I thought Arkansas was supposed to be warm.

;>)

Compared to the northern land of darkblack, it is…)

Eureka!
Priscilla Ahn, kind of a babe, musically speaking.

What’s on my mind?
The fact that my tax rebate just got shaved dollar for dollar by the amount that little fucking prick Bush shoved our way as an economic incentive last year.

That makes me wonder if the BILLIONS of dollars that were given to these crooked fucking bankers is going to have to be declared as “Taxable Income”?

I am going to be nice and not try to bet anyone any money.

Ah, I’m used to that…It’s not dead without Winter. But I might have to hold off on visiting the Delta if y’all can’t fix the heat.

;>)

Like sweet little song bird.

ES !

DB ! … there’s a blog about Rove over at Marcy’s place, just crying out for your artwork … *g*

Rove? Oh, that subpoenaed fellow. I wonder what’s going through his mind right about now…

;>)

OMFG !

Boxers or briefs was the LAST question I had for the turd blossom. You have ruined him for me.

Oh we have fire, and firewater….)

Haven’t had a two or more inch snow this year… not yet.

I had barely recovered from that pic of Rove with the Apple in his Piehole …

probably the same sinking feeling he had when that boy toy “journalist” got kicked out of the White House and took all his oxycontin. /s

People get AK and AR confused.

At least they took Billy Kristol’s dad’s toys away from him. I hope he isn’t headed to AK now.

bwahahahaha! i luurrrvvvs your wicked mind.

I am NOT clicking on that link.
(((PETRO))))

OT, but shit…

Ahnald the Awful – proposes 17+ billion in cuts to make budget.
10 billion of the cuts are in education.

Today’s Republicans: Just plain good for absolutely nothing

An inch…’Tee hee’. Still, that could be critical in a land of summer treads.

As for Mr. Rove, I don’t think you could, as a Southern friend once stated, ‘get a pin up his nethers with a jackhammer’ right about now.

;>)

My EYES!

Why does that old tune with the words – Billy, don’t be a hero – come to mind? /s

If he does try to visit AK, maybe you all should greet him with that song.

Do it for your country, ET!

{{{Margot}}} … wish I had your willpower … *g*

Oh, those licentious Canadians…America, hide the young ‘uns!

;>)

They waited until Cheney left Washington.
*************

” Halliburton Co will pay a $559 million fine to end an investigation of its former KBR Inc unit if the U.S. government approves the settlement, the largest penalty against a U.S. company for charges of bribery under federal law. “

http://www.democraticundergrou…..15;4914873

In our defence, it is rather cold up here … *g*

G’nite all !

And thanks for the nightmarish images, db !

Mornin’, pups (or evenin’ as your location may dictate) -

Anyone else read this piece of vomit from kurtz at wapoo?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..eheadlines

Note the implication in the title: “Kristol Severs Ties w/NYT”. :-( Following the comments section outta be interestin’ on this piece of trash.

Nite, Petro…Don’t be an Easterner freezing in the dark.

;>)

Two excellent links on the Israel/Palestine situation:
– This from 60 Minutes last night.
– This from Uri Avnery.

Jeez, what a hack!
But Bloody Bill is taking it over to WaPo, where he will no doubt be tormented by ’some of us here.”

nite petro

Har..had to go look up the word to see what it meant.

I heard a rumor that Bill was cashiered for bad writing by the Times – Interesting that WaPo is looking to expand it’s parameters in that department.

;>)

Is it humanly possible for one mother to breast feed 8 babies?

http://www.reuters.com/article…..LM20090127

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A California woman shocked doctors by giving birth on Monday to octuplets, believed to be only the second set of eight babies born in the United States.

The six boys and two girls were doing well and were in stable condition in the neonatal intensive care unit, said Dr. Karen Maples at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Bellflower.

SNIP

The mother plans to breast feed all eight babies, her doctors said.

Well, snowbacks are such children, BB…In their fur loincloths climbing the bacon trees, unspoiled by civilization.

;>)

It’s not willpower, it’s fear!

He always wanted to be known as a “Movement Conservative.” So now he has that thing going on 3 fronts.

Oh fer chrissakes.

