The terrible decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday to prohibit former prisoners of the CIA from putting their allegations of torture before the courts was decided on the basis that ought to have every progressive outraged. Such lawsuits, the court ruled in a 6-to-5 decision, would potentially expose state secrets. It was the culmination of moves made by the Obama administration begun in February 2009.
At the time, there was considerable hope that the state secrets approach of the Bush administration - which we on the left, a few members of Congress and various candidates for high office had been railing about for years - would get knocked down by the Obama administration. Many argued in those first hopeful days, 18 months ago, that the Obama administration's initial support in the courts for maintaining the Cheney-Bush administration's policy in such matters was just a holding action, not at all the new administration's real point of view. Once the new chief of the Department of Justice got settled in, dumped some of the holdovers from the ancien regime and hired some good people of his own, it was said, things would be different.
Be patient we impatient ones were told. Having no choice, we did. Alas, in vain. Just as we awaited in vain for the possibility that, even if there were no investigations of torture and war policy, there might at least be a truth and reconcilation commission.
On Democracy Now! Thursday, Ben Wizner, staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project, was interviewed by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez Thursday about the Ninth's ruling:
 BEN WIZNER: Well, again, we need to look at the broader context in which this case is not being allowed to go forward. We are now almost two years into the Obama administration. Not a single victim of the Bush administration's torture regime has yet had his day in court. And that's because both the Bush administration and the Obama administration have thrown up one after another procedural roadblock to make sure that these claims won't be heard and to make sure that no court will be able to say what happened here was illegal, what happened to these people was a crime. In this case, as you said in the lead in, the particular device that the administration used was the state secrets privilege. But although this may be viewed in the United States as an arcane dispute about an evidentiary privilege, we need to look at how the rest of the world sees this. And the rest of the world wants to know whether there will be any possibility in US courts for torture victims to have redress. And if the answer is no, if this decision is allowed to stand, we're going to see the foreign prosecutors, magistrates, the Garzóns, the Spataros of the world, who have been on this program, we're going to see those people reinvigorating their investigations into the Bush administration's torture regime, because America can't clean up its own mess. JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, it's been your understanding that state secrets have been used in the past around a particular part of evidence in a court proceeding, not over an entire proceeding. Could you explain that? BEN WIZNER: Well, again, in this case, the Bush administration and then the Obama administration did not invoke the state secrets privilege in order to prevent the disclosure of a particular document, or even a particular piece of information. They invoked the privilege before the lawsuit had even gotten off the ground and said that the entire subject matter of this lawsuit was off-limits for judicial review. Remember, we are required, as a signatory to the Convention Against Torture, to provide a remedy for people who are torture victims. This use of the state secrets privilege violates our treaty obligations, violates international law. |
At Lawyers, Guns and Money, Scott Lemieux writes, “State Secrets” Swallow the Constitution:
| I should note here that in a brief, remarkable concurring opinion Judge Carlos Bea argued that even these allegations should be considered state secrets. Under this logic, the use of torture is inherently not subject to legal review because any interrogation techniques that might be used against suspected terrorists are state secrets. The most depressing thing is that this authoritarian Catch-22 differs from the majority’s reasoning more in degree than in kind. The bare majority of the 9th Circuit deserves all of the criticism it gets for this decision. Shielding the government from any accountability for arbitrary detention and torture before even giving the alleged victims a day in court is a grotesque abdication of basic judicial responsibilities, and indeed despite the pose of deference represents “judicial activism” in the most pejorative sense. As Judge Hawkins — not exactly a staunch libertarian — wrote in his dissent, “The state secrets doctrine is a judicial construct without foundation in the Constitution, yet its application often trumps what we ordinarily consider to be due process of law. This case now presents a classic illustration.” This case represents the judiciary failing at its most fundamental responsibility — ensuring that state violence be applied lawfully. But we shouldn’t forget who bears the most responsibility — George W. Bush, whose administration performed the renditions, and Barack Obama, whose administration has worked hard to ensure that Bush’s victims are denied their basic due process. There’s no way around the fact that Obama has been a bitter disappointment on this issue, and on this issue he can’t blame James Madison for tying his hands. |
Valtin discussed this in a recommended diary late Wednesday.
