower under armed guard before kicking her out of the country.

14) Halliburton sent unarmed truck drivers into a known combat zone without warning them of the danger, resulting in the deaths of six truck drivers and two soldiers. Halliburton then offered to nominate the surviving truck drivers for a Defense Department medal – provided they sign a medical records release that doubled as a waiver of any right to seek legal recourse against the company.

15) Halliburton’s no-bid contract to rebuild Iraq’s oil infrastructure was the worst case of contract abuse that the top civilian at the Army Corps of Engineers had ever seen. She was demoted after speaking out.

16) Under its no-bid contract to rebuild Iraq’s oil infrastructure contract, Halliburton overcharged by over 600 percent for the delivery of fuel from Kuwait.

17) Halliburton failed to complete required work under its oil infrastructure work, leaving distribution points unusable.

18) Iraq under the CPA was like the ‘Wild West,’ with few limits and controls over how inexperienced officials spent – and wasted – millions of taxpayer dollars.

19) Cronies at the CPA’s health office lacked experience, ignored the advice of international health professionals, failed to restore Iraq’s health systems, and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars. The political appointee who ran the office had never worked overseas and had no international public health experience.

20) Administration officials promoted construction of a ‘boondoggle’ children’s hospital in Basra, which ended up more than a year behind schedule and at least 100 percent over budget.

Fort Bend Republican political consultant James Pressler Putting Up Signs That Read “Want More Illegals? Vote Democrat.”
There was another one at Garcia Middle School that said Democrats are for the Terrorists. They have another one that says, “Want Higher Taxes? Vote Democrat.”

White House Lets Chevron Have Gas Without Paying Royalties
The Bush administration has dropped claims that Chevron systematically underpaid the U.S. for natural gas produced in the Gulf of Mexico, a decision that could allow energy companies to avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties. The decision is typical of the White House, which has drastically cut back on the number of audits aimed at ensuring companies pay their full share of federal royalties.

Money Trails Lead to Bush Judges
A four-month investigation of Bush-appointed judges by the Center for Investigative Reporting finds that at least two dozen federal judges appointed by President Bush since 2001 made political contributions to key Republicans or to the president himself while under consideration for their judgeships. Republicans who received money from judges en route to the bench include Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Sens. George Voinovich and Mike DeWine of Ohio, and Gov. George Pataki of New York.

Nevada Congressman Assault Probe Reopened
Authorities announced yesterday that they have reopened their investigation into a cocktail waitress’ claim that Rep. Jim Gibbons, a Republican congressman running for governor, assaulted her in a parking garage after a night of drinking. The waitress says that she has been pressured and offered cash from people linked to the Gibbons campaign to drop the complaint.

Document Shredding Truck Spotted on Its Way to Dick Cheney’s House

Sequoia Voting Systems Sold To A Company Owned By Venezuelan Nationals
With just eight more days before our midterm elections, the United States is investigating the sale of electronic voting machine company Sequoia to a company mostly owned, as best we can determine, by Venezuelans. The company, Smartmatic, denies any connection to the anti-U.S. Chavez government. The sale took place in March of 2005. Unbelievably, it has taken the United States government a year and a half to decide to investigate this sale

MESS WITH TEXAS: State Rep Reports ES&S Touch-Screens Dropping Candidate Names, Flipping Straight Ticket Ballots from Democratic to Republican in San Antonio
So far, the reports have all involved Democratic (or Green) votes flipping to, or otherwise benefiting, Republican candidates. In South Florida, St. Louis County, Missouri, Virginia, Arkansas, Dallas, and now San Antonio, Texas.

Profanity-Laced Missive from Right Winger Sent After Popular Radio Host’s Recent Appearance on Fox ‘News’, Says ‘Would be Happy to See AK-47 Send You Into Eterntity’
A man from Centerville, Ohio, identifying himself as “Sock” Sokolowski has sent a death threat to radio host Stephanie Miller after a recent appearance on Fox “News'” Hannity & Colmes. Promising to mail copies of Miller’s H&C appearance to “some WONDERFUL people,” Sokolowski threatens that “we must identify this nation’s enemies…” He concludes that he “would love to celebrate and would for days on end as I would and will when still another America HATER meets his/her maker.”

Orange Co. California Indicts 11 GOP Operatives For Voter Registration Fraud
Republican Workers Changed Registration Forms for Democrats, Greens, and Even a Non-Citizens into Republican Registrations.

