promoting democracy in the Middle East
 

Nice.

Saw this on the page. How this has not become an avatar for a sock on this board shows an admirable level of restraint on your part, I think.

http://www.davidicke.com/icke/articl...s/aniclint.gif

ETA: Hmm, maybe that's why.

April fool
 

Lautenberg's an idiot. An intentional one, which is worse. This:

“The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.”

equals this?:

"Whoever threatens to assault…. or murder, a United States judge… with intent to retaliate against such… judge…. on account of the performance of official duties, shall be punished [by up to six years in prison]”

Idiot.

Wait. Excuse me. In honor of fringey:

Fucking idiot.

April fool
 

Ooooh, look, not just your buddy but also Senator mixture-of-fecal-matter-lube-and-sometimes-semen-(if-in-monogamous-relationship-and-everyone-has-tested-negative) are getting into this: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...avo_politics_4

April fool
 

On the scale of idiocy, or fucking idiocy, where how would you balance the letter with DeLay's comments? The judges have been receiving death threats, you know. In such an environment, you're not defending DeLay's comments as responsible, are you? It's so hard to tell when you guys are joking after the torture discussion.

April fool
 

Delay should have been more politically correct, and ended with the logical finish about impeachment or changing the judicial appointment system, not because there is any basis for some BS charge that he's inciting the crazies to murder, but because he had to know that there are idiots like Lautenberg out there just waiting to reinterpret any public statement, no matter how tortuous it must be, to make it sound bad.

Lautenberg, on the other hand, should simply have his feeding tube yanked. He is truly brain-dead.

P.S. RIP Pope.

RT, you should peel off your bumper sticker. Today.
 

"Dildos and a Dreaded Dog" (Triple-D for short..... which, of course, has another connotation as well)

RT, you should peel off your bumper sticker. Today.
 

Huh -- so the 24 year old with the pie was an official Democratic Party representative?

And that's one high-tech bumper sticker those people at the SS rally had, if it was screaming.


Oh, sorry, I forgot -- conservatives never, ever interrupt speeches.

Bush's rallies are the stuff of tin-pot third world dictators. Mugabe used to have rallies like this, where dissenters were politely warned about the possibility of arrest -- no threats intended, of course.

Whoa there cowboy. He ain't dead yet.

aV

April fool
 

Impeachment on what basis? Declining to follow the Congress's flagrant violation of the Constitution in not overruling state courts on an issue where they clearly had no authority to do so? Being polite enough not to throw that back in Congress's and Bush's face?

And how, pray tell, would you advocate changing the judicial appointment system? Amending Article III to read that judges shall be appointed for life "except when a political party enjoying a majority in both chambers of Congress and the White House decides to boot their uncooperative asses out if they don't get iwth the fucking program?"

Delay's comments closely parallel the "lone wolf" calls of the far-right militia and racist thugs who are his biggest fans.

Brain death appears to be getting more and more contagious every day.

Fox and the Italian media have both retracted their earlier reports. Apparently FOX should be spelled FAUX.

I got mine off Rueters.

He didn't even wait three days?

April fool
 

So, by arguing that Delay would have little basis for his efforts, you mean to say that that is obviously NOT what he spoke of?

Your faith in Delay's intellect is touching.

The "far-right militia"? "Lone wolf"? "Racist thugs"? You descend into brain fever, old man.

Sure is. Say hi to Lautenberg for me. 'Cuz, it appears here that you're also saying that Delay was advocating murder. And, while I'm pretty sure that your opinion of Delay would easily admit that he was speaking foolishly of things like impeachment and appointment differences, you want to steer this the same way Lautenberg did.

April fool
 

I'm saying that Delay is a rabid dog cocksucker who spent too much time sniffing the spray when he was an exterminator. He was issuing foaming-at-the-mouth, non-specific, I'm-gonna-get-you-sucka type threats, without putting any thought whatsoever into what he was saying, as is his wont.

And my reference to brain death was aimed at Delay. However, you have convinced me that yours has, if not rotted away alltogether, taken an extended leave under the Big Tent.

It's just not even worth trying to communicate with you, anymore.

April fool
 

Again with people using cocksucker as an insult. It's people like you who deprive a lot of perfectly nice guys blowjobs, because their female companions think it's "dirty" and "wrong" and "bad."

April fool
 

2. Taxwonk has my proxy on this.

April fool
 

I assumed that Wonk's inclusion of "dog" beforehand would convince any wayward ingenues that something else was intended here, and that their sucking it was, well, still just dandy.

April fool
 

Well, then, be clear - are you agreeing with Lautenberg's charges or not? Or, was this simply a "Delay sucks!" chiming in?

This, in the face of "Delay is a rabid dog cocksucker who spent too much time sniffing the spray when he was an exterminator", as part of an argument that (I thought) was supporting Lautenberg's actions?

