I hope she wins.
Published on Friday, September 19, 2008 by The Rutland Herald (Vermont)
Vermont Candidate Backs Prosecution of President Bush For Murder
by Dan Barlow
BURLINGTON - Charlotte Dennett, the Progressive Party candidate for Vermont attorney general, said Thursday that if elected she would prosecute President Bush for murder.
Dennett, an attorney from Cambridge challenging incumbent Democrat William Sorrell, was joined by Vincent Bugliosi, a famed prosecutor who took on Charles Manson in the early 1970s, at a press conference in downtown Burlington.
As Vermont attorney general, Dennett said she would appoint Bugliosi, who published a book this year called “The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder,” as a special prosecutor to hold Bush accountable for deaths stemming from the Iraq war.
Dennett said Vermont is the ideal state to bring murder charges against Bush, since the state has carried the country’s highest per capita deaths of soldiers in the war. It is also home to nearly 40 communities that moved to impeach the president last year.
“Lots of Vermonters feel very frustrated that the impeachment efforts did not go anywhere,” she said. “This is another avenue for us.”
Bugliosi, a 74-year-old Los Angeles resident and author of the famed “Helter Skelter” book about his prosecution of Manson, called Dennett a “valiant and patriotic woman” willing to put her reputation on the line to bring to justice what he sees as one of the worst criminal acts in recent history.
He told a small crowd gathered in downtown Burlington on Thursday morning that his book clearly lays out evidence showing that Bush and his administration misled the American people and the U.S. Congress into war in 2003.
“George Bush and his people have gotten away with thousands and thousands of murders,” Bugliosi said, citing both American and Iraqi deaths in the five-year-old war. “We, the American people, cannot let him get away with this.”
Bugliosi said any state attorney general or local district attorney can bring criminal charges against Bush once he leaves office early next year. He said Vermont could take on the soon-to-be ex-president by bringing conspiracy to murder charges against him, using his own public statements during the build-up to the Iraq war as evidence.
“Bush and his administration deliberately told lies to deceive people and get the support of the country behind the war,” he said. “That information went out through the media and was heard by residents of the state of Vermont.”
Sorrell said Thursday that promises to prosecute Bush for murder makes “good political sound bites,” but said he does not believe he - or any other local or state prosecutor - has that authority.
To bring about a murder or conspiracy to murder charge against Bush, the actual crime - the death of an individual - would need to take place within his jurisdiction, Sorrell said, which in this case is the Green Mountain State.
“And if I remember correctly, Vermont is still the only state George Bush has not visited while president,” Sorrell said.
Dennett said she read “The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder” earlier this year and was interested in pursuing Bugliosi’s notion that local prosecutors could bring criminal charges against the president.
She was put in touch with him through a friend who has a mutual publicist with Bugliosi. Within a half hour, the two were on the phone discussing the possibility of prosecuting Bush once he leaves office, she explained.
“Right away I felt a real rapport with him,” she said.
But Dennett said she is not a single-issue candidate, adding that she is also interested in issues surrounding the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon and its proposal to extend its operating license beyond 2012.
Dare to criticize Sarah Palin and you’ll find yourself back in high school, with all the petty taunts.
“You’re just jealous!” is the refrain filling my e-mail and voice mail in-boxes, and no doubt other female skeptics face a similar barrage. As if the presidency is about who has the hottest wardrobe, the best-coiffed hair and the attention of the hunky quarterback.
For men who question Palin’s credentials, it’s different. They’re just sexists.
Sorry, but neither jealousy nor sexism has anything to do with the well-founded doubts about the Republican Party’s choice for vice president. Anybody who cares about the future of this country had better take a long, hard look at her qualifications.
A lot of us anticipate what’s around the bend for Palin, our own Eliza Doolittle awaiting her grand remaking. Many of us have already observed this diversity game in the workplace.
Here’s how it’s played. Say a person is picked to fill a job she has not been groomed for, a position outside of her usual domain of expertise. Next, the new pick is heralded as perfect for the job, but in fact everyone knows the real reason the resume was lifted to the top of the stack is a qualification conferred upon birth.
Sometimes it’s race; in Palin’s case it’s gender.
There is nothing wrong with combing the ranks more thoroughly to bring a greater diversity of gender, age and experience to the workplace. My career has benefited from such thinking.
