This July Fourth I mourn the rights of people who are
NOT rich white
REPUBLICANS. Yes, it has come down to the fact that not only do you have to be rich and white in the country but you have to
REPUBLICAN. I say this to compare Bill Clinton and Scooter Libby; both were ‘charged’ with lying under oath. Bill Clinton lied about having an extra martial affair, which I personally think is nobody’s business but Bill’s, Hillary’s and their lawyers. For lying to congress about his affair, Republicans tried their danmedest to impeach Clinton. It boggles my mind how many millions of tax dollars were spent by the special prosecutor Kenneth Star to convict Clinton. In the end Clinton ‘won’ because the American people were more concerned with how good a president Bill was then how good a person he was.
L. ‘Scooter’ Libby was charged with the same crime- lying under oath. Scooter however didn’t lie about his personal life; he lied to a criminal prosecutor to obscure who outed a CIA agent. Now, in the first place- The Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 made it a felony to knowingly disclose the identity of a covert government agent. In the second place, as the Republicans constantly tell us- we’re at war; and thus outing an undercover agent (who’s bailiwick was uncovering WMDs) should be a treasonous act- punishable by a firing squad.
So on one hand you have Bill who is trying to protect his marriage (and POSSIBLY the reputation of a young intern); on the other hand you have L. Scooter Libby who lied to protect say Karl Rove (or another high level Republican) from facing criminal prosecution for breaking a MAJOR law protecting our men and women in covert agencies- people who risk their lives on a regular basis to help protect this country.
According to Republicans- who are now the law of the land by 5 to 4, Clinton should be ashamed of himself and have been impeached for cheating on his wife- NEVERMIND the fact that several of the people trying to impeach him have also cheated on their wives (Gingrich and Delay to name the two biggest guns.) Meanwhile according to the SAME Republicans Libby lying to protect his boss/ his boss’s best friend (Rove or Cheney) for lying to the American People and getting us into war (which currently has a death count of 3,500+ American Soldiers and 66,000+ Iraqis) should get a pass. While W. did NOT pardon Libby (though he still could) he commuted the sentence and several commentators feel that W. will get a bounce in the polls. Yes, his numbers will go UP. See Republicans realize that Scooter lied to protect Rove and/or Cheney and felt that Scooter was thus a ‘good soldier’ and should be ‘rewarded’ with a pardon. Enough Republicans feel this way that many of their presidential candidates in a debate said they would pardon Libby/ W. should pardon Libby.
What I thought was the
MOST interesting of W. commuting of the sentence- Bush said “"I respect the jury's verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive," Now what I’ve latched onto is- W. admitting that Libby did
INDEED break the law just as the Jury found Libby guilty; he just disagrees with the
JUDGE’S verdict. Because of course the Judge is an ‘activist’ liberal… never mind that he was a Republican appointee (as was 2 of the 3 judges who felt Libby should start
SERVING it.).
In fact for Libby to accept Bush’s commutation, he has to stop his appeal process and basically accept the guilty verdict- which should help the Wilsons sue him in civil court.
Meanwhile a google news search for supreme court 5-4 got me 4,159 and is only gonna get me more during the next couple of decades.
THIS really is the legacy that W. is going to leave us. During their confirmation hearings, ‘future’ Supreme Court judges Roberts and Alito promised their support of De Jure- which means they promised that their
FUTURE rulings would be based on passed laws. They lied. Roberts and Alito said this because they
KNEW this is what the Democrats in congress wanted to here- that Roberts and Alito would
NOT overturn rulings such as Roe V Wade and Brown V Board of Education- oh wait they did.
The
first link that I clicked on had several RECENT 5-4 decisions show the way the court is going… The first is of course using Brown V Board of Education to ATTACK the Brown ruling. The majority said that BUSING kids to PROMOTE racial mixing was racist because it acknowledged racial differents.
The other ruling- which goes to
MY point of Justice for Republicans is Hein v. Freedom from Religion Foundation. The group Freedom from Religion Foundation was suing because they are peeved with the White Houses’ Faith Based Initiatives; the Foundation argued that
THEIR money should not be used to promote religions. The court ruled that a 1968 law
ONLY applied to congressional spending on religious promotion- as Freedom from Religion Foundation was suing due to the
WHITE HOUSE’S Faith Based Initiatives, and the law didn’t apply to the
EXCUTIVE Branch.
I could go on- but a) you can click on above to read more and b) I find it ‘interesting’ that it’s a JEWISH website complaining about the SCOTUS ruling FOR the White House giving money to religion.
The
second link in this post on the Republicans and the difference between enforcement of laws comes from Brad Blog where they have a clip of Michelle Malkin attacking Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff for not properly enforcing the laws AGAINST immigrants, saying “"it is not a bumper sticker to say that we should enforce the laws that are on the books." Meanwhile on the same program she has two strategists saying that Bush commuting Libby’s sentence was “the right thing to do.
I now want to switch gears because I got a little pissed yesterday at something that happened to me. I went to the MA RMA to get a Learner’s Permit. I have a co-worker who has been begging me for months to get a Learner’s Permit so she can teach me how to drive. Her last day at the store is Thursday so I went yesterday- my day off and waited close to two hours (didn’t bring a watch as I didn’t want to know how long I was waiting). I was denied the permit as I couldn’t jump the FIRST hurdle- I didn’t have proper id. The id I brought with me was my MA ID- it has a) my picture, b) my date of birth, c) my signature and d) my address. It shows that I am in the MA system… and to have GOTTEN this ID- I had previously proved to Massachusetts that a) I was born here in the United States B) My date of birth( so that they could know that I can buy liqueur) C) where I lived- so they knew I lived in Massachusetts. This apparently was NOT enough. Even though when I leaned over to look at the computer- I could see that the clerk pulled up my MA ID, I was told I needed to bring my Passport or SOCIAL card. I ended up get a booklet about driver licenses from someone else (a bit smelly so I want to get another one the next time I go). In the booklet it says I need FOUR forms of ID to get a MA learner’s permit OR MA ID You need a passport and documents proving a) date of birth, b) residence and c) signature. The fine print states that you can’t use ANY document to prove more then one. So even though my Massachusetts ID has ALL three- my dob, my residence and my signature- and this is ALL in the computer… I need to bring three other documents. So yesterday before I went to dinner I found my Birth Certificate= DOB, an electrical bill= residence, my passport as this seems one of the MUST haves and I can indeed use my MA ID to show my signature.
I find it interesting that they don’t ask for PICTURE as a need. I mean odds are they’re going to get it if I bring 4 documents… but part of me wonders if I should double check the documents and see if THEORETICALLY I could get away with no photos… though again they have a picture of me in the system( a picture with me fat and a beard).
So how will I be ‘celebrating’ the forth? I’m just glad that I got a 3 day weekend- as I don’t have to work today (even though the store is OPEN).
That’s it. I might go to the movies- but I don’t plan to see 1776 (as I usually do on the 4th) as a) I was freer last year in Amsterdam on the forth and b) I’m more in the mood for Assassins( which will never be a movie) then I am in 1776.
Labels: Repug Double Standards, SCOTUS
