Replies: 26 Comments

Comment #1: cali said on 6/28/06 @ 10:11am ET...

Congressman Conyers,
That was excellent. She did a great job of putting it all together. From her Bio looks like she was a judge.
Thanks for post. We need more people like her to bring this out.

Crier presided over the 162nd District Court in Dallas County, TX as a State District Judge.

Comment #2: Alma said on 6/28/06 @ 10:21am ET...

Looks like some good news.

Court Nixes Part of Texas Political Map
Jun 28 10:14 AM US/Eastern

WASHINGTON

The Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out part of a Texas congressional map engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, saying some of the new boundaries failed to protect minority voting rights.

The fractured decision was a small victory for Democratic and minority groups who accused Republicans of an unconstitutional power grab in drawing boundaries that booted four Democratic incumbents out of office.

Court Nixes Part of Texas Political Map

Comment #3: Nolip said on 6/28/06 @ 10:26am ET...

If the Republicans can gerrymander geographical lines in order to improve their seating arrangement in the House, what's to stop them from gerrymandering election results? So far, nothing.

"WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out part of a Texas congressional map engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, saying some of the new boundaries failed to protect minority voting rights.

The fractured decision was a small victory for Democratic and minority groups who accused Republicans of an unconstitutional power grab in drawing boundaries that booted four Democratic incumbents out of office. "


Justices overturn part of Texas redistricting
Democrats, minority groups had challenged Republican map

Comment #4: unspun said on 6/28/06 @ 10:31am ET...

Ms. Crier speaks the truth regarding the current state of the electoral process concisely, eloquently and with expertise. The video clip should be mandatory viewing for all election officials and for that matter, for all voters.

Technical Heads up: I had trouble getting the clip to play on both links to the Court TV Catherine Crier Live web page Crier Web page Link when I tried clicking on the top link under Ms. Crier’s small picture (right side of page). I was able to view the clip when I clicked on the “Previous Clips” link, then selected the 6/21/06 link.

It can be overwhelming for the average citizen to know what to do about this threat to the democratic electoral process. One thing that I found out that the average citizen can do: You can apply to be an election inspector. I found this out when reviewing my city’s new website. The city posted an application for election inspector on the site. I visited city hall and spoke with the city clerk about the requirements for being selected as an election inspector. She told me the following, which is true for my city:

1. The city is “always looking for new people for the election inspector pool”.
2. Applicants must be registered voters, residents of the county.
3. Selected applicants will receive 2 hours training prior to working as an inspector.
4. Inspectors aren’t required to work all elections, but must work all day when they do work (with breaks, including for lunch).
5. Inspectors are paid for the day they work.

Disclaimer: I am not an elections expert. I’m just an average citizen who has been disheartened by the past two presidential elections, and I’m trying to find out what I can do to try to change things. Becoming an election inspector might be one small way to effect change. I know much more must be done, such as communicating our concerns to our elected officials until we are certain that they will take necessary action to insure the validity of the election process.

I’m sure that Mr. Conyers as well as some of the regular posters to this site have more suggestions to help us bring democracy back to the electoral process. Input Anyone?

Comment #5: cali said on 6/28/06 @ 10:47am ET...

This is not good. This sleeze court upheld most of the Texas congressional map engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and
this. On a different issue, the court ruled that state legislators may draw new maps as often as they like — not just once a decade as Texas Democrats claimed. That means Democratic and Republican state lawmakers can push through new maps anytime there is a power shift at a state capital.

The Constitution says states must adjust their congressional district lines every 10 years to account for population shifts. In Texas the boundaries were redrawn twice after the 2000 census, first by a court, then by state lawmakers in a second round promoted by DeLay after Republicans took control. That was acceptable, justices said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060628/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_texas_redistricting_5

Comment #6: Nolip said on 6/28/06 @ 10:48am ET...

#4 Unspun...
"as well as some of the regular posters to this site have more suggestions to help us bring democracy back to the electoral process. Input Anyone?"

