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Gonzo Review: Hunter, 1972 and Today

talkleft — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:37:00 -0400

Saturday July 5, 2008

Logan Nakyanzi — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 04:02:13 -0400

Happy 4th of July weekend!

This week on The Best of Black Politics:

Calming your mind – with Jenny Phillips, she’s a practicing psychotherapist and the filmmaker behind “THE DHAMMA BROTHERS,” which tells the story of prisoners finding freedom through mediation. She explains how anyone can work towards “spiritual development” through meditation.

Chris will also be joined by journalist Gilbert King, author of “THE EXECUTION OF WILLIE FRANCIS: Race, Murder, and the Search for Justice in the American South” with his story on cruel and unusual punishment and the outrageous case that sparked his interest in the criminal justice system.

Sen. Church v. Sen. Obama

talkleft — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:39:25 -0400

Via mcjoan, Senator Frank Church:

Personal privacy is protected because it is essential to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our Constitution checks the power of Government for purposes of protecting the rights of individuals, in order that all our citizens may live in a free and decent society. . . . When government infringes those right instead of nurturing and protecting them, the injury spreads far beyond the particular citizens targeted to untold numbers of other Americans who may be intimidated...

The natural tendency of government is toward abuse of power. Men entrusted with power, even those aware of its dangers, tend, particularly when pressured, to slight liberty. Our constitutional system guards against this tendency. It establishes many different checks upon power. It is those wise restraints which keep men free. In the field of intelligence those restraints have too often been ignored....

More . . .

The United States must not adopt the tactics of the enemy. Means are important, as ends. Crisis makes it tempting to ignore the wise restraints that make men free. But each time we do so, each time the means we use are wrong, our inner strength, the strength which makes us free, is lessened.

Senator Barack Obama:

I . . . believe that the compromise bill is far better than the Protect America Act that I voted against last year. . . . In a dangerous world, government must have the authority to collect the intelligence we need to protect the American people. . . .

Frank Church chose to protect our civil liberties and the Constitution in the face of Executive Branch abuse. Barack Obama has chosen to capitulate in the face of Executive Branch abuse.

What to Do in the Free World

talkleft — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:35:12 -0400

Neil Young sends us a Fourth of July gift:

In the spirit of Independence Day, Shakey Pictures is airing this special web video for the 4th of July weekend. For best results, we suggest that you connect your computer to a good set of speakers, set your volume on LOUD and fire up the BBQ.

Let Freedom Ring!

(Keep on) Rockin' in the Free World, performed live with Crosby, Stills and Nash.

You might also enjoy clicking "Music Video" here.

A Bad Night in Post Alley

talkleft — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:04:48 -0400

Seattle Police Officer Zsolt Dornay made a mistake.

Just after midnight, Dornay was riding through Post Alley when his mirror bumped Lisabeth Dias, a paralegal who was leaving Kells Irish Pub. The officer was in street clothes and had finished his shift. Dias took umbrage with him riding through the crowded alley and straddled the front wheel of his motorcycle.

Mistake 1: Don't mess with paralegals. After arguing with Dias and her boss, Dornay made his second mistake.

Dornay, who said he identified himself as a police officer, drove forward with Dias clinging to the windshield.

Mistake 2: Don't try to drive a motorcycle with a paralegal clinging to the windshield, while her boss and a whole group of people are there to witness your reckless conduct. [more ...]

Things quickly got ugly, with too many mistakes by everyone involved to begin adding them up. It nonetheless seems fair to say that shooting the lawyer was mistake 3.

Dornay grabbed the woman and pushed her against a garage door, drawing the attention of several men. The group then turned into a mob that punched, kicked and stomped the officer, causing him to briefly lose consciousness. He reached for his .40-caliber Glock and fired several shots.

Who made the most mistakes will be decided by the jury that hears the lawsuit filed by the paralegal's boss, who didn't appreciate being shot given that he wasn't part of the mob attacking the officer. Dornay has countersued, claiming the unarmed lawyer "was coming toward him and about to kick him when he fired," an allegation the lawyer (who had a good bit to drink and undoubtedly had a chivalrous interest in rescuing his paralegal, knowing how difficult it is to find a good one) denies.

It's difficult to understand why Dornay is deemed fit to carry a badge and gun, given this:

Clemency Overdue For the Innocent

talkleft — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:06:57 -0400

Perhaps preoccupied with his own problems, Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois has neglected the stack of clemency petitions overflowing his IN basket. The day before a long holiday weekend is always a good day to grant pardons. The inevitable "soft on crime" criticism that follows from giving someone a break is softened when voters are too busy watching things explode to pay much attention to the news.