• • • • •
On this date at Daily Kos in 2005:
| See, that's the difference between us and them. They put their party above the country, and would rather stiffle a real investigation than be forced to shoulder any blame. We say, "investigate away", and let the chips fall where they may. If any Democrats share the blame, then so be it. We need to know what went wrong, who f'd up, and how we can prevent this sort of thing from happening again. If Blanco or another Democrats gets fingered in this epic screwup, that's okay. But the wingers don't see it that way. "Rethink their calls for an investigation"... Jeez. Talk about projection, as though our motivations are the same as theirs. As though we look at the Gulf Coast and think, "hmmm, how can we best protect Democrats who may have had a hand in this mess..." Unlike them, we place country first, party second. |
This evening's Rescue Rangers are vcmvo2, srkp23, grog (pulling a double duty), dadanation, and ybruti with shayera editing.
- PaulLoeb wants all hands on deck in The Election Needs You, Broken Heart and All. (ybruti)
- Heidiho610 explains Why I'm Going to the One Nation March on October 2nd, which is really a story about political awakening. (grog)
- voice for independents asks Do Any of These People on TV Understand Business? The short answer is no. (grog)
- PopularEconomics explains why Fed's Beige Shows Inflation Bias (not jobs growth). (ybruti)
- cabaretic muses on faith, anxiety and Trader Joe's in The Myth of Scarcity, The Reality of Abundance. (grog)
- pangeaprogress prefers the church/state views of Thomas Paine Contra Glenn Beck. (ybruti)
- fake consultant examines some of the stupidity the American electoral produces On Living With Idiots, Or, An Open Letter To Islam. (grog)
jotter brings us yet another solid High Impact Diaries: September 8, 2010.
noweasels has Top Comments: Canvassing 101 (Yes, YOU can!)s.
Enjoy and please promote your own favorite diaries in this open thread.
A fairly quiet Thursday on the campaign trail, though we do see some new and encouraging numbers out of the Hawkeye State (and the source will surprise you). We have less encouraging numbers out of Maine (and the source will surprise you there, as well).
That, plus a lesson in campaign comity from the lovely state of Vermont. All that (and more!) in the Thursday edition of the Wrap...
THE U.S. SENATE
FL-Sen: New poll gives Rubio double-digit lead in Sunshine State
A new Sunshine State News poll (put together by sometimes-GOP, sometimes-media pollster Susquehanna Communications) shows that the post-primary bounce for Democrat Kendrick Meek seems to have come largely out of the support for Independent candidate Charlie Crist. The poll puts Republican Marco Rubio at 43% of the vote, with Crist now well behind at 29% of the vote. Meek has now moved into contention with Crist, logging 23% of the vote.
THE U.S. HOUSE
AZ-01/AZ-05: Pair of GOP internal polls tease competitive Fall races
If you buy new internal polling from the GOP out of the Grand Canyon State, political neophyte Paul Gosar could topple freshman Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick, while the second time might be the charm for David Schwiekert over Democrat Harry Mitchell. A new Moore Information poll out of the northeastern-based 1st district puts Gosar in a dead heat with Kirkpatrick, with both candidates grabbing 43% of the vote. Meanwhile, down in the greater Phoenix metro area, a National Research poll puts Schweikert (who lost by nine points in 2008) up with a modest lead over second-term Rep. Harry Mitchell (46-38). Both polls were conducted a little over a week ago.
CO-04: Dem internal claims a tie race in swing district
In a rather transparent counterpunch to that ugly Ayers McHenry polling dump last week, incumbent Democrat Betsy Markey has released internal polling showing a coin flip between her and GOP challenger Cory Gardner. The poll, conducted this week by Bennett Pitts and Northington, puts both candidates at 38%, and has two third-party candidates snatching 7% of the vote. One criticism of the Ayers McHenry poll was that (mostly rightward-leaning) third party candidates were not offered as an alternative in their polls.
CT-05: Even GOP internals in district put Murphy at a toss-up
In addition to their work in central Arizona, National Research has been busy in the northeastern part of the country, as well. Even their polls, however, could not provide a lead for GOP challenger Sam Caliguiri. The internal poll, conducted last week, put second-term Democrat Chris Murphy one point ahead of Caliguiri (40-39). Another GOP poll, that one from Ayers McHenry, had Murphy ahead of Republican Steve Greenberg (who wound up losing the primary to Caliguiri).
