A new Zogby polls shows that 42 percent of voters believe Congress should impeach President Bush if it is found that he did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq. While Democrats disproportionately favored impeachment, the poll found twenty-five percent of Republicans would back the measure if it were determined that Bush lied about Iraq. Calls for impeachment have increased since the Sunday Times of London published what is now known as the Downing Street Memo. The memo from the summer of 2002 outlined the Bush administration's position on Iraq. It said that the invasion of Iraq was inevitable and that "the intelligence and facts were being fixed."
- Iraq Gov't: 8,200 Iraqis Killed Over Past Six Months
- Baghdad Mayor Threatens to Resign
- June: Deadliest Month This Year For U.S.
- Poll: 42% Back Impeaching Bush If He Lied Over Iraq
- 52 House Members Seek Downing Street Memo Documents
- Judge Orders Oversight Of Calif. Prison Healthcare System
- Alan Dershowitz Attempts to Quash Norman Finkelstein Book
A New York police officer was shot in the leg with his own gun while trying to arrest a man allegedly smoking marijuana. During the following three days, police mounted a massive dragnet in the community, arresting a total of 181 black men in Queens.**
Wal-Mart executive James Lynn, was fired from the company, he says, after he blew the whistle on factory conditions in Central America. Lynn documented forced pregnancy tests, 24-hour work shifts, extreme heat, pat-down searches, locked exits and other labor law violations. He is now suing the retail giant. We speak with Lynn's attorney and a Wal-Mart spokesperson. [includes rush transcript - partial]
We speak with Liza Featherstone, author of "Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Worker's Rights at Wal-Mart" about a case representing 1.6 million women - past and present Wal Mart employees - who are charging the company with sex discrimination in pay, promotions and training at every corporation level.
As the Senate votes to approve the Central American Free Trade Agreement, we take a look at the controversial trade pact and how the Labor Department tried for a year to block the release of a government-funded study that criticized labor standards in Central America. We speak with Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Bama Athreya of the International Labor Rights Fund.
The U.S Department of Agriculture announced that the second case of mad cow disease was found in this country - but it marked the first time the cow was born and spent his entire life in the United States. We speak with John Stauber of PR Watch, author of "Mad Cow U.S.A.: Could the Nightmare Happen Here?"
The police department and Mayor Bloomberg have remained silent on the matter despite calls from City Councilman Leroy Comrie, Queens Representative Gregory Meeks and Democratic Mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer to give an explanation for the cops behavior.
- Marq Claxton, a retired New York Police detective and is member of the group 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. Marq is spearheading the efforts to file a lawsuit against the NYPD.
Read article by Juan Gonzalez.
One of those arrested the first day was 20-year-old Hason Joseph, who is light-skinned, stands 5-feet-6 and weighs barely 100 pounds.
He was grabbed by plainclothes cops around 2:30 p.m. on 121st Ave. near Laurelton Parkway. Hason told me yesterday that he and three friends had gotten out of a car to talk to three other black youths when cops suddenly appeared from an unmarked car, drew their guns and handcuffed all of them.
"They wouldn't tell us why they were arresting us," said Russell McKee, 20, who had been in the car with Joseph. McKee is 6-feet-1, about 220 pounds and has a much darker complexion than Joseph. Then there's Donald Young, also 20, who is about an inch taller than McKee and heftier.
All said they were taken to the 105th Precinct, questioned about the shooting and then transferred to Queens Central Booking, where they finally learned the charge: disorderly conduct.
Why have New McCarthyites done so well in the hoaxing wars of the past several decades? In part, because they have a global message, and hapless Democrats still do not. The Pseudo-Conservative Noise Machine is driven by familiar complaints--against "the liberals" and their famed "liberal bias." Democrats need a global message from which they can frame a truthful rebuttal. We'd suggest a counter-attack which has the advantage of being true: They just keep trying to play you for fools--as powerful interests have always done, all through human history.
It still doesn't seem to occur to Dionne to prescribe an aggressive Dem counter-attack. It's true: McCarthyites will win the day when the victim goes "on the defensive." But alas! It still doesn't occur to the lib/Dem elites to take a more lusty approach to this problem. Dems need to frame a concise winning message, then punch hoaxers right in the nose.
Here's a brief overview of how O'Connor voted.
This morning I listened to Nina Totenberg's report on the recent Supreme Court decisions. It was observed that the current crop of justices have served together so long -- there hasn't been an opening on the Court in 11 years -- that they're like an "old married couple." There have been few shocking decisions as of late, though justices who you'd least expect to break ranks have sometimes surprised Supreme Court experts. It's a good, if now already dated, analysis.
More to come later today. In the meantime, make sure to read Ms.' report on what's at stake in the battle over the Supreme Court and Ellen Chesler's excellent analysis of the rights women stand to lose -- potentially even access to contraceptions -- if another conservative justice is appointed.
I heard: Whoo-Hoo!!
Bush added he was seeking "potential nominees who have a high standard of legal ability, judgement and integrity and who will faithfully interpret the Constituional laws of this country."
I heard: "Faithfully!" Did you hear that Christian Right? I got "faith" in there!
Bush added that the nation deserves a dignified process, completed in "a timely manner." He expects that his nominee will be confirmed prior to the next Supreme Court term.
I heard: Oh, if I could just make a recess appointment on this one ...
Now up: "Five Rights Women Could Lose" under an ultraconservative Supreme Court. These points have been adapted from the National Partnership for Women & Families.
