Kurt Vonnegut has died. Spot doesn't have anything insightful to say about him. Spot just enjoyed his books. His last, Spot believes it was he last anyway, A Man Without a Country is a sad, bitter, and funny account of Vonnegut's relation to his country in recent years.Word has reached Spot, via Firedoglake, that the House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena duces tecum to the Justice Department for documents that refer or relate to the US Attorney terminations (duces tecum being roughly translated as bring that stuff over here so we can look at it). The link is to the subpoena itself and Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers' cover letter.
Regrettably, there is a potentially significant gap between what the Chairman described as the scope of the inquiry in the transmittal letter and the documents and things actually demanded.
First, from the cover letter:
The [Justice] Department is currently withholding significant information concerning U.S. Attorneys who were considered for termination but were ultimately retained, and individuals who were considered as replacement candidates. This information is clearly relevant to our inquiry into indications that U.S. Attorneys and candidates may have been evaluated based on improper considerations, including their willingness to make decisions as to prosecution of public corruption cases based on whether it helped, or hurt, partisan political objectives.
So far, so good. In other words, it's not just the eight terminated U.S. Attorneys that we're concerned about, but it is also USAs who may also have been "considered for termination" but ultimately retained (and why?)
The subpoena itself refers only to categories of documents that refer or relate to the "terminated U.S. Attorneys." That term is defined at the eight USAs who have been identified. No mention is made of the other category of U.S. Attorneys referred to in Conyers' letter of transmittal.
Any documents that refer to Wisconsin's Steve Biskupic or Minnesota's Tom Heffelfinger, for example, are not within the scope of the subpoena.
In Spot's opinion, the Judiciary Committee staff ought to take another swing at the ball and improve the scope of the subpoena.
While the US Attorney pot simmers along in Minnesota, they are pretty well done making the bratwurst out of Steve Biskupic in Wisconsin:
Steve Biskupic, the U.S. attorney for Milwaukee, indicted and convicted a Wisconsin state purchasing supervisor named Georgia Thompson for improperly awarding a contract to a firm linked to Democratic Governor Jim Doyle's 2006 reelection campaign.
The only problem is that Biskupic never proved that Thompson ever knew about the relationship, which included completely legal donations. Thompson - appointed by Gov. Doyle's Republican predecessor - has never even met Doyle and is not alleged to have sought any personal gain since she was already at the highest civil service pay scale. The winning bid and the runner-up were statistically tied on the seven-member commission's rating scale, but the winner was legitimately chosen because it was $30,000 cheaper and came from in-state.
Couple this with a trial judge who is on the Advisory Board for the Milwaukee chapter of the Federalist Society, as MNO pointed out a couple of posts ago here on the Stool and it has to make one wonder, especially when the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the conviction from the bench. In other words, boys and girls, the appeals court judges didn't even have to deliberate to conclude the case was a stinker. But this is what the Wisconsin Republicans did with the conviction:
But an election was coming up, and the allegations proved a great way to attack the Democratic incumbent. Doyle said Republican officials spent "millions of dollars" running ads that turned Thompson into a symbol of corruption in his administration. Caught in the middle was Georgia Thompson, who, her lawyer said, lost "her job, her life savings, her home and her liberty." She was ordered to prison for 18 months by conservative District Judge Rudolf Randa (a member of the Federalist Society) without letting her remain free pending appeal because he had "no real reason to expect her conviction to be reversed."
Fortunately, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals had another idea. Two of the three judges hearing the case were appointed by Republicans, but they each blasted the government's arguments relentlessly, at one point calling them "beyond thin." Oral arguments lasted just 26 minutes, after which they immediately ordered Thompson's release from federal prison. Normally, such reversals take weeks or months and often result only in new hearings.
As the article states, it is highly unusual for a conviction to be vacated; usually the case is sent back to the trial court for a retrial in the case of a reversal. And as Spot said earlier, to do that immediately after an oral argument is unheard of.
Courageous US Attorney Steve Biskupic did not appear for the appellate court hearing of court:
It's really too bad that Biskupic wimped out from the Appeals Court hearing, sending one of his underlings in his place like a lamb to slaughter. You can hear the whole thing by clicking here; skip to the middle for the good stuff.
Yes, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Spot made an Easter resolution (he never gets around to New Year's resolutions or giving anything up for Lent) to ignore Katie more. But as Katie herself might say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Spot has a great cartoon illustration of that bromide, boys and girls. Remind him to show it to you some time.
