Read Glenn Greenwald’s take on the moments-old 65-34 vote in favor of destroying one of the basic tenents of democracy. I’m too appalled to say anything more.
Category: Society Page 67 of 69
Today’s Washington Post brings us a editorial from one S. Frederick Starr, who admonishes us against criticizing Kazakstan, a despotic regime that is rife with human rights abuses. Starr rolls out what has become a tired refrain of his kind, amounting to “well, if we don’t buy their oil, someone else will!”
The piece only identifes Starr as “chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.” Harmless enough, yes? Harper’s has something that might interest the reader:
Starr, who is perhaps the [Uzbekistan President] Karimov regime’s most outspoken advocate in Washington—a regime that once tortured a political prisoner to death with methods that included the use of boiling water and then arrested his elderly mother when she complained. He also speaks fondly of several other despotic governments in central Asia, a region he views almost exclusively through the prism of American geopolitical interests and with little interest in issues like human rights and corruption.
Perhaps the Washington Post’s readers would like to know that. But hey, who am I to criticize, when – in a few short hours from now – my own legislature will vote to legalize torture and the indefinite detention of anyone, based solely upon the word of the President.
I don’t worship at the political altar of the moderate, but the NY Times Op-Ed page makes some excellent points here:
The rebellion against Mr. Lieberman was actually an uprising by that rare phenomenon, irate moderates. They are the voters who have been unnerved over the last few years as the country has seemed to be galloping in a deeply unmoderate direction. A war that began at the president’s choosing has degenerated into a desperate, bloody mess that has turned much of the world against the United States. The administration’s contempt for international agreements, Congressional prerogatives and the authority of the courts has undermined the rule of law abroad and at home.
Yet while all this has been happening, the political discussion in Washington has become a captive of the Bush agenda. Traditional beliefs like every person’s right to a day in court, or the conviction that America should not start wars it does not know how to win, wind up being portrayed as extreme. The middle becomes a place where senators struggle to get the president to volunteer to obey the law when the mood strikes him. Attempting to regain the real center becomes a radical alternative.
Instead of finishing and hitting publish on the last dozen in the Draft folder, I’m at YearlyKos. The reporting on it will hit saturation point shortly, if it hasn’t already. So I’ll just leave my take on it (which, at this point, would likely degenerate into a completely unrelated damnation of Las Vegas) at being thrilled to see and hear so many smart and committed citizens in one place.
Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) and Pretend Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D- Doesn’t Have a Vote) introduced a bill to the U.S. House this morning that would apportion two new House seats – one to DC, and one to Utah. Now, as appalling as it is that even something as fundamental as the right to vote has to fall victim to partisan concerns about party control of the House, I’d gladly give Utah two seats to secure the fundamental right of District citizens to have the same representation as every other American citizen.  You do realize that citizens of DC don’t have a Representative in the House, right? Or a Senator? The closest thing they have to effective representation is Virginia’s Tom Davis, and he’s not even a little accountable to them (Holmes Norton doesn’t have anyone’s ear, nevermind the vote).
You’d have to read to the very end of the story to find out that Linda Schrenko was a Republican (nevermind that she was treated as a GOP star for a while), but I don’t imagine she’ll be attending party fundraisers anytime soon:
ATLANTA (AP) — A former Georgia state school superintendent accused of embezzling $600,0000 and spending it on a facelift and an unsuccessful campaign for governor pleaded guilty Wednesday and will serve eight years in prison.
Linda Schrenko, 56, struck a plea bargain in the middle of her trial. The trial continued for two alleged accomplices.
Prosecutors said Schrenko stole federal education money to underwrite her 2002 campaign for governor, cosmetic surgery and other extras, including a television, computer and a down payment on a car.
Having spent a lot of time in Georgia schools during Schrenko’s tenure, I can assure you that this wasn’t an extra $600k she pilfered from the landscaping budget.