ABC Radio memo reveals Air America advertiser blacklist

Regards,

Jim

U.S. is Only Vote Against Limits on International Illegal Gun Trade
The UN General Assembly’s First Committee yesterday overwhelmingly approved a proposal to develop a treaty aimed at combating the global trade in illegal firearms with 139 countries voting in favor and the U.S. casting the lone vote against the measure. America’s gun lobby, led by the NRA’s foaming-at-the-mouth Vice President Wayne “Black Helicopters” LaPierre, has sought to portray the treaty as a global assault on the Second Amendment, despite the fact that the effort is limited to illegal weapons.

Bush Interior Appointee Said to Ignore Endangered Species Act
Documents show that Julie MacDonald, appointed by President Bush in 2004 to serve as deputy assistant secretary of the interior for fish and wildlife and parks, rejected staff scientists’ recommendations to protect imperiled animals and plants under the Endangered Species Act at least six times in the past three years. Staff complaints that their scientific findings were frequently overruled at the behest of landowners or industry have led the interior’s inspector general to look into McDonald’s role at the agency. In six years, the Bush administration has listed only 56 species under the Endangered Species Act, for a rate of about 10 a year. Under Clinton, officials listed 512 species, or 64 a year, and under George H.W. Bush, the department listed 234, or 59 a year.

Hundreds of pages of records, obtained by environmental groups through the Freedom of Information Act, chronicle the long-running battle between MacDonald and Fish and Wildlife Service employees over decisions whether to safeguard plants and animals from oil and gas drilling, power lines, and real estate development, spiced by her mocking comments on their work and their frequently expressed resentment.

Amid the complaints, Interior officials have privately contacted the ranking Democrat on the House Resources Committee, Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (W.Va.), who plans to hold oversight hearings into the matter if his party retakes the majority in next month’s elections.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is said to be furious at U. S. pressure on him that appears timed to the American elections
The chief prosecutor in Saddam Hussein’s trial for crimes against humanity said Sunday that the verdict, currently scheduled for Nov. 5—two days before the midterm elections—may be delayed by a few days. News of the possible delay follows a week of public spats between U.S. officials and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is said to be furious at pressure on him that appears timed to the American elections.

Regards,

Jim

EDWARD LAZARUS summarized the situation this way:

In legal circles, the issue of the moment is judicial “independence.”

For many years now, right-wing conservatives [authoritarians (RWA)] have been conducting an unrelenting attack on supposedly out-of-control “activist” judges, as part of their campaigns against abortion rights, affirmative action, and the judicially-imposed ban on prayer in public schools.

In the last few years, however, the assault on the judiciary has developed a new fury. In the wake of the legal maneuverings surrounding Terri Schiavo’s tragic death, conservatives have not only ratcheted up their anti-judge rhetoric, they’ve started acting on threats to seek impeachment of federal judges [another enemy of the authoritarian right] they don’t like, and to set up systems for monitoring judges who depart from their preferred legal views.

The latest, and potentially first successful, “assault on the judiciary” is Amendment E to the South Dakota constitution. This amendment is titled, “Judicial Accountability Initiative Law,” (JAIL). According to Vote No on E, this amendment has been put together by “Ron Branson of North Hollywood, California” and his internet network of supporters. Vote No on E also states that, “Even though Amendment E may be new to you, it’s just the latest chapter in his 12-year vendetta against judges and local governmental officials and employees. He’s tried and failed to get the initiative on the ballot in California, Idaho and Washington. But his hatred for our courts and government at all levels is so great that those failures couldn’t deter him. Last year he turned his sights on South Dakota and called on fellow Californians to help get the initiative on the ballot here.”

The executive and legislative branches of government are already driven by special interests and lobbyists. The judiciary, by the design of our founding fathers, is the only branch that is immune from this kind of self interest influence. If this South Dakota amendment becomes law, then that could be the beginning of the end of judiciary immunity. Combine this with the recent loss of habeas corpus and we will all become subject to the whims of those in power as the rule of law is buried.

The Rapid City Journal, put it this way.

No matter how sincere the JAIL supporters are, this amendment dismantles the judiciary’s autonomy thus leaving S.D. vulnerable to special interest groups. Special interest groups could endlessly sue public officials who didn’t see things their way until the official resigned. The special interest group could then replace them with officials that supported only their viewpoint. These hand-picked officials (judges) would have the potential to ignore or disallow the rights of ordinary citizens.

This scenario was our Founding Father’s greatest fear. They could foresee that, because of political process, the executive branch (president or governor) and the legislative branch could fall into the hands of a special interest. To prevent a takeover of all three branches, it was essential that the court system be immune from pressure to interpret the Constitution in favor of a special interest.

The proposed JAIL amendment dangerously dismantles the constitutional protection of the judiciary by subjecting it to pressure from individuals and special interest groups. As outlined in the JAIL amendment, a Special Grand Jury would be selected from citizens that volunteer specifically for the jury and also from the state’s list of registered voters. Anyone having a vendetta against the official could volunteer to serve on the jury to “get even” with that judge or elected official.

