by TChris

Supporters of the most obnoxious provisions of the Patriot Act contend that national security is more important than privacy or civil liberties. But many of the Act's supporters in Congress are even more concerned about their continuing receipt of campaign contributions from the corporate world. Corporate opposition to the Patriot Act captures their attention more readily than impassioned pleas from civil rights advocates.

Fearing a terrorist attack, the FBI descended on casinos, car rental agencies, storage warehouses, and other Las Vegas businesses with sheaves of "national security letters" demanding financial records covering about 1 million revelers. Startled business owners who questioned the action were told they had one choice: cough up their documents or wind up in court.

Any time a federal law burdens a significant number of businesses, Congress hears about it.

"Businesses want to cooperate in the war on terrorism, but this type of unchecked government power goes a little over the line," says Bob Shepler, director of corporate finance at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).

by TChris

As reported here, the CIA is housing and interrogating suspected terrorists in foreign prisons. The propriety of using secret prisons, where abuse (or even killings) may go unreported, is worthy of public debate, but Sen. Frist is unconcerned. Instead, he’s concerned that the administration's dirty little secret was made public.

"My concern is with leaks of information that jeopardize your safety and security - period," Frist said. "That is a legitimate concern."
...

Frist was asked if that meant he was not concerned about investigating what goes on in detention centers.

"I am not concerned about what goes on and I'm not going to comment about the nature of that," Frist replied.

Bump and Update: Raw Story reports that this information, posted on TalkLeft yesterday, is accurate. RS says Fitz is wrapping up his probe and looking to charge Karl Rove with false statements to investigators and perjury. His aide, Susan Ralston, is said not to be in jeopardy, but has been called back to the grand jury, perhaps Monday.

*******
Original Post: 11/9

Susan Ralston is described as Rove's "right hand man." She is also a Filipino American and her involvement in the leaks probe has generated news coverage in the Phillipines. The Philippine News reports today that she will again "appear before Fitzgerald" concerning a telephone call between Matthew Cooper and Karl Rove on July 11, 2003.

I just got my copy of Scott Turow's new book, Ordinary Heroes. It looks like the perfect read for Veteran's Day and one of the reviewers cautions to start it on a Friday night because you may not be able to put it down. From a Washington Post review on Amazon:

The story opens in 2003, when Stewart Dubinsky, a 55-year-old crime reporter, happens upon a bundle of letters that allude to his recently deceased father's court-martial during the last days of World War II. Stewart is knocked flat by the thought that his "tirelessly proper" father should have such a scandalous past. An insurance company lawyer and devoted family man, David had always claimed that his wartime service as an assistant judge advocate in Europe was unexceptional. Stewart decides to investigate whether he is "the son of a convict who'd betrayed his country and slipped away on some technicality, or, perhaps, the child of a man who'd endured a primitive injustice which he'd left entombed in the past."

Jen Banbury, writing in Salon, interviews former Brigadier General Janis Karpinski of Abu Ghraib notoriety about her experiences and her new book, "One Woman's Army: The Commanding General of Abu Ghraib Tells Her Story."

Karpinski makes a strong argument that she was made a scapegoat by George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, her immediate bosses and military intelligence commanders. Frustratingly, Karpinski never steps up and takes responsibility, in any way, for what happened at Abu Ghraib. Yet, despite her lack of accountability or mea culpa, the book is an often shocking, guns-a-blazing indictment of the inept occupation of Iraq, and of the men who planned it and continue to run it today. Salon reached Karpinski by phone this week to talk about the Gitmo-ization of Abu Ghraib, the policy that keeps thousands of innocent Iraqis behind bars, and the reasons that the people truly responsible for Abu Ghraib are still in power.

by TChris

It's convenient for marijuana buyers to pick up a bag at the neighborhood convenience store, but a 19-year-old who allegedly sold weed at a 7-Eleven store was arrested after a customer called the police to report that the store was empty. The police found the store clerk sleeping in the back office next a quarter-pound of pot, a scale, and a smaller bag.

by TChris

Two articles today raise questions that Judge Alito must address at his confirmation hearing. This Boston Globe article reports that Alito failed to recuse himself from a case in which his sister’s law firm represented a party.

In a written response to questions from the US Senate during his 1990 confirmation hearings to be an appeals judge, Samuel Alito promised: "I would disqualify myself from any case involving my sister's law firm, Carpenter, Bennett & Morrissey of Newark, New Jersey."

Rosemary Alito left the Carpenter firm in 1994, when she joined McCarter & English. That firm represented a bank seeking a rehearing before the Third Circuit. Court records indicate that Judge Alito didn’t recuse himself, but voted to deny the rehearing. Judge Alito says he doesn’t remember the case.

It's a court day for me, which means an open thread day for you. All topics are welcome.

by TChris

Those who want to protect us from vulgar discussions on the radio -- as if we can’t protect ourselves by turning the dial -- continue pressuring the FCC and Congress to do more to police the public airwaves. This article suggests that the FCC (no matter who has headed the agency) has been ineffective in its efforts to impose and collect fines, often cutting deals with broadcasters that prevent “indecency” findings from being used against the broadcaster when the FCC considers renewal of the broadcaster’s license.

The current FCC chair, Kevin Martin, has promised to clean up the backlog of indecency investigations. The larger question is whether the FCC should bother.

[T]he guiding 1978 indecency statute is increasingly irrelevant in an era of 200 unpoliced cable and satellite channels that do not fall under the law. Some groups say the government should no longer monitor the nation's airwaves because technology -- such as the V-chip and cable and satellite blocking systems -- allows parents to determine what their children watch.

In an internet posting, al Qaeda has taken credit for the Jordan blasts that killed 59 people.

The AP is reporting that a U.S. citizen was killed in the attacks and two were injured.

I'm already wearying of all the Judith Miller news and commentary, but here are two pieces I found interesting and recommend.

• Lynn Duke of The Washington Post spent three hours interviewing Judith Miller last week. Her article is long, and filled with quotes from Miller.

• Gabriel Sherman at the New York Observer writes about the negotiations between Miller and the Times.

• Journalism Prof Jay Rosen writes After Miller, Let There Be Light.

A new Wall St. Journal- NBC poll (free link)shows Bush's ratings have slipped to their lowest level yet.

Just 38% of Americans now approve Bush's job performance, while 57% disapprove, the poll shows....Fully 79% of respondents call the case "a serious matter." Americans now view Vice President Dick Cheney negatively 49%-27%, his worst-ever showing and a significant deterioration since January....53% of Americans overall, including 23% of Republicans, say he is facing a longer-term setback "from which things are unlikely to get better."

....Nearly six in 10 Americans say they believe President Bush "deliberately misled people" about the case for war to oust Saddam Hussein from power. A comparable number say it's time to reduce the level of U.S. troops there.

What can Bush do about it? I think the first thing he has to do is clean house. Libby's resignation is not going to be enough. Bush has to prove to Republicans that he is still a leader by delivering the honor and ethics in his Administration he promised voters when he ran for re-election.

Who will go first? My money's on Karl Rove.