“The only thing the FISA court proved was that when wolves are guarding the henhouse, they eat a lot of coq au vin.” The always incisive Dahlia Lithwick rails against secret courts and the overlooked provisions of the Patriot Act.
Category: GOP
Stalled Straight Talk Express.
Also from Slate, has John McCain removed himself from contention in 2004?
One Last Binge?
Despite the recent economic travails and the passage of McCain-Feingold (which takes effect after this election cycle), both the GOP and the Dems are awash in campaign cash for 2002. I’m curious to see what kind of dent McCain-Feingold puts in this sort of behavior, if only for a while.
FISA fights back.
The secret court overseeing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) rebuff Ashcroft’s plea for increased wiretap powers, and declares the FBI has misled the court over 75 times. Never thought I’d be on the side of a secret court, but there you go. It must be getting really ugly over at Justice if somebody’s leaking this bad boy.
Second-Class Citizens, First-Class Surveillance.
Sketching an eerie parallel to Ashcroft’s current war on libraries, Derrick Jackson surveys the FBI’s long and ignoble history concerning Black America.
The Dubya Motel.
Surprise, surprise. Apparently the Bushes have been having tons of big donors over for sleepovers at the White House. (Dubya’s defense is they’re not sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom, as if that makes a difference.) Let’s prep those congressional investigations, people! C’mon, Dan Burton, get a move on. Why do I have a feeling hypocrisy will remain the order of the day here?
Ashcroft’s “Hellish Vision.”
Jonathan Turley, Constitutional Law professor at GW and television staple during l’affaire Lewinsky, lashes into John Ashcroft for his recent plan to create extraconstitutional internment camps of “enemy combatants” (re: US citizens) in and around the country. (Via Caught in Between.) Y’know, I do believe John Ashcroft is the scariest man in the country right now.
Talkin’ the Talk.
“The era of low standards and false profits is over…No boardroom in America is above or beyond the law.”. And with that, Bush signs the corporate reform bill. He then leaned into the microphone, made the Dubya face, and declared, “You can run but you can’t hide, Dick Cheney. We’re going to hunt you down like the agent of evil you are. You hear me talkin’, Halliburton boy?“
Don’t call it a comeback.
The stock market rallies almost 450 points today, but will it be enough to take the heat off Dubya?
There He Goes Again.
As GOP polls predict considerable electoral fallout from Enrongate, Dubya plans to regain the political initiative during the August congressional recess. Uh-oh.