Not input but a question for Congressman Conyers...why isn't it illegal for people like Katherine Harris and Mr. Blackwell, who are obviously predisposed to a specific political orientation (Republican) to head such strategic positions and be responsible for how voting in their state is regulated? This is a classic case of the fox guarding the hen house and there must be, or needs to be, laws on the books to stop this rather blatant practice of positioning party sympathizers in these jobs.

and in a related matter...when you have a government official (Bush) who steals the highest office in the land (as Crier points out so well) he's already proven he can beat the laws of the land...the rest is just him going through the motions, like a wind up doll with some fine speech writing (even if Bush can't read or speak that well as the "decider")...

" WASHINGTON -- The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Arlen Specter, said yesterday that he is ``seriously considering" filing legislation to give Congress legal standing to sue President Bush over his use of signing statements to reserve the right to bypass laws.

Bush has issued more signing statements than all previous presidents combined. But he has never vetoed a bill, depriving Congress of any chance to override his judgment. If Congress had the power to sue Bush, Specter said, the Supreme Court could determine whether the president's objections are valid under the Constitution.

``There is a sense that the president has taken the signing statements far beyond the customary purviews," Specter said at the hearing. He added that ``there's a real issue here as to whether the president may, in effect, cherry-pick the provisions he likes, excluding the provisions he doesn't like. . . . The president has the option under the Constitution to veto or not."

Senator considers suit over Bush law challenge

Comment #7: Alma said on 6/28/06 @ 10:56am ET...

#5 Cali,

I'm glad you found out more info on it. I was kind of wondering what the rest of the ruling was, but that info wasn't out yet when I posted. Thank You!

Comment #8: cali said on 6/28/06 @ 11:14am ET...

#7 Alma
You're welcome. There wasn't much when it first came out.

Comment #9: DTW 06 said on 6/28/06 @ 12:56pm ET...

#5 Cali -

I've often wondered if there is any legal recourse against the Texas republicans and their gerrymandering if DeLay is convicted of illegally funneling corp. money into various Texas races? Since this illegal money helped republicans win seats, which enabled them to re-draw congrestional districts to insulate their power, would not Democrats have grounds to sue for new boundries? Any thoughts?

Comment #10: Ron said on 6/28/06 @ 1:00pm ET...

All Crier has done is trumpeted what we have been saying for years, I guess it means more when a "Reporter" says it.
Facts stated, she said absolutely nothing about a remedy.
Also what is being done to ensure that this doesn't happen again?
The two words "Trust, and Politician",do not go together very well nowadays!
How is it possible to have an honest Supervisor of Elections?
The system needs balance . That important position needs to be put into the hands of a committee made up of people from each party!

Comment #11: Ron said on 6/28/06 @ 1:20pm ET...

This is a flagrant abuse of Rethuglikin Power!
Another instance of our "Government" at work!

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government
28 Jun 2006
http://www.legitgov.org/
All links to articles as summarized below are available here:
http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news
GOP bill targets New York Times 28 Jun 2006 Republican leaders are expected to introduce a resolution today condemning The New York Times for publishing a story last week that exposed government monitoring of banking records. The resolution is expected to condemn the leak and publication of classified [sic] documents, said one Republican aide with knowledge of the impending legislation.

GOP drafting resolution condemning media's terror finance reports 27 Jun 2006 Senate Republicans sharply criticized The New York Times and other news media Tuesday for disclosing a secret Bush administration effort to track terrorist financing, and House GOP leaders hurriedly drafted a resolution condemning the stories.

Comment #12: cali said on 6/28/06 @ 1:32pm ET...

If the times does their homework there are at least a dozen articles out that show this administration has talked about Swift and it has been known to terrorists since 2002, including one from the Whitehouse

here's a couple
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/06/28/terrorist_funds_tracking_no_secret_some_say/
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/06/reports_of_us_monitoring_of_sw.php
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010924-4.html

Comment #13: tahoebasha1 said on 6/28/06 @ 1:46pm ET...

