On Protecting The Innocent, Or, Is There A Death Penalty Compromise?

by: fake consultant

Sat Sep 24, 2011 at 12:21:46 PM EDT

And given the choice, I'd rather see us abandon the death penalty altogether, for reasons that must, at this moment, seem self-evident; that said, it's my suspicion that a lot of states are not going to be in any hurry to abandon their death penalties anytime soon now that they know the Supreme Court will allow the innocent to be murdered.

So what if there was a way to create a compromise that balanced the absolute need to protect the innocent with the feeling among many Americans that, for some crimes, we absolutely have to impose the death penalty?

Considering the circumstances, it's not going to be an easy subject, but let's give it a try, and see what we can do.

On Happy-ing Their Gilmores, Or, Will Body Bags Be The New Gold Watch?

by: fake consultant

Tue Apr 26, 2011 at 07:23:21 AM EDT

I have been encouraging folks to take advantage of the recent Congressional recess to have a few words with your CongressCritter about the proposed Death Of Medicare and all the proposed cuts to Social Security...and you have, as we'll discuss...and now we have an opportunity to do something on a national scale, just as we did a few weeks ago in support of Social Security.

This time, we're going to concentrate on fighting the idea that retirement ages should go up before we become eligible for Social Security and Medicare (and elements of Medicaid, as well), and that Americans should just keep right on working until the age of 67 or so-which isn't going to be any big problem...really...trust us.

Now that just makes no sense, and to help make the point we have a really cool video that you can pass around to all your friends-and your enemies, for that matter, since they'll also have to worry about what happens to them if they should ever make it to old age.  

DADT Update: The Service Chiefs Report, The Republicans Fret

by: fake consultant

Mon Apr 11, 2011 at 13:43:18 PM EDT

There was a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee last Thursday that had all four Services represented; with one exception these were the same Service Chiefs that were testifying last December when the bill to set the repeal process in motion was still a piece of prospective legislation.

At that time there was concern that the "combat arms" of the Marines and the Army were going to be impacted in a negative way by the transition to "open service"; the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Army's Chief of Staff were the most outspoken in confirming that such concerns exist within the Pentagon as well.

We now have more information to report-including the increasing desperation of some of our Republican friends-and if you ask me, I think things might be better than we thought.

Social Security: Are You Ready For A Congressional "Video Staycation"?

by: fake consultant

Mon Apr 04, 2011 at 01:00:30 AM EDT

Now what I have for you today starts out as a bit of insider information that came to me on background-but it turns into a chance for those of us who support Social Security to very much get in the faces of our members of Congress, for two whole weeks.

And to make it even better, I'm going to throw out a few direct action ideas "for your consideration" (as they say in Hollywood during Awards Season) that would absolutely make good street actions and YouTube videos, both at the same time...and even more importantly, we'll absolutely make some great Spring Break fun.  

Social Security: Get On The Phone Tuesday And Wednesday And Help Fight Cuts

by: fake consultant

Sun Mar 27, 2011 at 18:10:54 PM EDT

I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, considering the disconnect between Social Security and the deficit-but once again it's "Continuing Resolution" time on Capitol Hill, where some use the threat of an impending shutdown of the Federal Government to extract concessions from the other side...and some on the other side try to make points with the voters by out-conceding their opponents.

So Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, there's a national push on to get voters to call their Senators and remind them to vote for an Amendment that is a big ol' "I'm not willing to cut Social Security just because other people philosophically want to cut Government any way they can" kind of reassurance to the voters, and I'm here to encourage you, once again, to make a couple phone calls and do some pushing of your own.

I've also been storing up a couple somewhat facetious random thoughts which will be the "garnish" for today's dish; you'll see them pop up as we go along.

On Monday Morning Philosophy, Or, Founders Tell America: "You Figure It Out"

by: fake consultant

Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 15:05:16 PM EDT

Some among us have managed to turn their certainty into something that approaches a reverential calling, and you need look no further than the Supreme Court to find such notables as Cardinals Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia providing "liturgical foundation" to the adherents of the point of view that the Constitution is like The Bible: that it's somehow immutable, set in stone, and, if we would only listen to the right experts, easily interpreted.

But what if that absolutist point of view is absolutely wrong?

