A few months ago, FDL friend Rick Perlstein (now blogging at The Big Con ) asked me to join him and a friend for lunch. The friend turned out to be Lew Koch, an award winning investigative reporter. As we chatted, I learned that Lew has been following – as only a real reporter can – the Jose Padilla case and his piece examining whether Padilla could have made a "dirty bomb" was carried in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (pdf).
Lew is also – lucky for us – a dedicated reader of Firedoglake – and after some cajoling, we got him to agree to cover the Padilla trial for us. His posts on the trial will run at 9PM ET on Wednesdays and 7PM ET on Fridays plus he'll let us know if there's a breaking development in between. This week Lew is in Miami covering the opening arguments and getting the lay of the land. Since the trial is expected to take months, we're not able to keep Lew on the scene but he's got amazing contacts on this case and will be keeping us all well informed.
Let me tell you a bit about Lew. An investigative reporter for over 30 years, Lew studied with Saul Alinsky and was one of the founding editors of the Chicago Journalism Review, the first journalism review owned and operated by working journalists, founded to criticize the media. He directed the Urban Journalism Fellowship Program at the University of Chicago in the 70's, broke the news of the murder of Black Panther Fred Hampton (risking his job with NBC News in the process) and produced a three hour documentary as well as a one hour special based on his reporting from the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention. The first recipient of the Jacob Scher Award, Chicago's highest awards for investigative journalism and community service, Lew became the first reporter to win this recognition twice. More recently, he's done a great job covering the cyber world as a Special Correspondent for CyberWire Dispatch, the listserve founded by Brock Meeks (which was brilliant).
Lew's spidey senses (as Jane would say) went into overdrive when he saw "a south side jamoke" being charged with being a terrorist mastermind and he's been tireless chasing this story ever since. With contacts ranging from his years of covering Chicago in the streets to his contacts with legal experts and scientists, Lew's been preparing for this story since the original arrest.
Warren Richey of the Christian Science Monitor is noting that Reporters face unusual limits at Padilla terror trial which does not bode well for the MSM coverage. Having Lew take on this story for us will give Firepups a chance to learn the real story as the trial moves forward.
Let's welcome Lew to our team – he's in court today but Lew will join us during his regular posts and also welcomes comments and discussion at lew dot koch at gmail dot com.
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siun!
zed
so close
Zed?
Bring it on Lew Koch!
Viewer warning – PrezNut live from Rose Garden.
Hi Gang … pretty exciting, eh?
Lew is amazing and would be with us today but he’s at the courthouse for opening day. Meanwhile, the link for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists takes you to his article on the original charges and it’s fascinating.
Welcome, Lew. The Padilla case is an important battleground in our fight to save the Constitution from the Bushites who seek to undermine it. I look forward to your insights.
OK, so Lew’s not here. I hope he has a chance to read the comments later.
The abuse of Jose Padilla is uncivilizated and brutal. Our “government” has used him has a symbol of their power and cruelity. There was no reason for him to be placed in solitary confinment for years. Was the prison system so inept that they could not take care of him any other way??? No. Or……well maybe but it was torture plain and simply. I am so happy that Lew Koch is on board at FDL. Now the trial will become public. Or as public as the censors will allow.
We are fortunate to get this coverage. I remember when newspapers used to follow stories in this way.
Thanks to all involved.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush helped raise $10.5 million for the national Republican Party at its annual gala on Thursday night, the smallest take in years for the event that came only months after the GOP lost control of both houses of Congress.
The Republican National Committee’s spring fundraising gala hosted by the president raised $17 million last year, $15 million in 2005 and $14 million in 2003. When Bush was seeking re-election to the White House in 2004, the dinner brought in a record $38.5 million.
Greetings Lew! looking forward to your coverage. It’s such an important case.
egregious @ 11
Amen. Great work, Siun & FDL. Looking forward to hearing from Lew.
Another feather in the cap of FDL. Way to go guys, really looking forward to Lew’s updates on this one!
Yay! I lurked here during the Libby trial and came here as soon as I realized that opening statements in the Padilla trial were today, hoping you would have some live-bloggy-goodness. You are really going to make a name for yourself as reporters/source info with your dedication to bringing us these trials which have unintended consequences of exposing government overreaching. Thank you.
rwcole @ 12
That’s such a shame, and very telling.
rwcole @ 12
It would have been even less if they’d accommodated any of the people demanding refunds.
“But the duly elected people’s bodies, the U.S. Congress and the Iraqi parliament, say they want a troop withdrawal,” pressed Russert. “That’s more than a poll. Isn’t that the voice of the people?”
“Well, the–as far as the Iraqi parliament is concerned, the Iraqi government obviously doesn’t feel that way, their–the representatives in their government,” replied McCain, seemingly dismissing the Iraqi parliament’s ability to govern its own country.
“Second of all,” he continued, “there is some, a certain amount of domestic political calculations involved there in what the Iraqi, quote, ‘parliament’ said. The Iraqi parliament has their ability to, to voice their views, and I respect them.”
Later, when asked if he would be “in favor of a referendum amongst the Iraqi people to make a decision as to whether US troops should stay or leave,” McCain appeared to contradict himself.
“No, no more than I should–would have a referendum in the United States of America as to whether Iraqi troops should leave, or whether we should be in or out of NATO, or any other issue. The Iraqi government is an elected government, and they are functioning,” he said, implying that the parliament he had mocked earlier as able only to give opinions was fully functional.
From his article – this says it all:
“Ron Sievert, a University of Texas
at Austin law school professor and
U.S. assistant attorney, in his comprehensive
book Cases and Materials
on U.S. Laws and National Security,
questions the powers of so-called
military commissions, especially
when a military commander, including
the president acting as commander
in chief, substitutes “military force
for and to the exclusion of the laws
and punish[es] all persons, as he
thinks right and proper, without
fixed and certain rules.”
If unchecked, such power would
mean that republican government,
and liberty regulated by law, would
come to an end. With such powers,
martial law could be used to destroy
every guarantee of the Constitution,
and effectually render the military independent
of and superior to civil
power. The idea was deemed such an
offense by this country’s founders
that they cited it as one of the main
reasons for declaring independence
from England. “Civil liberty and this
kind of martial law cannot endure
together; the antagonism is irreconcilable;
and, in the conflict, one or
the other must perish,” Sievert
writes.
During the turbulent Civil War
years, Abraham Lincoln declared an
emergency, suspended the writ of
habeas corpus, and declared martial
law both in 1861 and 1862. Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court Roger
B. Taney ruled that Lincoln did not
have that right. In 1866, after the
end of the Civil War, the Supreme
Court reinstated habeas corpus.”
McCain is suffering from dementia and will be the logical gooper successor to Raygun the Confused.
Slowly the gooper rats are leavin their lover…
“just slip out the back Jack
Get a new plan Stan
No need ta be coy Roy
Just get yerself free.”
am jazzed to learn that fdl will be covering the padilla trial.
confession: don’t know the charges he’s standing trial for. or the penalties. or, for that matter, which court is hearing this.
feel free to fill me in.
thank you lew, thank you siun! i’m so glad to know that we’re going to be well informed on this important trial.
