RFK, Jr. was just on CNN discussing his Rolling Stone article alleging that but for voting fraud in Ohio, John Kerry would have won the 2004 election.

How might this fraud have been carried out? One way to steal votes is to tamper with individual ballots -- and there is evidence that Republicans did just that....In addition to altering individual ballots, evidence suggests that Republicans tampered with the software used to tabulate votes.....Election officials in Ohio worked outside the law to avoid hand recounts.

I had a hard time following RFK, Jr. Something is very wrong wth his voice. It shakes terribly while he talks. Is this something new?

by TChris

Nizah Hassan, together with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on American Islamic Relations, brought a lawsuit challenging the National Security Administration's domestic spying program. U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor "chided the NSA and lawyers for the Department of Justice for failing to respond to the court challenge" even after receiving two extensions of time to do so. The government eventually argued that justifying its actions in court would jeopardize national security, and asked the judge to dismiss the suit. She didn't.

Instead, Judge Taylor will allow Hassan to proceed with a motion that asked the court to summarily declare the spying program illegal.

"The hearing shall be held on Monday, June 12, 2006, as scheduled," Diggs Taylor ordered. "Although defendants have not responded to said motion they may, if they appear, argue against it."

Texas moves one step closer to vigiliantism.

A US state is to enlist web users in its fight against illegal immigration by offering live surveillance footage of the Mexican border on the internet. The plan will allow web users worldwide to watch Texas' border with Mexico and phone the authorities if they spot any apparently illegal crossings.

And in Denver, a local radio host, Peter Boyles, takes donations and forms a company, Billboards Colorado, to put up anti-immigrant rights billboards around the city.

Better reading: Robert Lovato, Michelle Garcia and Salim Muwakkil in the new edition of the Nation.

by TChris

A lawyer for a Marine being held in solitary confinement at Camp Pendeton says his client and seven other members of the military could soon be charged with murder, kidnapping and conspiracy. The charges will focus on the death of an Iraqi civilian and an alleged cover-up. The incident is unrelated to the killings in Haditha.

The Iraqi man reportedly was dragged from his home west of Baghdad and shot in April. The Los Angeles Times and NBC News said troops may have planted an AK-47 and shovel near the body to make it appear the man was an insurgent burying a roadside bomb. ...

Separately, another group of five Marines in Kilo Company, including a lieutenant who commanded the platoon, are under investigation for injuring a suspect in their custody, said a defense attorney who has been contacted by the family of one of the Marines.

by TChris

The killings in Haditha are not an isolated incident, according to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.

In his comments, Mr. Maliki said violence against civilians had become a "daily phenomenon" by many troops in the American-led coalition who "do not respect the Iraqi people."

"They crush them with their vehicles and kill them just on suspicion," he said. "This is completely unacceptable." Attacks on civilians will play a role in future decisions on how long to ask American forces to remain in Iraq, the prime minister added.

The U.S. shouldn't wait to be asked to leave. The war to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi public has been lost. It's time to bring the troops home.

by TChris

Update: Cardona received a reduction in rank and a sentence of 90 days at hard labor.

original post:

Another Army dog handler has been convicted of committing military crimes at Abu Ghraib.

Sgt. Santos A. Cardona is the 11th soldier convicted of crimes stemming from the abuse of inmates at the prison in late 2003 and early 2004. Cardona, 32, of Fullerton, Calif., was convicted of dereliction of duty and aggravated assault for allowing his dog to bark within inches of a prisoner's face.

Cardona was acquitted of more serious charges, "including unlawfully having his dog bite an inmate and conspiring with another dog handler to frighten prisoners into soiling themselves." Cardona's defense counsel argued that Cardona's career depended on pleasing people who were monitoring the progress made at Abu Ghraib.

By late November, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz were said to have taken an intense interest in gathering intelligence from Abu Ghraib, even calling nightly to check on information, according to trial testimony.

by TChris

Raw Story reports that the FEC has fined Sen. Frist's 2000 Senate campaign committee, Frist 2000, Inc., for failing to disclose a $1.44 million loan. The loan was needed to cover stock market losses. The fine came in response to a complaint filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director, said "it is gratifying to see that the FEC recognizes that Senator Frist's campaign committee broke the law. Apparently, the FEC disagreed with Sen. Frist's aide's dismissal of the complaint as 'incorrect' and 'politically driven.'"

by TChris

Dan Froomkin makes an important point today about the inability of the traditional news media to call a lie "a lie" -- at least when it's spoken by President Bush.

Lying is probably the one word mainstream journalists are the most averse to using when recounting what the president said -- even when they know he's not telling the truth.

Why can't reporters brand a known falsehood as a lie?

It just won't get by the editors.

Is James Taranto serious? Yesterday he railed on Helen Thomas.

The Crazy Old Princess Bride in the Attic
From yesterday's White House briefing with Press Secretary Tony
Snow:

Helen Thomas: Why did the President pick a man [Karl Zinsmeister] who is so contemptible of the public servants in Washington to be his adviser--saying, "People in Washington are morally repugnant, cheating, shifty human beings"? Why would he pick such a man to be a domestic adviser?

Snow: You meant contemptuous, as opposed to contemptible, I think.

by TChris

Most laws named after crime victims are bad laws, but the Martin Lee Anderson Act is an exception. Martin died after he was beaten by guards at a Florida boot camp. (TalkLeft coverage of Martin's death is collected here.) The Martin Lee Anderson Act ends the "tough love" tactics employed by Florida boot camps.

They are to be replaced by less confrontational academies called Sheriff's Training and Respect, or STAR, that use more education and after care. The law shifts funding from the boot camps to STAR.

Martin's parents applaud the change, but they deserve more.

"But I would still like the guards to be accountable for killing my baby," Jones said, holding a picture of her son in a basketball uniform. "He was only 14."

A special prosecutor is deciding whether charges should be filed.

by TChris

When did the president learn that Marines may have murdered civilians in Haditha?

The White House said Thursday that it took nearly a month for President Bush to learn that the military was investigating reports that Marines murdered unarmed civilians in Iraq.

How did the president learn about the deaths in Haditha?

On Tuesday, White House spokesman Tony Snow said President Bush learned of the killings only after a reporter from Time magazine asked questions.

What is the U.S. doing in response to the deaths?

The top U.S. general in Iraq on Thursday ordered American commanders to conduct ethical training on battlefield conduct following reports that Marines massacred unarmed civilians in the town of Haditha.

by TChris

As you surf the web today, keep in mind that Alberto Gonzales might take a keen interest in your viewing habits.

The U.S. is asking Internet companies including Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and AOL to preserve records of customers' Web activity to aid terrorism and child pornography investigations. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller made the request last week at a meeting with industry executives, said Brian Roehrkasse, a Justice Department spokesman. More talks are scheduled for today and tomorrow. ...

The agency has asked Internet companies to retain records such as lists of e-mails sent and received or information on Web searches.

Whether Gonzales is interested in your perusal of TalkLeft is unknown.