Month: July 2007

Hate Crime Victim Ryan Skipper’s Rep, Tom Feeney: No Need for Hate Crime Bill

Trish
Let the party begin! Rep. Tom Feeney rings the bell opening the American Stock Exchange.

This just in from Vicki Nantz, an independent film maker planning a documentary on Ryan Skipper, whose March murder in Central Florida is being investigated as a hate crime.

I recently wrote U.S. House Representative, Tom Feeney, Republican of Central Florida, and asked him why he does not support federal hate crime legislation that includes the gay and lesbian community. Why are acts of brutality, physical assaults and murder, which are meant to intimidate and terrorize the LGBT community, not included in our current, or likely-to-be-passed federal hate crime laws – the legislation that President Bush has promised to veto. I received written correspondence yesterday from Feeney that included the following:

…”I do not support specialized punishment for particular mentalities. This idea singles out groups for special treatment…When someone is murdered because the killer does not like the color of their skin, that killer deserves harsh punishment; but the killer deserves it because the victim is a human, not because of the killer’s hateful thoughts…Justice ultimately ought to be based on the fundamental worth of a human being and not the thoughts of the specific criminal…I hope in the near future crime legislation can be voted on that protects all equally and punishes the offender for the crime committed and not the thoughts in his mind.”

And yet Feeney and the other overwhelmingly Republican, antigay hypocrites like him have voted in support of federal legislation that does punish people for the thoughts in their minds. The following is part of the U.S. Code, federal law currently being followed in this country:

TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 113B

CHAPTER 113B—TERRORISM

(1) the term “international terrorism” means activities that—

(A) involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State;

(B) appear to be intended—

(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or

(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and…

(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that—

(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;

(B) appear to be intended—

(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or

(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping…

Clearly, hypocritical Representative Feeney, President Bush and the American religious extremists who decry inclusive hate crime legislation as being “thought crime” legislation reveal much behind their own selective, hate-filled thoughts. It is that same base thinking that led to the murders of Matthew Shephard and Ryan Skipper, and the dozens more LGBT murders and innumerable of acts of brutal violence that most people have never bothered to know about.

Use your voice. Use your votes.

Thanks Vicki. We agree with everything you said and find it particularly upsetting that Ryan’s own representatives, and those of his family and friends, can’t see the need for hate crime legislation.

But Tom Feeney’s words mean nothing. Feeney was among a group of fellow members of Congress investigated by the FBI because they were known by jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff to be for sale.

Feeney, former speaker of the Florida House, is one of three men who were U.S. House members when they accompanied Abramoff to Scotland on trips that included rounds of golf at the legendary Royal & Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews.

The others: former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, who is serving prison time for corruption related to his Abramoff relationship, and former House Republican leader Tom DeLay, who was indicted in an unrelated Texas fundraising case and is under investigation in the Abramoff case.

The Anti-Hillary: GOP’s Kay Bailey Hutchison for VP

Trish
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison

No one is suggesting any variation in the all-male, all-white GOP presidential pool, but a new idea has sprung up to reassure Repubs they have a chance in 2008. It’s simple. Just trot out Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (Tex-R) for vice president!

Republicans must win Texas if they have the slightest hope of keeping the White House.

Next, consider current polls. They suggest that New York Sen. Hillary Clinton may well be the Democratic nominee for president…

Presenting a softer side to the GOP ticket might be the remaining chance the party has to harvest a significant number of women voters, particularly against Clinton.

Hutchison’s “softer side” includes support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge after receiving more contributions from big oil and gas than anyone in Congress, overturning a ban on handguns in the nation’s capital, and receiving a rating of zero from the League of Women Voters for her environmental record.

On the other hand, she is a leading critic of immigration reform, and wanted to go Bush one better with her “No Amnesty Amendment.” Although defeated, it would have forced those trying to become citizens to leave the country for at least two years before applying. This last move has red meat Republicans sniffing a winner. All I smell is the same old Texas cow pies.

Bush Filed a Motion Last Year to Uphold the 33-Month Sentence of Victor Rita, a 24-Year Marine Corps Vet Convicted on Same Crimes as Libby

Jon Ponder

Last month, the Supreme Court agreed with the Bush Justice Dept., ruling against Rita’s appeal for a reduced sentence based his exemplary military service.

Sen. Joe Biden:

Tony Snow said that President Bush decided to commute Scooter Libby’s two and a half year-prison sentence for perjury and obstruction of justice, because it was “excessive.”

Yet last year the Bush Administration filed a “friend-of-the-court brief” with the Supreme Court, in an attempt to uphold a lower court’s ruling that a 33-month prison sentence for Victor Rita, who was convicted of the same exact charges, perjury and obstruction of justice, was “reasonable.”

