Former top judge says US risks edging near to dictatorship

Former top judge says US risks edging near to dictatorship by Julian Borger

Sandra Day O’Connor, a Republican-appointed judge who retired last month after 24 years on the supreme court, has said the US is in danger of edging towards dictatorship if the party’s rightwingers continue to attack the judiciary.

In a strongly worded speech at Georgetown University, reported by National Public Radio and the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Ms O’Connor took aim at Republican leaders whose repeated denunciations of the courts for alleged liberal bias could, she said, be contributing to a climate of violence against judges. …

She pointed to autocracies in the developing world and former Communist countries as lessons on where interference with the judiciary might lead. “It takes a lot of degeneration before a country falls into dictatorship, but we should avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings.” …

[During the Schiavo affair,] DeLay later called for the impeachment of judges involved in the Schiavo case, and called for more scrutiny of “an arrogant, out-of-control, unaccountable judiciary that thumbed their nose at Congress and the president”.

Such threats, Ms O’Connor said, “pose a direct threat to our constitutional freedom”, and she told the lawyers in her audience: “I want you to tune your ears to these attacks … You have an obligation to speak up.

“Statutes and constitutions do not protect judicial independence – people do,” the retired supreme court justice said.

She noted death threats against judges were on the rise and added that the situation was not helped by a senior senator’s suggestion that there might be a connection between the violence against judges and the decisions they make.

The senator she was referring to was John Cornyn, a Bush loyalist from Texas….

Dump Duhbya

From the Gas Bag

Tue 03/14/06 mjh

Truth Detector: Dubai Waves Good-Bye, Hello Halliburton & Wal-Mart!

[mjh: More of the wit & wisdom of Lush Limbaugh, gas bag.]

They’re pulling out of there, saying, “Screw you! To hell with it.” Now, we’ve got an opportunity here, folks. You know me: I always try to look at events and say what is the opportunity. The opportunity is, all right, everybody wants an American company to run these ports. Take advantage of this, make a move. Get Halliburton in there today. Make a move, and ram this right down Chuck Schumer’s throat…

That company is Halliburton. Wal-Mart could do it, too. They’ve shown ability to manage and move large amounts of goods with security and a good health care program for the employees.

[mjh: In the midst of this, he vaguely accuses Bill Clinton of being involved in this, especially the 45 day waiting period. Yawn. Lush, Clinton isn’t president anymore. And Bob Dole was just as involved.]

loco

Old News

Tue 03/14/06 mjh 3 Comments

ABQjournal: Bird Causes Backyard Bonanza By Julie Medina, Journal Staff Writer

The bird was first seen on Pueblo Solano NW in the North Valley on Dec. 1.

Bratton said she was lucky and saw it when she was taking her daughter to horseback riding lessons.

“I remember telling my daughter, wouldn’t it be fun if it came to our feeder,” Bratton said.

On Feb. 21, her wish came true. Bratton saw the same bird, with the protruding lower bill, eating at her feeder.

On March 12th, the Albuquerque Journal, having exhausted everyone’s interest in Calvary Chapel many times over, discovered the yellow grosbeak in Albuquerque, 3+ months after the Trib and 2.5 weeks after a couple of local bloggers. But, hey, more people are interested in a far-from-rare televangelist than a bird, right? mjh

PS: Knowing that one of my 3 regular readers works for the Journal, I always worry this may be the last straw. But that camel’s got back, baby! At least, I never refer to it as the “Urinal.”

Dump Duhbya

What’s Old Is New Again

Tue 03/14/06 mjh

Government subverts its own ideals By ALLAN M. JALON

Thirty-five years ago Wednesday, a group of anonymous activists broke into the small, two-person office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Media, Pa., and stole more than 1,000 FBI documents that revealed years of systematic wiretapping, infiltration and media manipulation designed to suppress dissent.

The Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI, as the group called itself, forced its way in at night with a crowbar while much of the country was watching the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight. When agents arrived for work the next morning, they found the file cabinets virtually emptied.

[This break-in] remains one of the most lasting consequential (although underemphasized) watersheds of political awareness in recent American history, one that poses tough questions even today for our national leaders who argue that fighting foreign enemies requires the government to spy on its citizens. The break-in is far less well-known than Daniel Ellsberg’s leak of the Pentagon Papers three months later, but in my opinion it deserves equal stature.

Found among the Media documents was a new word, “COINTELPRO,” short for the FBI’s “secret counterintelligence program,” created to investigate and disrupt dissident political groups in the United States. Under these programs, beginning in 1956, the bureau worked to “enhance the paranoia endemic in these circles,” as one COINTELPRO memo put it, “to get the point across there is an FBI agent behind every mailbox.”

The Media documents — along with further revelations about COINTELPRO in the months and years that followed — made it clear that the bureau had gone beyond mere intelligence-gathering to discredit, destabilize and demoralize groups — many of them peaceful, legal civil rights organizations and anti-war groups — that the FBI and Director J. Edgar Hoover found offensive or threatening. …

The sheer reach of a completely politicized FBI was one of the most frightening revelations of the Media documents. … “Neutralize them in the same manner they are trying to destroy and neutralize the U.S.,” one memo said.

loco

Sky Cops

Tue 03/14/06 mjh

I despise the routine use of helicopters by the police. That the cops would troll the skies, pissing away money, looking for something to justify their noise riles me.

