Hell No! No Immunity for Telecoms That Helped Bush Spy on You

The Bush Administration's own Justice Department had to browbeat an incredibly sick man into approving procedures and wiretaps that he rightly believed to be unconstitutional (as so declared by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals). And now they want to help protect the people who helped them break the law instead of refusing on the grounds that Bush Administration's requests were illegal. Those corporate CEOs had a responsibility to their shareholders to do the right, legal thing - they have no responsibility to help the government break its own laws. For this reason alone the companies should be subject to, and hopefully lose, class action lawsuits from their customers.

Who is the WH Official Most Deserving of Blame for the Katrina Debacle?

The Bush Administration continues its self-flagellations over the Katrina Debacle,but the press has never really pushed for a full accounting of who really was responsible for the government-wide failure to prepare for and address the catastrophe. If it wasn't Brownie (and it wasn't), who was responsible for this failure?

That answer is easy: Andy Card. Not only because he was Chief of Staff at the time, but because (a) he was on vacation when this happened; and (b) he had the most experience with hurricane disaster clean up. In fact, during the Bush 41 Administration, he was President George H.W. Bush's point person coordinating the recovery from Hurricane Andrew, another devastating hurricane to hit the U.S. - it's even on his official WH bio. In fact, he did such a good job in this role, that it became a model of how to handle these types of situations.

If anyone in the Bush 43 White House should have been able to manage this disaster, it was him. And what's more, he was the WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF at the time. He should have been on the ground helping organizing the recovery. Afterall, he had the most experience dealing with this of anyone close to the President.

It wasn't Brownie's fault; it was Andy Card's, but the MSM hasn't really picked that up at all.

Of Course Hillary Won't Pick Obama - She'll Pick Harold Ford, Jr. Instead

Robert Novak wrote last Saturday (8.18.07):

Against Clinton-Obama

Anticipating that Sen. Hillary Clinton will clinch the Democratic presidential nomination, some supporters are beginning to argue against her principal rival -- Sen. Barack Obama -- for vice president.

They maintain that Obama provides no general election help for Clinton. As an African-American from Illinois, Obama represents an ethnic group and a state already solidly in the Democratic column.

This school of thought advocates a Southerner as Clinton's running mate. The last time Democrats won a national election without a Southerner on the ticket was 1944. Prominent Democrats from the South are in short supply today. The leading prospect: former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner.

Novak is right that Obama brings nothing to the table, and it is debatable wheteher he really does share much of the African-American experience in the United States. (It doesn't matter what I think about this, but it does matter with African-American grassroots and grasstops members think). However, Novak is wrong in predicting Mark Warner as the leading Veep candidate.

The leading dark horse candidate should be, and I believe is, Harold Ford, Jr. Unlike Obama he hails from a red state in the South, has actually had to run competitively statewide (does anyone really think Obama gained a lot of solid campaign experience beating Alan Keyes?) and many Democrats believe (incorrectly or not) that he was robbed of the Senate seat due to blatant race-baiting which should increase Democratic turnout in Tennessee if he is on the ticket. This could be especially important if Fred Thompson upsets Giuliani to become the GOP 2008 Nominee.

Ford also is the current Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, formerly chaired by Bill Clinton during his days as Governor of Arkansas. Additionally, the Obama phenomenon and the decent results achieved by Bill Richardson have acculturated Democratic activists to the idea of a minority on the ticket (beyond a privileged white woman of course). However, picking Richardson or any hispanic politician would enrage the nation's black community who beleive their time for a more prominent place on the national stage/in the national debate, and who likely would view an hispanic pick as "skipping over" one of their own.

Additionally, while it's crass to say this, Harold does not look especially black, thus blunting nationally any latent racism. In fact, the emergence of narrowcasting means that his ethnicity would be more promoted in some regions of the nation and less in others, and the liberal media would do much to protect him this time around from a nationwide repeat of 2006. Additionally, while his family is from Tennessee political aristocracy, it is much harder to argue that he doesn't understand or hasn't shared in the African-American experience, or "isn't black enough."

Clinton-Ford '08. The ticket even sounds like the name of a reliable friend who'll help you out. It also subtley evokes fond memories of former President Ford, making him an even better choice and a familiar name in Michigan (a potential battleground state) even if he's not from there.