But the goal should be differently qualified — not unqualified.
Palin’s pithy quips play fine from the podium as a form of campaign entertainment; she is fresh counter to the stiff demeanor of McCain.
But the presidential race is not “American Idol” or a cheerleader tryout. Given John McCain’s age, and the horrific stress he endured as a POW, it is not out of line to envision Palin stepping into the presidency.
While the McCain-Palin campaign has the media parsing the meaning of “lipstick on a pig,” Russia is reasserting its imperial ambitions. Our military efforts in Afghanistan are flailing. The global financial system is buckling. The rest of the world continues to swirl with genocide, terrorism and natural disasters.
So Palin is a proud mom of a soldier. That’s laudable. But if she ends up commander-in-chief, how would she handle the delicate issue of our Special Forces pursuing the Taliban and al-Qaida across the Afghan border into Pakistan?
For that matter, does she understand the power struggle going on in Pakistan’s army and intelligence service between Taliban supporters and supposed friends of the U.S. — and how it plays when we kill Pakistani civilians?
Supporters like to point out that Palin governed a state “surrounded by two countries.” Has she ever been to Russia, or done much in Canada but hunt? How deeply does she understand the nuances of U.S. export/import markets?
The United States is in the midst of the largest real estate crisis since the Great Depression, but does Palin possess even a rudimentary understanding of how the U.S. mortgage market works? Apparently not.
She told a Colorado audience that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.” But Fannie and Freddie, as McClatchy reported, “aren’t taxpayer funded but operate as private companies.”
Yes, taxpayers may take a hit as a result of the government takeover. But the problem with Fannie and Freddie and subprime mortgages has been regulatory failure.
I don’t envy Sarah Palin — I pity her.
The most humiliating experience a working person can have is to be plucked from the herd and placed into a job she is not able to fulfill.
The rest of us face the prospect of having to pick up the pieces when Palin inevitably fails. And we can’t afford four more years of that.
Lipstick on a pig
Here we go again. The Republicans are using an innocent remark by Barack Obama to divert the American public away from the fact that Republicans have no solutions to America’s real problems. They offer only more of the same failed policies benefiting the rich and powerful while the rest of us are facing major difficulties.
What really gets me is how stupid many voters really are. They get all rolled up in phony issues like “lipstick on an pig”, gay marriage, religion, guns and loads of other stupid and meaningless diversions and slogans. “Support the troops” is a good one. If we really supported the troops they would have the body armor they need and the medical care they deserve.
Why can’t Americans wake up to the fact the Republican Administration has lied to all of us. They fabricated false information and fed us a bunch crap. This has resulted in thousands of American lives being lost not to mention innocent Iraqi men women and children. We are wasting $10,000,000.00 (10 Billion) dollars a month while victims of hurricane Katrina go homeless and over 46,000,000 Americans go without proper health care and insurance while major companies like Halliburton, Raytheon, Blackwater, Bechtel Corporation and others rob Americans blind as so called “sub contractors”.
If we really were in Iraq to help we would hire local workers pay them well and make them feel we were there to help them rebuild their country. Instead we offer no bid contracts to our own favored companies.
If John McCain is such a maverick as he now claims where there the hell was he when all this was taking place. Twenty-six years in the Senate and the last eight years he voted with George W. Bush over 90% of the time. He has no right to say anything about his wanting change. That’s a load of pure crap.
What’s worse is he gave in to pressure from the RNC to drop Lieberman from the ticket and take “Nanook of the North” as his VP. She looks more like an airline stewardess than a qualified candidate. Speaking of qualifications, I haven’t seen one thing that leads me to believe she is anything more than a cheap attempt by the Republicans to garner the female vote.
Listen ladies if you are voting for Sara Palin solely because she is a woman you are truly stupid. This unqualified junior moose hunter could possibility become President of the United States. Personally I want someone who is qualified to address the economy, the war in Iraq, poverty in our country, education, national health coverage, energy policy, global climate change, extinction of plant and animal species and the list goes on and on.
I can assure you these issues require decision-making ability, sound judgment, courage and the ability to see beyond politics. However, being a Governor of Alaska along with membership in the PTA and NRA simply doesn’t qualify.
I urge all Americans to wake up. We are in deep dodo at home and abroad. We need real leadership not an aged ex-prisoner of war attempting to rekindle memories of the past. Nor do we need hockey moms with nothing to offer but the fact she is a woman. Today’s world and the problems this planet and our country face are bigger than all that.
