Department of inJustice: hope in the Siegelman case

Scott Horton of Harper’s brings this good news:

Today forty-four attorneys general from forty of the fifty states of the Union petition the United States Congress [PDF] demanding a formal inquiry into the prosecution of Don Siegelman, the former Governor of Alabama, who was falsely charged, tried and convicted in federal court proceedings in Alabama.

In the Siegelman case, we see how easily the justice system can be perverted into a system of men and not laws. Thank goodness that most of the Attorneys General can set politics aside to protest this abuse of power. But consider: Don Siegelman was a state governor, with many powerful friends. If the system can be used in this way against him, what protection does the average citizen have?  

Game On, Indeed

Harry Reid has finally decided that it’s time to stop standing in the way of the Republicans’ strange desire to shoot themselves repeatedly in the feet with filibusters of popular legislation.

This ought to be interesting.

The flight of the Reaper: the Lieberman amendment and war against Iran

As MercRising readers know, the United States is engaged in a covert war against Iran– covert from the American voter, that is.

For two years, the US has conducted overflights and (directly or by contract) engaged in missions of sabotage, assassination, and intelligence-gathering. [Update: see Juan Cole for additional links] Now, Arthur Silber rightly takes to task all sane people for having failed to respond to the latest step toward war, a Senate resolution (S.9002, the Lieberman amendment to the Defense Reauthorization) ordering a semi-monthly military report on Iranian attacks on US interests (via Avedon). 

Quick Monday Morning News Roundup

– Memo to GOP presidential candidates:  Embrace Bush on Iraq, Kill Your Campaign.

– The IAEA confirms that after months of Bolton-free negotiations and actual diplomacy, North Korea has indeed shut down its nuclear reactor that it was using to create weapons-grade plutonium.  This is very good news indeed.  Let’s hope Bush doesn’t screw it up by deciding to invade.

– Speaking of nukes and nations Bush wants to invade:  Isn’t it interesting that Bush is being so hard-line against Iran, when Iran’s not harboring Osama bin Laden and/or the Taliban — yet Pakistan is?

In Which Miss Gulch Gets Pwned Like A Pwny Thing

Earlier this week, in her patented Hushed Tones Of Moral Authority, conservative columnist Katherine Kersten breathlessly informed the readers of her StarTribune column that there was a Serious Heroin Problem (no doubt the work of liberals and our permissive society) in the deceptively-serene college town of Northfield, Minnesota:

Say a prayer for Japan

Mariko Yasu and Drew Gibson, Bloomberg:

An earthquake struck central Japan near Niigata, toppling houses, causing a fire at a nuclear power plant and suspending bullet train services. Two people were killed and more than 200 were injured, Kyodo News reported.

The magnitude 6.8 quake, centered off the Japan Sea coast, triggered a tsunami warning that was later lifted, the country’s meteorological agency said on its Web site. The quake’s epicenter was about 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of Tokyo, where buildings swayed for several minutes.

…Japan yesterday began cleaning up after being battered for three days by Typhoon Man-Yi, which caused three deaths, injured scores of people and disrupted air and rail transport.