NASA has captured a picture of what appears to be the hand of God reaching across space. Notably, the picture was taken as former Sen. Ted Stevens (R., Alaska) is about to appear in federal court to declare victory after the Justice Department drops its case against him.
Category: Congress
With billions of federal stimulus and bailout money engorging lobbyists in Washington, I finally found a photo of one of these fat cats in the aftermath of visiting the public troth.
Continue reading “FAT CAT”
There is an astonishing effort by intelligence officials to block Attorney General Eric Holder and White House counsel Gregory Craig from releasing torture memos from the Justice Department. A senior national-security aide named John Brennan is leading the effort to block the release with the backing of people at the CIA. It takes considerable hubris given the CIA’s knowing destruction of evidence of torture and obvious motivation to withhold the memoranda to further conceal the agency’s involvement in war crimes. One official is quoted as saying “Holy hell has broken loose over this.” That is certainly the proper venue for officials still struggling to cover-up evidence of war crimes.
The Air Force has completed a bizarre case involving a former senior judge advocate general to practiced for more than 20 years without disclosing that he had been disbarred from practice. Col. Michael D. Murphy was convicted on three counts of conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman, one count of failing to obey a lawful order, and three counts of larceny. However, because the White House Military Office refused to release basic discovery material, he will not spend a day in jail and will simply leave the Air Force.
The effort to gain a presidential pardon for Jack Johnson took a major step this week with the support of Sen. John McCain R., Az). The conviction of Johnson for a 1913 Mann Act violation was a disgrace and it is time for the wrong to be righted.
In a major decision, Attorney General Eric Holder has announced that he has found that the Justice Department has acted improperly in barring any criminal investigation of well-documented war crimes committed by the Bush Administration in the torture program. To punish the failure of the Department to act in a timely fashion, he has announced that no criminal charges will be pursued regarding torture to teach prosecutors a lesson that “justice delayed is justice denied.”
Continue reading “Attorney General Eric Holder Announces Justice Department Will Not Investigate War Crimes Due to Prosecutorial Misconduct”
The Justice Department will be dropping all charges against former Senator Ted Steven (R., Alaska) due to the misconduct of its own prosecutors. The actions of the Justice Department in the case has been a continued scandal and the question is now what action will be taken against these prosecutors who scuttled a major criminal case through unethical and grossly negligent conduct. On closer examination, however, the action by Attorney General Eric Holder falls a bit short.
Continue reading “Justice Department To Void Case Against Former Sen. Ted Stevens”
Spanish investigating magistrate Baltasar Garzon has passed a 98-page complaint to prosecutors that accuses former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and five others violations of international law, including torture.
Continue reading “Spanish Court Orders Investigation of Bush Aides for War Crimes at Guantanamo Bay”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid insisted this week that it was not the fault of the Democrats in confirming John Roberts and not using their power to block the nomination. Rather, they were tricked by Roberts who lied to them in suggesting that he was a moderate and that we are now “stuck” with him as chief justice.
Continue reading “Reid Says Chief Justice Roberts Lied to Congress in Confirmation Hearings”
Henry Ford once promised customers any color so long as it is black. Now, California seems close to saying that black cars can stay out of the state. This is not a racist takeover, but an environmental movement to encourage the selection of cars that reflect light to reduce energy demands.
Continue reading “Any Color So Long As It Is Green: California Moves to Regulate Car Color”
While Congress attempts to get back roughly $170 million in bonuses paid to executives at American International Group (AIG), AIG is suing the U.S. government (its largest shareholder) for $306 million in tax payments. Between bailouts, bonuses, and tax refunds, it is getting difficult to tell how has what amount of the public fisc.
Continue reading “After Using Federal Bailout Money To Award Massive Bonuses, AIG Is Now Using Public Funds to Sue the Government To Get Back $306 millions in Tax Payments Tied to Offshore Tax Havens”
The first names of AIG executives who received millions in bonuses have been released. Some executives are now suggesting that the company should pay for private security — which would presumably come from public funds. These executives include , labeled “Jackpot Jimmy by New York newspapers. He is James Haas, 47, an executive VP and the co-leader of North American marketing. Also named are Douglas Poling, 48, the unit’s general counsel, as well as a director, executive vice president and chief administrative officer, and Jonathan Liebergall, 43, a unit director and head of municipal finance.
Yesterday, Senate Banking committee Chairman Christopher Dodd took responsibility for inserting language into the federal stimulus bill that protected bonuses like the controversial AIG bonuses. A Treasury official has acknowledged that the Obama Administration pushed for the language. On Tuesday, Dodd denied have any role in inserting the language.
Continue reading “Senator Christopher Dodd Admits Responsibility For Inserting Language Protecting Bonuses”
President Barack Obama has proclaimed that the bonuses to AIG executives is “outrageous” but the “The buck stops with me.” The White House press corp again failed to ask the obvious question: what does that mean? When everyone is at fault, no one is generally accountable in the bizarre world that is Washington.
Continue reading “When Everyone is at Fault, No One is Accountable: Barack Obama Takes Blame for AIG Bonuses”
Courts routinely defer to legislative findings of fact, but this one may be a bit too ambitious. Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA), has introduced a resolution seeking to place the Lincoln-Obama bible on permanent display in the Capitol Visitor Center, a very good idea. However, the resolution includes the following line: “Whereas the Holy Bible is God’s Word.”
Continue reading “The Ultimate Legislative Finding of Fact: Congress Considering Resolution That Declares Holy Bible To Be God’s Word”