02 April 2009

The Fragility of Law

Yesterday, the Justice Department announced that it was moving to reverse the conviction of former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. The reason was the prosecutorial misconduct of those in the Bush Justice Department. Anyone that has watched much Law & Order can tell you that Jack McCoy can't withhold evidence from the defense attorneys if it is exculpatory in nature. Obviously, the officials in the Bush DOJ should have watched a bit more TV.

Really this incident is just another in a string of disturbing occurances dealing with the rule of law. We had Justice Department lawyers - justifying torture, extraordinary rendition, warrentless wiretapping, permanent detention with out trial...why has no one been disbarred?

We can not claim to be the "shining beacon on a hill" while treating Lady Justice like a cheap whore. I think it's very important that Attorney General Holder establish a new beginning in the DOJ. Annouce publicly that these programs are unacceptable and illegal and will not be used anymore. While a lot of us will never fully trust the government - it's just our tin-foil hatted nature - I want to be able to trust in the intentions of my government and this would be a good place to start.
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Healthcare Fairness Update

I've received some pretty good feed back from people regarding this idea...I hope that people are contacting their legislators - if nothing else, just to see what they'll say.

I did have one person point out that Republicans would be wise to forfeit their policies, because they have enough money to buy insurance and they would get political capital from such a maneuver.

My take on that would be, they would have to admit that they would take their ball and go home rather than share with the other kids. That type of attitude is not something we want in our elected government.

Please let me know if you have any ideas for getting the word out!
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