Democracy

Partners in Abuse

This entry was posted in ashcroft Constitution Democracy Iraq Judiciary Libertarianism War on Terrorism on by

Britsh home secretary david blunkett apparently drinks from the same cup as US attorney general john ashcroft. blunkett is proposing changes to British law that fly in the face of individual rights:

The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 allows foreigners who are suspected international terrorists to be detained indefinitely without charge or trial in the event their lives would be in danger if they were deported.
…….
Mr Blunkett wants to extend this so prosecutors can take action against suspected British extremists even though the evidence may not be strong enough to win a conviction under existing laws.
This may mean lowering the burden of proof in such cases from “beyond reasonable doubt” to what is acceptable in civil cases, “the balance of probabilities”
…..
Evidence in the new trials would be kept secret from the defendants …
…..
We have to have prevention under a new category which is to intervene before the act is committed, rather than do so by due process after the act is committed when it’s too late.
This may mean lowering the burden of proof in such cases from “beyond reasonable doubt” to what is acceptable in civil cases, “the balance of probabilities”.

None of this is acceptable under any circumstances whether applied to citizens or non-citizens.
When dealing with someones life or when justifying war “beyond a reasonable doubt” needs to be a minimum standard.
Via David Carr at Samizdata.

Let’s Balance the Budget

This entry was posted in bush Capitalism Democracy Democrats Economics Federal Government Republicans on by

Dwight Meredith takes a shot at balancing the budget for w and the punch line is:

Okay, we have cut all of the fat. Waste, fraud and abuse have been eliminated. Perhaps we nicked a little muscle along the way. The problem is that we have cut only $385 billion out of a deficit of $521 billion.
The other problem is that the only discretionary spending left in the budget is for Defense and Homeland Security.
I am not kidding. We have eliminated all federal government discretionary functions except Defense and Homeland Security and the budget remains more than $130 billion in the hole.

Of course, w has no interest in balancing the budget and could hit his target of reducing the deficit by 50% by making some of the cuts Dwight enumerates but there does not appear to be any such proposal in this years budget.
The federal budget situation is a mess and there is no meaningful excuse that the current administration and its republocrat accomplices in congress can offer up to cleanse themselves.

Uhhh, when will the bs stop?

This entry was posted in bush Democracy Iraq US Foreign Policy US Politics War on Terrorism on by

From the Guardian:

Intelligence sources, policy makers and weapons inspectors familiar with the details of the hunt for WMD told The Observer it was widely known that Iraq had no WMD within three weeks of Baghdad falling, despite the assertions of senior Bush administration figures and the Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

As Jim Henley notes:

The official hawks, like bad dope dealers, got too fond of their own product. They wanted it to be true and convinced themselves of their desires.

Most of us have been taught that honesty is a good thing and will bring good results in life. The republicans still have time to nominate a candidate who has learned this lesson.

ashcroft just might find Dean to his liking

This entry was posted in ashcroft CAPPS II Constitution dean Democracy Domestic Terrorism Election 2004 Libertarianism on by

I have had little to say about the current democratic aspirants and probably won’t say much more until there are fewer to deal with.
However, anyone supporting a national ID card in this age of MATRIX and the PATRIOT ACt deserves a hot poker applied to some tender area of their anatomy.
Dean Campaign site:

I will nominate federal judges with outstanding legal credentials, records of professional excellence, and demonstrated commitment to the constitutional principles of equality, liberty, and privacy.

Dean in March 2002:

Fifteen months before Dean said he would seek the presidency, however, the former Vermont governor spoke at a conference in Pittsburgh co-sponsored by smart-card firm Wave Systems where he called for state drivers’ licenses to be transformed into a kind of standardized national ID card for Americans. Embedding smart cards into uniform IDs was necessary to thwart “cyberterrorism” and identity theft, Dean claimed. “We must move to smarter license cards that carry secure digital information that can be universally read at vital checkpoints,” Dean said in March 2002, according to a copy of his prepared remarks. “Issuing such a card would have little effect on the privacy of Americans.”
Dean also suggested that computer makers such as Apple Computer, Dell, Gateway and Sony should be required to include an ID card reader in PCs–and Americans would have to insert their uniform IDs into the reader before they could log on

A national ID card seems to be contrary to any meaningful idea of liberty and privacy.
Via Metafilter.

Some Folks Should be Downsized

This entry was posted in Capitalism Constitution Democracy Domestic Terrorism Drug Laws Economics Law Enforcement Libertarianism on by

Kevin Drum notes that:

every state except Nevada and Nebraska is seeing a shift from high paying industries, which are losing jobs, to low paying industries, which are gaining them.

If you haven’t noticed this phenomena open your eyes.
Now, I am deeply concerned about this trend and feel badly for the people who are living this transition (and working my but off to make sure (delay?) it does not happen to me.
On the other hand there are some folks that have jobs that should not exist and I apologize in advance for wishing ill on these people. Prosecuting attorneys, federal agents, police officers and anyone else involved in supporting this kind of stuff need to be sent immediately to jobs in low paying industries. Positions as Wal-mart clerks may be too good.
The latter link is via Talkleft.