If this is up yet, I'm not seeing it (which isn't a surprise, I'm honestly shocked by today's news). Page 37 of the current issue of Ms. is where Celinda Lake's "The Polls Speak: Americans Support Abortion" is worth noting considering the "helpful" ones who think they discovered the term "privacy right." Working with multiple polls, Lake demonstrates that contrary to the "helpfuls" 'wisdom' the pro-choice position is not a minority position. From page 39, we'll excerpt this:
The abortion issue did not determine the outcome of the 2004 presidential election -- but perhaps it could in a future contest. In the months since November 2004, a host of commentators insisted that abortion had a negative impact on the election; some even blamed Democratic candidate John Kerry's loss on his support for abortion rights. However data collected by Lake Snell Perry & Associates for the nonpartisan network Votes for Women 2004 shows that the election issues about which voters most cared were the economy (23 percent), national security and terrorism (19 percent), and the war in Iraq (13 percent). When voters were asked what made them decide their presidential choice, only 2 percent volunteered the issue of abortion. Among Kerry voters, less than 1 percent offered this as an issue. Among Bush voters, only 2 percent said abortion determined their vote for president.
But actual votes for the two presidential candidates divided clearly -- and evenly -- along the line of abortion-rights ideology: Voters who felt abortion should be "always legal" voted 73 percent for Kerry, while self-defined pro-lifers voters voted 77 percent for George W. Bush. Perhaps if choice had played a more visible role in the presidential campaign, John Kerry would have fared better. In fact, choice may have played a role in generating a record number of unmarried-woman voters, who surged in turnout -- 7.5 million more than in 2000 -- with 62 percent of them casting their votes for Kerry.
We'll now note NOW which already has an action alert up:
| Save the Court ... Save Women's Lives! Contact Your Senators About the Supreme Court | |
| Women's lives are at stake. Tell your Senators to oppose any Supreme Court nominee who would threaten women's rights and civil liberties. |
John Dean warned us about what we see beginning today. George W. Bush has pulled no punches. He has been politically overt about hoping that Roe v. Wade is overturned.
Last September, John Dean had made the argument that the retirement of Supreme Court justices and the expected battles over the confirmation of their replacements should have been more more openly debated during the last campaign. Giving John Kerry the benefit of the doubt, he said that perhaps Kerry saw a danger in "playing politics with the judiciary."
Commenting that Democrats have lost their "bullying" talent, Dean commented that the Republicans, had they lost the 2000 election to a Supreme Court decision, would have "made the 2000 election the central focus of the 2004 election." Instead, Dean refleceted, the Democratic Party, "once a party of flame-throated cantankerous conservatives, no longer is very adept at the squeaky-wheel politics of incivility."
This is will be an even more brutal fight than a Rehnquist retirement because O'Connor is a swing vote, and replacing her with a right-winger shifts the ideological balance of the court.
Short of actual war, this will be as brutal as it gets.
Please re-read LiberalOasis' April 19th post "Putting On Your Game Face For The Supreme Court Showdown," and get ready.
Next we'll note Planned Parenthood which is also now apparently getting heavy traffic. On the home page they have three things regarding what this means for the future but I'm not having any luck accessing them.
Okay, one's popped up. (I'm using mulitple screens, always.) From "O'Connor Resignation Creates Ominious Court Vacancy:"
"The resignation of Justice O'Connor creates a devastating and dangerous moment for reproductive health care and women's rights," said PPFA Interim President Karen Pearl. "Her departure places women's health at risk, endangering the future of reproductive rights in this nation. With so much at stake, Planned Parenthood will be on the frontlines of the Supreme Court battles to ensure women's health is protected."
The Supreme Court's recent decision to hear Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood spotlights the urgency of the threat to reproductive freedom. This high-stakes case could undermine both the primacy of a woman's health as a limitation on states' zeal to curb access to abortion, and the ability of organizations like Planned Parenthood to challenge those restrictions on access. Only five years ago, Justice O'Connor was critical to maintaining access to abortion in the 5-4 decision issued in Stenberg v. Carhart. When the court hears Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood later this year, the outcome with a new Justice could drastically affect women's health and safety.
"Nothing will have a greater impact on protecting the health and safety of women than appointments to the Supreme Court," said Pearl. "Planned Parenthood, as the largest provider of reproductive health care in this country, knows this firsthand. Our own case Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood, to be heard later this year, will determine whether the high court and the nation feel that the health and safety of women are worth preserving.
"A lifetime appointment requires a confirmation process that is nothing less than thoughtful, intelligent, and fully deliberated," said Pearl. "Americans deserve Supreme Court Justices who they know will protect their health and safety."
Planned Parenthood Federation of America is the nation's largest and most trusted voluntary reproductive health organization. We believe that everyone has the right to choose when or whether to have a child — and that every child should be wanted and loved. Planned Parenthood affiliates operate more than 850 health centers nationwide, providing medical services and sexuality education for millions of women, men, and teenagers each year.
The above is a press release so we're noting it in full.
These are not the only resources or commentaries. Find something you like and e-mail it. We can stay on this topic all weekend (and then some). We are a strongly pro-choice community (not just me but the members). So your favorite site or blog or organization has something on this that you want noted, e-mail it so we can share it with the community. Continuing to check Ms. Musing throughout the day, I'm sure Christine will have a few more posts on this. And let me offer a thank you to Christine because it is a holiday weekend and she's managed to get three posts up on what she probably was assuming would be an easy-I'll-go-in-it'll-be-a-slow-day. Great job on the part of Ms. Musing. And Jude and everyone noted above and I'm sure there are others worthy of noting as well, so share with the community who spoke to you today.
Elaine's asked what my reaction has been. If you've had a reaction, weigh in on that via e-mail as well. I've been in shock. When I heard the news on The Diane Rehm Show my hands were shaking as I typed the entry right before this. I don't have words for this, just one long howl/scream. I've shared, it's your turn.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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