Throw a few meeeeelion at the investigation and see if a formerly missing nine billion dollars can’t be squeezed out of the motherfuckers.

hmmm…I don’t have the loincloth or the bacon tree..but I have been accused of being a touch uncivilized once or twice…2 out of 3 ain’t bad..’g’

I like that Bucket song, ES, thanks for the music!

I truly laughed out loud.. Just after gasping at DB’s inimitable work. LLN is hot tonight!

Hard to say, I ran into a set of 44 HHHH one time, I barely survived.
Somewhere there is a jealous Angus.

Jonathan Turley was his usual excellent self slamming hard on the need to prosecute torturers. But he said that it would be difficult to prosecute the people who did the actual torturing because of the “estoppel defense,” which I presumed to be a fancy name for what I sarcastically call “the good-faith variant of the Nuremberg defense”: “I was just following orders that I was assured were legal.”

And, indeed, my suspicions were correct; per the wikipedia:

In The Law relating to Estoppel by Representation, 4th edition, 2004 at para I.2.2, Spencer Bower defines estoppel by representation of fact as follows:

Where one person (‘the representor’) has made a representation of fact to another person (‘the representee’) in words or by acts or conduct, or (being under a duty to the representee to speak or act) by silence or inaction, with the intention (actual or presumptive) and with the result of inducing the representee on the faith of such representation to alter his position to his detriment, the representor, in any litigation which may afterwards take place between him and the representee, is estopped, as against the representee, from making, or attempting to establish by evidence, any averment substantially at variance with his former representation, if the representee at the proper time, and in proper manner, objects thereto.

IMHO, this may make it difficult for the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute successfully, but foreign prosecutors gave these guys no such assurances. So, they could be prosecuted elsewhere under the doctrine of universal jurisdiction, even if estoppel gets them off in the U.S.

Can’t go wrong with Tab, margot…)

Maybe that is how Cheney hurt his back? Strained it as he was carrying boxes of cash from that man sized safe to pay the fine with?

WaPo certainly looks to dip below the Daily Shopper in quality with this hire. Everyone knows you need more fiber to firm up a movement, not curdled viper’s milk.

;>)

If she doesn’t take many bathroom breaks and if she doesn’t do much else. Best of luck to her and those helping her.

Turley, iirc, said it would play well as a defense for those at the top of the ladder (who gave the orders).

Breaking: Cheney rendered to Amsterdam.

Agents of the EU grabbed former Vice-President Richard Cheney off the streets of bucolic Falls Church, Virginia this afternoon while 70-something was walking his pet tazmanian devil. He is now in an undisclosed location somewhere east of the eastern seaboard.

Asked to comment, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, “…yawn.”

Just think about the amount of food and fluids Mom would will need!

” On the question of prosecuting officers who employed any of the “extreme tactics” that the Bush administration has acknowledged, without admitting to any “torture” of detainees: “I don’t think that there’s going to be a prosecution, quite frankly.” Gonzales said. “Because again, these activities…. They were authorized, they were supported by legal opinions at the Department of Justice.”

http://www.swamppolitics.com/n…..to_be.html

Sorry, correction: Would not play well.

I have a feeling this will come down to the age-old question ‘Is it illegal when the President does it’ – Can an executive write his own ‘Get Out Of Jail Free’ card, and that of his henchmen?

Poppy certainly proved that he could trump the court system via executive pardon, but Junior appeared to have been looking into souls that day.

;>)

Gonzo is an idiot.. out to cover his sorry arse.

Turley, iirc, said it would play well as a defense for those at the top of the ladder (who gave the orders).

Hmmmmm. I understood exactly the opposite. I wonder if the videos are up yet. I’ll go looking.

Well, speakin’ of tormenters, they’re already stormin’ the gates:

Contender for best comment evar……..

“How many conservative columnists does it take to turn out the last light in the newsroom?”

hahahahahah…good one..lol

Turley, tonight on Countdown.

from day one onward..

Strong contender, that.

Here’s the video of that excellent countdown segment: http://www.americanonlinetv.co…..stice.html

Turley clearly says “That [defense] is not available to the president, vice president, and the people directly below them.”