I always hate it when candidates like John McCain criticize others for being flip floppers. Especially when he flip-flops all the time. Just take a look at the attached article from the Dow Jones News Wire.
While I do not necessarily disagree funding our auto companies might not be a bad idea the fact that McCain and his Republican buddies like to think they hold some moral high ground only show’s me what a bunch of phonies they really are.
McCain is nothing more than a rich grumpy old man living in the fog of the Bush Administration. Not only does he have nothing new to offer he can’t even remember how many houses he owns. Next thing, he won’t be able to remember his own name.
Congratulations to Joe Bieden for his selection as Vice President. Seems like a really good balance to the ticket. I know Hillary supporters may find this difficult. But, lets face it; we need a Democrat in the White House. So lets all pull together and do our best to unseat all Republicans. They had their shot and look what it got us.
I just can’t get over this guy. McCain is at it again. Instead of focusing on the issues of high oil prices, unemployment, high taxes, war in Iraq, and many other pressing issues all he can do is criticize Obama. Comparing Obama to Paris Hilton or Brittany Spears is not only ridiculous and untrue it’s right from the Carl Rove playbook. All the Republicans can do is an attempt at character assassination.
McCain should focus solely on the issues and not if Obama has a flag pin or likes to drink tea. What a load of bullshit. It’s just the thing one might expect from the Republicans. Divert the attention of the American people away from the real issues affecting us all and substitute stupid and meaningless banter, wedge issues, lies and character assignation.
I hope you readers have the guts to send the McCain campaign some hate mail telling them you are a Republican who will vote for Obama simply because of their negative campaigning. Hopefully, if McCain gets enough flack he might get his campaign back on tract with the issues. If that happens we all can be assured Obama will win the White House. McCain’s campaign has no substance for anyone other than serving the special interests that have so far supported his campaign efforts.
I am sure you all have heard or read the news where McCain is accusing Obama of playing the race card. Talk about low. McCain takes the cake. I would urge all of you to write to the McCain campaign and tell them just what a bunch of low life they really are.
When you really think about it was McCain who brought up the subject of race not Obama. That figures, I always thought McCain might be a racist. After all he comes from that generation wherein blacks were treated as second-class citizens. This racist thinking has no place in America. McCain has no place in the White House either.
Here we go again. McCain has once again reversed his position on running a clean campaign. He has stooped to a new all time low in Republican politics. His political ads indicating Obama is responsible for high oil prices are down right false and smacks of dirty politics.
When you listen to McCain talk he offers no real solutions to Americas problems. His only platform seems to be in support of the big oil companies, drilling off the coast and in ANWAR or criticizing everything Obama has to say.
Frankly, I have heard just about enough dirty politics. The Republicans offer drilling as some pie in the sky solution to high oil prices. Even if we were drilling today it would take at least five to seven years before that oil was discovered and placed in line to fuel depots. Republicans seem to think the American people are just a bunch of passive dumb asses who can be easily manipulated by the politics of fear and false promises of simple solutions. The worst news is they are right.
I will readily agree 911 was one of the most tragic events in our recent history. It unfortunately presented the opportunity for Republicans and the powerful special interests they represent to hi-jack the United States Government in a silent coupe. By removing the rights of the American people and substituting their surrogates powerful special interests have trampled on the very Constitution, which has made this great country, what it was.
I say what it was because of the destruction of our civil rights, tapping of our phones, reading our mail, detaining American citizens without legal justification and the endless and unjustified war in Iraq. A war in which powerful American companies are robbing the American people blind. Millions and billions of taxpayer dollars are being wasted on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. This does not even take into account the men and women who are serving our nation and the hardships for them and their families. Not to mention the dead and wounded on our side. Remember there are innocent Iraqi men, women and children who are suffering and dying in this war.
The worst part is the McCain campaign talks up the success of the surge. This so called “success” is another Republican load of crap. Credit should go to the “Sons of Iraq” who have, along with large sums of money from the Bush Administration, risen up against Al Quida. The surge was only another excuse to stay in Iraq and allow American contractors to pillage the United States Treasury.
