Democracy

Secret Trials

This entry was posted in bush CAPPS II Constitution Democracy Domestic Terrorism Judiciary Law Libertarianism Patriot Act War on Terrorism on by

What is the justice department hiding? It is inconceivable to me that there is anything that justifies completely hiding a legal proceding from public scrutiny:

Yet this seemingly phantom case does exist – and is now headed to the US Supreme Court in what could produce a significant test of a question as old as the Star Chamber, abolished in 17th-century England: How far should a policy of total secrecy extend into a system of justice?

Dan Gilmour argues:

If the Supreme Court rules, as I suspect it will, that the White House is free to tear up the Bill of Rights under the guise of fighting terrorism (or fighting illegal drugs, the pretext that was used to basically destroy the 4th Amendment under previous administrations), then no one is safe from the predations of a rogue government in the future

Hmmmm, what about a rogue government in the present?
Via Secrecy News.

Buying Work

This entry was posted in Democracy on by

According to the Center for Public Intgegrity:

Executives, employees and political action committees of the 70 companies that received government contracts for work in either Iraq or Afghanistan contributed slightly more than $500,000 to President Bush’s 2000 election campaign, according to a comprehensive study of the contracts released on Tuesday.

Frankly, I am surprised that the number is so small and would be very interested to see what these same companies have already contributed to bush’s 2004 campaign fund.
Bribing public officials is also a variant of what economists call rent seeking which is defined by Gordon Tullock:

… the outlay of resources by individuals and organizations in the pursuit of rents created by government

Center For Public Integrity reference via the New York Times.

w’s Focus

This entry was posted in bush Democracy Election 2004 on by

w, at a press conference today, speaks on the presidential campaign and his focus:

�We’re arming, raising money to wage a campaign. And there will be an appropriate time for me to engage politically; that is, in the public forum.�
�To me, there’s a difference between that and actually engaging potential opponents in a public discourse in a debate. And there will be ample time for that. There will be ample time to differentiate views and to defend records in the face of political criticism. And I know that the campaign has started for some, in terms of the public debate from a political perspective. It just hadn’t for me yet.�
�I’m focused on the security of the American people, working with Congress to get a Medicare bill and an energy bill.�

Which is why it must not have been him out doing this:

If you had the time and money to trot around the country to attend all of President Bush’s recent fundraising speeches, you’d find him both scaring and reassuring his listeners about terrorists.

Yes, I know this isn’t unique to w. clinton, bush sr, etc., all abused their position as president to engage in fundraising efforts. I just wish they wouldn’t lie about what they are focused on and wouldn’t rip off the tax payers to fund these jaunts.

Electonic Voting

This entry was posted in Democracy Election 2004 Technology US Politics on by

Ken MacLeod doesn’t have a high opinion of unverifiable touchscreen voting:

Touchscreen voting with no verifiable paper trail is to real voting what McJobs are to real jobs. You don’t have votes, you have McVotes.
This is something that you wouldn’t put in a science fiction novel, unless it was a blatant knock-about satire – you know, some squib about a world where Mickey Mouse runs for Governor of Florida, or Arnold Schwartznegger for Governor of California. It’s too unbelievable. A good editor would call it a plot hole.

You shouldn’t either.