Fernando's blog

Constitutional Limits of Executive Power

Judiciary

Washington, District of Columbia (United States)

Conyers, John Jr.
U.S. Representative, D-MI

Those people who told us that Impeachment Articles would die in the Judiciary, they need to look up who the witness' are hehehe :)

The Honorable Dennis Kucinich, Representative from Ohio
The Honorable Maurice Hinchey, Representative from New York
The Honorable Walter Jones, Representative from North Carolina
The Honorable Brad Miller, Representative from North Carolina

Panel Two

The Honorable Elizabeth Holtzman, Former Representative from New York
The Honorable Bob Barr, Former Representative from Georgia, 2008 Libertarian Nominee for President
The Honorable Ross C. “Rocky” Anderson, Founder and President, High Roads for Human Rights
Stephen Presser, Raoul Berger Professor of Legal History, Northwestern University School of Law
Bruce Fein, Associate Deputy Attorney General, 1981-82, Chairman, American Freedom Agenda
Vincent Bugliosi, Author and former Los Angeles County Prosecutor
Jeremy A. Rabkin, Professor of Law, George Mason University School of Law
Elliott Adams, President of the Board, Veterans for Peace
Frederick A. O. Schwarz, Jr., Senior Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

VIDEO LINK

(bumped by management.... nice pics! originally authored 2008-07-19 20:55:52 -0400)

 

If anyone saw Nancy's Q&A you saw her use the same old tired lines about FISA that were all debunked by Glen Greenwald. Then she blamed the Senate and by implication Harry Reid for letting it go to the House in the first place which was totally weak on her part. It was infuriating because she knew that we knew better. That was so insulting that I almost left.

 

 

Thank goodness for CodePink and their show of dissent. Afterwards when asked about what a new Democratic majority would mean she referenced rebuilding America's infrastructure. Decoded that means earmarks. Not once did she say that rescuing the Constitution was on that agenda. I wanted to throw something at her. But I didn't. I could feel my pulse in my ear drums I was so pissed off.

 

 

Al Gore's "surprise" appearance made getting up and to the exhibit hall worth while. He denied any interest in being a part of an Obama administration. He wants us all to sign up at wecansolveit.org and sign up in support of his 10 year Apollo type agenda to make the United States 100% run on renewable resources. I signed up from my phone just so I would get it done immediately because if Al says so, I don't ask questions.

 

 

 

Shortly after that panel came Lawrence Lessig. I only went because Sam told me to go during the meet up. That was probably the best presentation I've seen here. Only 9% of Americans think Congress is doing a "good" job. He based his presentation on public financing being the answer to restoring trust in our legislators. I completely support his effort. He recommends that we join something he calls Change Congress. It works like Creative Commons where you pick what you support and it gives you candidates who match your priorities. This is his model for public financing. I'm going to give that a try.

 

 

The Written to Spoken word session that Sam was a speaker at with Cenk was interesting to me, but only because I am such a worry wart over the future of progressive media. Sam and Cenk did not get to speak as much as I wish they could have. The question and answer period was limited so most of us could not ask questions.

One funny moment at the session was When I went to meet Cenk and shake his hand, I had hidden a Center for Constitutional Rights condom in my palm. The look on his face when he realized I was passing him something was hilarious. He put it in his pocket and I now feel like I've done my duty to keep Austin safe.

One never knows what that Cenk is capable of getting into.

I did get to talk to Sam out in the hall when we were done but all he wanted to talk about was "how toniD was doing?" :) I told him what I have read.

I bumped into Phillipe Collin again and confronted him again about how much ad revenue we would have to bring in to get Sam back on. We went back and forth but basically he broke down and told me the existing AAR team would have to pay a heavy penalty to release a certain nuisance from his contract. I'm guessing you understand what I mean and I won't quote figures. I still think we can package Sam with Ads ready to sign up and offer them to Novam. Those are after all our ad airwaves and our market dollars we spend for goods and services. We have been quiet way too long. I'm not done with this. In fact, I've only started.

We demand that William and Lauren Canary, Alice Martin, and Richard Scrushy go before the Judiciary before Karl Rove.