Hillary-Harold or H2 would be good campaign bumper stickers too.

Morrissey Still Not Over it: Turns down Smith Reunion with Johnny Marr

Rolling Stone : Morrissey Turned Down Mega-Bucks Smiths Reunion Offer Over Johnny Marr

From RS Online:

Morrissey has once again broken the hearts of millions of already-damaged Smiths fans by refusing to reunite the band. The Mozzer’s publicist has confirmed that the crooner declined a $75 million offer to tour as the Smiths in 2008 and/or 2009 even though the only requirement was that Johnny Marr also be a part of the reunion. What does this new information tell us? That the theory surmising that Morrissey’s legal battles with former Smith Mike Joyce were behind his resistance to reuniting the band is flawed. Apparently Morrissey isn’t up for any kind of Smiths reunion … yet. In the meantime, Marr is still an integral part of Modest Mouse, and Joyce is counting the Smiths back pay and royalties he collected in 1996 and releasing an album with his latest band, Vinny Peculiar, in October.

For background on the Smith's break up click here.

Traveler: A Retread of the Da Vinci Code & National Treasure?

Traveler has been one of the real joys of the summer season for a conspiracy fan like me. Like the X-Files, the show revolves around a conspiracy composed of high-level government officials involved in a shadowy project. They claim to be derived from the "Fourth Branch," of which the only clue we have regarding them is a painting which seemingly depicts the Continental Congress at work.

And of course the primary conspirator of which we are aware is a high level official at the Department of Homeland Security, since DHS has replaced FEMA in conspiracy/public consciouness. Under the aegis of the Fourth Branch, the conspirators start to implement a plan of domestic terrorism in order to gain more power at the expense of public freedom.

Where I'm going with this is that the painting implies that the Fourth Branch was created at the beginning of the Republic and is a secret branch of the government dedicated to protecting it from internal enemies (remember the Alien & Sedition Acts?). This bears some similarity to the conspriracies in both National Treasure and the Da Vinci Code.

I would argue that the conspiracy in Traveler is more engaging and franklyT simply more interesting than that of the above mentioned movies. Most of the episodes share Prison Break's break-neck pace and cliff-hanger endings combined, with great effect, with an equally intriguing story line. The most interesting contrast between the two shows is that with Prison Break, the audience witnesses the inside of the conspiracy, while in Traveler we witness the quest for knowlege of the consipiracy.

To answer my own question: No. It is not.

Jericho: An Illustration of our Deepest Fears

Jericho is the story about an American Nuclear Holocaust, told in an idyllic setting, leaves many questions unanswered at the end, much like Surface and Invasion did a few years ago.

(They too were conspiracy shows with season long arcs to maintain interest and slowly reveal the full conspiracy as well as its purpose. The mid-run format change of both Alias and Veronica Mars from season-arc to several mini-arcs throughout the season also demonstrates that we collectively are too impatient to apply to Jericho too watch a conspiracy unfold over that long a time period. This seemed to applies to Jericho as well.)

The Show
Jericho itself seems a relatively good representation of what could happen after a mulitple nuclear strike attack on the United States. Commications systems would break down due to the EMP pulses from the detonations, some towns and cities would remain relatively peaceful due to strong leadership, some would become dictatorial compounds, and the nation itself wold divide along regional lines as competing centers of power vied for supremacy. Learning why it happened would be of secondary importance for the first few months after the attack. The show implies that the man pulling the strings in Jericho, like the man pulling the strings in Traveler is deeply embedded in the Federal Government as, of course, an official at the Department of Homeland Security and is attempting to use the respective attacks to cause choas and fear out of which a New Order would arrive.

Thankfully the Jericho writing campaign resulted in seven more episodes being made for the fall. Hopefully the full conspiracy will be revealed in these episodes and we'll have an interesting resolution to the series.

The Cultural Implications of Its Cancellation
One of the questions regarding its cancellation is whether we collectively are we getting tired of season long story arcs that gradually unfold with a series of twists and turns? You could argue that the third season of Veronica Mars changed from the above mentioned format to one with several multiple-episode story arcs instead of just one. I do believe however, that Veronica Mars was one of the recent catalysts for the emergence of several season-long story arc programs such as Prison Break and Burn Notice.

