Police State USA

Just a few words, before the professor Gates arrest and subsequent arrest of DC lawyer Tuma fades into the memory hole.
We need abuse of authority laws with the same power as hate crime laws. We need to challenge the culture behind our police state.

Why Sotomayor is the Perfect Obama Nominee

In an excellent post one 10 Things You Should Know (about Sotomayor), number 7 is quite revealing (Huffington Post):
Sotomayor’s record on two key hot button cultural issues is thin. But, quite notably, her sole opinion regarding abortion was in line with the anti-abortion movement’s position.
…
That said, pro-choice groups hailed her nomination, with Planned Parenthood declaring [...]

Mitt Romney Doesn’t Understand the Courts

Mitt Romney’s weak attack on Sotomayer shows a startling failure to understand her statement or our judicial system.  And this guy wanted to be President?!
Romney said (via CNN):
“The nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is troubling. Her public statements make it clear she has an expansive view of the role of the [...]

California’s Prop8 Upheld

Reports are coming in from Twitter that Prop8 has been upheld (with an exception for existing marriages).  This should be overturned by votes in 2010 (Orcinus):
Fortunately, the polls suggest that if it went back to the ballot next year, there’s a good chance a reversal would probably pass. A lot of Californians who stood on [...]

Anger: Markets and the Reverse Galt Reality

Watching Jon Stewart eviscerate Cramer, MSNBC and Financial Reporting was a cathartic experience.  All the more so with the rash of movement conservatives and talking heads putting Ayn Rand on a pedestal and contemplating the virtues of Going Galt.  Because the idea being “Going Galt” is that it is the CEO’s who are the wealth [...]

California Religious Schools Civil Rights Free

Apparently religious schools in California aren’t subject to civil rights laws.  I wonder what else they can get away with, thanks to this ruling?
The funny thing is that the kids were expelled based on the perception of their sexuality.  Wonder if this would fly is the school was run by a Christian Identity Church and [...]

Police in San Francisco Commit Murder

This is horrifying (Holly at Feministe, emphasis mine):
On New Year’s morning, the San Francisco BART police–yes, transit cops–dragged a bunch of young men off a train, including Oscar Grant. An officer then proceeded to execute Grant of them with a gunshot through the back, while he was restrained and lying face-down on the ground.
I think [...]

The Republican Police State is Here

The Police, in riot gear and carrying semi automatic weapons, raided houses on a purely political basis.  This was done at the behest of the federal government.
They blamed “anarchists”.  No, seriously.  These raids were carried out for thought crime.
Ian Welsh is right in observing that the bleeding silence from the media and political class is [...]

Open Letter to a PUMA

Dear Ron:
In your letter, you said:
I’ve supported the Democrats for 40 years because the Dem party was also the democratic party. This year, those two things have diverged.
No, they haven’t.  One candidate won the primary with the most votes and the most delegates.  PUMA is standing against democracy in democracy’s name.  Why should the majority [...]

Immaculate Rape

Immaculate Rape (noun) – Rape in which there is no rapist, merely a victim who may be found culpable due to one or more of the following: ingestion of alchohol, wearing of revealing clothing, living in a society that permits sex outside of marriage, being near a male in the throes of the evolutionary perogative.
Immaculate [...]

Pffft, Just Another Broken Law (Biological Weapons This Time, Yawn)

Dave is all concerned about international law and illegal biological weapons potentially produced by the US (emphasis mine):
You see, the process used to create this anthrax was in flagrant violation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (more here). The United States is not just a cosigner, it is one of the chief authors of [...]

Democrats vs Republicans: Law and Rove

The important vote to hold Karl Rove in contempt for skipping his hearing was an essential step towards confirming that we are still a nation of laws (emphasis mine):
Voting 20-14 along party lines, the House Judiciary Committee said that Rove had broken the law by failing to appear at a July 10 hearing on allegations [...]

Is Karl Rove Above the Law?

Karl Rove skipped out on a subpoena.  Will he be held accountable for breaking the law?  From a Brave New Films advisory (emphasis mine):
LOS ANGELES – A coalition of organizations has launched a new campaign urging the House Judiciary Committee to hold Karl Rove in contempt and send him to jail.  In a clear violation [...]

Call to Investigate Army Murder Cover Up

On July 19, 2005, a US soldier was murdered.  The murder was literally covered up as a suicide, and glaring inconsistencies in the official autopsy with actual wounds ignored.  (Feministing):
Retired Army Col. Ann Wright explains what we all want investigated:
From the day their daughter’s body was returned to them, the parents had grave suspicions about [...]

Bush, Rove, Cheney – We’ll Never Pay

Karl Rove has flown the coop!  I don’t understand how we can pretend to be a nation of laws when this guy is allowed to ignore a subpoena:

Karl Rove was scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee yesterday. He didn’t show. Not only that, the Committee was told that Rove had left the country [...]