by TChris

Donald Rumsfeld's insensitive decision to use a machine to sign the condolence letters he sends to families of soldiers who die in the war provides another reason (and we really didn't need another, did we?) to call for the Defense Secretary's resignation. While the President refuses to criticize Rumsfeld, others are not so circumspect.

[Nebraska Senator Chuck] Hagel, speaking on the CBS News program "Face the Nation," joined Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, in declaring his loss of confidence in the defense secretary, and said problems in Iraq were "all of the accumulation of bad judgment."

Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, a Democrat who serves on the Armed Services Committee, said Mr. Rumsfeld should go. He complained that the defense secretary's "management style is more corrosive than constructive," and said Mr. Rumsfeld's remarks to the guardsman were emblematic of his "disdainful, dismissive" style.

Some Democrats say they see "no need to remove the defense secretary if the president's policies remained the same." Unfortunately, changing the president's policies likely requires changing the president. And while there is little reason to hope that Rumsfeld's successor would be any more capable of "winning the peace" with this President in office, it cannot be good for the military to retain a Defense Secretary who has repeatedly demonstrated how little he cares about the men and women whose lives depend upon his judgment.

As the Denver Post used to proclaim on its masthead every morning, "'Tis a privilege to live in Colorado." 300 days of sunshine a year. Here are some views from my new abode, taken today --southwest and west. The larger ones give you a much better picture.

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by TChris

In a detailed report, The New York Times explains why military investigators and prosecutors came to accuse Capt. James Yee and Airman Ahmad Al Halabi of aiding detainees and spying while performing their duties at Guantanamo. The "prosecute first and ask questions later" approach was fueled in part by animosity toward American Muslims.

Officials familiar with the inquiries said they also fed on petty personal conflicts: antipathy between some Muslim and non-Muslim troops at Guantánamo, rivalries between Christian and Muslim translators, even the complaint of an old boss who saw Airman Al Halabi as a shirker.

TalkLeft coverage of Yee's case is collected here. Halabi coverage is here.

A new poll by the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) shows that 72% of citizens over age 45 support the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Curiously, though, 74% believed marijuana is addictive. Geography was a factor:

Over all, 72 percent of respondents agreed "adults should be allowed to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a physician recommends it." Those in the Northeast (79 percent) and West (82 percent) were more receptive to the idea than in the Midwest (67 percent) and Southwest (65 percent). In Southern states, 70 percent agreed with the statement.

It will be 8 years next week that JonBenet Ramsey was murdered and the crime remains unsolved. But, there is new evidence pointing to an intruder, and evidence that the killer may have tried to strike again in Boulder less than a year later, but was interrupted. The victim,, who was sexually assualted but not killed (her mother came in the room and the intruder fled) attended the same dance class as JonBenet. More egg on the face of the Boulder police, who never connected the dots.

Catch the story tonight on CBS' "48 hours." More details by me here, as well as this observation:

The International Bible Society has paid the Colorado Springs Gazette $36,000 to include the New Testament as an insert in its Sunday paper.

...for the International Bible Society, it's a winner. It gets new souls to save. And the Gazette? Well, the newspaper will make $36,000 for distributing the New Testament, as well as proceeds from a full-page ad that will appear that day thanking 130 local Christian churches and ministries (including Focus on the Family and New Life Church) who shelled out the money to pay for the insert.

This is only the first of several such planned inserts:

Colorado Springs is merely the first city where the International Bible Society plans to distribute the New Testament inside daily newspapers. Jackson said the group is currently in discussions with the Denver Post to distribute a Denver version; Seattle, Nashville and Santa Rosa, Calif. are also high priorities.

The local Synagogue is less than pleased. But it has decided to try and make a positive statement by distributing unwanted bibles to churches and homeless shelters. One other reason it disapproves of the inserts--they show a disrespect for that which is holy:

by TChris

The Bush administration has deprived you of your ability to watch Al-Manar, "the television station of Lebanon's Hezbollah militants that has glorified suicide bombers." Declaring the television station a "terror organization," the administation pulled the plug on its satellite feed to the United States.

