GOP uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, through his Miami lawyer Neal Sonnett, pleaded not guilty on Monday to fraud charges in federal court in Miami:

"I'm not going to summarize my defense strategy now," Sonnett told reporters outside the courtroom. "I can't summarize it. He committed no fraud. His case has been fairly stated in the civil cases, and that position is not going to change. Any defense theories or motions will be made in court."

In previous civil cases arising out of the SunCruz purchase, Abramoff has placed the blame for the phony wire transfer on his partner, Kidan. He has said in court filings that he believed Kidan had provided funds to the seller, Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, who was later killed in a gangland-style shooting.

Since Kidan also is indicted, it appears that the Government isn't buying Abramoff's defense. Otherwise, one would think, they would offer him a deal to testify against Kidan, which it appears from the above statement, he is more than willing to do.

Background on the case is here.

The Arizona Star today announced:

...we've decided that syndicated columnist Ann Coulter has worn out her welcome. Many readers find her shrill, bombastic and mean-spirited. And those are the words used by readers who identified themselves as conservatives.

Taking her place on Saturdays will be Tony Snow, host of "The Tony Snow Show," syndicated nationally on Fox News Radio, and "Weekend Live with Tony Snow" on Fox News Channel. He has worked at a number of daily newspapers and is a former speechwriter for former President George H.W. Bush.

by TChris

Violating the law is virtually stress-free when your buddy is the governor. No need to hire a lawyer or confront charges or contend with a trial that might expose messy facts to public scrutiny. Just ask your pal for a pardon.

Claiming that criminal charges against his appointees were "paralyzing their ability to serve," Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher declared an "amnesty" for appointees accused of illegally replacing state employees with Republican loyalists. At this point, at least, the governor hasn't pardoned himself, but he proudly announced that he'll take the Fifth when he's called before a grand jury on Tuesday.

by TChris

Twenty years of experience with government procurement taught Bunnatine Greenhouse to recognize a bad deal. Her experience didn't prepare her for the consequences of asking questions that the Bush adminsitration expected to remain unvoiced.

A top Army contracting official who criticized a large, noncompetitive contract with the Halliburton Company for work in Iraq was demoted Saturday for what the Army called poor job performance.

Greenhouse rejected a pointed suggestion to take early retirement, and her lawyer says the Army secretary's approval of her demotion violates a commitment to wait until the inspector general had finished his investigation.

Mr. Kohn said that when he telephoned Dan Meyer, director of civilian reprisal investigations in the inspector general's office, on Aug. 24, Mr. Meyer was "shocked" to learn that the corps had proceeded against Ms. Greenhouse. Mr. Meyer said that he was immediately opening a "civilian reprisal" investigation and faxed forms to Mr. Kohn to initiate the process, Mr. Kohn said.

posted by Last Night in Little Rock

Thirty-five years ago this week, the song "War" by Edwin Starr first topped the charts. It stayed Number 1 for three weeks.

Coincidentally, during that same three weeks in 1970, I was preparing for my conscientious objector status hearing before my local Draft Board. I was in my first week of law school. That song helped steel my nerve to go before what was believed to be the most hostile in the state. In early September, I persuaded the Draft Board that a war of U.S. aggression in another country that involved no safety interest of the U.S. was morally objectionable and worthy of conscientious objector status.

It was the first "case" I ever won. When I left the hearing, "War" was playing on the car radio. I was physically and emotionally drained, and, to this day, I never uttered a bad word about those who served because they had no choice. One of those remarkable coincidences in life....

The more things change, the more they remain the same:

by TChris

John Schweer, a security guard and former police officer in Council Bluffs, Iowa, was killed with a shotgun in 1977. Two black teenagers were charged with his murder. Prosecutors failed to provide the defense with reports concerning a 47-year-old white man who carried a shotgun while walking his dogs in the area. The man seems like a good suspect:

The man had been a suspect in a 1963 slaying and had faced gun charges. The man failed a lie detector test when asked if he had shot John Schweer, a police report concluded.

Despite having alibis, the teens, Terry Harrington and Curtis McGhee, were convicted on the testimony of individuals who have since recanted. Harrington and McGhee have sued Pottawattamie County Attorney Dave Richter, his assistant Joseph Hrvol, and Council Bluffs police detectives Daniel C. Larsen and Lyle W. Brown, alleging that the police and prosecutors framed them in a racially motivated conspiracy.

This is quite a sobering statistic:

More journalists have been killed in Iraq since the war began in March, 2003, than during the 20 years of conflict in Vietnam, media rights group Reporters Without Borders said yesterday.

Think Progress reports:

From the 6/6/05 New Orleans City Business:

In fiscal year 2006, the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is bracing for a record $71.2 million reduction in federal funding…The cuts mean major hurricane and flood protection projects will not be awarded to local engineering firms. Also, a study to determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane has been shelved for now.

....Landrieu said the Bush administration is not making Corps of Engineers funding a priority. “I think it’s extremely shortsighted,” Landrieu said. “When the Corps of Engineers’ budget is cut, Louisiana bleeds. These projects are literally life-and-death projects to the people of south Louisiana.”

Also, here's why there was no national guard to assist in evacuation by buses to safe shelters in unaffected communities, rather than leaving the poor and infirm in town

A similar warning that New Orleans would cease to exist causing thousands to face death if they remained, was given in 2004. [hat tip Patriot Daily.]

In fact, as Norwegianity pointed out last night, Fox made a aired a movie, Oil Storm, about it in June. From the synopsis:

I just saw the Cindy Sheehan ad directed to President Bush on CNN. It is powerful. You can watch the ad at Gold Star Families for Peace.

Here's Cindy's latest entry at Huffingington Post.

Chris Swecker, the Assistant Director of the FBI's criminal division, says now it would take "a cartel" to get the FBI involved in a drug bust. The agency, Swecker says, has shifted to terrorism.

Drug crimes largely have been ceded to the Drug Enforcement Agency, while the U.S. Marshals Service now apprehends all but the most violent fugitives. Investigation of bank robberies, once a signature FBI duty, and large swaths of white-collar crime are also largely off the bureau's to-do list.

What's left? Public corruption, civil rights violations, organized crime - including gangs, major white-collar crime and certain kinds of violent offenses. The rationale is simple: The bureau now focuses on crime that might shed light on terror or that no other law enforcement agency can pursue.

Two released sex offenders who were on a registration list available on the Internet have been murdered. A man is believed to have posed as an FBI officer, went to their apartment and shot them.

The man presented himself to the three roommates as a member of the FBI and said he wanted to talk to them about their Level III sex offender status, according to police.

The fake FBI agent told the roommates that one of them was on a “hit list” on an Internet site, according to the police. The roommate who reported the deaths left while the FBI imposter was still there, Ambrose said.

Is this an isolated case of vigilante justice, or will this be the beginning of a trend?

by TChris

The right wing built its power by embracing extremism, but surely those who still claim to be “compassionate conservatives” will publicly oppose this hate mongering:

Members of a church say God is punishing American soldiers for defending the United States, a country that harbors gays, and they brought their anti-gay message to the funerals Saturday of two Tennessee soldiers killed in Iraq. …

The Rev. Fred Phelps, founder of Westboro Baptist Church in, Topeka, Kan., contends that American soldiers are being killed in Iraq as vengeance from God for protecting a country that harbors gays. …

The church members carried signs and shouted things such as "God hates fags" and "God hates you."

Remember when the left was denounced for “fuzzy thinking”? What about denouncing unthinking hatred?