The World Around You

Alabama Governor Bob Riley has been selected as one of Governing Magazine’s Public Officials of the Year (and they gave him the cover). They have done just a cursory, but extremely complementary profile.

Had Bob Riley’s attempt to reform Alabama’s tax structure been passed by the voters in September, he would have earned a place for himself in the state’s history books and might have become one of the most prominent governors in the country. As it is, his initiative lost, so Riley stands out only for having offered the most conspicuous display of political courage any state has seen this year.

Amen. Hopefully, there will still be much more to tell when this administration is over.

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If you haven’t yet read The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown, I highly recommend you do so. It’s an interesting cross between the historical non-fiction and mystery genres. ABC will run a special breaking down the claims made in the book and Elizabeth Vargas tells BBC News that, “You can’t talk about this subject without intriguing people or offending people.”

NBC’s Today show also addressed this topic earlier this week. There is a lot of good theological history contained in Brown’s tome and I hope it does lead to a broader debate in this country on the subject of religion and why we believe what we do and worship in the way we do.

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I have every confidence that this idea is being pushed much more seriously by Microsoft than by Google,

Google, the highflying Silicon Valley Web search company, recently began holding meetings with bankers in preparation for its highly anticipated initial public offering as it was still engaged in meetings of another kind: exploring a partnership or even a merger with Microsoft.

According to company executives and others briefed on the discussions, Microsoft - desperate to capture a slice of the popular and ad-generating search business - approached Google within the last two months to discuss options, including the possibility of a takeover.

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While the overture appears to have gained little traction - Google indicated that it preferred the initial offering route, the executives said - it demonstrates the enormous importance that Google represents as both a competitive threat to Microsoft and as Silicon Valley’s latest hope for a new financial boom.

Though seemingly spurned, Microsoft may still be interested in pursuing Google at a later date, according to an executive briefed on the discussions.

Both Google and Microsoft executives refused to comment.

The founders of Google are savy enough to know what selling or “partnering” with Microsoft would do. They will have a very successful IPO and could become a very powerful force in their own right, that’s why Microsoft is after them.

Stand tall Google, don’t fall to the pressure of Microsoft!

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In today’s episode, Roy’s attorneys appear to throw up their hands at the inherent unfairness of the process the Chief Justice must face,

Lawyers for suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore say they don’t believe he can get a fair trial before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary on judicial ethics charges.

The attorneys said in a statement Thursday that it may be “inevitable” that Moore will be removed from office for not obeying a federal court order to move his Ten Commandments monument from the lobby of the Alabama Judicial Building.

What makes this situation so unfair? Well, that’s easy, because the justices won’t have to face a crowd of thousands at Roy’s hearing, that’s why.

Moore had asked that his trial be held somewhere like the 7,000-seat Montgomery Civic Center or the 1,200-seat Davis Theater in Montgomery, calling the Supreme Court courtroom that is normally used by the Court of the Judiciary “small” and “restrictive.” Moore claimed any smaller location would restrict media access and deny him his constitutional right to a public trial.

But the court rejected Moore’s request in a decision Wednesday, ruling instead that the case would be heard in the 210-seat Supreme Court courtroom to minimize costs and maintain proper security. The court laid out a plan for setting aside seats for the general public and the media.

Moore’s lawyers said the decision meant the chief justice cannot obtain a “fair, public trial.”

“Further, Moore’s legal team advised him that in light of the rulings of the COJ denying him his basic legal rights, that an adverse ruling from the COJ is inevitable, which may well include his imminent removal from office,” the attorneys said in the statement.

With all due respect (which isn’t much), did these attorneys get their law degrees from a Cracker Jack box? Where in the Judicial Code of Ethics, the Code of Alabama, or the US Constitution is there a right to have 10,000 of your closest friends at your trial?

Roy and his attorneys are obviously disappointed they will not be allowed to turn his hearing into a circus like we witnessed on the steps of the State Judicial Building. They know that in a case based purely on the merits, and not public passion will not be decided in their favor. Bravo to the Commission for sticking to its guns.

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I thought I had just about heard it all from certain members of the US Senate, but Senator Lott’s latest remarks are beyond belief,

Asked whether he favored any policy changes in Iraq, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) responded: “We need to have a different mix of troops, is the key. We may need to move some troops around.”

Lott suggested moving more troops from the relatively stable south closer to the region around Tikrit, where attacks on U.S. forces have been common. He said there was a need for more trained military police, adding that his comments were not a criticism.

