Politics | Blacknell.net

If Obama Forces Military Tribunals, Eric Holder Should Resign

By MB

On March 6, 2010

One of the few bright spots of principle in the Obama Administration had been its insistance that the American justice system was not outclassed by terrorists. Â And now, it seems that Obama’s inability to stand up to even the weakest of criticism has the administration reconsidering. Â LG&M suggests the proper response:

It’s every bit as illegitmate for the White House to order Holder what to do in this matter as it was for Richard Nixon to order Elliott Richardson to fire Archibald Cox. Barack Obama (let alone his messenger boy Emanuel — or is the other way around?) is not the nation’s chief law enforcement officer: Eric Holder is. Holder has spent the last three months telling everyone that considerations of basic justice argued for trying KSM in our regular courts, rather than in military tribunals set up for the purpose of disposing of particularly troublesome criminal cases.

For the Record

By MB

On February 25, 2010

In Politics

Rangel should get out of the game. Â But really? Â Republicans have *zero* room for judgment. Â So STFU.

This is Funny

By MB

On February 25, 2010

In Politics

right?

(Seriously, you wonder about what kind of brain it takes that squares all these actions into making sense)

It’s Who They Are

By MB

On February 24, 2010

In Politics

Can anyone explain how Glenn Greenwald is wrong, here?

This is what the DemocraticÂ Party does; it’s who they are.Â They’re willing to feign support for anything their voters want just as long as there’s no chance that they can pass it. Â They won control of Congress in the 2006 midterm elections by pretending they wanted to compel an end to the Iraq War and Bush surveillance and interrogation abuses because they knew they would not actually do so; and indeed, once they were given the majority, theÂ Democratic-controlled Congress continued to fund the war without conditions, toÂ legalize Bush’s eavesdropping program, and to do nothing to stop Bush’s habeas and interrogation abuses (“Gosh, what can we do?Â Â We just don’t have 60 votes).

The primary tactic in this game is VillainÂ Rotation.Â They always have a handful of Democratic Senators announce that they will be the ones to deviate this time from the ostensible party position and impede success, but the designated Villain constantly shifts, so the Party itself can claim it supports these measures while an always-changing handful of their members invariably prevent it

Anyone?

And a Liar, Too

By MB

On February 23, 2010

In Politics, Virginia

Del. Bob Marshall – bigot, misogynist, and general all around creepy guy – made national news yesterday by declaring that disabled children were God’s punishment for the mother having had an abortion. Full quote:

“The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children,” said Marshall, a Republican.

“In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment Christians would suggest.”

Now, I’m not going to pretend to be surprised or outraged about it. It’s totally in character for him, in my view. Â He’s not going to resign, and his district will return him to office (perhaps further inflicting God’s punishment on Virginia?). Â He’s rather proud of his ridiculousness, and he’s rewarded for it. Â It’s Virginia, after all.

What I didn’t expect, however, was for him to out and out lie about what he said. WMAL catches him.

Marshall however todayÂ told WMAL he never said any such thing. “One of the reporters said to me, ‘I wondered why AP (Associated Press) and the other guys didn’t cover this. I said, ‘Jonathan, because it didn’t happen,’ ” Marshall told WMAL.

Well, there’s audio. Â Bob Marshall, Liar.

Virginia’s 3 Feet to Pass Cyclists Law Up for Final Vote in House

By MB

On February 12, 2010

In Cycling, Law, Politics, Virginia

The always helpful Virginia Bicycling Federation reports that the proposed “3 feet to pass” bill, which provides that cars must give cyclists at least three feet of clearance when passing them, made it out of committee.Â Barely:

After being reported out of Sub Committee yesterday by a 5-2 vote, HB1048, 3 foot passing & following too close, was reported out of the full House Transportation Committee this morning by a very tight 11-10 vote. Since the vote was electronically tallied and then taken down rather quickly, Iâ€™m not sure exactly who voted each way, but it appeared that all the Dâ€™s voted for the bill, joined by two or three Râ€™s (which I think included Oder & Rust).