My answer to the question posed above is no. The two shows mentioned above mentioned programs are the reason why. They are both well written and have compelling story lines within each episode along with an overarching goal towards which each episode moves the characters at a relatively fast clip.

Huckabee Victory Not A Surprise

Ok, so the post is a little late, but Senator Huckabee's 2nd place showing in the Iowa Straw Poll on the 11th, seems to have shocked members of the political cognoscenti who thought he would be eclipsed by Brownback or Tancredo. However, had you seen Huckabee at CPAC in March, you would understand why: Huckabee already has a coherent theme that encompasses his entire agenda: he's a "Freedom Conservative," a name almost calculated to bring the "leave me alone coalition" back into the party fold after their collective disgust with Republican venality, corruption, and betrayal of core principles. His speech was very well received by those of use who attended it. Romney by comparison was a surprisingly flat speaker and eclipsed by his eloquent wife.

Governor Huckabee is also a former minister and has a knack for connecting with audiences that other candidates don't have, which was definitely an advantage. Having that in his background allows him to focus on other issues that can expand the party base, since his previous occupation and positions pretty well cover the issues important to the largest segment of the Republican Coalition.

The Straw Poll's importance was obviously diminished this year compared to 1999 due to the decisions of the McCain and Giuliani campaigns to skip the party fundraising event. However, it is still important enough that Huckabee likely will get a bounce and needed fundraising assistance out of his Second Place showing. This should be enought to elbow himself past McCain (the fork's been stuck in him a while yet - now he's just holding on to get FEC matching funds to pay his debts) into the top three position depending on how Fred Thompson performs over the next few weeks. Huckabee is even set to challenge both Romney and Thompson on pure accomplishments. He's simply done more as Governor than Romney did, and does anyone remember anything substantive that Fred Thompson did while in the Senate?

Huckabee is currently doing everything he can ((and doing, and doing it) and doing it well). With a little luck, he could become the conservative alternative to Giuliani, and much more comforting to the base in general than a Mormon. Plus, the fact that he lost all that weight is a testament to his will power, and demonstrates commitment to follow through on necessary issues.

This could be the start of something interesting . . .he'll just have to maximize his earned media and try to keep the MSM more focused on him than on their favorite: Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson.

You Know You're Campaign's Going South When You're a Game Show Joke

Responding to Power of 10's Drew Cary, a contestant replied that her haircuts cost $200. Mr. Cary went on to make a joke about the price of Senator Edwards's haircut. Once a campaign blunder becomes a cultural meme, it's clear the campaign is going South, and that it needs to recover quickly. The Edwards campaign has not. $400 haircuts and a woman fighting your fights (Elizabeth and her feeble attacks on Edwards' opponents) does raise questsions as to whether the whispers about him, publicly aired by Ann Coulter to howls of liberal outrage, are true.

What's worse is that as the haircut meme spreads throughout our popular culture, self-replicating as a it moves along, it continually undermines the Senator's poverty/Two Americas/class-warfare agenda. This is a huge problem for him, and because it wasn't dealt with properly fast enough, has likely already sent his campaign into a death spiral.

A Victory in the Battle to Retain Our Constitutional Rights

In the wake of the Democratic Congress granting the Presidency almost totalitarian powers of citizen suveillance, the ACLU has won and important court case

ACLU Press release regarding recent court victory below:

In Unprecedented Order, FISA Court Requires Bush Administration to Respond to ACLU's Request That Secret Court Orders Be Released to the Public (8/17/2007)

Government Must Respond by August 31

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org

WASHINGTON - In an unprecedented order, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) has required the U.S. government to respond to a request it received last week by the American Civil Liberties Union for orders and legal papers discussing the scope of the government's authority to engage in the secret wiretapping of Americans. According to the FISC's order, the ACLU's request "warrants further briefing," and the government must respond to it by August 31. The court has said that any reply by the ACLU must be filed by September 14.

"Disclosure of these court orders and legal papers is essential to the ongoing debate about government surveillance," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "We desperately need greater transparency and public scrutiny.We're extremely encouraged by today's development because it means that, at long last, the government will be required to defend its contention that the orders should not be released."