Its time to get all Republicans voted out of office so we can return reasonable representation to the people of this country. Its time the American people had a leader with vision and a real plan to turn things around and save us from becoming nothing but economic slaves to the rich and powerful. Its time for them to go!!!!!! Vote Democrat in all National and Local elections.
A panel of the Appeals Court in the DC Circuit on Monday released the first ever ruling on a habeas habeas-like review for a Guantanamo prisoner under the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (PDF). It's devastating to the Bush administration. The unanimous opinion even mocks Bush & Co.'s argument, comparing it to a nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll.
Nearly all the procedings at Combatant Status Review Tribunals have relied heavily on hearsay allegations whose reliability the Tribunals have admitted they can't assess adequately because of government assertions of secrecy. The Appeals Court found that the Tribunal was wrong to depend on unvetted secret 'evidence' to classify the prisoner, Huzaifa Parhat, as an 'enemy combatant'. It also rejected the administration's preposterous and tortured argument that tried to link Parhat to al Qaeda. From the opinion:
"The documents repeatedly describe those activities and relationships as having "reportedly" occurred, as being "said to" or "reported to" have happened, and as things that "may" be true or are "suspected of" having taken place. But in virtually every instance, the documents do not say who "reported" or "said" or "suspected" those things. Nor do they provide any of the underlying reporting upon which the documents' bottom-line assertions are founded, nor any assessment of the reliability of the reporting. Because of those omissions, the Tribunal could not and this court cannot assess the reliability of the assertions in the documents."[...]We merely reject the government's contention that it can prevail by submitting documents that read as if they were indictments or civil complaints, and that simply assert as facts the elements required to prove that a detainee falls within the definition of enemy combatant. To do otherwise would require the courts to rubber-stamp the government's charges...
"The documents repeatedly describe those activities and relationships as having "reportedly" occurred, as being "said to" or "reported to" have happened, and as things that "may" be true or are "suspected of" having taken place. But in virtually every instance, the documents do not say who "reported" or "said" or "suspected" those things. Nor do they provide any of the underlying reporting upon which the documents' bottom-line assertions are founded, nor any assessment of the reliability of the reporting. Because of those omissions, the Tribunal could not and this court cannot assess the reliability of the assertions in the documents."
[...]
We merely reject the government's contention that it can prevail by submitting documents that read as if they were indictments or civil complaints, and that simply assert as facts the elements required to prove that a detainee falls within the definition of enemy combatant. To do otherwise would require the courts to rubber-stamp the government's charges...
The opinion also declared, "To affirm the Tribunal's determination under such circumstances would be to place a judicial imprimatur on an act of essentially unreviewable executive discretion." The Court bristled at the Bush administration's argument that the accusations against Parhat had credibility just because they'd been repeated in at least three secret documents.
"The government insists that the statements made in the documents are reliable because the State and Defense Departments would not have put them in intelligence documents were that not the case. This comes perilously close to suggesting that whatever the government says must be treated as true, thus rendering superfluous both the role of the Tribunal and the role that Congress assigned to this Court."
It mocked the administration by referring to Lewis Carroll's poem "The Hunting of the Snark". Here is Carroll's lead buffoon exhorting his followers onward in a farcical search for a non-existant prey:
"Just the place for a Snark!" the Bellman cried, As he landed his crew with care; Supporting each man on the top of the tide By a finger entwined in his hair."Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice: That alone should encourage the crew. Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice: What I tell you three times is true."
"Just the place for a Snark!" the Bellman cried, As he landed his crew with care; Supporting each man on the top of the tide By a finger entwined in his hair.
"Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice: That alone should encourage the crew. Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice: What I tell you three times is true."
"Lewis Carroll notwithstanding, the fact the government has 'said it thrice' does not make an allegation true," said the ruling (quoting the final sentence above).
The Court ordered the administration either to release Parhat or hold another tribunal in which the reliability of the evidence was assessed rather than simply assumed.
It was the first time a court has reviewed the military's decision-making and considered whether a detainee should be held. The ruling provides guidance to federal district judges, who are about to begin reviewing dozens of such cases now that the Supreme Court says detainees can challenge their detention in federal court..."The big issue now is, can any CSRT decision survive this kind of scrutiny?" Parhat's lawyer, Susan Baker Manning said.
It was the first time a court has reviewed the military's decision-making and considered whether a detainee should be held. The ruling provides guidance to federal district judges, who are about to begin reviewing dozens of such cases now that the Supreme Court says detainees can challenge their detention in federal court...