IA-01/IA-02/IA-03: GOP poll puts Dems ahead in three key races
Call this one the "holy shit" surprise poll of the day, especially when you consider the source. GOP pollsters Voter/Consumer Research headed into the field in Iowa, and found that all three Democratic incumbents polled hold respectable leads over their Republican challengers. The big surprise among the three is veteran Rep. Leonard Boswell, who most folks conceded was trailing Republican challenger Brad Zaun. The GOP pollster begs to differ, however, putting Boswell up by nine points (48-39) over Zaun. In Iowa's 2nd district, second-term incumbent David Loebsack holds a similar edge over Mariannette Miller-Meeks (47-39), while over in the 1st district, second term Democrat Bruce Braley holds a slightly larger edge over Republican Ben Lange (50-39). The pollster found slightly closer races when they confined their sample to so-called "certain to vote" participants.
KS-04: Hartman flirtation with Libertarian bid ends
A slight disappointment for Democrats, or anyone who likes a good political grudge match. Wealthy businessman Wink Hartman, who lost a bloody GOP primary to nominee Mike Pompeo, has reversed course on plans to run on the Libertarian line. The Libertarian candidate had withdrawn due to health problems, and as recently as yesterday it appeared as if Hartman and the Libertarians were close to marriage. Hartman appeared to have been the recipient of extensive lobbying by the GOP, who feared that Hartman on the Libertarian line might provide enough erosion from Pompeo to hand the victory to his hard-charging Democratic rival, state legislator Raj Goyle.
ME-01/ME-02: Dems under 50%, with single digit leads, according to PPP
If the Iowa polls were an unexpected dose of good news in our polling universe today, DK polling partners PPP provided the buzzkill, adding two races to the potential GOP target list that were largely off the radar screen. Their new polls out of Maine have both freshman Democrat Chellie Pingree and veteran Democratic incumbent Michael Michaud with leads only in the high single digits against their GOP opposition. Pingree leads Dean Scontras by a 48-39 margin, while Michaud is out in front of Republican Jason Levesque by a slightly smaller margin (45-38). Pingree won this open-seat in 2008 by a 55-45 margin, but Michaud has been re-elected easily since his initial win in 2002.
THE GUBERNATORIAL RACES
NY-Gov: Paladino tries to win this election through the mails
Perhaps this is an interesting and novel sign that basing a campaign's late push solely on saturation TV ads really is a thing of the past. The New York Observer has an interesting piece about the final week campaign blitz by wealthy GOP businessman Carl Paladino. Rather than solely taking to the air, as has been standard practice for candidates for years, Paladino is adding a sizeable direct mail component to his final push against former Republican Congressman Rick Lazio. The direct mail, according to the Observer consists of "letters [that] are long—usually clocking in at two-to-three pages—text heavy, and are aimed at older voters for whom sitting down with the day's mail is an important part of the day." Paladino and Lazio square off in next Tuesday's New York primary, though either is likely to be sizeable underdog to Democratic state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
RI-Gov: Frank Caprio's ugly news day
It is safe to say that today's news cycle was not particularly swell for near-certain Democratic gubernatorial nominee Frank Caprio. It has become evident in the last 24 hours that the GOP is trying to make Caprio unelectable to his own party. First came the revelation from the RNC that Caprio met with the committee last winter, with the implication that Caprio was coming to discuss running under the GOP banner. Caprio strongly denies that, but it is worth noting that he was locked in what seemed like it would be a bitter showdown with state AG Patrick Lynch at that time for the Democratic nomination (Lynch eventually folded his campaign). Later in the day, GOP candidate John Robataille piled on, dishing that Caprio had met with him personally and tried to entice Robataille into dropping out of the race. Robataille claims that offers were made both through an emissary, and by Caprio himself, over the past month.
Caprio is locked in a strange position, given that he is facing both a Republican candidate (to be determined next week), and a Republican-turned-Independent (former Senator Lincoln Chafee), who for all intents and purposes seems to be running to Caprio's left.
