Political Incest

Now it seems as if everyone is getting into the fight over judicial nominations

A powerful business lobby is preparing a multimillion-dollar campaign to aid the White House in its quest to win approval for conservative judges, a move that could transform the ideological battles over the federal judiciary and the Supreme Court.

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The shift puts the business lobby on the same side as social conservatives. The corporate world has long shied away from such controversial issues as abortion, but enthusiastically supports the Bush administration's campaign to rein in what it considers frivolous lawsuits against businesses and physicians.

The strategy's engineer is former Michigan Gov. John Engler, a longtime friend of President Bush who recently took the helm of the National Assn. of Manufacturers.

That wouldn't be the same John Engler who is also a board member for the Committee for Justice, an organization created specifically to "promote constitutionalist judicial nominees to the federal courts and educates the public on the importance of judges in American life"?

Why, indeed it is!

And now that I think about it, wasn't the Committee for Justice itself created at the behest of Trent Lott and the Bush administration to fight for Bush's judges

Mr. Lott told veteran Republican lobbyist Ed Rogers Republicans needed a group to go "toe to toe with Ralph Neas [the head of People For the American Way]," according to a person familiar with the situation. The two agreed on Mr. Gray, who, as White House counsel, had bested Mr. Neas during the emotional fight over the Thomas Supreme Court nomination in 1991.

After hearing from Mr. Rogers, Mr. Gray says, in July 2003 he formed the Committee for Justice, a three-person operation that so far has concentrated on shoring up Republican support for Bush nominees. The committee sometimes coordinates with another group on which Mr. Gray serves as co-chairman, Citizens for a Sound Economy, which usually lobbies on economic issues. The latter group had a 2002 budget of $8 million, but has since spun off part of its operations. The nomination work is only part-time duty for Mr. Gray, who doesn't take a salary from the committee. He is a Washington lawyer and lobbyist for clients such as Citigroup Inc.

Lacking Mr. Neas's troop strength, Mr. Gray works his Republican Party and Bush family connections. The first President Bush has hosted a fund-raiser; so has the current president's nephew. Mr. Gray, who says he has raised about $1 million, has discussed tactics with Karl Rove, the White House's top political strategist. He also meets monthly with Republican senators including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch.

Why, indeed it was!

What an amazing coincidence.

Virginia is for Heartless Bastards

At least if Virginia Del. John Cosgrove has his way. There are always a lot of loony bills kicking around state legislatures around this time of year. But his is above avarage in the dastardly department. The text:

When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance, it shall be the woman's responsibility to report the death to the law-enforcement agency in the jurisdiction of which the delivery occurs within 12 hours after the delivery. A violation of this section shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Yep. A woman who has had a miscarriage would be required to call the cops and tell them about it within 12 hours or face a year in jail and a big old fine. Democracy for America reports extensively on it here. They call it, "The Most Odious Infringement on the Privacy of Virginia women...ever." Probably a close contest, but this is pretty bad.

The Rich Are Different

And, apparently, total assholes.

From the AP

Calling it "my retirement fund," Boston first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz stashed in his safe deposit box the ball used in the final out that sealed the Red Sox's first World Series championship in 86 years. Now, his boss wants it back.

"We want it to be part of Red Sox archives or museums so it can be shared with the fans," Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino told The Boston Globe on Thursday. "We would hope he would understand the historical nature of it."

Mientkiewicz seems to understand it very well, which is exactly why he held on to it.

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"I know this ball has a lot of sentimental value," Mientkiewicz said. "I hope I don't have to use it for the money. It would be cool if we have kids someday to have it stay in our family for a long time. But I can be bought. I'm thinking, there's four years at Florida State for one of my kids. At least."

Gee, I'd think that Mientkiewicz would be able to retire and still afford "four year at Florida State" on his $2.8 million salary.

Selective Reading

Some of the folks over in The Corner were having a bit of a debate over the potential "torture" of Iraqi prisoners, with John Derbyshire saying

Why is the thought of U.S. troops misbehaving so obsessively exciting to some Americans, rousing them to such furious indignation? I don't get it.

Some reader then sent in a list of newspapers articles about what sorts of abuse had taken place and, after reading them, Derb had this to say

All right, I have checked out those reports your reader sent, and remain deeply unmoved.

"saw a detainee sitting on the floor of the interview room with an Israeli flag draped around him, loud music being played and a strobe flashing."

This is TORTURE? For heaven's sake!

I notice, too, the mention of someone having "placed lighted cigarettes in detainees' ears." Now, a post or two ago, Jonah, one of your readers said: "...Not to mention cigarettes extinguished in ear canals..."

Without having read *all* those reports, I can't help wondering whether the first cigarette-in-ear story hasn't mysteriously morphed into the second. And I'd really like to know WHICH END OF THE CIGARETTE WENT IN THE PRISONER'S EAR. If, as that first reader implied, it was the burning end (intention: infliction of pain & possibly hearing loss) that is one thing. If, on the other hand, it was the unlit end (intention: at minimum, to make the prisoner feel silly, at maximum, to make him afraid you would let the thing burn right down), that's another.

It seems absurd to pick at minutiae like this, but we're talking about drawing lines. And from what I've seen here, there is some shifty sleight of hand going on by the angry-about-torture crowd.

So while it appears that Derb did indeed read the relevant articles, in doing so he seems to have intentionally ignored the things that didn't fit with his predetermined view.

Things like this

A group of released British detainees said that several young prisoners told them they were raped and sexually violated after guards took them to isolated sections of the prison.

And this

In a June "urgent report" to the FBI director from the Sacramento field office, for example, a supervising special agent described abuses such as "strangulation, beatings, placement of lighted cigarettes into the detainees' ear openings and unauthorized interrogations."

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In a June instance, an agent from the Washington field office reported that an Abu Ghraib detainee complained he was cuffed and placed into an uncomfortable physical position that the military called "the Scorpion" hold. Then, the prisoner told the FBI, he was doused with cold water, dropped onto barbed wire, dragged by his feet and punched in the stomach.

I guess it doesn't seem so bad if you only focus on the loud music and strobe lights.

If, on the other hand, you bother to include the beatings, rapes, and strangulations, it doesn't seem quite so harmless.

Inagural Demagogue

I offer you Houston City Councilwoman Pam Holm. She's just your average garden variety demagogue though, so don't get too excited.

She wants the Houston library system to institute a "rating" system for library books, a la MMPA. All because a constituent discovered that Jenna Jameson's How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale was on display there.

The constituent, who could not be reached for comment, said in an e-mail, "I don't consider myself a book burner," but nevertheless questioned why the library bought the book.

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In the immediate future, the book's prominent display will not be an issue because it is constantly checked out.

Also, the 12 books the library bought in October have all been almost continuously checked out at various locations, said Fernandez.

The Untimely Death of Demagogue

We seem to have suffered a massive blog-related meltdown requiring us to completely delete the old blog (including 2-year's worth of archives.)

We are in the process of rebuilding and will hopefully be back posting soon.