These are the kind of people who should get medals: not Federal Prison sentences.
********

” Today, on January 26, six human rights advocates appeared in a federal courthouse in Georgia. The “SOA 6,” ranging in age from 21 to 68, were found “guilty” of carrying the protest against the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC) onto the Fort Benning military base. “

http://www.soaw.org/

Damn, Lurk, you’re much quicker than I.

Look what I found…
Turley on Countdown: Will The Obama Administration Prosecute War Crimes

Y’all hear blago is supposed to be on at Rachel’s tonight (Tuesday)?

Any bets he’ll pull a mccain on her? Gotta sneaky feelin’ she’s gonna have some backup material ready in the event.

I still have a tough time with those who actually conducted the torture or conducted renditions to the torturers getting away with it.

Just following orders is not good enough… not for torture and kidnapping.

As Rachel noted, let’s see indeed. After the rather casual way she dismembered him tonight, he would have to be nuts to…
never mind.

I tend to suspect that, on the way out the door, GWB signed (before witnesses) a bunch of pardons that he has in his pocket to reveal when they best suit him. John Dean says that he thinks that such pardons would hold up on court.

*s*

she seemed to be openly taunting him and daring him to not show up…if that happens she will probably do a Letterman and make him regret it…

ET, if you are around… Palin is on CSPAN giving the State if the State address.

And yes, I have a mute button.

Got my vote. Comments are shaping up right nice.

She really *did* lay it on thick. *g*

IMHO the estoppel defense would not work in foreign courts prosecuting under “universal jurisdiction,” and they would not consider it double jeopardy to retry some torturer who got off on the estoppel defense. The same goes for trial at the International Criminal Court at the Hague, except for the Hague Invasion Act of 2002, which declares that … well heck, read it for yourself; it’s too silly for me to type:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A…..ection_Act

Oooh, goodie! Heading back over to see what’s been added since last check.

It didn’t matter if innocent men were flown to Guantanamo.
********

” Page 23: Detainees are to be categorized according to their intelligence value. There are four categories, the fourth being “(1)“D” – Other detainees who have no information of intelligence value.” However, the document goes on to say that “(1)The fact or determination that a detainee has no information of intelligence value has nothing to do with their detention status and should not be linked to a determination of transfer and release.”

http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Deta…..nvironment

Ex post facto of his Presidency? I thought the cutoff was midnight plus one on the last day of office…If not filed and processed by then, the boat had sailed.
Unless, of course, there’s a signing statement designed by those stalwart adherents to rule of law in the Bush administration that grants him supra-Executive powers in retirement.

Bush’s trump card may be lurking in the deck, but if the rest of the house falls down first…

;>)

Ex post facto of his Presidency? I thought the cutoff was midnight plus one on the last day of office…If not filed and processed by then, the boat had sailed.

Damn!!! I’d love that to be so. Do you have any reference, or any lead I can follow?

John Dean is smart but he’s not infallible. Heck, he still calls himself a conservative. ;-)

Question: Is there any piece of paper in the possession of the federal government that President Obama (or any president for that matter) that he CANNOT see?

Because if you are right, Obama would want to see those in particular so as not to be sandbagged.

Question: If they are NOT in the possession of the federal government, do said papers have any force of law?

ES, do you know anything about a band called HipBilly?

they are going to be in my neighborhood…can’t find anything about them on YouTube, amazon or wikipedia…thought they sounded like someone you might know of…

OK, I know this at least makes things messy, but can this alone trump treaties? (such as Geneva)

No I don’t, but they have a myspace page.

If you hear anymore, please let me know… especially if they are good.

I heard on Tom Hartman’s program this morning some seemingly informed caller saying that 92% of the people brought to Guantanamo have been released without being charged. (At least I think that’s what I heard driving down the road.)

That makes what Glenn Greenwald wrote this morning about Wingnut refusal to distinguish between “terrorist” and “alleged terrorist” so damn infuriating:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/g…..index.html

Been out of touch today. Did the Coleman-Franken trial start?

I haven’t read Glenn yet, but the strategy of holding off investigating and charging detainees leaves that burden on… The Obama administration.

This is the Hipbilly you are looking for… from Wichita.

