The Continuing Decline Of Western Civilization

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A matter of priorities

Two short things, both via TPM, just to illustrate the type of things I don't have time to put up here.

First, in 2003, DoJ lawyers decided that the Texas redistricting was unconstitutional. They were over-ruled by the appointees above them, which was a bit embarrasing for the administration when the story broke. To fix this problem, the DoJ has decreed that their lawyers are no longer allowed to issue opinions in major Voting Rights Act cases.

Second, Mr. Marshall points us to an article in New York Magazine, which leads with the following passage:

Bush-administration officials privately threatened organizers of the U.N. Climate Change Conference, telling them that any chance there might�ve been for the United States to sign on to the Kyoto global-warming protocol would be scuttled if they allowed Bill Clinton to speak at the gathering today in Montreal.

posted by tcdowc - 5:00 pm - 12.13.05

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The democratic future?

Here's an interesting little opportunity. Russ Feingold - Senator from Wisconsin and presumed 2008 presidential candidate - is guest blogging this week at TPM Cafe's Table For One. I don't know if the Senator is typing up his posts himself (maybe he taught himself some basic HTML), but it's a nice thing anyway. Feingold is currently embroiled in the Patriot Act renewal process. As you may know, the Senate unanimously passed a version of the Patriot Act (key parts of which sunset this year) that implemented key protections for civil liberties, without stripping the Act of its more useful provisions. A perfect creation it was not, according to the Senator, but it was a step in the right direction adn addressed his main concerns. However, the House - Senate conference stripped all of the protections from the bill when reconciling the two house's different versions. Feingold is threatening a filibuster on ratification of the new bill, but we'll probably get cloture (which disallows more debate on the bill, thus preventing a filibuster and forcing a vote) Friday morning. Go visit the site for a peek at a canidate ahead of most of the spin and to find out what exactly Feingold opposes in the Patriot Act, and what's actually good about it. I suppose that it's worth noting that Feingold was the only Senator who voted against the original Patriot Act, and that he also voted against the Iraq War Resolution.

posted by tcdowc - 1:59 pm - 12.13.05

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