Anyway, where was Spot? Oh yes, he had no sooner made his Easter resolution than MNO sent him an email saying did you see this? This, of course, is Katie's column for today—the day after Easter, as though there was some cosmic force afoot determined to thwart, nay mock, Spot for his transparent intention.
In her column, Katie tells the story about a man from southern Minnesota who died recently from complications of Crohn's disease. Katie went to the funeral in the man's hometown church. Katie's family had developed a relationship with this fellow, Steve, a painter, and Katie's daughter was his student, apparently a private (of course) student. Katie describes the man's dedication to his art and the efforts he made to teach Katie's daughter, including "marathon" painting sessions at Katie's house. Here's a little of what Katie said about him:
He made this decision 20 years ago [to be an optimistic fellow and pursue his art], when -- at the age of 20 -- he was beset by a debilitating form of Crohn's disease, a chronic illness. His illness took a fatal turn two months ago when cancer set in. Instead of railing at the heavens, he decided to become the happiest man on Earth. He was an optimist not only by nature, but by choice.
Katie is blissfully unaware that the irrepressible prankster, Unintended Irony, is again at work. Spot was thinking back, and it was not that long ago that Katie published a column making fun of some of the legislative proposals (usually, maybe exclusively DFL proposals, naturally) presently being considered by the Minnesota Legislature. (Spot has mentioned this column earlier.) After describing some of the proposals, including one designed to keep glass containers away from beaches and water where broken glass could cut feet, she says:
I could go on. Actually, bloggers King Banaian, an economics professor at St. Cloud State University, Drew Emmer and Michael Brodkorb have done just that. They've slogged through reams of leaden legalese to compile lists of our legislators' most exotic conjurings and tallied votes for the most egregious at Banaian's blog, SCSU Scholars. [italics are Spot's]
One of the legislative initiatives that Michel Brodkorb and Co. made fun of was a bill to insure restroom access at retail establishments (including the employees' restrooms, if necessary) for people suffering from certain chronic conditions, including, gasp, Crohn's disease. Brodkorb called it the Freedom to Poop Act. There are conditions, including Crohn's that require access to a restroom—sometimes unexpectedly. And if you've ever tried to find a public restroom in say, downtown Minneapolis, you know this can be a problem.
But for Michael Brodkorb and his merry band of eighth graders, including Katie by referral, this was a source of great hilarity. Brodkorb even made up a Freedom to Poop card. Gotta love that Michael! MNO had her say about the Freedom to Poop Act here.
But let Spot ask you this, Katie. Don't you imagine that other sufferers from Crohn's disease also want to embrace life and get out a little, just like your friend Steve? And that it might be a little easier to do that if you didn't have to worry quite as much about finding a restroom in time?
Spot thinks that Steve was dying of cancer when Katie made fun of the legislative initiative to help people like Steve. 'Atta girl, Katie.
Oh by the way, Katie, when Steve came over to your house, did you let him use the can?
Teacher Gregg Kotsonas from Apple Valley wins a Spotty for this op-ed piece in today's (Saturday) Star Tribune:
So here we go again, lambasting public schools in favor of private schools, charter schools and vouchers. Public schools are failing. Why? Because we are told so over and over and over again.
As a public school teacher, I am reminded repeatedly that I am failing my students because I do not meet their needs, and that alternative schools, in the form of competition, are the only way out. The latest lambasting is from Sean Kershaw, executive director of the Citizens League (letters, April 1) -- a person, I am sure, who has spent years honing his educational and academic skills.
He states, "Charter schools are public schools, and they disproportionately serve the students that traditional school districts are failing."
Yet, when I daily drive by Paideia Academy in Apple Valley, I don't see seas of traditionally failed students happily learning what their public school wouldn't or couldn't teach them. I see a sea of mostly white, upper-middle-class students whose parents want their children away from the traditionally failed that are ever increasing in my classroom.
I would be more than happy to compile a list of my students who are failing and let this school have a go at them, not the application-accepted K-6 students who currently make up its classrooms.
In other words, this charter school is not serving the disadvantaged, but the advantaged who don't want their kids mingling with the great unwashed. It's white flight for the new millennium.
Kershaw goes on to say, "The current anti-charter proposal has nothing to do with improving charter schools," and he's right. But the charter schools themselves don't care whether they improve upon public education or not. National studies have shown that neither private schools, charter schools nor vouchers, by themselves, improve education. They don't.
