Executing an Innocent Man and Trying to Hide It

UPDATE: Texas tried to execute another innocent man. The prosecutor withheld the statement of the real killer that he acted alone, and allowed his perjured testimony at trial. Read Texas Monthly, Innocence Lost.

Watch PBS Frontline, Death by Fire.

The worst part is that the Texas Governor, Rick Perry, rushed to have the man executed for political reasons, his reelection.

But "questions about Willingham's innocence would not go away. By 2008, the controversy had ended up in a small state agency. The Texas Forensic Science Commission was designed to go in and figure out what happened and figure out how to keep it from happening again."

Just before a critical report was to be released, which would have raised serious concerns that an innocent man was executed, Perry fired three members of the commission and installed a political ally as the new chairman.

The report has never been released.

Time to Batten Down the Hatches?

"How bad will it be if Republicans win control of the House next week? Very, very bad." Read The New York Times, Divided We Fail.

Time to call the Republi-con bluff!

Republi-CON Family Values Hypocrisy

"[F]ormer House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and ex-President Bill Clinton used to 'bond' over wine and cigars while sharing stories about their respective marital infidelities." Read the Washington Post, Dick Armey: Clinton and Gingrich traded stories about their girlfriends.

Sub Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Usually on Thursdays you can listen to me, the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- no political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

But today I've been preempted by the FSU game. (A conspiracy, no doubt, to keep me off the air just days before the election.) I'll be back next week to deprogram you. Until then, squash a cat.

Obama the Philosopher President

"The historian James T. Kloppenberg has written a book about President Obama, whom he sees as a rare breed in America, a kind of philosopher president. . . [like] John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and John Quincy Adams, then Abraham Lincoln and in the 20th century just Woodrow Wilson." Read The New York Times, In Writings of Obama, a Philosophy Is Unearthed.

The Voters Are Boxed In

This pretty well sums up the dilemma facing voters, from the Washington Post, Crash test dummies:

Who Wants the Dangerous Nuts to Rule?

Some of the Republi-con candidates are just nuts, and some are dangerous nuts.

"The Republican nominee for the Senate in the Last Frontier has established himself in recent weeks as an authority on the authoritarian.

He sought protection from a security firm run by a guy with ties to the militia movement. His security detail, which included active-duty members of the U.S. military, handcuffed and performed a citizen's arrest on a reporter who was attempting to question Miller. The candidate offered favorable thoughts about the former East Germany. And he fought disclosure of details about his work for local government until ordered by a judge to comply."

Read the Washington Post, If Alaska's Senate seat doesn't work out for Joe Miller, there's always East Berlin.

Why Republi-CONs and Naive-ocrats?

This sums it up pretty well -- although the economic bailout program was approved primarily with Naive-ocrat support, most of the companies that received federal bailout money are making campaign donations to Republi-con candidates. Read the Washington Post, Companies that received bailout money giving generously to candidates.

Arrogant Government Official

What would you do if you were responsible for a government agency that had falsely claimed that a person had donated blood knowing he was HIV positive when actually the offense was a totally different crime. Apologize and correct the record? That's not one one arrogant local government agency did.

For years the person “diligently pursued efforts to correct the erroneous information. In November of 2007, [he] submitted to a blood test to prove his negative HIV status. He sent a letter from his doctor to the office of the clerk of court, but the entry remained unchanged. Plaintiff contacted the clerk’s office by phone but was told that nothing could be done about the public record. In August of 2009, he again mailed a copy of his doctor’s note and a copy of the erroneous internet posting to Mary M. Johnson, and . . . calls to [her] office in September of 2009 resulted in . . . being subjected to 'rude comments.' In October of 2009 he sent a certified letter to Mary M. Johnson with a detailed statement concerning a defamation lawsuit. The package was returned to [him] along with a notation that he did not pay the filing fee. He tried to get information about the filing fee over the phone, but a young woman that he spoke to refused to give him the information. He then sent another certified letter to Ms. Johnson indicating his intent to file suit in federal court." (Citations omitted.)

No apology, just arrogant rude treatment. Now thousands of your tax dollars are being spend to defend the inexcusable. Read the court file.

Mary Johnson should apologize for the actions of her office, investigate and discipline the appropriate employees, and pay the person to settle the case, instead of some out of town lawyer to defend the case.

And if she won't, she should do the public a favor and resign, before the next election.

45 Lessons in Life

From an email:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others.
You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business...
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32.Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Who You Callin Gay

"Following Christine O'Donnell's ironclad logic . . . masturbating equals being gay:"

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Transitive Property of Christine O'Donnell
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

BTW, does this mean our beloved Master Bates is gay?

The Faux Populist Anger of 2010

Politics got ya mad as hell. Your rent too high. The "Jimmy McMillan, running for governor as the candidate of the one-man Rent Is Too Damn High Party" is your man. His "crystal-clear message: The. Rent. Is. Too. Damn. High." Only problem, he doesn't pay rent, and hasn't for at least a decade. Read The New York Times, Opposing Excessive Rent, but Vague About His Own.

And just in time to leverage all that anger, the 'sludge' "from out-of-state, secretive political groups . . . overwhelming, and omnipresent." Read The New York Times, John Roberts’s America, which predicts that "[a]s ugly as 2010 has been, the next election cycle, for president in 2012, will bring us a John Roberts’s America that will make this year look like a town hall meeting from a Rockwell painting."

Fear, anger, and hatred -- a great campaign strategy, but not much of a governing philosophy.

The Billionaires’ Coup Camouflaged a Populist Surge

UPDATE V: The history of the tea party, from Hannity and Beck to Palin and O'Donnell, by Stephen Colbert:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
On Topic: Colbert Case Files - Tea Party
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

UPDATE IV: From the Washington Post:




UPDATE III: "The Tea Party Express, paid Holland America Line a total of $103,000 to send six of its staffers on four consecutive cruises on the Amsterdam. The payments to the cruise line, which appeared on a campaign finance report filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission, have started drawing attention from critics of the Tea Party Express, who have alleged that the committee is a front for Republican consultants seeking to use the populist movement to make a buck and live the high life." Read Politico, Tea Party Express's pricey cruises.


UPDATE II: "There is genuine populist anger out there. But the angry have been deceived and exploited by posers who belong to the same class of "elites" and "insiders" that the Tea Party movement supposedly deplores. Americans who want to stick it to the man are instead sending money to the man." Read the Washington Post, A Tea Party of populist posers.


UPDATE: "John Boehner is the quintessential example of shameless government figures guiding the fortunes of the rich and powerful." Read The New York Times, That’s Where the Money Is.

Par for the Republi-con course, wouldn't you say.

"O’Donnell’s timely ascent in the election season’s final lap may well prove a godsend for the G.O.P. . . . She gives populist cover to the billionaires and corporate interests that have been steadily annexing the Tea Party movement and busily plotting to cash in their chips if the G.O.P. prevails." Read The New York Times, The Very Useful Idiocy of Christine O’Donnell.

And the unholy alliance lives on.

Sub Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Usually on Thursdays you can listen to me, the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- no political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

But I can't make it today. I'll be back next week to deprogram you. Until then, squash a cat.

Proof of the Unholy Alliance

Need proof that "the modern Republi-con Party is nothing more than an unholy alliance between corporate interest and social conservatives, the former using the latter to gain power to promote corporate interest."

How about "a secret agreement with a former Republican chairwoman of the agency to stand in the way of investors filing complaints with the agency. . . [The judge] was the subject of a story 10 years ago in the Wall Street Journal, which said that except in a handful of cases in which defunct firms failed to defend themselves, [the Judge] had never ruled in favor of an investor." Read the Washington Post, Commodity Futures Trading Commission judge says colleague biased against complainants.