If the Voting Rights Act is not renewed, wouldn't that encourage on more rogue States like Ohio and Florida -- that's pretty frightening!

Here's a Voting Rights Action page from PFAW:

Action page

Comment #14: tahoebasha1 said on 6/28/06 @ 1:50pm ET...

Well, now that we've discovered that our government has been secretly spying on us and has delved into our financial records, thereby accummulating so much data about us -- I wonder what's on their agenda next!

Comment #15: wallen said on 6/28/06 @ 2:02pm ET...

reposted:

As for criminal John M. Poindexter’s Total Information Awareness database, which congress supposedly shut down in 2004. The Bushlamists merely continued it and didn't bother to inform congress. They are compiling information on every single individual world-wide, whether they be political opponents or members of their own party. They have , and will use this information to coerce, cajole and blackmail people to get the votes they need to implement their fascist government. Why is Senator from Kansas Pat Roberts, as well as others like Senator Arlen Specter, ultimately so compliant? What information do the Bushies have on them? Documents? Photos? Bank records? This is the key to Bushlamic power. Find it, and the whole machine comes crashing down.

Anyone know what Poindexter is up to these days?

Comment #16: tahoebasha1 said on 6/28/06 @ 2:04pm ET...

We're not staying in Iraq, right? While our soldiers still do not have the proper equipment and gear and are getting killed day by day, along with the Iraqis, the American Embassy is being built in Baghad by human-trafficking. It's not large, it's humongous -- it's obscene -- but we're not staying in Iraq!

"by Nicholas von Hoffman

Bush's Baghdad Palace
[posted online on June 20, 2006]

Among the many secrets the American government cannot keep, one of its biggest (104 acres) and most expensive ($592 million) is the American Embassy being built in Baghdad. Surrounded by fifteen-foot-thick walls, almost as large as the Vatican on a scale comparable to the Mall of America, to which it seems to have a certain spiritual affinity, this is no simple object to hide.

So you think the Bush Administration is planning on leaving Iraq? Read on. . . . "

Bush's Baghdad Palace

Comment #17: Citizen J said on 6/28/06 @ 2:31pm ET...

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committe F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) has broken House rules to adjourn a meeting after losing a vote to Democrats, Democratic sources tell RAW STORY.

The vote was on an item from the Republican's "American Values Agenda," which the party says will codify "the American character." Specifically, it aims to bar any court--including the United States Supreme Court--from hearing any legal challenge to the pledge of allegiance.

Sensenbrenner, according to sources, hoped to roll back the vote when the committee reconvened later in the afternoon.

Democrats on the committee, save ranking member John Conyers (D-MI) refused to attend. With many Republicans also absent, there was no quorum present to hold a vote.

Conyers attended, according to sources, only for the sake of raising a point of order, indicating that the previous adjournment had violated rules. Sensenbrenner responded by indicating that he had not heard the objection earlier.

The committee was again adjourned, and is likely to reconvene Thursday. Whether or not they hold another vote remains to be seen.


Rules, schmooles

Comment #18: cali said on 6/28/06 @ 2:35pm ET...

Congressman Conyers,
give em hell
Chairman of the House Judiciary Committe F. James Sensenbrenner has broken House rules to adjourn a meeting after losing a vote to Democrats, Democratic sources tell RAW STORY.

The vote was on an item from the Republican's "American Values Agenda," which the party says will codify "the American character." Specifically, it aims to bar any court--including the United States Supreme Court--from hearing any legal challenge to the pledge of allegiance.

Sensenbrenner, according to sources, hoped to roll back the vote when the committee reconvened later in the afternoon.

Democrats on the committee, say ranking member John Conyers refused to attend. With many Republicans also absent, there was no quorum present to hold a vote.

Conyers attended, according to sources, only for the sake of raising a point of order, indicating that the previous adjournment had violated rules. Sensenbrenner responded by indicating that he had not heard the objection earlier.