VT-Gov: The feelgood tour of the late Summer
This is how you handle a difficult and close primary election, kids. The five candidates who competed for the Democratic nomination for Governor are touring the state together, even as a recount to determine the nominee is underway. The recount, which is more than halfway completed, has not changed the calculus much at all, which favors Peter Shumlin, who led the semi-official returns by almost 200 votes.
THE RAS-A-POLL-OOZA
The House of Ras hits the stage with a quartet of polls today, the majority of them extremely bullish on the GOP. We also get a little example Rasmussen-esque placement of a thumb on the scale--the Illinois Senate poll includes the Green Party candidate by name, but curiously omits the much more conservative Libertarian candidate on the ballot. I'm also not sure I buy a toss-up in West Virginia, either, but with little other polling in the field, it cannot be discounted.
AZ-Sen: Sen. John McCain (R) 51%, Rodney Glassman (D) 37%
IL-Sen: Mark Kirk (R) 41%, Alexi Giannoulias (D) 37%
MO-Sen: Roy Blunt (R) 53%, Robin Carnahan (D) 43%
WV-Sen: Joe Manchin (D) 50%, John Raese (R) 45%
Write the diary!
While Steve Singiser's outstanding roundup highlights news of many races in this election cycle, it is you - the Daily Kos community - who can be on the ground to provide the insight and information to help our candidates at every level. The Election Diary Rescue is back, and now we need you to write those diaries!
This Rescue Diary covers the period from 6 PM, Wednesday, 9/8 to 6:00 PM EDT, Thursday, 9/9
Today's Menu Includes :
27 Diaries Overall
- 6 On House races
- With 6 covering individual Districts in 6 states
- 10 On Senate races
- Representing 6 different states
- 9 On Various election races and ballot issues
- Encompassing Governor, Secretary of State, Local, and more
- 2 General election-related diaries
And be sure to follow the Election Diary Rescue on Twitter
(Tonight's compilation and more after the jump............)
It's been a while since we've heard from the Dred Scott Republicans on amending or repealing the 14th amendment. Apparently the Burlington Coat Factory Islamic Center was a far shinier wedge issue, so they dropped this one. But circling back on it to close the loop, it turns out to be a self-defeating policy idea.
[E]nding birthright citizenship is also bad policy for those who want to decrease the population of illegal immigrants — because it has the exact opposite effect. The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute reported today [pdf] that even the most conservative changes to birthright citizen could cause the proportion of children without documents to double, from 2% of all children living in the U.S. to 4%.
The report looked at the likely growth of the illegal immigrant population in the U.S. between now and 2050, not taking into account changes in the flow of immigrants based on enforcement or the economy. Under the current system, all children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrant parents are citizens, meaning illegal status is not passed down the line to future generations. The illegal immigrant population is younger, on average, than the population overall, and had about 340,000 babies in the U.S. in 2008 — about 8 percent of the total number of children born in the U.S. that year.
If those children were undocumented, they would pass down illegal status to their children. The report projects that by 2050, about 4.7 million undocumented immigrants would have been born in the U.S., 1 million of them to U.S.-born parents.
So the only policy solution that would make any sense for the Dred Scotters would be to round up and deport everyone in the country who is here without legal authorization. Then take away birthright citizenship. Because if you do it without getting rid of all the undocumented folks, well, you just end up with more undocumented people. But even Haley Barbour recognizes that "common sense tell us we’re not going to take 10 or 12 or 14 million people and put them in jail and deport them."
In other words, Republicans are short on common sense, long on crazy, divisive rhetoric. Nothing new in that, just sayin'.
Rep. Anthony Weiner has some advice for Dems:
"We've got to get out of our defensive crouch here, and start to talk about some of the things that were accomplished," Weiner said on "Imus in the Morning" on the Fox Business Network. "And realize that, look, we're going to have a choice in November: [The] Republican Party has basically said they're going to repeal a lot of these things."
....
Weiner, who'd led a bloc of liberal Democrats during the pivotal healthcare reform battle earlier this year, acknowledged that he was "worried" about the health of Democrats' majorities going into November's elections.
"It takes a great man to build a barn, but any jackass can kick it down," Weiner said.
