by TChris

President Bush complains about "obstructionist" Democrats whenever he doesn't get his way (although he may soon be complaining about obstructionist Republicans who don't want to support a plan to dismantle social security that will get them voted out of office). As the New York Times editorial page suggests today, the President invites obstruction with his "in your face" style of governance.

President Bush likes to complain about the divisive atmosphere in Washington. But he has contributed to it mightily by choosing federal judges from the far right of the ideological spectrum. He started his second term with a particularly aggressive move: resubmitting seven nominees whom the Democrats blocked last year by filibuster.

The editorial recognizes that the success of the President's "ideological crusade" depends upon the willingness of Senate Republicans to change the rules that protected them when they were the minority party.

Republican leaders now claim that judicial nominees are entitled to an up-or-down vote. This is rank hypocrisy. When the tables were turned, Republicans filibustered President Bill Clinton's choice for surgeon general, forcing him to choose another. And Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, who now finds judicial filibusters so offensive, himself joined one against Richard Paez, a Clinton appeals court nominee.

The editorial warns that the nuclear option may endanger "one of the great institutions in American democracy, the United States Senate," by encouraging Democrats to ignore the tradition of unanimous consent, making it nearly impossible for the Senate to conduct its business. If, that is, Senate Democrats have the courage to act as the opposition party.

Our hosting company is moving us to a "beefier" server in a few hours because because Movable Type is moving extremely slow. If this doesn't fix the problem, we'll have to find an MT professional to take a look and try to fix it. We tried to change from static to dynamic publishing once before, and it didn't work. We may try that again if we can get MT to do it for us.

The only thing the server moves means for readers is that comments made about the time of transfer may get lost. Also, if you can't access TalkLeft right after the move, hit your refresh button or clear your cache and you will go to the new IP address.

Update: Move is complete.

Update: The new server is very fast. A big thanks to Hosting Matters. I was offline all Sunday due to network problems that had nothing to do with the site. A big thanks to TChris who posted great stuff all day.

The New York Times reports on a rule change made by Bush shortly after 9/11 that allowed the CIA to to freely send suspects abroad to jails in countries that allow torture.

In most instances in the past, the transfers of individual prisoners required review and approval by interagency groups led by the White House, and were usually authorized to bring prisoners to the United States or to other countries to face criminal charges.

As part of its broad new latitude, current and former government officials say, the C.I.A. has been authorized to transfer prisoners to other countries solely for the purpose of detention and interrogation.

....Since Sept. 11, however, it has been used much more widely and has had more expansive guidelines, because of the broad authorizations that the White House has granted to the C.I.A. under legal opinions and a series of amendments to Presidential Decision Directives that remain classified. T

How many prisoners have been moved so far? Between 100 and 150. They include:

by TChris

Speaking of irrational intolerance of minor law violations, the Williamsburg police arrested and handcuffed an 8-year-old boy "who allegedly had a violent outburst in school, head-butting his teacher and kicking an assistant principal, when he was told he couldn't go outside to play with other students." The child deserved a time out for his temper tantrum, not an arrest for disorderly conduct and battery.

by TChris

Why is it so often true that those who insist on strict enforcement of petty laws are themselves the worst criminals? Dennis Rader, who has reportedly confessed to being the serial killer known as B.T.K., is the latest example of hypocrisy gone wild.

He was often seen in his white truck, the words "Compliance Officer, Park City" painted on the side, puttering along at 10 miles an hour, searching for overgrown lawns, overflowing trash cans or dogs wandering past their fences.

"He looked for absolutely everything, and he must have enforced every rule there ever was - just because he could, I guess," said Barbara Walters, 69, a retired auditor for the Internal Revenue Service, who challenged a $25 ticket that Mr. Rader had issued in August 1998, saying her dog, Shadow, was running loose.

Rader was uptight about the slightest deviation from the norm.

