Media Matters has been desperately trying to point out something which should be obvious to 8 year olds - that Circuit Court judges don't have the power to overturn Supreme Court rulings.
The press is repeatedly saying that Roberts' confirmation hearing statement that Roe was "settled law" is meaningful. But, it doesn't have any meaning over and above the obvious - that Supreme Court rulings are the law of the land until the Supreme Court revisits an issue. Roberts could've given that answer about literally any SCOTUS ruling, and it would've provided no information about how he, as a SCOTUS judge, would rule on a particular issue.
Friday, July 22, 2005
Coingate
Noe Stole Millions:
Welcome to Republican America. Do state business, steal some of the money, and send some of it back to your patrons in the form of campaign contributions.
COLUMBUS — Tom Noe stole millions of dollars from the state and used a “Ponzi” scheme to fabricate profits within the state’s $50 million rare-coin investment, Ohio’s attorney general said yesterday.
“There was an absolute theft of funds going on,” Attorney General Jim Petro said.
Mr. Petro said there is evidence that Mr. Noe pocketed nearly $4 million in money invested with the coin fund through the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation since 1998.
Mr. Petro asked a judge to further restrict the former Toledo-area coin dealer from selling personal assets because he believes they may have been purchased with state money.
...
The attorney general said the theft began on March 31, 1998, the day Mr. Noe received the first of two $25 million payments from the workers’ compensation bureau, and continued until late May — more than eight weeks after The Blade first reported on April 3 that there were problems with the state’s investment.
“On Day One, Tom Noe took $1.375 million and put it in his personal or his business account,” Mr. Petro said. Records show that Mr. Noe immediately began using the state’s money for his personal use, the attorney general said.
A week later, Mr. Noe and his wife, Bernadette, made $4,500 in contributions to then-Secretary of State Bob Taft’s campaign for governor.
Welcome to Republican America. Do state business, steal some of the money, and send some of it back to your patrons in the form of campaign contributions.
WSJ
Strange, I couldn't find big story but here's what the WSJ has on the memo in its entirety:
ROBERTS'S RECEPTION leads U.S. Democrats to renew focus on Rove.
Party strategists conclude Bush's court pick may be unstoppable, and look to maintain earlier momentum from CIA leak case and other issues. Barring an unexpected revelation about the judge's background, "Our strategy now is to essentially let Roberts go...then get back on Rove, Social Security and the Iraq war," says a senior Congressional aide.
Democrats plan to grill Bush confidant Karen Hughes about leak-case in her confirmation hearing for State Department public diplomacy post. A key department memo discussing Joseph Wilson's Niger trip was classified "Top Secret," and the passage about his wife's CIA role was specially marked "S/NF" -- not to be shared with any foreign intelligence agencies.
Republican operative Greg Mueller says "summer drama" about Rove proves Democrats are "desperate."
Open Thread
He draweth out the thread of his verbosity finer than the staple of his argument. -- Billy Shakes
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Timmeh
breaking:
(via rs)
July 22 (Bloomberg) — Two top White House aides have given
accounts to the special prosecutor about how reporters told them
the identity of a CIA agent that are at odds with what the
reporters have said, according to persons familiar with the case.
Lewis “Scooter'’ Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief
of staff, told special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that he first
learned from NBC News reporter Tim Russert of the identity of CIA
agent Valerie Plame, the wife of former ambassador and Bush
administration critic Joseph Wilson. Russert has testified before
a federal grand jury that he didn’t tell Libby of Plame’s
identity.
(via rs)
Bad Day for Arnold
What a loser:
SACRAMENTO – A Superior Court judge on Thursday kicked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting measure off the special election ballot, ruling that supporters violated California's constitution by using two versions of the initiative in the qualifying process.
"The differences are not simply typographical errors," Judge Gail Ohanesian said. "They're not merely about the format of the measure. They are not simply technical. Instead they go to the substantive terms of the measure."
The proposal, Proposition 77, is one of three initiatives that the Republican governor is supporting in the Nov. 8 special election. It would take the power to draw legislative and congressional districts away from the Legislature and give it to a panel of three retired judges.