“Honestly, it’s a little tougher than I thought it was going to be,” Lott said. In a sign of frustration, he offered an unorthodox military solution: “If we have to, we just mow the whole place down, see what happens. You’re dealing with insane suicide bombers who are killing our people, and we need to be very aggressive in taking them out.”

What happened to “liberating” Iraq. Is it liberating to be dead? Under the Senator’s theory we could ensure the safety of all the world’s people by dropping enough atomic bombs to wipe us all out. Freedom!

This is exactly the kind of thinking that put us in this position. You don’t fight suicide bombers with more military raids, especially if the military action is the reason they are willing to take their own lives in the first place. Until we get at the root of the problem, the attacks will continue.

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Sorry for the dearth of posts. I have just returned from a business trip to Washington, DC (no, I was not there for the protests). I had a great time, but I missed the blogosphere. Now, back to business.

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How’s this for lazy Friday afternoon news. Four days before the season is to begin, Pat Riley has resigned as head coach of the Miami Heat.

Riley ranks second in NBA history with 1,110 victories, and he led the Los Angeles Lakers to four championships in the 1980s. But the Heat missed the playoffs the past two years, finishing at the bottom of the Atlantic Division at 25-57 last season.

He will be replaced as Miami’s coach by Stan Van Gundy, his top assistant the past several seasons and the younger brother of Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy.

“It’s the first time I feel it’s right in the last three years,” Riley said. “It’s right for me to. It’s time.”

The move is not health-related, Riley said, adding that he made the decision Wednesday.

He will stay on as the Heat’s president.

His legacy? Another Van Gundy! There has to be something more going on here.

Crossposted at Sportsblog

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It’s wonderful to see that the schools are upholding the First Amendment so fervently,

Huntsville teachers must warn parents about books on student reading lists with controversial content — a move that invites censorship, critics of the order say.

A Sept. 30 order from school officials requires teachers to place an asterisk next to any item on a reading list that has controversial content.

At the bottom of the list, teachers should add the disclaimer: “Parents are advised that this selection contains controversial language, behavior, situations, descriptions or innuendoes.”

The administrative order, which did not require school board approval, resulted from a parent’s complaint to the board. The parent objected to her 12-year-old son reading “Tex,” S.E. Hinton’s award-winning book about adolescents that has references to sex and alcohol.

The parent didn’t want the book banned, but rather asked that parents be warned of such content ahead of time. School Superintendent Ann Roy Moore asked Sandra Shipman, the head of secondary education, to devise a labeling system for reading lists in all high schools and middle schools.

Cheers to the Huntsville Times for finding a teacher who articulates very well why this is a BAD IDEA.

Pam Smith, who teaches English at Grissom High School, doesn’t want to mark her students’ reading lists with parental advisory warnings.

“I am totally against censorship. Saying something is controversial and labeling it just invites censorship,” Smith told The Huntsville Times for a story Thursday. “I don’t teach anything I believe I shouldn’t be teaching.”

Teachers must provide another reading choice for those who object.

Anyone can find something controversial in most any book and innuendo can extend to anything, Smith said.

Exactly, forget the slippery slope argument, how about the fact that this is tying teacher’s hands behind their backs! How are you supposed to make learning interesting or engaging for students if all they can read are items that are not “controversial”.

Life is controversy. We’ve already lost serious ground in this area with regards to textbooks (especially history books) and standardized tests. Students are given only the most basic information in the most bland way possible, so school boards can avoid controversy. Grow a spine! If you can’t handle parents’ criticism of sound educating and stand up for what is right for all students than give up your seat to someone who will.

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The Alabama Board of Education discussed their proposed budget for FY 2005 yesterday and the picture is as bleak as everyone has said,

State school board members Thursday recommended a list of deep cuts to next year’s budget, including layoffs for as many as 3,400 teachers statewide, while boosting spending on textbooks and certain programs.

If such a reduction in the fiscal 2005 budget is approved by the Alabama Legislature, each classroom could have an average of 1.5 more students than it does now.

The plan would require Mobile County to locally fund or lose 305 of its 3,732 teachers. In Baldwin County, 108 of its 1,330 teachers would be at risk.

Amid $199 million in projected state education cuts for the next fiscal year, board members said they would like to save: textbooks, the Alabama Reading Initiative, the High Hopes remediation program for high school students and the $5,000 yearly bonus for teachers who are National Board Certified.

“By increasing those (student-teacher) ratios a little for a short time, we are hoping to do the least amount of damage,” said Randy McKinney, the state board member who represents Mobile, Baldwin and Escambia counties. “I think we have to have tools in the classroom, and those tools are textbooks.”

And as the article goes on to acknowledge, that still won’t get to the amount of cuts the Governor has requested in order to meet revenue projections. It is a bleak, bleak outlook and the solution is not going to come rapidly.

