Category Archives: NADA – New American Dark Ages

New American Dark Ages

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Three Long Years

War! Good god y’all!
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing!

Three years ago, the United States invaded Iraq. Our enlightened leaders slammed the country with shock and awe and still expected flowers to be thrown at our troops and democracy to take instant root. Our lying leaders tried a wide range of lies to justify the invasion. And, before the invasion, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets all over the world to stop the war before it began.

Citizen M speaks truth to powerHere in Albuquerque, our own police fired tear gas at protesters. Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, chair of the re-elect the liars committee, begged for the opportunity to show the citizens what he thinks of our right to protest. All around us, flags waved and dissent was shouted down with accusations of treason. Is it treason to oppose an unnecessary war? To oppose an administration spoiling for a fight long before 9/11, a completely unrelated matter?

Now, the flowers have become IEDs and more people recognize the lies from the bully in the pulpit. No matter what happens in Iraq, it was an unnecessary war botched by incompetent leaders. Iraq was no threat to America. But Iran is more dangerous than ever. Al Qaeda has more support than ever. Bin Laden is as safe as ever. Has anything good been accomplished?

Today, hundreds marched again in Albuquerque, unintimidated by prior police excesses, ignored or dismissed by the media. This time the assault was by fierce wind, not tear gas, and gas-bags like White were home watching whatever big game distracts them from the mountain of evidence of the utter failure of the Radical Right.

peace, mjh

Update 3/19/06: In coverage lasting a bit less than 1 minute, KOAT-7 TV news at 6pm estimated the crowd at about one hundred — perhaps because they didn’t arrive until long after the march reached the park. I saw no other coverage on TV.

Today, the Albuquerque Journal covered the march and printed the views of a local Iraq War vet against the war:

ABQjournal: Over 1,000 Join Anti-War Protest in Duke City
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ABQjournal: Iraq Vet: This War Is Wrong By Anthony Thomas Garcia, Iraq War Veteran
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The Albuquerque Tribune: National Government
Then and now

March 18, 2006

Some statistics and polls on Iraq at the time of the invasion and today:

President Bush’s job rating

March 2003: 67 percent of Americans surveyed in ABC-Washington Post poll approved of Bush’s job performance as U.S. and allies invaded Iraq.

March 2006: Overall approval rating now 37 percent, lowest of Bush’s presidency, according to latest AP-Ipsos poll.

Opinions about the war

April 2003: 70 percent in ABC-Washington Post poll said war in Iraq was worth fighting.

March 2006: 29 percent in CBS poll say results of war worth the cost.

Opinions about Bush’s handling of Iraq

April 2003: 71 percent in Gallup poll approved the way Bush was dealing with Iraq.

March 2006: 39 percent in AP-Ipsos poll approve Bush’s handling of situation.
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From Three Years Ago —
03/20/2003: War Protests in New Mexico

peaceful protestAbout 600 demonstrators protested the war near the campus of the University of New Mexico at 6pm, Thursday, 3/20/03 (the first day of Spring). Eventually, riot police used tear gas and “chemical agents” to “calm” the crowd. There was very interesting TV footage of children under 10 fleeing to nearby restaurants, eyes streaming tears. One bystander was hit between the eyes by a tear gas canister and taken to the hospital. 17 protesters were arrested, some for throwing the tear gas canisters back at the cops. Police advise those planning other protest not let “bad apples” make problems; “we will not tolerate them taking over the streets.”

Have you noticed how cops now all look like soldiers? The uniforms and, especially, the machine guns?

Peaceful protesters are camped outside the gates to Kirtland Air Force Base. It’s raining & 47 degrees at 11pm.

In Santa Fe, protesters surrounded the Roundhouse, the State Capitol building. Some 60 high schoolers walked out of school to join protests and were suspended for 2 days for “open defiance and willful disobedience.” No one was arrested. mjh

Remember what Sally Meyer said after the ‘riot’? What Mayor Marty did? Or what one-among-many of our fellow citizens wrote about protesters? Read on:

Continue reading Three Long Years →

Dump Duhbya

Republican Buyer’s Remorse

GOP Irritation At Bush Was Long Brewing By Jim VandeHei, Washington Post Staff Writer

“Bottom line, there is a lot of buyer’s remorse,” said Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.). If the vote were held today on the Medicare prescription drug benefit, he said, as many 120 Republicans would vote against it. “It was probably our greatest failure in my adult lifetime,” he said. …

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), a Bush ally who dismissed concerns about an inattentive White House, said he regrets voting for the No Child Left Behind bill in the first term.