[Hassan Fadlallah, Al-Manar's news director,] told The Associated Press, "This is a blatant attack on press freedoms and an exercise in intellectual terrorism against the voices that are opposed to U.S. and Israeli policies."

The State Department contends that Al-Manar should not be allowed to spread hatred (a job the administration apparently intends to reserve for the extreme right). While Al-Manar's message is often deplorable, our country is founded on the belief that we, as individuals, are best able to decide whether offensive opinions deserve our audience. Our government's decision to censor the flow of information dishonors the values embodied in the First Amendment.

by TChris

Sheriff Tim Hutchison of Knox County, Tennessee, has been involved in a series of lawsuits regarding his use of "taxpayer money to maintain things like helicopters and horses and construct buildings without [county] commission approval." A county commissioner asked the Sheriff to produce public records pertaining to one of the lawsuits. Hutchinson responded with 22 pages, then advised the court that those were all the documents he had. It turns out that he had another 15 boxes.

The court held the Sheriff in contempt, and the state supreme court upheld that finding. Hutchinson complains that the contempt finding isn't fair because he was only doing what he was told to do by the County Law Director. He claims that he objected at the time -- but the fact remains that he made a false statement, knowing it to be false.

"He told me to do it" isn't much of a defense under those circumstances, but Hutchinson is sticking to his guns -- presumably because his appeal, at least to this point, has been paid by county taxpayers. The contempt order required Hutchinson to pay $300. So far, Knox County taxpayers have paid more than $93,000 to Hutchinson's lawyers for their unsuccessful efforts to overturn the order.

by TChris

An interesting (albeit brief and incomplete) review of diverse religious positions on the death penalty is compiled in this article, which focuses on the jury's remarkable decision to put Scott Peterson to death.

by TChris

Federal law prohibits businesses from discriminating against patrons because of their national origins. Some customers of AmSouth Bank wonder if the bank is disobeying that law.

AmSouth sent Imad Aleithawe a letter closing his account, but won't explain why.

Aleithawe, a civil engineer with the Mississippi state transportation department, says that without answers he is left with only the lingering suspicion that it has something to do with his Middle Eastern heritage. At least three other Mississippi residents with Middle Eastern backgrounds -- including a university instructor and business owners -- have also had their accounts closed. Those affected say others with Middle Eastern ties have complained to them about closed accounts, but were unwilling to go public.

AmSouth claims it has "appropriate reasons" for its actions. If so, why won't it reveal those reasons to Aleithawe?

by TChris

The good news: 48 percent of Americans still believe in the fundamental principles of freedom and tolerance upon which the nation was founded. The sad and frightening news: 44 percent do not.

A survey by Cornell University reveals that 44 percent of Americans support some sort of restrictions on the freedom of Muslim Americans simply because of their religious beliefs. More than a quarter believe that all Muslim Americans should be required to register their location with the federal government. Unsurprisingly, the people who hold these decidedly un-American views tend to identify themselves as "highly religious" and as supporters of the Republican party.

Memo to the 44 percent: you live in the United States of America, not the Christian States of America. The same freedoms that you enjoy, including the right to practice your religion without governmental interference, apply to others as well. Deal with it.

by TChris

As more potential recruits realize that joining the National Guard could lead to a nasty, life-threatening tour in a volatile Iraq, enlistment declines.

The sharp decline in recruiting is significant because National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers now make up nearly 40 percent of the 148,000 troops in Iraq, and are a vital source for filling the ranks, particularly those who perform essential support tasks, like truck drivers and military police.

General Blum said the main reason for the Army National Guard's recruiting shortfall was a sharp reduction in the number of recruits joining the Guard and Reserve when they leave active duty. In peacetime the commitment means maintaining their ties to the military with a weekend of service a month and two weeks in the summer.

The Guard is trying to entice enlistees with cash, but those who worry about a draft cannot be encouraged by today's news.