PATRIOT Act: Undermines Rights, Abuse Likely
Despite reports that President Bush has misled the public about the need for and the effectiveness of the USA PATRIOT Act, the Republican-controlled US Senate is considering renewal and expansion of powers authorized by this law.
Bush Misleads Public on PATRIOT Act
According to the Washington Post, while Bush claimed in a Ohio speech last week 200 convictions out of 400 arrests in the last four years, an analysis of the Justice Department’s own sources indicate that only 39 people have been convicted of crimes related to terror or national security since September 11th...In a published statement, the ACLU characterized the President’s speech in Ohio as “both misguided and disingenuous.”
'Deep Throat' Opens Up: an Historical Perspective: PA contributing editor, Norman Markowitz
As a student of J. Edgar’s corrupt and sinister career as America’s and the world’s longest lived political police chief I must admit that I burst out laughing when it was revealed that Mark Felt, Hoover’s number two man at the time of his death and a longtime member of his inner circle, had leaked the information that eventually did in Hoover’s old political pal, Richard Nixon
Extraordinarily Rancid Justice
'...given the track record of Priscilla Owens, Janice Rogers Brown, and William Pryor, I wonder how extreme a candidate has to be before these Democrats and their seven Republican colleagues would reject them... Their acceptance invites the Republican right to push the envelope still further.'
The New Blacklist: Corporate America Caves In to the Christian Right
'All across the country, the Christian right and its allies in the culture wars are mobilizing — sometimes spurred on from the top by the AFA, Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council and similar national groups, but with increasing frequency local pressure campaigns and boycott threats...'
William Pryor: 'A threat to the rights of all Americans'
In a mostly party line vote last night, William Pryor became the third Bush judicial appointee to be confirmed by the Senate in the last week. Pryor’s confirmation was met by sharp criticism...In his activist and ideologically motivated quest to advance a far-right agenda, Pryor has used his various positions to attempt to strip and chip away at a whole range of civil rights protections.
Death Penalty:
A recent study of almost 2,000 death penalty cases in Ohio between 1981 and 2002 shows that race and geography played strong roles in determining the imposition of capital punishment.
Increase in Hate Crimes Demands National Solution, say Civil Rights Groups
Cross-burnings, threats of violence against gay people, anti-immigrant vigilantism, numerous incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti, influx of whites-only groups and racial separatists in some areas, have combined with growing anti-Muslim actions in all regions of the country... Several civil rights organizations have strongly urged passage of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005.
Bush vs. Human Rights: Amnesty International Strikes Back
After the Bush administration yesterday (June 1) lined up numerous officials, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and General Richard Myers, to attack Amnesty International for its report that criticizes the administration’s human rights record, the respected human rights organization fired back.
'Deep Throat': Watergate Proves that Presidents Break Laws
The parallels between the Bush and Nixon administrations are eerily familiar. Both bullied the press, were/are highly secretive, obsessed over leaks, engage(d) in massive cover-ups and quickly branded aides as disloyal if they dared to raise questions about the President’s policies.
