Davis, Dead Letters, and the Death Penalty

The Commander supported the death penalty most of his adult Life, on the assumption that some criminals:

deserve the final sleep when there is no doubt about their guilt (In my home state I would have volunteered to pull the lever on this individual.)

Recent results by the Innocence Project have soured my feelings on Capital Punishment, ex specially when the only evidence is eyewitness identification:

•Seventeen people had been sentenced to death before DNA proved their innocence and led to their release.
•The average sentence served by DNA exonerees has been 13 years.
•About 70 percent of those exonerated by DNA testing are members of minority groups.
•In almost 40 percent of DNA exoneration cases, the actual perpetrator has been identified by DNA testing.
•Exoneration's have been won in 34 states and Washington, D.C.

The Supremo's are in the process of the deciding the fate of Cory R. Maples and even Johnny the Robber baron, by no means a Friend of the Defendant; is troubled by this capital case.

Alabama does not provide taxpayer-funded legal assistance to death-row inmates seeking to appeal their sentence (South Carolina felt the same way in 1944, even for a 14 year old), so Mr. Maples found a couple of layers from New York, however:

..18 months nothing happened with his appeal, during which period his young lawyers left their firm without notifying Maples or the court. They did tell the mailroom. So when the Alabama court sent a ruling to his two lawyers indicating that his appeal had been denied, the mailroom stamped it “Return to Sender” and sent it back to Alabama. The county clerk stuck it in a file and Maples—who knew nothing of any of this—missed the 42-day deadline for filing another appeal. Maples’ local counsel, John Butler Jr., also received a copy of the ruling, but because he believed he was Maples’ lawyer in name only, he did nothing with it.

Sorry dude, you missed the appeal because of a postage stamp. See you at the Gurney (Yellow Mama was retired).

Voter Suppression, Voter ID, Vote not free

Voter Suppression rearing it's ugly head in Wisconsin. Ever since Johnny the Robber Baron and his conservative posse nullified the 24th Amendment by allowing voter ID laws, my Republican opponents have been doing their level best to make sure only the White, excuse me right people vote.

Brad Friedman has a video that shows how easy it is to get a 'Free' ID in the cheese head state so you can exercise the sovereign franchise (NOT!):


This ties in with a post I did 3 years ago when. I've reprinted it below. As Ms. Digby says in the end, Republicans, like all aristocrats, know that if enough average people vote, they will lose. Period.

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The Supreme Court handed Johnny Mac a major victory today by upholding the voter suppression laws in Indiana (excuse me, voter ID laws):

WASHINGTON — By a 6-3 vote in a closely watched election-year case, the Supreme Court on Monday upheld Indiana's strict voter-identification law, rejecting the claims of Democratic and civil-rights challengers that the law infringes on the right to vote.
The decision by Justice John Paul Stevens, one of the most liberal members of the court, emphasized that the challengers had not presented sufficient evidence that voters were kept from the polls or otherwise hurt by the law Indiana says prevents fraud.

As noted by the blogger dday:

This is, as we know, a solution in search of a problem. Voter fraud is a made-up conservative issue, backed by no evidence. While Stevens suggested that there are no "excessively burdensome requirements" imposed on voters who must show ID at the polls, he's answering an unknowable question. We simply have no idea how photo ID centers (if there will be any outside the DMV) in Indiana or anywhere else would be managed, whether the same groups that truck elderly and poor voters to the polls on Election Day will be able to do the same to get people their IDs, and so on. If they require the same documentation that the DMV does, many poor and elderly people simply don't have them. If it requires an application fee, how is that not a poll tax?

The Republican sheet heads who passed this modern version of Jim Crow had to add a provision that IDs would be issued free of charge to people without driver's licenses (can't have any appearance of a poll tax because of that pesky 24th Amendment). However, these are the combination primary and secondary documents needed for a "free ID":
This list the definition of what is an acceptable primary document:

I won't even bother listing the acceptable secondary documents. Bottom line is you need a birth certificate unless your military. Is a birth certificate free and easy to obtain in Indiana? You have got to be kidding:

Birth records in the ISDH Vital Records office begin with October 1907. Prior to October 1907, records of birth are filed only with the local health department in the county where the birth actually occurred. Fees are established by law (IC 16-37-1-11 and IC 16-37-1-11.5 ). Each search for a record costs $10.00. The fee is non-refundable. Included in one search is a five-year period; the reported year of birth and, if the record is not found in that year, the two years before and after. One certified copy of the record, if found, is included in the search fee. Additional copies of the same record purchased at the same time are $4.00 each. Amendments made to the record are an additional $8.00.

Oh yeah, did I mention that you will need to show some ID to purchase a birth certificate:

But what the heck, it is not like any of this is a real burden to those that wish to vote. And if you believe that, I got a bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you.

The Master blogger Digby sums it up:

First of all, let's not forget that this may be the biggest political land mine the Bush administration has set for Democrats. "Voter fraud" was, you'll remember, at the bottom of the US Attorney scandals and one of their main tools for suppressing the Democratic vote. This is the realization of a very long term plan to chip away at the Voting Rights Act. Republicans, like all aristocrats, know that if enough average people vote, they will lose. Period.