McCain says that the Iraqis have a QUOTE Parliament UNQUOTE.. So they don’t really have a democratically elected govt? John- yer LOSING it- quit the race before it’s too late!!
are you kidding me ?!?!? I like him already and then to see Alinksy and the Fred Hampton story – jeepers ! we are some fortunate firepups
thanks Siun !!!!
dmg @ 23
As per Siun’s post, this link will fill you in:
http://thebulletin.metapress.c…..lltext.pdf
rwcole @ 22
50 ways to leave your BushCo
I admit I have constant and vivid nightmares about Jose Padilla and I think I might lose my mind completely if I follow his trial. The unimaginable torture of this human being makes me sick to my stomach. :(
dmg @ 23
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Padilla_(alleged_supporter_of_terrorism)
Also, if you can get ahold of a copy of Glenn Greenwald’s How Would A Patriot Act?, see pp. 47-52.
Padilla was the so-called “Dirty Bomber” held in military prison for over three years by the Bush administration as an “enemy combatant” without any charges being filed against him.
Welcome Lew. But for my own edification, which is YOUR way of pronouncing your last name?
Reason I ask, I have known individuals who have pronounced it:
Cook,
Coke,
Cock, and
Coch.
I think that may be a record with a four letter name and a pronounciation for each letter. :})
And thank you, Lew. Even if I can’t find the inner strength to follow the trial, god bless you and your work.
Golly, a genu-wine Al Queda terrorist in the USA with the intent and ability to set off a nukular device and nary a peep from the MSM about the trial.
WTF?
Kudos to FDL, and welcome (and thanks) Lew.
FDL, the home of sunshine! I guess this means that the NYT and WaPo will steal their trial coverage from Lew.
LS @ 27
much obliged. thankee.
Sorry that link doesn’t work, go to Wikipedia and search for “Jose Padilla”
[Fixed by mod]
neurophius @ 30
thanks very much; i know who he is. just wasn’t up to speed that his trial was imminent.
Welcome, Lew! I’m looking forward to your reports!
Bob in HI
Dakine – Lew “Cook” is the best pronounciation and thanks for asking.
And CBL – that’s what made us chase Lew for this assignment … I actually remember the Hampton story breaking and it was a blast to meet the guy who broke it. We’ll have to get Lew to tell us some stories once the trial coverage gets rolling – he’s a star of the real school of journalism and we can learn so much.
And I should say, I’m sure Lew will be reading this this evening … he is a very dedicated FDL reader.
Conduct unbecoming or unbecoming conduct? Ed*ard? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200…..uctor_bush
Good morning pups. This is so exciting. Thanks for making this happen.
“We’re talking about saving the auto industry from itself,” said Sen. Chris Dodd, who is proposing the highest increase of any presidential candidate.
Dodd, D-Conn., wants to double the average fuel economy for each automaker, from about 24 miles to per gallon today to 50 mpg by 2017.
“The industry just digs its heels in to fight any of these changes, but it’s hard to maintain a very sympathetic ear when you realize that other (foreign) automakers are moving” in the direction of more fuel-efficient vehicles and “devouring market share in the country,” Dodd said in a telephone interview. “Why aren’t we doing this?”
Other Democratic candidates have talked about mileage increases, too:
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former energy secretary, also wants to reach 50 mpg, but his deadline would be three years later than Dodd’s. Richardson plans to offer details of his proposal Thursday.
Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards wants 40 mpg by 2016. He has urged his audiences to consider sacrificing their gas-guzzling vehicles for the good of the country. In a campaign line that he uses often and that wins applause, the 2004 vice presidential nominee says, “It’s time for Americans to be patriotic about something other than war.”
New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to announce her proposal for increasing fuel economy in the coming weeks. Clinton spokesman Phil Singer noted that in the past she has supported increasing fuel efficiency by 10 mpg over the next decade.
At a speech last Monday at the Detroit Economic Club, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama lectured automakers on their home turf for investing in bigger, faster cars while dependency on oil is jeopardizing U.S. security and the global environment.”
In the meantime, the ACTUAL president of the united state is giving a speech on what HE”s gonna do about global warmin and other made up shit since the supremes told him he has ta do somethin about it. A law against cow farts- with a death penaltly attached for multiple offenses is the most likely outcome. Execution to be outsourced to Swift and Company.
Siun @ 39
Is he just a lurker or does he comment?
Conduct unbecoming or unbecoming conduct? Ed*ard? http://news.yahoo.cohttp://thi…..uctor_bush
dmg @ 23
Neither does the Govmint. They keep changing the charges every time they bring him into court.
Bob in HI
The president prefers VOLUNTARY regulation. He’s a “smoke em if you’ve got em” kinda guy..
You wanna be regulated- well fine- BE regulated- otherwise- pollute away!!!
Thanks Siun – I remember Lew Koch’s name well from my old Alinsky Institute days for in those rough and tumble times when women were first gaining admission to organizing training he was – rightly or not – perceived to have been an advocate for what was then a very contenious notion that our fair sex was long overdue for admission. The late great Frances Heisler had long advocated admission of women and marvelled at the subsequent success of the enlightened policy.
dmg – all charges surrounding the dirty bomb have been dropped
linky
link on jury selection
“Why Karl Rove Cared” Froomkin’s up.
Froomkin
OK, who busted the margins?
Bob in HI
[Mod: Refresh, and it should be fine]
Yet once again this site is raising the bar for not only blogs but integrating what they do with the more mainstream mass media and illuminating the failures of much of the latter.
A welcome to Lew.
siun,
thanks again for the link to koch’s piece in the bulletin of the atomic scientists. having read it, i can see why his reportage will be excellent for fdl.
between that piece and many reams of material before it, i’m fairly well down on the issues padilla’s case presents.
what i still don’t know, and am embarrassed to admit, is i’m not clear:
a) where he’s standing trial — federal court? (sdny?) military court? where?
b)on what charges?
c) and who’s representing him?
sorry to be so stupid. help with any of this would be much appreciated.
Holy Jeebus, Siun. You teased us last night with this, but saying you were introducing someone to cover the Padilla trial and then pulling out Lew Koch is kind of like saying you bought a boat, and then pulling out the Titanic. Are we a lucky bunch! Every day I find a new reason to love this site and community more. Thanks for all you do.
This is going to be interesting. Once again, FDL at the forefront of reporting on the things that really matter. Thanks all.
Very impresive journalistic coup! Congrats!
Guess I’m not going to bet much done this week. Again.
cbl @ 48
much appreciated — that story is datelined out of miami. is it in fact going to be heard in a fed court in miami?
o/t
Red State issues a fatwa . . .against Repubs
sorry . . .can’t. . .stop. . .giggling
Siun,
Quite interesting that on a morning when fdl is (once again) pointing out the inadequacies of so many reporters, out pops Lewis Z. Koch, a very thorough and courageous reporter, at the lake. The sweep of time between his groundbreaking coverage of the massacre of Fred Hampton and the Padilla trial is 38 years. But many African-Americans and Puerto Ricans are aware of the even longer history of manufactured charges and premediatated assassinations against their political activists engaged in by government agencies on all levels. Pups unfamiliar with the Hampton massacre can read about Hampton at his wikipedia entry.
Siun @ 38
My pleasure to ask Siun. It’s one of those simple questions but most folks aren’t QUITE as rude as I am to ask it. Especially when there are so very many variants. Glad I’ve got a simple name myself, saves all the confusion. ;})
I think that McCain has a point, or at least thinks he does. A majority of the members of the Iraqi parliament have, as I understand it, signed a petition to get a vote on a timetable for US withdrawal. But the leadership is blocking any action on the petition, even though it appears that they don’t have the right to do so under the constitution.