UPDATE: The Montgomery Advertiser takes a slightly different take, emphasizing discussions on the merging of school systems and schools,

“We need to take a look at if we have too many school systems and too many schools,” he said. “We should consider consolidating the school systems that can not create a balanced budget.”

School consolidation was just one of seven proposed options to help rescue struggling schools.

Richardson suggested offering only the core subjects, math, science, English and social studies, at schools that are in the worst shape. Electives and athletics would be available only to students who could afford the fees charged for the classes and activities. Charging to ride the bus to and from school also was proposed, along with charging for textbooks.

The superintendent said he was strongly opposed to adopting a fee schedule.

“I have fought fees because those least able to pay get hurt the most,” he said.

Standardized testing could be reduced so that only the tests required by law are offered, Richardson said.

There is no doubt we have too many school systems in this state. The Board of Education needs to learn how to say no to cities that want to form their own school systems. There should be no more than 50 school systems, which would be a reduction and consolidation of the 79 additional systems we currently have. This would be a bold step, but a necessary one.

UPDATE: See Mac write.

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If I had lived in Alabama a little longer I would have seen this coming,

Former Gov. Fob James is coming to the defense of Chief Justice Roy Moore, six years after he said he would use state troopers and the National Guard to defend Moore’s display of the Ten Commandments.

Moore’s attorneys filed papers Thursday in which James supported a second bid by Moore to have Attorney General Bill Pryor barred from prosecuting the judge on judicial ethics charges.

Moore is accused of violating judicial standards by defying a federal court order to remove his Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the state judicial building. Pryor’s office will prosecute.

But James said Pryor, a James appointee who has since won election on his own, in the past advocated the idea of defying court decisions — a position James said he considered a plus in appointing Pryor.

“Had he expressed his present view, I would not have found him qualified to be attorney general of Alabama,” James said in a sworn statement.

James called Pryor’s current positions “utterly contrary to the political and legal convictions he expressed to me.”

I’m beginning to think I could throw out just about any prediction about next steps for Roy’s team and I’d have an excellent chance of being correct. His arguments are absurd, why he thinks getting Fob James involved strengthens his case is beyond me. It just shows the lack of even the weakest grasp of the law by any member of his team.

I feel sorry for whoever has to type up these petitions while keeping a straight face.

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Well, the latest tactic from the Moore camp is to try to have the judges dismissed for supposed bias,

Lawyers for suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore asked Wednesday that five of the nine members of the state Court of the Judiciary be disqualified from hearing his trial on ethics charges.

Moore’s lawyers filed a motion seeking to disqualify Sue McInnish of Montgomery and Sam Jones of Mobile, the two lay members of the court, as well as circuit judges Scott Vowell of Birmingham and Robert Kendall of Mobile and lawyer Robert North of Birmingham on grounds of possible bias against Moore.

McInnish and Jones were appointed by former Gov. Don Siegelman to three-year terms that expired earlier this year. But Attorney General Bill Pryor, who is prosecuting Moore, said McInnish and Jones have six-year terms and can continue to sit as judges.

“This opinion self-serves the prosecution by attempting to define who may qualifiedly sit in a case in which the attorney general is the prosecuting authority,” Moore’s lawyers said.

They also complained about what they called “imperial trappings” of non-elected lawyers and lay-persons wearing robes.

Pryor later said he was “appalled” by that comparison. He said voters approved the constitutional amendment that added lay-persons to the court “as a protection against possible judicial tyranny.”

Attorney General Pryor certainly has a flair for irony. Isn’t Roy the one who says he’s trying to “stop judicial tyranny”? I assume these tactics will continue right up until the day of the trial. November 12th cannot get here fast enough.

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Finally, a little honest assessment from Donald Rumsfeld. Of course, it comes from a memo to high level officials that was leaked to USA Today,

Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror. Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?

Does the US need to fashion a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists? The US is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists’ costs of millions.

Do we need a new organization?

How do we stop those who are financing the radical madrassa schools?

Is our current situation such that “the harder we work, the behinder we get”?

It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog.

There’s still a lot of wrong-headed thinking going on, but this kind of honest assessment would at least give us all a place to begin debating where we go from here. Now if only the things that came out of his mouth were this honest, rather than trying to sugarcoat everything.

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My favorite team, the New York Yankees, won last night, led by the efforts of my favorite player, Derek Jeter.

“He told me that he was going to get this guy,” Sojo said. “He said, `I’m going to kill him.’ He did. He’s amazing.”

