A Great Day

The Geneva Conventions aren't just a quaint notion! They even apply to "detainees" and hopefully "enemy combatants" (whatever those two vague classifications of the species Homo Sapiens means). The Supreme Court today in a dramatic reversal from its gerrymander on demand ruling yesterday ruled that the United States was indeed a land ruled by a Constitution rather than the petit dictatorship the Shrub seems to mistake us for, but more on that later.

Rep. Peter Hoekstra, Republican Chairman of the House Intelligence (excuse the oxymoron) Committee, today tried to make political hay of the 500 antique chemical warheads found in Iraq whose payload is about as dangerous as Drano and less dangerous than some of the insecticides I use on my roses. He called these the WMDs the President went to war over. Finally, something they can point to and say, "see, it was justified!" The warheads predate the first Gulf War and as I remember it, the Shrub, Colon the Inadvertent Sphincter, Condi "Like White On" Rice and the other Shrubpublicans were talking about were supposed to be usable, not a bunch of relics. I don't think any but the True Believers will be swayed by this weak attempt at justifying the unjustifiable.

And they found my records! The laptop with mine and about 26.5 million other veterans' personal data was just turned in. Computer experts at the FBI say the data wasn't accessed and I'm supposed to believe them. It'll save the Government millions in credit monitoring for us veterans, and I'm supposed to believe them. Right. See above for a treatise on trusting anything anyone associated with the Shrubpublicans or the rest of the Repugnican Party.

I mean, we can't even trust them to protect one of the last bastions of equality, the Internet, from corporate predation. Today even a Republican defected to tie the House Committee debating Internet Neutrality, the principle that my package of data is just as valuable as anyone elses. The opponents of this last equality of the little man argue that it places a Presidential e-mail on the same level as kiddie porn (a point I agree with but read on). What it will do is make the information superhighway a toll road with he who pays the most getting the fastest transmission. My humble blog, not supporting the Company Line, will be low if not last on the list, a victim of lobbyists convincing the Republicans that what's good for industry is good for anyone. In this case, it means move uploading those baby pics to the bottom of the list. Even the kiddie pornographer can afford to pay more for speed than you.

I want Colorado jerrymandered. We have a Democratic majority in both state houses so I want Tancredo's district and his Regan Republican supporters scattered, thrown in with majority Democrats and diluted to the point where Tommy the Xenophobe can't hold his seat any more. Get it going, Colo Dems! The floodgates have been opened! In actuality I find it deplorable that drawing Congressional district lines is politicized and that the stacked Supreme Court couldn't find that a district that stretches from Austin to San Angelo isn't a political gerrymander and not the will of the people. This is the first result of Bush stacking the court with wingnuts. Democratic Senators, you should have fought harder.

And finally, the Court gets it right. Not only did they overthrow the kangaroo courts at Guantanamo, they also effectively said that the Congressional resolution to use force was not carte blanche for Bush to take over the Government and form his own private KGB. In summary, it said that the resolution didn't give the President powers to circumvent law. That pretty much makes his wiretapping scheme illegal - he bypassed the FISE law. Could this be a high crime and misdemeanor? But then, President Cheney.... yuck! Phoey!