OTHER LINKS
Gov. Siegelman at Netroots Nation: Bush's Undoing?
AL Gov. Don Siegelman Video At Netroots Nation

Sam Seder introduced his film A Bad Situationist today in its final form to a good sized audience at the Austin Convention Center. The showing was started a bit late after the Netroots Keynote address given by Gov. Howard Dean. In contrast to Howards generally empowering message to take us forward, Sam's sad comedy reminds us of a different reality.

Sam plays the part of Arthur. Arthur is the son of a loser who grows up as a trust fund baby. His character is unable to do anything for himself including sell the story about how the Bush Administration accomplished a fascist coup.

Arthur does have one talent that helps him survive. Arthur is a con-man. He is able to create his reality within his own weakness and crawl through his ego while accomplishing absurd comedy.

You will laugh. It may even hurt. It may hurt in more ways than one.

I found myself laughing at the constant betrayal Arthur must endure. His father betrays him. Women reject him. The only relationship he has with a woman is one all of his friends has already enjoyed. His friends ultimately reject him. His hero rejects him. Al Gore betrays him by not forcing a Florida recount. It goes on and on until Arthur can endure it no longer.

Crapping, toilets, and flushing seemed to add odd dimensions. Arthur is after all an anal explosive loser who often does not even understand his own spew. In this way he even betrays himself. In one scene Arthur is found sitting on the ceramic throne taking a dump and pondering his lot in life. In another scene Arthur essentially attempts to regain control of his life through violence only to have it backfire into something very similar to flushing himself with a cannon made of what appeared to be toilet plumbing parts. Don't forget that this is brought to you by Poopy Productions.

Arthur's assistant played a relatively minor role but an important one to me. He handled most of the daily work and appeared generally happy in his equally meaningless life. I think it says something that two people involved in the same hopeless endeavors can get such opposite levels of satisfaction in their existence.

There are a lot of lessons one could get out of this film. The value of violence is clearly over rated and the consequences in this film prove that. The satisfaction of working and accomplishing tasks is not as blunt but clearly on display. The cast is amazing. You will recognize almost everyone. The film is raw and unhappy in a comical way.

If you want a film that explains itself, this may not be the movie for you. But this film will work for you if you want to laugh while validating the value of our daily struggles.

FRIDAY 5PM AT B.D. Riley's Irish Pub
easy walk from the Hilton or the Convention center

B. D. Riley's Irish Pub
204 East 6th St
Austin, TX 78701
512-494-1335

Getting to Netroots has been interesting. I lived in Austin while attending the University of Texas. There is a lot to do down here. I couldn't resist a few detours.

First I went to visit my mom in Corpus Christi. She has a way of being a bit terse and upset when I wake her up in the wee hours of the morning to go watch the sun come up at the beach. That wears off quickly as the light breaks into the new day. I found it important to torture her again that way. While visiting her, I picked up a gift from my aunt. She had painted me a picture of a psychedelic roster. The weather was great there and it was hard to say goodbye but I knew more lay ahead.

I made it to Austin on Saturday morning and fumbled around the new airport wasting money parking at the wrong terminal. I had picked up a flight from VivaAerobus. They had flights that were so cheap I expected to actually be mailed over instead of seated like a human. It turns out they have a fantastic service that easily rivals Southwest Airlines or American Airlines. Be advised however, if leaving from Austin you have to head to the South Terminal. If you show up early, it's right next to Mckinney falls state park.

Once in Mexico we landed in Escobedo not far from Sienega de Flores where too much conversation and food took place. The resulting hangover made decision making hard the next day. Our failed attempts at logic found me on top of a contraption with chairs mounted 14 feet above street level. My cousin and I drove around taking pictures. We passed one small site where Blue Agave was in its infancy. It's like a tequila nest. We made it around the plaza too and found a huge flag next to the city cathedral.

That flag at the plaza was tiny compared to the one I saw across the street from a school yard. This flag was easily half the size of a football field and was hoisted above a peak placing it in view of much of the city of Monterrey.

