Letters-to-the-Editor

‘judicial tyrants’?

Our system is based on checks and balances between three branches plus a watchful eye from a not-too-friendly press. Republicans control the House and Senate and the White House. Republicans have appointed most of the judges. Republicans decry the ‘liberal media.’ Now they work steadily to destroy the Constitutional balance of power. mjh

Damn the Constitution The Daily Camera: Editorials
Reps. flout the values they claim to defend

In Congress this week, issues as deep and wide as the very future of the republic should be the subject of debate. The weighty concerns, which are numerous, are being neglected partly because our representatives insist on focusing on trivia — and in flouting the Constitution.

Last week, the House Judiciary Committee approved the so-called Pledge Protection Act, which would forbid any court from ruling on the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance. The bill is expected to hit the House floor this week. …

The Constitution grants Congress the power to make laws, and the judiciary has the obligation to interpret them. This safeguard is one of those “checks” that helps balance the government’s power. Without this protection, Congress could infringe upon free speech, due process, the right to be confronted by one’s accusers ? you name it. Any such legislative transgression would only need the no-court-review clause.

The possibilities are staggering. But the bill’s proponents seem oblivious to this. …

To [the Pledge Protection Act’s primary sponsor, Missouri Republican Congressman Todd] Akin, stripping the courts of their jurisdiction is a necessary response to “activist judges” who have ruled in favor of gay marriage and against the religious invocation in the Pledge. …

Earlier this year, the House passed a bill that would prevent federal courts from reviewing the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Akin and his misguided colleagues are clearly striving to defend their faith and to assert their particular vision of America. But by attempting an end-run around the Constitution, their latest tactic is nothing short of un-American.

Pledge Protection Act on Tap by Keith Peters
Family.org (A Web site of Focus on the Family)

The legislation, the Pledge Protection Act, was authored by Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo. It says no federal court — including the Supreme Court — can hear any claim that the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance violates the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Akin said the intent of H.R. 2028 is to rein in judicial tyrants who legislate from the bench — as the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did in declaring “under God” unconstitutional in the Michael Newdow case.

“They are saying that children cannot say the Pledge of Allegiance,” Akins explained. “That’s a form of censorship of speech, and it’s restricting free speech.”

Congress has a right and an obligation, he added, to make sure that the branches of government do not overstep their authority as outlined in the Constitution.

Election

Wilson Says One Thing, Does Another

ABQjournal: ‘Independent’ Rarely Strays from Party Line By David Alire Garcia, Of the Journal

In reality, Wilson’s six-year record of voting in Congress reveals a loyal, dependable vote for the official Republican Party position on the overwhelming majority of issues. Much more so than either of the Republican congressmen who represented Albuquerque before her.

Last year, Wilson voted with the House Republican leadership 91 percent of the time according to vote-tabulating researchers at Congressional Quarterly. The year before that, 90 percent of the time. The year before that, 94 percent.

The Albuquerque-based 1st Congressional District that Wilson represents isn’t a 90-percent-plus Republican district. It’s nearly evenly split between those who prefer Democratic ideas and candidates versus those who prefer Republican ones.

The late Steve Schiff and Manuel Lujan, both Republicans, voted the party line a lot less. …

“She is essentially a fairly conservative Republican,” former Republican Gov. David Cargo told me shortly after Wilson’s first debate with her Democratic challenger, state Sen. Richard Romero, last Sunday.

At the debate, Wilson insisted that she “frequently” crosses party lines.

Alpert’s Truth: Consumer Reporting for Voters

Heather First To Pull Trigger; Unleashes Negative TV On Romero – http://joemonahansnewmexico.blogspot.com/

[A] political junkie told me that “Heather has been the first to go negative in her past two campaigns, so I am not surprised.”

Wilson polls at 49%, Romero at 45%. She’s not going to take any chances.

Letters-to-the-Editor

Golf Courses!