April fool
 

Oh, you think he's saying that DeLay sucks only the cocks of rabid dogs? That seems specific enough to be unthreatening to the cocksuckers of the world, but it it seems like that would be "rabid-dog-cock sucker." Or maybe he really meant "rabid dog-cock sucker."

I still think I read it right, and that RT is "2"ing because the somewhat widespread disapprobation of cocksucking gives her a competitive advantage.

April fool
 

I didn't really understand that either. It's not clear if if wonk is saying TD is rabid and sucks the cocks of dogs, is a rabid dog who also sucks cocks, or that the he sucks the cocks of rabid dogs.

eta: STP. Damn.

April fool
 

I think that DeLay carefully worded the statement to be vague enough for any and all interpretation, and when he's asked about it, he'll deny that he meant anything but impeachment/changing standards of the judiciary.

April fool
 

I believe I'm clearly on the record in favor of cocksucking generally. Don't get all bitter on me just because you keep choking on strings. If it's that much of a problem, don't tie a bow around them before you start the blow job.

April fool
 

It's just these kinds of mixed messages that really screw with women's heads.

I'm not bitter. Like RT, I have a competitive advantage.

April fool
 

What did the white supemecist originally thought to have plotted Lefkow's murder say? Something like "she will get her judgment"?

April fool
 

Yep, that's what he said.

More on Burger (Sandy That Is)
 

• The terms of Berger's agreement required him to acknowledge to the Justice Department the circumstances of the episode. Rather than misplacing or unintentionally throwing away three of the five copies he took from the archives, as the former national security adviser earlier maintained, he shredded them with a pair of scissors late one evening at the downtown offices of his international consulting business .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2005Mar31.html

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Mmmm, Berger

(hi ltl/fb!)

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Oh, that lovable rapscallion!

(Martha Stewart does time for not telling the truth to federal investigators. Sandy Burgler pays a ticket for the same thing, plus violation of several fed statutes. Must pay to have the right friends.)

More Good News From Iraq
 

• BAGHDAD, Iraq - Influential Sunni Muslim clerics who once condemned Iraqi security force members as traitors made a surprise turnaround Friday and encouraged citizens to join the nascent police and army.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._re_mi_ea/iraq

April fool
 

I'd think that one over if i were you.

If you actually gave him something that touched you, even a proxy, he's going to get it all sticky. And not in a good way.

April fool
 

And your lack of faith in his intellect is telling.

In my view, Delay's statement was very irresponsible. It is not ludicrous to believe that some lunatic, somewhere might be inspired to act based on it or similar statements. Consider that, about two weeks ago, an out-of-stater was arrested for trying to rob a gun store in Florida "to rescue Terri Schiavo."

Anyhow, I present this relevant message for my colleagues on all sides of the aisle. Some of you may have seen it already:

"As members of the legal profession, I know you share my concern over the public's misunderstanding of the judiciary's role and the politically motivated criticism of the judiciary stemming from the Terri Schiavo case, and are equally alarmed about the murders of Judge Lefkow's family members in Chicago and the attacks at the Fulton County Courthouse in Georgia. The circumstances of these tragic events require careful analysis, thoughtful leadership, and measured response. The American Bar Association has long held the preservation of judicial independence as one of the most important Association goals. These recent events have elevated the urgency of that commitment among the ABA's leadership. In the past several days, I have issued public statements condemning the violence against our judiciary and the gratuitous and vicious public attacks on the dedicated men and women who are our country's judges. During my speaking engagements, I have taken the opportunity to call for a change in tenor when the national discussion turns to our justice system.

"Regardless of how one feels about the specific circumstances of the Schiavo - or any - situation, the role of the judiciary is clear. Federal and state judges are charged with weighing the facts of a case and following the remedies set forth in the law, responsibilities they carry out valiantly and with great dignity and sensitivity.

"It is vital that the legal community address the current atmosphere in which our legal system operates, in what can only be called a decline in civility and respect toward our justice system. Too often judges are characterized as political tools and the justice system merely an offshoot of politics, and not the independent leg of our democracy that they are. Efforts to address the problems of courthouse security have been initiated by the Judicial Conference of the United States and the National Center for State Courts, and I have approached these organizations as well as a number of entities within the ABA to determine where and how we can best contribute to resolving problems faced by the nation's courts and judges.

"The Association is committed to promoting the importance of judicial independence. The four entities that comprise the ABA Justice Center: the Judicial Division, the Standing Committee on Judicial Independence, the Standing Committee on Federal Judicial Improvements, and the Coalition for Justice work tirelessly to develop resources, initiatives, policies, and programs that support our justice system, our judges, and our courts. Information on each of these entities' initiatives can be accessed through the Justice Center's Web site at http://www.abanet.org/justicecenter/home.html

"Thank you for your continued support of the ABA, the legal profession, and the judiciary. As the voice of the legal profession, we must not allow those among us who would do harm, in any form, to destroy the very freedoms our legal system is entrusted to protect.