So the parliament has not officially acted, and probably official action can be held up indefinitely, as long as Maliki will go along, especially if not enough members of parliament can physically be present to create a quorum.
dmg – yes – Southern District Florida – Asst. US Atty John Shipley is prosecut. Judge is Cook
article about Judge
Amazing,while Judy Judy Judy talks to her mirror, we get the best and brightest!
Another scoop on the poop that is the MSM.
Kudos.
Many, Many thanks. Besides that I used to live in Charleston, I am ecstatic to see that someone is working to see that this case won’t be swept under the rug. Also thanks for the link to the “Dirty Justice” article which does a great job on the hysteria factor.
Let’s see – arrested on one set of charges. Kept in isolation for many years (I’m sure that stabilized his psychology!), now after having his head scrambled he is charged on something unrelated. Not to mention the questionable “crime” of applying to a terrorist school – perhaps he was doing it for information for a term paper ?
*ilbo @ 40
Oh, Dear! JoAnne Falletta is one of my favorite conductors. I interviewed her back in October, 1994, when she directed the Bay Area Womens’ Philharmonic. Bush patted her on the head, eh? Whatever. I’m sure he knows Stars and Stripes Forever by now.
Thank you Siun for this exciting addition to FDL coverage!!
BTW, how do you pronounce Siun?
Shaun
Si – un
Shun
Sun
???? :)
Welcome, Lew! This is most excellent! I’d love to hear you talk about the evolution of the media, as well as the coverage of the Padilla case up to now.
newspaperbrat @ 47
I was a little too late for that — my introduction to Uncle Saul came via a copy of his book Rules for Radicals that I was given as partial payment for a babysitting gig in 1981 or thereabouts — and I have envied people like you ever since. :-)
The sad thing is that he knew — he KNEW — that the institutional righties would be paying far more attention to his work than the institutional lefties, who very rarely were willing to get down into the muck where the action was and is. Ralph Reed in particular must have memorized Alinsky’s works. Look at the rise of the right-wing “single-issue” groups: That’s taken straight from Alinsky. Get ‘em in on one issue, then, when they’re comfy, slowly reveal the rest of your agenda.
i haven’t read all of the comments yet but i have a question, in case it hasn’t been already answered:
Is Jose Padilla an American citizen?
Excellent piece over at TPM Cafe about Lam’s firing. It seems the FDLers are not the only ones who are wondering when the real questions are going to be asked.
TPM Cafe
Yeah I believe Padilla is a citizen- otherwise he’d be at gitmo gettin his dick voltage regulated.
There is a very, very important diary by Dengre at Kos that is a must read whenever you have a chance:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..13220/6198
fahrender#67,
Yes-and was arrested on American soil.
US automakers continue to fight against a system that would reward cars for being clean, reliable and efficient.
“How the hell are we gonna compete on THAT battleground—we do “Big, Loud, Fast, and Dirty”
It seems that Padilla is the constitutional “experiment” to test the unitary executive’s newly found power. An American citizen, arrested on U.S. soil, determined by the powers that be to be an enemy combatant, no habeas corpus.
fahrender @ 67
Yes.
BTW, fahrender, you write beautiful poetry.
rwcole @ 19
I think McCain is ill.
LS @ 73
I have a few tests I’d like to do on our unitary executive
OT
My Senator, Patty Murray just sent me an unsolicited e-mail informing me she has a weekly e-mail update available for her activities.
I. am. impressed.
She is hot on oversight in her own right.
For your info , here is the link.
You have several choices of what you would like to be updated on.
http://murray.senate.gov/updates/
rw cole (@41): auto industry foot-draggers
This is a prime example of how Big Corporations HATE AMERICA.
No matter how good the idea and how important it is for America and the world they will fight tooth and nail to maintain the status quo.
They will spend many millions of dollars to keep things the way they think they should be, but the truth is if they accepted the idea of 50mpg they would make good money from it and be more competitive with foreign automakers.
With their pride and arrogance they are a perfect fit with Bush.
LS #73, you’ve put your finger on why the Padilla trial is so important. Combine that with the OVP’s assertion that the OVP is neither an Executive or Legislative branch office but is in fact immune from oversight by either, and you have most of the foundation for an American dictatorship. Add the line-item veto, and all that’s missing is the ability of the Executive to appropriate money-and I’m sure that’s in the works somewhere.
This is my listing on Padilla from my scandals list:
I should also note that the dirty bomb charge has been dropped. Most of the government pronouncements were based on hot air and hype, which is not to say that Padilla is a choirboy just that the government never had much of a case against him.
I would like at some point to hear from Mr. Koch what he thinks about Comey’s part in all this.
fahr
They ARE Bush- they and the oil industry- and the insurance industry and the defense industry, and the banking industry and the drug industry. He has no visible personality apart from these corporations who keep shovin money up his ass.
Jane (nyc) @ 68
Yes– excellent! I hope Leahy or Waxman will be following up!
Bob in HI
RonD @ 80
Hence the need for off budget money, which is detailed in Dengre’s kos diary. They HAVE the money now. What about the trillions the pentagon announced were -ooops- missing as of Sept 10, 2001? Talk about burying your lede. And plenty more stolen since then. This is gonna be one hell of a story when it all comes out.
Boy, this is good stuff. Jose Padilla has been treated like prisoners were treated in the middle ages.
“sorry to be so stupid. help with any of this would be much appreciated.”
Not at all.
Coverage of this trial has been, uh, muted, at best.
I remember when Padilla was arrested and what a big deal it was. Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, et. al. saying we have averted a “dirty bomb attack.” More evidence that the terrorists were lurking RIGHT HERE IN THE USA!
Well, as it turns out, it’s all bullshit. So, Padilla is tortured for three years in a vain attempt to find something to charge him with. Then, when defense lawyers ask for a copy of the taped confession, the government says the evidence has been lost. (perhaps someone can come up with a link-this came out 3-4 months ago, I think)
Something doesn’t smell right with this story. You’d think capturing a dirty-bomb terrorist would lead the evening news night after night-instead it’s been squelched. That’s why Lew Koch’s reporting is so important. Thanks again, Siun, FDL!
President Bush mooned the press today–forgetting that he has the words “Property of Exxon-Mobil” tattooed on his backside.
rwcole @ 42
Heh.
Newspaperbrat – I can well see Lew fighting for women’s rights in the often so macho world of organizing … he’s definitely a supporter of women, esp ladies like our Jane!
and LS … I pronounce my name Shoon but MfI says it better thanks to his fluent gaelic. LOL .. it was the name my father wanted for me but it took a while for me to get to use it.
egregious @ 84
Plus, the question of the ‘missing’ Iraqi oil per day…at least for me. YMMV.
Glad to see we’ll have excellent coverage of Padilla’s trial.
That distict USA is Acosta. A Bushie. So, I’ll be interested in how this assistant fares. But, I’d be very skeptical there’s any real case at at all.
Siun @ 88
if the shoon fits, wear it! :~)
Hugh – I am sure Lew will be writing about Comey and I gather his view varies from some here. I think it will be an interesting discussion and one that will help us add perspective.