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Ginsburg Faults GOP Critics, Cites a Threat From Fringe

Ginsburg Faults GOP Critics, Cites a Threat From ‘Fringe’ By Charles Lane, Washington Post Staff Writer

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg assailed the court’s congressional critics in a recent speech overseas, saying their efforts “fuel” an “irrational fringe” that threatened her life and that of a colleague, former justice Sandra Day O’Connor. …

[A Feb. 28, 2005, chatroom] posting said: “Okay, commandoes, here is your first patriotic assignment . . . an easy one. Supreme Court Justices Ginsburg and O’Connor have publicly stated that they use [foreign] laws and rulings to decide how to rule on American cases. This is a huge threat to our Republic and Constitutional freedom. . . . If you are what you say you are, and NOT armchair patriots, then these two justices will not live another week.“

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Bill Would Allow Warrantless Spying

Bill Would Allow Warrantless Spying By Charles Babington, Washington Post Staff Writer

The Bush administration could continue its policy of spying on targeted Americans without obtaining warrants, but only if it justifies the action to a small group of lawmakers, under legislation introduced yesterday by key Republican senators. …

The bill would allow the NSA to eavesdrop, without a warrant, for up to 45 days per case, at which point the Justice Department would have three options. It could drop the surveillance, seek a warrant from FISA’s court, or convince a handful of House and Senate members that although there is insufficient evidence for a warrant, continued surveillance “is necessary to protect the United States,” according to a summary the four sponsors provided yesterday. They are Mike DeWine (Ohio), Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and Olympia J. Snowe (Maine).

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Kempthorne Picked for Interior

Kempthorne Picked for Interior By Peter Baker and Juliet Eilperin,
Washington Post Staff Writer

[E]nvironmental groups immediately assailed the selection, calling it the latest example of the Bush administration selling out to development and energy industry interests. Environmentalists noted that Kempthorne fought to open national forests to logging, mining, and oil and gas drilling. They said he worked to weaken water safety and endangered species laws. …

The League of Conservation Voters offered a two-sentence response: “During his career in Congress, Governor Kempthorne earned a paltry 1 percent lifetime LCV score. Enough said.” …

“Gov. Kempthorne is a very nice, personable and noncombative person, which are some of the features the Bush administration is looking for and which will help in confirmation,” said Roger Singer, Idaho chapter director of the Sierra Club. “But his record on environmental issues is quite abysmal.”

NADA - New American Dark Ages

Army Transfers Could Trigger A Gang War

Army Transfers Could Trigger A Gang War – March 16, 2006 – The New York Sun – NY News By JOSH GERSTEIN – Staff Reporter of the Sun

Law enforcement authorities fear that the planned relocation of thousands of Army soldiers in Texas could trigger a battle the military has not trained for – a turf war between violent criminal gangs.

Local police and FBI officials said they expect the transfer of between 10,000 and 20,000 troops to Fort Bliss near El Paso, Texas, to bring more members of the Folk Nation gang into contact with a criminal group that is already well-established in the area, Barrio Azteca. …

Ms. Simmons said Folk Nation, which was founded in Chicago and includes several branches using the name Gangster Disciples, has gained a foothold in the Army. “The Folk Nation has a presence with the military and/or their dependents,” she said.

NBC 17 – News – Gang Members Learn Deadly Skills In Military Story by Spc. Bradley Rhen

Some of America’s most notorious street gangs are turning up in the military. But they aren’t just serving their country. Instead, many are taking the opportunity to learn a very deadly trade.

NBC 17 has learned there is a growing concern with gang members enlisting in the military with the hope of learning the art of war.

Detective Hunter Glass is a an Army veteran and Fayetteville gang officer.

“We do know through intelligence that some gang members are actually sent into the military to learn about military tactics,” Glass said.

Glass showed NBC 17 footage of a known gang member just back from Iraq firing on two California police officers — he kills one quickly using tactics perfected on the battlefield.

“Using strictly military tactics he learned in the Marine Corps, he applies suppressive fire power right into the corner,” Glass explains. “He didn’t learn those tactics as a gang member.” …

Joshua Sharp is a full-time military investigator at Fort Bragg who also tracks gangs. He’s very worried about what gang members are learning.