What if the Original Intent Of The Founders, that summer in Philadelphia...was simply to get something passed out of the Constitutional Convention, and the only way that could happen was to leave a lot of the really tough decisions to the future?

What if The Real Original Intent...was that we work it out for ourselves as we go along?

On Being A Titan, Part One, Or, See It, Say It, Sue It

by: fake consultant

Wed Mar 09, 2011 at 06:05:47 AM EST

Two local activists in particular have drawn the ire of Titan Cement, the Grecian corporation who seeks to build the plant-and because the Company doesn't like what the activists have been saying about what the impact of that plant will likely be or how the deal's going down...they're suing Kayne Darrell and Dr. David Hill, residents of North Carolina's New Hanover County, and the two folks who are doing the complaining the Company dislikes the most.

The Company further claims that they were slandered and defamed by the damaging statements that were uttered by the two at a county commissioners' meeting and that they have lost goodwill and the chance to do business with certain parties as a result of these statements.

But what if everything the Defendants said was not only true...but provably so-and the Company was, maybe...just looking to shut people up by sending teams of lawyers after them?

As I said, it's a simple story today-but it's a good one.

Social Security: If You Can't Kill The Program, Screw The People

by: fake consultant

Sat Mar 05, 2011 at 11:46:33 AM EST

They're going to sell it to you, if they can, as a way to "lower the deficit", or words similar...but what this is really about is making the actual Social Security program work less well-because, after all, if a program is popular today, the best way to make it less so is to apply a bit of "treat 'em like their cars were impounded" to every interaction customers have with the system.

And what better way to make sure that happens...then to aggressively demoralize everyone who works down at the ol' Social Security office?

Looking At The Sotomayor Pick

by: robert.harding

Tue May 26, 2009 at 12:25:36 PM EDT

The nomination is a historic one. Sotomayor, if confirmed by the U.S. Senate, would become the first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court. Sotomayor would also become the third woman to serve on the Supreme Court, joining Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is currently serving, as the only other women to do so.

Sotomayor's resume is an impressive one. She is a 1979 graduate of Yale Law School and attended Princeton for her undergraduate studies. She started her career as a New York County Assistant District Attorney before going into private practice. She was then nominated to become a U.S. District Court judge by President George H.W. Bush with a recommendation from Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. In 1998, after being appointed to the post by President Bill Clinton, Sotomayor started serving in her most recent post as a U.S. Appeals Court judge.

Sotomayor is considered a centrist, or as Jeffrey Toobin put it, "a voice like David Souter for moderate liberalism." While she has been considered a centrist, she has also been known to take liberal views on issues like the environment.

The last time she faced confirmation, Sotomayor was confirmed by a 67-29 vote. Some of the Republicans who supported her confirmation in 1998 are still in the Senate. Sen. Orrin Hatch, Sen. Richard Lugar and Sen. Olympia Snowe are examples. Sen. Susan Collins was also around at that time and voted in favor of Sotomayor.

Not that a Supreme Court justice's confirmation is ever guaranteed, but based on Sotomayor's past performance, it will be tough to see a way that she does not get confirmed. With the Democrats nearing a 60 vote majority and with a handful of Republicans on her side, it looks like Sotomayor won't have too difficult a time getting confirmed.

On Gov. Spitzer's Proposed DNA Databank

by: ElanaDMIBlog

Tue May 29, 2007 at 10:51:53 AM EDT

Governor Spitzer's proposed DNA bill calling for New York to collect DNA samples from every person convicted of a crime (including all misdemeanors), and everyone on probation and parole, is problematic for many reasons.

Before examining the DNA strand of the bill, the sample is contaminated first and foremost because of a separate illogical and offensively punitive provision that sets a one-year deadline for prisoners challenging their convictions on grounds other than newly discovered evidence (which would bar such common and occasionally meritorious claims as ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, perjured testimony, admission of unconstitutionally obtained evidence, etc., after 365 days). Such an arbitrary rule has little appeal (or appeals). As the Times noted, "if Mr. Spitzer wants to reduce the number of convicted criminals who challenge their convictions, he should start by addressing the serious problems with the state's public defender system that give rise to many of the legitimate complaints."

Even doing away with this draconian deal-breaker, dissecting the collection-happy DNA provision of the draft leads to the discovery of other detriments.