bmaz

Either John McCain is addled and confused in the face of trying to keep up with all that he must as a candidate for the most powerful position in the world, or he is a dishonorable cad that will blithely pass out confidential information and place important people's lives in danger to serve his own vain powerlust. Either way, he is unfit for the job he is applying for, President of the United States.

Marcy has been pimping me to do up a Favre post ever since the first rumors came out of his waffliness months ago. Who am I to deny the hostess with the mostess? You guys have been quiet for too long, trash the joint dammit!

As all know by now, July 9, 2008 was a day that will live in infamy. It seems stark to use that historic phrase, but to a lot of us, it really feels that way. What many have been asking, and rightfully so, is where do we go from here. There are several projects such as Strange Bedfellows for the long term, but, by far, the biggest news you need to know about today is the activity by the ACLU. The ACLU has made two filings in response to the passage and signing of the FISA Amendments Act (FAA), one a new complaint in SDNY and the other an application to the FISA Court.

Okay, the words "Master Plan" in the title are a joke. So is the idea of criminal prosecutions, by a future Obama Administration, for Bush era FISA violations that has been hawked, to the point of near belligerence, by Keith Olbermann both on his show and in a running flame war with Glen Greenwald. Here is why.

Despite the wall to wall coverage, not just on NBC and MSNBC, but all the networks, the hand wringing, the eulogizing, the lionization, the body lying in state at the Kennedy Center, and the funeral worthy of royalty, not enough has been said about the recent passing of a giant. Probably because all that bleating was about Saint Tim of Russert. I am talking about a different giant. A giant in my own family has passed. Granpa Pricky.

If power is based on principles, what principles are they based on? That’s my question for Mr. Obama. Because it would seem that the Congress is attempting to sell out the Bill of Rights to telcos and abusers of the law and our Constitution. It seems that it is, indeed, just “a piece of paper” that the President can ignore with almost complete impunity…as long as those abuses remain hidden from all but the few who get to benefit or suffer by those abuses. At some point, the abuses will grow, have grown, and they continue to this day because…little is done to punish those who have committed those abuses, either politically, and especially legally. In fact, the abuse has gotten so bad that some loyal Americans and supporters of the U.S. Constitution are left with the helpless and crazy opinion that other countries will have to sort out our politics for us…and some of us, at this point, even advocate for that; for foreign countries to enforce their human rights, and other treaty and legal obligations against our own citizens so that justice and human dignity will be served well. It is, indeed, a sad and dangerous time that has fallen upon us, the American people, because of the arrogance and power that has been wielded with little restrain, nor concern, for our own well-being. As long as Bush and his coterie are happy, what happens to us appears to be of little importance.

Well, we got Mr. Obama's reply to all of us. Everybody has a lot to say to Mr. Obama. Here is the place. Now is the time. Trash talk is allowed. I heard the Lakers, er Celtics just won something. Also heard Curt Schilling is done, how the Sawx gonna win without him?

As you know, the FISA Amendments Act has been being negotiated behind closed doors by Steny Hoyer, Kit Bond and friends for some time now. See here and here. Well, the action is coming a little faster than we all anticipated. It looks like the vote will be Friday, and maybe even Thursday night.

The desperate push on FISA by the Bush Administration, complicit and subservient Republican Congressional leaders, and their telco partners is about to explode onto the forefront again. We are either a nation of laws that protects citizens and their right to seek redress for being wronged by their government and it's agents, or we are a nation of self serving men like George Bush and Dick Cheney that can do, and get away with, whatever illegal and immoral acts they desire. Barack Obama could put an end to this today if he wanted. It is time for a Profile In Courage.

I want to bring attention to something that really sank in for me yesterday morning and that a few people are starting to pick up on, but not many, and not nearly enough. First the Cheney Administration sacked the military judge that had the gall to allow even a shred of due process to the detainees, and now they have effectively sacked the military lawyers that had the temerity to seek it. This was a knowing and intentional play to deny counsel.