Rhonda Reno said she watched one day as Mr. Rader wandered on the lawn of a neighbor who was ill and unable to mow the grass. Walking the grass with a yardstick, she said, he measured for infractions.

Crooks and Liars has the video of embattled C.U. Professor Ward Churchill on the Bill Maher show.

In January, we wrote about the murders of a New Jersey Coptic Christian family and how conservatives went on a rampage, blaming Muslims, coming up with slogans like "Jihad in New Jersey."

Arrests have now been made in the case. Two tenants of the family, men who lived upstairs, have been charged. Robbery was the motive, according to police, not religious hatred.

by TChris

Last month, as celebrated in this post, Theodore White was released from prison, having served five years for a crime he didn't commit. He returned to a home in disrepair and a mountain of debt, but that hasn't stopped him from appreciating what he has: freedom.

"They took every right I had," he said. "I couldn't fish. I couldn't hunt. I couldn't hold a firearm. I couldn't drive. What is freedom? Driving down that road with the radio on with the wind coming through the window. That is the greatest. That is freedom."

For White, as for many others, freedom came at great cost.

White's family raised every dime it could and more for his initial defense, the appeal and the subsequent trials. After paying 25 years of a 30-year mortgage, his parents had to refinance their home again for 30 years. Everything of value that the family owned was sold or mortgaged.

White's father said: "We don't have any retirement. Everything is mortgaged. But you know, the way I look at it, I don't give a crap. I know we will make it. We will recover."

by TChris

Poverty and social injustice are key causes of crime. Education should be the leveling force that helps disadvantaged individuals overcome those obstacles. That's why it's tragic to read accounts of public education like this one, written by Rich Halvorson, a teacher of ninth grade world history in Miami, as his students were being tested.

Just calling attendance, any illusions about "integrated" public schools are wiped away. My class was typical for the school -- 29 black students, three Latinos and one white. Once the test began and the students were quiet, we heard the intermittent traffic of rats scampering through the air ducts. ... How can it be that tens of millions of young Americans attend dilapidated schools often lacking basic sanitation, qualified teachers and up-to-date textbooks?

About 100 of Hunter Thompson's close friends will be gathering for a private memorial today at a secret location in Aspen. Among those attending: Actors Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn and Johnny Depp; Rolling Stone's Jann Wenner; and Ralph Steadman. And a lot of lawyers, whom I won't name.

Simultaneous tributes will be held around the world:

Web postings show that fans from Prague to Brisbane are planning gatherings to coincide with the private commemoration. The gatherings are planned to include readings of his works, screenings of movies about Thompson and drinking the whiskey Thompson favored. "A lot of people want to reach out and show their admiration for Hunter," said one his attorneys, George Tobia of Boston. "There are a lot of ad hoc tributes going on."

An AP article says more people are seeking treatment for marijuana use. The Government blames the trend on increased use and potency of the drug. What's the real story?

Advocates of legalizing marijuana disagreed, saying the trend was largely due to an increase in marijuana arrests and had almost nothing to do with more people seeking treatment because they thought their own health was at risk.

"They have the option of going into treatment for marijuana or going to jail," said Paul Armentano, senior policy analyst for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

The agency compiling the data says it does not know why the numbers are higher:

The latest rage in the drug war is occurring over B.C. bud and the Canadian Border. Thursday, four RMCP were killed during a raid on a grow operation. U.S. agents say it's a $7 billion a year business. They put part of the blame on Canada and its less strict drug laws. They warn that the violence associated with the potent form of pot is headed south.

Now law enforcement officials here fear the violence will migrate south. Mr. Winchell likened Seattle, with its currently low crime rate, to "Miami before the drug wars" because of what he said was an impending threat of drug-related violence. Vast amounts of drugs and money are now flowing through Seattle and other West Coast cities, he said, along the heavily traveled Interstate 5 corridor from California to the Canadian border. In many cases, law enforcement officials from both countries say, traffickers are smuggling cocaine north from California to Canada in exchange for B.C. bud.