The committee was again adjourned, and is likely to reconvene Thursday. Whether or not they hold another vote remains to be seen.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Dems_say_Judiciary_Chair_breaks_rules_0628.html

Comment #19: cali said on 6/28/06 @ 3:48pm ET...

Here's another journalist talking about how much he was told BEFORE the NYT's article
Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, many journalists — including this one — were briefed by U.S. Customs officials on Operation Green Quest, an effort to roll up terrorist financiers by monitoring, among other things, "suspicious" bank transfers and ancient money lending programs favored by people of Middle Eastern descent.

I interviewed Marcy Forman, director of Green Quest, at her Washington offices in December 2001, when I was a writer for Government Executive magazine. Our meeting was sanctioned by Customs' public affairs office, and came at a time when the White House was eager to talk about all the work federal agencies were doing to hunt down terrorists. Forman told me the kinds of people, transactions, even locations that the government was targeting. (These are details, it should be noted, that the recent Times piece did not reveal.) Among the potentially sensitive items Forman told me, which were published:

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/002546.html

Comment #20: Frosted Flake said on 6/28/06 @ 5:19pm ET...

Wallen is probably right. John Poindexter probably is a very important and very secret government official. Is there reason not to suppose he has an office under Mount Weather? That is the mountian the shadow government has its' rabbit hole under, aint it? And of course that would be the command post of a top down right wing revolution.

Perhaps we should visit. Perhaps we should take the tour.

But should we arrive unarmed?

That last is a question it would be better not to get wrong.

Same subject. Opus Dei is the way wierd wing of the catholic church. Whipping themselves with cords n such while praying we all start obeying the pope n all kinda sick stuff like that. Claims 80,000 members worldwide, some of them named Poindexter, others below the age of consent. Makes "The Family" look downright wholesome. Frankly, they act alot like the republicans have been lately.

Comment #21: cali said on 6/28/06 @ 5:22pm ET...

The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday rejected a network neutrality amendment, handing cable and phone broadband access providers yet another victory over a coalition that has demanded the application of strict nondiscrimination standards against entities that control access to millions of Internet users.

The panel voted 11 to 11 to defeat an amendment sponsored by Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), who had backing from Google, Yahoo!, eBay, Amazon, Microsoft and other firms that deliver voice, video, and information services and applications.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6348259.html?display=Breaking+News

(from myDD)
The Senate Commerce Committee tied 11-11 on Snowe-Dorgan, with a very contentious debate. Snowe and all the Democrats were on our side. The amendment dies in a tie, but the Dems held, which is great.

http://www.mydd.com/

Comment #22: Frosted Flake said on 6/28/06 @ 5:46pm ET...

Not to shed a crocodile tear, or at least not too many, I did intent to address this issue.

Very Briefly, The New York Times was ASKED not to publish the story on financial spying, just as it was ASKED not to publish the story on domestic telephone spying. Had the subject of either story been a legitimate secret, had the administration a single leg to stand on, the Times would have been TOLD not to publish, the reporters would have been ARRESTED and a complete INVESTIGATION into how they found out would have been conducted, and everyone involved would be now in JAIL.

Regardless of anyones Opinion in the matter, the admission MUST be made that this did not happen. And also the admission that the reason this did not happen is because it could not. And also the admission that the reason it could not is that the law is what it is, regardless of presidential assertions to the contrary.

So much for the theory that either of these programs were or are secret. What IS secret is, how many other programs are there?

I appreciate this forum.
Frosted Flake

Comment #23: Genghis Khan said on 6/28/06 @ 6:54pm ET...

I wonder how many of those Freeper trolls realize they committed a felony by transmitting threats of bodily harm over interstate communications?

Lawless, brainless, clowns. They are already as guilty as the idiots rounded up in Miami last week.

Comment #24: Nolip said on 6/28/06 @ 9:51pm ET...

Can someone please have Catherine Crier address the Dems...she gets to the point as opposed to the Dems who are floundering when they really need to be focused...Arianna Huffington weighs in on this very lack of focus among the Dems...

