Where’s the Outrage?

A friend of mine told me that everything in this country goes in cycles.   He was encouraging me not to get to whipped up about any one thing and things will even themselves out with time.  Who would have guessed that he was right.  The FCC who seemed to be rolling back the clock to the 1500’s was just slapped down by the US Court of Appeals.  Basically the court stated that if our President and Vice President could use these words in public then what’s the problem.

——–

From WaPo:

A federal appeals court tossed out an indecency ruling against Rupert Murdoch’s Fox television network yesterday and broadly questioned whether the Federal Communications Commission has the right to police the airwaves for offensive language.

In a 2 to 1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York ruled that the FCC went too far in issuing a 2006 decision against Fox Broadcasting for separate incidents in 2002 and 2003 after singer Cher and celebrity Nicole Richie each uttered an expletive on live television.  (more…)

 

 Countdown - FCC ruling [5:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Domestic Issues by ecthompson
Comments Off

Pew’s new poll has Bush at an all-time low.  29% approval rating.

Tags: Bush Administration by ecthompson
2 Comments »

Keith Olbermann interviews Ambassador Joe Wilson.  Joe Wilson makes a new point by stating that Scooter Libby worked for the President and Vice President.  Therefore, it would be a conflict of interest for them to intervene on his behalf.

 

 Countdown - Scooter Time [8:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Valerie Plame by ecthompson
Comments Off

What’s the fine for treason?  Isn’t outing a CIA agent treason?

 

 More on Libby [5:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Media, Valerie Plame by ecthompson
Comments Off

I know that there will be some folks that believe that 30 months is too long for Scooter Libby. He is a loyal Cheney dude. It is nice that he is loyal unfortunately he wasn’t loyal to the constitution nor the men and women on the front lines fighting for this country.

Now, will Libby rollover? I doubt it. He has taken this case this far. He has had multiple opportunities to talk and tell what he knows. Will the President pardon him? This one is harder to predict. On one hand, Bush would like to be seen as someone who respects the law. On the other hand, Libby is one of those intermediate guys who always take the fall. Libby isn’t from a long line of money. His grandfather wasn’t a Senator or Congressman. I would be surprised if Bush sticks his neck out for Libby. Then again, Bush loves loyalty.

———

From WaPo:

I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000 for lying to investigators about his role in leaking the identity of an undercover CIA officer.

The federal judge who presided over the case indicated that he may not be sympathetic to allowing Libby to remain free pending appeal, but scheduled a hearing on the matter for next week. (more…)

 

 Libby gets 30 months [1:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Valerie Plame by ecthompson
Comments Off

As Errington has noted, Senator Craig Thomas of Wyoming died yesterday. This got me to wondering about who was the first United States Senator to die in office.The answer is William Grayson of Virginia who died on March 12, 1790. This was just over a year after the very first meeting of the Senate.

In the Congressional Quarterly Press Guide To U.S. Elections, Volume II, Grayson is listed as an anti-Federalist. This means he generally opposed the policies of President Washington.

It might seem odd that a Senator from George Washington’s home state would oppose Washington. However, the leading early figure of Congressional opposition to President Washington was none other than Representative James Madison of Virginia.

Anti-Federalists, as we call them now, opposed what they saw as the centralizing tendencies under a Federal administration run by Washington and Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. This centralizing impulse stood in contrast to a belief that more power should be held by the individual states.

A difference between Grayson and Madison is that Grayson opposed the Constitution from the start while Madison was an architect of the Constitution. (Some saw the Constitution as placing too much authority in the Federal government.) Both, however, found common ground to work against Washington and, probably more so, Hamilton.

Grayson’s views were more consistent and more narrow than Madison’s. Madison was the better thinker and the more realistic in understanding the necessity of a functional central government. Consistency is not always a virtue.

As for Senator Thomas—May he rest in peace.

Tags: Books, Other Political Thoughts, Party Politics by Texas Liberal
Comments Off