"Sincerely,
Robert J. Grey, Jr.
President, American Bar Association"

S_A_M

More on Burger (Sandy That Is)
 

This is a surprise? Hell, Weinberger was pardoned pre-indictment.

S_A_M

P.S. That said, Jesus Christ, Berger!

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Yeah.

Some additional perspectives from Laura Rozen:

• Readers with clearances respond to Berger case. Earlier today, I asked for feedback about whether Sandy Berger's behavior is as baffling to those with security clearances as it was to me. Several people responded, and a few have agreed to let me post their perspectives anonymously.
  
  Reader J:
  
  Responding to your question, and having held Top Secret clearances now for the last six years, I am at a loss to explain what Berger was thinking. The GOP charges that Berger was engaged in some type of cover-up are difficult to believe -- the 9/11 Commission had full access to the Clarke report that Berger purloined -- it did not need the National Archives copy. That report was fully referenced in the final Commission report. If Berger did all this to cover something up, he is more stupid than criminal.
  
  I have heard the following explanations:
  
  1) Berger is, and always has been, an incredibly sloppy man, both in his personal appearance and his work organization. The initial claim that this was an inadvertent mistake fits into that caricature, although Berger has now admitted the removal was intentional.
  
  2) This memo in question was drafted by Richard Clarke, but ultimately was signed out to the President under Berger's signature. Why couldn't he take home a document that he "authored"? It was not as if he was learning anything new. I suspect this attitude permeates many national security officials, including myself at times. Rampant and needless overclassification afflicts our government. 50% of classified material does not contain sensitive materials that could compromise the security of our nation; more often than not, they are classified to avoid embarrassing U.S. officials or embarrasing foreign officials. But to argue that "loose lips sink ships" is a gross distortion of truly sensitive material, i.e. Ahmed Chalabi telling the Iranians the U.S. have broken the code to their electronic communications, versus more routine material that still is classified, e.g. notes on a meeting between low-level U.S. officials meeting with their low-level German counterparts.
  
  3) Finally, hubris. Berger was the NSC Advisor and a highly influential foreign policy official for decades. He is used to having assistants bring him documents and them remove them for storage in safes. Now, here he was, sitting at the National Archives, reviewing a ton of documents, without even one aide to help him. Why should a man like he, who served at the pinnacle of U.S. government, have to check his documents in and out with menial National Archives staff? "Pride goeth before the fall."
  
  Whatever the case, contrary to the Times speculaton, Berger's career as a U.S. government official is over. He is guilty of committing a misdemeanor, a charge that would disqualify you or I from ever holding a U.S. security clearance. Imagine a confirmation hearing for Berger.

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That was a joke right?

The guy shredded the documents!

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Yes, club. The guy shredded the documents. This letter wasn't about that -- it was speculation as to why he took the things in the first place.

But what about this made you think that it was apologistic? To me, the letter suggests:

(a) he's a slob, so inadvertence would not be out of character, but

(b) he did admit to taking them intentionally, and

(c) he used to be the head honcho, and often arrogant policymakers have a hard time complying with rules that apply to everyone else, including former head honchos, and

(d) he simply and stupidly thought no one would catch him.

oh, and (e) he'll nebber mirk in dis ciddy again.

Doesn't sound like a pleasant portrait of the man to me, but I thought it was interesting speculation as to why he'd do something stupid like that in the first place. (Trying to cover up his fuckup later is stupid but less mysterious because it's predictable).

If what you want is more articles advocating the thumbscrews, I'm sure they're around somewhere.

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The post you cited is factually inaccurate and reaches conclusions that are ridiculous in light of the fact that he shredded the documents.

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A member for nearly 2 years, and this is the first post? Looks like someone found an old post-it with log-in information.

Apropos of nothing, Guy Smiley was my favorite Muppet when the Not Bobette was in the Sesame Street viewing audience. Nice moniker.

April fool
 

He wants to address the perception. But, in many cases, on both sides, the perception only follows the reality. We have judges - on both sides of the fence - who make baldly partisan rulings that truly engender the lack of respect. His solution seems to be, we should speak more politely about them when they do. Isn't there another view?

For instance - there are several states where plaintiffs love to file, because of the rank bias of the judiciary. There are also several states where insurers love to file, again because of the rank bias of the judiciary. Grey always strikes me as saying that, if we just pretend, everyone will be happy. I think he needs to look to more basic issues.

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I post a lot on Infirmation.com and often lurk here. That being said, I'm sure I posted here a few times before.