Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:10 AM | Comments (95)
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Lieutenant Watada refused to deploy to Iraq in 2006 because he foolishly and ignorantly believes the Iraq war is illegal. He was charged for missing movement and conduct unbecoming. That trial ended in February 2007 after the judge declared a mistrial.

The case fell apart when it turned out that Watada had stipulated that he did not deploy with his unit as ordered and that he gave interviews without authorization. In the military judge's view, Watada hadn't realized the legal consequences of the stipulations, since they largely amounted to admitting the charges. The prosecution had already rested, but their case relied in large part on the stipulations which the military judge wanted to strike. The military judge decided that the best thing to do was declare a mistrial and start over.

Today, U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle said the military could not retry Watada. Settle held that the military judge "did not exercise sound discretion" in ruling a mistrial. Accordingly, subjecting Watada to a second trial would violate his Fifth Amendment right against double jeopardy.

Watada is a bit of a figurehead for the Left, since he was the first commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq. The military is considering its options. It may go ahead with just the conduct unbecoming charges or appeal the district court's decision or both.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 09:55 PM | Comments (93)
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This has me seeing red.

During a meeting with business leaders in Louisiana, George Bush said people's attitudes had changed from "near panic" to a "more relaxed" approach.

He put it down to the effects of the huge bail-out agreed with Congress to sustain the financial system.

Earlier, Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke said more government spending may be needed to combat the slowdown.

Oh, so the panic that the President, along with the Treasury Secretary and a majority of Congress created by having a giant, foamy-mouthed group spasm in front of the entire world is easing? Great job, Mr. President! I'm so glad you managed to convince everyone that we stood on the brink of a second Great Depression so you could come back a month later and pat yourself on the back for averting it.

Oh, and that credit crunch? The numbers are out; commercial credit and loans. Once again, the sky isn't rising fast enough. But if there's been a credit contraction (say, like the one we experienced from 2002 to 2004, you remember all the chaos over that one, right?) it sure isn't in the data.

But what about LIBOR and the TED spread? Yes, in lieu of solid data they were an indicator that something was out of whack. But they weren't evidence of a pre-existing credit crunch. They were evidence that people and institutions were behaving as if there was a credit crunch. People and institutions are scared enough to change their behavior in ways that are likely to worsen the very conditions they are afraid of.

For example, there will be many fewer houses and new cars sold in the next year. Not because of a lack of credit, but because people, believing the economy is in such poor shape, will choose to put off buying new houses and cars. Of course, the low rate of sales will be taken by overexcited commentators and Congressional blow-hards as a sign of our dying economy. Their hysteria, though it is predictable, will only worsen conditions.

But hey, everything is cool, right, because Ben Bernanke is calling for another stimulus package. Maybe I'll get another $600 of my own money back!

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:17 PM | Comments (89)
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Why not.

Posted by: Ace at 06:00 PM | Comments (200)
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A bit more at this high-value target at VIMH.

Posted by: Ace at 05:58 PM | Comments (22)
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Racist.

An internal report by a lawyer for the community organizing group Acorn raises questions about whether the web of relationships among its 174 affiliates may have led to violations of federal laws.

...

Republicans have tried to make an issue of Senator Barack ObamaÂ’s ties to the group, which he represented in a lawsuit in 1995. The Obama campaign has denied any connection with AcornÂ’s voter registration drives.

Um, and he paid them $832,000 for lighting and sound get out the vote drives.

The June 18 report, written by Elizabeth Kingsley, a Washington lawyer, spells out her concerns about potentially improper use of charitable dollars for political purposes; money transfers among the affiliates; and potential conflicts created by employees working for multiple affiliates, among other things.

It also offers a different account of the embezzlement of almost $1 million by the brother of AcornÂ’s founder, Wade Rathke, than the one the organization gave in July, when word of the theft became public.

“A full analysis of potential liability will require consultation with a knowledgeable white-collar criminal attorney,” Ms. Kingsley wrote of the embezzlement,which occurred in 2000 but was not disclosed until this summer.

In a telephone interview on Monday, Ms. Kingsley and Bertha Lewis, AcornÂ’s top executive, said the group had begun addressing the concerns raised in the report.

“Has everything been done yet? No,” Ms. Lewis said. “We’ve been at this for three months, and we have taken everything she said in the report very seriously. It’s a huge undertaking.”

Thanks to WilliamA.

Posted by: Ace at 05:25 PM | Comments (50)
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I guess Ed saw the internal polls, too.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has sent two separate memos to the Obama campaign in the past five days requesting that the Democratic Presidential candidate—as well as Hillary and Bill Clinton—return to campaign in Pennsylvania, Rendell told CNN's Gloria Borger.

Rendell said the McCain campaign is clearly making a push to win Pennsylvania, given the recent visits by the Arizona senator, his wife and his running mate. As a result, he wants Obama to appear in western Pennsylvania, Harrisburg and one more “large rally” in Philadelphia. Democrats generally worry that the race is significantly closer than what recent polls have suggested. According to Rendell, there is also worry among Democrats the McCain campaign has successfully raised the enthusiasm level among Republicans in the state.

A black man? In Pennsylvania? Is that wise? Wouldn't all the stupid racists in Western Penn finally realize that Obama is black?

I guess Obama is heeding the wise counsel of Jack "Fat Sack of Corruption and Failure" Murtha.

Thanks to CJ.

It's the Economy, Stupid: McCain's tax and spend argument is persuasive, but it's not enough if the public blames Republican policies for the subprime mess -- perhaps we need more taxation and spending, eh?

Check out the graph.

Posted by: Ace at 05:20 PM | Comments (90)
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Iran, Russia and Qatar talking about forming a "natural gas OPEC" organization.

Europe and the United States have warned against such a gas export body, saying it could pose a danger to global energy security and create room for price manipulation.

more...

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 05:07 PM | Comments (21)
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And it is, indeed, comprehensive.

Mostly. As detailed as this is, it still can't hit all of the negatives and all of the evidence against Barack Obama.

And that's part of the problem.

How do attack such a seriously flawed person?

Shorter: "The Silenced Majority."

Orson Scott Card... attempts the shame the shamelessly in the tank media. About the big lie about the subprime crisis.

And all the stuff about Obama they won't report.

Useless, of course.

If they had shame or any sense of obligation to be nonpartisan, Card's challenge wouldn't need to be issued.

Posted by: Ace at 03:56 PM | Comments (70)
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Ditto. Quality trolls are hard to come by these days. I highly recommend the troll primer.

...Now, you might find a certain self-satisfaction in a suicide bombing, but as al-Qaeda has learned once all the good suicide bombers are dead, it becomes more difficult to find subsequent bombers of any quality. Frankly, at this point, the quality is becoming pretty thin...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 03:38 PM | Comments (51)
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