Monday, March 24, 2008


Making Everybody a Criminal

Careful to whom you say hello on the street. If you accidentally smile at someone who just happens to be an illegal immigrant, the feds will throw your mex-loving ass in jail.

Although it is not illegal to rent an apartment to illegal aliens, the Department of Intimidating and Criminalizing Everybody charged two Lexington, Kentucky, landlords with "harboring illegal aliens."

As Ralph Long points out, the illogic of this case would force hot dog vendors to demand ID from every customer.

If you can be prosecuted for renting to undocumented immigrants, can you be prosecuted for selling them a car? A car would make it easier to transport illegal immigrants. So it sounds like the car dealers should also be worried.

(SNIP)

Yes, the Haddens probably knew what they were doing was skirting the law. But their prosecution is an example of selective prosecution aimed at intimidating the public; the Feds could care less about the Haddens.

(SNIP)

The bottom line here is this case is about fear, threat and intimidation.

This is the targeted intimidation of the Hispanic community and of anyone that does business with that group.

This case is about demeaning of a group of people seeking a better life by modern day Know Nothings.

This is about a Congress and a President that can’t lead and is unwilling to deal in practical way with a real issue facing this country.

This case is not about the Haddens.

The Bush Interregnum has been one long demand for civil disobedience, but this one skates awfully close to an attack on small business people. The ICE may yet learn it's not smart to fuck with the Chamber of Commerce.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.




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Friday, February 1, 2008


At the end of the day

Campaigning in Cal-ee-for-nee-ah -- "Home to nearly one in eight Americans, California is a giant, diverse political landscape, enormously expensive for candidates yet offering the campaign's largest batch of delegates." Who's doing what from AP.

Joe Conason asked, Will the Press Get Over Its Love for McCain? Hmmm, probably not. But wingnut heads continued to explode over McCain's perceived liberal bent. Oh, those crazy wabbits!

Paul Krugman spoke glowingly of John Edwards: "If 2008 is different, it will be largely thanks to Mr. Edwards. He made a habit of introducing bold policy proposals — and they were met with such enthusiasm among Democrats that his rivals were more or less forced to follow suit." Amen to that! Also, from Krugman, "Obama does Harry and Louise, again."

Republican fraud? -- Say it isn't so! "As part of our ongoing efforts to institute and strengthen financial controls at the National Republican Congressional Committee, we learned earlier this week of irregularities in our financial audit process. Since these irregularities may include fraud, we have notified the appropriate law enforcement authorities. We are aggressively and thoroughly investigating the matter and, while we determine the details, we have terminated our relationship with a former employee who was engaged as an outside vendor." TPM

Quote of the day -- Sen. Saxby Chambliss spokeswoman on whether the senator would endorse John McCain: “We have a lot of balls in the air..." Oh? She had nothing more to report on the, um, endorsement.

James Risen subpoena -- Risen's attorney David N. Kelley said "the subpoena issued last week seeks the source of information for a chapter of James Risen's book "State of War regarding CIA efforts to sabotage the Iranian nuclear program." Spencer Ackerman pointed out, "The Justice Department is going after New York Times reporter Jim Risen for the non-crime of revealing President Bush’s illegal domestic surveillance program. It’s pathetic and unsurprising—a fixture of Bush Justice—that the activity DOJ pursues isn’t the blatant illegality of Bush violating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but instead the fact that government sources blew the whistle to a great investigative reporter."

Spinning Gates -- "Yesterday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates attempted to spin the negative downturn in Afghanistan, claiming that 'NATO has had a very successful year in 2007' and that the significant increase in suicide bombings in 2007 was the 'manifestations of a group that has lost in regular military terms.' “ Uh huh. "Arguing that increased acts of violence are signs of progress is a common Bush administration tactic." Oh, yeah. Via TP.

The deadliest day since the Surge™ began -- 70+ dead, 170 wounded in Baghdad killed by two women suicide bombers who "were Down's Syndrome victims exploited by al Qaida.... The explosives were detonated by remote control in a co-ordinated attack after the women walked into separate crowded markets, said the chief Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad General Qassim al-Moussawi." WaPo reported that the "two bombings killed 58 people, according to Iraqi police, and wounded more than 170 others."

Starting Monday -- At FDL, "the assault on civil rights laws in the last few years, with the impact of the Roberts Court on years of civil rights precedents front and center..."

From the land of absurdity -- What passes as American journalism continued to spread the lie about Clinton's remarks on the economy and global warming and "a new right-wing meme emerges." Carpetbagger Report

[That's all...no more after the jump.]




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Monday, June 4, 2007


What is up with this?




These signs are still up in our city buses, in spite of the fact that the Missouri Voter Suppression and Jim Talent Seat Retention Act of 2006 was struck down by the state Supreme Court. If you try to go to the website listed, you find it has been taken down by the Secretary of State's office.

These signs are misleading and should come out of the city buses immediately. Let's cut to the chase - you have a picture of a black man cheerfully holding his ID next to his face, and a message to make your vote count, take a photo ID to the polls. A lot of black people in Kansas City rely on public transit. Many of them may not have a photo ID. How many of them see those signs and do not know that the law was found to be in violation of both the State and Federal Constitutions?

How many people think they can't vote, or that their vote won't count, because these signs are still up in too many of our buses eight full months after the law was struck down?

These signs need to come down. NOW. Or else I am likely to start screaming about civil rights violations and stuff.


[cross posted from Blue Girl, Red State]




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Monday, April 30, 2007


"Why I Left the Civil Rights Division" by Bob Kengle

There is no better examination of the evil done the US Department of Justice by the current administration than that found in Bob Kengle explanation of why he left the Civil Rights Division. As Paul Kiel points out "the Civil Rights Division, and specifically the voting section there . . . is probably the worst case of politicization at the department." If you understand the institutionalized evil inflicted on the civil rights division by Brad Schlozman and his superiors and cohorts you begin to understand the assault justice and the rule of law have suffered at the hands of Alberto Gonzales and Karl Rove. Read Kengle's letter. It should be required reading for everyone concerned about justice.




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