Jeter did. Jeter was amazing. He smacked three hits off Beckett, the only three the Yankees managed in seven and a third innings off him, and he started their first two rallies in a 6-1 victory over the Florida Marlins in Game 3 of the World Series at Pro Player Stadium on Tuesday. Because of Jeter’s one-man show and Mike Mussina’s dazzling pitching, the Yankees have a 2-1 lead in the four-of-seven-game series.

When Jeter was asked about his prediction, he smiled, stammered, looked away and finally admitted that he did tell Sojo that he would get Beckett.

Three solid hits and one huge victory later, Jeter playfully acted disappointed that Sojo had given away his secretive rant. “Well, I always say that,” said Jeter, smiling again and scurrying away.

The Rocket takes the mound tonight. I’m beginning to smell World Championship #27!

Crossposted at Sportsblog

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The desperate measures continue,

As suspended Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore prepares for the biggest trial of his life, his attorneys are trying to book the Montgomery Civic center as the venue to decide his judicial future.

The civic center can hold thousands of people and is usually used for large sporting events, concerts and conferences. In this case, the civic center would be turned into a courtroom.

November 12th suspended Chief Justice Roy Moore will go on trial for his job. He’s being charged with violating an ethics code when he ignored a federal judge’s order to remove his ten commandment monument. If found guilty, Judge Moore could be removed as chief justice.

Whatever the ruling, his legal team wants the proceedings out in the open where you can watch. Former Alabama Justice and one of Moore’s attorneys, Justice Terry Butts, said a larger venue is needed in this case.

“There’s plenty of precedent for it, cause the supreme court does it al the time, they’ve been in the Mobile Auditorium before and they do that to accommodate public interest, and this trial has public inters so the court of the judiciary ought to move it move where the public can see and hear it,” Butts said.

Right now the trial is scheduled to take place in the Alabama Supreme Courtroom. Justice Butts expects the court of the judiciary to rule on this change of venue motion within a week.

“I don’t know what the court of the judiciary will do with the motion but I suspect that they don’t want full participation by the public and media, they would rather have a more restrictive smaller atmosphere,” he said.

First, I find it very interesting that the only news outlet I have seen reporting this is a television station out of Columbus, Georgia. Second, it is unmistakable what the Moore camp’s motivation is. They want to create the same kind of atmosphere that we witnessed on the steps of the Capitol. They hope that a raucous crowd will influence the outcome of the trial or, at the very least, the court of public opinion.

As Chandler Bing might say, Could he BE any more desperate?

UPDATE: Mac notes the rejection of Moore’s petition to remove Bill Pryor from prosecuting the case.

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I have to give a big thank you to the Auburn and Dothan City Councils for taking steps to reduce the environmental tobacco smoke in their communities. Dothan adopted a change that closely paralleled the current ordinance in Prattville. It has been a great success here and I hope Dothan sees the same kind of results.

Auburn went further and enacted a smoking ban in restaurants and bars, but the ban will not go into effect until August of 2005. I’m sure this was a compromise with the restaurant owners and will allow them to challenge the legality of the ordinance in Alabama. I don’t know if there were other considerations in play.

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Osama bin Laden: Who? Oh yeah, that guy responsible for 9/11. He’s still around?

Nathaniel Heatwole: They’re spinning the story this morning that getting box cutters on a plane is not that big of a deal because of all the other security precautions they have taken. They’re right. However, this does show that the illusion that we are “safer” than we were on 9/11 is just a mirage.

Jeb Bush: This is a classic illustration of be careful what you ask for… He says he doesn’t have the authority to put the tube back. The legislative branch in Florida is about to give it to him. The ball’s coming back to your court Governor.

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Roy’s attorneys know what they’re up against in Bill Pryor and the Attorney General’s office, so they’ve resorted to pathetically desperate measures,

Lawyers for suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore alleged Monday that Attorney General Bill Pryor has a conflict of interest and asked the state Court of the Judiciary to disqualify him from prosecuting Moore on ethics charges.

Moore’s lawyers said Pryor appointed outside lawyers Herb Titus and Steve Melchior to defend Moore’s displaying a Ten Commandments monument in the judicial building rotunda and now is prosecuting Moore for disobeying a federal court order to remove the monument.

“The conflict of interest is apparent and the appearance of impropriety is overwhelming,” Moore attorneys Terry Butts, James Wilson and Michael Jones wrote in a motion to the Court of the Judiciary.

They allege Pryor also has a personal conflict of interest because he has been nominated for a seat on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Attorney General Pryor is stalled on the horns of … intertwined legal and political problems,” Moore’s lawyers wrote.