I saw the John Dean interview, and while he didn’t cite any authority for his opinion that Bush could have signed some secret pardons and they could be valid, he was the White House counsel after all…

The normal process for a pardon goes through the Justice Department and should leave a paper trail, but I don’t know of anything that would prevent Bush from scribbling them on a roll of toilet paper, bypassing the justice department, and having them be valid…

the question may never have arisen before now…

PW did a piece.

IMHO, they SHOULDN’T, but I don’t think that a president should be able to pardon himself/herself and the bulk of legal scholars disagree with me on that.

John Dean didn’t get into the matter of “possession.” The word that he kept harping on was “plenery,” as in “the president’s power to pardon is plenary,” which means he can do whatever he pleases. So, I expect that Dean would say that the ex-president doesn’t have to show his handiwork until it pleases him. But how a given SCOTUS would come down on that is anyones guess.

John Dean is smart but he’s not infallible.

And he hasn’t had the last 8 yrs, with staff, to work on it.
Addington has, which is nervous making.

Turley would know. Submitting the question to KO and Rachel now.

Uri has it but the rest of the Isrealis don’t. My question is was and will be what part of THE COMMANDMENT…”Thou shalt not steal”. is so hard to undedstand? Four little word. But God we con’t want to understand we are in denial you gave us their land. Wow…I guess the bank executive in the financial industry were given the same mandate by god..here take these peoples assets you are the chosen few.

thanks…hey, I see they are going to be playing in EUREKA SPRINGS AR in July…I will keep my ears open around here and let you know if I hear anything about them.

Same thing applies in the Afghan prison. Conditions there are much worse. Why does Obama need six months to study the situation?
*******

“Mr. Obama tried last week to buy some time in addressing the challenges Bagram poses even as he ordered Guantánamo closed. By a separate executive order, Mr. Obama directed a task force led by the attorney general and the defense secretary to study the government’s overall policy on detainees and to report to him in six months.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01…..am.html?hp

Also.. another caveat:

Furthermore, the President may waive this prohibition where he determines that to do so is “important to the national interest of the United States”.

Hey bluebutterfly, take a look at #27 if you haven’t.

I would think a bit of authentication.. more than say a notary, would be needed for verification a pardon was signed while he was in office.

There should be a record of such pardons at the very least if Jr signed one or many before leaving.

Yep. By the theory that Chimpy could spirit paper out of the White House without a record that could be referenced but the new President, he could legislate from Dallas.

Check over at Josh’s place; there was something there as well.

Thanks.

Nate Silver may have a link to the video of todays proceedings… unless it was a live only post.

That would make sense, but somewhere I read that all he needs is “witnesses.” But as we all know he can find confederates to swear to any damn thing.

So far as I know, there’s nothing in the Constitution that covers this, but common law seems to have provisions for most everything. But at this point we’re way out of my shallow depth.

Perhaps LHP or bmaz could weigh in on this one.

PW should have something on it in the morning.

iirc, Sunny’s on dial-up too which definitely precludes vid viewing. :-(

The article was well written. Gush Shalom is a major force for peace. A link for those who haven’t heard of them. Obama snubbed the MSM…he is in the 21st century; just like the article said.
***********

http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/about/aims/

” But instead of CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS or any other major American outlet, he’s spoken to al-Arabiya, the largest network news provider in the Arab world. “

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/….._0126.html

Well let’s take it an additional step. Say investigations and perhaps a prosecution begins… Then Jr up and waves a pardon on a napkin.

Wouldn’t that be some sort of crime… reverse obstruction or waste of fed resources?

Speaking of Nate, he claims that Obama is starting his presidency with more political capital than Reagan: http://www.fivethirtyeight.com…..-than.html

bmaz, thinks Dean is way wrong on the pardon issue.

There ought to be a law agin’ it, somewhere.

I feel better already.

I have been hoping like crazy that bmaz is right.

Two Supremes have already gratuitously whacked Obama. And his first week’s not over yet. Just sayin.

You don’t mean it ES…if you order me to murder in cold blood and I do…yeah guess your right and the orderer is an accessory to murder. So that makes all the comanders at least accessories and RICO plays in there.