Special Elections, Suprise Openings and Stupid Reporters

Headline from AP reporter Michael Blood on 12 July 2011:

Tight finish possible in Calif. US House race

MICHAEL R. BLOOD, AP Political Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A special congressional election Tuesday in California has given Republicans a surprising opening to seize a House seat in a Democratic stronghold and send a powerful message nationally going into 2012.

Democrats hold a commanding 18-point registration edge in the district where Barack Obama notched a 31-point win in 2008, but the likelihood of a meager turnout, combined with widespread voter anxiety over the economy, could make for a tight finish.

Headline from AP reporter Michael Blood on 13 July 2011:

Democrat Janice Hahn wins Calif. US House race

MICHAEL R. BLOOD, AP Political Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Democrat Janice Hahn has defeated Republican Craig Huey in a bitter contest for a Southern California House seat, preserving her party's hold on the district and surviving an unusually tough race in a longtime stronghold.

With all reporting, Hahn, a Los Angeles city councilwoman, had 41,585 votes, or about 55 percent, to 34,636, or about 45 percent, for Huey, who owns marketing and advertising companies and largely bankrolled his campaign with nearly $900,000 in personal funds.

Yeah, she crushes him by 10 points, a real tight finish. The new AP editor Liz Sidoti has a history of kissing ass to Republican Candidates:




Liz Sidoti and "Sprinkles" McCain
so it is not surprising that her reporters would continue the narrative; insisting that since Hahn only beat Huey by 10 points instead of 18, it was far from impressive.

Far more interesting is the collective amnesia over the racist, sexist ad run by a group called Turn Right USA (Crooks and Liars has the details). The Huey campaign was shocked, shocked and weakly disavowed it, but as C&L stated, all the usual suspects from the right wing noise machine are connected.

Expect the failure of the press to cover Super PACS with super money as the 2012 races approach. It does not fit The Village narrative of the serious people.

Glen at the Mall, My Father and Manipulating the Masses

Our SCLM:

Dueling D.C. rallies mark King speech anniversary

...Ricky Thomas, 43, a SWAT team police officer from Chesapeake Beach, Md., brought his 10-year old son Chase to the Beck rally. "I wanted my son to see democracy in action," Thomas said.

He said he wants government to stay out of people's lives. He acknowledged that he works for government, but said it's "a part of government that helps people when they are in trouble."

Beck has given voice to those angry and frustrated with President Barack Obama and other Democrats this election year, especially members of the tea party movement.

The Angry voices at the mall remind me of the failures of my father in the last ten years of his life and his inability to accept reality.

Dad was a white collar man and a graduate of Rutgers University who spent his life as a stock broker/insurance salesmen, and he was very good at it. But like most of the TEA Party followers (White, Old, Angry), he was also good at spending more then he earned, and eventually it caught up with him.

Sometime in the '98 do to the financial shenanigans of his second wife and his own stupidity, he found himself divorced and bankrupt at the age of 65 (sound familiar). Unable to accept that it was his own fault, he desperately sought a scapegoat and got involved with the John Birch Society (yeah, I know. A hellava coincidence) and the whole anti-government movement and thus susceptible to crap like this. In other words, my Father went a little bit mad, but he believed his own insanity. Nothing I said or did could convince him that he was crazy, so I stopped trying. He passed away 3 years ago, less then a year after his third wife left him.

So an ex alcoholic Rodeo Clown (his words) with a Messiah Complex (Good article. Read it if you get a chance) captivates a group of ideological, ultra-conservative Republicans who will never admit they are ideological, ultra-conservative Republicans. They consider Beck an "educator" who teaches people history (more like his story).

Like my father, these people refuse to accept that the money men funding AstroTurf groups like the TEA party were responsible for destroying their comfortable middle class lifestyle:

Yet inexorably the Koch agenda is morphing into the G.O.P. agenda, as articulated by current Republican members of Congress, including...John Boehner, and Tea Party Senate candidates like Rand Paul, Sharron Angle, and ...Joe Miller. Their program opposes a federal deficit, but has no objection to running up trillions in red ink in tax cuts to corporations and the super rich...

The Koch brothers must be laughing all the way to the bank knowing that working Americans are aiding and abetting their selfish interests. And surely Murdoch is snickering at those protesting the “ground zero mosque.”

The manipulation of the country's economy is a complex subject that does not lend itself to soundbites (case in point). It is easier to blame scary brown people:


or big guvment:

Unable to deal with the truth, they choose to rage against the other.

And the "Liberal Media" will continue to give Glenn Beck a free pass and refuse to call him on his BS.

Possibilities, the Poor and Right Wing Populism

On this glorious 4th of July weekend, I am reminded of one of my top ten Favorite Movies (h/t M. Winship at Huffington Post) 1776 the Musical. In the restored, directors cut version of the film is the song Cool Cool Considerate Men:

From this song we get dialogue spoken by John Dickinson of Pennsylvania (actor Donald Madden) that best sums up the success of the Tea Party:

"...don't forget that most men with nothing would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich, than face the reality of being poor."