If Pryor continues to handle the prosecution against Moore for the Judicial Inquiry Commission, “then he perhaps gains the support and vote of liberal Democrats in the United States Senate, who currently oppose the attorney general’s appointment as a judge on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals,” Moore’s lawyers wrote.

Joy Patterson, a spokeswoman for Pryor, said the motion by Moore’s lawyers “is completely without merit, and we will oppose it vigorously.”

Where is the confidence that Roy is going around the country speaking about? If he’s so confident he’s in the right, then why would it matter who is prosecuting him? If it’s so obvious that his position is correct, what difference does it make?

The truth is, he knows there’s a potential for his case to be turned down by the Supreme Court and for him to lose his job within a matter of weeks. I guess that would make anyone desperate.

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Kevin notes Laurence’s disillusion with all things Carnival. I can’t say I blame him.

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Adam Cohen has an Editorial Observer piece in this morning’s New York Times

Alabama’s disintegrating government is a problem, certainly, for anyone in the state. But it may also be a harbinger of where the nation is headed. There is a “starve the beast” ethic, currently fashionable among conservatives, holding that the best way to downsize government and end the social safety net is to get voters to demand lower taxes. But before we hurtle any further in that direction, we should think hard about whether we want the whole nation to look like Alabama does this year or, worse, next year.

Alabama is not a wealthy state, but its bigger problem is that it is not making an effort to raise the taxes it needs. It is 48th in the nation in state and local revenue as a percentage of personal income, according to Governing magazine. And it has the nation’s least equitable tax system. Alabama’s income tax kicks in for families of four earning just $4,600. Its property taxes are the lowest in the nation, Governing reports, and “heavily favor farming interests.”

As a Republican congressman, Governor Riley strongly opposed tax increases. But when he took over the state government, he realized it could not run on the revenues coming in. He courageously offered up a tax package that raised the needed revenue while shifting the burden from overtaxed poor people to undertaxed business interests. But the package was defeated by a skeptical electorate, with many of the no votes coming from low-income Alabamians, whose taxes would have gone down.

He goes on to draw the parallel to the current presidential administration.

The nation is facing precisely the same issues as Alabama. The Bush administration has tried to delude the public into thinking we can fight a war, rebuild Iraq, fix our schools, get prescription drug benefits and still enjoy the largest tax cut in history. But the deficit cannot grow forever. Eventually, we will have to pay more or, as “starve the beast” proponents hope, do with much less.

Last month, Alabama voted for fewer social services, less education, and a shoddier legal system — to become, that is, more like a third-world nation. But low as taxes are, the state will never be better at being an underdeveloped country than actual underdeveloped countries are. Alabama’s best chance, and the nation’s, is to invest in its people and civic institutions, the things that set America apart.

Governor Riley’s setback last month is being hailed by national antitax forces as a great victory. But if Alabama heads into next year without additional revenues, students may have to learn without textbooks, prisoners may be released early, and people may start dying of preventable diseases. We should all pay attention, because if the “starve the beast” crowd continues to prevail in Washington, as goes Alabama so may go the nation.

Maybe we should change the state motto! It should be, “Alabama, Leading the Nation Down the Drain.” That’s catchy, isn’t it?

Seriously, the Governor will continue to tell Alabamians the truth and, together with the legislature, they will have to come up with creative solutions to difficult problems. I have faith in our state’s administration. Which is much more than I can say for our leadership in Washington.

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Who would have thought after the heartbreaking, season opening loss to Bowling Green at home that the Boilermakers would be a top 10 team just six weeks later,

The Purdue football team (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten) is ranked 10th in this week’s Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls, released this afternoon.

It marks the Boilermakers’ second-highest ranking under seventh-year head coach Joe Tiller. Purdue was ninth the week of Nov. 5, 2000. The last time the Boilermakers were higher than ninth was the week of Sept. 10, 1979, when they were fifth in the Associated Press poll under head coach Jim Young.

Under Tiller, Purdue has been ranked in the Associated Press poll 57 weeks (out of 112 possible). That total stands as the second-most by any Purdue coach. Jack Mollenkopf was on the sidelines for 80 ranked weeks from 1956 to 1969, including five at No. 1 during the 1968 season. Purdue has been ranked 215 weeks in its history.

Purdue’s next opponent, Michigan, checks in at 13th in the AP poll and 15th by ESPN/USA Today. The Boilermakers visit the Wolverines on Saturday, Oct. 25. Kickoff is 3:30 p.m. EDT at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, and the game will be televised by ABC.