As in Sub Committee, there was even more discussion of how difficult it would be with the additional foot to legally pass a bicycle without going over the double center line on a two lane road. The strongest anti-cycling sentiment was expressed by Del. Cosgrove of Chesapeake, Del. Knight of Virginia Beach, who clearly voted against the bill, along with Del. Villanueva of Va Beach, even though the representative of that City and Bruce Drees of the Tidewater Bicycling Assn. both spoke in favor of it.

Remember, the Virginia Senate has already passed this bill, and it is an unlikely veto target.Â So all that stands between this sensible idea becoming law is the Virginia House of Delegates.Â VBF asks:

Now its on to the Full House floor (either on Saturday or Monday), where Chairman Joe May of Loudon (who also appeared to vote against the bill) wished our patron, Kaye Kory, a good-natured â€œGood luck on the floorâ€ after he announced the result of the voting.

Now, we need EVERYONE to contact their delegate. If you donâ€™t know who it is, you can find out at the VA General Assemblyâ€™s Whoâ€™s My Legislator pageâ€¦

http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform

Please take a few minutes to do this, even if you think you live in the district of someone who will certainly vote for it.Â It would be a shame to get so close to success, yet lose because of a bit of complacency.

John Cole (Re)Writes a Play

By MB

On February 11, 2010

In Personal, Policy, Politics

John Cole does a fantastic job of speculating on exactly what would happen if Congress were to attempt to fix something that most of the population would agree should be fixed – that AmeriCorps stipends should be sufficient enough that members don’t need to rely on food stamps.

I’d describe his post as amusing, except 1) I think it’s *exactly* how such an effort would play out and 2) it tracks pretty much how the GOP machine reacted to AmeriCorps in 1994-1995.Â It’s the same clowning, over and over.Â It’s always going to be politics, and not policy.

Del. Mark Cole: “I just think you should have the right to control your own body.”

By MB

On February 10, 2010

In Politics, Virginia

Del. Mark Cole’s apparent newfound respect for the right to privacy is just the tip of the amusement, here:

The House of Delegates is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill that would protect Virginians from attempts by employers or insurance companies to implant microchips in their bodies against their will.

It might also save humanity from the antichrist, some supporters think.

Del. Mark L. Cole (R-Fredericksburg), the bill’s sponsor, said that privacy issues are the chief concern behind his attempt to criminalize the involuntary implantation of microchips. But he also said he shared concerns that the devices could someday be used as the “mark of the beast” described in the Book of Revelation.

Gosh, more lunacy from a Virginia Republican.Â Who ever would have guessed it?Â But the story raises concerns about a Democrat, too:

Del. Robert H. Brink (D-Arlington) said on the House floor that he did not find many voters demanding microchip legislation when he was campaigning last fall: “I didn’t hear anything about the danger of asteroids striking the Earth, about the threat posed by giant alligators in our cities’ sewer systems or about the menace of forced implantation of microchips in human beings.”

Reading that, it kinda makes me wonder if Bob’s not adequately prepared for a zombie attack.Â Folks are supposed to take imaginary dangers seriously in Virginia, you know.

Updated to add link I originally left out.

Public Wisdom

By MB

On February 10, 2010

In Politics, Society

Jacob Weisberg, as part of the recent multi-party conversation on “liberal condescension”, identifies a point of central importance:

In trying to explain why our political paralysis seems to have gotten so much worse over the past year, analysts have rounded up a plausible collection of reasons including: President Obama’s tactical missteps, the obstinacy of congressional Republicans, rising partisanship in Washington, the blustering idiocracy of the cable-news stations, and the Senate filibuster, which has devolved into a super-majority threshold for any important legislation. These are all large factors, to be sure, but that list neglects what may be the biggest culprit in our current predicament: the childishness, ignorance, and growing incoherence of the public at large.

Whose fault? Our fault.