Tony Blair, in the last bit of his time in office, is trying to get British police war-time powers to stop people and ask them where they’re going, where they’re coming from, and who they are, according to the New Zealand Herald. Police already have the power to stop and search people.
Blair’s other idea, allowing detainment for up to ninety days with no charges, was not accepted by Parliament and the courts.
The Justice Department wants FISA to be “modernized,” according to the ACLU. From Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:
Congress shouldn’t reward a president who continuously disregards the rule of law. FISA has already been amended numerous times. It doesn’t need to be ‘modernized,’ it needs to be followed.
Technorati Tags: Politics, Current Events, Bush, Current Affairs, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Executive Power, Right to Privacy, Warrants, FISA, DoJ, Department of Justice
The White House says that e-mails possibly related to the attorney firings were deleted, according to Yahoo. The e-mails were in accounts not provided by the government, but by the Republican Party. This would go around the requirement that presidential records be preserved and eventually released.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said “This sounds like the administration’s version of the dog ate my homework.”
Technorati Tags: Politics, Current Events, Bush, Current Affairs, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Executive Power, Attorney Firings, White House, Republican Party, GOP, E-Mails
Washington has become the fourth state to prohibit compliance with the REAL ID Act as it stands now, according to the ACLU. The bill was passed in the house 95 to 2, and would prevent compliance unless it is fully funded by the federal government and stronger protections for privacy are put in place.
In regards to the funding though, I don’t see how it makes much of a difference which branch of the government funds it. Someone would have to, and it’s obviously going to be the taxpayers either way.
In regards to the privacy, every step is, well, a step, but less than a tenth of the states have made this move.
Technorati Tags: Politics, Current Events, Bush, Current Affairs, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Executive Power, Right to Privacy, REAL ID, Washington
Bush has used a recess appointment to make a Republican fund raiser our ambassador to Belgium, according to Fox News.
The headline on Fox’s homepage? “Bush Out-Foxes Appointment Foes.” By “appointment foes,” of course, they mean “majority in Congress.” And by “out-foxes” they presumably mean “bypasses check and balance system that depends on.” The way it’s phrased makes it seem as though Bush, in a moment of genius, finds a way to defeat these evil people who are opposing the appointment. Yes, he’s quite clever, he’s done it 167 times in fact.
Technorati Tags: Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Executive Power, Media, Fox News, Fox News, Sam Fox, Belgium, Bush
The White House says that, although “everyone” wants to close Gitmo, they can’t, according to Reuters. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that “The problem is that you have a number of dangerous people who, in some cases, cannot be held, cannot be tried in other places and they are too dangerous to release. So you need to be able to deal with it in some way.”
The civilian justice system is much too good for these un-charged-un-convicted-but-yet-no-doubt-terribly-evil-people, so obviously we can’t move them to the US.
Technorati Tags: Politics, Current Events, Bush, Current Affairs, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Enemy Combatants, Executive Power, Human Rights, Guantanamo Bay, Civilian Courts, Military Commissions Act, Detainees, Terrorism, Gitmo
The Egyptian parliament has approved a set of amendments to the constitution that would reduce protections against voter fraud and increase presidential powers, according to USA Today.
They passed with 315 in favor, and will go to a public referendum, later this month or early April.
Technorati Tags: Politics, Current Events, Bush, Current Affairs, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Executive Power, Outside US, Voting Rights, Egypt, Democracy
Today is the last day of Sunshine Week. According to the House’s Committee on Oversight and Reform, Congress passed four bills to promote open government:
Technorati Tags: Politics, Current Events, Bush, Current Affairs, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Executive Power, Sunshine Week, Presidential Records, Presidential Libraries, Freedom of Information Act, Whistleblowers, Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007, Presidential Library Donation Reform Act of 2007, Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 2007, Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007
An editorial in the New York Times (Too Many Secrets) makes a short but strong argument against the overuse of “state secrets” claims by the government. The primary example cited was the case of Khaled el-Masri, which was thrown out on the claim that the mere discussion of it could be threatening to national security. El-Masri was a victim of the rendition program, and his case has been discussed worldwide without any resulting terrorist attacks.
Maher Arar’s case, which is similar, is going to an appeals court, and he will likely face similar claims of “state secrets” by the government.
The article says that the claims are increasingly being misused, preventing investigation into abuses of executive power and other matters.
Technorati Tags: Politics, Current Events, Bush, Current Affairs, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Executive Power, Paranoia, State Secrets, Sunshine Week, Khaled el-Masri, Maher Arar
Hours after Bush expressed his support of Alberto Gonzales, Senator John Sununu (R-NH) became the first Republican Congressman to say that Gonzales should be fired, according to Earthlink News. He said that “We need to have a strong, credible attorney general that has the confidence of Congress and the American people,” and that “Alberto Gonzales can’t fill that role.”
Judd Gregg though, also a New Hampshire Republican, said “I don’t believe the attorney general should resign over this… I don’t believe his ability to pursue the terrorist threat has been compromised to the extent that he should resign.”
Since opposing terrorism is not Gonzales’ sole responsibility, however, this is almost entirely irrelevant in the face of other issues.
Technorati Tags: Politics, Current Events, Bush, Current Affairs, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Executive Power, Right to Privacy, Alberto Gonzales, John Sununu, Justice Department
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