The Boilermakers have not won at the “Big House” since 1966, 15 straight losses. This would be a huge mental hurdle for Purdue to overcome. They are currently one of two undefeateds left in the Big Ten, the other is Michigan State, and the two teams will not meet this year.

Crossposted at Sportsblog

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Just a personal note about Dell Computers. A bug got into my system at home and the hard drive crashed and is beyond salvation. Within 10 minutes of calling the Dell customer support line, I had a new hard drive on the way that should be here tomorrow. Of course I’m a bit miffed at losing all of my data on the hard drive, but I am exteremely impressed with the service I received.

Dell Rocks!

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Is the proposal by many of the Democratic presidential candidates to rollback the Bush tax cuts really sound policy? Paul Krugman doesn’t think so,

So if a Democratic candidate proposes a total rollback of the Bush tax cuts, he’ll be offering an easy target: administration spokespeople will be able to provide reporters with carefully chosen examples of middle-income families who would lose $1,500 or $2,000 a year from tax-cut repeal. By leaving the child tax credits and the cutout in place while proposing to repeal the rest, contenders will recapture most of the revenue lost because of the tax cuts, while making the job of the administration propagandists that much harder.

Purists will raise two objections. The first is that an incomplete rollback of the Bush tax cuts won’t be enough to restore long-run solvency. In fact, even a full rollback wouldn’t be enough. According to my rough calculations, keeping the child credits and the cutout while rolling back the rest would close only about half the fiscal gap. But it would be a lot better than current policy.

The other objection is that the tricks used to sell the Bush tax cuts have made an already messy tax system, full of special breaks for particular classes of taxpayers, even messier. Shouldn’t we favor a reform that cleans it up?

In principle, the answer is yes. But an ambitious reform plan would be demagogued and portrayed as a tax increase for the middle class. My guess is that we should propose a selective rollback as the first step, with broader reform to follow.

Will someone be able to find the political sweet spot, the combination of fiscal responsibility and electoral smarts that brings the looting to an end? The future of the nation depends on the answer.

Depending on this lot to find the political “sweet spot” seems like a lost cause to me. This issue should provide a golden opportunity for a candidate who needs some traction and wants to show he/she can manage the economy.

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The Mobile Register spells out how dangerous the legal arguments being made by Roy Moore’s attorneys really are,

For evidence of the radical nature of his cause, look no farther than a recent article by one of his lawyers, John Eidsmoe, a professor at Faulkner University’s Jones School of Law.

Written for an outfit called American Heritage Research, Mr. Eidsmoe’s article openly states that the Moore case is based on the legal doctrine known as “interposition.” It holds that a state official can interfere with a federal official’s ruling if the state official considers it illegitimate.

Mr. Eidsmoe absurdly called interposition a “middle ground position,” but he also acknowledged that “implementation of the doctrine may be peaceable … or may proceed ultimately to nullification with forcible resistance.”

More concretely, interposition is the theory that was used by the Confederacy to justify secession from the union — and later used by former Gov. George Wallace to justify opposition to civil rights for black Americans.

The chief justice is not only raising the stakes in a way that his own lawyer admits could lead to “forcible resistance” (read: violence), but for a theory inextricably linked to blatant racial discrimination.

Mr. Eidsmoe’s article defending interposition takes readers on a wild ride through a full millennium of skewed history and quotes from theologians as well as politicians. But the gist of his argument is that if state officials abide by court decisions they believe to be unconstitutional, “the people will have ceased to be their own rulers.”

Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, though, already has destroyed that argument. In a speech last month at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law, Mr. Pryor noted that — unlike in past tyrannies cited by Mr. Eidsmoe — “our federal and state governments are far superior to Caesar in providing justice and securing religious freedom.”

Most important, we live in a society in which, “when the judiciary interprets the Constitution erroneously, we still retain all the lawful tools of political opposition. … We can campaign for different policies. We can elect candidates who will enact our favored policies. Our elected officials can appoint judges faithful to the rule of law. We can bring new cases before the courts and urge the overruling of erroneous precedents. If necessary, we can even amend the Constitution.”?

These arguments just strengthen my belief that the Supreme Court will see fit to let the order of the Court of Appeals stand. I also choose to believe that the Judicial Inquiry Commission will make the right decision and remove the suspended Chief Justice from office.

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This story (that I picked up from TalkLeft and they picked up from the Philadelphia Inquirer through the Political Wire) should demonstrate once and for all that it is impossible to stop leaks in our media culture,

Bush orders officials to stop the leaks
Concerned about the appearance of disarray and feuding within his administration as well as growing resistance to his policies in Iraq, President Bush - living up to his recent declaration that he is in charge - told his top officials to “stop the leaks” to the media, or else.