It is the reason that right Wing Populist consistently support politicians who vote against their (the Tea Party's) economic interest. It is also the reason that real wages for working people have gone down:

even as the incomes of the top 10% have risen dramatically:

Unfortunately for the these United States of America in CE 2010, I fear that the line from John Hancock (actor David Ford) may no longer apply:

Fortunately Mr. Dickerson,there are not enough men of property to dictate policy.

Or maybe not? We shall see if Mr. Sloan's article from the Huffington Post trumps the conventional wisdom about the November 2010 elections.

A Reporter Who Does Not Do Stenography

Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings:

The writer whose Rolling Stone article brought down Gen. Stanley McChrystal said he never thought his reporting would bring about the effective end of McChrystal’s career, as well as a crisis for the Obama administration...

But, Hastings told Lauer, he did receive pressure from the general’s staff to change some of his intended reporting.

“They tried to pressure me not to write about some things that were on the record. I told them I can’t really play that game,” Hastings said.

A generation ago, Rolling Stone gave America the “gonzo” reporting of Hunter S. Thompson. That tradition has continued today with the unfettered reportage of a new generation of writers who do not operate by the conventions of the mainstream media, including Matt Taibbi and Hastings.

“One of the things that happens in journalism, especially with powerful figures, is that they give journalists access in exchange for favorable coverage and future access,” Hastings said. “That dynamic didn’t apply to me and the story I was writing, or just my general style of journalism.”

OMG, a reporter who actually reports instead of simply doing stenography. No donuts from you Mr. Hastings:

And do not expect to be invited to any Beach party's:

From the Right or from the Left, sucking up to The Powers That Be is equal opportunity B*LL SH*T.

Update - 25 June 2010

As always, the master Political Satirist John Stewart nails the Beltway Presstitutes to the wall:

Mr. Stewart, the American News Media started to "kind a suck" 15 years ago at the start of the Hunting of the President, on to the War on Gore and fininally mutating into the Lapdog press. The problem is NOBODY but you and Colbert had the guts to call them out.

Family Values and the Fantasy of the Village

Parker’s Fantasy World of the village:

In Canteyville, USA, a warning for Washington lawmakers
By Kathleen Parker
Sunday, April 4, 2010; A13

CANTEYVILLE, S.C.
If thy name is Incumbent, you might want to start packing up those D.C. tchotchkes.

November is likely to be a cruel month.

That, at least, is the view from "Canteyville," which you won't find on a map. There is no town by this name in South Carolina, though there ought to be. Canteys are as common as front porches in this part of the country.

For these purposes, Canteyville is a state of mind, a late-night invention born of spirited conversation at a sporting clay club in the state's unfortunately dubbed "Midlands."

...The Obama administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress have acted on the conviction that they know best and that citizens eventually will come around. This may sometimes have been historically true, but here's another truth: If you can't convincingly explain the beauty of a policy to the educated, hardworking people of Canteyville, you might have a policy problem.

Meanwhile, back in the Reality Based Community:

Steele, strip clubs and the GOP's family values
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Poor Michael Steele. In the latest line of "when did you stop beating your wife" questioning, the RNC Chairman is having to deny that he spent any funds at a high-cost strip club.

The Republican National Committee went on the offensive Monday, saying it will investigate the expense by an unnamed RNC official of $1,946 at the Voyeur West Hollywood strip club in February.

Here's the media report that started the ruckus Monday.

And here's part of the RNC's response about Steele's potential involvement in the strip club spending:

The chairman was never at the location in question, he had no knowledge of the expenditure, nor does he find the use of committee funds at such a location at all acceptable.

Take that.

Still, the use of Republican National Committee funds for that kind of expense would appear to violate one of the GOP's cardinal rules:

Don't do anything that makes us look hypocritical when we talk about good old American values.

The Community’s #1 Spokeswoman (Spot on as ever Ms. D):

Ersatz America

by digby

…But contrary to Parker's romantic view of what life is like outside the green room, there are actually a whole lot of Americans who aren't white, conservative Republicans. And they actually are far more indicative of "salt-of-the-earth-hardworking-regular folks" since virtually none of them are wealthy southerners living on faux farms playing at being good old boys on the week-end.

When these Villagers make one of their anthropological treks out into the country and come back with their report, the Real Americans they seek are always either white midwestern conservatives, white western conservatives or white Southern conservatives --- usually rural, always "small town" and often sitting around a table eating and and complaining about how the world has gone to hell and a handbasket. It's like they all set out to find Real America based on their memories of 1960s TV Mayberry --- a world that never really existed and certainly doesn't exist now except among wealthy land-owners trying to create a bucolic vacation spot to entertain their urban socialite friends.

Her America is a nation that exists only in the Villagers' and Disney Imagineers' minds. But it ends up infecting the politics of this country because these people all reinforce each others' fantasies when they get back to the "greenrooms and talkshows" and give a completely skewed impression of who "Real Americans" are and what "Real Americans" think. Oddly, it turns out they always think exactly the same way the villagers do. Go figure.

Go Figure Indeed.