Attorney General Bill Lockyer asked the judge to order the measure off the ballot because its supporters used two versions – one to gather voter signatures and another that they gave to him to prepare a title and summary of the proposal to use on petitions.
Memo Marked Top Secret
Do Not Share With Foreign Nationals.
breaking in WSJ tomorrow, according to reporter on Olbermann's show...
(tip from Will and others...)
breaking in WSJ tomorrow, according to reporter on Olbermann's show...
(tip from Will and others...)
Made Man
Apparently a different John Roberts. Sometimes google is a day behind...
Indeed
Dean to Tancredo:
Ruminations on the desirability of nuking Mecca because of the actions of some Muslims somewhere presumably might piss people off a bit more than ruminations about the improper treatment of Muslim prisoners. But, up is down people! SAY IT LOUDER! UP IS DOWN!
All the Republicans who went after Dick Durbin care nothing for our soldiers or even national security. They only care about preserving the power of the Republican party.
Nor will our press put the Republicans through the disassociation gauntlet as they did Democrats. Collective punishment based on religious association using the ultimate weapons of mass destruction is certainly a-ok for our media.
Note, of course, that Tancredo is advocating terrorism against civilian populations. His reasoning is exactly that of those who bomb targets in London and Madrid, only he potentially has a bigger arsenal available to him.
Washington, DC - Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement regarding U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo's (R-CO) refusal to apologize for comments suggesting that the United States should bomb Muslim holy sites, including Mecca.
"Tancredo's statements go against the very message America is trying to send to the world, that the war against terrorism is not a war on Islam. Remarks threatening the destruction of holy sites akin to the Vatican or Jerusalem do nothing to win the hearts and minds of Muslims in the United States and abroad.
Congressman Tancredo certainly owes Muslims around the globe an immediate apology for his offensive remarks. At the same time, he also owes Americans an apology for projecting a message that goes against our values. With these remarks, Tancredo has been utterly careless with his responsibility for shaping our foreign policy. Tancredo's continued refusal to apologize poses a very real danger to our troops. President Bush should strongly condemn Tancredo's statement."
Ruminations on the desirability of nuking Mecca because of the actions of some Muslims somewhere presumably might piss people off a bit more than ruminations about the improper treatment of Muslim prisoners. But, up is down people! SAY IT LOUDER! UP IS DOWN!
All the Republicans who went after Dick Durbin care nothing for our soldiers or even national security. They only care about preserving the power of the Republican party.
Nor will our press put the Republicans through the disassociation gauntlet as they did Democrats. Collective punishment based on religious association using the ultimate weapons of mass destruction is certainly a-ok for our media.
Note, of course, that Tancredo is advocating terrorism against civilian populations. His reasoning is exactly that of those who bomb targets in London and Madrid, only he potentially has a bigger arsenal available to him.
34
I'm not surprised that Arnold's star has fallen quite a bit, but man is he unpopular. Wow.
According to Survey USA's governor tracking polls, which has him at 36, Arnold is the 46th most popular governor in the nation, leading only Matt Blunt, Ernie Fletcher, Frank Murkowski, and Bob Taft.
According to Survey USA's governor tracking polls, which has him at 36, Arnold is the 46th most popular governor in the nation, leading only Matt Blunt, Ernie Fletcher, Frank Murkowski, and Bob Taft.
Goats
Russ Baker has a pretty good article on the Queen of All Iraq. A sample:
The Time's Tuesday editorial asks us to trust the Times' internal procedures, to take its word for the validity of its position: "It's up to the reporter and editor to determine whether information given under a promise of confidentiality is reliable." But what editor has vetted Miller's source? Is the newspaper willing to at least identify that person and make plain the chain of knowledge and stewardship inside the institution? In the past, when I have inquired about who supervises Miller, I have been told by her colleagues that she generally has no direct supervisor, and moreover, that she frequently appeals, often with success, to those above her editors, to reverse their decisions. Her pipeline is said to extend all the way to the paper's publisher, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., whose unwavering support for Ms. Miller over the years, irrespective of the situation, remains a mystery to many in that newsroom.
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