There is an interesting fight brewing over the arrest of Chris Wilson. Wilson is hardly Thomas Paine, unless Paine dabbled in porn. Wilson, 28, is the founder and manager of a controversial site, nowthatsfuckedup.com, where guys post sexually explicit shots of their wives and girlfriends. Nice. However, recently Wilson began to post explicit and disturbing pictures of the carnage from Iraq, photos reportedly sent by soldiers posted abroad. In October, Wilson’s home was raided, his computer seized, and he is now facing life in prison. Beneath the gore and porn, Wilson may have a valid first amendment case. Continue reading “Chris Wilson’s War: Publisher of Iraqi War Dead Arrested and Computer Seized: Was it Porn or Politics?”
Category: Politics
The Wisconsin Supreme Court is under fire this week for issuing what is viewed as a slap on the wrist to one of its members: Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler. Ziegler violated fundamental conflict of interests rules by presiding over cases where she had an obvious conflict of interest. Public interest advocates noted that attorneys are routinely suspended for such violations by the courts. The case seems to follow recent cases of judges protecting their own while pursuing critics. Continue reading “The Thin Black Line: Wisconsin Supreme Court Reprimands Justice Annette Ziegler – Refusing More Serious Discipline for Violating Conflicts of Interest Rules”
Jane Harman, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee warned then-CIA general counsel Scott Muller in a 2003 letter that destroying videotapes of terrorist interrogations would put the CIA under a cloud of suspicion. However, what is as remarkable as the decision of the CIA to go ahead with the destruction is the failure of the Democrats to do nothing more than discourage what was a presumptively criminal destruction of evidence. Moreover, there is no mention of the crime of torture — only that it would “reflect badly on the agency.” Continue reading “Top Intel Democrat Warned CIA Not to Destroy Tapes — But Then Did Nothing Further”
2008: The year of principles?
With Iowans going today to their caucuses, the beginning of a new year and the presidential primary season dangerously collide for voters. Distraught voters can now couple their prior unrealized weight-loss resolutions with their unrealized political resolutions like finding a new party or moving to Canada. Yet, every four years, we end up fatter and madder by the year’s end. Continue reading “The 2008 Presidential Primaries Begin: Will Candidates Be Forced to Try Principle in the Desperate Search for Popularity?”
After completing an initial inquiry, tthe Justice Department has decided to open a full criminal investigation into the 2005 destruction of CIA tapes showing the interrogation of two Al Qaeda suspects. The finding of a basis for possible criminal charges is not itself surprising — there are at least six such offenses that were obvious from the outset. Attorney General Mukasey has appointed a U.S. Attorney General to handle the investigation — a disappointing decision not to appoint someone outside the Administration. Continue reading “Justice Department Opens Formal Criminal Investigation — Finds Credible Allegations of Criminal Conduct in CIA Tapes Scandal”
There is a curious trend developing in leading democratic systems: a return to dynastic preferences in government. With Hillary Clinton still leading in the U.S. polls, other nations have embraced dynastic lines of successions under a democratic process like Argentina and now the leading opposition party in Pakistan. Continue reading “Are the World’s Democracies Turning into Dynastic Systems?”
According to reports, the FBI is returning to the search for the famous D.B. Cooper, the mysterious skyjacker who robbed an airliner in 1971 and then parachuted to an unknown future. The FBI’s release of a new picture raises the disturbing question of whether D.B. Cooper is hiding in the open: as presidential candidate Ron Paul. Continue reading “Is Ron Paul the Real D.B. Cooper?”
There appears growing interest in a third-party candidacy by many voters disillusioned by the two parties monopoly. Ron Paul and Michael Bloomberg appear the leading contenders for such a run. Notably, under the 12th Amendment such a candidate could be the next president through a plausible series of events. Continue reading “Calls for a Third Party Challenge Increase as Paul and Bloomberg are Encouraged to Go Independent”
Sara Jane Moore who attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975 was released from a Dublin prison. Now, 77, Moore was freed on December 30th – a day early — after 32 years in prison as a model prisoner. The release will likely draw attention to that other would-be Ford assassin- Lynette Squeaky Fromme. Continue reading “Sarah Jane Moore — Would-Be Assassin of Gerald Ford Freed After 32 Years”
Americans have always been defined by their robust views of individual autonomy and privacy. However, in the last ten years, privacy has suffered massive reductions in the United States due to both governmental and private surveillance, data mining, and searches. Now an international privacy groups ranks for the United States and England as some of the worst “endemic surveillance societies.” Continue reading “Is Privacy Dying in the United States? Recent Report Says U.S. One of the Worst in the World”
For years, unnamed government officials have acknowledged that they use “extraordinary renditions” to send suspects to other countries to be tortured. Our ally Egypt is a favorite destination of such flights. Now, videos of Egyptian torture have forced Americans to see what such “special treatment” is like for suspects. In one video, a woman is forced to strip and is abused by a police officer and in another Egyptian mini-bus driver, Emad el-Kabir, 21,l is shown screaming on the floor as officers sodomize him with a wooden pole. The police then sent the video to el-Kabir’s friends to humiliate him. These videos remove the abstract quality of the debate over U.S. torture policies, both in terms of waterboarding and extraordinary renditions. Continue reading “Torture Videos Shed Light on Egyptian Torture — and U.S. Rendition Policies”
As Congress deals with rising complaints over junk mail clogging mailboxes, it might want to start by reducing its own contributions to the scourge. Last year, U.S. House members spent $20.3 million to spend unsolicited mail to constituents on subjects ranging from car care to advice on job interviews. It is one of the reasons why incumbents are so difficult to unseat — members have created a constructive public subsidy for campaigns, but only for incumbents. Continue reading “House Members Spent Over $20 Million Dollars on Junk Mail”
Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., had the floor to himself this week as he brought the Senate into session for just nine seconds to prevent President Bush from giving a recess appointment to Steven Bradbury, a controversial official involved in the use of torture by the Bush Administration. It was a worthy effort by the Senate Democrats, but it also raises questions over whether they will also block Judge Mark Filip, who is nominated to be Deputy Attorney General. Filip has refused to recognize decades of precedent that says that waterboarding is torture. Continue reading “Senate Meets for 9 Seconds to Prevent Bush From Appointing Pro-Torture Nominees for Justice Position”
Damon Lucky is hardly the poster boy that the N.R.A. is looking for as the critical constitutional case for the Second Amendment goes to the Supreme Court. As gun owners seek to show that the Second Amendment is an individual right, Lucky wants a federal court to declare that the individual right extends to ex-felons — striking down the common rule that ex-felons lose their right to gun ownership or possession. Continue reading “Inmate Fights for His Second Amendment Right to Own a Gun”
Neighbors of Art Conrad are up in arms and demanding action after Conrad hoisted a crucified Santa over his house as a protest of the commercialization of Christmas. He also has a headless Santa singing carols on his front porch. The display in Washington state is likely protected speech despite the trauma to children and anger of neighbors. Continue reading “The Crucifixion of Santa: Free Speech or Public Nuisance?”