Hugh @ 82
since hugh didn’t give you his link:
hugh’s list of bush scandals
LS @ 73
In a nutshell, this is why this should be the trial of the century vs. Anna Nicole’s lack of estate planning…
Loo Hoo @ 84
except the goons working Padilla over have modern day technology and the latest psychological research in the destruction of psyche and personhood. we used to decry the soviet system and its psychological professionals and now we’ve become the admitted world leaders in this reprehensible business.
egregious @ 84
ooo I hadn’t thought about the missing money that way before ooo
fahrender @ 94
Exactly. We’re the bad guys now. So horrid. The first time I was ever truly ashamed to be american was when we invaded Iraq.
I thought I saw where Padilla had been examined and found unfit to contribute to his defense.
Stockholme syndrome plus kinda generally being almost insane from sensory deprivation and isolation.
Anyone else see something along those lines?
Elliott—yes. Iran contra was just the warm up exercise for seeing how much money they could take off budget and get away with it.
An independent ‘government’ with its own Blackwater army and trillions of dollars. What could go wrong?
Welcome Mr. Koch. I’m looking forward to your reporting. *ducking back to work*
And I still want to know what do they mean by “read into the program,” have they already declared the uber secret shadow government sovereign?
CONGRESS: WAKE UP AND GET A GRIP
“Exactly. We’re the bad guys now. So horrid. The first time I was ever truly ashamed to be american was when we invaded Iraq.”
Well the spanish american war wasn’t so hot either- neither was the way we fucked Mexico out of the southwest- slavery wasn’t a bright moment- and Vietnam really sucked- then there was the way we let the Dulles brothers fuck over Guatamala for the sake of the banana company they owned- and then—oh— never mind.
RonD @ 74
thanks, Ron. i’m not sure what i aspire to but beautiful will do just fine.
Jenny from the Blog @ 29
I agree with your assessment Jenny and can’t even begin to imagine what this man has been forced to endure. Even if the government proves that Padilla was a threat, our government will be judged by their treatment of one of our own citizens – seized and then tried in the press as a dirty bomber when 9/11 was still fresh in our national psyche. Now the charges have been changed and some were quietly dropped, but the continued torture, solitary confinement and sensory deprivation of a U.S.citizen is frightening because it reveals what means the neocons are willing to use as the worked in secret, never dreaming their tactics might be revealed. That they chose to use such barbaric methods in our name is truly frightening. I hope and pray we can stop this from ever happening to anyone again, even if it is to our worst enemies. I wouldn’t subject an animal to the treatment that Padilla has been through, much less a human being.
Missing Padilla evidence linky:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17…../newsweek/
Siun @ 87
that pronunciation is almost identical to that of the German word for beauty.
LS @ 70
Another good one! Release the 750,000 documents!
Bob in HI
WASHINGTON – President Bush responded Monday to a Supreme Court ruling by ordering federal agencies to find a way to begin regulating vehicle emissions by the time he leaves office.
In a Rose Garden announcement, Bush said he wanted to move ahead, pending any separate legislative approaches. The new rules will “cut gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles,” he said.
But the Bush executive order telling several agencies to finish the work by 2008 also said they must take into account the views of the general public, the impact the new rules would have on safety, scientific knowledge, available technology and the cost. Bush’s term ends Jan. 20, 2009.
Motherbear – good points. The idea that we need to destroy our system of justice “after 9/11″ is one of great horror but sadly little surprise with the BushCo team.
Fahrender – danke
There were few details immediately available about how the rules might look, but White House press secretary Tony Snow said Monday that the president’s position has not changed.
“The market-based approach seems to work,” Snow said. “The question is: do you try to set up a mandatory system or do you try to set up an innovation-based system. The president prefers innovation.”
Bustednuckles @ 97
There were, I believe, pre-trial motions whether Padilla was competent to stand trial. His defense lawyer contended that his detention and treatment had left him seriously mentally ill. The judge in the case nonetheless ruled he was fit to stand trial.
Super news, Siun! Thank you, Mr. Koch, for your dedication to date in monitoring this “case” and for agreeing to tackle this trial coverage for FDL. I’ll look forward to your front-line on-line reporting.
rwcole @ 110
Yeah, that’s the ticket – “I’m the innovator!”
Wow, FDL, for once I’m speechless. Thanks Siun and Rick and a warm welcome to Lew Koch.
“The president prefers for rules on polluters to be non-mandatory”
Nice trick
Lawyers lurking tell me if I’m wrong but …
One thing to keep in mind about this, is that when the Bushies decided to switch his charges from an enemy combatant status to criminal, Judge Luttig went off and blasted the Bushies because all along they were telling them (the fourth circuit) that Padilla was this nefarious terrorist mastermind and then they completely reversed course to keep him incarcerated longer.
Do I have it close to being right?
do-si-do @ 96
me too. I refuse to fly my flag as long as BushCo rules America
rwcole @ 102
OK OK. But this one tops the list for me, that’s all…peace
rwcole #113, A very nice trick indeed. A non-mandatory rule? Ignoring the fact that the mandatory aspect is what defines a rule?
Paging Mr. Orwell! Mr. Orwell, you have a call!
An article in the local Right Wing rag, The Oregonian , has a piece by Carol J. Williams from the L A Times and WAPO saying the governments case may hinge on one piece of paper,his alleged application to become an Islamic warrior.
I am trying to track this article down on the toobz.
do-si-do (#95):
the first time for me was in 1973 when Nixon and Kissenger ordered the overthrow of the democratically elected Chilean government. For anyone who doesn’t know, this lead to the vicious right wing takeover by General Pinochet which lead to the torture and murder of thousands of Chileans. Thousands more fled the country. Pinochet eventually ordered the murder of a prominent expariate Chilean. He and his female American assistant were the victims of a car bomb on the streets of Washington D.C. This nasty bit of business went unsolved for YEARS.
I love my country at it’s best but George Bush is not the first to have dealt in really horrendous actions in our name. I am not presumtuous enough to assume what, if anything, happens after we leave this mortal coil but, if there is a hell Fuckwad and Tricky Dick deserve a place in the most disagreeable section possible.
Ed*ard Teller @ 113
Can we apply “market-based approach” to Iraq occupation? That is, nobody wants it, so stop sellin’ it…so let’s innovate a way to get outta there.
A bit ago, there was much heartfelt commentary on the importance of living with cancer (Elizabeth Edwards, our Jane, posters here) so why in hell would Tony Snow choose to live with cancer by shilling for the Bush administration? just wondering–and totally exasperated…
cbl @ 61
dmg – yes – Southern District Florida – Asst. US Atty John Shipley is prosecut. Judge is Cook
article about Judge
From the article:
She said Padilla still could receive a fair trial so long as the government did not introduce evidence obtained in the interrogations.
So she’s not going to let in evidence that everybody in his/her right mind knows to be a product of torture. Good for her.
On the other hand, the fact that such an issue would ever arise in the trial of a United States citizen – Jesus H. Christ! *s*
This is not the exact article I mentioned above but has the same main point.
snip
http://www.latimes.com/news/na…..;cset=true
jayt–what’s up with the ~!@#$%^&* recruiter? whatever–hope The Force is with you on this one…
fahrender #119, some background you may find informative on the Chilean story you were referencing:
Operation Condor.
jayt @ 122
From the article:
She said Padilla still could receive a fair trial so long as the government did not introduce evidence obtained in the interrogations.
