It's the 23rd anniversary of the assassination of John Lennon.
The big news of the day. I'm unclear why Gore chose to make his endorsement so early, before a single vote has been cast in a caucus and a primary that are demographically irrelevant. It's certainly not good for his former Senate colleague, John Kerry (who is using language I can finally understand). Ouch is right.
Meanwhile...
In a parallel universe, a small cute dog is president.
Unfortunately, in ours, George Bush is a miserable failure.
Some clever (albeit sophomoric, but I dig that) soul has made it his blog project to write "George Bush is a miserable failure" in every post, with the above link. And he/she has enlisted bloggers everywhere to do the same. The result: The link above when you google "miserable failure".
The vegacura will, no doubt, join the project.
So, not finding WMD is now a "moot point." The arrogance is astounding. And, if you read Amy Sullivan's post, even more astounding is the paucity of "big ideas" in this administration.
An important story continues to brew, as federal judges take on Ashcroft and the executive's unprecedented plan to control the judicial branch and judge's discretion to mete out sentences. What's particularly amazing is the level of anger even conservative, Reagan-appointed judges are showing in response to the Feeney amendment to (yet another rushed piece of knee jerk legislation) the "amber alert" bill. Why? Well how about this:
"Within 30 days of a sentence in a federal criminal case, the district's chief judge must submit a written report to the United States Sentencing Commission that includes supporting documents like the presentencing report and the cooperation or plea agreement between the government and the defendant. (The commission is the independent judicial agency in Washington, set up during the 1980's, that oversees how the sentencing guidelines are carried out.)
"Feeney allows Congress, without permission from the presiding judge, to have access to the report and the supporting documents.
"'Without the reporting mechanisms, there is no way for Congress to ensure that judges are actually following the guidelines," the amendment's sponsor, Representative Tom Feeney, a Florida Republican, said in a telephone interview. 'That, quite simply, is their intention.'
"Mr. Feeney says the purpose of the new access is to enable Congress to evaluate the primary sources of reasoning behind a sentence.
"But most judges see it otherwise. 'It's a serious breach of the separation of powers to have the executive looking over the judiciary's decisions,' Judge Robert P. Patterson Jr. of Federal District Court in Manhattan said. 'It also certainly looks like a possible blacklist.'"
But the judges are undeterred.
"For all their concerns about the law, many judges are adamant that they will not be intimidated. 'They can have their blacklist,' said Chief Judge Michael B. Mukasey of United States District Court in Manhattan. 'But we have life tenure.'"
Also in the Times today, Thomas Hart Benton's artistic reaction to Pearl Harbor and the isolationism of middle America, which he tried to shatter with paintings that are powerful, hearkening back to Goya's darkest work. At a time when war might as well be casualty-free, given the self-censorship of most newspapers, and when so many artists are focused on the ironic, where are such artists today in reaction to the fascists of Islam (no, I haven't forgotten them, despite the fog of Bush's blundering in Iraq), the destruction of innocents, the hatred of freedom so similar to the Nazis?
The big news of the day. I'm unclear why Gore chose to make his endorsement so early, before a single vote has been cast in a caucus and a primary that are demographically irrelevant. It's certainly not good for his former Senate colleague, John Kerry (who is using language I can finally understand). Ouch is right.
Meanwhile...
In a parallel universe, a small cute dog is president.
Unfortunately, in ours, George Bush is a miserable failure.
Some clever (albeit sophomoric, but I dig that) soul has made it his blog project to write "George Bush is a miserable failure" in every post, with the above link. And he/she has enlisted bloggers everywhere to do the same. The result: The link above when you google "miserable failure".
The vegacura will, no doubt, join the project.
So, not finding WMD is now a "moot point." The arrogance is astounding. And, if you read Amy Sullivan's post, even more astounding is the paucity of "big ideas" in this administration.
An important story continues to brew, as federal judges take on Ashcroft and the executive's unprecedented plan to control the judicial branch and judge's discretion to mete out sentences. What's particularly amazing is the level of anger even conservative, Reagan-appointed judges are showing in response to the Feeney amendment to (yet another rushed piece of knee jerk legislation) the "amber alert" bill. Why? Well how about this:
"Within 30 days of a sentence in a federal criminal case, the district's chief judge must submit a written report to the United States Sentencing Commission that includes supporting documents like the presentencing report and the cooperation or plea agreement between the government and the defendant. (The commission is the independent judicial agency in Washington, set up during the 1980's, that oversees how the sentencing guidelines are carried out.)
"Feeney allows Congress, without permission from the presiding judge, to have access to the report and the supporting documents.
"'Without the reporting mechanisms, there is no way for Congress to ensure that judges are actually following the guidelines," the amendment's sponsor, Representative Tom Feeney, a Florida Republican, said in a telephone interview. 'That, quite simply, is their intention.'
"Mr. Feeney says the purpose of the new access is to enable Congress to evaluate the primary sources of reasoning behind a sentence.
"But most judges see it otherwise. 'It's a serious breach of the separation of powers to have the executive looking over the judiciary's decisions,' Judge Robert P. Patterson Jr. of Federal District Court in Manhattan said. 'It also certainly looks like a possible blacklist.'"
But the judges are undeterred.
"For all their concerns about the law, many judges are adamant that they will not be intimidated. 'They can have their blacklist,' said Chief Judge Michael B. Mukasey of United States District Court in Manhattan. 'But we have life tenure.'"
Also in the Times today, Thomas Hart Benton's artistic reaction to Pearl Harbor and the isolationism of middle America, which he tried to shatter with paintings that are powerful, hearkening back to Goya's darkest work. At a time when war might as well be casualty-free, given the self-censorship of most newspapers, and when so many artists are focused on the ironic, where are such artists today in reaction to the fascists of Islam (no, I haven't forgotten them, despite the fog of Bush's blundering in Iraq), the destruction of innocents, the hatred of freedom so similar to the Nazis?
posted by John at 7:40 PM
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