More good news from the front

Unfortunately, the good news is for bin Laden.

Irshad Abdul Kadir, Dawn:

Al Qaeda has moved from a hitherto fringe existence in Sudan and Afghanistan to a substantial one in Pakistan. It may be referred to by a number of names — the Taliban, the jihadis and the militants — but the goals of all are identical.Conditions have never been so favourable for the promotion of the militants’ objectives….

Arbitrary, Capricious … and Not in Accordance with Law

“Arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with law.” U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly was specifically referring to the implementation of George W. Bush’s executive order that in effect countermanded the Presidential Records Act, but her description applies to pretty much everything the Bush Administration has done.

The House of Representatives has passed legislation to override the Executive Order, but the companion bill is stalled in the Senate.

Please call your Senators and tell them you want the bill brought to the floor.

Quote of the Day

John Fea:

Those who insist that America was founded as a Christian nation run roughshod over the historical record. They use the words of the Founding Fathers to support Republican jeremiads on the moral decay of American life. If only this country could return to its Christian roots, they say nostalgically, everything would be okay.
 

And how do they demonstrate that America was founded as a Christian nation? By selectively choosing texts from the writings of the Founders without any effort to explore them in the context of the 18th-century world in which they were written. Just because John Adams and George Washington quoted from the Bible or made reference to God does not mean that they were trying to construct a Christian nation. Granted, the Founding Fathers were the products of a Christian culture, but most of them were never comfortable with the beliefs that defined this culture. Very few of them would qualify for membership in today’s evangelical churches.

Words Fail Me

From a Truthout report on the Congressional hearing on Blackwater:

Correspondence between State Department officials in Iraq revealed they initially advised Blackwater to pay $250,000 to the family of the slain guard, but later revised their recommendation down to $15,000. The State Department officials claimed the reduction was intended to dissuade Iraqis from “trying to get killed so as to set up their family financially,” according to emails received by Waxman’s committee

Mexico, October 3rd, 2007

In memory of those who died at Tlatelolco protesting the repression of the Vietnam era. From Lampara de Diogenes via Sendero del Peje. As Kate Doyle of NSArchive says,

Mexico’s tragedy unfolded on the night of October 2, 1968, when a student demonstration ended in a storm of bullets in La Plaza de las Tres Culturas at Tlatelolco, Mexico City. The extent of the violence stunned the country. Although months of nation-wide student strikes that preceded October 2nd had prompted an increasingly repressive response from the Díaz Ordaz regime, no one was prepared for the bloodbath that Tlatelolco became. When the shooting stopped, hundreds of people lay dead or wounded, as Army and police forces seized thousands of surviving protesters and dragged them away.

The watchword of the protesters: “Neither forget nor forgive.“

A Win for Workers’ Rights

Workers win $62 million in damages because Wal-Mart forced them to work “off the clock” or lose their jobs.

About 125,000 people will receive $500 each in damages under a state law invoked when a company, without cause, withholds pay for more than 30 days.
 

A Philadelphia jury last year awarded the workers the exact amount they had sought, rejecting Wal-Mart’s claim that some people chose to work through breaks or that a few minutes of extra work here and there was insignificant.

Wal-Mart’s defense was that the employees skipped their rest breaks and kept working after quitting time by choice. Um, yeah. I’d believe that the kinds of jobs hourly workers do at Wal-Mart are just so fulfilling and enjoyable that people forgot to stop working.

Oink, oink, flap, flap.

Republicans Rally Around Guy Fired By ESPN For Being Racist Jerk

Yupper, this is the fourth anniversary of Mister “Why Don’t You Take The Bone Out Of Your Nose” Limbaugh’s being booted from ESPN for being a racist jerk.

Yet he’s still on Armed Forces Radio. And Republicans — especially Southern white Congressional ones like Jack Kingston — still are rallying around him, without excuse or apology, after he dissed troops.

Whew!

This makes me feel a lot better today, as Rudy’s their only hope.

Why Should We Subsidize Rush?

Rush Limbaugh, that prominent exponent of the free market, wouldn’t be where he is today without regular and copious infusion of wingnut welfare and other forms of non-market-oriented support.  So of course Congressional Republicans made sure he got stuck on Armed Forces Radio even though he’s been caught repeatedly dissing our troops.

Wes Clark thinks it’s time to kick Rush off the taxpayer-funded captive-audience gravy train.  So does Jane Hamsher.