Food Is Good

Turns out that Food Is Good. Who'd a thunk it?

TAGS: Open thread

The Spoliation of America

The What!? !?

Spoliation. OK, I'll admit I've never heard the word before either until Jonathan Turley brought it up in passing on this segment of COUNTDOWN with Keith Olbermann. The subject: the opening of a criminal probe into "Waterboarding-Gate" - the destruction of interrogation tapes by the CIA. The quote:

"There's a compelling basis for at least six [criminal charges.] You've got obstruction of congress, obstruction of justice, you have perjury, conspiracy, a thing called spoliation... There is also a chance that you might have false statements, so the list gets longer, but the original one is torture.

You know, many people in Congress, and in the White House, and at Justice Department are framing this as an obstruction investigation as if what's on those tapes is an episode of Barney. What's on those tapes is the original crime in the scandal, and that's the crime of torturing people."

There's a lot of good stuff on this video. Please watch the whole thing. As usual Olbermann and Turley explore issues in a way that is lamentably unique on network news these days. I was especially interested to hear Turley announce once again that the Bush administration has gone far beyond the Nixon Watergate era in malfeasance. And lamentably they are getting away with it because of the execrable performance of what passes these days for a free press.

What I'm going to concentrate on here is this obscure (to me anyway) legal term 'spoliation of evidence.' Obviously it's a form of obstruction of justice, and maybe Turley could have given a better explanation of its impact. Here's some relevant material from Wikipedia:

"Lawyers and courts use the term spoliation to refer to the withholding, hiding, or destruction of evidence relevant to a legal proceeding and is a criminal act in the United States under Federal and most State law.

Spoliation has two consequences: first the act is criminal by statute and may result in fines and incarceration for the parties who engaged in the spoliation, secondly case law has established that proceedings which might have been altered by the spoliation may be interpreted under a spoliation inference. The spoliation inference is a negative evidentiary inference that a finder of fact can draw from a party's destruction of a document or thing that is relevant to an ongoing or reasonably foreseeable civil or criminal proceeding: The finder of fact can review all evidence uncovered in as strong a light as possible against the spoliator and in favor of the opposing party. The theory of the spoliation inference is that when a party destroys evidence, it may be reasonable to infer that the party had consciousness of guilt or other motivation to avoid the evidence. Therefore, the factfinder may conclude that the evidence would have been unfavorable to the spoliator."

The underlines are mine, and point out what I think is key to Turley's use of this term. The implication is that evidence against the spoliator that has not been destroyed is for lack of a better term amplified in its impact on the case. And the way I see it that could be very bad for this administration in any legal proceedings against them in the future. Very, very bad. Why? Because their whole strategy has been one of obfuscation, stonewalling, and destruction of evidence.

Remember the story last year about the shredding trucks spotted outside of Dick Cheney's official residence? Looks like we got us some bigtime spoliation goin' on here. Or how about the story about the loss of millions of White House emails from an RNC server that they shouldn't even have been on in the first place? That's right, my friends. Spoliation, plain and simple.

Clearly the purpose of Extraordinary Rendition of 'suspected terrorists' to black sites in countries where the US has no jurisdiction can be none other than, you guessed it - spoliation. Perhaps the worst kind of spoliation occurs when these suspects turn out to be innocent after the most vigorous interrogation. There is a terrible but Inescapable Logic which suggests the interrogator must practice the most extreme act of spoliation imaginable in those instances - murder of the torture victim/potential witness.

And the infamous Prosecutors Purge scandal? Wow, with all the witnesses in the White House and Department of Justice claiming amnesia over that one, it looks like they all got some serious spoliation IN THEIR BRAINS! Not only does it sound like a communicable disease, apparently it actually is. I think Alberto Gonzales is a carrier, like typhoid Mary or something.