But that doesn't matter. It's not about improving education, it's about destroying public education. Why should my dollars go to some other kid, right? And if that makes you queasy, just look long and hard at every Republican proposal over the last quarter-century aimed at "improving" public education. It's all about dismantling.
Give me 15 students who want to be in class, whose parents are supportive and involved (and who are still married), who don't have any labels attached to them. Better yet, give me the power -- as do private schools, charter schools and vouchers -- to eliminate those students who don't meet my standards. Give me that and I bet you I can produce results better than any private school, charter school or voucher program.
And if you're not willing to do that, then don't complain about what you do get.
Take that, Sticks! Hasn't Spotty been saying the same thing, boys and girls? Yes, he has!
Remember, boys and girls, a Spotty is awarded to the author of a letter to the editor, an op-ed piece, or a blog post or comment that Spot wishes that he has written.
Update: Revised title as suggested in a comment by Charlie.Tags: charter schools, Minnesota Citizens' League, public school education
But in the 15 months he's been in office, the U.S. attorney has had a lot of people in this town running scared. The notches in his prosecutorial belt include convictions of three Milwaukee aldermen and indictments of an ousted state senator and the former chairman of the state Democratic Party.
Nick Coleman sits in the newsroom and stares thoughtfully—perhaps quizzically—at his computer monitor. He is either working out a knotty bit of syntax for his next column, or he is playing solitaire. A shadow grows across his desk that engulfs Nick and obliterates the light from the florescent overhead lights.
I want a word with you, Buster!
Nick flinches and hits the "minimize" button in the corner of the monitor. It was solitaire. He replies:
Oh, it's just you, Katie. I thought it was Tice or Pear or whatever than new dude's name is.
You're gonna wish it was one of them.
Nick swivels his chair around to stare at Katie's belt buckle and says:
What did I do to offend you this time?
My daughter—my baby daughter—is reading your column.
Glad to hear it. At least somebody in the family has the reading chops to tackle what I write. She's what, a high school senior?
At Most Holy Sepulp—never you mind that. When I talked to her over breakfast recently, she called you "Nick."
Well that is my name.
Ever since I started working here I have tried my best to keep my daughter away from you and your influence. But it is obviously not working. Are you stalking her?
Stalking? Are you crazy? Never mind. I shouldn't dignify that with an answer, but in your case I'll make an exception. Of course not. But I am glad to hear that she is capable of considering or expressing a thought independent from yours. It must be terrible to realize you've failed as a parent. What's she been reading by the way?
Your column on Wednesday about tax equity and raising the top marginal rate in the income tax in Minnesota. About how the current system of sales, property, and income taxes is actually regressive.
I know that doesn't bother you. But why does the column make you so mad at me?
Because in my column the next day I criticized the DFL for proposing tax increases, and my daughter cross examined me from your column. I won't have you coming between me and my children!
A smile crosses Nick's face:
Oh, really?
Yes. How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!
You mean a thinking child, don't you?
Oooh, you! From now on, I want advance copies of your columns so that I can rebut them—and so I know when to hide the paper at home.
You aren't serious, are you?
I am serious.
'Fraid not, Katie. And you know, Katie, next year your daughter will be away at college. Then she'll be in the clutches of all those liberal academics that you complain about so much. If your intellectual vaccine isn't working now, think how bad it will be when she's in college!
Aaaaraaaauugh! I'll get you, Coleman.
Katie stalks away from Nick's desk. Nick looks at the little crowd of people that has gathered, gives a little shrug, then turns around in his chair and restores his solitaire game.
Tags: Katherine Kersten, Nick Coleman, tax equity
That little tart Pamela of Atlas Rugs (you could look 'em up in the Yellow Pages) is flirting with Katie's Scott Johnson of Powerline. Scandalous really. It seems the two got together at a recent caucus of concerned conservatives to discuss the liberal bias of faculty on campuses in America. The event was held late last month at that Harvard on the Kinnikinnic River, the University of Wisconsin at River Falls. Let's let Pammy tell us a little about it:
Today is a day I will not soon forget. A morning of conservative speakers (Governor Pawlenty, Ron Robinson - extraordinary presentation on exposing the liberal media) - the highlight of which was Katherine Kersten, Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist. Kersten very carefully explained in great detail the terrible liberal bias on college campuses and why diversity stops at the classroom door. What was most valuable to this crowd (college students) was what actions they could and should take in confronting bias. Somewhat depressing was her matter of fact closing that things would not change until this generation, her generation of faculty and professors, faded away (in other words, when they were dead.)