So she’s not going to let in evidence that everybody in his/her right mind knows to be a product of torture. Good for her.
On the other hand, the fact that such an issue would ever arise in the trial of a United States citizen – Jesus H. Christ! *s*
yes, we have so much to be proud of.
despairing @ 120
easy: he is a complete and total whore…….
despairing @ 123
his needs that health insurance policy
fahrender @ 121
Hi Fahrender…so I gather you get what I mean: lost patriotic innocence.
I totally missed this Chilean development. As I’ve stated over and over again at the lake I grew up around GOPers, so this kind of news would not have been discussed at all. I’m a self-confessed slow learner (I plead nurture over nature theory).
I once visited a friend’s house in Newport Beach during the Carter years and they had a framed pic of Nixon in the entry hall. I kid you not. It freaked me out in that I had never been to a home with political figures featured in the wallhangings, much less disgraced ones unapologetically enshrined in the front hall!!
How I emerged from my childhood w/o being totally brainwashed is beyond me. Maybe I’m just contrarian.
Enough about me. I’m so glad to know there is a movement, a medium, or what have you to function as the watchdog of democracy.
carry on!
despairing @ 125
jayt–what’s up with the ~!@#$%^&* recruiter? whatever–hope The Force is with you on this one…
thanks for asking – just walked in after hitting the bricks all morning. I’ve been to the Governor’s office, Senator Bayh’s office (I’m way pissed at them), Senator Lugar’s office, Congresswoman Julia Carson’s office, have mailed a cetified letter to the commander of the Indiana National Guard, contacted a local TV station as to w/n they’d be interested in taking a team out to shine a light in this guy’s face, and talked to the Indianapolis Star (a Gannet owned rag which i expect to not hear back from).
If my son gets out of class in time, we’re gonna go swear out a complaint.
My feet hurt.
2 words to the wonderful team at FDL:
FAR OUT!!!! (ie: good job!)
Seriously–this is a vitally important issue and trial to follow.
Mommybear -
I hear one phrase about the treatment of Padilla and spend literally weeks grieving for him. I’ll give you just one because that’s all I can stand but… Evidentally he spent days and weeks chained to a cement floor on his stomach spread eagle, naked, in sub zero temps, water thrown on him while excruciatingly loud music is blasted into his cell.
Nice, huh. And that’s just one of the sweet ways we’ve been torturing the man.
Ack. Better leave now.
Luis Posada Carriles, wanted in Cuba and Venezuela for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner, got out of jail on Thursday and flew to Miami pending trial in Texas on immigration charges.
Great, they let a real terrorist free and set-up a guy for nothing.
No wonder justice is blindfolded, it’s to hide the tears of shame.
When Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, there were two Americans present — John Foster and Allen Dulles.
The Dulles brothers were Wall Street Attorneys, whose firm was involved in every investment and technology transfer to Nazi Germany. Without the support of American Capitalists, Hitler was a nobody.
Guatemala was small potatoes for this crew — WWII, Nazis in the CIA, Guatemala, Iran, Bay of Pigs, JFK assassination, Vietnam, the list goes on and on.
A young Naval Intelligence Officer became a protege of Allen Dulles and Prescott Bush, after deep sixing a report that linked Dulles to a Nazi industrialist. In gratitude, they launched his political career.
The Officer’s name? Richard Nixon.
Well if Padilla’s trial gets any decent MSM coverage and the hideousness of his circumstance starts to enter the tiny little brains of a portion of our populace then that will be a good thing. Maybe then some of these Bush cheerleaders will stop and realize what the f**k has been going on.
OT,
Regarding the weekly email updates from Senator Murray I mentioned upthread.
Here is my reply to the Senator;
BTW – don’t miss Rick Perlstein’s blog He’s doing great work and his posts are designed to be very share-able with the unconverted.
RonD @ 127
yeah, i know about some of that stuff. stroessner was one of the worst and bush bought a ranch in paraguay. perfect.
one of the most sickening things i ever learned about all of that was how the argentinean naval intelligence would drug people, throw them in an air plane and dump them out over the atlantic. if it was a woman and she was pregnant they would wait until she had delivered her child and then do it. and then they would take the child and place it in a “good” home, that of a navy officer.
it would be difficult to imagine anything more despicalbe than that, at least i haven’t been able to.
one of the things that i am most interested in is the history of the catholic church and it’s opposition to socialism, especially in europe and south america. liberation theology is a perfect example. it’s an ideal fit with south and central america, but, oh no! we can’t have any of that! john paul shit a brick and tried to strangle it. benedict is ranting about it now. beyond ridiculous …….
Yay. Let’s have some sunlight. The whole treatment of Padilla is completely disturbing. I have the Glenn Greenwald book, but I feel disturbed whenever I try to read.
do-si-do #129, you probably won’t enjoy this, but it will fill in some of the blanks as to why they hate us:
A History of Violence
and -ck- at #134, don’t forget Fritz Thyssen, Adolf’s other financier, business partner of-tada-dum: Prescott Bush!
GWB’s grandfather.
jayt @ 124
From the article:
She said Padilla still could receive a fair trial so long as the government did not introduce evidence obtained in the interrogations.
So she’s not going to let in evidence that everybody in his/her right mind knows to be a product of torture. Good for her.
On the other hand, the fact that such an issue would ever arise in the trial of a United States citizen – Jesus H. Christ! *s*
I consider the justice system on trial for this one.
oops! mods, sorry, i used the 8 letter s word.
Welcome to the FDL Lew! I can’t wait to read your first post.
Jenny from the Blog @ 135
probably best not to hold your breath on that one.
92 – really? Hmmm.
A bit of Padilla procedural/case history background.
He’s no saint, btw.
The US has, among others, two people who will mention Padilla being
torturedquestioned in the early days after 9/11. One is Binyam Mohammedhttp://observer.guardian.co.uk…..12,00.html
One is Zubaydah (multiple spelling variations) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Zubaydah
In connection with their torture, both men mention Padilla’s name. His arrest warrant in the US is based on those tortured statements and the SD of Fla has approved the warrant as just fine and dandy.
Based on the torture testimony of blackholed detainees, who spell out the “threat” presented by Padilla (who believes nuclear centrifuge can be recreated by swinging a bucket around his head) for a suitcase bomb. Chicago grabs Padilla and ships him to Comey’s care in NYC as a material witness. He’s held there as a mat witness and gets a lawyer – or else we might never know anything about Padilla to this day.
Supposedly there are also hundreds and hundreds of phone intercepts involving Padilla. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01…..mp;ei=5088
230 calls, 21 mention Padilla, he speaks on 7.
BTW – another contemporaneously detained non-US citizen is STILL being held in the So. Car. Brig where Padilla was held.
Bush decides to disapper Padilla into blackholed
tortureinterrogation – that must be blackholed bc it istorturesensitive. Comey hands him off to Bush, Padilla’s lawyers “lose” him and they file in NY for habeas. Meanwhile, Padilla is shipped to So. Car.Padilla’s case gets to the Second Cir and they say “no way Jose” and require that he be released. Gov gets a stay for the US SUp Ct to hear the case. Meanwhile, COmey goes on to be Dep AG under Ashcroft and right before the S. Ct is about to rule on the Padilla appeal, Comey hold a press conf. Explaining why Bush is great and kind and wondrous.