“These guys with military tactics can use it for drug buys or during busts,” Sharp told NBC 17. “They know how to handle surveillance and have other useful skills.”

Gang members brag they now have a pipeline from the U.S. to Baghdad and are picking up new skills, such as war time medical training. …

“I can’t think of any problem we have as a law enforcement, other than drugs, that is this big of an epidemic,” Sharp said. …

NBC 17 has also learned that gangs are not the only groups the military is worried about. Officials are also concerned about extremist groups like skinheads and the Aryan Nation in the armed forces. …

“Gang activity is alive and well in the military — you just have to know what you’re looking for and where to look to identify it,” Schwind told the audience at the briefing.

There are several reasons gang members join the military, including getting away from the gang life, seeking legal employment and recruiting soldiers and family members. Also, combat tactics and weapons training can be taken back to the gangs once they get out of the military.

Once in the military, those gang members may recruit others — military and civilian — and form a clique, Schwind said. However, he pointed out that gangs usually aren’t formed within units, creating gangs like the “Alpha Company Mafia.”

“I would say that the gang situation within the military — not just the Army, but in the military in all — is a problem and it continues to grow every day,” Schwind. …

“It’s well known that gangs are specifically targeting the military for recruitment because of our vast ability to deploy and their outreach to different regions,” he said. “All the different regions that we deploy to, they can send their gang members, or their troops of their gang, to expand their territory, or their trafficking area.”

NADA - New American Dark Ages

Judging Judges

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Someone wrote a book entitled “What’s Wrong With Kansas?” Apparently, the sequel will have to be entitled “What’s Wrong with South Dakota?” Or maybe “WTF, SD?” Banning abortions and, now, setting up kangaroo courts to judge judges and keep them in line with the will of the mob.

There’s no way J.A.I.L. is constitutional. If this and the abortion ban are struck down in the same Supreme Court session, will that constitute some record for state incompetence? “Come to South Dakota — we don’t know what the hell we’re doing!” mjh

Text of the South Dakota J.A.I.L. Amendment

We, the People of South Dakota, find that the doctrine of judicial immunity has the potential of being greatly abused; that when judges do abuse their power, the People are obliged – it is their duty – to correct that injury, for the benefit of themselves and their posterity. In order to insure judicial accountability and domestic tranquility, we hereby amend our Constitution by adding these provisions as §28 to Article VI, which shall be known as “The J.A.I.L. Amendment.” [Judicial Accountability Initiated Law]

Rushmore to Judgment – South Dakota ups the ante in the national war over judges. By Bert Brandenburg

The newest front in the war on the courts is being fought in South Dakota, where, in the shadow of Mt. Rushmore, a group called “J.A.I.L. 4 Judges” is promoting one of the most radical threats to justice this side of the Spanish Inquisition. It’s extreme and it’s incoherent, but it’s got more than 40,000 petition signatures—and it will go to the state’s voters as a constitutional amendment in November. A national network of supporters is waiting in the wings, threatening to export the revolution to other states if they do well this fall.

The group’s proposed measure would wipe out a basic doctrine called judicial immunity that dates back to the 13th century, protecting judges from personal liability for doing their job ruling on the cases before them. A special grand jury—essentially a fourth branch of government—would be created to indict judges for a string of bizarre offenses that include “deliberate disregard of material facts,” “judicial acts without jurisdiction,” and “blocking of a lawful conclusion of a case,” along with judicial failure to impanel a jury for infractions as minor as a dog-license violation. After three such “convictions,” the judge would be fired and docked half of his or her retirement benefits for good measure. …

This movement is the brainchild of a Californian named Ronald Branson with a history of suing state and federal officials for alleged conspiracies (including his own trials for burglary and a traffic offense). …

In other words, J.A.I.L. 4 Judges seeks to capitalize on the incessant talk-radio hate-in against the courts, where America’s 11,000 judges are caricatured as godless, flag-burning, property-seizing, gay-marriage missionaries. J.A.I.L. is just the latest in a parade of groups twisting the notion of judicial accountability beyond recognition. …

Indeed, JAILers are brimming with confidence that they’ll win in South Dakota this fall, and around the country beyond. Writes Branson: “The People are slowly waking up to realize who the Enemy is—and it isn’t Bin Laden.”

Retired Supreme Court Justice hits attacks on courts and warns of dictatorship Nina Totenberg, NPR News

I, said [retired Justice] O’Connor, am against judicial reforms driven by nakedly partisan reasoning.