I think the most significant and far-reaching spoliation of all is the proliferation of electronic paperless voting systems throughout the country. This almost certainly resulted in persons unknown tampering with perhaps hundreds of thousands, even millions of votes in the last two general elections, and perhaps the 2006 midterms as well. Effectively allowing the retroactive 'caging' of votes that the powers that be don't like and the simultaneous destruction of any evidence of the crime. The spoliation of democracy. The spoliation of America to serve a criminal regime.

Spoliation.
It's the word of the day.
With any luck it might become the word of 2008.
I already like it better than truthiness.

---

Note: image at top of article is the painting "The spoliation of Christ" by el Greco. In that context spoliation means when the Centurions stripped his clothes off. It has nothing to do with the content of my post, but it's what I came up with in an image search, and hey - a little unruly culture never hurt anybody. Click for link to the online art museum where I found it.

TAGS: Spoliation, Justice, Bush Administration, Malfeasance

Iowa Caucus Open Thread

TAGS: Iowa Caucus

The Iraq News

A Plea to Iowa Voters, al-Sadr Seeks Reconciliation, Suicide Bombings on the Rise, More

Iowa, Iowa, Iowa.

Even I am totally psyched that tonight we officially begin the long task of voting in Chimpy McFlightsuit's successor. The hysteria has reached such a fever pitch, that over the last few months it has completely eclipsed media coverage of Iraq.

The violence is not over. The gains made by the escalation are attributable to temporary, unsustainable conditions and in fact, the trends in violence, such as suicide bombings, are up.

Here's some Iraq News:

• 3,905 gone.
• McClatcthy Newspapers blog Inside Iraq issues the following plea to voters in Iowa: "On the occasion of starting the first stage of American Election (Iowa caucus), and in the name of Iraqi people I would like to adjure the American people to think of Iraqi people and remember all the mistakes that happened in Iraq before directing toward the election boxes. Please choose who has the ability to correct these mistakes." [More]
• Sometime this month or next month, the ticking clock on Muqtada al-Sadr's promise of a cease fire will expire and the ridiculous mirage of success being projected at the American people by the media could very well go with it if al-Sadr doesn't see what he considers political progress (h/t Russ). On Saturday, al-Sadr called for reconciliation between his followers and Iraqi security forces in the holy city of Karbala, which is an auspicious development. NPR reports on al-Sadr's break from the fighting--he's been studying to become an ayatollah.
• In the most recent of a string of attacks, yesterday, in Baqubah, the capital of Diyala province, a suicide bomber jumped onto a car driven by Iraqi security forces and detonated himself.
• The Iraq government may release 5,000 prisoners, but not terrorists... oh, or homosexuals. Some democracy we're building over there. Apparently it's not going so well for the Christians either.
  
• Iraqi deaths were up 26% in 2007.
  
• When the President pocket vetoed the Defense Authorization Bill (despite Senate being in session) he took a fair bit of change out of the troops pockets. The Iraqi government thanks him though.

Sadly, there's much more news where that came from. It never ends.

TAGS: Iraq OCCUPATION, Muqtada al-Sadr, George W. Bush

Obstruction of Justice

What an impressive first solid news day of 2008!

Here's what started it all off. An op-ed at the New York Times by bi-partisan chairmen of the 9/11 commision, Messrs. Kean and Hamilton.

Heralding what might be a sea change, a tide, breaking upon The Villagers shores, that has the potential to bring much needed change to our beloved country, Kean and Hamilton summarize what they asked for, and what the response was:

So, in October 2003, we sent another wave of questions to the C.I.A.’s general counsel. One set posed dozens of specific questions about the reports, including those about Abu Zubaydah. A second set, even more important in our view, asked for details about the translation process in the interrogations; the background of the interrogators; the way the interrogators handled inconsistencies in the detainees’ stories; the particular questions that had been asked to elicit reported information; the way interrogators had followed up on certain lines of questioning; the context of the interrogations so we could assess the credibility and demeanor of the detainees when they made the reported statements; and the views or assessments of the interrogators themselves.

The general counsel responded in writing with non-specific replies. The agency did not disclose that any interrogations had ever been recorded or that it had held any further relevant information, in any form. Not satisfied with this response, we decided that we needed to question the detainees directly, including Abu Zubaydah and a few other key captives.