Be very clear about the following study. We are talking about Genetically Modified grass for golf courses! Yes, let’s risk everything to save some work for people who cater to people who play golf. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? Or does it show we can’t trust any business to choose between profit and world destruction — they will choose badly every time. Once may be all it takes. mjh

Wind carries GM pollen record distances newscientist.com

Creeping bentgrass is a favourite of golf course managers, who say it provides a uniquely smooth surface for putting greens. But weeds can interrupt the smoothness, so course managers want a grass that is resistant to the herbicides that kill the weeds. …

Scientists from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) focused on fields that have been growing GM varieties of creeping bentgrass near Madras in central Oregon, US, for two years. The experimental grasses are genetically modified to resist popular herbicides, such as Roundup.

Lidia Watrud and colleagues from the EPA?s National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon, collected seeds from wild grasses growing tens of kilometres around the experimental plots. …

Watrud?s team found extensive gene contamination within 2 km downwind of the experimental plots. But some pollen went much further. Contaminated grass seeds turned up across 310 square km, with the most distant find 21 km from the source.

Only a handful of studies have ever investigated gene flow from crops – GM or otherwise – at distances greater than a few hundred metres. Studies have found radish and sunflower genes travelling 1 km, marrow (or squash) genes travelling 1.3 km and oil-seed rape (or canola) genes travelling up to 3 km.

But the suspicion is that pollen from many crops could travel hundreds of kilometres on the winds.

?To my knowledge, this is the longest distance reported for GM pollen dispersal,? says David Quist, whose research into the genetic spread of GM maize in Mexico caused a row after its publication in Nature in June 2002.

poetry

Leonard Cohen’s Birthday

From The Writer’s Almanac

It’s the birthday of poet, novelist and songwriter Leonard Cohen, born in Montreal, Canada (1934). He’s the author of many books of poetry, including Let Us Compare Mythologies (1956) and Death of a Ladies’ Man (1978), and novels such as Beautiful Losers (1966).

He learned to play guitar at a socialist summer camp when he was a teenager, but at the time he only used the guitar to get girls. He was more interested in poetry, and by the early 1960’s he was considered one of Canada’s most promising young poets. Then in 1966, the folksinger Judy Collins heard some of his songs, which he had written and performed only for friends, and she persuaded him to perform in public and make a record. He’s been recording music ever since.

His most famous song is “Suzanne” from Songs of Leonard Cohen (1968). It goes, “Now Suzanne takes your hand / And she leads you to the river / She is wearing rags and feathers / From Salvation Army counters / And the sun pours down like honey / On our lady of the harbour / And she shows you where to look / Among the garbage and the flowers.”

Leonard Cohen wrote, “As our eyes grow accustomed to sight they armour themselves against wonder.”

So much can be said about Leonard Cohen. No one mixes lust and biblical mysticism better. Happy Birthday and thank you. mjh

Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen

Letters-to-the-Editor

Judges Interpret the Law

“you keep mentioning republicans—-i don’t care what party they are in.” — Joe Monahan

OK, Joe, I re-read your entries to see that you in fact didn’t ID the judges’ parties; my mistake, brought on in part by the fact that this is, to some, a highly partisan issue.

Cops enforce the law; judges interpret it. And yet, as humans, we all make mistakes. As part of the rapidly escalating intolerance in society, we will not tolerate mistakes.

But the judicial system is a process; if this judge is wrong, the next judge can say so. I’m angry at people who are saying the system stinks with corruption, undermining any faith in this vital process. You may have a perfect ethical compass, but many in this fight are just making noise because they lost a round; ethics don’t really matter to them.

Regardless of party, there is a faction at work in our country that says: the media is liberal and cannot be trusted, the teachers are incompetent and cannot be trusted, the judges are activists and cannot be trusted, the federal government is an invasive beast that must be starved, taxes are theft, regulation is tyranny, and on and on. These people are destroying our confidence in every single aspect of the system. Whether they see or speak the truth or not, they poison the well for all of us. They are far more dangerous than foreign terrorists. mjh

Election

Joe Monahan Slips

Like a lot of others, I have made it my habit to read Joe Monahan’s blog on New Mexico politics regularly. Sure, I’ve been bothered by the cheesy ads, which now have crept into the daily headings, but the meat has kept me coming (note to advertisers: I will actively avoid you).

