Month: March 2006

Missouri Family Values

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by hilzoy From the AP, via Atrios: “An attempt to resume state spending on birth control got shot down Wednesday by House members who argued it would have amounted to an endorsement of promiscuous lifestyles. Missouri stopped providing money for family planning and certain women’s health services when Republicans gained control of both chambers of … Read more

What’s at stake

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by Katherine

To explain what  I think is at stake with the Feingold censure resolution, I was going to write a post explaining the legal theory that links the NSA program and the torture scandals. It turns out that several months ago Marty Lederman (who I like to think of as the head of the OLC-in-exile) explained it more clearly than I can:

Their argument — just to be clear — is that FISA, and the Torture Act, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and the federal assault statute, and the War Crimes Act, and the 60-day-limit provision of the War Powers Resolution — and even the 9/18 AUMF itself (to the extent it is read, as it ought to be, as in some respects limiting the scope of force — and treaties governing the treatment of detainees, and (probably) the Posse Comitatus Act, and who knows how many other laws, are unconstitutional to the extent they limit the President’s discretion in this war. In OLC’s words — written just one week after the AUMF was enacted — neither the WPR nor the AUMF, nor, presumably, any other statute, "can place any limits on the President’s determinations as to any terrorist threat, the amount of military force to be used in response, or the method, timing, and nature of the response." "These decisions," OLC wrote, "under our Constitution, are for the President alone to make."

This is the legal theory that originally justified the NSA program. It is exactly the same legal theory that John Yoo relied on when he calmly told Jane Mayer: “It’s the core of the Commander-in-Chief function. [Congress] can’t prevent the President from ordering torture.” 

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Cheat Sheet

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by Katherine

The current debates over the Feingold resolution and the NSA surveillance program & the ongoing debate over the torture scandals involve a lot of convoluted legal arguments about executive power. It can get really difficult and frustrating for non-lawyers to sort them all out. (Actually it can be that way for lawyers too, but lawyers get three years of instruction in legalese & then get paid to read and write it for a living, It’s a lot worse for everyone else.)

To make this a little easier, I’ve prepared a handy-dandy little guide for decoding the administration’s arguments and reassurances on these topics:

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Profiles In Courage

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by hilzoy

A list of co-sponsors of S.RES.398, “A resolution relating to the censure of George W. Bush”

None
[Updated: Tom Harkin]*.

Via Liberal Oasis, a list of Senators currently serving who co-sponsored S.RES.44 (106th Congress), “A resolution relating to the censure of William Jefferson Clinton”:

Democrats:

Daniel Akaka
Max Baucus
Byron Dorgan
Dick Durbin
Dianne Feinstein
Daniel Inouye
Jim Jeffords
Ted Kennedy
John Kerry*
Herb Kohl
Mary Landrieu
Carl Levin
Joe Lieberman
Blanche Lincoln
Barbara Mikulski
Patty Murray
Jack Reed
Harry Reid
Jay Rockefeller
Chuck Schumer
Ron Wyden

Republicans:

Pete Domenici
Mitch Mcconnell
Gordon Smith
Olympia Snowe

The text of the bill censuring Clinton appears below the fold, so that you can recall the gravity of his offenses, and the seriousness with which these senators regarded Presidential lawbreaking a few short years ago. If one of your Senators is among these modern Solons, it might be worth calling and asking him or her to explain the difference between Presidential law-breaking then and now.

[UPDATE: Thomas (the government’s official site for bills) still lists no cosponsors (as of 11:20pm, 3/15/06). On the other hand, firedoglake lists Harkin, Kerry, Boxer and Menendez as supporting Feingold’s censure motion. Make of this what you will.]

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The Rest Of The Abu Ghraib Photos

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by hilzoy They’re up at Salon. Go see what got Donald Rumsfeld his Presidential Medal of Freedom. I’m only posting one, which is work-safe: There’s a mentally deranged detainee, wrapped in foam, sandwiched between the two litters this soldier is sitting on. Think about it.

Frist in Line

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by Slartibartfast Bill Frist: Senator Feingold is flat wrong and irresponsible. In fact, when I attempted today to bring this censure resolution to the Senate floor for a vote, the Democrats objected.  Proving it is just a shameful political stunt. I’m wondering where Senator Frist went through pre-med, and whether he fell asleep during science … Read more

About Morality

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by hilzoy

Once upon a time, I went to a gathering of liberals and conservatives that was intended to promote dialogue and understanding between the two groups; and I was struck by the fact that whenever someone learned that I was an ethicist, they immediately assumed that I was a conservative. This seemed odd to me: it was several decades over a decade* ago, before ‘moral values’ had emerged as a political term, and at that point I couldn’t imagine why anyone would suppose that conservatives had a lock on moral values.

