Saturday, April 09, 2005

Every Time I Hit Bottom, Somebody Throws Me A Shovel I knew it was bad, but reading the whole thing, it seems it's much worse than I thought. From (as per usual) Atrios' Eschaton come the following two links. The first is to a Washington Post article about the conference I mentioned earlier, but with far more details than I had earlier, far more frightening and nauseating details, only a few of which I'll post here. Not to be outdone, lawyer-author Edwin Vieira told the gathering that Kennedy should be impeached because his philosophy, evidenced in his opinion striking down an anti-sodomy statute, "upholds Marxist, Leninist, satanic principles drawn from foreign law." Ominously, Vieira continued by saying his "bottom line" for dealing with the Supreme Court comes from Joseph Stalin. "He had a slogan, and it worked very well for him, whenever he ran into difficulty: 'no man, no problem,' " Vieira said. The full Stalin quote, for those who don't recognize it, is "Death solves all problems: no man, no problem." Presumably, Vieira had in mind something less extreme than Stalin did and was not actually advocating violence. But then, these are scary times for the judiciary. An anti-judge furor may help confirm President Bush's judicial nominees, but it also has the potential to turn ugly. In case you think this is just a few wingnuts run amok, check out the guest list: The conference was organized during the height of the Schiavo controversy by a new group, the Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional Restoration. This was no collection of fringe characters. The two-day program listed two House members; aides to two senators; representatives from the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America; conservative activists Alan Keyes and Morton C. Blackwell; the lawyer for Terri Schiavo's parents; Alabama's "Ten Commandments" judge, Roy Moore; and DeLay, who canceled to attend the pope's funeral. Lucky pope. The second link, again from Atrios, is for a blog called Cold Fury, where Arthur Silber points out the terrifyingly obvious: No one has any excuse at this point for not understanding what these people want: the ideas offered by Schlafly and Farris, for example—gutting the courts’ ability to review all those cases which relate in any way to the separation of church and state, “abolishing the concept of binding judicial precedents” and the like—would fundamentally alter, and destroy, the nature of the United States as a political entity. And the notion that Americans “as a people” must “acknowledge that God exists” states the essence of theocratic governance as plainly as any Islamic fundamentalist could wish. And later in the piece, Silber makes the following common-sense observation: Remember the pattern from history: first, introduce the idea tentatively, with perhaps only one person in public life broaching it; second, other public figures condemn the idea, while it simultaneously becomes more common as part of the national conversation; third, another faux “outrage” is orchestrated and public emotion deliberately stoked once more—and people begin to wonder, “Remember that idea we thought was crazy? Maybe it wasn’t so crazy after all…”; fourth, people begin to think, “Well, we don’t want to do it, but if they refuse to do the right thing…” (in fact, we’ve already seen this one with regard to freedom of the press, offered by a very prominent warblogger—so perhaps we’re farther down this road than even I had thought); and finally, a sufficient number of people “reluctantly” conclude that the original idea isn’t only not crazy—it’s the least those bastards deserve. And then we’ve arrived in hell. Indeed. 11:30:10 PM    comment [] Maybe They Should Just Cut A Slit In The Mattress... Such a FUN blogging day. Too many things to pass along. But this one, garnered from (as usual) Atrios' Eschaton site, by way of AmericaBlog, and originally from the Toledo Blade, is just a priceless gem! I've posted quite a bit of the Toledo Blade's article here, but to be honest...there's a lot more. It's a long, in-depth article. I would suggest you hit the links and read more.   Since 1998, Ohio has invested millions of dollars in the unregulated world of rare coins, buying nickels, dimes, and pennies. Controlling the money for the state? Prominent local Republican and coin dealer Tom Noe, whose firm made more than $1 million off the deal last year alone. The agreement to invest the money in rare coins is rare itself: The Blade could find no other instance of a state government investing in a rare coin fund. Neither the state nor Mr. Noe could provide one. "I don't think I'd be excited to invest in rare coins," Vermont Treasurer Mike Ablowich said. "It's a little unusual." The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation has continued to be the sole investor in Mr. Noe's Capital Coin funds despite strong concerns raised by an auditor with the bureau about possible conflicts of interest and whether the state's millions were adequately protected. And the state has maintained its stake in Capital Coin despite documented problems:  Two coins worth roughly $300,000 were lost in the mail in 2003. The firm has written off $850,000 in debt over the last three years to cover a failed business relationship. Mr. Noe has loaned some of the state's money to a local real estate business that buys and sells central-city homes. A state auditor could not find documents to prove if the loans were sufficiently covered by the value of real estate that a Capital Coin subsidiary held as collateral. The state trumpets its relationship with Mr. Noe, praising the returns on its investment. A few years ago, as the stock market tanked, most of its equity funds lost money. Capital Coin was one of the only funds running positive returns at the time, officials said. Mr. Noe is well-known in Columbus. Former Gov. George Voinovich appointed him to the Ohio Board of Regents and Gov. Bob Taft appointed him to the Ohio Turnpike Commission. He's now chairman of the Turnpike Commission. Mr. Noe is a former chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party who has given more than $11,000 in campaign contributions to both Governor Taft and Mr. Voinovich, now a Republican U.S. senator, over the last decade. He has given tens of thousands more to Republican candidates around the state. He worked hard to get President Bush re-elected last year; as chairman of the Bush team's efforts in northwest Ohio, he frequently talked with Karl Rove, one of the President's top advisers. The