"Yesterday's Senate debate on flag desecration showed that Democrats are as clueless as ever about who they are and what they should stand for. Case in point, Hillary Clinton's ongoing attempt to rebrand herself as a red state friendly DLC Dem by supporting a bill that would have criminalized flag desecration while still holding on to her liberal bona fides by voting against the Constitutional amendment banning it."

Is Flag Burning Triangulation the Smoke Revealing a Democratic Party Ready to Go Up in Flames?

Comment #25: Reed31463 said on 6/28/06 @ 10:20pm ET...

Comment #22: Frosty, Thank you .

Comment #11: Ron, Thank you.

GOP drafting resolution condemning media's terror finance reports, 27 Jun 2006

Senate Republicans sharply criticized The New York Times and other news media Tuesday for disclosing a secret Bush administration effort to track terrorist financing, and House GOP leaders hurriedly drafted a resolution condemning the stories.

Gee. I guess those Patriots that wrote our Constitution and our Republican form of government didn't know too much. All their writings in documents, letters, and declarations about Liberty, Freedom, and the Pursuit of Happiness is nothing more than "Liberal hate-America" rhetoric. They are so old school and irrelevant after 9-11. Comment #34

No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press. It is, therefore, the first shut up by those who fear the investigation of their actions.” ~Thomas Jefferson to John Tyler, 1804.

Meanwhile, media pundits are condeming the NYT article to justify this agenda enabling legislation.

As obvious as this is to all here, remember to include this when debating with the Points Of Order and the Stouffy 1's: The 1st Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The importance of an an independent media is well known. It used to be a point of pride that was readily made by US citizens that made America "better" than the USSR. Remember the jokes about Pravda as a government propaganda mouthpiece or the fact that Soviet citizens were willing to pay huge sums of money for blue jeans. It was the fact that we could critize the government that made us free and better than them.

So remembering how things used to be, now let's rewind back to Dec 25, 1979. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to stabilize the country after an Islamic revolt and installed Karmal as the President. This action led our boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympic games in Moscow, the Soviet boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in LA, to our funding of the mujahadeen through the ISI (CIA counterpart) in Pakistan, and eventually to the economic collapse of the Soviets 10 years later, which was punctuated by the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989.

Is history repeating itself again? Is our media a becoming a government propaganda mouthpiece? Are "we" spending ourselves into economic collapse? Why are corporations undergoing "globalization"? If we are fighting a Global War On Terror (GWOT), why are we neglecting the rest of the globe?

Why are Americans being targeted by an officer in the US military? Why did this officer go outside his chain of command? What does the IG think? Why is he violating the Laws of War and DoD Directive 5100.77 and DoD Directive 2310.1?

It is DoD policy that:

3.1. The U.S. Military Services shall comply with the principles, spirit, and intent of the international law of war, both customary and codified, to include the Geneva Conventions [references (b) through (e)].

3.2. The U.S. Military Services shall be given the necessary training to ensure they have knowledge of their obligations under the Geneva Conventions [references (b) through (e)] and as required by DoD Directive 5100.77 [reference (f)] before an assignment to a foreign area where capture or detention of enemy personnel is possible.

3.3 ...the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War [references (d) and (e)].

Why are soldiers who report abuses against civilians labeled with "personality disorders?"

The GOP lawyers who are drafting this legislation need to be reported to the American Bar Association. It is articles like the one published by the NYT and FOIA requests from organizations that have exposed violations of the Laws of War, the illegal conduct of administration officials, and the prevailing attitude in the military: "We can do what we please."

Ha. I was going to keep this one short.

Comment #26: Reed31463 said on 6/29/06 @ 1:19am ET...

Although the poll is unscientific, Lou Dobbs is doing great work in protecting our right to vote.

CNN DRE poll

Looks like the citizens get it. Why are the ReTHUGlicans afraid? Because they know cheating is their only chance to get re-elected.

Ha. Short and sweet.