Sotomayor

Hey everyone. I've got a couple things to talk about just real quick. I'm having computer problems today and I have almost no patience so this will probably be short and sweet.
The main thing I wanna talk about is the Sotomayor hearings that have been going on this week. I think everyone is in agreement that she is going to get confirmed, so any fight the Republicans have is on political basis, rather than a substantive one. They aren't doing a very good job though. Republicans on the Judiciary Committee can't seem to move past the "wise Latina" comment and consequently have come off this week as underprepared and uninformed. This is a judge who has been on the bench for 17 years and has seen thousands of cases, some of which have gone on the be heard by the Supreme Court. Instead of possibly questioning her on many of these, Republicans want to cast her as a racist and bigot. This is glaringly hypocritical coming from proven racists such as Sen. Jeff Sessions (Alabama.) Lest we forget, Sessions himself got rejected by a Republican-majority Committee in 1986 as a nominee for a federal judgeship. The basis for his rejection was his indefensible racial comments, including saying that he thought the Ku Klux Klan wasn't so bad except for their support of marijuana. He also called the NAACP and ACLU "un-American" and "communist." In light of this, I don't think Mr. Sessions has much ground to stand on when it comes to racism. Then there is Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. When he was able to break away from "wise Latina" talk, he went into deep conversation with Mrs. Sotomayor over gun rights. One thing that caught my ear was when he asked the nominee what her personal belief was when it came to gun rights. What does it really matter? According to critics, Mrs. Sotomayor should never allow he personal beliefs to come into her judgments. So what difference does it really make what her thoughts on gun rights are? Her job will be to uphold existing laws. As for those who say she legislates from the bench, take a look at her record. Across the board, she has been fairly moderate, and has often made of point of avoiding legislating. Read her opinions. It's all there. All in all, the hearings have been rather useless and almost comical at times. She is gonna be nominated, but Republicans don't want to be fingered in future elections as someone who voted for Sotomayor. As Richard Wolffe (who I have immense respect for; one of the best commentators out there) said, this isn't about Sotomayor, this is about not siding with the president on anything. The Party of No strikes again.

Quick note on Sarah Palin. So she said she wants to spend her time concentrating on meaningful ways to help Alaska. Does that include writing Op Ed pieces for the Washington Post supporting big oil? Because that's what she did this weekend. And on top of that, the piece contradicted her past views on this subject! I can't even think about this anymore, the utter hypocrisy makes my head hurt.

One last comical note. Newt Gingrich did an interview with Al Jazeera this weekend. In it, he said he wants a one man sabotage mission to go in and take out Iran's "only" gas refinery. The man doing the interview, Avi Lewis, laughed out loud at this comment. First, I think Mr. Gingrich has been watching too many Bond movies. Does he really think one man can go in and take down a whole refinery by himself? HA! Good joke. And second, as the reporter told him, Iran doesn't have just one refinery. They have eight. Iran is a modern, industrialized country. Nice try, Newt.

That's all for now. Whenever I write again (maybe tomorrow), I have an absolutely ridiculous Obama birther story (as if that whole concept isn't ridiculous enough). Until then, best wishes.

Palin: A Comedy of Errors

Time for part 2 of my extra long weekend post. Just a couple subjects on tap here.

PALIN

For a little comic relief, I give you Sarah Palin and everyone around her! I know, that's an old and unfunny joke at this point, but that is what this situation feels like anymore. Lets look at how this comedy of errors is playing out: First, underqualified, semi-intelligent, fanatical woman is somehow elected governor of Alaska. Next, aforementioned governor proceeds to bend ethics and laws to her liking, while somehow convincing everyone she is fighting corruption. Then, fading presidential nominee pins her as running mate to (successfully) inject life into failing campaign. Governor-turned-VP nominee proceeds to bolster conservative base while alienating moderates, including the people running the campaign. Her lack of curiosity, low work ethic, and non-understanding of issues makes her the butt of jokes across the country. After the election, instead of laying low and buffing up on issues in anticipation of a potential 2012 presidential bid, she makes the rounds of the speaking circuit and develops a public feud with a late-night comedian, while alienating her few remaining political allies. Then, in a move that leaves everyone and their dog shaking their head, she resigns from the governorship with a rambling, semi-intelligible news conference with honking geese as her backing vocals. She spends the next week defending herself with the tired talking point, "I'm not a quitter, I'm a fighter," despite the fact she just quit her job that she was elected to. If it were a play, it might be funny. But this is an actual person we are talking about. It's almost sad at this point. And now she's in a spat with the father of her teenage daughter's baby, who she tried to force into marriage. Once again, I can only shake my head. The silver lining here? At least she's not running a state anymore.
By the way, if you haven't read the Vanity Fair article about Palin, you really need to. You can find it at the Vanity Fair website, titled "It Came From Wasilla."