I started feeling uneasy after Joe seemed to give Duhbya such glowing reviews for his appearances in New Mexico and his alleged post-convention bounce. And I was disappointed that he didn’t reply to an email question about protests during Duhbya’s visit. No, I don’t expect Joe to oppose Duhbya, but I had come to expect balance that suddenly seemed lacking.

Now, today, Joe has really gone too far. He has linked Judge Wendy York with Judge John Brennan. In other words, he has equated her with a convicted drug user. She deserves better. Judge Wendy York, cancer survivor, is one of the most respected judges in New Mexico. I agree she fucked up on this, but that shouldn’t be equated with Rush Limbaugh’s drug addiction (hmm, wait, I don’t recall Republicans calling for Lush’s ouster). A career is made up of many actions; this one should not end hers.

Note that the Republican’s could have brought this info out before the ruling but slyly waited until it went against them. Clever dicks.

Joe’s not just reporting, he’s spinning. Say it ain’t so, Joe. mjh

Joe replies:

“It ain’t so,” Mark. Judge York herself saw the light and decided to withdraw her ruling keeping Nader off the ballot. It was an unfortunate ethical lapse and even more damning coming on the heels of the Brennan affair and the questionable Thompson Voter ID ruling. Her lapse was not equivalent to Brennan’s misdeed and I did not say they were, only that our district court should be on red alert after that fiasco which severely damaged it in the public eye.

I am not going to carry water for any of the Prez candidates. Bush undeniably had a successful visit here. His poll numbers reflect that as well as the screw-ups of the Kerry campaign. Be assured, that I will continue to call them as I see them without regard to party affiliation. Keep up the good work.

Joe

Dump Duhbya

New Voters Project, Rock the Vote, Greens for Impact

MSNBC – Young voters register heavily in key states
18- to 24-year-olds are nation’s newest swing voters
The Associated Press

Voter registration drives aimed at young people are turning 18-to 24-year-olds into an important variable in the presidential election, especially in decisive battleground states such as Michigan — where nearly 100,000 young people have registered in recent months — and Wisconsin, where the numbers are even higher.

They are the nation’s newest swing voters, with polls showing their support for the major candidates has vacillated in recent months. A Harvard University poll found that, in a five-month period, 19 percent of young potential voters changed their minds about whom they’d support.

“It’s a big population of fluid voters, and they’re largely unknown,” says Ivan Frishberg, outreach and communications coordinator for the nonprofit New Voters Project, which has registered tens of thousands of young people across the country. …

Officials in several other battleground states — New Mexico, Ohio and Florida among them — see clear signs that more young people are interested in this election. And some election experts believe that polls of “likely voters” often miss young people because the population is so mobile. …

At that rate, he says Rock the Vote’s registration numbers may surpass those from 1992 — a year when young voter turnout topped 50 percent for the first and only time since 1972.

One political scientist says he’s particularly interested to see what happens this time in Minnesota, New Hampshire and Wisconsin, where voters can register on Election Day. Data has shown that young people are particularly likely to take advantage of same-day registration.

Home – New Voters Project

The New Voters Project Presidential Youth Debate

President Bush and Senator Kerry have agreed – in writing – to address your 12 greatest concerns through The New Voters Project Presidential Youth Debate. We’re proud to give under-35 year olds their first-ever opportunity to choose the questions answered by the top presidential candidates.

Rock the Vote – Welcome
789,905 People Registered!

Greens For Impact

Greens for Impact is an organization of principled, pragmatic Green Party members and progressive populists dedicated to the goal of defeating George W. Bush in his bid for a second term as president, while simultaneously furthering the growth of the Green Party as an independent alternative to the corporate-dominated parties.

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams