Comments on: Uncle Toobz? Are You Obstructing Oversight of TARP?

By: nihil

nihil — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:28:52 +0000

No,exactly right, Harry. The Democrats have important legiwslation to pass, now and in the 111th. The “hold” is qa piece of senatorial courtesy very much like the black list in a gentlemans’ private club. It has no place in a democratic, egalitarian legislative body. The same goes for the rule of 60. The House has no problem cutting off debate, but the “rights of a minority” to stop legislation smack of the dead States’ Rights doctrine. Filibusters stopped justice in its tracks for 25 years. I say ignore holds and adopt the “nuclear option” and let us get some work done. Since things that go around have a habit of coming around, progressives, who are usually in the minority, have to be prepared for what happens when moderates shift to the right. We have a very small window for progress. We had better seize the opportunity while we have it, before we sink back into the slime of a Republican majority.

By: Sara

Sara — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:44:13 +0000

“Obama will NEVER be allowed to bring Guantanamo prisoners to the US mainland for trial, or allow them to get anywhere near the media, or write a tell-all book - EVER.”

I saw a reference the other day to my, hopefully sane solution, to the matter of Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, take him to the Southern District of New York, and try him for the 1996 indictment on the Bojinka Plot. Pat Fitzgerald got the indictment, so maybe they will let him try the case, as he got convictions in the cases of the co-plotters. None of the evidence in that case would be tainted by CIA Torture. Virtually all of his role in the case was introduced as sworn testimony in the earlier trials, so it should be relatively simple to send him to Florence Colorado for life.

By: mui1

mui1 — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:44:24 +0000

Now why would some corporate shill want to do that?

*scratching head, squinting at screen*

By: plunger

plunger — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:05:43 +0000

Dead men don’t reveal the identities of their “handlers,” or their nation of origin.

Obama will NEVER be allowed to bring Guantanamo prisoners to the US mainland for trial, or allow them to get anywhere near the media, or write a tell-all book - EVER.

None of us could handle learning who their actual employer was.

Start with this…there is no “Al Qaeda.”

By: BoxTurtle

BoxTurtle — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:56:18 +0000

Agreed. The prosecution (intentionally?) buggered the trial up thoroughly. I think the appeals court will look at the trial record and decide the remedies the Judge applied were insufficient and decalre a mistrial.

But despite all the errors, the jury STILL convicted. So if I were Stevens, I might well take a plea before the retrial. As long as there was no jail time, I’d pay the fine and go enjoy my new deck. And think about how much I’d gotten away with.

Boxturtle (Hates to see anyone railroaded, even Toobz)

By: bmaz

bmaz — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:40:24 +0000

I am not sure if he did anything illegal or not; he most likely did. However, he is entitled to fundamental due process and fairness in the prosecution and trial before he is deemed convicted of anything. He has not received that. Who knows why the Bush DOJ does anything, but that is not the poing nor is it a viable criteria for assessing a man’s guilt or innocence.

By: skdadl

skdadl — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:07:01 +0000

Oh, well. Them.

Srsly, why would they bother? The guy seems like a cheerful soul to me.

By: bmaz

bmaz — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:01:20 +0000

Heh, it may not be the Yemenis that are the problem; it may be the Americans.

By: skdadl

skdadl — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:48:13 +0000

Oh, gosh, I hope not. A few days ago, I watched a vid of a speech given by that nice young man who wrote The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright (actually, I think he’s almost my age, but he looks a lot better), and I pricked up my ears when he talked for a bit about Yemen, which he seems to think has come a long way in the human-rights department. Hard for me to judge, but I hope he’s right.

I thought we were all wondering whether the U.S. would insist on keeping Hamdan and others even after they’d served whatever time they were sentenced to, especially if, as in his case, the sentences were short, so I was kind of heartened by this news.

By: wavpeac

wavpeac — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:01:15 +0000

Until and unless this country finally realizes and stops illegal behavior in the banking industry it will continue and destroy us. The entire financial fabric of the world is being shredded while the rich get filthy rich.

Until we finally hear the word fraud…being applied to these and other banks, we are not facing the truth. And we cannot change what we don’t accept.

Either O is very naive or he doesn’t want to face the truth. (or he can’t).