Good advice, even though his choice of venue sucks, and probably won't reach a lot of Dem ears. He's right in that Dems need to fight, and to show the nation that they've got a very stark choice to make.
But, respectfully, Weiner needs to offer more than just advice to his fellow Dems, as good as it is. He's one of those safe House Dems who is significantly behind in paying his DCCC dues.
It'd have been nice if WINO (waverer in name only, back from the magical September days of fighting Iraq War funding) Sen. George Voinovich had had a spine injection 17 months sooner, but better late than never. He's breaking the logjam that will finally allow this bill to pass.
Retiring Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) said he plans to help push a package of small-business incentives through the Senate next week, a move that would give President Obama and congressional Democrats a key victory on the economy in the final weeks before the November midterm elections.
In an interview, Voinovich said he could no longer support efforts by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to delay the measure in hopes of winning the right to offer additional GOP amendments. Most of the proposed amendments "didn't have anything to do with the bill" anyway, Voinovich said, and amounted merely to partisan "messaging."
"We don't have time for messaging. We don't have time anymore. This country is really hurting," Voinovich said. If a single amendment to reduce paperwork for business owners is considered on the floor, Voinovich said he told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that he would add his vote to that of 59 Democrats. That would give the majority party the 60 votes needed to overcome possible a GOP filibuster and move the package to final passage when Congress returns to Washington next week.
This small business bill is the best chance at getting any kind of jobs initiative, however modest, through before the election, so good for Voinovich for doing it. I guess that's the luxury of being on your way out, by choice. Hopefully he'll also line up to support the infrastructure bill which could give more leverage to leadership in forcing a recalcitrant Michael Bennet to toe the line.
Don't miss Drdemocrat's diary for much more discussion.
The first shots of the coming civil war.
The Republican Party of Delaware has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission, accusing one of its own Senate candidates of illegally collaborating with the Tea Party Express.
Sad to say, Phil Davison wasn't chosen to run as the Republican candidate for Stark County's (Ohio) treasurer, but he did deliver the funniest -- and by funny, I mean insane -- political speech ever.
Enjoy.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The pastor planning a burning of the Koran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks said Thursday he would not go forward with the event, adding he plans to meet with the imam planning to build an Islamic center near ground zero.
Terry Jones, the pastor from Gainesville, Fla., said at a press conference, "We have agreed to cancel the event."
The pastor's announcement came after a growing chorus of demands, from President Obama to religious leaders, American generals and others, that he cancel the event planned for Saturday because of the potential imact on Christian-Muslim relations and the effect a Koran burning would have on American troops fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.
But details of the pastor's planned meeting with the Imam, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, remained elusive. Mr. Jones did say he got a promise to move the New York mosque, although such an agreement could not be independently confirmed.
"I have agreed to meet with him," Mr. Jones said in reference to the Imam.
"We have at this time no regrets," he said. "We feel we have accomplished our goal. We are very very happy with the outcome."
It's not surprising that Jones is trying to link his crusade to burn the Koran with the planned Park51 Islamic community center in lower Manhattan, but it's important to point out that there's no evidence to support Jones' claim that Park51 agreed to move in exchange for his decision to stand down. Indeed, Park51 is saying that it has not changed its plans at all. That's a good thing, becase these are two completely unrelated and non-equivalent issues. As Gail Collins wrote:
The Koran-burning has been equated, in some circles, with the fabled ground zero mosque. This is under the theory that both are constitutionally protected bad ideas. In fact, they’re very different. Muslims building a community center in their neighborhood on one hand. Deliberate attempt to insult a religion that is dear to about 1.5 billion souls around the globe on the other.
That being said, if Pastor Jones and Imam Rauf decide that a joint meeting can enhance mutual understanding, they should definitely meet. That's totally cool. But at the same time, it's important to be clear about this fact: there's no link at all between Park51 and burning Korans. None at all.
Join the discussion in marabout40's recommended diary, BREAKING: Hatemonger Pastor Terry Jones Cancels "Int'l Qu'ran Burning Day".
Update: This has to burn -- Whacko Pastor Jones' web hosting provider kicked Jones off its servers, citing violations of its hate speech policies. Good news for Jones: it's a free country. Find a company willing to peddle hate and he'll be back in business.