Sup Ct rules that the Second Cir didn’t really have jurisdicition bc the body was in So. Car (4th Cir).
So Padilla’s
torturedetention continues under the auspices and caring attention of Judge Luttig.Meanwhile – Bush loses Scalia in the Hamdi case. Terror sets in at Justice as the 4th Cir case drifts up to the Sup Ct and right before the Sup Ct can rule on the 4th Cir’s approval of Padilla’s
tortureblackhole detention,Comey holds a press conferenceDOJ transfers Padilla to the civilian court system.RonD @ 141
Thanks for the linky to your new-ish blog, RonD. You’ve been busy! I look forward to checking out more of your postings.
rwcole @ 108
Maybe they need to have serious licensing talks with Honda and Toyota. And fercryinoutloud listen to the public with their minds as well as their ears (right now the way this maladministration listens is ‘in one ear and out the other’).
If these guys actually listened the rules would have been changed years ago. And we’d be out of Iraq.
JeffinBerlin @ 134
Actually the story is more like this (again from my scandals list):
At the moment Carriles is a free man and no one knows exactly what to do with him. They would like to send him to a third country but part of the reason he ended up here is because no one will accept him.
Breaking news:
http://electioncentral.tpmcafe…..d_iraq_war
“Good news for war foes: Harry Reid just spoke on the Senate floor, revealing that he’ll allow a vote this week on the Feingold-Reid amendment, which would cut off funding for the war by March 31, 2008.”
[snip]
“The staffer claims that the Senate leadership was going back and forth all weekend on whether to allow this vote. “I think there are probably some people who would prefer not to see a vote on this,” the staffer says. “It forces people to take a stand.”"
I’m guessing it was Clinton who didn’t want a vote on this. Maybe Obama too. But definitely Clinton.
BTW – Judge Cooke has also ruled that the Prosecution can refer to 9/11 in the trial.
http://www.newsmax.com/archive…..1452.shtml
But only like President Bush referred to in making the case to invade Iraq.
That won’t have any prejudicial effect.
Phoenix Woman @ 64
LOL! I love the idea that Ralph Reed read Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” and mistakenly believed he understood the master’s single issue genius. Right Wing leaders are incapable of surrending their ego driven top tier control and rarely if ever truly empower their minions.
Alinsky was all about empowering every American citizen and recognizing true leadership talent from the often most unlikely individuals.
The modern GOP was high-jacked by their right wing demagogues and are stuck with them. Alinsky was all about awakening, inspiring and empowering ordinary citizens to organize and build broad coalitions at the grassroots levels, one issue at a time.
The most successful grass roots victories – be they political, environmental and/or human rights issues knowingly or not create the kind of agreement that is empowering to democracy unlike the one trick pony approach the demagogues seek among their invincibly ignorant sheep and tiresome, dare I say, terrified media whores.
150 – no one will accept him Well, Cuba would take him. They promise not to do anything to him that the US didn’t do to Dilawar and that Syria didn’t do to Arar and that Morocco didn’t do to …
Mary4 – good info, I think you’ll appreciate Lew’s reporting.
Mary4, Venezuela wants him too.
Mary4 @ 150
The government seems obsessed in turning a fairly unsympathetic character into a martyr and our justice system into a fair representation of the Spanish Inquisition.
Thanks for refreshing my memory, Mary
Mary4 @ 147
Luttig really was pissed though, wasn’t he. … Maybe why he got passed over for SCOTUS?
john in sacramento @ 116
RonD @ 154
Yes, this is why I referred to third countries, i.e. not us and not where he faces prosecution.
So Padilla was imprisoned for 3 and a half years in solitary confinement with perhaps some visits from “interrogators” , declared an enemy combatant
to avoid due process,and the only criminal indictment against him the government could come up with wasdirty bomb plan scrapped“conspiracy.” And of course Gonzales helped with the legal malarchy.fahrender at 139.
For many years the father of Boston’s former Cardinal Law served as a CIA station chief in Latin America. Cardinal Law was later a prominent friend of GHW Bush.
As the White House stood firm in its commitment to a troop surge in the Iraq war, statistics released this week show a key indicator of progress in Iraq trending in the wrong direction.
Insurgent death squads dumped 234 bodies around Baghdad in the first 11 days of May, a 41 percent increase from the 137 bodies dumped around the capital during the first 11 days of April, The Observer of London reported Sunday.
Addressing reporters Monday, White House spokesman Tony Snow said there was “concern” about the rise in death-squad activity, but he maintained “the longer-term trends … still generally are down and considerably so.”
Speaking before the release of the new statistics, a Pentagon spokesman in Baghdad downplayed the increase of violence. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told reporters in Baghdad that there had been a “very slight uptick” in the number of “murders and executions” in Baghdad.
“It’s been very minimal,”Caldwell said, according to a transcript of the May 9 briefing. “I mean, it’s not been anything significant. … And we’re looking at that very closely, and obviously we’re very concerned about it, too.”
So the surge is working- violence is decreasing- just like the prez said- except for the part about it increasing- which isn’t significant- of course we’re concerned about the insignificant stuff too!!!
Tony says his cancer is getting better except for the part about him dyin.
158 – I think he got passed over for a more practical, vote counting, reason.
Luttig would have been forced to recuse himself on a consideration of Padilla, since he handled the underlying. So they would be losing “their vote” on Padilla if they sent up Luttig – not so with Alito.
Many of the obviously outmoded parts of the constitution are a real drag for govt. workers tryin ta keep us safe.
habeus corpus an prohibitions of forced confessions are SO pre 9/11.
Mary4 @ 147
So Comey actually supported
blackholinghanding Padilla over to ChimpCo? I am completely disgusted.Hugh – hope you know I was just making a black joke and I know that you already know all the facts and pieces and bits and players better than I.
Siun – just went through the mother’s day piece early this morning and feeling very sad today. Take care – keep doing good work.
gotta go – lots of my check in isn’t timely but I do check in.
George Tenet estimates that he saved millions of american lives if one supposes that he tortured people- which of course he didn’t.
Good day, Mary4. Love reading your stuff.
rwcole @ 160
They pick and choose among the various metrics and even so their numbers don’t say what they want them to. There are, for example, total deaths in Iraq (including those due to poor medical services and malnutrition), total deaths due to violence in Iraq, and total deaths due to violence in Baghdad (car bombs plus death squad activity). But the one I think Caldwell is using is just the one for death squad activity in Baghdad, and as you note even with this one the numbers don’t fit the claims.
fyi – from a comment (on this week’s congressional hearings) on scarecrow’s thread this morning.
one of the hearings might be of somewhat related interest wrt to the legal “justification” for rendition and torture:
Tuesday, May 15, 2007 – 2:30 pm
Senate Intelligence Committee:
To hold hearings to examine the nomination of John A. Rizzo, of the District of Columbia, to be General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency
if the comittee is doing it’s job Rizzo will be questioned very closely on his knowledge and responsibility on the creation and current status of our programs of rendition, torture and investigating journalists who report on these issues.
for background, here’s dana priest’s 2005 reporting:
Hugh @ 157
Why is he unsympathetic. Padilla? I haven’t read anything that makes him unsympathetic?
Tenet says “We didn’t torture anybody- we just gave everyone REALLY THOROUGH MANICURES.