BTW, that former Republican chairwoman of the agency is/was Wendy Gramm, wife of former senator Phil Gramm (R-Tex.).

As noted before, in the Republi-con-controlled Senate and House, Republi-con Senator Phil Gramm was only too happy to help to pass the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which deregulated credit default swaps, the real cause of this economic collapse.

And a historical not-so footnote, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act included the so-called "Enron loophole," which exempts most over-the-counter energy trades and trading on electronic energy commodity markets. The "loophole" was drafted by lobbyists for Enron working with Gramm to create a deregulated atmosphere for their new experiment, "Enron On-line."

Gramm was always Wall Street's man in the Senate. As chairman of the Senate Banking Committee during the Clinton administration, he consistently underfunded the Securities and Exchange Commission and kept it from stopping accounting firms from auditing corporations with which they had conflicts of interest. Gramm's piece de resistance came on Dec. 15, 2000, when he slipped into an omnibus spending bill a provision called the Commodity Futures Modernization Act (CFMA), which prohibited any governmental regulation of credit default swaps, those insurance policies covering losses on securities in the event they went belly up. As the housing bubble ballooned, the face value of those swaps rose to a tidy $62 trillion. And as the housing bubble burst, those swaps became a massive pile of worthless paper, because no government agency had required the banks to set aside money to back them up.

The CFMA also prohibited government regulation of the energy-trading market, which enabled Enron to nearly bankrupt the state of California before bankrupting itself.

And guess what else, Wendy Gramm, was on the board of directors of Enron when it collapsed.

Was the Mission Accomplished?

UPDATE II: "Iraqis still don’t have a government. Resentments and mistrust are growing. That’s dangerous." Read The New York Times, Iraq’s Stalemate.


UPDATE: "[T]he war against Saddam (1990–2003) [gave] way to the American Occupation (2003–2010)." Now is "the conflict is simply entering a new phase," that may soon be called "the War of Iraqi Self-Determination (2010–?)?" Read The New Republic, Obama Wants Us To Forget the Lessons of Iraq.

And what would you call our effort in Iraq? Read the Washington Post, My Iraq mistake.

This will be a topic for discussion on Thursday.

Palin Told Ya So

UPDATE II: Just in time for Halloween -- Palin says "we can see 2012 from our house."





Run, Rogue Diva, Run!


UPDATE: Good article about our next next Republi-con presidential nominee. Read the Washington Post, Five myths about Sarah Palin.

BTW, I initally said she couldn't win. But the Naive-crats are so inept, I'm reconsidering to probability.

In July 2009, I said that Palin quit the governor's office to "build her network for 2012 by campaigning and fund raising for other candidates. . . and to cash in with a book and some speeches, maybe a little paid commentary on not-the-FoxNews.

And that's what she's doing. Read the Politico, Miller-Palin camps feud over e-mail, which notes that recently revealed emails that show squabbling between the Miller and Palin camps "serve as the biggest hint to date that Sarah Palin has presidential ambitions."

2012 is gonna be a great year for politics!

Run, Rogue Diva, Run!

Will It Be A Stampede?

From the Washington Post:

Republi-CON Oink, Oink Hypocrisy

First, "relentlessly assailed the Democratic stimulus efforts as a package of wasteful 'trillion-dollar spending sprees' that was 'more about stimulating the government and rewarding political allies than growing the economy and creating jobs.'"

Next, quietly ask for a share because "the project would create jobs."

Read the Washington Post, Republicans, Democrats who criticized stimulus wrote letters seeking funds.

Nothing new here. Read:

Republi-CON 'Less Government' Hypocrisy

Local Republi-Con Fiscal Conservative Hypocrisy

Oink, oink:

Funding Terrorism

"When the American taxpayer is inadvertently financing the Taliban, it’s time to review our strategy in Afghanistan." Read The New York Times, Tea in Kabul.