News of Bush’s order leaked almost immediately.

Bush told his senior aides Tuesday that he “didn’t want to see any stories” quoting unnamed administration officials in the media anymore, and that if he did, there would be consequences, said a senior administration official who asked that his name not be used.

Good luck with that George!

UPDATE: Daniel Drezner thinks this is really funny, no matter your party affiliation.

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Iraq and Afghanistan: The President’s aid package is inching closer to approval, but many opponents are becoming more vocal. Show Me the Money!

Guantanamo Bay: An Arabic linguist with top secret clearance at Gitmo was caught with reams of documents at Logan Airport yesterday. I’m sure he’ll be looking to make a deal.

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The Colts have re-signed RB-Brian Allen as they face a slew of injuries in the backfield

Ricky Williams suffered a sprained left ankle in Sunday’s loss to Carolina that might keep him out of action when the team returns from its bye week and hosts Houston in the RCA Dome Oct. 26. Also, Dominic Rhodes still is dealing with soreness in his right knee and James Mungro might need arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

The good news: Edgerrin James, who has missed the past three games with damage to his transverse process (lower back), is expected to return against the Texans.

“Edge, we think, is going to be 100 percent,” coach Tony Dungy said Wednesday.

Mungro might require a scope to feel as chipper. He has been experiencing irritation in his right knee since damaging it at Tampa. Team doctors, Dungy noted, are trying to determine “whether to go in and scope it now during the off week or fight our way through it.”

With so many concerns, the Colts opted to re-sign Allen.

“It’s been a journey,” he said after Wednesday’s practice, “but I’m just thankful to God to be back. I know I can play in the NFL.”

Cross-posted at Sportsblog

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Thomas Friedman has a solid criticism of the administration this morning,

There was a headline that grabbed me in The Times on Saturday. It said, “Cheney Lashes Out at Critics of Policy on Iraq.”

“Wow,” I thought, “that must have been an interesting encounter.” Then I read the fine print. Mr. Cheney was speaking to 200 invited guests at the conservative Heritage Foundation — and even they were not allowed to ask any questions. Great. Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein issue messages from their caves through Al Jazeera, and Mr. Cheney issues messages from his bunker through Fox. America is pushing democracy in Iraq, but our own leaders won’t hold a real town hall meeting or a regular press conference.

Out of fairness, my newspaper feels obligated to run such stories. But I wish we had said to the V.P.: If you’re going to give a major speech on Iraq to an audience limited to your own supporters and not allow any questions, that’s not news — that’s an advertisement, and you should buy an ad on the Op-Ed page.

Such an approach would serve both journalism and the nation, because it might actually force this administration to listen to someone other than itself. And learning to listen may be the only way the Bush team is going to muster and sustain the support it needs to succeed in Iraq.

To begin with, listening might actually force the Bush team to frame its vision of U.S. foreign policy and its rationale for the Iraq war on our hopes for the world, not just our fears of it. Every other word out of this administration’s mouth now is “terror” or “terrorism.” We have stopped exporting hope, the most important commodity America has. We now export only fear, so we end up importing everyone else’s fears right back.

That last sentence is a concise analysis of where we are. It actually echoes Michael Moore’s sentiment in his new book. This country is being run on fear, and that is truly pathetic and sad. If you don’t have hope what else is there? We are a country that has lost hope because all our leaders preach is fear. We’re afraid of “terrorism”. We’re afraid of losing our jobs. We’re afraid of being a victim of crime. We’re afraid of our guns being taken away.

This is a very good lesson for the President’s opponent in 2004. Bush-bashing is not going to win you the election (though it may get you the nomination). The only chance you have of beating the money machine in the White House is to bring a message of hope for Americans. Hope for all our citizens.

Arnold is Governor-elect of California today because he brought a message of hope to the people of “Caleeforneea”, not a message of fear. Maybe he needs to teach a few things to our President today.

UPDATE:

TalkLeft points out it might be nice if he read a newspaper every once in awhile too.

Michael Kinsley tees off on this subject today as well,

George W. Bush doesn’t really want people to get the news unfiltered. He wants people to get the news filtered by George W. Bush. Or rather, he wants everyone to get the news filtered by the same people who apparently filter it for him. It’s an interesting epistemological question how our president knows what he thinks he knows and why he thinks it is less distorted than what the rest of us know or think we know. Every president lives in a cocoon of advisers who filter reality for him, but it’s stunning that this president actually seems to prefer getting his take on reality that way.