166 – to be fair, Comey didn’t really have any choice on the handing over part after the President decided he wanted to
tortureblackhole Padilla. He had a choice on how he chose to respond – vocal criticism, quiet fights etc. LHP says that while he was still USA in NY, he made some statements that he might have felt gamed by Gov on Padilla. Apparently, those were all set aside when he got the promotion to Dep AG and handled the review an Presser regarding Padilla.I’m not objective – I think Comey is how they tried to bootstrap credibility for the monstrous and he went along and smiled in all the right places and it makes me furious. But I don’t know the players personally and there is always a lot we don’t know. My visceral negative gut reaction isn’t worth any more than the President’s – and quite a bit less than Colbert’s for that matter.
Really have to go – M
Have you seen this?
Reid To Allow Vote On Feingold Measure To End Iraq War
http://electioncentral.tpmcafe…..d_iraq_war
Mary4 @ 167
You almost certainly know them better than I but we agree on the principles involved with Padilla and the MCA, and the refusal of the Bush Administration to trust in the judicial system created by our Constitution.
So does the defense get to introduce anything about the fine treatment their guy got from the govt?
In other words, the Government is afraid that the guy might get a fair trial, and they’re damned if they’re going to allow that!
Mary4 @ 174
I guess it is au revoir, but not adieu *waving hankie*
OT:
AAA has recorded that highest average gas prices on record. Raw Story has an interesting story. Here is the Link
Let’s be sure to thank the GOP and the Bush administration for effectively raising our taxes through higher gasoline prices.
mui @ 172
Because he is a failed terrorist wannabe. The government should have had to come up with a case against him after which he should have been charged, tried, and convicted. Padilla was not some harmless tourist in the wrong place at the wrong time but there are ways of doing these things. His case should have been adjudicated in a court of law and he should have been given all of his constitutional rights and protections. Bush and company short circuited this process and showed both their contempt and fear of it by pushing Padilla into a legal blackhole for 3 1/2 years and then continuing what is now a hopelessly tainted process in the current civilian trial.
Hugh #181, After establishing the civilian-court precedent with John Walker Lindh, why do you suppose thay tried to do it differently with Padilla?
Hugh @ 181
Sounds like he’s ready to be a Republic operative.
Preview is my friend:”they”.
With regard to the Feingold/Reid amendment report at TPM:
Yes, Harry Reid just put that amendment in play on an underlying Water Resources Bill now under debate in the Senate, with Mitch McConnell’s okay.
BUT, so did Reid put a “Levin/Reid” amendment in play at the same time, which allows Bush to “waive” a timeline to pull our forces out of Iraq, if I caught the minimal details correctly.
I read an account over the weekend from someone who had spoken with Rep. Jim McGovern (sponsor of the pull-out bill in the House and selise’s rep.). Russ Feingold had called McGovern to personally thank him for his efforts in the House (said they helped him in the Senate), BUT also mentioned that Carl Levin was on the verge of “folding” with regard to a meaningful troop pull-out. I obviously can’t vouch personally for any of this, but the new “Levin/Reid” amendment sounds calculated to pull the same punches the winning House bill apparently pulled, despite the strong support for McGovern’s bill offered along with it. No doubt Levin/Reid is the only one with a chance to pass in the Senate. I don’t know if Feingold considers a chance just to vote on his amendment – which presumably will go down to defeat with the Levin/Reid alternative also in play – good news or not.
So I think the key question now is exactly what Levin’s new amendment does to water down the last Senate supplemental bill. [Reid says the Senate will pass their new supplemental legislation this week, in order to conclude their conference with the House by the end of next week, before taking their Memorial Day break (to rest up from their exertions…).]
Kucinich gets “it”
The others better start gettin’ it too!
http://kucinich.house.gov/News…..ntID=64901
Hugh @ 181
And how do you know all that?
IrishJim @ 180
Drilling the east coast (Chesapeake Bay) and Florida and Alaska all seem to be back on the table of Congress. In order to make a point, the oil companies are putting the screws to us hoping we’ll fall for their “lack of refineries/more demand” BS.
Perhaps Lew can give us periodic trial summaries, a la Jane, Marcy and Christy during the Libby Trial.
Welcome Lew!
Dee @ 188
I don’t think we’ll see ANY oil drilled from under the waters of Bristol Bay in Alaska during the next 20 years, if ever…
“drilling”
We’re gonna see a lot of hail mary attempts by Bush donors to try ta get something out of their support for the clusterfuckers before they all leave office- but the game has changed- and the clusterfuckers can’t deliver shit.
IrishJim @ 180
We can surly thank the GOP for allowing all of us to participate in record setting oil company profits year after year. We can each swell with pride knowing that we directly helped this mission be accomplished.
Where’s Redd?
RonD @ 182
Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, had this obsession with intelligence gathering. It led not only to sanctioning torture but in the extended disconnect between detaining various people and trying them. That information gained through torture was notoriously unreliable and that the intelligence value of detainees rapidly diminished over time never occurred or never mattered to them.
The problem was that the window on legitimate interrogation was brief. It is also fundamentally at odds with the judicial process and the right of a defendant not to self incriminate.
Having rapidly exceeded what were some pretty tight limits, the Bush Administration was in a bind. It had irrevocably tainted any judicial process. So rather than correct their mistake, they created a whole new machinery which justified torture by calling it something else, allowed for indefinite detentions, and set up “courts” which were so bent and twisted that the tainting of the process posed no problem for them.
Lindh was captured before much of this was in place. He was just a foot soldier so a quick open and shut case and subsequent plea bargain was possible against him. Although Padilla was arrested only months later, the world of American jurisprudence was well along in being turned on its head.
“Says right here that you admitted ta raping young virgin nuns”
“Yeah- but that was when they were rippin my nuts off”
“Move to strike- unresponsive-”
radiofreewill – that’s exactly what Lew will be doing – twice a week, he’ll be updating up on the case and trial. Since the trial may be very long, Lew will be there this week, then working his contacts and following in depth as the trial continues.
And breaking in to our regular posts if there’s a hot development.
It should be great!
Yo, Mui,
Read the article by Lew Koch himself for the background on Mr. Padilla. Sure, he’s got career criminal written all over him…but so did Miranda.
From Siun via LS @ 27
Redd is with Mr. Redd at a conference … and let’s hope she’s having a blast!
Siun
Thanks- Hope so too.
Ed*ard Teller @ 190
Yeah ET, I’m with you on this. They’re not going to invest any more $$ in North American drilling than what’s invested right now, for now. They’ve spent way too much in the ME in not only $$ but human collateral. They have to see a return on that first. It’s friggin’ sickening what they have done to this country, Iraq and citizens of the world as a whole.
Hugh @ 194,
In addition to what you outline Hugh:
Lindh is from a very well-to-do family here in the SF Bay Area. Padilla didn’t have the same resources to call upon? Don’t know if it would have made any difference given the timing, just sayin’…
Dee @ 188
yeah, it’s alright to drill in the gulf off of Florida now that Jebbie’s out of office…
Badwater @ 192
I think we should also thank the GOP for providing 3 Billion a year in subsidies to the Oil Companies. They clearly need the help.
kdh22 @ 200
Well, new fields are being developed, older ones expanded and modified on the North Slope of Alaska all the time. And still the overall volume goes down annually. But Bristol Bay and ANWR coastal plain won’t be developed anytime soon.