Spotty, you mean Katie was there and Scott and Pammy were flirting right under her nose?
That's right, grasshopper. Here's Pammy's description of lunching with Scotty and sitting on a panel with him:
Lunch followed, which I thoroughly enjoyed ......... exchanging barbs with Johnson. Laughs easily, and so gracious. Hamish guy. That Fargo accent killed me. If I ever feel nostalgic I'll be sure to rent the flick. He sounds just like Jerry Lundegaard. . . . .
The panel that Scott and I were on "Advancing your conservative ideas in New Media" followed. And I gotta tell you I had a blast. . . . .
Scott was up next and he was great. Fascinating. He took us through that morning on September 9, '04 when events began to unfold that brought us to the defining movement in 2004 Presidential election - Rathergate. Riveting. IMAO, this singular event changed the course of history. It seems to me that Johnson either ignores or negates his profound historic role in this monumental moment. When the history books are written, Johnson will be there -- that is if the West wins the war on the jihad (if the Islamists win, there will be no books.)
I followed Scott and it was pure exhilaration. I loved those kids. [italics are Spot's]
Lest you think the animal attraction was only one way, boys and girls, listen to this from Scotty, writing about the same event:
I'm speaking this afternoon with the beautiful heart-on-sleeve blogger Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs at the Midwest Conference of the Young America's Foundation. Last night former Attorney General John Ashcroft kicked off the event with a rousing speech demolishing a few of the cherished "myths" that have become mantras of the left.
Pamela has posted video of the speech in her report on the opening of the conference last night here. Mrs. Ashcroft was also in attendance. Accordingly, you should not infer that Pamela did not enjoy the speech from the fact that she did not shout out "I love you" or words to that effect during the talk, as she did during her recording of Dr. John Hagee's "Israel lives" speech at CPAC. [italics are Spot's]
There is only one thing left to do, boys and girls: show you the guilty pair. Don't you think that Scott especially is wearing the silly grin of the smitten?
Hi, Mom!
Good morning, dear. Just finishing breakfast?
Yes. And reading the paper, too.
Just make sure you don't miss the bus out to Most Holy Sepulcher. It's your senior year, remember. You have to be an example for the younger kids.
I won't, and I am, Mom. I have a question, though.
Yes?
I read your column this morning.
And?
You really popped a cork on this tax increase debate. I'm kind of glad that you're off this "all imams, all the time" stuff—it was starting to worry me—but I don't know, doesn't Nick Coleman have a point?
What? You read Nick Coleman? Coleman's not the Prince of Darkness, but he knows him personally. Uh, what did he say?
You never read Nick Coleman? Well, yesterday Nick, I mean Mr. Coleman, said, well, wait a minute, yesterday's paper is still here:
But the truth is that while the quality of life in Minnesota has been deteriorating in almost every way that matters to common people, Minnesota's wealthiest have been getting a tax break that they don't need and don't deserve. And the result is that the cost of government has shifted unfairly to the middle class while the things that matter to the middle class -- public schools, roads, public safety -- have declined.
If raising taxes on the wealthiest 1 percent of Minnesotans to the level they were at before conservative Candy Men went on a welfare-for-the-rich binge is what it takes to turn things around, well, I think Minnesotans would make the sacrifice. We aren't stupid.
According to the state's Department of Revenue, Minnesota households earning between $45,000 to $105,000 (the state's median income is about $47,000) pay 12.3 percent in state and local taxes, while households earning above $105,000 pay 10.9 percent. The very wealthiest Minnesotans, earning more than $355,000, pay about 9 percent.
So the rate for the middle class is about one-third higher than for the rich.
Apparently, this includes income, sales, and property taxes. It sounds like an income tax rate increase at the very top would make the tax system more fair.
Oh really, miss smarty pants? How many times have I told you taxes are always evil, because they reduce the amount that people can give to their church.
C'mon, Mom. It was just a few days ago that you and Dad sat me down and told me that the property taxes on our house were getting so high that you had to cut my weekly allowance from $8.35 to $7.20. It sounds to me like we're in the group that's getting stuck with a bigger and bigger burden. I'll bet Uncle Bill is making out like a bandit.