After that and some more debauchery elsewhere, I separated one day to spend some time by myself at Rancho La Luna. Rollis took me then left after lunch. I really like him because of how well he talks about my godfather and he's taught me a lot about what to expect when our own government gets too much power over people. We talked for a while and contrasted our experiences. We have it pretty good here but we are definitely in for some shocking times if we keep eroding our civil liberties. I'll leave that unhappy topic for now....

I took a few pictures of some of the thousands of Blue Agave my cousin planted after he found out I wanted to retire and learn how to distill Tequila. Those fields make me very happy.

Anyway, I'm registered here in Austin for Netroots. I'll be trying to take notes and pass on some reflections of what I find here. The goodie bag was cool. I got a great ActBlue bottle opener that I promise to use often. There was also a Dennis Kucinich inspired pocket Constitution that I will treasure forever. And I got a small "protect your constitution" condom from the Center for Constitutional Rights. They should get magnum size. That's what I think.

THE FOURTH. by maggiesboy aka Johnson from BlueRootsRadio.

Don't just sit there. Go to My.BO and tell him what you think about Telecom Immunity in the FISA capitulation bill. Or if you don't know about this attack on your Constitutional Rights granted by the Bill of Rights then read Glen Greenwald before it's too late.

THE HEARING VIDEO

DOWNLOAD 467MB VIDEO HERE

House Committee Today on C-SPAN3
VIDEO LINK
Guantanamo Bay and Interrogation Rules

Washington, District of Columbia (United States) 

 
Nadler, Jerrold
U.S. Representative, D-NY
   
Schroeder, Christopher H.
Acting Assistant Attorney Gen. (1996-1997), Department of Justice,
Office of Legal Counsel
   
Yoo, John C.
Deputy Assistant Atty. General (2001-2003), Department of Justice,
Office of Legal Counsel
   
Addington, David S.
Chief of Staff, White House, Office of the Vice President
 

A hearing was held on the role of the administration in authorizing
interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay.
The hearing was titled "From the Department of Justice to Guantanamo Bay:
Administration Lawyers and Administration Interrogation Rules, Part III."

Bush officials face grilling on alleged torture

Addington, Gonzales Witnessed Gitmo Interrogations In 2002; Approved Of ‘Whatever Needs To Be Done’

“It’s Addington,” he said. “He doesn’t care about the Constitution.” Powell was referring to David S. Addington, Vice-President Cheney’s chief of staff and his longtime principal legal adviser. -New Yorker

The Addington-authored Jan. 25, 2002 draft was followed, six months later, by the most infamous of the "torture memos," the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel Aug. 1, 2002 document by Jay Bybee, directed to Gonzales, which set the standards for what constituted torture, under the jaundiced interpretations of international law from the Ashcroft department -EIR

September 25, 2001: Justice Department Lawyer Asserts There Is No Limit to
President’s Authority to Wage War

THE
PRESIDENT'S CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT MILITARY OPERATIONS AGAINST
TERRORISTS AND NATIONS SUPPORTING THEM - John Yoo

Memos to White House on Geneva Convention by Yoo/Delahunty/Philbin

John Choon Yoo (born 1967 in Seoul[1] [2]) is an American professor of Law at the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, known for his work from 2001 to 2003 in the United States Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel,[3] assisting the Attorney General in his function as legal advisor to President Bush and all the executive branch agencies.

March 14th 2003 Yoo Memo - Re: Military Interrogation of Alien Unlawful Combatants Held Outside the United States
2003 MEMO ON INTERROGATION
Permissible Assaults Cited in Graphic Detail - WaPo Drugging Detainees Is Among Techniques
’03 U.S. Memo Approved Harsh Interrogations - NYT
Abuse Of Iraqi POWs By GIs Probed

 

Psychologists and CIA torture, the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed experience

Bush Advisor Says President Has Legal Power to Torture Children - AUDIO

Video from Abu Ghraib - Graphic and Mature content. Abuse or an element of a broader torture program?

The "Taguba Report" On Treatment Of Abu Ghraib Prisoners In Iraq
 
Testimony by John Yoo to the Commitee on the Judiciary