Why don't we propose a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to privacy?

Excellent question, from Dan Savage of "Savage Love" fame. At first blush, I think Dan's right. I'd been talking with friends for a while about what amendment we could offer, to the federal Constitution, but also to state constitutions, that would sound all warm and fuzzy on their face, and totally undercut the fundamentalist bigots at the same time. This is a good one.

From SLOG:

Here we are, decades after Griswold, and social conservatives and liberals are constantly arguing about whether or not the right to privacy, which is a popular right (naturally enough), and one to which most Americans believe they're entitled, is actually a right to which Americans are entitled, constitutionally-speaking. Liberals love it because the RTP underpins our constitutional right to have access to birth control, abortion services, gay sex, porn. Social conservatives hate it for that very reason....

I find myself wondering why we don’t just put it in there? If the Republicans can propose a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, can’t the Dems propose a “Right to Privacy” amendment? Since the RTP is popular (unlike the anti-gay marriage amendment), the Dems should put it out there and let the Republicans run around the country explainging why they're against a right to privacy—not a winning position. Then, once it passes, we’ll be spared the debate over whether or not the RTP is in there every time a conservative is nominated to the Supreme Court.

The Right to Privacy Amendment—c’mon, Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer, Ted Kennedy, Patty Murray, Barak Obama! Propose it!

Read the rest of this post...

FOX News paid Tom Delay $14,000 for "travel expenses" to get him from Texas to DC

$14,000? And it doesn't include accomodations or meals. Maybe they flew him on a private jet. What does that cost? Read the rest of this post...

What's your opinion of the alleged "mercy killings" at the nursing home in New Orleans

CNN seems to talking like this is some obviously horrible crime. Interviewing some man who luckily took his mother out JUST IN TIME!!!! Of course, what they failed to even ask was what would happened to the guy's mom if he left her. How well does 90 year old ma swim?

So I'm just curious. Does anybody else share my view that this case is a bit more nuanced than folks are spinning it? Read the rest of this post...

When it rains, it pours -- yet another new low

I was just talking to some friends about how depressed we were a year ago today. What a difference a year makes. It's another low for Bush, and the intensity is increasing:

President Bush's job approval has fallen to the lowest level of his presidency amid worries over the Iraq war, a fumbled Supreme Court nomination, the indictment of one White House aide and uncertainty about another.

Concerned that the president has lost his footing, some influential Republicans are urging Bush to shake up his staff and bring in new blood.

A new AP-Ipsos poll found Bush's approval rating was at 37 percent, compared with 39 percent a month ago. About 59 percent of those surveyed said they disapproved.

The intensity of disapproval is the strongest to date, with 42 percent now saying they "strongly disapprove" of how Bush is handling his job - twice as many as the 20 percent who said they "strongly approve."

They hate him, they really hate him. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

I'm fiddling with the fluorescent shop lights. I can't believe there are people in the world who atually ENJOY messing with this kind of stuff. Drives me insane. Little parts fall into the light, so then you get to open the entire thing, again, to find them, and on and on and on. Ugh. So I now I need to add "home repair" to the list of qualities I need in a spouse ("accountant" is already there as well). Read the rest of this post...

ABC News Poll: 59% of Americans say Rove should resign

Was just on ABC.

Also, same poll:

- 39% approval rating
- 40% find Bush "honest and trustworthy"
- 55% believe Bush administration intentionally misled the country in making the case for war
- only 39% think the war was worth it

Toast. Read the rest of this post...

The LA Times Web site today

Read the caption under the photo. I got this from a colleague who swears this is for real.

Read the rest of this post...

Can Scottie keep his job despite the lies?

That seems to be the question posed in today's NY Times. For the White House, lying is no big deal. The fact that the media puts up with and listens to a press secretary who lies to them is the bigger issue:

Under a barrage of sometimes angry questions from a press corps that feels it was lied to, he has been unwilling or unable to acknowledge that his previous statements are, to use a phrase famously invoked by a predecessor, inoperative. Yet he has offered no defense of them either, and has instead appealed to the better instincts of his journalistic inquisitors, a risky strategy in the midst of a criminal inquiry that has reached into the top ranks of the White House, but perhaps the only one available to him.

