Stump Lane
in the dirt since history began

Roberts had larger 2000 recount role

But one thing was certain, [domestic policy advisor for the President, Ted] Cruz told The Herald: “There was no one better for the job.”

”He’s one of the best brief writers in the country. Just like a good journalist or a novelist, he can write with clarity, concisely and can paint a picture with words,” said Cruz. Roberts, a constitutional-law expert in a top Washington law firm at the time, is now a federal appeals court judge in D.C. Roberts was a no-brainer for the recount effort: His win-loss record at the U.S. Supreme Court was one of the most impressive. And, like Cruz, he was a member of a tight-knit circle of former clerks for the court’s chief justice, William Rehnquist — a group jokingly referred to as “the cabal.”

Buzzflash gives Amy Goodman a well deserved Wings of Justice award. I highly suggest watching or listening to her show Democracy Now! regularly. I cannot stress this enough.

Amy Goodman, Wings of Justice Honoree

Man Killed in London Not Linked to Blasts

The man shot at the Stockwell subway station was identified as Jean Charles de Menezes, 27. Witnesses said he was wearing a heavy, padded coat when plainclothes police chased him into a subway car, pinned him to the ground and shot him in the head and torso.

Hours after the shooting, Police Commissioner Ian Blair said the victim was “directly linked” to the investigations into attacks Thursday and July 7. In the latter, suicide bombings on trains and a bus killed 56 people, including four attackers.

Police initially said the victim attracted police attention because he left a house that was under surveillance after Thursday’s bungled bombings, in which devices planted on three subway trains and a double-decker bus failed to detonate properly. Stockwell is near Oval station, one of those targeted.

“He was then followed by surveillance officers to the station. His clothing and his behavior at the station added to their suspicions,” police said Friday.

But Saturday, a police official said on condition of anonymity that Menezes was “not believed to be connected in any way to any of the London bombings.” The official requested anonymity because no official announcement had been made.

“For somebody to lose their life in such circumstances is a tragedy and one that the Metropolitan Police Service regrets,” a spokesman said on condition of anonymity, which is police policy.

However, police did not explain what went wrong. Citing a need to keep the investigation under wraps, the authorities refused to give any indication whether Menezes had done anything wrong at all.

I’ll tell you what he did wrong. He was wearing a heavy, padded coat in friggin July. That’ll get ya five to the head and torso for sure.

Suspicious lookin’ motherfucker.

In speaking about terrorists, OFL said, “…they’re trying to create vacuums into which their ideology can move.”

Read it in context and explain what that particular quote means. No, wait. Scratch that. Explain what OFL thought he meant when he said it.

New Political Blog (I hate that word)

There is a new blog (I hate that word) in Cybertown. It officially “goes live” today. It is a political one. It is called “Donklephant.” Your Montag will be contributing on at least a trial basis over there. In fact, I have already published several posts (go there, leave comments on my posts, make me look good, etc.) The site is meant to find the “common ground” in US political discourse and discuss the issues in a civilized manner. A noble goal which I have advocated right here.

The name Donklephant seems to imply — by combining the symbols of the two major parties — that the common ground to be found lies in that hairline gap between the Dems and the Reps, so I’m kind of off the map — playin out in “left field,” so to speak. I’ll just have to “cleverly couch” my ‘Left Libertarian’ sensibilities in more “moderate” language than I am used to. And without cussin’. Shit. (Wish me luck.)

Anyway, the two of you kind readers that actually read this post before it drops off the bottom of the page, please click over and check it out. Let me know either here or over there what you think. Please and thanks.

Yes, that press conference. The press conference in which Press Secretary, Scott McClellan refused to answer any questions about Karl Rove’s involvement in the revelation of Valerie Plame’s identity and uttered the phrase “ongoing investigation” no fewer than eight times in the act of said refusals. I don’t want to get into that whole Karl Rove thing here, but there was this bizarre exchange in the middle of it all:

Q Scott, since President William Howard Taft became Chief Justice after his presidency, you would not rule out the President nominating former law school professor Bill Clinton to the Supreme Court, would you? And if you wouldn’t, we can report that President Clinton is under consideration, can’t we?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, that’s the first time I’ve heard that name suggested. I know there are a lot of names being suggested out there, and you know that I’m not going to get into speculating about any particular names.

Q One follow-up. Considering the widespread interest and the absolutely frantic Democrat reaction to Karl Rove’s excellent speech to conservatives last month, does the President hope that Karl will give a lot more speeches?

MR. McCLELLAN: He continues to give speeches. He was traveling this weekend talking about the importance of strengthening Social Security. And he has continued to go out and give speeches.

This reminds me so much of that Gannon malarkey. Eerily so.

Christopher Gelpi, a political scientist at Duke University, and studier of public opinion in times of war, has this to say about the London bombings:

“I think the attacks may help slow the ebbing of [public] support over Iraq, because the bombings make [Bush's] point about linking Iraq and terrorism.”

Uhhh, what?!

OFL likes! And he’s on it like a mating rabbit:

In his weekly radio address Saturday, the president said the bombings were part of a single terrorist offensive that included the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon as well as this year’s attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq.

The stuff I am reading calls it different: that London was the work of “an evolving Al Qaeda” in which ‘Al Qaeda’ is becoming a brand name for terrorism used by separate and diverse groups.

“We are now waging a global war on terror, from the mountains of Afghanistan to the plains of Iraq,” Bush said.

Hey, that sounds patriotic!

For purple [Afghan] mountain majesties
Above thy fruited plain [of Iraq]
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee..

And so reflective of our imperial nature!

“We will stay on the offense, fighting the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them at home.”

Thank goodness. Now I feel all safe and shit. Too bad for you, rest-of-the-world suckas.

After Flagging Support, a Second Wind for Bush

directed-energy
when you’re dealing with people
whose full intent is to die
you can’t give people a choice
of whether to comply

what i’m looking for is a way
to shoot everybody and they’re all ok

Beam It Right There, Scotty

(more…)

Amidst my sorrow for those dead and injured in the London bombings, I cannot accept Bush’s quote on the matter. From the G-8 meeting in Gleneagles:

“On the one hand, you have people working to alleviate poverty and rid the world of the pandemic of AIDS and ways to have clean a environment, and on the other hand, you have people working to kill other people,” the president said. “The contrast couldn’t be clearer between the intentions and the hearts of those of us who care deeply about human rights and human liberty, and those who kill, those who’ve got such evil in their hearts that they will take the lives of innocent folks. The war on terror goes on.”

Ok, Mr. Tax Cut for the Wealthy Conservative Christian No Condoms Environmental Nightmare Oil Baron Warmonger. We cannot accept your shameless use of this event to posture as the good guy. Shameless.

Not sure if this is as a percentage of recommended daily allowance, or what. We’ll have to do better in the future. The first page of Darth Vader’s post comes in at 38% evil. You’d only have to eat three bowls of that to match the evil content of Total.

Ramirez Hits 20th Career Grand Slam
Manny (World Series MVP Manuel Ramirez) hit his 20th grand slam last night and is zeroing in on Lou Gehrig’s major league record of 23.

Today, the Red Sox are in first place, 3.5 games in front of Baltimore who they will play four times, (Thursday through Sunday,) before the All-Star Break.