We have seen how Sharia law has been used to justify child rape, stonings, and a wide array of abuses. Now the Interior Ministry of Saudi Arabia has issued a statement that protests for greater freedom and democratic reforms is also an offense against God.
Continue reading “Saudi Interior Ministry: Free Speech Is Offense Against God”
Category: Politics
Folks at the National Rifle Association are celebrating what some are calling the “Palin effect” — a sharp rise in female membership in the NRA and gun ownership generally due to the rise of Sarah Palin. According to the article below, the Palin effect has encouraged new design and marketing efforts by gun manufacturers vis-a-vis women customers.
Continue reading “Sarah Palin: The Rosa Parks of Guns?”
Here is today’s column in the Los Angeles Times (Sunday) on the recent remarks from Justice Clarence following criticism for his disclosure violations and alleged conflicts of interest.
Continue reading “Justice Thomas’ Dangerous Conceit”
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
There have been some new developments in the Wisconsin story since my last post on the subject, Is the Scott Walker Story Just the Tip of the Koch Brothers Political Iceberg?. More than six hundred comments have been left 
at that post—and it takes a long time to load the page. I thought it best to write up a new post for people who would like to continue the discussion on the subject of Governor Scott Walker, the protesting workers in Wisconsin, Walker’s anti-union budget repair bill, the AWOL Democratic state senators, and various and sundry other things related to the subject.
Continue reading “Wisconsin, Scott Walker, and Protesting Workers: The Story Continues”
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Wisconsin Republican leaders are law and order types indeed. Unhappy that fourteen Democratic state senators are boycotting Governor Scott Walker’s union busting party, they have authorized the Senate Sergeant at Arms to round-up the legislative desperadoes “with or without force.” The Gang of 14, of course, are holed up in the neighboring Illinois badlands but Sheriff Walker wants to get his men (and his agenda railroaded through) so niceties like democracy and respect for the rights of the opposition need not be observed.
After U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson struck down the healthcare law, we discussed a curious part of his opinion where he declined to grant injunctive relief but then stated that it was not necessary because his declaratory judgment served the same function. I disagreed with that view and recently the Justice Department decided to call the bluff and ask if Vinson believed that he had barred the implementation of the law nationally. They won. Vinson ruled yesterday that the Administration could continue to implement the law — despite various states citing his opinion as the basis for refusing to work with the federal government in implementing the law.
Continue reading “Florida Court Stays Decision on Healthcare — Allowing Continued Implementation of the Law”
Famed Christian Dior designer John Galliano will face a criminal trial over an alleged anti-Semitic rank against a rival. As previously discussed in a column and a line of blog stories (here and here and here and here), various Western governments have been curtailing free speech by prosecuting blasphemy and speech against various groups. This is an example of that dangerous trend. While the alleged statements are repugnant, these laws cut deeply into free speech.
Continue reading “Ready to Wehr: Famed Designer Galliano To Face Criminal Charges Over Alleged Anti-Semitic Remarks”
In an important reaffirmation of the free speech, the Supreme Court has ruled 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church. Westboro is infamous for its deranged, homophobic protests at funerals of fallen U.S. troops. In an opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court refused to allow the universal disgust at Westboro’s views influence its decision. Only Justice Samuel Alito was willing to radically curtail free speech to punish Westboro.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Rules In Favor of Westboro Church”
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has reportedly unleashed an attack on his critics for his violations of disclosure laws and alleged conflicts of interest. He warned law students that these critics are “undermining” the Court and endangering the country by weakening core institutions. As one of those critics, I am flabbergasted by Thomas’ remarks which show an implied disregard that seems to have now reached open contempt for certain principles of judicial ethics. There is not a hint of concern for his own conduct and how it has undermined the Supreme Court as an institution. For a prior column, click here
Continue reading “Thomas Condemns His Critics As Undermining The Supreme Court”
Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger
With the constant news reports highlighting the economic woes of the State and Federal governments and the important battle in Wisconsin and other states over the claim that workers need to sacrifice a little more to help out their state governments, it is interesting to learn just how much big corporations pay in Federal Taxes. Would it surprise you if I told you that many of our largest corporations pay zero Federal taxes? Continue reading “Big Corporations and Federal Taxes”
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Last week I wrote up a post titled Scott Walker: A Fiscally Responsible Governor or a Politician Who Is Playing Favorites?. Judging from the number of comments left at that post, it appears that people are very interested in what’s been going on in the state of Wisconsin. I think many people may believe that as Wisconsin goes—so goes the nation…and probably the life expectancy of labor unions and collective bargaining.
What got a lot of press attention was the story of the prank phone call that Governor Walker received from gonzo journalist Ian Murphy. Murphy pretended to be billionaire industrialist David Koch. He talked to Walker for twenty minutes. Murphy reportedly told the Associated Press he made the prank phone call in order to show how candid Walker would be in a conversation with Koch at a time when Democrats claim the governor was refusing to return their calls.
Continue reading “Is the Scott Walker Story Just the Tip of the Koch Brothers’ Political Iceberg?”
Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger
After a few recent discussions about Free Speech in earlier threads, I came across another example of how limited our Free Speech really is. At a recent speech by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a former CIA employee, Ray McGovern, attempted to protest her speech about Democracy and Freedom of Speech and how the freedom to disseminate information helped the Egyptians rid themselves of a brutal dictator. Continue reading “Is Free Speech Really Free?”
Some of us have raised objections for the last two years on President Obama’s conflicting positions on gay rights. Now, White House Spokesman Jay Carney was able to nail down concretely the President’s position on gay marriage: he is still “grappling” with it.
Continue reading “Grappling . . . Grappling . . . I’ll Let You Know: Obama Remains Undecided on Gay Marriage”
Filings in Judith Regan’s pending lawsuit have revealed the identity of the person whom she says encouraged her to lie to federal investigators about her affair with former New York police commissioner, Homeland Security nominee and subsequent convicted felon Bernard Kerick. She previously described the person as a “senior fox executive” but papers revealed that she was referring to Roger Ailes, the chairman of Fox News.
Continue reading “Roger Ailes Accused of Encouraging Judith Regan To Lie To Federal Investigators”
After the posting this morning over the controversy involving former Indiana Deputy Attorney General Jeff Cox, I had an opportunity to discuss the allegations with him in detail. Cox makes an interesting free speech case over his treatment and later termination for comments that he made on Twitter and on his blog. I wanted to share some of those details and the concern over a termination based on a lawyer’s statements in his private life.
Continue reading “Jeff Cox Responds to Criticism in Mother Jones Article”