In a lunch meeting on Dec. 23, 2003, George Tenet, the C.I.A. director, told us point blank that we would have no such access. During the meeting, we emphasized to him that the C.I.A. should provide any documents responsive to our requests, even if the commission had not specifically asked for them. Mr. Tenet replied by alluding to several documents he thought would be helpful to us, but neither he, nor anyone else in the meeting, mentioned videotapes.

Basically, Kean and Hamilton got what we all KNOW we've been getting - short shrift. Glenzilla, Marcy and looseheadprop all have more, and most excellent writing about today's events, culminating in Mukasey appointing a special prosecutor. John Conyers is a little unhappy with that, since he, like us, wants a REAL independent prosecutor.

I can hardly amplify what those above mentioned and esteemed bloggers have to say. What I can do is take us into a little view of how this all really got started, by Mr. John Kiriakou. He was the "former" CIA agent who told us all about Abu Zubayed and his waterboarding and that it was all wrong in retrospect:

Part 2 of that interview is here and I encourage you to watch it.

The point of all this is that:

A - The CIA's agents are by no means angels in this matter

B - The CIA is not going to be burned by this president

C - The wheels of justice are in motion

D - These "wheels" are less likely to come "off the track" as the maladministration's power only wanes.

Frankly, I find it fitting that it is torture that will undo these malfeasants. The twisted decisions, torturous and heinous behaviours are finally coming home to roost. I hope. I'm betting there will be a little back-and-forth since Conyers has expressed misgivings about the true independence of such counsel, and mirabile dictu may Congress seize upon this moment.

TAGS: Obstruction of Justice, Torture, Whitehouse Misdeeds, DOJ

Happy New Year's Day 2008 Open Thread.

Robert Randolph & The Family Band: "The Thrill of It."

(QuakerDave's personal theme song for 2008.)

So, what's on your 2008 Wish List for the World?

Measuring 2007

As I reflect on the year that was 2007...

powered by ODEO

Thank you!

...for a year of shared outrage, frustration, laughter, friendship, perspective,
and some really mean cyber hooch.

₪

Come In..., originally uploaded by Jump Girl.

Fire's inside; blankets are in the trunk by the door.

Peace, Love, and Merry Merry...

TAGS: Open Thread

New Year's Resolution...

...do not have unprotected intercourse with this man!

Roll of the incautious:

• Spain's Conservatives - Gone April, 2004


• Silvio Berlusconi (Italy) - Defeated June, 2005


• Bush's Pooch, Tony Blair - Stepped aside, May 2007


• Australias's Liberals - F*cked the big dog, Nov. 2007
  (John Howard, the PM, couldn't even hold his own seat)

And most tragically:

• Former Pakistani PM, Benazir Bhutto - Assassinated, Dec. 2007

Apparently 'regime change' begins with Bush.

(Thanks to the New Yorker for the inspiration.)

Tags: Bush, Regime Change, New Year's Resolutions

Saturday Open Thread.

Michael Franti & Spearhead: "Time To Go Home."

Last weekend of the year. Make it a safe one, Mobsters.

Pink Floyd University - Voter Caging

Where to begin? So much infamy, so little time. So much truth in Art, and so many approaches. It's probably most wise to begin by quoting the Masters:

Did you exchange a walk-on part in the War
for a Lead role in a cage?"

Kris Kobach, Chairman of the Kansas GOP hopes you did as I learned from billw at CrooksAndLiars.com. Kobach had the unbridled temerity to send an email bragging about the fact that

To date, the Kansas GOP has identified and caged more voters in the last 11 months than the previous two years!” […]

My worn out Outragemeter instantly popped into explodotron mode as I read through the article at C&L which I highly encourage you to do. Fortunately, there enough examples from the Pink Floyd cannon that capture some sentiments about Kobach nicely, among them:

House proud town mouse,
Ha ha, charade you are
[...]
You're nearly a treat,
But you're really a cry
[...]
You radiate cold shafts of broken glass

Yes, those lines are all from "Pigs." (And I didn't use the most profane one either.) This sort of behavior is beyond swinish. It's not only illegal, it's positively un-democratic and anti-American, literally ANTI-AMERICAN as this endeavor seeks to rob other Americans of their Constitutional rights, not to mention the only opportunity we have in this representative system of ours to have ANY voice whatsoever.