"I'm very confident in the relationship that we have in this room, and the trust that has been established between us," he said at his daily briefing on Monday, in response to questions from David Gregory of NBC News about whether his credibility with reporters and the public was in doubt.

How can anyone be confident with the relationship in that room?

The reality is that Scottie can't tell the truth because it impacts his real boss, not Bush, but Rove:

Among other things, for Mr. McClellan to state openly that he was misled would put him publicly at odds with Mr. Rove, whose power in the White House and the Republican Party remains immense, not to mention Mr. Libby, who was Mr. Cheney's alter ego until resigning after his indictment on Friday.

There has never been a time when protecting a White House staffer -- like Rove -- took priority over protecting the integrity of the President. Read the rest of this post...

Thursday Afternoon Open Thread

It's yours...take it. Read the rest of this post...

Brownie: "I am a Fashion God"

In the wake of Katrina, you'd like to think that Michael Brown and his staff were consumed with helping the victims. You'd be wrong, of course. Email traffic shows that they were consumed with how Brownie looked on tv:

The e-mails show that Brown, who had been planning to step down from his post when the storm hit, was preoccupied with his image on television even as one of the first FEMA officials to arrive in New Orleans, Marty Bahamonde, was reporting a crisis situation of increasing chaos to FEMA officials.

"My eyes must certainly be deceiving me. You look fabulous — and I'm not talking the makeup," writes Cindy Taylor, FEMA's deputy director of public affairs to Brown on 7:10 a.m. local time on Aug. 29.

"I got it at Nordstroms," Brown writes back. "Are you proud of me? Can I quit now? Can I go home?" An hour later, Brown adds: "If you'll look at my lovely FEMA attire, you'll really vomit. I am a fashion god."

Being a fashion god is a lot easier than saving lives. Read the rest of this post...

Republicans plan to cut 40,000 kids from school lunch program to pay for ANOTHER tax cut in the next month

They're asking the poor to suck it up and do without because of those critical tax cuts for the wealthy, corporate welfare and a failing war of convenience are more important than food for the poor. How long before they change the child labor laws so the kids can go out and work for their food? Nice compassion and isn't it great to see that we're all in this together?

Don't believe me, read the article. The Republicans are planning on ANOTHER TAX cut in the next few weeks that will cost even MORE than the cuts to the poor and elderly that they're making today:

But some Republicans worry that social service cuts, though relatively small, might have outsized political ramifications, especially when Republicans move in the coming weeks to cut taxes for the fifth time in as many years. Those tax cuts, totaling $70 billion over five years, would more than offset the deficit reduction that would result from the budget cuts.

More details on the planned Republican attack on the poor, the elderly and children:

The battle will be joined today when the House Budget Committee is scheduled to fold eight budget-cutting bills saving $50 billion through 2010 into a single measure and then send it to the floor for a vote next week. The Senate is also set to vote on its version of the budget-cutting package, which would not cut food stamps. The smaller measure, with $39 billion in savings, has broad reach, affecting Medicare, Medicaid, agriculture programs, private pension plans and energy.

Did you get that? These cuts will save between $39 billion and $50 billion. It also kicks 40,000 kids out of the school lunch program.

The food stamp cuts in the House measure would knock nearly 300,000 people off nutritional assistance programs, including 70,000 legal immigrants, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Those immigrants would lose their benefits because the House measure would require legal immigrants to live in the United States for seven years before becoming eligible to receive food stamps, rather than the current five years.

About 40,000 children would lose eligibility for free or reduced-price school lunches, the CBO estimated.

The House Republicans also want to cut child support:

A separate House measure would scale back federal administrative aid to state child-support enforcement programs, saving the federal government nearly $5 billion over five years but potentially cutting child-support collections even more.

And foster care:

Still another House provision would roll back a court-ordered expansion of foster care support, denying foster care payments to relatives who take in children removed from their parents' homes by court order. That provision would reduce the coverage of foster care payments to about 4,000 children a month and cut $397 million from the program through 2010, the CBO said.

Read the rest of this post...

