Court of Appeals and Censorship

Dear Friends,

It seems that the Obama Administration continues to behave like the Bush Administration when it comes to enemy combatants and the arguement that they can detain whomever they please.  The headline for an article in The New York Times today (here) was "Appeals Court Sides with Detainee". 

A federal appeals court has sided with a Guantánamo prisoner whose case prompted a major internal argument among Obama administration legal advisers last year over how broadly to define terrorism suspects who may be detained without trial. Belkacem Bensayah, an Algerian who was arrested in Bosnia in 2001 and accused of helping people who wanted to travel to Afghanistan and join Al Qaeda, cannot be considered part of the terrorist organization based on the evidence the government presented against him, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled.
“The government presented no direct evidence of actual communication between Bensayah and any Al Qaeda member, much less evidence suggesting Bensayah communicated with” anyone else to facilitate travel by an Al Qaeda member, Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg wrote in a 17-page opinion that was declassified late last week. Parts of the ruling were censored by the government.
Mark Fleming, a partner at the law firm Wilmer Hale who is representing Mr. Bensayah, praised the ruling and called on the Obama administration to send his client back to Bosnia, where his wife and daughters live.

Why must the Obama Administration continue to ignore the rule of law and our Constitution and continue the failed legal theories of the Bush Administration?

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Bears

Dear Friends,

My wife and I are at our cabin in northern Wisconsin for 10 days.  It is a wonderful place, and we are very lucky to have it.  Unfortunately, the internet connection via satellite has been spotty at best.  The response from the provider is that there are storms that are causing the problem.  After several calls, they are making a service call on Tuesday.  Tonight so far the connection has been stable so I am rushing to publish a blog or two.

Anyway we arrived here on Thursday and were sitting on our screened porch at about 8:30 pm when a mother bear and four cubs came strolling into our yard.  The mother knocked the top off the garbage can and finding no garbage moved on to the garage where she found nothing either.  Then she and her four cubs ambled up the driveway.  About 45 minutes later they returned and walked between our cabin and the lake and headed back into the woods.  The blueberries are in perfect season now so there is no shortage of food for the bears.

I have been coming here for over 40 years and this is the first time that I have ever seen bears.  What a thrill!!  Unfortunately, now I expect them to show up every night as we are finishing dinner.

Here are some pictures.

I know this has nothing to do with how the current administration is doing, but I am really excited that I saw the bears.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Ant, Banks and Boehner

Dear Friends,

President Obama is doing a better job of pointing out whose side the Republicans are really on.  Representative Boehner in an interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (here) said that the financial reform bill was like killing an ant with a nuclear weapon.  President Obama said that Representative Boehner could not be that out of touch.  Representative Boehner's staff commented that Representative Boehner has been raising lots of money for the Republicans, on average 1.5 events per day this year.  I thought that he was being paid by us to be a member of Congress.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Al Qaeda

Dear Friends,

The following quote from an article in The New York Times by David Sanger and Mark Mazzetti published online on June 30, 2010 entitled "New Estimate of Strength of Al Qaeda is Offered" (here) speaks for itself.

Michael E. Leiter, one of the country’s top counterterrorism officials, said Wednesday that American intelligence officials now estimated that there were somewhat “more than 300” Qaeda leaders and fighters hiding in Pakistan’s tribal areas, a rare public assessment of the strength of the terrorist group that is the central target of President Obama’s war strategy. Taken together with the recent estimate by the C.I.A. director, Leon E. Panetta, that there are about 50 to 100 Qaeda operatives now in Afghanistan, American intelligence agencies believe that there are most likely fewer than 500 members of the group in a region where the United States has poured nearly 100,000 troops.

It was Al Qaeda that attacked us.  It is suppose to be Al Qaeda that we are fighting, but all we hear about now is the Taliban.  We need to bring our troops home now and stop fighting a war we should not be in that is making more enemies for us.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Afghanistan

Dear Friends,

We have just finished the deadliest month for United States troops in Afghanistan.  According to icasualties.org (here), there were at least 60 United States soldiers killed in June.  Also General Petraeus was unanimously confirmed to replace General McChrystal.  President Obama has made it clear that this change is a change of personnel only not a change in strategy.

It really does not matter who leads the troops.  The policy is fatally flawed.  We are in a war that we cannot win, and we are increasing the number of people that hate us with every civilian that we kill.  We support an illegitimate government run by crooks who act only in their own best interests.  We need to get out of Afghanistan and find an approach to the world that doesn't kill the people we are trying to help.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Financial Reform and Other Great Accomplishments

Dear Friends,

The House/Senate Conference Committee dealing with financial reform reached agreement, and it looks like we will have a significant financial reform law passed and signed by the Fourth of  July.  Given the amount of money that the financial industry gives to both Republicans and Democrats, it is an amazing victory for President Obama and the Democrats.  Needless to say none of the Republicans on the conference committee voted for the compromise.  In today's world that is to be expected.  The Republicans will vote against virtually anything that President Obama likes.  In this case with all the campaign donations from the financial industry, it is not a surprise that the Republicans voted against it.  We should celebrate the fact that President Obama and the Democrats, who also receive lots of campaign contributions from the financial industry, did what was right and what was necessary.  Congratulations to President Obama and the Democrats!!  You give me hope for the future.

Rachel Maddow had a segment on her show on Friday night that was really uplifting.  There were two really good points.  The first was that President Reagan did some amazing things that would get him kicked out of the Republican Party today and would have Rush Limbaugh, etal. out for his head.  The second point was how much President Obama has accomplished less than half way through his first term.  I need to be reminded of all the good things that have happened and Rachel did a great job of reminding me.  Here is the segment.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal