Tuesday, July 10
Monday, July 9
LIbby was communted to Pacify Cheney
In a new Newsweek article by Michael Isikoff, the issue of the real source for Bush's communtation of Scooter Libby's 30 months sentence just may have been revealed.
The president was conflicted. He hated the idea that a loyal aide would serve time. Hanging over his deliberations was Cheney, who had said he was "very disappointed" with the jury's verdict. Cheney did not directly weigh in with Fielding, but nobody involved had any doubt where he stood. "I'm not sure Bush had a choice," says one of the advisers. "If he didn't act, it would have caused a fracture with the vice president."
Ah, it's so clear now. If Bush didn't do something to help Libby the passive-aggressive head of Forthbranch would have brooded and pouted for the next 18 months, and if any of you have ever had a taciturn spouse you know that can be a living hell.
As was shown by the four part Washington Post series on Cheney, he manages to get his way within the Bush Whitehouse most of the time, but he doesn't do it by shouting and being loud. He does it by being quiet.
Cheney has changed history more than once, earning his reputation as the nation's most powerful vice president. His impact has been on public display in the arenas of foreign policy and homeland security, and in a long-running battle to broaden presidential authority. But he has also been the unseen hand behind some of the president's major domestic initiatives.
Could you imagine the scene if Bush had been ready to let Libby swing? I can see it now...
- B: "What's wrong honey?"
C: Sigh! Grumble
B: "Can I get you some curly fries - they're delicious?"
C: Eyes roll - more grumbling - some cursing and mumbling under his breath between penguin quacks
B: "Is it the Libby Appeal thingee?"
C: Big Sigh!
B: "I'm sorry but there was nothing I could do. The jury decided, the judge was well within the manditory minimum sentencing guidelines that we've been pushing through the DOJ for years, the appeals court found there was not even a close call as ground to delay his reporting to prison."
C: Exasperated Snort
B: "Fine! FINE!" Gets out of bed in a huff. Stomps to the Big Red Prez-Phone with the Presidential Seal where the dailing buttons should be. (Picks it up, triggering a special Presidential March Ring-Tone at the other end) "Get me Fielding. We have simply got to do something about Scooter" Waits approximately 4.57 seconds. "Fred? What's that you say? Maybe if we commute instead of pardon, we might avoid some of the heat that Billy-Boy took over Marc Rich? In fact, we can use it as yet another example of how we're better than those Liberal Scum! Great Idea Fred, Get right on that and have it ready for my signature by close of business today." Turns back to his (running) mate.
"See, isn't that better?"
C: Wan smile.
Let all just ignore the fact that Scooter Libby was Marc Rich's Lawyer and that Rich was originally indicted by - wait for it - Rudy Giuliani, who now of course thinks that commuting Libby's sentence was "reasonable" but used to think the pardoning Rich was "a travesty."
Yeah, right. sure. Okey dokey.
Anyway I'm just positive that the President was just absolutely sick that one of his top aides was facing jail time. By the way, what's he done for his former domestic policy adviser Claude Allen lately?
Allen was detained on January 2, 2006, after one alleged theft, then arrested on March 9, 2006, for a series of similar alleged thefts in Montgomery County, Maryland. According to police, Allen committed refund theft, a form of criminal activity where goods are fraudulently returned in stores for cash.
Y'see Allen had apparently been shoplifting from Target. TARGET! Then returning the items for cash. I guess he just had some shit he really needed to buy, eh?
By all accounts Allen's behavior was bizarre given that his annual salary as an advisor was $160,000. He pleaded guilty to theft on August 4, 2006. He shed tears during his sentencing hearing and apologized to his wife, family, and friends. Noting that Allen had been publicly humiliated by his arrest, and that he accepted responsibility for the crimes without trying to make excuses, the judge sentenced him to 18 months of "probation before judgment", which means that his record will be expunged if he completes his probation successfully.
Well then, I guess the judge already took care of that issue by going straight to probation followed by automatic expungment since Claude cried in court like a big neo-con baby. Problem solved. Good thing he wasn't a Millionaire Heiress, or that would've backfired big time.
And Bush's comments on the matter were so clearly heartfelt.
"If the allegations are true, Claude Allen did not tell my Chief of Staff and legal counsel the truth, and that's deeply disappointing.
Yeah, it's so dissapointing because if he'd told your chief as staff and White House Counsel he was a freaking klepto - you'd do what exactly? Send him to Promises Re-hab Center to hang out with Lindsey Lohan?
If the allegations are true, something went wrong in Claude Allen's life, and that is really sad. When I heard the story last night I was shocked. And my first reaction was one of disappointment, deep disappointment that — if it's true — that we were not fully informed. But it was also one — shortly thereafter, I felt really sad for the Allen family.
Um, yeah - ok.
And what about former White House procurement head David Safavian? Y'know, the Iranian guy they used to play racketball with at the club after a hard day toiling with Cheney in the Bunker - David Hossein Safavian!.
On November 4th, 2003, President George W. Bush announced Safavian's nomination to be the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President.[5], where he set purchasing policy for the entire government.[6]
David Safavian was indicted October 5, 2005. He was accused of making false statements and obstructing investigations into his dealings with Jack Abramoff while he was chief of staff for the General Services Administration. His trial started May 25, 2006. Guilty verdicts on four of five felony counts of lying and obstruction were returned June 20
On June 20, 2006, Safavian was found guilty by a jury in federal court on four of five felony charges. He was found guilty of lying to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, lying to a GSA ethics official, lying to the GSA's Office of Inspector General, and obstructing the work of the GSA inspector general. Safavian was cleared of obstructing the committee's investigation.[9]
On July 13, 2006, Safavian asked for a new trial on the grounds that the emails used in the trial constituted hearsay. Justice Department officials have until July 31 to respond to the motions. A hearing was planned for August 24, 2006.[10]
On October 27, 2006, U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman sentenced Safavian to 18 months in prison
I wonder if Hossein Osama Safavian has picked out a tailored orange jumpsuit already, or is he just going to go off the rack?.
So Safavian got 18 months for perjury, while Claude Allen gets probation for theft (unless he gets itchy for some towels with a bunch of ugly red circles on them) and Libby gets effectively nothing for aiding and abetting TREASON since you can't serve probation in the federal system without going to jail first, and his fine is already paid for thanks to TFucker Carlson's Dad.
Unfortunately the Prez's little King Soloman Act with Libby has managed to split the baby in two - and neither side seems to be doing that all that well as both Democrats and Republicans are now calling for Patrick Fitzgerald to appear on the Hill.
Sen. Arlen (Single Bullet Theory) Specter wants to grill Fitzgerald over...
"Why were they pursuing the matter long after there was no underlying crime on the outing of the CIA agent?"
I'm just guessing, but maybe it was because The CIA ASKED THEM too?
And also...
"Why were they pursuing it after we knew who the leaker was?"
Y'mean Richard Armitage? Well, it's true that Armitage was the first person to speak with Robert Novak and reveal that "Wilson's Wife was at CIA", something that was later confirmed to Novak by Karl Rove, but that completely ignores the fact that the by the time Novak spoke with Armitage on July 10th, Libby and Judith Miller had already spoken twice and discussed the employment of Wilson's Wife. The fact is that Libby leaked first, all the way back on June 23, 2002 long before the Russert or the Novak/Armitage conversations ever took place. The only reason Novak published before Miller is the fact that the New York Times refused to go with the story.
Good thing they had a backup plan for getting their bogus story of how Wilson was sent by his Wife to Niger as if she was asking him to take out the garbage - isn't it?
- V:"Oh Honey, could you take care of this little Yellowcake issue for me?"
J:"Sure, sweetie - I've got my sun block, plane tickets and bags all packed for Niger. I'll be back in a snap."
V:"Thanks, hon!"
Let's not muddy up the works with facts like the point that Valerie didn't even invite Joe to come to CIA headquaters, let alone Niger. All of that came from other people at CIA who were simply impressed with Joe's credentials. Funny how being immensely qualified has that effect on some people.
Oh and btw, Libby's story that he only heard about "Wilson's Wife" from Tim Russert is contridicted by the 8 other people he spoke to about her including Ari Fliescher and the Vice President.
Speaking of the VEEP, Patrick Leahy has some question for Fitz about him and those secret inverviews with him and the President over the Libby matter. But he's not really expecting that he'll be able to get a crack directly at Scooter himself...
It would do no good to call Scooter Libby. His silence has been bought and paid for," Leahy said, referring to Bush’s commutation, "and he would just take the fifth."
Oh well, outmaneauvered again by those sneaky White House bastiges. It's almost as bad as losing another one to Ditech isn't it?
(Shaking first in the general direction of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave)
Curse You Cheney - curse you all the Hell!
Just wait, we'll get you Impeached yet - and you're little dog Bushie too.
Vyan
Bush DOJ is a Disgrace
Bush justice is a national disgraceVyan
By John S. Koppel
Article Last Updated: 07/05/2007 11:48:30 PM MDT
As a longtime attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, I can honestly say that I have never been as ashamed of the department and government that I serve as I am at this time.
The public record now plainly demonstrates that both the DOJ and the government as a whole have been thoroughly politicized in a manner that is inappropriate, unethical and indeed unlawful. The unconscionable commutation of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's sentence, the misuse of warrantless investigative powers under the Patriot Act and the deplorable treatment of U.S. attorneys all point to an unmistakable pattern of abuse.
In the course of its tenure since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration has turned the entire government (and the DOJ in particular) into a veritable Augean stable on issues such as civil rights, civil liberties, international law and basic human rights, as well as criminal prosecution and federal employment and contracting practices. It has systematically undermined the rule of law in the name of fighting terrorism, and it has sought to insulate its actions from legislative or judicial scrutiny and accountability by invoking national security at every turn, engaging in persistent fearmongering, routinely impugning the integrity and/or patriotism of its critics, and protecting its own lawbreakers. This is neither normal government conduct nor "politics as usual," but a national disgrace of a magnitude unseen since the days of Watergate - which, in fact, I believe it eclipses.
In more than a quarter of a century at the DOJ, I have never before seen such consistent and marked disrespect on the part of the highest ranking government policymakers for both law and ethics. It is especially unheard of for U.S. attorneys to be targeted and removed on the basis of pressure and complaints from political figures dissatisfied with their handling of politically sensitive investigations and their unwillingness to "play ball." Enough information has already been disclosed to support the conclusion that this is exactly what happened here, at least in the case of former U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias of New Mexico (and quite possibly in several others as well). Law enforcement is not supposed to be a political team sport, and prosecutorial independence and integrity are not "performance problems."
Sunday, July 8
Right Wing Attacks Live Earth ... and misses by a Planet
Today I wanted to talk about John Conyers on This Week saying the I-Word out loud in reference to the recent ARG poll indicating that well over 50% of the American people favor the Impeachment of Bush and Cheney, and the fact that the White House has refused to let Sara Taylor testify in the DOJ hearings pushing Congress one step closer to a Contempt Citation.
I wanted to talk about Bill Kriston admitting that the timing fo the Libby commute was engineered to create a debate over the Clinton pardons, a debate which they happen to be losing badly.
But Instead I'm going to focus yet again on Live Earth and just how freaking desperate and deranged it has began to make the Climate Change Deniers Club ™ .
Now I've had my own criticism's of Live Earth's lineup which I posted yesterday, but I'm not going to revise that debate because in many ways it's beside the point.
What I felt while watching Live Earth is that it really isn't about which bands did and didn't play or what they played. It was about reaching out all across the world and lighting a potential spark inside BILLIONS OF PEOPLE which just might change and save this world from itself.
The shear scope of this event has been staggering. It has shown that we can rise to this challenge even though it may seem daunting and enormous. We can each take steps, take responsibility in our own lives to help make this world cleaner, greener and possible last just a little bit longer.
The fact that they've gotten a person like me, someone who'se been an extremely outspoken and acerbic critic of modern music for the past 15 years to finally put that all that aside - just for moment - with a concert this massive is a stunning accomplishment.
Let me tell you Micheal Mustow has nothing on me when it comes to being a brutal and vicious critic of modern music. If you think political debate can be rough-house knock-down drag-out tussle, just try discussing music with musicians sometime.
In fact, I'm certain that over the years there are people who are flat-out afraid to discuss their favorite (fill-in-the-blank emo/neo-punk/cool hair-cut/pop-tart/rough trade) band with me to this very day because as both a music performer, fan and critic for 20 years I'll probably verbally rip that band into tiny peices of confetti, then burn the confetti without batting an eye.
Today though, I think I'd use those ashes in a compost pile just so I could say they'd finally accomplished something worthwhile.
Anywho... instead of debating matters of musical taste and preference let us turn to the den of scum and villany housing the Climate Change Deniers who I think we should rank along side those who continue to deny the Holocaust, those who continue to deny that Saddam was not the Mastermind of 9/11, and the last remaining 26% percent (Newsweek 7/3) of us who continue to deny that the Sock-Puppet Presidency of George W.Bush and his D/s Top Richard B. "Shooter" Cheney is a Fucking Disastrous Blight on This Nation.
Last night on TFucker Carlson, one of these CCD mouth breathers from the oil and gas lobby powered "Competitive" Enterprise Institute actually said that ....
Al Gore has been looking for a world crisis his own life, where he can come through and "save the world" He wants to be a Superhero Action Figure. Basically he makes this stuff up [about global warming]. There is no scientific support for most his claims.
A Superhero? Y'mean like Commander Guy ™ !?
No Scientific Support?
This guy actually went on National TV - while the Live Earth Concerts were taking place - and said there's No Scientific Support for what Al Gore has been saying about Climate Change?
Is that not dumb as rocks stunning?
I mean most of these guys - like say, trusty ole' Fourthbranch - usually argue that the science is "inconclusive" or that the "debate is still ongoing", but this guy, Myron Ebell, just can't seem to contain himself. He's so full of crap it's coming out of eyes, ears, nose and mouth.
Then he changed tactics and began to actually argue in favor of conservation by claiming that the Live Earth concerts were a bad idea because they use too much energy!
Which side of this mental hopscotch game are these guys playing on?
So let me get this one straight - there's "No Scientific Evidence" to support Gore's Climate Change thesis that the emission of CO2 gasses into the atmosphere tend to create a greenhouse effect which is gradually warming our planet and threatening to drastically and radically change our eco-system - yet, you really shouldn't use up all that energy cuz it's like bad, mm,kay?
Has anyone ever taught this nitwit 4th Grade Science where they usually mention, even in your basic Neo-Christian Madrossa in the buckle of the bible belt where some seem to think the Sun revolves around the Earth, that Venus the cloud covered planet is actually hotter than Mercury which is closest to the Sun?
Anyone?
Beuller?
Before I get to the really Stupifying stuff, let's point out that the Live Earth organizers went to agonizing lengths to limit the amount of travel that performers would have to make in order to reach the show.
Live Earth strives to operate in as ecofriendly a way as possible: Several staffers are dedicated entirely to helping artists minimize the environmental impact of getting to and playing the shows, and each artist is given a "Green Handbook" of touring tips, such as where to get biodiesel for their trucks and how to offset carbon emissions. And in London, the team has been discussing a deal with Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Airlines to reduce the carbon footprint for flights
Not only did they suggest that the artist shift to using bio-deisel for their tour vehicles - which Willie Nelson has been doing for years - they even used bio-deisel generators at the venues where possible. Also LED and compact florescent lights were employed for the show, which only use a fraction of the energy required by normal bulbs.
From the AP.
"This is going to be the greenest event of its kind, ever," former Vice President and Live Earth partner Al Gore told The Associated Press. "The carbon offsets and the innovative practices that are being used to make this a green event, I think, will set the standard for years to come."
The point is not to make the everything perfectly green, but simply to make events such as this - and for that matter most of what we do in our own private lives - greener and greener, as carbon neutral as we can get it bit by bit rather than all at once.
On this point Live Earth dramatically unveiled the lie beneath the rightwings more vicious canard. We don't have to live like Geico's favorite political-correction safe whipping boy - the caveman. We shouldn't be thinking that being Eco-friendly means living under a rock with a machette, a bic lighter and a few pairs of birkenstocks. We can LIVE IT UP and have a great big global party - and still be green. Living green isn't going to be bad for the economy and it isn't going to be bad for business. Well, to be fair, it might be really bad for the brown businesses like the ones who fund Myron and his sociopathic ilk, but then they deserve it don't cha think?
And of course, that's exactly what scares Myron - Sugardaddy Warbucks might have to go on a diet. So naturally he lashes out at those damn dirty liberals who are a threat to his meal ticket.
Global warming is a creation of the left, and the left is all about re-distributing income. We have to become an awful lot poorer, and the people in China have to become a little bit poorer to solve this problem according to the Global Warming Alarmists like Al Gore.
Yeah, we're all going to be in the poor house if we adopt cleaner emissions standards. Oh wait, most of us already are in the po' house - so much so we can't even afford to buy another vowel for the rest of the word. So gee, what's there to really lose then, eh?
And speaking of that completely non-existent Scientific Evidence...
On May 26th, James Hansen, the head of NASA’s Goddard Institute Of Space Studies and the top U.S. climate scientist, issued a new warning about the threat of a catastrophic rise in sea levels.
I suggest that a "scientific reticence" is inhibiting the communication of a threat of a potentially large sea level rise. Delay is dangerous because of system inertias that could create a situation with future sea level changes out of our control. I argue for calling together a panel of scientific leaders to hear evidence and issue a prompt plain-written report on current understanding of the sea level change issue.
And then there's the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change which released three reports.
One on the Science of Global Warming.
In a grim and powerful assessment of the future of the planet, the leading international network of climate scientists has concluded for the first time that global warming is "unequivocal" and that human activity is the main driver, "very likely" causing most of the rise in temperatures since 1950.
One on the Impacts of Global Warming, not only on natural resources but also on our global security.
If the impact of climate change is going to make regions of violence poorer, then they really provide a level of fertility for inciting disaffection, resentment against the prosperous world. That’s an indirect effect that can create the conditions for terrorism. There is also domestic reasons. If higher-intensity hurricanes create a lot of damage, that does in some sense have security-implications as well. There is a whole range of factors. Water scarcity is another one. I’m not saying all this translates into direct threats to the U.S., but conflict anywhere has some implication for security in the U.S. As the most powerful and most prosperous nation on Earth, it is for the U.S. to take a global view of what strategically might minimize the possibility of threats to national security.
And a third on the relatively Modest Cost of implementing Green Friendly measures to combat Climate Change.
Humans must make sweeping cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in the next 50 years to keep global warming in check, but it need cost only a tiny fraction of world economic output, a major U.N. report said on Friday.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said keeping the temperature rise within 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) would cost only 0.12 percent of annual gross domestic product.
Not that the facts have ever really gotten in the way of chronic deniers like Myron and his pals.
Fox News: "Al Gore’s Global Warming Movie: Could It Destroy Our Economy?"
Rush Limbaugh: "[Liberals] would have us destroy our economy and millions of jobs based on pseudoscience."
James Inhofe: "Global warming is an alarmism. It’s a type of a hoax. The reality is that a cap on carbon is a cap on the economy."
I'm thinking these guys are going to be spending time in the history books being compared to their bestest buddy Ahmadinajad for their incredible level of denial, nigh unto a pathological addiction to bullcrap.
But y'know maybe that's just me.
I'm just saying...
Vyan
Saturday, July 7
Live Earth: The Lineup Non-Controversy
Today is also Live Earth Day, with an unprecedented global concert taking place simutaneously on all seven continents to help raise awareness on the Global Climate Crisis.
To most people, except those in deep right wingernutville like Sen. Inhofe who tried to block the surprise opening show in Washington DC, this is not an issue to debate and argue about.
Leave it to Hannity and colmes to find some spittle to spew over a bunch of musicians trying to keep our world from going up in flames.
On last nights H&c the issue raised regardling Live Earth was the inclusion of Cat Stevens (aka Yusuf Islam) on the bill as a last minute addition.
Live Earth organizers today announced that music legend Yusuf (formerly Cat Stevens), rapper, actor and television personality Xzibit, and electronica artist Kenna will be joining the blockbuster line-ups of performers at the Live Earth concerts in Hamburg, Tokyo and New York, respectively. Organizers also announced that a limited number of tickets are available for each show.
The Hannity talking-head stand-in claimed that it was inappropriate for Yusuf to be included in the concert because of his "terrorist connections", his being included on the "terrorist no-fly list", and his statements in support of radical muslims who had collect for the killing of author Salman Rushdie for his book "Satanic Verses."
colmes in his usual bumbling manner, managed to completely debunk the right-wing view and still somehow lose the arguement and get browbeaten even though he was right when he pointed out that Cat Stevens/Yusuf has completely renounced violence and publically denied supporting the fatwa against Rushdie.
On September 12th, 2001 he made the following public statment.
"I wish to express my heartfelt horror at the indiscriminate terrorist attacks committed against innocent people of the United States yesterday. While it is still not clear who carried out the attack, it must be stated that no right thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action: The Qur'an equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity. We pray for the families of all those who lost their lives in this unthinkable act of violence as well as all those injured; I hope to reflect the feelings of all Muslims and people around the world whose sympathies go out to the victims of this sorrowful moment.
That didn't stop the winger-guest who continued to claim that Yusuf has to "do more" to prove he isn't a terrorist sympatheser - claiming that Yusuf is part of a radical wahabbist Saudi sect of Islam that prohibits music.
This he said despite the fact that Yusuf came to the U.S. in October of 2001 and performed "Peace Train" at the Concert for New York in response to the 9/11 attacks.
This he said despite the fact that Yusuf has a new album out and has been very active in the music field in recent years.
In 2003, after repeated encouragement from within the Muslim world, Yusuf Islam once again recorded the song "Peace Train" for a compilation CD, which also included performances by David Bowie and Paul McCartney. He also performed "Wild World" in Nelson Mandela's 46664 concert with his former session player Peter Gabriel, for which he publicly performed in English for the first time in 25 years. In December 2004, he and Ronan Keating released a new version of "Father and Son". It debuted at number two, behind Band Aid 20's "Do They Know It's Christmas?". The proceeds of "Father and Son" were donated to the Band Aid charity. Keating's former group, Boyzone, had a hit with the song a decade earlier.
Could this be what he means by "Do More?"
Whether Yusuf is going to sing "Moonshadow" or not at the Live Earth concert isn't the biggest issue that concerns me. What bothers me, as a long-time musician and programmer of my own Live365 Radio Station which focuses specifically on protest and activist music, is not so much whose going to be at the show - it's who and what's Not Going to be on the Show.
I seriously doubt that we're going to see a moment like the muddy, lazy Sunday morning when Jimi Hendrix completely re-envision the Star-Spangled Banner through his Marshals, Wah-peddle, phaser and Stratocaster at Woodstock.
Besides the fact that just like Elvis, Hendrix is dead - neither he nor anyone even remotely like him is playing Live Earth (Except admittedly for Lenny Kravitz and frankly, that's a stretch. Just because Lenny's dark and wears a guitar around his neck doesn't make him Hendrix).
I serously doubt that we're going to see moment like that when Bono and U2 performed at the original Live Aid, bringing the house (actually Stadium) down into a the size of a living room with "Sunday Bloody Sunday."
U2 isn't Playing Live Earth
The Police are playing, but I really don't expect them to perform a song like "Message In a Bottle" with it's line "Seems I'm not alone in being alone..." in order to point out how so many of us are linked, and how we need to band together to fight to save our world and ourselves for potential extinction. I don't expect them to play "Synchronicity II" with it's line - "Another industrial ugly morning, the factory belches filth into the sky."
It's appropriate that Sheryl Crow is playing the show, since she had the big brass cojones to take on Karl Rove face to face over the Climate Crisis. Too bad she sings like a 12-year-old with the flu. (My opinion, I'm sticking with it)
There are many other groups who've been outspoken as part of their career or in recent years on issues of public policy.
Unfortunately...
Dixie Chicks are not playing Live Earth
As Armenian-American's the members of the group System of a Down, who've done songs such as "Boom" and "B.Y.O.B." have a understanding of the impact the global policies in the wake of the Armenian Genocide - but...
System of a Down are not playing Live Earth
Although they've recently reformed and the appropriateness of "Sleep Now in the Fire" being performed on this show can not be underestimated - Rage Against the Machine is not Playing at Live Earth - but curiously their former Audioslave bandmate Chris Cornell Is.
Linkin Park (whose performance I've just watched) and who in the past yet taken steps on thier own to address Tsunami Relief have a new song called "What I've Done" which is exactly on point in terms of the Global Crisis and related issues. They Didn't Play It (Update: It wasn't on Bravo, it was on Sundance)
Genesis could have included topical songs "Throwing it All Away" or "Land of Confusion" (which was recently covered by Disturbed) but they didn't do those songs (on Bravo!) - instead they played "Invisible Touch."
Some of the groups that are playing include Kelly Clarkson, Shakira, Black Eyed Peas and the Pussy Cat Dolls.
Now I like Kelly, she's a nice kid with a great voice - but has she ever
Shakira, honey someone needs to tell you that a guitar is not a necklace. It serves a functional purpose (you can make stuff with it - like music) Just prancing with it like a big peice of bling bling is not gonna make you into either Lita Ford or Nancy Wilson.
P.S. You may be a Hot Chick &Trade, but You Don't Rock!
PCD - "Don't you wish your girlfriend was a FREAK like me?", certainly has become the anthem of the new age hasn't it?
I'm glad Madonna is on the show, because she's forgotten more about activism and using music to take on issues and make a point than the Pussycat Dolls, Britney, Kelly, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson are ever going to know.
But then, it's not like she's big with the spontenaity since everything she does it choreeographed in advance.
I really wasn't expecting much from the group that wrote and performed "My Humps, My Humps - My Lovely Lady Lumps - Check it Out", but I have to say the Peas actually did manage, via an improptu free-style rasta rap, to capture the spirit of the event before launching into "Let's Get it Started."
Maybe there's reason for a little hope that this even actually be somewhat more memorable than Live-8 almost exactly two years ago.
Anyone remember that?
Despite the issue of whether anyone likes a particular artist who was or wasn't included (obviously tastes vary greatly) it's a good thing that many of the people who are performing, even the Pussycat Dolls, have stepped up to the plate.
But one thing we shouldn't be freaked out about is whether Cat Stevens/Yusuf is gonna sing "Wild World" or not.
Vyan
P.S. Pearl Jam is Not Playing Live Earth
Update: Some of the songs I noted as missing were performed but not broadcast on all airings between Sundance, Bravo and others..
Friday, July 6
Consequences of LIbby Commute: A Free For All!
According to the New York Times the defense team for a suspected Hamas Operative filed a motion arguing that he should get - The Libby Treatment
And he's not the only one.
The New York times reported yesterday that Scooter Libby’s commutation has been a "gift" for defense attorneys, with many using the so-called "Libby motion" to argue, "My client should have got what Libby got, and here’s why." Subsequently, judges may have "reason to lighten sentences and undermining the goal of a more uniform justice system."
Y'know I hate to say "I Don't Told You So!"
Ok, that's a lie - NO I DON'T.
Just as I predicted 2 months ago concerning the consequences of the DOJ purge, defense attorneys are now using the probability that their clients were targeted for partisan reasons as justification for either tossing the cases or lighter sentences.
As noted by the LA Times.
Defense lawyers in a growing number of cases are raising questions about the motives of government lawyers who have brought charges against their clients. In court papers, they are citing the furor over the U.S. attorney dismissals as evidence that their cases may have been infected by politics.
Justice officials say those concerns are unfounded and constitute desperate measures by desperate defendants. But the affair has given defendants and their lawyers some new energy, which is complicating life for the prosecutors.
And we should certainly believe everything the Justice Department has to say about it, right?
Now in addition to that problem, and previous claims by defense attorneys that illegal evidence may have been used against them via NSA wiretaps, we have The Libby Treatment defense, but that hasn't phased the White House. Nope, not even a little bit.
In a USA Today Op-ed written by Snow Job himself, our erstwhile Press Secretary says that what the President did the other day - besides the fact that he's almost never done it before - was completely normal.
[Bush] believes it is important to respect the jury’s work. ... So the president left intact the felony convictions and two of the major punishments — the fine and probation.
President Bush commuted part of Lewis Libby's sentence because he considered a 30-month stretch in prison too severe. Libby was convicted of obstruction of justice and perjury; was fined $250,000; must serve two years probation; and will likely lose his license to practice law. That qualifies as a stern penalty for a first-time offender with a long history of public service.
Isn't it interesting that the Press Secretary has decided that he needs to temporarily return to being a member of the dreaded media by submitting an Oped on this issue? What's the matter Tony, weren't you able to catapult the propaganda sufficiently from behind the pulpit?
Of course he says nothing about Judge Reggie Walton's order which indicates the that probation is entirely moot, since Federal guidelines require that a defendant serve time before they can be placed on "supervised release."
Once you leave the psycho fantasy world of the Snowblind, things get a wee bit more interesting.
From the New York Sun.
[An] alleged Hamas operative is likely to be among the first criminal defendents to try to capitalize on President Bush’s commutation.” Mohammad Salah is scheduled to be sentenced next week on obstruction of justice charges, with a 22 year maximum sentence. “What the president said about Mr. Libby applies in spades to the case of Mohammed Salah,” said defense attorney Michael Deutsch.
"When Mr. Bush commuted that prison sentence on Monday, he made particular note of the alleged unfairness in how Libby’s sentence was calculated. “Critics say the punishment does not fit the crime: Mr. Libby was a first-time offender with years of exceptional public service and was handed a harsh sentence based in part on allegations never presented to the jury,” the president wrote."
“It applies to an even greater extent in Mr. Salah’s case,” Mr. Deutsch said. “In our case, these allegations were presented to a jury and he was acquitted.”
Rather than lying to the FBI and a Grand Jury, Salah was convicted of lies not related to his criminal case, but instead of statements made on the stand during his defense against civil prosecution by families of victims of a deadly Hamas sponsored-bombing. So the associates of suicide bombers are now claiming they should recieve clemency based on the exact same arguements made by the President to save Libby from prison?
I wonder what Tony Snow might say to that? You think he might try spin this into an "Clinton did it too" arguement? Nah, he would never.
Think again.
The Constitution gives the president the power to grant clemency in a wide range of cases, at his discretion, with no restrictions. In the final hours of the Clinton administration, this unfettered authority was embodied in a mad rush to push through pardons with dizzying haste — 141 grants on Clinton's final day in office, part of 211 in the final nine weeks.
In contrast, no president in recent history has made more careful use of the pardoning power than George W. Bush: The president believes pardons and commutations should reflect a genuine determination to strengthen the rule of law and increase public faith in government.
.
See, Bush was just restoring faith and the "(d)rule of law" to government after that rotten Clinton guy messed everything up. Nothing to worry about.
Except possibly for the fact that ...
Susan James, defense attorney for former Governor Don Siegelman (
RD-AL), who was convicted of corruption and obstruction of justice charges, plans to argue for the “Libby treatment” for Siegelman. “[Bush] has basically come in and said the sentence is too harsh,” James said. “I’ll find some way to weave that into our argument,” James said.
Isn't this when Scooby Doo usually goes "Ruh Roh"?
More from TPM Muckraker.
Siegelman was convicted on corruption charges stemming from appointing a healthcare CEO, Robert Scrushy, to a public board. Like Libby, he was also convicted of obstruction of justice charges, which were related to a $9,000 motorcycle transaction. But unlike Libby, who was give six to eight weeks to report to jail, Siegelman was taken into custody immediately after the judge announced his sentence. Before the commutation announcement this evening, Siegelman's lawyers had argued that he should have been allowed to remain free while awaiting his appeal.
"He doesn't want to be treated like Paris Hilton, but he does want to be treated fairly like Scooter Libby," said another one of Siegelman's lawyers, Vince Kilborn.
Isn't that great, everybody wants to get Scooter-fied.
Yep, That's a Heckuvajob you did there Bushie. Way to "Protect the Homeland" and "Fight Terrorism". Oh yeah, and that Faith in Government and Rule of Law thingee should be arriving on the South Lawn any minute now - like a flaming bag full of crap on Halloween.
It Burns - It BURNS!
And it stinks too.
Update: One thing about that should be pointed out with Fred "Flaw and Disorder" Thompson, Rudy Giuliani (who hasn't met a brutal cop he doesn't love) and Mitt Romney (who as Massachusetts governor refused to pardon an Iraq war veteran’s BB-gun conviction) all of whom have openly and enthusiastically supported the President's action regarding Libby - does this mean that any or all of them would be willing to make changes to various Manditory Minimum Sentencing Guidelines to allow more judicial flexibility in the light of "extenuating circumstances?"
Somehow, I think not.
Vyan
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