"...a colossal struggle between two primary institutions of Pakistan, the Armed Forces and the Judiciary. Since the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the Supreme Court has sided with the generals who overthrew political governments. The Supreme Court found innovative ways to legitimize military coups, including the one Musharraf staged in 1999. In all these constitutional cases, however, the fight has been between two governments, the military and the political. This time, the fight is between the Judiciary and the Armed Forces. This time, the Judiciary itself is under attack. It is unlikely that the Justices will subordinate themselves to the Generals. In his petition, the CJP prays the Court to annul the President's reference and raises a question that cannot be lightly ignored: "If a contrary view is taken, which judge will then stand up to the executive?""read the rest for a good, brief overview of the situation there.
* here's the vid of Andy Card getting a rousing boo-ing at UMass (thnx starroute for the correction). Personally, I find it all disrespectful.
* Ron Paul on Bill Maher. Paul got a huge ovation.
* Palast:
"And now, not bothering to understand the astonishing revelation in Goodling's confessional, they are missing the real story behind the firing of the US attorneys. It's not about removing prosecutors disloyal to Bush, it's about replacing those who refused to aid the theft of the vote in 2004 with those prepared to burgle it again in 2008."
* Henley: "
The interests of the oil industry and the security-industrial complex (SAIC, CACI, Titan, Lockheed Martin etc.) make quite the interlocking set of interests with government officialdom. That’s certainly part of the story. But I think the rest of it is ideology."
* Henley: "
Many people have pointed out that the ABC News report on the recent “nonlethal finding” directing the CIA to destabilize the Iranian government must have been based on authorized leaks. The question is the timing. Why leak now? To sabotage the talks looming? In a way, probably. But it may be more cynical. Iran is holding two high-profile Iranian-Americans on charges of spying. This leak now will tend to make Iran likely to detain them longer. Which will make Iran look worse. That’s very bad for Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh, but I doubt the Vice President’s office much cares about them, and the Iranian government certainly doesn’t."
2 comments:
Just to be nit-picky (because it's Sunday morning of a long holiday weekend and there isn't much else to do), Andy Card was booed at UMass-Amherst (huge, sprawling state university), not at Amherst College (elite, old-line, somewhat stuffy college just down the road.)
People out there in the cyber-galaxy may not know or care, but "Amherst" on its own means the second, not the first, and there's all the difference in the world.
thanks starroute, correction made.
have a great weekend :-)
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