Jun 9, 2007 at 3:21 PM by Political Chase
After President Bush announced his decision to proceed as planned with a missile defense shield in eastern Europe, Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the U.S. to not pursue Bush’s plan the Associated Press reports.
“It’s necessary for Washington, at a minimum, to freeze the deployment of missile defense elements in Europe for a period of study and negotiations on the Russian proposal”
Lavrov also warned that the U.S. missile defense plans could hamper efforts to ease international concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, RIA-Novosti reported. The United States has said the missile defense shield is intended to protect against a potential Iranian threat.
Lavrov said there was no proof that Iran was seeking to develop nuclear weapons, but that the missile shield could further provoke the Iranian government, which is already facing international sanctions for its disputed atomic program.
Jun 9, 2007 at 12:44 PM by Political Chase
Sandy Berger, former NSA in the Clinton administration, was disbarred for taking classified documents from the National Archives.
Jun 9, 2007 at 4:42 AM by Political Chase
W. is doing a heckuva job making Putin mad.
See, I told you when Bush responded to Putin with, “interesting proposal  we have to have our experts look at it,” that is “no” in George Bush’s vernacular.
Jun 9, 2007 at 4:31 AM by Political Chase
Good Scotch will make you believe anything won’t it?
Jun 9, 2007 at 4:13 AM by Political Chase
They never cease to amaze me and obviously learned nothing in November 2006. Republican Senate leaders threatened a “total shutdown” of the Senate if Democrats don’t let George Bush have his way on upcoming judicial appointments.
Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-MS), obviously having flashbacks to his Majority Leader days, said “it could cause a major meltdown” if the Judiciary Committee postpones a vote on Leslie H. Southwick to the Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. And, God forbid, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was “very mad” about the progression of judicial appointments, according to Lott.
Well, the GOP bad boys may be all full of piss and vinegar, but they seem to have forgotten Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and he doesn’t take crap from anyone - ask Dick Cheney. Responding to Lott’s threat over Leslie Southwick, Leahy said, “Mr. Southwick deserves more scrutiny due to his potentially racist and homophobic rulings.”
If the Republicans manage to win a majority of Senate seats in the next 10 years, which is doubtful, then they can walk around as if they have great big ones, but not until.
What a bunch of spoiled, self-centered, cry babies.
Jun 9, 2007 at 2:08 AM by Political Chase
(Editor’s Note: This is a long post, but well worth it. This is a copy of Bluebaby’s original post on reddit.com.)
Putin turns tables on Bush: “Your claim is that missile shield in Central Europe is directed against Iran, not Russia? OK, then we offer you Russian radar site right on Iran’s border. Let’s build missile defense system there together. And it will protect the whole of Europe. Will you take it?”
Bluebaby’s comment on Putin and Bush:
Mr Bush was not able to comprehend what Mr Putin proposed. He felt that it was better not to promise anything and planned to run the clock by cracking jokes here and there, then go home and let his aides deal with it.
His aides consult the Vice President’s office, which immediately turns it down because Putin’s proposal removes a major justification for the invasion of Iran and they would not be able to control its oil. The Pentagon and the CIA are each instructed to come up with reasons for the rejection.
After days of practicing the made-up reasons, Bush stands in front of cameras and somehow manages to say something completely unrehearsed, causing his handlers to immediately dial their media contacts to spin what the leader of the Free World just said as something spiritual and profound, but non-binding.
The right wing echo machines invoke Reagan and God. Fox News anchors and commentators bring up Clinton, 9/11, and find creative ways to mention Obama’s middle name. The Drudge Report reports unreported Iraq/Iran under-sand tunnels where Iraqi WMDs were shipped to Iran and kept under three feet of sand in the middle of Taran (everybody knows Taran is nothing but sand, and a lot of baggers roaming around who are really Al Quada / Al Qaeda / Al Qada (f***, however they spell that word).
Obama uses the chance to talk about hope and the children; Mrs Clinton emphasizes America’s safety and fiscal responsibilities. That night the two of them manage to put 80% of the country to sleep during the nightly news. Ron Paul reiterates his support for the Putin plan and offers his comprehensive amendments, which puts the remaining 20% of Americans to sleep. The networks suffer another low rating night.
The next morning, Americans wake up to see all the channels repeating Giuliani’s call for a “Paul/Putin ticket”, and all the stations repeat that sound byte for the rest of the week because it is obviously so clever and amusing, plus it helps the ratings (not much, but every bit helps). Over the weekend, even NPR’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” makes fun of the idea. America has a good laugh and then promptly forget about this whole issue.
Click to continue reading…. (resume reading after the dotted lines on full page)
Jun 9, 2007 at 12:33 AM by Political Chase
This is a classic. Go ahead and mark it down. This brief (no pun intended), but memorable enlightment comes from Emptywheel.
Robert Bork and a few of his well-heeled legal buddies submitted an Amicus Brief to Judge Reggie Walton regarding Scooter Libby’s matter. Emptywheel aptly notes the remarkable productivity of Bork and his friends (12 lawyers) coming to an agreement within 72 hours.
As Emptywheel suggests, it is obvious these highly skilled lawyers got well ahead of the curve, because there is no way in hell 12 lawyers agreed on an Amicus Brief and submitted it to the court within 72 hours. Judge Walton apparently was not fooled or overly amused by their stunt. This is the footnote in Walton’s order allowing Bork and company to submit their brief.
It is an impressive show of public service when twelve prominent and distinguished current and former law professors of well-respected schools are able to amass their collective wisdom in the course of only several days to provide their legal expertise to the Court on behalf of a criminal defendant. The Court trusts that this is a reflection of these eminent academics’ willingness in the future to step to the plate and provide like assistance in cases involving any of the numerous litigants, both in this Court and throughout the courts of our nation, who lack the financial means to fully and properly articulate the merits of their legal positions even in instances where failure to do so could result in monetary penalties, incarceration, or worse. The Court will certainly not hesitate to call for such assistance from these luminaries, as necessary in the interests of justice and equity, whenever similar questions arise in the cases that come before it.
Master of epistolary art, indeed. Did Walton let those “scholarly” boys have it or what? So what’s Bork et al going to say when Walton issues an order from the bench a year from now, engaging their pro bono services for who knows what? Yes your Honor is about all they can say. I suppose they might reconsider the next time they feel compelled to intervene without being asked.
Late Update: MSNBC has an article on the brief the 12 lawyers submitted to Judge Walton.
