Washington round-up - A Citizen's Guide to Indiana

For some reason this morning, I found my attention drawn to Washington D.C. more than to Indiana. So, here are a few things:

Not so much with the strict construction: The Bush administration claims that it can prevent an ex-employee from testifying to Congress on grounds of “executive privilege.” They say that the U.S. Attorney in charge of prosecuting contempt citations for the Congress cannot do so when executive privilege has been asserted by the President.

Senator Robert Byrd doesn’t think too much of those who would engage in dog fighting as Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is alleged to have done:

“I am confident that the hottest places in hell are reserved for the souls of sick and brutal people who hold God’s creatures in such brutal and cruel contempt,” he said.

On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart said of Vick something like, “I think we should cover him in liver and set those dogs loose. Then we’ll see if he is really as ‘fast’ and ‘elusive’ as everybody says.”

FEMA housed Hurricane Katrina victims in trailers with high levels of formaldehyde then tried to covered its ass by remaining willfully ignorant — deliberately refusing to test conditions, reasoning that if they had proof of the formaldehyde levels, they would be forced to do something about it. Senator Byrd’s hottest places in hell might be getting a little crowded. Maybe we should just follow Jon Stewart’s advice and just stock up on more liver.

Valerie Plame’s civil suit against Dick Cheney gets thrown out on a technicality. By “technicality,” I mean it the way law & order types always seem to mean it when a criminal case doesn’t get tried on its merits. I haven’t reviewed the text of the order dismissing the Cheney suit, but from the news reports it looks like Cheney enjoys immunity for actions taken in the course of his public employment. So, this isn’t any kind of vindication for Cheney, et al., but it does put a stop to claims for civil damages in the federal courts. (And, just for what it’s worth, I have no objection to lawyers getting suits dismissed on “technicalities”. I make the attempt all the time when, for example, prisoners and former prisoners sue the Sheriff because they weren’t real happy with their jail experience.)

Comments

T says

July 20, 2007 at 7:46 -04006

I wonder if Cheney’s drunken criminal negligence with a firearm would have been considered part of his official duties, had it been investigated.

tim zank says

July 24, 2007 at 17:26 -04006

T….

Oh please. At least use a valid comparison when hurtling sticks towards someones eye.

cheap cheap shot..(pun intended)

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