"The big issue now is, can any CSRT decision survive this kind of scrutiny?" Parhat's lawyer, Susan Baker Manning said.
Bush's system of kangaroo courts could implode.
A lawyer representing other detainees, Marc D. Falkoff, said the evidence against many of the 270 men now at Guantánamo was similar to that in the Parhat case.“This opinion shows that the government is going to have a hard time defending the military’s decision to detain many of these men,” said Mr. Falkoff, a professor at Northern Illinois University College of Law.
A lawyer representing other detainees, Marc D. Falkoff, said the evidence against many of the 270 men now at Guantánamo was similar to that in the Parhat case.
“This opinion shows that the government is going to have a hard time defending the military’s decision to detain many of these men,” said Mr. Falkoff, a professor at Northern Illinois University College of Law.
The administration's maltreatment of the Uighur prisoners is notorious. They fled to Afghanistan in 2001 to escape Chinese oppression. Though nobody disputes that they've never taken up arms against the US, Bush agreed to salt the Uighurs away at Gitmo as a favor to China at a time he was seeking Chinese support for the invasion of Iraq. Secret (very likely Chinese) allegations that the Uighurs support al Qaeda served as the basis for imprisoning them. So it's highly fitting that the first, devastating habeas habeas-like challenge to Bush's CSRTs should come from a Uighur prisoner.
(Update): As kenm points out, the DTA created an ambiguous habeas-substitute review in the US Court of Appeals in DC in lieu of a standard habeas review. That provision was struck down recently by SCOTUS in Boumediene. I've changed the wording from "habeas" to "habeas-like" to reflect that ambiguity.
+++
See also this diary by Deep Harm.
Tags: Guantanamo, Huzaifa Parhat, Parhat v. Gates, Detainee Treatment Act, Uighurs, Lewis Carroll, CSRT (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions
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I have decided to call Predident George W. Bush "King George" since he appears to have lost sight of his roll in the American political process. Perhaps his appointment by his dad's friends on the Supreme Court launching his loosing career as President may have gone to his head. Especially since he seems to think the Constitution of the United States is irrelevant and that he has acquired special powers granted to him perhaps by himself or John Yu. Just in case you are not familiar with YU he was one of the main government attorneys responsible for Gitmo and tapping our phones.
Maybe I give King George to much credit. But, can anyone really be so stupid? No my friends, it has to be more than just good old fashion stupidity. Guess what?? It's all about greed, power and oil. Remember the secret energy meeting with VP. Dick Cheney and the heads of the oil companys? I'm sure they were not discussing the weather in Florida. Now mind you I am not a conspiracy nut however, there are just to many unanswered questions. But, enough of all that.
Speaking of memory, remember six months or so ago when John McCain's campaign was on the rocks? Broke and failing the press had already written him off. His mavrick ideas destined for oblivion? Wow!! What happened? He got a shot in the arm from the RNC. Why would they do that? Well perhaps it was because, like Bush, McCain suddenly wants to give tax breaks to folks making more than $250,000.00 per year. (Wish I made that) McCain, like Bush, reversed his position and now magically wants to drill off the continental shelf and at ANWR in Alaska. (Wish I could have been a fly on the wall at the RNC meeting with McCain)
Bush in his continuing effortrs to return political favors and knowing his days are numbered is trying, through the RNC surrogate, John McCain to tie up the loose ends for the oil companys and deliver whats left for oil drilling and exploration. His final gift to the corporations who have faithfully supported his failed presidency.
Why do I think that? Lets look at the fact oil companies already have leases for thousands of square miles of land and coastline but, are using less than twenty one percent of the area. This leaves more than seventy nine percent unused. So why does Bush/McCain continue to espouse the virtues of off shore drilling and drilling ANWR? Especially when the oil companys are not using this area and folks like Exxon - Mobile are reporting record profits of some after tax revenue of $11,000,000.00 for the first 1/4 of this year. By the way, Exxon is not alone in record profits. Chevron, BP, and others are enjoying mega profits at our expence. Consider also the fact, oil refining is running at 89% capacity. Even if we had all the crude the world had to offer we couldn't refine it. At least not until oil companies sepend some of that mege profit and build one or two.
Sounds like a Bush / oil Christmas to me.