Rove in danger of losing his security clearance

Add this to the story we reported on late last night, that senior White House officials are talking about whether Rove needs to resign, AND new information suggesting Rove may STILL be indicted by Fitzgerald in the next few weeks.

This is BAD for Rove.

From Jonathan Alter in Newsweek:

Section 5.1 of Clinton’s executive order prohibits “any knowing, willful or negligent action that could reasonably be expected to result in an unauthorized disclosure of classified information.” While the law against revealing the identity of a CIA operative requires that the perpetrator intentionally disclosed such classified information (a high standard, which may be one reason Fitzgerald did not indict on those grounds), the executive order covers “negligence,” or unintentional disclosure.

That means the only proper answer to a reporter’s questions about Joseph Wilson’s wife would have been something along the lines of, “You know I cannot discuss who may or may not be in the CIA.” The indictment makes clear that this was not the answer Official A provided when the subject was discussed with reporters Bob Novak and Matt Cooper.

The sanctions for such disclosure are contained in Section 5.7 of the executive order. That section says that “the agency head, senior agency official or other supervisory official shall, at a minimum, promptly remove the classification authority of any individual who demonstrates reckless disregard or a pattern of error in applying the classification standards of this order.” Any reasonable reading of the events covered in the indictment would consider Rove’s behavior “reckless.” The fact that he discussed Plame’s identity with reporters more than once constitutes a pattern.

In the past, other officials have lost their security clearances for similar disclosures—even without a pattern. Former CIA director John Deutch and former national-security adviser Sandy Berger (who got in trouble after leaving office) both lost their clearances when they took classified information home without proper authorization. More recently, officials of the Coast Guard were sanctioned when they warned relatives of a possible terrorist threat against the New York City subways before public disclosure of the threat.

Great title to the article, "Is Rove a Security Risk?" Read the rest of this post...

Roll Call reports on the flowers for Harry Reid

Very cool. Little do they realize many have yet to be delivered!

Flowers for Harry
By Mary Ann Akers
Roll Call Staff
November 3, 2005

Lefty groups around town were so thrilled with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for pulling his now-famous Rule XXI maneuver that they showered him with flowers and balloons Wednesday, thanking him for his gumption in sending Republican leaders into a tizzy and demanding an investigation into why exactly this country went to war with Iraq.

One HOH spy spotted five "kids" - interns no doubt - tromping down the hall toward Reid's second-floor Senate office with multiple bouquets of flowers and gigantic "Thank You" and "Thank You For All You Do" balloons. A pretty steady stream of flowers rolled in all day long, his aides said.

Reid Chief of Staff Susan McCue said most of the flowers came from Web loggers at the uber-lefty Americablog.

"Senator Reid was surprised and touched and is grateful for their 'fresh approach' to politics," McCue wrote in an e-mail.

One person who definitely was not sending Reid flowers was Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), who still had steam coming out of his ears about getting blindsided by the Rule XXI stunt. Frist said he spoke briefly with Reid at the start of Wednesday morning's session, less than 24 hours after Reid's sneak attack.

"I expect we'll be able to work together," sighed Frist, who on Tuesday said he couldn't trust Reid for the remainder of his tenure in the Senate.

But it doesn't look like their little talk Wednesday did anything to smooth over their personal relationship. HOH asked if Frist now trusted Reid, and the usually genial transplant surgeon shrugged his shoulders and dodged the question, saying again for emphasis, "We'll be able to work together."

Read the rest of this post...

Put on CSpan 1 NOW - seems Pelosi is pulling something

Not sure what's up, just got a tip, she might be up to something... Read the rest of this post...

Lesbian couple attends royal dinner at White House. Yep, Mary Cheney invited her LOVER!

Oohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... Fundie alert, fundie alert!

From AP:

Guests at the White House dinner Wednesday in honor of Britain's Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, as released by the office of the first lady:

....Ms. Mary Cheney, and Ms. Heather Poe (Guest)

I know I've given Mary a lot of crap over the past year, but I'm impressed she asked Heather to attend. That took balls. And it sent a message. Thank you, Mary. You're finally using your status to help your community and stand up for you partner.