The ACLU filed the request with the FISC following Congress' recent passage of the so-called "Protect America Act," a law that vastly expands the Bush administration's authority to conduct warrantless wiretapping of Americans' international phone calls and e-mails. In their aggressive push to justify passing this ill-advised legislation, the administration and members of Congress made repeated and veiled references to orders issued by the FISC earlier this year. The legislation is set to expire in six months unless it is renewed.

"These court orders relate to the circumstances in which the government should be permitted to use its profoundly intrusive surveillance powers to intercept the communications of U.S. citizens and residents," said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU's National Security Project. "The debate about this issue should not take place in a vacuum.It's imperative that the public have access to basic information about what the administration has proposed and what the intelligence court has authorized."

FISC orders have played a critical role in the evolution of the government's surveillance activities over the past six years. After September 11, President Bush authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to inaugurate a program of warrantless wiretapping inside the United States. In January 2007, however, just days before an appeals court was to hear the government's appeal from a judicial ruling that had found the NSA program to be illegal in a case brought by the ACLU, Attorney General Gonzales announced that the NSA program would be discontinued. Gonzales explained that the change was made possible by FISC orders issued on January 10, 2007, which he characterized as "complex" and "innovative." Those orders are among the documents requested by the ACLU.

Since January 2007, government officials have spoken publicly about the January 10 orders in congressional testimony, to the media and in legal papers - the orders remaining secret all the while. They have also indicated that the FISC issued other orders in the spring that restricted the administration's surveillance activities. House Minority Leader John Boehner stated that the FISC had issued a ruling prohibiting intelligence agents from intercepting foreign-to-foreign calls passing through the United States. To a large extent, it was the perception that the FISC had issued an order limiting the administration's surveillance authority that led Congress to pass the new legislation expanding the government's surveillance powers. Yet the order itself, like the January 2007 order, has remained secret.

The ACLU's request to the FISC acknowledges that the FISC's docket includes a significant amount of material that is properly classified. The ACLU argues, however, that the release of court orders and opinions would not raise any security concern to the extent that these records address purely legal issues about the scope of the government's wiretap authority, and points out that the FISC has released such orders and opinions before. The ACLU is seeking release of all information in those judicial orders and legal papers the court determines, after independent review, to be unclassified or improperly classified.

A copy of the FISA court order, the ACLU's motion to the FISC, as well as information about the ACLU's lawsuit against the NSA and other related materials are available online at: www.aclu.org/spying

In addition to Jaffer, lawyers on the case are Steven R. Shapiro, Melissa Goodman, and Alexa Kolbi-Molinas of the ACLU and Art Spitzer of the ACLU of the National Capital Area.

Pop Culture Gets the NSA Wrong Again

The latest episode of Burn Notice repeats a government-conspiracy meme about the NSA that seems to have emerged in Enemy of the State and become embedded in Hollywood's conception of government covert operations (not that Hollywood has a real grasp on anything internationally-related beyond the superficial, Syriana included).

The NSA officially has supplanted the CIA as the official spooky agency in American pop culture, much like the Department of Homeland Security has supplanted FEMA as the source of traitorous governmental conspiracies against the U.S. government.

The meme I'm speaking of is the conception of the NSA as a spy agency like the CIA, but on steroids. The NSA is a an intelligence gathering organization. They monitor electronic signals around the world from emails to cell-phone calls to landline calls. They do not run assassination squads, train covert agents or anything of the sort. That is what the CIA and possibly parts of the military/Department of Defense do.

This meme seems to have emerged in the early 1990s because it was then that the U.S. government officially acknowledged the agency's existence. Until that time, its entire existence was classified.

By repeating this meme, Burn Notice is contributing to the misinformation/miseducation of the American people regarding what our government really does. It also perpetuates the meme, making it even more likely to survive, and contributing to the general public's misunderstanding of which parts of the government do what.

The Redeeming Qualities of Greeks

By far, the most surprising pleasure of the evolving summer season is Greeks on the ABC Family Network. The show revolves around Rusty the Freshmen negotiating his way through the ins and outs of rushing a fraternity. Rusty's adventures are impacted by his geekiness and the role his sister plays in one of the school's premier sororities.