This contaminates the judicial process. Just think if you were being sued and everyone that was ever angry at you volunteered to be on the jury! You have to agree, this would not be justice. Furthermore, the JAIL amendment instructs the jury to favor the complainant. By the JAIL amendment’s instructions to favor the person who is suing you and the jury stacked with people against you, the court is unfairly set up for you to lose!

This scenario exposes every S.D. school board member, city councilman, county commissioner, and judge, literally, for the rest of their lives because there is no limit on when a suit can be filed. Good, honest citizens would be very wary to ever run for office under these circumstances because they could be sued by anyone that didn’t like their decision until they died.

South Dakotans need to start vigorously using the laws already in place to deal with officials who treat citizens unfairly. If there is a problem judge, use your legal rights to challenge them or make sure they are defeated in the next election. South Dakota should not change how democracy works to accomplish oversight of judges.

South Dakota cannot afford to unknowingly sabotage democracy by passing Amendment E. It is time to start using the legal remedies already in the Constitution to make the court system accountable without destroying the foundations of democracy.

“No” is the only vote that will protect South Dakota from killing our form of government that we proudly call democracy!

As I said in an earlier article, we have a choice this November, “Between a judiciary immersed in personal beliefs and popular opinion or one grounded in the rule of law.”

If you’d like to find out more on J.A.I.L., check out a progressive on the prairie.

According to the NPR article referenced below, Ron Branson chose S. Dakota for his latest attempt because it took far fewer signatures to get it on the ballot. The web articles below discuss the current system.

IRS Ordered to Stop Collecting Katrina Back Taxes Until After Elections
Mark W. Everson, the IRS chief with close ties to the Bush White House, has ordered his agency to delay collecting back taxes from Hurricane Katrina victims until after the Nov. 7 elections, saying he did so in part to avoid negative publicity. Four former I.R.S. commissioners, who served under presidents of both parties, said that delaying collections because of an election is improper and indefensible.

Cheney Endorses Waterboarding as ‘No-Brainer’
Vice President Dick Cheney agreed with a conservative radio host that the use of waterboarding—or simulated drowning—is a “no-brainer” when questioning terror suspects Cheney’s enthusiasm for the technique is hard to square with the positions of Sens. John McCain and John Warner—two of the main sponsors of the Military Commissions Act—who say their bill outlawed the practice. The US has long considered waterboarding – which dates back at least to the Spanish Inquisition – to be torture and a war crime.

As early as 1901, a US court martial sentenced Major Edwin Glenn to 10 years hard labour for subjecting a suspected insurgent in the Philippines to the “water cure”. After the second world war, US military commissions successfully prosecuted as war criminals several Japanese soldiers who subjected US prisoners to waterboarding. In 1968, a US army officer was court martialled for helping to waterboard a prisoner in Vietnam.

Update: Cheney says he was talking about dunking, but not waterboarding.

Karl Rove Protégé Behind Racy Tennessee Ad

Army Blocking Soldiers In Iraq From Reading “Left Leaning” Websites, Conservative Websites Allowed

Republican Candidate Website Features Killer Margarita Recipe
Texas Rep. Kay Granger, who’s running for re-election, for bringing the party to the Republican Party with her “killer margarita” recipe. We’re not sure about beer as an ingredient, but applaud the question marks denoting the pitcher can be any size a voter wants. Granger’s campaign slogan is “Celebrating Our Nation’s Values,” and there’s nothing more American than getting sloshed on wacky recipes you find on the Internet.

Ex-Bush official receives 18 month prison sentence
David Safavian, 39, who resigned from his job last year on the same day that the criminal complaint was signed, once worked at the General Services Administration and the White House budget office. Safavian was sentenced on four counts and received an 18 month prison sentence for obstructing justice in connection with the convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal.

Memory expert in CIA leak case forgot that she met prosecutor
A memory expert testifying on behalf of a former aide to Vice President Cheney who is accused of lying to prosecutors in the CIA leak case forgot that she had met the special prosecutor before and was reduced to “stuttering” and “backpedaling” on the stand. Elizabeth F. Loftus, a professor of criminology and psychology at the University of California at Irvine, was trying to bolster I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s defense, but prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald “sliced” her up.

Dirty Election Ads
In New York, the NRCC ran an ad accusing Democratic House candidate Michael A. Arcuri, a district attorney, of using taxpayer dollars for phone sex. “Hi, sexy,” a dancing woman purrs. “You’ve reached the live, one-on-one fantasy line.” It turns out that one of Arcuri’s aides had tried to call the state Division of Criminal Justice, which had a number that was almost identical to that of a porn line. The misdial cost taxpayers $1.25.

