Category: Media

Congress, Criminal law, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

THE PORTEOUS IMPEACHMENT CASE STARTS MONDAY

The Senate trial for United States District Court Judge Thomas Porteous begins Monday morning. I will be therefore out of pocket for the coming week and part of next week. Unfortunately, that means that postings will be extremely limited but I expect the denizens of this blog to post stories as comments in my absence. I will try to post a little each day on the schedule for the trial and maybe even a story to facilitate discussion depending if I have a second in the morning.

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Criminal law, International, Media, Politics, Religion

Warring Against God: Human Rights Activist and Journalist Tried Under Sharia Law

Iranian authorities are seeking a potential death sentence for a human rights activist and journalist, Shiva Nazar-Ahari, 26, for the crime of “warring against God.” Since the regime views itself as the expression of Allah’s will on Earth, Sharia law allows virtually any opposition to the government to constitute “warring against God” in the twisted logic of the Iranian regime.
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Bizarre, Media, Politics, Science

Remember the Oil Rigs That Obama Insists Really Don’t Cause Spills? Another One Just Exploded

Remember those oil rigs that President Obama assured us really do not cause spills? Well another one just exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion of the rig 80 miles off the Louisiana coast further undermines Obama’s insistence on lifting the long moratorium on drilling off our East Coast.
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Media, Society

Word to the Wise: Washington Post Columnist Suspended For Fabricating Story on Twitter

Washington Post sports columnist Mike Wise has been suspended for fabricating a story on Twitter. His one-month suspension came after Wise admitted that he fabricated a story about Pittsburgh Steelers star Ben Roethlisberger to show how fast a story is picked up today through the new media. It was picked up — quickly followed by the story of his suspension.
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Bizarre, Media, Military, Politics, Society

“New Dawn” in Iraq A Lot Like The “Old Dawn”

The Administration’s much celebrated shift from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn has been criticized as deceptive given the over 50,000 soldiers remaining in the country. Now, according to Army Times, it appears that the Administration simply renamed combat units and left them in the country.
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Congress, Criminal law, Media, Politics, Society

Misery Loves Company: Rangel Accuses Other Members of Same Conduct Alleged in Case

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) is going for the nuclear option on his defense: publicly accusing his colleagues of the very same conduct that is the basis for his own ethics charges. He is basically grabbing on to other members like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and saying “If I go over, you are going with me.”

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Lawyering, Media

D.C. Judge Hits NLJ With Prior Restraint Order

There is a major first amendment case brewing in Washington, D.C. The National Law Journal was hit with a temporary restraining order from D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff preventing it from publishing facts that its journalists found in publicly available documents. The court blocked the NLJ from revealing the name of a government agency investigating POM Wonderful, a pomegranate juice maker. After signing what appears to be an unconstitutional order, Bartnoff is quoted as saying “If I am throwing 80 years of First Amendment jurisprudence on its head, so be it.”
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Bizarre, Media, Politics

Can Sherrod Sue Over Edited NAACP Tape?

The controversy continues over a video of Georgia director of Rural Development Shirley Sherrod at the NAACP. Sherrod, and many supporters, have objected that the tape from the NAACP event was clearly edited to cut off her comments to mislead the viewers. Andrew Breitbart released the video but insists that he did not edit it. The question is whether Sherrod can sue over the video. Most criticism is focusing on Andrew Breitbart who released the video on his media sites. Raw Story released the full video without the editing. In response, Breitbart told Fox News “this is not about Shirley and Andrew.” He appears half right given the growing condemnations directed at him.
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Congress, Constitutional Law, Justice, Media, Politics, Society

Health Care: Turns Out To Be A Tax After All

If you recall, one of the most steadfast public positions of the Democrats and the Obama White House during the health care debate was that the legislation did not constitute a tax. President Barach Obama expressly denied that the legislation was a tax in pushing for its approval. Now, however, his administration is seeking to defend the law on the basis that it is . . . you guessed it . . . a tax.

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Bizarre, Media, Politics, Society

Palin Aide Criticizes Romney Aide for Attacking Palin Anonymously — But Insists on Anonymity

The irony of this Politico story is hard to miss. Politico is reporting on a dust up between the Palin and Romney camps after an aide for Mitt Romney stated anonymously that Sarah Palin is “not a serious human being.” A Palin aide immediately charged forward to denounce aides speaking anonymously to criticize his boss — the aide of course insisted on anonymity.

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