Army Times complains about the "lip service" Bush is giving the troops:

In recent months, President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress have missed no opportunity to heap richly deserved praise on the military. But talk is cheap — and getting cheaper by the day, judging from the nickel-and-dime treatment the troops are getting lately.

For example, the White House griped that various pay-and-benefits incentives added to the 2004 defense budget by Congress are wasteful and unnecessary — including a modest proposal to double the $6,000 gratuity paid to families of troops who die on active duty. This comes at a time when Americans continue to die in Iraq at a rate of about one a day.

Similarly, the administration announced that on Oct. 1 it wants to roll back recent modest increases in monthly imminent-danger pay (from $225 to $150) and family-separation allowance (from $250 to $100) for troops getting shot at in combat zones.

Then there’s military tax relief — or the lack thereof....

You get the picture. So do the troops and their families, particularly as the death toll of U.S. soldiers in Iraq has now exceeded 200.

[Ed. Note:] We mentioned the Army Times editorial yesterday, having found it on Daily Kos, but we thought it was subscription only so we didn't link to it. It turns out anyone can read it.

We haven't been following the Westar energy company's fundraising controversy, but we're going to get on it now, as questions continue to mount about the company's campaign contributions and lobbying efforts--and its influence.

The Boston Globe today recaps the story, and explains how it may "touch" Attorney General John Ashcroft .

The controversy involving campaign contributions and lobbying practices of Kansas-based Westar Energy Inc. has seeped beyond the four Republican lawmakers cited in initial news accounts. It now touches, even if tangentially, Attorney General John Ashcroft and a gathering of energy company executives at a Virginia resort sponsored by House majority leader Tom DeLay, Republican from Texas.

....Ashcroft, meanwhile, is being asked by some liberal and Democratic groups to launch an investigation -- either by the Justice Department or a special counsel -- into possible connections between the Westar campaign contributions and legislative action on the energy bill. The groups say Ashcroft should recuse himself from the investigation, because his 2000 Senate campaign received $2,000 from former Westar executive Carl Koupal. Koupal also gave $1,000 to Ashcroft's Spirit of America PAC. Koupal managed two of Ashcroft's campaigns in Missouri and was Ashcroft's director of economic development in the late 1980s, when Ashcroft was Missouri governor.

Westar gave donations to seven Republicans in close re-election races last year. "The company wanted a change in regulations that could have saved the company billions of dollars."

Two consumer groups have called for investigations and the resignation of the three remaining Directors.

David Wittig, the former chief of Westar, goes on trial Monday for fraud and money laundering activities while although unrelated to the company, were discovered through grand jury investigation into Wittig and the company. He was indicted along with Clinton Odell Weidner II, a former president of Capital City Bank.

Update: June 30--Clinton Odell Weidner II pleaded guilty to two counts of making false bank entries right before trial today and said that Wittig had nothing to do with his fraud.

Among the editorials we like today:

From the Boston Globe, Bush's war on poverty:

AS A PRESIDENTIAL candidate in 1999, George W. Bush shocked and angered House Republicans by saying he didn't ''think they ought to balance their budget on the backs of the poor'' by delaying tax credits to low-income families. As president he has done far worse: The more than $1.6 trillion in tax cuts he has pushed through Congress in his first 30 months in office are fundamentally a declaration of war against the poor.

The New York Times rakes Tom Delay over the coals.

The Washington Post in Wanted: A Real Defense:

THE SUPREME COURT sent an uncharacteristically strong and positive message this week regarding the obligation of defense lawyers in capital cases. A seven-justice majority threw out the death sentence in Maryland of Kevin Wiggins, who was convicted in 1989 of drowning an elderly woman in her bathtub.

....The only question it faced was whether Mr. Wiggins -- guilty or not -- could be sentenced to death without a jury's ever having heard about his nightmarish childhood. By putting its foot down even on this limited point, the court has made clear that defense lawyers must do reasonable investigations so that juries can hear the best case for mercy. The majority found that Mr. Wiggins's lawyers did not make even a cursory effort to learn about his childhood.

The death toll of U.S. soldiers in Iraq stands at over 200.

The deaths [of two American soldiers yesterday] bring to at least 63 the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq since major combat was declared over on May 1. The military has confirmed the identities of 138 soldiers killed before that date, for a total of 201 so far, while the names of several other casualties have not yet been made available. In addition, some 42 British troops have died in the current conflict.

The home of Max Factor heir Andrew Luster is headed to auction July 17.

Luster, convicted of rape and sentenced to 124 years in prison, was captured two weeks ago after six months on the lam by bounty hunter Duane "The Dog" Chapman. Luster is back in the U.S. serving his sentence in a California prison. Chapman is on bond in Mexico where charges of illegal detainment are pending against him.

Luster owes $550,412.92 on the home, and is about $12,000 in arrears.

Actor Boris Krutonog, who was arrested with Dog while he was videotaping the capture, is back in LA. Charges against him and tv producer Jeff Sells were tossed by a Mexican Judge. According to Krutonog (whom you may have seen in The Italian Job), Dog is a hero.

I think that (Chapman) is an unbelievable hero for doing what he did," he said. "For making the streets of Mexico safe again, I think it's unbelievable."