· In Ohio, GOP gubernatorial candidate J. Kenneth Blackwell, trailing by more than 20 points in polls, has accused front-running Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland of protecting a former aide who was convicted in 1994 on a misdemeanor indecency charge. Blackwell’s campaign is also warning voters through suggestive “push polls” that Strickland failed to support a resolution condemning sex between adults and children. Strickland, a psychiatrist, objected to a line suggesting that sexually abused children cannot have healthy relationships when they grow up.

· The Republican Party of Wisconsin distributed a mailing linking Democratic House candidate Steve Kagen to a convicted serial killer and child rapist. The supposed connection: The “bloodthirsty” attorney for the killer had also done legal work for Kagen.

· In two dozen congressional districts, a political action committee supported by a white Indianapolis businessman, J. Patrick Rooney, is running ads saying Democrats want to abort black babies. A voice says, “If you make a little mistake with one of your hos, you’ll want to dispose of that problem tout de suite, no questions asked.”

· In the most controversial recent ad, the Republican National Committee slammed Rep. Harold E. Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.) for attending a Playboy-sponsored Super Bowl party. In the ad, a scantily clad white actress winks as she reminisces about good times with Ford, who is black. That ad has been pulled, but the RNC has a new one saying Ford “wants to give the abortion pill to schoolchildren.”

Some Democrats are playing rough, too.

Regards,

Jim

Oh, they been really bad today! – Long list.

Rush Limbaugh Won’t Stop Challenging Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s Symptoms

CIA Tried to Silence European Union on Torture Flights
The CIA tried to persuade Germany to silence EU protests about the human rights record of Morocco where the U.S. was outsourcing terror suspects for questioning—by offering Berlin access to a German citizen being held there, according to classified documents obtained by the Guardian. Other U.S. detainees, currently held at Guantanamo Bay, tell of undergoing terrible torture after being transferred by the U.S. to Morocco.

U.S. Seeks to Limit Detainees’ Communication with Lawyers
The U.S. government is seeking court approval for new rules that would allow detainees’ defense lawyers only four visits with their clients rather than the unlimited number now permitted. The proposed rules would also restrict the topics that can be discussed during such meetings, as well as the types of information that lawyers and detainees can exchange through the mail. The government argues such rules were made necessary after some lawyers shared news articles and books with detainees.

Arizona Republican is Focus of Inquiry
Federal authorities in Arizona revealed yesterday that they are in the initial stages of investigating whether Republican congressman Rick Renzi introduced legislation that benefited a military contractor that employs his father. The legislation introduced by Renzi in 2003 exempted the Fort Huachuca Army Base from maintaining federally mandated water levels in the nearby San Pedro River, a move critics say threatened one of the last undammed rivers in the West to the benefit of private contractor ManTech, which has more than $450 million in military contracts at the base. Employees of ManTech were the largest contributors to Mr. Renzi’s campaign in 2002 and the second-largest in 2004.

Republicans Funded by Bob Perry Making Illegal Automated Phone Calls in Indiana
A federal judge has ruled Indiana can block a group from making automated calls that attacked Democratic congressional candidate. FreeEats.com is the Virginia company that made the calls on behalf of the Economic Freedom Fund, which is a 527 group started in 2006 by Houston homebuilder and swiftboater Bob Perry.

Tony Snow says Bush said “Stay The Course” only 8 times; Bush has actually said it at least 29 times.

Exxon Mobil’s earnings rose to $10.49 billion in the third quarter, the second-largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company. Its shares briefly rose to a 52-week high

Right-wing rhetoric slinger Dick Morris wrote a column Monday titled “Best GOP Hope: Scare ’em Silly”
Morris suggests an ad that says, “If the Democrats win, the National Security Agency will never be able to listen in as the terrorists are plotting to attack us.” This type of distortion is irresponsible and reprehensible, as it once again exploits the 9/11 tragedy for the Republican’s personal political gain. Furthermore, Democrats don’t have any problem doing legal wiretappings. If the Dems win, the NSA will most certainly “be able to listen in as the terrorists are plotting to attack America.” We’ll just do it legally.

Environmental Protection Agency whistleblower alleges that the inconsistent official reports about air quality at the World Trade Center disaster site were part of an intentional cover up by government scientists and officials

Cheney confirms that detainees were subjected to water-boarding

Ohio GOP Smears Al Franken In Press Release With Doctored Photo, Fabricated Quote

The Worst Congress Ever – How our national legislature has become a stable of thieves and perverts — in five easy steps. Also, don’t miss Rolling Stone’s list of 10 Worst Congressmen (Hint: 9 out of 10 are Republicans).

Regards,

Jim