Bush apparently thinks (if that is the word) that the publicly available media contaminate the news with opinion but Condi Rice and Andy Card are objective reporters. Anyone who has either been a boss or had a boss will find it easier, knowing that Bush believes this, to understand how he can also believe that things are going swimmingly in Iraq. And where does the Rice-Card News Service obtain its uncontaminated information? Bush conceded his shocking suspicion that Rice and Card “probably read the news themselves.” They do? Whatever is next? The president apparently is willing to tolerate the reading of newspapers by his staff members in the privacy of their own homes, as long as they don’t flaunt this unseemly habit by bringing the wretched things into the White House or referring to them at staff meetings.

Game, Set and Match, Mr. President.

Posted National Politics on Thursday, October 16th, 2003.

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The Mobile Register reports on a tough 12-year old girl in this morning’s edition,

“What do I get out of it?” she asked, when a reporter sought an interview.

That toughness might have helped her keep her cool late Tuesday when, Saraland police say, a 16-year-old boy accidentally shot her in the leg with a .22-caliber rifle. As the boy, Jeffrey Lind, tearfully apologized, Jenny called 911 herself, she said. Then, her mother said, Jenny took off her sock and pressed it to the wound.

“He was more hysterical than I was,” Jenny said.

The children were identified by their families. Police would not confirm identities, but said the boy was checking the gun’s safety mechanism when it went off about 11 p.m. The girl was taken to the hospital, and the boy was taken to Strickland Youth Center, said Saraland Sgt. Steve Stafford.

Discharging a gun inside the city limits is a municipal violation, but the boy probably will not be charged, Stafford said.

“He was pretty distraught,” Stafford said. “Look at the consequences of what could have happened. If his aim had been up, he could have shot and killed her.”

Jenny’s mother, Robin Thomas, said she’s well aware of how bad it could have been. Guns in the home should be locked up so kids can’t get to them, she said.

“There’s too many kids getting shot,” she said. “We all know it was an accident. But accidental deaths happen every day. I just feel very blessed.”

Both families should feel blessed that another accidental gun death was narrowly avoided in this case.

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Roy was shot down again yesterday.

The panel of judges that will hear ethics charges against suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore refused Wednesday to answer Moore’s questions about possible bias against him.

Chief Judge William C. Thompson of the Alabama Court of the Judiciary, writing for the nine-member court, said state court rules provide no authority to question members of the panel.

“The Court of the Judiciary is not a party to this action,” Thompson wrote.

Moore’s lawyers filed written questions with the court, however, asking whether in past trials the members of the court have been questioned the way potential jurors are questioned in state trial courts.

They also asked whether the panel’s members, like potential jurors, can be disqualified and whether they have served as past members of the state Judicial Inquiry Commission, which brought the charges against Moore.

“We’re trying to find out if they are biased,” said Jim Wilson, an attorney for Moore. Wilson said Moore’s lawyers will seek other ways to get information about the panel’s possible bias against Moore in the wake of Wednesday’s ruling.

John Gibbs of Attorney General Bill Pryor’s office, which is prosecuting Moore, had no comment on the ruling.

November 12 is inching closer and closer and Roy can see his removal on the horizon. What he really wants to know is if this panel is biased against a judge who violates the law. My guess is they are. Good luck!

UPDATE: Of course Mac has a take as well.

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Jammu and Kashmir: Pakistani troops are attacking fencing along the Line of Control between these two areas. India is claiming they are trying to open up the area to allow more terrorists to enter. Somehow this motive seems suspect.

State Police: Reports indicate that the Pennsylvania State Police were kept in the dark about the Luzerne County prison escape. Well you know, an escaped murderer should be a local matter.

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As is being reported all over this morning,

BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip (AP) — A massive explosion ripped apart a U.S. diplomatic vehicle Wednesday, killing three Americans and wounding one in the first attack on a U.S. target in three years of Israel-Palestinian fighting.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The attack was condemned by Palestinian officials who said those killed were members of a U.S. monitoring team sent to the region to supervise implementation of a U.S.-backed peace plan.

Wednesday’s attack could deal a major blow to Palestinian efforts to bring more international monitors to the region.

The blast went off around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday as a three-car U.S. diplomatic convoy with a Palestinian police escort drove near a gas station on the outskirts of the town of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, along the main north-south road. Israeli reports said the U.S. cars were armored.

U.S. diplomatic sources said the people in the car were security guards for the U.S. diplomats traveling in the other vehicles. In Washington, State Department officials declined to comment.

I can’t wait to see the White House reaction to this. There may not be any Palestinians left when GW is done with them.

Seriously, the violence was bound to spill over to Americans eventually. I’m surprised it has taken this long. The key will come in our official reaction to the incident. More then…

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