Of the 19 pardons Blagojevich granted yesterday, some are clearly overdue:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich has pardoned three men who were exonerated in 2002 after a federal investigation forced Chicago police to re-examine the 1997 kidnapping and murder that led to their convictions. The men spent years in jail before authorities determined they were not involved in the crimes, and have been awaiting the pardon decision for some time.

and

Blagojevich also pardoned a dead man who served more than a dozen years in prison for a rape and murder he didn't commit.

But the governor needs to get back to work. [more ...]

"While the four men who received innocence pardons are certainly deserving, there are numerous other exonerated individuals who are likewise awaiting innocence pardons," said Karen Daniel, an attorney with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University. "The governor should prioritize these innocence cases as he continues his review."

Early Evening Open Thread: Chimes of Freedom

talkleft — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:18:08 -0400

The Byrds at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.

...The chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An' for each an' every underdog soldier in the night
....An' for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail
... we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Our earlier open thread is full, here's another one. How is your holiday going so far?

Fourth of July Open Thread

talkleft — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:09:15 -0400

Enjoy your day. This is an Open Thread.

Jesse Helms Is Dead

talkleft — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:05:45 -0400

The AP reports:

Former Sen. Jesse Helms, who built a career along the fault lines of racial politics and battled liberals, Communists and the occasional fellow Republican during 30 conservative years in Congress, died on the Fourth of July. He was 86.

We do not speak ill of the dead at TalkLeft, at least on the day of the death. Keep that in mind if you feel a need to comment.

RIP, Jesse Helms.

A Response To Obama's Defense Of The FISA Capitulation

talkleft — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:44:34 -0400

Yesterday, Barack Obama issued a defense of his support for the FISA Capitulation bill. I want to associate myself with the response of Glenn Greenwald:

The new FISA bill that Obama supports vests new categories of warrantless eavesdropping powers in the President (.pdf), and allows the Government, for the first time, to tap physically into U.S. telecommunications networks inside our country with no individual warrant requirement. To claim that this new bill creates "an independent monitor [to] watch the watchers to prevent abuses and to protect the civil liberties of the American people" is truly misleading, since the new FISA bill actually does the opposite -- it frees the Government from exactly that monitoring in all sorts of broad categories.

I also want to associate myself with the words of Justice Louis Brandeis on the subject of liberty:

More Sexism At NBC

talkleft — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:47:23 -0400

The victims this time were Rachel Maddow AND Hillary Clinton. The context was Obama's "inartful" use of the word "refine" regarding his Iraq policy. TChris covered that controversy. Maddow was arguing the Obama argument and Joe Scarborough was not happy about Maddow's laughing as a reaction to Joe's commentary. The result was yet another episode of sexism at NBC:

Yet more guffaws from Maddow.

MADDOW: You're so wrong, I can't even hold it together. You're so wrong.

SCARBOROUGH: You might support Obama but you've got the Clinton cackle down, Rachel. I'm proud of ya.

(Emphasis supplied.) Maddow has been silent and cowardly on the issue of sexism and misogyny at NBC and in general, so you might be tempted to feel some schadenfreude. Resist it. Sexism is wrong whenever it occurs and whomever it is directed at. NBC should suspend Scarborough for this blatant bout of sexism.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Morning Holiday Music: Jimi Hendrix, Star Spangled Banner

talkleft — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:16:00 -0400

Some morning maniac music for the 4th of July from Woodstock:

First, Jimi Hendrix's Star Spangled Banner and then the Jefferson Airplane signing Volunteers (of America.)

This is an open thread.

Late Night: America

talkleft — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:06:20 -0400

I've come to look for America...
They've all come to look for America.

Simon and Garfunkle version here.

One more, Bon Jovi, Miss Fourth of July

This is an open thread. Song suggestions for tomorrow (4th of July) welcome.

No Flip, Today's Attack Flops

talkleft — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:15:54 -0400

Funny headline:

Target: Barack Obama. Strategy: What Day Is It?

The McCain campaign's shotgun attack strategy would be more effective if the campaign had any ammunition with which to load the gun. Today's attack:

On Thursday McCain aides and the Republican National Committee pounced on a comment by Mr. Obama that he would be willing to “refine” his long-held plan to withdraw all combat troops from Iraq within his first 16 months in office.

Because an inflexible unwillingness to respond to changing conditions, even at risk of further endangering lives, is principled? Obama's response:

"We're going to try this again. Apparently I wasn't clear enough this morning on my position with respect to the war in Iraq. I have said throughout this campaign that this war was ill-conceived, that it was a strategic blunder and that it needs to come to an end."

The Illinois senator added, "I have also said that I would be deliberate and careful in how we got out, that we would bring our troops home at a pace of one to two brigades per month and that at that pace we would have our combat troops out in 16 months. That position has not changed."

Do you have a superior withdrawal plan, Senator McCain? Oh, that's right ....

Holiday Eve Open Thread

talkleft — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:01:41 -0400

Time for an open thread. Anyone around?