Wish I could remember the details… but he was quite adamant in his opposition.

And tuttle has now joined us :-(

RICO! IIRC, LHP was pretty keen on the RICO idea.

Well, I’ve been looking – but unless a source can come up, I’ll have to place myself in the same camp as John Dean and his secret pardons – No cite.

A couple of things, though:

‘United States v. Wilson, Chief Justice Marshall, writing for the Court, stated: “A pardon is an act of grace, proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of the laws, which exempts the individual, on whom it is bestowed, from the punishment the law inflicts for a crime he has
committed. It is the private, though official act of the executive magistrate, delivered to theindividual for whose benefit it is intended … ”

The Court further declared: “A pardon is a deed,
to the validity of which delivery is essential, and delivery is not complete, without acceptance.”

Chief Justice Marshall went on to explain that a warrant of pardon must be pleaded like any other private instrument before any court may take judicial notice thereof.

This standard was reiterated in Burdick v. United States, where the Court stressed that the contention that pardons have automatic effect by their “mere issue” was rejected in Wilson “with particularity and emphasis.”

So…were the pardons ‘delivered’ when George Bush was still President? Perhaps in that answer we might see whether Bush has an ace up the sleeve.

EUREKA SPRINGS AR

Say, that’s a familiar place name.

;>)

Two Supremes have already gratuitously whacked Obama.

How so?

I didn’t realize you are on dial up.

I’m trying to help you out! Posted an oxdown diary on it today.

This standard was reiterated in Burdick v. United States, where the Court stressed that the contention that pardons have automatic effect by their “mere issue” was rejected in Wilson “with particularity and emphasis.”

bmaz claims that Burdick no longer carries any weight and got upset with me for even quoting it. I’ll see if I can find that thread.

This one from December, perhaps.

Alito, no show at inauguration (and failure to attend earlier courtesy meet).
Roberts messing up oath. Not good portents in my book.

Hey, I don’t even play a lawyer on TV.

;>) …And I wouldn’t want to upset bmaz.

IIRC, any chatter that I picked up about the cutoff for when a pardon could be issued by an outgoing Executive was around coverage of the Toussie matter.

Sunny, I am pretty certain that I saw SuddenSam there. It was in that gigapan shot we have seen so much of. I can’t bring it up right now (dead link), but that shithead was there.

Pardon presumes guilt sans punishment. You are still a shamed perp. “The merciful shall obtain mercy”. Is that a beatitude from the sermon on the Mount? Bush whacked so many took so many lives should he be given mercy for war crimes?

Here are a couple of threads where bmaz and I cussed and discussed pardons:
– http://emptywheel.firedoglake……d-pardons/
– http://emptywheel.firedoglake……ys-at-doj/

And, I don’t even know if we disagree. In law it’s largely a matter of the likelihood that this or that court would rule in this or that direction.

I try not to whine *g*
It’s part of the reason I’m so slow to respond (the rest is just me) and why I never comment on youtubes. also.

Damn you’re fast at finding that stuff. Thanks.

Pardon presumes guilt sans punishment.

IIRC, that’s what the Burdick verdict said and what the Wikipedia says and many other sources I’ve read. But that was what got bmaz to reply “AAARRRGGGHHH!” when I wrote it. See: http://emptywheel.firedoglake……ent-119975

That’s a matter for a creator, not a legislator. Bush may find upon Judgement that the voices in his head were not whom he thought they were.

I suppose Americans can count themselves lucky that for the most part, Presidents cannot pardon themselves…Poppy being the modern ‘exception’.

;>)

Fast maybe, but you got the article from July. Nicely done.

Well folks.. time for this dog to turn in.

Good night.

mea culpa. How embarrassing. Was told he took a miss and believed it.
Off to look for the courtesy meet I was also told he missed.

G’nite ES

A pardon from a US President is good in US Jurisdiction. In an internatinal human rights court or a war crimes court like the Hague…Oh well who needs a legacy?

And how do you like the exact quote in #128? ;-)

Me too, and I believed it. I was looking at that gigapan pic to see if Nino was sleeping and there was Sam, behind and to his right I think.

NICE (as in France) post ES merci mon ami.