administrator of the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, James Conrad, was appointed by a Republican governor, Mr. Voinovich, and reappointed by Governor Taft. All five members of the bureau's oversight commission also were appointed by Republican governors. Mr. Conrad declined several requests for interviews with The Blade. When reached for comment yesterday, Mr. Taft's press secretary, Mark Rickel, said the governor would not answer questions or comment on The Blade's article. Jeremy Jackson, press secretary for the bureau, said there is no evidence that politics played any role in the selection of Capital Coin. Mr. Noe also said politics had nothing to do with the bureau's decision to invest with him. "This had to do with Tom Noe, the coin dealer," Mr. Noe said. "It had nothing to do with politics. If someone tells you that they got involved on my behalf to help me on this politically, then they're lying to you." His knowledge of coins led Ohio officials to make him chairman of the state's commemorative quarter committee. He's also the current chairman of the U.S. Mint's Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, which advises the Treasury secretary on coinage. What's next? Cutting a slit in the mattress and tucking the state treasury in there? I know strange times call for strange solutions, but this is downright ridiculous! 4:10:59 PM    comment [] I Have To Stop Reading Blogs ...because I keep running into quotes like this, from Daily Kos: In an interview, Jeff Lungren, a spokesman for Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., Republican of Wisconsin and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the panel was likely in some way to take up the issue of how the federal judges handled Ms. Schiavo's case. But Mr. Lungren said Mr. DeLay had not requested a hearing and the committee had not decided on a course of action. "There does seem to be this misunderstanding out there that our system was created with a completely  independent judiciary," he said. Is there an island somewhere, associated with nobody's government, where I can hide out until sanity returns...if it ever does? 10:15:59 AM    comment [] Nice Rant I'd say this blog is worth another link. Atrios gave it one and so did someone else, but it deserves more. Believe me, it does. The blog is called The Abstract Factory. And I never heard of it before today. But what I liked is how the guy who wrote this (not sure of his name, but he's a grad student) points out the total dearth of facts behind most conservative argument...and the fact that those who listen...don't care. Really, they don't. It's not only amazing, it's scary as hell. Go read. 9:55:14 AM    comment [] Scary Stuff Out There... This one is from Atrios' Eschaton, via Congress Daily. Just the last quote. Go read the whole article, but don't do it while eating. Trust me on this. "What it is time to do is impeach justices," Texas Justice Foundation President Allan Parker extolled a crowd of a hundred or so conservative lobbyists, attorneys and activists. "The standard should be any judge who believes in the 'living constitution' should be impeached." Allan Parker, if you don't want to read the whole article, was speaking to the "Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional Restoration". I love the names these freaks find for themselves, don't you? 9:40:53 AM    comment [] Why Doesn't This Surprise Me? Just to follow up on something from a few days ago... According to the AP wire service: WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday canceled a controversial study using children to measure the effect of pesticides after Democrats said they would block Senate confirmation of the agency's new head. Stephen Johnson, as EPA's acting administrator, ordered an end to the planned study, a reversal from the agency's position just a day earlier when it said it would await the advice of outside scientific experts. The aim of the study, Johnson said, was to fill data gaps on children's exposure to household pesticides and chemicals. He suspended it last November after ethical questions were raised by scientists within EPA and by environmentalists. Over the study's two years, EPA had planned to give $970 plus a camcorder and children's clothes to each of the families of 60 children in Duval County, Fla., in what critics of the study noted was a low-income minority neighborhood. EPA also had agreed to accept $2 million for the $9 million "Children's Health Environmental Exposure Research Study" from the American Chemistry Council, a trade group that represents chemical makers. "I have concluded that the study cannot go forward, regardless of the outcome of the independent review. EPA must conduct quality, credible research in an atmosphere absent of gross misrepresentation and controversy," Johnson said Friday. "I am committed to ensuring that EPA's research is based on sound science with the highest ethical standards." Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., had joined with Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., in demanding the study's cancellation as a condition for confirming Johnson's nomination by President Bush. "I am very pleased that Mr. Johnson has recognized the gross error in judgment the EPA made when they concocted this immoral program to test pesticides on children," Boxer said. "The CHEERS program was a reprehensible idea that never should have made it out of the boardroom, and I am just happy that it was stopped before any children were put in harms way," Boxer said, adding that she would continue to oppose any testing of toxins on humans. On Thursday, the agency said it would await a report from a science advisory panel, a process that spokesman Rich Hood said could take until May, before deciding the study's fate. Johnson, an EPA employee for a quarter-century and the first person with a science background to be nominated to lead the agency, has been acting administrator since Mike Leavitt left the agency in January to become secretary of the Health and Human Services Department. He was nominated in March. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which met on Wednesday to hear from Johnson, said Friday it would meet again next week to consider his nomination. Of course, they had to threaten someone's job to get it done. Very sad. Never mind the fact that now they'll give the job to the idiot who thought this was a good idea in the first place, but hey...no harm no foul, right? Wrong. 9:18:36 AM    comment []

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