Pres. Bush cited Libby’s “years of exceptional public service” in commuting his prison sentence. But Libby is the classic Bushie chickenhawk — a neocon bureaucrat with no service record whose fingerprints are all over the worst military planning in American history.

Conversely, Victor Rita is the real deal:

Victor Rita is a very sympathetic defendant: he served 24 years in the Marine Corps, had tours of duty in Vietnam and the first Gulf war, and has received over 35 military metals and awards. Also, he is an elderly gentleman who suffers serious health problems.

The Supreme Court ruled on the case last month:

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that criminal sentences within guidelines set by a federal commission are generally entitled to be upheld on appeal, a decision that limits legal options for defendants who feel that they have been punished too harshly.

By a vote of 8 to 1, the court held that, even though it recently ruled that the sentencing ranges set by the U.S. Sentencing Commission are no longer mandatory, judges who follow them may be presumed to have acted reasonably…

The case that the court decided yesterday, Rita v. United States, No. 06-5754, was meant to help define “advisory.”

Victor Rita, convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice, asked for a lighter sentence based in part on his past military service. But the judge gave him 33 months, as suggested by the guidelines. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, upheld the sentence, saying that penalties within the guidelines are “presumptively reasonable.”

It is customary in the pardoning process for the president to contact the Justice Dept. for input. But the White House is adamant that Bush did not speak to anyone at Justice about the Libby pardon. If he had run it past them, it’s possible he could have avoided what appears to be a spectacular blunder.

Bush Turns Americans Against Flying the Flag

Trish

There’s a way to see how America feels about itself without opinion polls: Count how many flags fly on the 4th of July.

“When people are feeling better about the country they buy more flags. It was like this during the Nixon years.”

After decades in the flag business, Randolph Smith, president of Chicago-based Advertising Flag Co. Inc., said he has seen interest in the flag ebb and flow, according to the general sentiment people have about the country’s direction.

Immediately following the 9-11 attacks, for example, U.S. flag sales accounted for 25 percent of his business. Today, it’s about 16 to 18 percent and has been declining since 2003, he said.

“When people are feeling better about the country they buy more flags,” Smith said. “It was like this during the Nixon years. It wasn’t our bread and butter then either.”

Kimberly Sklarz, corporate secretary for Bartlett, Ill.-based FlagsUSA, said the run-up to the July 4 holiday, normally a busy time, has been particularly slow this year. The company’s U.S. flag sales were down 49 percent in June over the same period last year.

“It is a very sad time right now. We are just kind of baffled by how things are going and all because of the war,” Sklarz said. “We expected it to make some kind of effect on the company, but it is getting pretty bad.”

A quick check of my own home shows…no flag. On the 4th of July, 2002, one was out there. But too many speeches by Bush and Rumsfeld and Cheney about the United States and Iraq and democracy and terror and liberty and secret prisons and going it alone and the way forward and surges and sacrifice that costs them nothing but costs others everything and support for people who betray America have left me feeling like most former flag-fliers: over it.

Mitt’s Heartfelt Convictions Do Another Flip-Flop; Now He Supports Pardons

Trish

If, like most Democrats, you weren’t born with the defective gene that causes the brain to short-circuit and allows the mouth to lie and spew hypocrisy even while the vocal tones and facial expression exhibit assertions of extreme sanctimony, you might not appreciate Mitt Romney’s interpretation of the Bush/Libby commutation.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney…yesterday called President Bush’s commutation of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s prison sentence “reasonable.”

Romney often proudly points out that he was the first governor in modern Massachusetts history to deny every request for a pardon or commutation during his four years in office.

Defending Bush, Romney, a Republican, said at a campaign stop that “the president looked very carefully at the setting” before deciding to commute the 2 1/2-year sentence given the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney in the CIA leak case…

As governor, Romney twice rejected a pardon for Anthony Circosta, who at 13 was convicted of assault for shooting a boy in the arm with a BB gun — a shot that didn’t break the skin. Circosta worked his way through college, joined the Army National Guard, and led a platoon of 20 soldiers in Iraq’s deadly Sunni triangle.

In 2005, as he was serving in Iraq, he sought a pardon so he could to fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer.

In his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, Romney often proudly points out that he was the first governor in modern Massachusetts history to deny every request for a pardon or commutation during his four years in office.

Let’s Have a Look at Scooter Libby’s ‘Exceptional Public Service’

Jon Ponder

When Pres. George Bush commuted Scooter Libby’s prison sentence on Monday, he cited Libby’s “years of exceptional public service.” A casual observer might be surprised to learn Libby has been an “exceptional” public servant, since what is generally known about him is that he was a necon bureaucrat whose claim to fame prior to his crimes was his role in assisting Pres. Bush and Vice Pres. Dick Cheney in taking the country to war under false pretexts.