Prepare for the fundies to meltdown. First the Koran in the White House, now the lesbians. Uh oh.

Ooh, just read the rest of the list, check out these invitees:

The Honorable Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State, and Mr. Gene A. Washington, Director of Football Operations, National Football League (Guest)

Oh well. I guess she's not dating that chick from FOX News.

Mrs. Nancy Reagan

Mr. Merv Griffin (Guest)

Such diversity. What is this, the Clinton White House? :-) Read the rest of this post...

DeLay helped Abramoff with access

Sounds like the Bugman is going to be fighting quite a few battles at once and I don't think that anybody wants to have any connection to Abramoff these days. During a Senate panel discussion yesterday related to Abramoff, McCain called this "a complex and tangled web . . . a story alarming in its depth and breadth of potential wrongdoing. It is breathtaking in its reach."

Sounds like the GOP has really offered up a nice campaign issue for 2006 and 2008. It's not possible to go day without coverage and there is so much more to cover. Read the rest of this post...

Scooter gets his [first] day in court

This will be the first of many court appearances for the top aide to Cheney and Bush:

Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff is making his first court appearance since his indictment in the CIA leak investigation, a case in which Bush administration officials including Cheney could be summoned to testify.

I. Lewis Libby was expected to plead innocent Thursday before U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton.

Libby signaled his client's determination to fight the charges after last week's grand jury indictment, which has provided more fuel to the political debate over the White House's possible misuse of prewar intelligence on Iraq. The Libby case stems from a 22-month criminal investigation by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald.

The Libby case is going to be headline news for months to come. Watch the pressure start building among the GOP punditry for Scooter to cut a deal. For example, former GOP congressman Vin Weber was on the Today Show saying that it would be better if this were wrapped up quickly. That's code for: Scooter, cut a deal.

Scooter wants to prove his innocence. The White House wants to save Bush and Cheney. Read the rest of this post...

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Okay, we need to have a serious talk. You go first. Read the rest of this post...

November already looks terrible in Iraq

It seems as though the 2,000 US dead in Iraq just happened and already the count is up to 2,035 including the six US soldiers who were killed on Wednesday. Twenty Iraqis also died during yesterdays violence and more than 60 wounded. All for a pack of lies. What a disgrace. Read the rest of this post...

Bush Administration Debating Whether Torture Is Good

Hey, at least there's some sort of internal struggle on whether we should be torturing people (with Cheney leading the "torture is good" camp). But how sad that Bush has lowered our standards that this is even a topic of discussion in America. Read the rest of this post...

A Pardon For Scooter?

Don't be surprised. USA Today columnist DeWayne Wickham lays out the history of presidential pardons and why Libby might be next in line for a presidential pardon. Would Bush dare to do it now? Or will he wait until the wee hours of his Administration? Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

And big changes at CNN. Aaron Brown (who we like) is out. And Anderson Cooper (who we love) is taking over in primetime from 10 p.m. to midnight. Thoughts? Read the rest of this post...

WASH POST: Aides discuss whether Rove should resign; Fitzgerald to decide on possible indictments within weeks!

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL I'm never going to fall asleep now!

From page one of the friggin Washington Post:

Top White House aides are privately discussing the future of Karl Rove, with some expressing doubt that President Bush can move beyond the damaging CIA leak case as long as his closest political strategist remains in the administration.

If Rove stays, which colleagues say remains his intention, he may at a minimum have to issue a formal apology for misleading colleagues and the public about his role in conversations that led to the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame, according to senior Republican sources familiar with White House deliberations.

While Rove faces doubts about his White House status, there are new indications that he remains in legal jeopardy from Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald's criminal investigation of the Plame leak. The prosecutor spoke this week with an attorney for Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper about his client's conversations with Rove before and after Plame's identity became publicly known because of anonymous disclosures by White House officials, according to two sources familiar with the conversation.

Fitzgerald is considering charging Rove with making false statements in the course of the 22-month probe, and sources close to Rove -- who holds the titles of senior adviser and White House deputy chief of staff -- said they expect to know within weeks whether the most powerful aide in the White House will be accused of a crime.

Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

And off to bed. Read the rest of this post...