Thursday, March 31, 2005
Oh come on--there's only a FEW tanks in the street...
Funny how some subjects just seem to jump into everyone's mind at once. Reader Paul said:
What else were they? Five innocent bystanders died. In another era this would have been a bomb-throwing at a parade.
Then, as Paul points out, there was the outing of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame, which was politically motivated--and which once upon a time would have been considered treasonous, if not exactly an "assassination".
Then of course there was the decision by two U.S. Army veterans to blow up a federal building in Oklahoma in 1995.
There was the $43 million investigation into a (Democratic) presidential blow-job. The one with the "witness" who'd been transferred to the White House from the Pentagon. You know, the one who befriended the young woman "involved"--then taped their phone conversations?
There was the U.S. Supreme Court decision to reverse a State Supreme Court decision and stop a presidential election vote recount--with no supporting legal framework and with the caveat that it never be used as precedent. That was an interesting moment in the whole "rule of law" thing.
Just last week we had the Congress pass and the president sign a blatantly unconstitutional measure in an attempt to usurp proper state judicial authority, to the accompaniment of a resounding media propaganda campaign that attempted to confuse Americans as to the very nature of the separation of powers--an attempt which fortunately failed.
There was the state judge who decided to reinterpret the Establishment Clause of the Constitution and put an enormous monument to the Ten Commandments in his court plaza, then refused a federal order to remove it.
Oh, and the college philosophy student who for some reason believed he was entitled to take over teaching the class because the professor disagreed with his interpretation of the sixth Commandment and its relevance to Plato.
Exactly what is Mr. Pace waiting for? An angry armed mob in the street?
201k is concerned that he may not have to wait too long.
Its interesting that you brought this up. I had put this and the Valerie Plane (SP) case out of my mind of late. It is pretty clear that the FBI was avoiding any obvious statement about the political orientation of the victims. They spent a lot of time and money chasing after Dr. Hatfield, to the point of draining a pond. Politics were all over the case since they made a very big show when they in fact had absolutely no clue. While I doubt very much that the FBI deliberately did a poor job, they sure did do a poor job.Meanwhile, though, Mr. Jared Pace of New York tells the Times:
Pardon if my comments make no sense today (and my spelling is way off too), I was up all night holding hands and praying with Terry Randall.
8:59 AM, March 31, 2005
To the Editor:Hmm. 201k can't help thinking that letters filled with U.S. weapons-grade anthrax mailed to two Democratic Senators and three network news anchors must qualify in some sense as attempted "possible political assassinations".
Paul Krugman's March 29 column reminded me of a letter I received in the mid-1990's from the National Rifle Association.
The letter sought to whip up hysteria over alleged abuses and excesses on the part of federal law enforcement officials, going so far as to invoke a future of "jack-booted government thugs" raiding the homes of innocent citizens who did not have the wherewithal to defend themselves.
I did not renew my N.R.A. membership after that.
How can Mr. Krugman associate Terri Schiavo's parents, Tom DeLay, Gov. Jeb Bush and conscientiously objecting pharmacists with possible political assassinations? Mr. Krugman's inflammatory rhetoric is more extreme than the cultural conservatives'.
Jared Pace
New York, March 30, 2005
What else were they? Five innocent bystanders died. In another era this would have been a bomb-throwing at a parade.
Then, as Paul points out, there was the outing of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame, which was politically motivated--and which once upon a time would have been considered treasonous, if not exactly an "assassination".
Then of course there was the decision by two U.S. Army veterans to blow up a federal building in Oklahoma in 1995.
There was the $43 million investigation into a (Democratic) presidential blow-job. The one with the "witness" who'd been transferred to the White House from the Pentagon. You know, the one who befriended the young woman "involved"--then taped their phone conversations?
There was the U.S. Supreme Court decision to reverse a State Supreme Court decision and stop a presidential election vote recount--with no supporting legal framework and with the caveat that it never be used as precedent. That was an interesting moment in the whole "rule of law" thing.
Just last week we had the Congress pass and the president sign a blatantly unconstitutional measure in an attempt to usurp proper state judicial authority, to the accompaniment of a resounding media propaganda campaign that attempted to confuse Americans as to the very nature of the separation of powers--an attempt which fortunately failed.
There was the state judge who decided to reinterpret the Establishment Clause of the Constitution and put an enormous monument to the Ten Commandments in his court plaza, then refused a federal order to remove it.
Oh, and the college philosophy student who for some reason believed he was entitled to take over teaching the class because the professor disagreed with his interpretation of the sixth Commandment and its relevance to Plato.
Exactly what is Mr. Pace waiting for? An angry armed mob in the street?
201k is concerned that he may not have to wait too long.