(This was not just partisanship, or a reflection of the fact that my moral beliefs underwrite my political views. It was also due to my having spent several decades being lectured by conservatives about my “excessively idealistic” views — e.g., about how it was silly to think that we shouldn’t support, say, Guatemala in the early ’80s “just” because it was murderous and repressive. It was genuinely surprising to discover that the very people who had made these arguments were regarded as champions of morality.)

These days it’s more obvious why someone might think that. But it’s deeply regrettable. There is a straightforward moral case to be made not just against the current crop of Republican politicians, but also, I think, for liberal values. But as long as we cede moral language to conservatives, we will not be able to make this case effectively. Nor will we be able to speak to the legitimate fears of people who (correctly) think that morality is extremely important, who are worried that it’s under seige, and who (mistakenly) suppose that only conservatives are willing to speak up for them, or that defending morality involves an obsession with preventing gay marriage, or something like that.

If we want to reclaim moral language, however, we need to get comfortable with the idea of making moral judgments. Some of you already are, of course, but some of the reactions to my Evil post made me think that some of you are not. Therefore, I have written a short primer. It’s meant for those who are not fully comfortable making moral judgments, or using the language of morality. Many of you probably don’t need it. It also contains only the issues that happened to occur to me. I’ll write about others on request.

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Censure

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by hilzoy Russ Feingold has announced that he plans to submit a resolution censuring President Bush for authorizing surveillance without the warrants required under FISA, for not briefing the full Intelligence Committee on the program as required by law, and for misleading the American people about it. I agree with Reddhedd: “It’s a gutsy move, … Read more

Conservative Principles: An Illuminating Test Case

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by hilzoy Via Effect Measure: the House has voted to override state food safety labeling requirements: “The House approved a bill Wednesday night that would wipe out state laws on safety labeling of food, overriding tough rules passed by California voters two decades ago that require food producers to warn consumers about cancer-causing ingredients. The … Read more

The Cost of Being a Non-Conservative Occasional Communicator

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by Charles

If he didn’t learn it after the Harriet Miers mess, he should’ve learned it now.  After missteps in Iraq and Katrina, and after mediocre to substandard performance in areas not pertaining to national defense, George W. Bush lost an important presumption last year.  When the president said "trust me" after appointing Harriet Miers, the conservative wing of the party could not bring itself to.  Likewise this year, when Bush said "trust me" on the Dubai port deal, the Republican wing of the party didn’t.  This was something he could’ve had, if he worked at it, but the Occasional Communicator didn’t lobby Congress hard enough and he didn’t make the case strongly enough or frequently enough to the American people. 

For me, I would’ve been firmly in the "yes" column with the right assurances on security.  McCain is right when he said the president deserved better.  What made things worse is that when push came to shove, Bush got shoved, threatening to veto any legislation which would dump Dubai, but then backing down, making him look weak and ineffective.  The cost is that Bush lost face, both here and in the Middle East.  The United Oil Emirates–er, United Arab Emirates–also lost face.  For all of its problems, the UAE has been a good ally and a moderate Muslim nation whom we could do business with.  Alas, that relationship has now been unnecessarily taken back a few notches.

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Claude Allen

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by hilzoy

As you probably already know, Claude Allen, who was President Bush’s top domestic policy advisor until a couple of months ago, when he resigned ‘to spend more time with his family’, has been arrested:

“A former top White House aide was arrested on Thursday in the Maryland suburbs on charges that he stole merchandise from a number of retailers, the police in Montgomery County, Md., said Friday.

The former aide, Claude A. Allen, 45, was President Bush’s top domestic policy adviser until resigning last month. Known as a rising conservative star, he previously served as deputy secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, and in 2003 the White House announced its intention to nominate him to a seat on the federal appeals court based in Richmond, Va. Democrats raised questions about the nomination, and it never came to a vote.

The police said Mr. Allen was seen on Jan. 2 leaving a department store in Gaithersburg, Md., with merchandise for which he had not paid. He was apprehended by a store employee and issued a misdemeanor citation for theft, said Lt. Eric Burnett, a spokesman for the Montgomery County Police Department.

A statement issued on Friday by the police said store employees saw Mr. Allen fill a shopping bag with merchandise and put additional items into a shopping cart. He then sought, and received, a refund for some of the items and left the store without paying for others.

The Police Department said that as a result of an investigation it opened after the initial incident in January, it found that Mr. Allen had received refunds of more than $5,000 last year at stores like Target and Hecht’s. Mr. Allen was arrested on Thursday and charged in connection with a series of allegedly fraudulent returns. The police said he was charged with a theft scheme over $500 and theft over $500.

“He would buy items, take them out to his car and return to the store with the receipt,” the police said in the statement. “He would select the same items he had just purchased and then return them for a refund.””

This is a strange, strange story.

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More on the Apolitical Front

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Not that this is news, but it hasn’t been exactly front-page, so while we’re posting odd bits about gorilla/sand flea crossbreeds and the like, we can certainly make a diversion into the realm of sports.