Ed*ard Teller @ 204
Why not, wrt Bristol Bay & ANWR?
kdh22 @ 205
Is it because of the naturists? naturalists? environmentalists? I hope so.
Dee @ 188
From what I have been reading, there is not a lack of Oil available, it is a lack of refining capacity. The same argument they used when Katrina hit. So two year’s later and 3 Billion a year in subsidies has not helped with refinery output. Go Figure.
pow wow @ 185
I know I linked to this the day it appeared but it’s worth a read if you missed it. Levin has been ready to fold for weeks.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs…..68/OPINION
FYI, New thread
New Thread
Ed*ard Teller @ 190
From your lips to God’s ear, ET…
do-si-do @ 197
Thanx. Just so you know, I believe that anybody can selectively take the facts of anyone’s life, skew some stuff here and there and make anyone look like a chump or a criminal. What does the juvenile stuff have to do with this. That should be sealed. I trust Koch is a better reporter and I am glad he’s covering the trial, but until the government produces it’s evidence for all to see, I will not even go so far as to say it’s “obvious” he was a career criminal.
Hi Mui,
I use “career criminal” tongue in cheek…innocent or not is beside the point. legal protections for all are precisely the issue. No convictions by government announcement. etc etc.
legal counsel
trial by jury
face accusers
no cruel and unusual punishment before or after conviction…
jayt @ 132
thanks for asking – just walked in after hitting the bricks all morning. I’ve been to the Governor’s office, Senator Bayh’s office (I’m way pissed at them), Senator Lugar’s office, Congresswoman Julia Carson’s office, have mailed a cetified letter to the commander of the Indiana National Guard, contacted a local TV station as to w/n they’d be interested in taking a team out to shine a light in this guy’s face, and talked to the Indianapolis Star (a Gannet owned rag which i expect to not hear back from).
If my son gets out of class in time, we’re gonna go swear out a complaint.
My feet hurt.
Wow! Good for you. Keep us posted.
Well I guess Paris Hilton is a career criminal too. The worst of the worst, evidentally. :)
jamoke! that slang is SOOOOO chicago!!!! rock on!!!
pow wow @ 185
Memorial Day break – does that allow Bush to make any ‘recess’ appointments????
do-si-do @ 213
I hear that part. But I just wanted to make some distinctions. Whenever someone is arrested, all of a sudden their whole life is up for a selective review. While I don’t believe that Padilla is an angel–almost noone is, but I do believe there are a few–I don’t believe he is less than sympathetic as a guy who went through the most f*cked up thing a government can do.
Jenny from the Blog @ 215
Yeah, see if her daddy allows her to get blackholed on a brig for three and a half years.
mui @ 172
IIRC, basically he was a jerk with delusions of grandeur. The Bushies pounced on his delusions as useful propaganda to support their unconsitutional security measures, and destroyed him in the process. Now they have a hard time making a case against him because most of the “evidence” they have against him was obtained illegally and won’t stand up in court. Turns out the real jerks were in the DOJ and WH.
Bob in HI
Mui,
Heh.
Bob in HI,
I’ve read he was loony tunes delusional, not unlike many other nutjobs in the country, from the git-go. It’ll be hard to find out much about the *real* Jose Padilla now, though. Supposedly he’s a complete vegatable forever, since Bushco beat his mind, spirit and body into human hash. There’s no *there* there anymore.
And for what? Pure sadism? I’ll never, ever understand the logic. Was he being interrogated while he was tortured for 3 1/2 years? I seriously doubt it.
*vegetable*. But you knew that.
Thanks, Dee @ 208. I was aware of the feeble excuses Levin has offered up for continuing the mayhem in Iraq, but I hadn’t seen Ray McGovern’s April op-ed about him.
It really is astounding to see a United States Senator use a debate point that blindly states that one is never going to “not fund the troops.” How the hell does one end a war or a violent occupation but by ‘ceasing to fund the troops’ (along with every other component) engaged in the conflict?! It’s a juvenile argument and disingenuous in the extreme. Carl Levin ought to be better than that, even if he buys into the Israeli right’s dehumanising and demonization of the Arab people as a way to try to justify the dishonorable means to their self-serving ends, as Levin’s words of censure for the Iraqis generally seem to indicate he does.
Looks like Harry Reid is spreading himself a little thin, here, by trying to lend his support to two conflicting world views simultaneously…
[I’m sure it does, KathieinMN… Though Reid did indicate that their break would be delayed until a bill was passed, if they didn’t finish the supplemental conference process as part of their regular schedule of work. Of course, in the Senate, it only takes one Senator to object, to screw up the “regular schedule” far and wide… Peer pressure seems to keep that from happening much though, very unfortunately for the grunts in the sand in Iraq, and for the Iraqi civilians hunkered down next to them waiting for the lights to come back on.]
Time for me to try again. So far no-one has confirmed if you can yet get Clive Stafford Smith’s “Bad Men” in the USA. Padilla is unusual only in being a US citizen. All the rest are not but excuse me if as a non-US citizen I point out we’re all actually human out here in the wide world.
Actual right-wing terrorist taunts victims from behind bars.
Mary4 @ 147
Right on the money. Please check the first column. My email is Lew.Koch@gmail.com
Elliott @ 28
There’s gotta be some kind of Australian joke in there: 50 ways to leave the Bush
Mary4 @ 147
Mary, I’m interested in your view of Comey’s part here. Would you comment on this?
rwcole @ 72
“clean, reliable and efficient”?
Sounds like a Canadian, German or Japanese car to me?
LS @ 73
When Dubya announced by diktat that this was a Global War on Terror he put the good ol’ USA territory in the war zone. That means he could pick up any US citizen any time from their home in Hometown, USA and call them an ‘enemy combatant’ — despite there being no law on the books which authorizes it.
Makes ya feel warm all over, doesn’t it?
Bustednuckles @ 98
So, when he’s found “not guilty” and released he’ll be right as rain and right back to his old life without skipping a beat. NOT
KathieinMN @ 217
unfortunate, but true (unless they can figure out a way not to formally recess)
-ck- @ 136
Wow! I never knew that. No wonder GHW Bush was involved with the Bay of Pigs (in a small way). That linkage brings a lot together.
Jenny from the Blog @ 221
Thank you Jenny from the Blog, grasping for words here. Character, personality etc. is mutable. With Padilla it’s probably in shreds.
226 – I may not always be able to read them at the times they go up, but I’ll read every one. I’ve finished the article in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and now have to re-read it.
I thought I’d followed relatively closely, but almost everything in the article was new info to me. Great stuff – plus I learned about FUD. I’m going to have to reread more than once to process 1/2 of it. It was absorbing.
That’s hot.
sorry, just had to say that whiling swimming in epu land. ;)
Mary4 @ 235
FUD is one of the great concepts of our time. Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt — what has been shoveled down our throats till we gag. The masters of that have been every single Bush White House Press secretary who’s answers to the few serious and hard questions get a response which fits one of the three boxes. But believe me, it’s not limited to just those jamokes — gazillions of our dollars are spent just out of those three elements.
Debating rednecks over Padilla’s case and treatment for a year now…this one is on the top of my agenda in the weeks to come. Thanks FDL! This one trial may prove more than any other story this year, why bloggers are more necessary now than ever…because this one would be buried if it weren’t for you guys!
What address should we look for Weds.? This page or another?
The Firedoglake dot com main page, Medford Tim.