June 2, 2010 archive

Eyeless in Gaza (they want to keep us that way)

My wife and  I were going to bed that night, when one last check on the news reported the Freedom Flotilla massacre.  Suddenly, we were wide awake, in shock and horror.  Transfixed.  We talked, noting that Huffington had a long piece, then a few minutes later only a snippet from the AP.  We despaired that this was going to get covered up by the media, blacked out, with only the Israeli military’s accounts of their victimization at the hands of terrorists:  “Every [activist] that approached us wanted to kill us … I had to fight against quite a few terrorists who were armed with knives and batons,” says a wounded captain in Haaretz.

I finally went to bed, but my wife spent the rest of the night weeping.

Round 1

Imagine our surprise next day when we started reading the coverage.  The NY Times gave it top front-page billing, as did other press.  In the shock of the moment — even with most quotes coming from the IDF — the coverage was damning of Israel.  The most wrenching image — at least to me — was from the NY Times, Echoes of Raid on ‘Exodus’ Ship in 1947, with the story of the 1947 Exodus, desperate Jewish refugees trying to break the British blockade to get into Palestine.  The connection was relentlessly driven home, the poor and desperate bridging the centuries in pain.  What went wrong?

When Is The BP Perp Walk?

It’s no secret.  I, who have devoted much of my professional life to defending people accused of horrendous crimes; I, who generally feel that nobody should ever go to prison; I, who have spent decades fighting against state killing; I confess.  I want to see BP executives indicted, perp walked in New Orleans in handcuffs before a howling and pressing media, convicted by juries and then locked up.  Locked up for a very long time.  Like Bernie Madoff.

I don’t care particularly what federal and/or state crimes the BP and Transocean and MMS folks have committed.  I want them to be given a full and fair trial in a federal court, and I want them imprisoned.  For a very long time.  I want them to be an example that this kind of environmental destruction will never be tolerated in a civilized society.  There, I’ve said it.

And the good news for me, and for you if you feel this way, is that apparently the current administration has finally decided to move in the direction of criminal prosecutions.  It took long enough.  It only took 53 days of spillage and a world record, man made environmental catastrophe.  Goodness, even WFAN Sports Talk Radio in NYC today was complaining about BP and the spill and the tepid federal response.  So finally, today, at long last, the administration is at last starting to pursue the criminals who have attempted to murder an entire ocean and all of the life in it and surrounding it.

BRILLIANT! Pelosi forces vote on TaxCuts for Job Outsourcers, Idiots fall for it hook line & sinker

Speaker Pelosi pulled a brilliant move at the end of the last weeks legislative session.

   House Democrats are home for a long Memorial Day break with a gift-wrapped wedge issue delivered just in time for district campaigning. One of their final actions before adjourning late Friday was passing a measure that would strip tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas by a 215-204 vote.

talkingpointsmemo.com

  The Grand Outsourcing Party. Expect Dems to run on this come election time.

More brilliance below the fold.

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Obama threatens court action over US oil spill

by Allen Johnson, AFP

1 hr 45 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) – President Barack Obama Tuesday threatened legal action against those to blame for unleashing the nation’s worst ever oil spill, as BP once again battled to stop the six-week leak.

“If our laws were broken leading to this death and destruction, my solemn pledge is that we will bring those responsible to justice on behalf of the victims of this catastrophe and the people of the Gulf region,” Obama vowed.

Calling it the “greatest environmental disaster of its kind in our history,” Obama said the government had an “obligation” to find out what caused an explosion on the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20.

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