Sure, we need copters to haul victims to a hospital. We may need them in certain emergencies. We DO NOT need them patrolling routinely.

If it were just one copter, maybe it would bother me less. But BCSD has more than one, APD has more than one, more than one news station has one. And then there are myriad Feds.

I’ve been awakened in the middle of the night by a copter shining its light into my bedroom. I’ve stood in its spotlight while walking the dog. It doesn’t make me feel a whit safer. mjh

ABQjournal: Copter Spared In Vetoes By Carolyn Carlson, Journal Staff Writer

The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department will get $865,000 for a new helicopter to replace the one shot down, allegedly by a Paradise Hills man in August.

Sheriff Darren White said Friday that acquiring a new helicopter was the department’s top priority during the recent legislative session. He said the money allocated along with insurance money from the downed aircraft and some money thrown in from the county will be enough to buy a new one.

He anticipated it will cost about $2 million to replace the helicopter and its on-board technology.

“We are very pleased. That money will go a long way to putting another chopper in the air,” White said. “This also brings a bit of healing to the department.”

White said it would take about a year before the new helicopter was in operation.

“There are some unique characteristics we will need because of our high altitude and warm temperatures,” White said. “No matter who wins the bid we will probably be on a waiting list to have it built.”

The $2 million price tag includes a $250,000 infrared camera used to track people and cars at night, White said. [mjh: You can run but you can’t hide.]

loco

Of the Christians, By the Christians and For Whom?

Tue 03/14/06 mjh

While we all know much about the inner workings of Calvary, how many people know an Evangelical Christian became mayor of Rio Rancho last week, with the participation of less than 20% of the voters?

I don’t care about anyone’s faith until they push themselves on me. But that’s a tenet of evangelism, isn’t it? That I’m going to Hell and they have a duty to change that?

As an aside, I can’t find a website for Jackson’s campaign or advocacy group. Does he eschew the Web? That’s even weirder than opposing Darwin. mjh

Rio Rancho Mayor Kevin Jackson Rio Rancho Observer Online
Jackson upsets Owen’s re-election bid
By TOM TREWEEK/OBSERVER STAFF REPORTER

Jackson’s 2,817 votes topped the 2,527 earned by incumbent Mayor Jim Owen, with District 1 councilor Mike Williams receiving 1,291. Those results, are unofficial until Friday when votes will be canvassed.

ABQjournal: Months of Campaigning End Today By Joshua Akers, Journal Staff Writer

Mayoral candidate Kevin Jackson’s campaign is deep in the red. The candidate reported about $17,600 in campaign donations and expenditures of nearly $37,000. [mjh: That’s about $13 per vote.]

According to the report, Jackson has loaned himself about $18,000 for campaign expenses in the past month.

“We didn’t raise the money we thought we would,” Jackson said on the eve of the election. “We believe in this campaign, and we put in our own money to push the campaign forward.”

ABQjournal: Jackson Rio Rancho’s Next Mayor By Joshua Akers, Journal Staff Writer

Political newcomer Kevin Jackson is Rio Rancho’s next mayor …

It was a low turnout, with a little over 14 percent of the city’s registered voters casting ballots in the race for mayor. …

Jackson is president and founder of the New Mexico Family Council. Its purpose, he has said, is to strengthen families in New Mexico by improving marriages and helping families make good decisions.

The Albuquerque Tribune: Local
Rio Rancho leader says he can detach advocacy
By Megan Arredondo, Tribune Reporter

Joe Monahan, a political analyst who covers New Mexico politics on his blog site, said Rio Rancho is a more conservative town than Albuquerque.

Socially conservative voters tend to turn out in smaller, municipal elections, he said.

“In typical elections, the demographics will tilt older and more conservative,” Monahan said.

With that kind of voter turnout, a grass-roots campaign tends to seal the deal, he said. Tuesday’s election saw 6,635 voters cast ballots out of 35,000 registered voters.

The Albuquerque Tribune: Local
Rio Rancho Elections: The race up the hill
By Megan Arredondo, Tribune Reporter

Getting around: Jackson would like a mass transit system, preferably a bus system. Not everybody has a car, particularly the elderly, he says.

A bus system would reduce traffic and pollution, he says. [mjh: OK, we’re cool.]

ABQjournal: Rio Rancho Turnout Among Lowest in N.M. By Joshua Akers, Journal Staff Writer

Rio Rancho voters are some of the most apathetic in New Mexico when it comes to municipal elections— if you go by the numbers.

With only 18.2 percent of registered voters bothering to go to vote in Tuesday’s election, the city had one of the state’s lowest turnouts. …

“The big story in Rio Rancho is 82 percent of the people didn’t bother to go to the polls,” Sanderoff said. “Apathy, a lack of any sense their vote would make a difference— skepticism, cynicism, apathy are all at play.”

TURNOUT STATEWIDE

Here was the turnout in some of New Mexico municipalities that held elections on Tuesday:
BERNALILLO: 27.4 percent
BLOOMFIELD: 20 percent
BOSQUE FARMS: 36 percent
CORRALES: 35.7 percent
DEMING: 32 percent
ESPAÑOLA: 21 percent
LAS VEGAS: 33 percent
LOS RANCHOS: 10.2 percent
RATON: 22 percent
RIO RANCHO: 18.2 percent
ROSWELL: 26 percent
SANTA FE: 30.4 percent
TAOS: 39.2 percent

[mjh: Is this really a democracy anymore?]

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