Sigh. I suppose he is. Still, the DFL wants to raise gasoline taxes, too! What about that?
Doesn't the governor want to borrow a bunch of money for transportation? Somebody is going to have to pay that money back, right? I think the Republicans want that somebody to be kids like me. Just so they can say they didn't raise taxes. Who's our state representative? It's Ron Erhardt, isn't it? He's been trying to get the gas tax raised for years. And Ron's a Republican, right?
Oh good! Here's your bus. I mean, have a nice day in school, dear.
Update: For a really good critique of Katie's column, boys and girls, Spot wants you to go read the tax policy go-to guy, Charlie, at Across the Great Divide.
Tags: Katherine Kersten, tax equity
"I brought five rugs for five bucks. People were engaging and just aIt apparently didn't occur to the senator that he may have gotten such a good deal because there weren't any other buyers around: they were dead, too afraid to shop, or shooed away by the US military in advance of the VIP visit. And Spotty bets, Senator, that if you amortize the cost of the trip to the taxpayers over those five rugs, they were more than a buck apiece!
few weeks ago, hundreds of people, dozens of people were killed in this
same place," said Graham.
But the market that the congressmen said they saw is fundamentally different from the market Iraqis know.
Merchants and customers say that a campaign by insurgents to attack Baghdad’s
markets has put many shop owners out of business and forced radical changes in the way people shop. Shorja, the city’s oldest and largest market, set in a sprawling labyrinth of narrow streets and alleyways, has been bombed at least a half-dozen times since last summer.
Spot wonders if the McCain campaign paid for any of this boondoggle. He doubts it.
Dear Muslim Terrorist Plotter/Planner/Funder/Enabler/Apologist,If you're a black kid from Minneapolis attending Edina High School as an ABC student or under the "It's Your Choice" program, and you're driving home late one evening from doing homework with a friend, and the Edina cops stop you for "Driving While Black," you're an imam now. Well, okay, the ABC kids don't have cars, but still.You do not know me. But I am on the lookout for you. You are my enemy. And I am yours.
I am John Doe.
I am traveling on your plane. I am riding on your train. I am at
your bus stop. I am on your street. I am in your subway car. I am on
your lift.I am your neighbor. I am your customer. I am your classmate. I am your boss.
I am John Doe.
I will never forget the example of the passengers of United Airlines
Flight 93 who refused to sit back on 9/11 and let themselves be
murdered in the name of Islam without a fight.I will never forget the passengers and crew members who tackled al
Qaeda shoe-bomber Richard Reid on American Airlines Flight 63 before he
had a chance to blow up the plane over the Atlantic Ocean.I will never forget the alertness of actor James Woods, who notified
a stewardess that several Arab men sitting in his first-class cabin on
an August 2001 flight were behaving strangely. The men turned out to be
9/11 hijackers on a test run.I will act when homeland security officials ask me to “report suspicious activity.”
I will embrace my local police department’s admonition: “If you see something, say something.”
I am John Doe.
I will protest your Jew-hating, America-bashing “scholars.”
I will petition against your hate-mongering mosque leaders.
I will raise my voice against your subjugation of women and religious minorities.
I will challenge your attempts to indoctrinate my children in our schools.
I will combat your violent propaganda on the Internet.
I am John Doe.
I will support law enforcement initiatives to spy on your
operatives, cut off your funding, and disrupt your murderous
conspiracies.I will oppose all attempts to undermine our borders and immigration laws.
I will resist the imposition of sharia principles and sharia law in
my taxi cab, my restaurant, my community pool, the halls of Congress,
our national monuments, the radio and television airwaves, and all
public spaces.I will not be censored in the name of tolerance.
I will not be cowed by your Beltway lobbying groups in moderate
clothing. I will not cringe when you shriek about “profiling” or
“Islamophobia.”I will put my family’s safety above sensitivity. I will put my country above multiculturalism.
I will not submit to your will. I will not be intimidated.
I am John Doe.
Dr. Zuhdi Jasser of Phoenix was deeply troubled after 9-11. A Muslim, he saw his faith threatened by extremists seeking to hijack it for political ends. "Islam is a spiritual path," he says. "The mixture of politics and religion is toxic to our faith."Hello? Katie? This guy is calling for separation of church (mosque) and state. Katie's all for it, apparently. Unless of course, the religion is Christianity, not Islam.