But it’s a matter of U.S. law since 2002 that we can and ought to invade the Hague should they attempt to try Americans for war crimes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A…..ection_Act

In my readings this evening, the President holds all the power in the issue of pardons. Frankly, there are very few limits or caveats there, and DOJ guidelines are just that – guidelines. But pardons still have to be ‘delivered’ for them to be in legal effect.

…

Nite, ES. And good night, FDL.

I will also wait for Professor Turley. I lack the JD, and there are reasons why that is so.

But pardons still have to be ‘delivered’ for them to be in legal effect.

I read that to mean that they can be delivered at a moment of the (ex)president’s choosing. (IMHO, he/she should have to do so and announce them before the end of his/her term, but I don’t see that written anywhere.)

G’nite darkblack.

In lieu of any argument against that…I have the trial in absentia…while I hold out for reinforcements.

nite eureka
i will scram myself i think

I agree! These guys should be indicted. A request for extradition should be sent to Obama. And they should be tried in absentia, if Obama doesn’t come through.

BTW, the Hague Invasion Act of 2002 only applies to the International Criminal Court. There is no law allowing us to invade Germany if they exert Universal Jurisdiction.

G’nite, Newt.

Good closing argumant I rest my case on the mercy of the court whomever and wherever that may be. And a fond adeux to one and all an to all a good night and merrier tommorow.

Courtesy meet with the supremes

Found a blog (not one I frequent) saying he didn’t attend. Later correction, saying he’d picked it up from another blogger who erred. He confused the no show at the meet-up with the inauguration.

My better side says the Roberts thing could well have been an unintentional screw-up. It sure had a dog whistle effect.

your link didn’t work, because you didn’t use the handy “chain icon” tool that helps shorten long urls, and embed your link.

so, I’ve taken the liberty to quote Jason Leopold on the same subject:

Halliburton and its former subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root, will pay the federal government $559 million to settle a long-running investigation into allegations the company bribed Nigerian officials to win a lucrative construction contract for a natural gas liquefaction plant while former Vice President Dick Cheney headed the corporation, the company said in a statement.

Halliburton, the huge oil services company in Houston, said yesterday that it has agreed to pay $559 million to settle corruption charges with the U.S. government linked to its former subsidiary KBR.

Halliburton said it will pay $382 million on behalf of KBR over the next two years to the Department of Justice and will pay another $177 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A Justice Department spokesman said he could not comment on Halliburton’s charges.

The agency has prosecuted several individuals who worked for the company in Iraq and Afghanistan on charges of fraud, conspiracy and bribery as well as allegations that KBR overbilled the U.S. military on work it did in Iraq.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..02374.html

Nice start does this include the troops KBR electrocuted in the shower?
How about the chemical exposure KBR gave the Indiana National Guard thats making them sick?

Thanks..now if I just knew what the heck you just said..’g’..I was so happy to learn what copy and paste meant after months of typing in urls. Now you have sent me back to the old way??? I am so not good at understanding directions for computer stuff. I think you have just explained why some of my links don’t work..too long? How does one know that ahead of time, or is it just pot luck?

An Army military police officer says he was knocked unconscious and severely burned by an electric shock in a shower trailer in Iraq that was installed by the same contractor an Army criminal investigation has pegged in an electrocution death.

Pfc. Justin Shults, 21, said Monday that he suffered his injuries last October in a shower trailer that KBR (nyse: KBR – news – people ) Inc. had delivered to his unit.

The circumstances of Shults’ injuries are similar to those that led to the death of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, a Green Beret from Pittsburgh who was electrocuted in January 2008 while showering in his barracks in Baghdad.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap…..66196.html

Forbes is reporting another KBR shower electrocution the Solder lived.

Nite eureka and all. Thanks for the good company. Special mention: lurk.

Google finance the 5 year chart has KBR at a high of $51.88 in Oct 12, 2007
Today its at $15.07
So in two years KBR has dropped by more than half despite big no bid contracts.

Nite SunnyNobility:)

Attaturk is upstairs!
The Wurst Generation

” ‘Doctored Evidence’ Tossed on First Day of Coleman/Franken Election Contest “

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6857