It seems as if the lyrics to "Wish You Were Here" are no longer rhetorical, politically. Read/watch the following, substituting "Principled Leaders" for "you."

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
Blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have you found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

If you find you have 15 minutes to watch about how exactly voter caging works, you can see Greg Palast explain it here.

There are 3 things you can do about this.

1- Make YOURSELF bulletproof. Make sure you are accurately registered with your Secretary of State so that YOU cannot be caged. You do not want to leave your polling place next year having cast a "provisional" ballot.

2- Make others aaware, and encourage them to become bulletproof themselves.

3- Contact your congresscritter and tell them that Kobach's behavior is un-American, illegal and demand an FEC inquiry into violations of this consent decree. See, the Republicans have been caught doing this before.

UPDATE: dday has been posting at Digby's blog, and has some more on this issue

TAGS: Pink Floyd University, Voter Caging, Activism, 2008 Elections

Killing in the name of... what, exactly?

(International Herald Tribune) Dec. 26 - The U.S. death penalty bombshells this year - a de facto national moratorium, a state abolition and the smallest number of executions in more than a decade - have masked what may be the most significant and lasting development. For the first time in the modern history of the death penalty, more than 60 percent of all American executions took place in Texas.

Over the past three decades, the proportion of executions nationwide performed in Texas has held relatively steady, averaging 37 percent. Only once before, in 1986, has the state accounted for even a slight majority of the executions, and that was in a year with 18 executions nationwide.

But this year, enthusiasm for executions outside of Texas dropped sharply. Of the 42 executions this year, 26 were in Texas. The remaining 16 were spread across nine other states, none of which executed more than three people. Many legal experts say the trend will probably continue.

David Dow, a law professor at the University of Houston who has represented death-row inmates, said the day was not far off when essentially all executions in the United States would take place in Texas. “The reason that Texas will end up monopolizing executions,” he said, “is because every other state will eliminate it de jure, as New Jersey did, or de facto, as other states have.”

Charles Rosenthal Jr., the district attorney of Harris County, Texas, which includes Houston and has accounted for 100 executions since 1976, said the Texas capital justice system was working properly.

The pace of executions in Texas, he said, “has to do with how many people are in the pipeline when certain rulings come down.”

The rate at which Texas sentences people to death is not especially high given its murder rate. But once a death sentence is issued there, prosecutors, state and U.S. courts, the pardon board and the governor are united in moving the process along, said Richard Dieter, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

“There’s almost an aggressiveness about carrying out executions,” said Dieter, whose organization opposes capital punishment. [Outraged emphasis mine.]

Here’s the rest. So maybe one of our visitors from Texas could explain this to me. I understand that capital punishment can be more of a political issue than a “justice” issue, that we’re talking more about accumulating votes than we are about solving the problems relating to crime, at least in many places in America that still use the death penalty. But what is it about Texas? Why are Texans so willing to have their state on the same list as China, Iran, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia (amongst others) as being amongst the worst abusers of human rights on the planet, at least in terms of state-sponsored murder?

In 2006, there were 1,384 murders in the state of Texas. That IS down from a high of 2,652 in 1991. So, we can assume that supporters of the death penalty will say that the use of executions is having a “deterrent effect” on crime. Okay. So how to explain the fact that there were STILL 1,384 murders there in 2006?

Then there’s this: New Jersey has no death penalty. We just abolished it here. We hadn’t executed anyone here in who can remember how long. In 2006, we had 428 murders.

Go figure.

Merry Christmas (Open Thread).

Have a happy and safe one, all you Unrulies, you.