CIA, CONGRESS, AND WIRETAPPING

Lots of developments coming from this front. The CIA and certain members of Congress are at odds over a public letter from six House Democrats addressed to CIA Director Leon Panetta. According to the Dems, Panetta admitted in a hearing that the CIA had misled Congress in the past. The CIA is obligated, under the National Security Act of 1947, to inform Congress of everything it does. Now it is being reported that the issue being discussed here is a secret counterterrorism operation that answered only to former VP Dick Cheney. Apparently, even Panetta didn't know about this operation until recently, and immediately ordered it's termination upon finding out about it. He also immediately informed Congress of the operation's existence. Also, a CIA report was unclassified that tells that President Bush personally authorized warrantless wiretapping. Not only this, but to get approval, he skipped getting Attorney General John Ashcroft to sign off, because Ashcroft was in the hospital recovering from surgery. OK, lets check these out one-by-one. First, what ever happened to the balance of powers and Congressional oversight in the CIA? Did the Bush administration decide it would follow the rules only when it felt like it? When the CIA decides it is gonna do what it wants, without telling anyone, and the White House is OK with that, who is to stop them from doing something illegal? This also vindicates House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who received criticism from the right for claiming that CIA misled her. Sounds like she was telling the truth. And Panetta didn't really deny the allegations. He simply issued a statement stating that "it's not the policy of the CIA to mislead Congress" Not exactly a scathing denial. We know it's not the CIA's policy, but policy and reality seem to have differed considerably over the last eight years. As for the connections to Bush-Cheney, this only confirms what many have suspected about the Bush Administration (and VP Cheney in particular) for a long time. It's really scary that even the CIA director didn't know about it. This ties in with the CIA failing to inform Congress of their acts. Apparently nobody knows what is going on in Langley. Except Dick Cheney. (Now that's a scary thought!) Finally, the fact that Bush was personally involved with the wiretapping is not a big shocker, at least to this observer. This is also very deja vu-like, considering the new Nixon Tapes, in which Nixon also personally authorizes wiretapping. Good example to follow. This could be a big blow to the former administration if a federal prosecutor decides to pursue charges. Regardless, many conservatives will argue that the the former president had every right to do things like this, considering the war on terror. No, you are wrong. The president never has the right to do these things. This undermines our laws and the Constitution. If Republicans love the Constitution as much as they say, they will stop trying to rip it to shreds over anything that concerns national security. Follow the laws. That is what they are there for.

Well, time to wrap this up. As a parting note, two quick, ridiculous stories. Governor Rick Perry of Texas (he of secessionist fame) has nominated as his new secretary of education someone who in the past said that public education was unconstitutional and communistic. Good job, Gov. Perry, you are making everyone proud. In your new nation that you want to form, will all education be outlawed? Can we just give this guy a patch of land somewhere far away to call his own, so we can get him out of our hair? Also, goodbye to Sen. Roland Burris of Illinois. The embattled senator, appointed by disgraced former governor Rod Blagojevich, has announced he will not pursue re-election. Thank God.

Coming Monday, the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. I am looking forward to it, and personally, I have no doubt she will be confirmed easily, making Monday a mere formality. More on this subject sometime in the next few days. Also, I may delve into the Republican sex scandals and the mysterious religious tying Ensign and Sanford together. If I can figure it out. Very shady, very interesting.

Thank you for sticking with me through this long-winded post; I promise they won't all be this long, this weekend was just one of those times. I'll be back within the next few days!