U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson in Richmond, Virginia had struck down the centerpiece of the national health care plan: the mandatory requirement that all citizens get health care coverage. The lengthy 42-page opinion details how the law falls outside of interstate commerce jurisdiction — the concern that I previously voiced in a column.
Continue reading “Mandatory Health Care Provision Struck Down As Unconstitutional”
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
The “Berniebuster” begins:
Continue reading “Senator Bernie Sanders Takes a Stand on President Obama’s Tax Cut Compromise”
Recently, Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas took to the floor of the House to talk about Wikileaks, transparency in government, and the case of Daniel Ellsberg, the 
Pentagon Papers, and the New York Times. He spoke about how the Iraq War was based on lies. He asked how the U. S. government should prosecute a citizen of Australia for publishing classified U. S. documents that he did not steal. Paul also said the following: “Revealing the real nature and goal of our presence in so many Muslim countries is a threat to our empire, and any revelation of this truth is highly resented by those in charge.”
Continue reading “Ron Paul Speaks about Wikileaks on the Floor of the House”
Shortly ago, the United States Senate convicted Judge G. Thomas Porteous of the Eastern District of the Louisiana in his impeachment trial. Below is his statement:
Continue reading “Statement of Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr.”
The United States Senate will convene with all 100 members this morning for the final arguments in the impeachment of Judge G. Thomas Porteous. Final motions arguments will commence at 9:45 am on the Senate floor.
Continue reading “THE PORTEOUS IMPEACHMENT: FINAL ARGUMENTS”
The pressure continues to find ways to cut off support and access to WikiLeaks material. PalPal was the latest company to move against Wikileaks by cutting off the ability of people to make donations to support the whistleblower disclosures. The company waited until Friday (when coverage would be reduced) to make the move.
Continue reading “Whose Pal Are You Anyway? Company Cuts Off Financial Support for Wikileaks Through PayPal”
The United States Senate will convene with all 100 members on Tuesday, December 7th for the final arguments in the impeachment of Judge G. Thomas Porteous. Our weekend crew of contributors has agreed to keep the shop going until after the final vote — likely on Wednesday, December 8th.
Continue reading “THE PORTEOUS IMPEACHMENT: THE CLOSING ARGUMENTS TO BE HEARD ON TUESDAY”
A day after Amazon was forced to block Wikileaks, the site is again offline in an alleged campaign by the United States to prevent the public from seeing the whistleblower material. This includes a disclosure, discussed last night on Countdown, that the Obama Administration has been misleading the public and actually moved to force Spain to drop its prosecution of American officials for war crimes and torture.
Continue reading “Is the United States Engaging In Unlawful Cyber Attacks Against Carriers of Wikileaks?”
Joe Lieberman, chairman of the senate homeland security committee, may be delighted with Amazon for cutting off access for Wikileaks, but its customers are not. There are growing calls for a boycott of the company — particularly as a review of the Wikileaks material has disclosed important information such as the efforts of the Obama Administration to block investigations into torture.
Continue reading “Amazon Facing Growing Calls For Boycott After Cutting Off Wikileaks”
It is that time of the year for our annual blawgletting — the ABA top blog competition. We have once again been selected as one of the top 100 legal blogs (of over 3000) and nominated for the IMHO (opinion) category and it is time to release our minions upon the field of blog battle. Vote here to defend our way of life and the future of the planet.
While the world is reacting to leaks indicating that Saudi Arabia is funding Al Qaeda and Clinton ordered diplomats to engage in espionage, Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have called for the prosecution of those responsible for the leaks.
Continue reading “McCaskill and Graham Call For Prosecution in Wikileaks Case”
Boris Johnson, the conservative Mayor of London, has declared George Bush a persona non grata — asking him to stay out of London with his new torture-touting memoir. The question is whether such international shunning will become actual effort to prosecute Bush, who just confessed to war crimes. I discussed the controversy on Countdown.
In this video, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) suggests that he would like to see both FOX and MSNBC taken off the air so that people felt better about Congress and their government. This is coming from a Senator who led the effort to kill dozens of public interest lawsuits suing telecommunication companies for violations of their privacy and supported the effort to bar any investigation into the torture program. The problem, it seems, is the new coverage.
The trial of alleged Al Qaeda accomplice Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani has resulted in an acquittal on all major terrorism charges in New York. Ghailani was charged with crimes related to the 1998 suicide bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. I will be discussing the verdict tonight on Hardball.
As expected, outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has prevailed in retaining the top leadership position — a surprise move after many, if not most, pundits expected she would resign after the devastating loss of at least 61 seats and record low popularity ratings for both herself and Congress.
