meta-roj

another nod this morning, for a patriot, akma.

this government was structured to provide americans with a better government than we would give ourselves. where has it gone?

i’m going to add myself to this group of intelligent people.

as reported by the bbc and others,

A diverse group of ex-judges, diplomats and former military lawyers is urging the US Supreme Court to intervene on behalf of hundreds of men being held without trial by the government.

i’ve said it before and i’m going to remain very hardline on this issue.

the united states of america has lost the moral high ground, set a horrible precedent, and increased the threat to its citizens, the citizens of the world, and most especially the military personnel that serve it throughout the world.

fix it.

in an amazing precedent set by the president of the united states, i apparently now have the right to screen the material that the attorney general might use against me in a criminal case.

apparently, the white house counsel’s office is reviewing the documents collected in the cia leak investigation before they are handed over to the department of justice.

this is a huge reversal, considering the erosion of civil and criminal rights in this country over the term of president bush. and if you think i’m kidding, it’s all in the press briefing

“Q Under what circumstances would information not go over there [to the department of justice]? Why don’t you just send it all?

MR. McCLELLAN: If it’s not responsive or relevant to the request from the Department of Justice — one reason you wouldn’t want to do that is because you don’t want to overburden the Department of Justice with documents that have no relevance or are not responsive to their request. You want to make sure that they have the information they need to get to the bottom of this. That’s why we’re assisting them.

so, for the record, mister ashcroft (and all other potential prosecutors):

i hereby declare my intent to cooperate with any criminal investigation conducted against me. i’ll have my counsel review everything i have, and if my lawyers decide it’s “relevant” and “responsive” then i’ll get it to you right away. i know you’re really busy protecting me from terrorists, so i don’t want to overburden you guys. thanks a lot. keep up the good work.

this is a HUGE expansion of the 5th amendment. rock on!

here’s an interesting data point to toss into the universe….

the sales of i wasn’t using my civil rights anyway gear, in all forms, for the month of september, 2003 is running about 80% female (or female-sounding names, anyway).

maybe it’s a gender bias in irony 🙂

i imagine if i dig a little deeper, i’d learn more, but… this caught my eye, so now maybe it’ll catch yours.

US Attorney General John Ashcroft in testimony before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, September 25, 2001.

Every day that passes with outdated statutes and the old rules of engagement is a day that terrorists have a competitive advantage. Until Congress makes these changes, we are fighting an unnecessarily uphill battle. Members of the Committee, I regret to inform you that we are today sending our troops into the modem field of battle with antique weapons

according to several reports in the past several days, the united states department of justice claims that it has never used the powers granted under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT act:

US Attorney General John Ashcroft in a memo to FBI Director Robert Mueller obtained by The Associated Press.

The number of times section 215 has been used to date is zero

the immediate question is, of course, if this power was so desperately needed that it was included in the rushed-to-congress 342-page USA PATRIOT act, then why, precisely, has it gone unused in the nearly two years of this “war on terror”?

US Attorney General John Ashcroft, in testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary June 5, 2003.

Hundreds of suspected terrorists have been identified and tracked throughout the U.S., with more than 18,000 subpoenas and search warrants issued

….

Our human sources of intelligence have doubled, as has the number of anti-terrorism investigations.

….

In 2002, using Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act tools, we targeted more than 1,000 international terrorists, spies and foreign powers, who threaten our country’s security. We requested 170 emergency FISAs. This is more than three-times the total number of emergency FISAs obtained in the 23 years prior to September 11.

….

More than a dozen members of alleged terrorist cells in Buffalo, Seattle, Portland and Detroit, were arrested, along with more than 100 other individuals who were convicted or pled guilty to federal crimes as a result of our post-September 11 terrorism investigations

in these two years, have ALL the terrorists among us avoided libraries and businesses that keep records? did ALL the terrorists before october of 2001 also avoid libraries and businesses that keep records? wouldn’t it be considered “sloppy police work” to investigate over 1000 and arrest more than 100 terrorist suspects and NOT review the associated records? were these records available (and reviewed?) under the “outdated statutes and the old rules of engagement”?

a secondary question, and this gets back to the patriot act summer tour, shouldn’t the attorney general be using the powers granted, overwhelmingly, by congress to protect me, instead of stumping for new and expanded powers with the VICTORY act?

[Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT act follows]
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the ap has a story running in several papers, including the post and courrier of charleston, south carolina.

the quick version: not only does the usa patriot act contain several “slippery slope” provisions, the department of justice is actively pushing creative use of the provisions of the patriot act to prosecute non-terrorists.

full-text of the ap piece by david caruso is in the long version, here is a choice bit:

Prosecutor Jerry Wilson says he isn’t abusing the law, which defines chemical weapons of mass destruction as ‘‘any substance that is designed or has the capability to cause death or serious injury” and contains toxic chemicals.

— remember that the next time you pick up a bottle of something that says “Warning: harmful or fatal if swallowed” and make sure you do your citizenly duty and inform the department of justice about the manufacturer.

so, remember, good citizens of america, your government has shown you the way (by example).

it’s time to get creative about prosecuting the prosecutors.
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my little political statement-that-hasn’t-really-caught-fire just made the blogiverse (and i don’t mean mine!)

it’s here, auf deutsch, even. danke, mein freund.

this speaks for itself (literally, it’s flash).

a law with an OFFICIAL, SANCTIONED website?

[i really should do more homework on these things, but i find a hook and hang myself on it – and i do it for you!]

not only is the department of justice [probably] spending tax dollars promoting the victory act (jail time for ashcroft?), they’ve built a whole web site to promote/support the usa patriot act. can anyone, anywhere, point me to a prior situation where a united states government executive department has created a website to support and defend an existing law or appopriation? is this unprecedented?

i don’t know if this falls into the realm of 18 U.S.C. §1913, since the patriot act is already passed, but it certainly doesn’t sit well with me. (and i haven’t done my homework to find out if there’s another law out there that might apply).

doesn’t ashcroft have a war on terror to win? and a war on drugs? and a war on naked statuary? and a war on crime? and a war on poverty? (ok, maybe that’s not his department). does he really have all this time to take off [unpaid, on leave, of course]?

the associated press is reporting (and as of this moment, only non-american news outlets – canada, india, austrlia and the uk- are carrying), a story suggesting that the united states is moving forward with plans to expand detention capacity in guantanamo bay. the story was apparently “broken” by the miami herald on sunday. of course, access to the facility is pretty tightly controlled, so i have to assume most of the data is derived from official sources or leaks.

when “camp five” is ready, we will have the ability to hold 1100 persons indefinitely, outside any system of justice.

also interesting, “The contractor is Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Vice President Dick Cheney’s former company, Texas-based Halliburton. The watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense says the subsidiary received $1.3 billion in government business last year — much of it, like this, without having to enter a bid.”

there are 660 detainees, plus another 68 former detainees (64 released, 4 transferred to saudi arabia). of these 728 detainees, bush has named 6 eligible for trial (that’s military tribunal trial), and none has been charged.

as an american, i will not be silent.

this is wrong