Update: Kurtonog appeared by phone on Rita Cosby's show on Fox News tonight. He said the Mexico authorites are so impressed with Dog they are talking to him about catching some of their fugitives.

Calling all bookstore owners....

From Durango, Colorado to Vermont, bookshop owners like Pete and Andrea of Maria's Books are participating in a petition drive to garner Congressional support for the Freedom to Read Protection Act. Even the Durango public library is making petitions available to patrons.

The bill, introduced March 6 by Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., seeks to overturn powers granted to federal investigators by Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Under that provision, terrorism investigators can obtain customer-purchase and library-usage records, and monitor Internet traffic at public computer terminals without notification or a court order. A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate.

So far the bill has 117 sponsors, only 13 of whom are Republicans.

CalPundit on the Bush Administration's recent announcement it would not use torture on detainees:

Now, if we can just add to this a policy that forbids turning prisoners over to other countries so that they can torture them for us, we'll be in pretty good shape on this issue.

Daily Kos on how the Bush Administration is curtailing the benefits of our armed forces, which are angry about it. Like Kos, we hope this translates into Democratic votes at election time.

And while Republicans and conservatives "support our troops" by putting them in harm's way, with an ill-conceived mission justified by a lies-generating "cabal" of pointy-headed "intellectuals", they also eagerly tear apart the meager social programs that help our veterans after the sacrifice to their nation.

Oliver Willis sends us to "10 Appalling Lies We Were Told About Iraq". And Skippy reminds us that "Bush Lied, People Died."

Arthur at Light of Reason writes about some of the more disturbing provisions of the Patriot and Homeland Security Acts.

Patriot Watch asks if GITMO TV is next:

"The U.S. Naval Base at Guant?namo Bay, Cuba, is prepared to stage military tribunals against terror suspects, the commander of the Pentagon's Southern Command said Wednesday. They have also built defense and prosecution offices, a conference room and judges chambers as well as a media center to accommodate what is expected to be keen interest in the proceedings, which provide for the death penalty as the maximum punishment for convicts."

American Prospect's Alex Gourevitch explains why Bush and Ashcroft are on a fishing expedition, casting too wide a net in the terror war.

Eric Alterman writes in his new Nation column that the liberal media is dead.

Responding to an email sent to his New York office, former President Bill Clinton had this to say about a Wesley Clark Presidency:

"While I cannot take sides in the Democratic primary, I believe Wes, if he runs, would make a valuable contribution because he understands America's security challenges and domestic priorities," Clinton said. "I believe he would make a good president."

Update: Daily Kos takes this as a sign Clark will enter the race.

We've added a website translator to TalkLeft on a trial basis. It's on the right hand side at the bottom. Just select one of six languages and click on "translate." We saw it first on Long Story Short Pier, which uses the babel fish version.

The Systran version is commercial, and if we keep it, will cost $450 a year minimum. It also has a limit on the amount of html it will translate, so only about half the page, or one day's worth of entries, is included. The translation can take ten seconds or more to load.

Please let us know if you think this is a valuable resource.

[comments now closed]

Col. Will Gunn, appointed to be chief defense counsel over future military tribunals, says he disagrees with some of the rules.

"It's critical that these trials be done right. It's critical that we hold true to fundamental American values," Gunn said in an interview with Reuters late on Friday. "As chief defense counsel, I have one fundamental goal: and that is responsibly to provide for zealous defense of any individuals who are brought before military commissions," the Harvard Law School graduate added.

What rules would Gunn have made differently?

Gunn singled out language permitting the Defense Department to monitor any conversations or communications between defense lawyers and defendants, which some critics have called a breach of customary attorney-client privilege.

"For instance, I would make it clear that no conversation between the defense counsel and a client can be monitored unless the government had a particularized reason for doing so ... a reason that can be clearly articulated," Gunn said.

Gunn also would have made for a fairer appeals system.

Gunn said the appeals process would be different if he had designed it. The rules do not allow for an independent judicial review of convictions or sentences. Appeals go to a military panel appointed by the Pentagon, and final review of convictions or sentences is made by Bush himself. Gunn said the traditional U.S. military justice system allows for some appeals to be heard by a civilian court.

Gunn won't be trying the cases but adminstering the system from the defense side. About ten lawyers have applied, but "no names that you would recognize."

He will assign each defendant a military defense lawyer. Defendants also have the right to hire a civilian lawyer who is a U.S. citizen, is deemed eligible to hear classified information, and agrees to conditions set by the Pentagon such as the monitoring of conversations.

After 9/11, Bush pleaded with citizens to participate in public service. He promised funds for Americorps programs. Now he's renegged, and the programs are on the brink of closure from lack of funds.

Bush and Congress need to pass a $200 million supplemental budget to restore AmeriCorps funding to 2002 levels....Members of AmeriCorps provide valuable — even critical — services to our schools and neighborhoods. AmeriCorps members mentor children in at-risk schools, build homes for the poor and clean up blighted areas of communities across America.

E.J. Dionne's commentary on Americorps in the Washington Post, available here tells the story of the cuts--and the enormous support for the program.

The Migration Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank, has issued a 165 page report that concludes the Bush Administration's Post-9/11 immigrant roundup backfired. The report is available here.