Having been found guilty of lying to a federal grand jury and FBI investigators and obstructing an investigation into an alleged White House conspiracy to reveal the identity of a covert CIA specialist in WMD, Libby has secured his place in history as the first sitting White House official to be indicted since the administration of U.S. Grant, a Republican, in the 1870s. He is also the highest-ranking White House official convicted in a government scandal since National Security Adviser John Poindexter, also a Republican, in the Iran-Contra affair in 1990.

Libby met Paul Wolfowitz at Yale. Wolfowitz became his mentor, and the two have worked together off and on over the years. Ironically, their separate roles in the Bush administration have led both men to fall from grace on parallel tracks. While Libby was under investigation, Wolfowitz resigned from the Pentagon, reportedly because of his role in botching the war. Around the time of Libby’s trial, Wolfowitz was forced out of the World Bank amid corruption charges.

At the White House, as the vice president’s chief of staff, Libby was Cheney’s closest confidante. Libby rode to work with Cheney every morning and was by his side throughout the day. He once told CNN’s Larry King, “I’m a great fan of the vice president. I think he’s one of the smartest, most honorable people I’ve ever met.”

Here are a few highlights from Scooter Libby’s bio:
[…]

Prophetic ’04 Bush Quote: CIA Leaker ‘Will Be Taken Care of’

Jon Ponder

On February 10, 2004, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that a criminal investigation into the leaking of the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson was underway.

The next day, Pres. George Bush addressed the new development in a brief Q & A with reporters:

“If there’s a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is,” Bush told reporters at an impromptu news conference during a fund-raising stop in Chicago, Illinois. “If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of.

Now we know that those words were prophetic. By pardoning Scooter Libby, who was found guilty this year of perjury and obstruction of justice in the investigation into the outing of Wilson allegedly by senior Bush officials, Bush has indeed “taken care of” one of the leakers.

We also know now that Wilson was a covert specialist in weapons of mass destruction.

Here’s a more complete White House transcript:

[…]

Support for Libby Pardon Reveals New Depths of Rightwing Decay

Jon Ponder

In its surprisingly full-throated defense of Pres. Bush’s pardon of Scooter Libby, the rightwing has made clear what we on the left have long suspected: The conservative movement is rotting from the core.

Yesterday, Joe Wilson, Valerie Wilson’s husband, said about the Bush administration, “It‘s corrupt from top to bottom, and I think most Americans should understand that beyond a reasonable doubt now.” He could have been describing the entire conservative machine.

During the Clinton wars, when this same crowd was not draining the Treasury to launch one bogus investigation after another, all of which came up big juicy nothing-burgers, they were slobbering over the porn in the Starr report moaning, “What will we tell the children?”

They hated the Clintons as avatars of 1960s’ excess but then stole the 2000 election to install George W. Bush, who really did spend the anything-goes decade driving around drunk, doing coke and smoking pot. Under Bush, not surprisingly, the anything-goes political decadence that took root in the conservative ranks in the 1990s has come into full flower.

It was on vivid display this morning on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” in the nakedly bankrupt reasoning conservative callers used to justify the Libby pardon. The Dittohead spin was identical in call after call. Here’s my take:

Both Scooter Libby and Pres. Clinton were charged with perjury and obstruction of justice. However, Clinton did not go to jail, so Libby should not go to jail either. The fact that Pres. Clinton was acquitted whereas Libby was convicted his crimes, they insist, is completely irrelevant.

Here’s Digby:

That whole impeachment trial acquittal thing in the Senate and that whole guilty beyond a reasonable doubt thing in Walton’s courtroom are irrelevant because [rightwingers believe] Clinton committed perjury over a couple of furtive blow-jobs in a hallway which means Scooter Libby and his pals should be able to lie to federal prosecutors. If not, well then, life would just. not. be. fair

And:

[Even] though Libby was convicted in a court of law, he can’t serve even a day in jail, because Clinton was … acquitted.

From the outset, the Noise Machine has been in overdrive trying to minimize the importance of the CIA leak. In reality, the underlying issue was national security, in general, and the security of weapons of mass destruction, specifically. We’ll never know what assets were lost after Vice Pres. Dick Cheney directed his flying monkeys to reveal the identity of Valerie Wilson, who was a covert CIA specialist in weapons of mass destruction.

Because of Wilson’s outing by Richard Armitage, Karl Rove, Ari Fleischer, Scooter Libby and others, the lives and safety of her overseas contacts were put at risk, and, for all we know, terrorists may have acquired WMD she was tracking.

[…]