One of the older (American and US Open)* Records on the books is (was, actually) Janet Evans‘ 1990 time of 4:34.39 in the 500 yard freestyle.  Seventeen-year-old Kate Ziegler has wiped that record off the books, by taking over one second from the old mark.  Way back in December, Kate erased another of Janet’s records from the board, knocking the old 1000 yard freestyle standard down by six-tenths of a second.  We’re looking at SCY because at present most swimming at the High School level is done in 25-yard pools, and Kate Ziegler is still in High School.  Last month Kate whacked over a second and a half from Sippy Woodhead’s quarter-century-old 800m (short course) freestyle American and US Open record.  To understate, this is a name to look for in upcoming competition.  Also noteworthy is young (16 years old) Katie Hoff, who surpassed Evans’ 500 free record just a week too late.  Katie has wiped a couple of American & US Open records from the books; this performance in the 500 free shows a deepening of talent.

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Not Dead.

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by von Not yet, at least.   I hope to be back by next week, dishing out my unique brand of von-justice to all comers.  Moreover, it’ll be a new and improved von, finally in sync with the Administration.  But I can’t be the only center-righty ready to come home to roost.  I mean, who could … Read more

Improbable Animal News

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by hilzoy First, the AP brings news of what it describes as “a new crustacean in the South Pacific that resembles a lobster and is covered with what looks like silky, blond fur”: Isn’t it cute? Second, via kos, news that someone has married a dolphin: “British tourist Sharon Tendler has finally made her dream … Read more

Our Useless Congress

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by hilzoy From the Washington Post: “The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence voted along party lines yesterday to reject a Democratic proposal to investigate the Bush administration’s domestic surveillance program and instead approved establishing, with White House approval, a seven-member panel to oversee the effort. Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) told reporters after the closed session … Read more

Lagniappe

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Being a better man than Atrios, I offer you, in addition to the long-overdue open thread, the news item (via Instapundit) that Tom Delay has emerged victorious from the Texas Republican primary.  Which prompts the question: just what does one have to do to get thrown out of office these days?  I’m thinking murder, where … Read more

Why We Need Oversight

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by hilzoy Via Firedoglake, here’s the sort of dastardly act that can get the Department of Homeland Security interested in you: “They paid down some debt. The balance on their JCPenney Platinum MasterCard had gotten to an unhealthy level. So they sent in a large payment, a check for $6,522. And an alarm went off. … Read more

Portrait Of The Artist As A Lone Wolf

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by hilzoy I can’t say I’ve spent a lot of time wondering what sort of person Thomas Kinkade is. Knowing that he’s responsible for an apparently infinite number of paintings like this has always been more than enough for me: (For those of you who have somehow missed the Kinkade phenomenon, these paintings are very … Read more

New! Improved! X-Phi!

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by hilzoy

(Warning: not everyone will find the topic of this post at all interesting. Nor should they: there’s no reason that I can see why anyone has to know or care what philosophy is or how it’s done. Unless, of course, they want to publish something about it…)

I have this peculiar idea that when I write about something, I should either know what I’m talking about or say up front that I’m just speculating. It is, I have always thought, a part of being responsible: I should not present my guesses as if they were facts, especially when someone might read what I say and think I know what I’m talking about. Evidently, however, this is just one more bit of evidence that bloggers don’t hold themselves to the same standards as journalists. At any rate, that’s what I’d have to conclude if I were uncharitable enough to take this article in Slate as representative of journalism.

It’s about something called “experimental philosophy” (or “X-phi”) that, according to Jon Lackman, the article’s author, poses a deep challenge to philosophy. Why?

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Ain’t Too Proud To Beg…

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by hilzoy The Koufax Awards are open for voting, and we’re honored to be nominated for some of them. You can vote for us in the following categories: Best Blog (non-pro) Best Writing (um, me) Best Post (Failures Of Will, As If She Wanted To Change Her Skin, Requiem) Best Series (for the Graham Amendment … Read more

Evil

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by hilzoy There’s a horrifying story in tomorrow’s NYT: “Two strips of red-and-white police tape bar the entrance to the low-ceilinged pump room where a young Jewish man, Ilan Halimi, spent the last weeks of his life, tormented and tortured by his captors and eventually splashed with acid in an attempt to erase any traces … Read more

We Should Be Better Than This

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by hilzoy If any of you were wondering why I made such a big deal about the Graham Amendment, check out this story from tomorrow’s Washington Post: “Bush administration lawyers, fighting a claim of torture by a Guantanamo Bay detainee, yesterday argued that the new law that bans cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees … Read more

Above The Law

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by hilzoy From the Washington Post: Alberto Gonzales sent a letter to Arlen Specter clarifying his testimony about the NSA program. Several points about it are interesting, though not in a good way. First, Gonzales repeatedly goes out of his way to make it clear that he is only talking about the particular NSA program … Read more