ABQjournal: Terrorism To Affect Projects, Official Says By Miguel Navrot, Journal Staff Writer

Future buildings, roads and other public projects around the nation will be designed to minimize the effects of any attack, the new head of a counter-terrorism agency said.

“I think it’s going to be a societal change,” James Tegnelia said. …

Tegnelia acknowledged that new projects and retrofits designed to thwart terrorist attacks will incur increased building costs.

Absolutely everything is filtered through our fear now. Everything has changed because of one attack by a dozen killers. mjh

ABC News: Conservative Lawmaker: DeLay Should Quit

One of Congress’ most conservative members on Friday became the second House Republican to urge Majority Leader Tom DeLay to step aside because of the ethics scrutiny he’s facing. …

[Rep. Tom Tancredo’s, R-Colo.,] comments come after Connecticut Rep. Chris Shays, a moderate Republican, urged DeLay to resign from his leadership position at the beginning of the week. Also, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, said DeLay needs to answer questions about his ethics. …

Tancredo is known in the House for his tough stand on immigration and has 100 percent rating from the American Conservative Union for votes and his position on issues.
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See the interactive exposé at Tom Delay’s House of Scandal

Heather Wilson
1 Contributions from ARMPAC: $36,959
2 Voting percentage with DeLay: 87%
3 Vote to weaken ethics rules:
H Res. 5, Roll Call #6, 1/4/05 – YES
4 Vote to table Democratic solution:
H. Res. 153, Roll Call #70, 3/15/05 – YES

Steve Pearce
1 Contributions from ARMPAC: $20,000
2 Voting percentage with DeLay: 95%
3 Vote to weaken ethics rules:
H Res. 5, Roll Call #6, 1/4/05 – YES
4 Vote to table Democratic solution:
H. Res. 153, Roll Call #70, 3/15/05 – YES

Opinion > Editorial: Bill Frist’s Religious War” href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/16/opinion/16sat1.html?ex=1271304000&en=b200527534c58bb5&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss”>The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: Bill Frist’s Religious War

Right-wing Christian groups and the Republican politicians they bankroll have done much since the last election to impose their particular religious views on all Americans. But nothing comes close to the shameful declaration of religious war by Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, over the selection of judges for federal courts.

Senator Frist is to appear on a telecast sponsored by the Family Research Council, which styles itself a religious organization but is really just another Washington lobbying concern. The message is that the Democrats who oppose a tiny handful of President Bush’s judicial nominations are conducting an assault “against people of faith.” By that, Senator Frist and his allies do not mean people of all faiths, only those of their faith.

It is one thing when private groups foment this kind of intolerance. It is another thing entirely when it’s done by the highest-ranking member of the United States Senate, who swore on the Bible to uphold a Constitution that forbids the imposition of religious views on Americans. Unfortunately, Senator Frist and his allies are willing to break down the rules to push through their agenda – in this case, by creating what the senator knows is a false connection between religion and the debate about judges.

Senator Frist and his backers want to take away the sole tool Democrats have for resisting the appointment of unqualified judges: the filibuster. This is not about a majority or even a significant number of Bush nominees; it’s about a handful with fringe views or shaky qualifications. But Senator Frist is determined to get judges on the federal bench who are loyal to the Republican fringe and, he hopes, would accept a theocratic test on decisions.

Senator Frist has an even bigger game in mind than the current nominees: the next appointments to the Supreme Court, which the Republican conservatives view as their best chance to outlaw abortion and impose their moral code on the country.

We fully understand that a powerful branch of the Republican Party believes that the last election was won on “moral values.” Even if that were true, that’s a far cry from voting for one religion to dominate the entire country. President Bush owes it to Americans to stand up and say so.

American Civil Liberties Union : Help Stop the Creation of a National Database of Personal Information

[S]everal Members of Congress are pushing legislation that would compile your most personal information, such as your name, address, photos, birth certificates, social security number and perhaps even your DNA, into a national database. This giant network would then be accessible by numerous government employees and shared with Mexican and Canadian bureaucracies, dramatically increasing the risk of your personal information being stolen and abused.

The proposed legislation, the REAL ID Act of 2005, also includes numerous anti-immigrant provisions. …

Based on the outcry by concerned activists like you, the legislation’s supporters know they cannot pass the REAL ID Act as an independent bill so they are trying to attach it to a must-pass appropriations bill. A vote is expected later this week….

Billmon

The image I get from watching the Christian right these days is of a race car driver at the starting line, ferociously revving the engine and waiting for the checkered flag to pop the clutch.

This is all about torque, in other words. Dobson and his fellow ayatollahs want to see their Bible feyadeen absolutely frothing at the mouth — mad enough to walk through fire, if that’s what it takes, to get at those tyrannical liberal judges.

The propaganda machine has plenty of time to repair the damage. Heck, within a few months Fox News will have the true believers convinced that Harry Reid personally pulled out Shiavo’s feeding tube while Nancy Pelosi held her down. — Billmon

Free speech checked at the door By Jim Spencer, Denver Post Staff Writer

The man near the entrance of George Bush’s nonpolitical, taxpayer-financed “town hall” meeting Monday stopped Karen Bauer and Leslie Weise. He directed the two Denver women toward a man in a smiley-face tie.

“You’ve been ID’d,” the second man told them. …

[S]miley-face-tie guy said the Secret Service was coming to speak to them.

Soon, a stocky man with a shaved head, an earpiece and a red lapel pin arrived. He never identified himself as a Secret Service agent, but he did have a message.

“He said we were allowed to go in, but if we caused any problems, we’d be taken to jail,” said Bauer, a 38-year-old marketing coordinator.

Bauer and Weise will meet today with Secret Service officials to discuss their removal from the Bush meeting.

“Freedom of speech, general assembly, they’re all guaranteed under the Constitution,” said Lon Garner, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Denver district. “We are not an enforcement arm to the president other than security.”

Garner said his agents don’t remove people from presidential gatherings unless they break the law. The Republican staff, on the other hand, may ask people to leave, Garner said. And like the Secret Service, they also wear lapel pins and earpieces. …

“This was an official White House event and not a political event,” Colorado GOP executive director David Wardrop explained.

Anyone with tickets could have attended, added assistant presidential press secretary Allen Abney.

“The White House welcomes people exercising the right to free speech,” he said.

The facts beg to differ. Bauer, Weise and Young had tickets. None acted up. …

George Bush and his GOP henchmen are living a lie.

The president constantly claims freedom as God’s gift to everyone. …

But societies that smother dissent are never free.

[via Colorado Luis]