Monthly Archives: July 2003

Management Shakeup in Iraq?

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The Washington Post reports that the bushies want to bring James Baker in to help clean up the mess:

The White House hopes to persuade former secretary of state James A. Baker III to take charge of the physical and economic reconstruction of Iraq as part of a broad restructuring of post-war efforts, administration sources said today.
Under the plan, L. Paul Bremer, the chief U.S. administrator in Iraq, would focus on rebuilding the country’s political system.

It is clear that Baker will bring a uniquely informed perspective to this job if he takes it. He may though prefer to continue his current work:

A $1 trillion lawsuit on behalf of the victims of September 11 was filed in August 2002 against more than seventy defendants, including three Saudi princes, several Saudi banks and Islamic institutions, the Sudanese government and the Saudi Bin Laden Group, a construction firm run by Osama Bin Laden’s family. Here’s a report on who’s representing the defendants, from MSNBC:
Baker & Botts, Sultan’s [Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi defense minister] law firm, for example, still boasts former secretary of State James Baker as one of its senior partners. Its recent alumni include Robert Jordan, the former personal lawyer for President Bush who is now US ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

As usual Bilmon has a unique take on the bushies need to involve Jim Baker in post war Iraq:

But a drowning man will clutch at straws, so they say, and a Bush in trouble will clutch at … a retired secretary of state. Personally, I think sending another conservative Texas asshole to the Middle East is overkill, given that Tom DeLay is heading that way already. But you know, God does talk to Shrub, and Baker is a very powerful … being.
Maybe he can walk on water.

Do read the rest.

Preparing for the Election Results Vote

This entry was posted in bush Election 2004 on by

Just up:

Computer-science researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Rice University are heaping criticism on electronic voting machines built by Diebold Election Systems, based on software code for the machine said to have been posted publicly to the Internet by an activist.

I’m feeling just peachy about the next national election…really, I am….

Florida Voting Rights

This entry was posted in bush Constitution Election 2004 Politics US Politics on by

Good news from Florida:

Florida agreed to help restore voting rights to nearly 125,000 convicted felons who didn’t get enough advice on how to regain their rights when they walked free, officials said Thursday.
….
Florida is one of eight states that deny ex-felons the right to vote unless they take steps to have their civil rights restored by the state.
The Department of Corrections had acknowledged that offenders released between 1992 and 2001 did not get proper help on having their rights restored.
The system drew international attention during the bitter dispute over the 2000 presidential election, when some Florida voters claimed they weren’t allowed to cast ballots because they were mistaken for convicted felons.

Since Florida appears to have a long history of abusing the civil rights of ex felons this will have to be closely monitored to assure that Florida officials do not find another way to continue their historic practices.
Of course, none of this has an impact on the 2000 election…..
Via Daily Legal News Wire.

Late Night Reading

This entry was posted in Late Night Reads on by

The Mad Prophet quotes an entire Kucinich letter to Nader voters and the Greens.
Kevin Moore at blargblog is looking for a candidate. But there aren’t any anarcho-syndicalists around.
xlrq has posted google bait.
Daniel Drezner points out that Josh Marshall and Steven den Beste agree on the underlying causes of the Iraq war. Now it is not often you see those two snuggling in the same basket so go read Drezner and see where they differ.
Good Night!