Dale, Rusty's abstinent, evangelical electronic engineering major of a roommate is by far one of the most innovative side characters in a long time. My favorite line of his to a fraternity boy he was evangelizing to: "No, David smote the Philistine with a stone, he didn't smoke with the Philistine and get stoned!"

However, the most intriguing thing about Greeks is the subtle exploration of the issue of meritocracy vs. aristocracy and their uneasy co-existence. Meritocracy in Greeks is embodied in the character of Rusty's sister Cassie who plays by the rules and does what it takes to achieve her goals. Aristocracy by Cassie's sorority little sister, and daughter of one of the states Senaors, who posesses a lesser sense of ethics which is driven by a sense of entitlement.

Cassie's boyfriend cheats on her at the beginning of the show with the Senator's daughter, thus setting up the series of subtle conflicts between the two that presumably go on all semester. The conflict culminates in Evan, Cassie's boyfriend, having to ditch Cassie in favor of the Senator's daughter as his date for a benefit with his parents. He does it without hesitation, because of the connections he will help forge for his family. Meanwhile, Cassie the Meritocrat is left on the sidelines because of her ethic of earning everything she has/needs.

Rusty also earns his way to what he wants. He rushes all the fraternities and ends up in the one most laid back, and coincidentally run by his sister, which rewards him with cheers of admiration when he exhibits various skills which benefit the fraternity. He isn't required to conform to any standard, unlike the implied members of the rival fraternity lead by Cassie's new boyfriend.

Pop Culture really hasn't explored issues of class like this since the heydays of the John Waters film.

Smashing Pumpkins Is Still a Heavy Metal Machine

I hope Virgin decides to keep its Festival in Pimilico for the next several years. It will be a welcome replacement for the HFStival and a good place to hear new bands. And this year's show was replete with excellent performances by some of the best bands around. It was a hard choice at first when deciding between this and Lollapalooza in Chicago. I love Chicago, and I love My Morning Jacket. But the Pumpkins weren't playing there this year, and all the other Lollapalooza bands I wanted to see were at Virgin Festival. (oh, and I liked the jokey riding guitar pick logo - very cool post-modern allusion to Preakness.

The atmosphere was free and fun, and as the Washington Post alluded to, there was plently of pot to go around if you're into that. I have always adhered to the South Park philosophy: "There's a time and a place for everyting, and it's called college."

One not-so-new-band that continued to Rock the House was Smashing Pumpkins with a tour de force performance of their new material interspersed with classics from their past CDs. They even hit "Heavy Metal Machine" from their ill-fated Machina/Machines of God concept double albumn. Of the six performances I've seen beginning with the inaugural date on the Siamese Dream tour (more out of luck, than rock knowledge), this was by far the best. The performances were outstanding, and the giant screens focused a lot on Billy's chord-play and Jimmy's stick banging. The fact that it dien't really focus on the bassist or other guitarist reminded me of rumors that D'Arcy and James Iha have not rejoined the band. However, Jimmy is back in despite almost dying of a heroin overdose.

While I got a teasing taste of The Police at Live Earth, their full-on concert rocked from beginning to end, demonstrating why theirs has been one of the most anticipated reunion tours in years. Evey song was played perfectly, and they thrived off the crowd's energy with one of the best performances I've ever scene. And Sting was gracious enough to reintroduce Stuart Copeland and Andy Sommers after their 20 year eclipse by Sting's solo act.

The Beasties of course rocked the house as well, setting up the crowd for the afore mentioned performance. Like the Pumpkins, they performed a variety of classics from each albumn. Unfortunately, they did not perform the always crowd pleasing"Paul Revere". Either that or I was overserved at that time.

Panic At the Disco won thousands of new fans with their performance. Reports of their eleclectic sound are not to be dismissed, and a major reason why you should see them at the next opportunity.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs put on a solid performance, that slowly built the crowd into a frenzy as Karen O crooned all our favorites.

Interpol was good. They may be a good studio band, but they need more festival experience. Not that they didn't rock, but they just didn't seem to connect with the crowd as much as they could have.

Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals put on another first rate show and converted me to full on fan. Their music is complex, mellow, funky, and radically fun. Anyone who hasn't checked them out, should definitely do so.

Incubus put on the first great performance I witnessed at the show. Though I got there late due to working on Saturday.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Vindicated

According to Congress Daily/AM, it turns out that it was Congressman Anthony Weiner who caused the ruckus which Congressman Terry went over to discuss with Rep. Jackson. Jackson, being completely in the right and not understanding why Rep. Terry was confronting him, reacted in a very natural way. Mr. Rothman of New Jersey made sure nothing untoward happened that night, and Lee Terry later apologized to Jesse Jackson, Jr.

As a native Chicago Southsider, I'm proud of him for standing up for himself in the manner in which he did.

Though I still like the Cat in the Hat pic vs. the Karate pic.

Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting (in Congress)

Congressmen Lee Terry vs Congressmen Jesse Jackson Jr.!!!

Nebraska's Second District Rep. Lee Terry went toe-to-toe with Rep. Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL). I guess you can take the boy out of the South Side of Chicago . . .



Terry and Jackson

Hat tip to Leavenworth Street for the below post which I blatantly stole (but at least I admit it).

And by toe-to-toe, we don’t mean they argued their positions – we mean they nearly came to fisticuffs off the House floor.

Apparently House Republicans have been using delaying tactics on some bills that have come through lately and the Democrat House Leader decided to take action against it. The Dems say they had a deal, the GOP said they’re being railroaded. (Lawmakers Shout Across House Floor Over Kids Health Spending Bill - FOXNews - 8/1/07.)

So, according to Congressional Quarterly, it went like this:

The dustup nearly touched off a fight between two members. Profanity flew after Jesse L. Jackson Jr., D-Ill., yelled out that Republicans "can’t be trusted." "Shut up," Lee Terry, R-Neb., shot back. The two squared off later, and Terry said Jackson used the F-word repeatedly and invited him to "step outside" the chamber. They didn’t, thanks in part to a third lawmaker who separated them.
Now we’re not saying that Lee would have gotten his butt kicked – ok maybe we are. I mean, check out these pics on Jackson Jr.’s freaking campaign website! He’s apparently some kind of Kung-Fu grand-master, and he has pics of him breaking this little guy’s jaw!



But I’ll tell you this: Lee Terry may only be 5’7” (5’10” with the hair) and 190 lbs dripping wet, but he’s scrappy. He’d be in there biting ankles and gouging eyes. He wouldn’t go down without a fight.

So there’s your new campaign slogan: “Lee Terry: Fighting (literally) for Nebraska”.

(Come back to Leavenworth Street as we update.)

[Update: Congressman "Fightin'" Lee Terry's office responded to Leavenworth Street that Terry decided not to "go outside" with Congressman Jackson (good choice), and that today they shook hands and decided to put it behind them. (No word on whether it was one of those handshakes where each of them grips really hard and tries to crush the other guy's hand.)

Apparently some other Members suggested they have a Smack Down for Charity. Lee (again, wisely) declined.]

[Update 10:00 PM 8/1/07: Well, how about the OWH and Washington Post reporting on this story and BOTH referring to the Jesse Jackson Jr. karate pics. And the Post even using the Kung Fu term, just like Leavenworth Street. And the OWH using the exact same photo as Leavenworth Street. How about that? And not a single hat-tip to Leavenworth Street. It's all flattery, right? Right?]

Will Traveler's Painting That Reveals All

I found a copy of the painting that Will Traveler stole from the Drexler Museum. The copy I found is a giant mural on the landing between the 2nd and 3rd floors of the U.S. Capitol, and it depicts the Continental Congress at work.

The central figure (by which I mean the one in the center) in the painting is holding up 4 fingers, which must relate to the 4th Branch which seems to be the central conspiracy/mystery of the Traveller series. There likely is some historical reason for the 4 fingers,e.g. casting proxy votes for other colonial/patriot delegates to the Constitutional Convention, but that's not relevant for our purposes.

Oh, and Robert E. Lee's war horse was named Traveller. Since he was a leader of the Rebellion Against the Union, maybe this means that the 4th Branch is in rebellion against the current government.