Youtuber Headzup: Bush comments on commuting Libby’s sentence.

Warning: language is harsh in case your little ones are around!

Screen grab from Yahoo! News
Congress Ethics Reform Bogged Down Headline
Ranks right up there with “House votes to accept $4,400 pay raise“!

Not simply a difference of opinion. These people are flat-out STUPID!
Bush Commute Libby Poll
MSNBC.com poll HERE

Yesterday, against the guidelines of the justice department, without advising the justice department (not that Fredo would have objected in anyway), President Bush decided to commute Scooter Libby’s prison sentence. He again has decided this administration is above the law. Laws only apply to those who aren’t loyal to Bush’s agenda. He grieves for the pain that Scooter’s family has endured. Because he is a loyal soldier. No doubt Libby was told to do what he did, and he’d be taken care of. He would not do any time. No sadness for the Wilson family, though. No regrets about destroying a loyal CIA agent’s career. Not to worry about the pain he’s brought to her family. They’re suffering doesn’t matter…..because they were not loyal to his agenda.

Joe Biden would like us to call the White House today. Why? Does he think the White House cares? They don’t. Bush could care less what the American people want or what we think. I’d urge you, instead, to call Joe Biden’s office. To call every Senator and Representative who’s up for re-election in 08. And tell them they are a target in 08 if THEY don’t do something to: 1. Get us out of Iraq 2. Investigate illegal activities by this administration (with results) 3. Restore our rights and quit letting this administration stomp on the constitution 4. Represent US…..we the people!!! DO YOUR JOB.

Here’s a list of Senators up for re-election. I am searching for a list of house seats. If anyone has one, please send it! I think it’s time to start calling and writing these people. Short and sweet. Do it often. Cram their email boxes and phone lines. Republicans and Democrats alike.

Senate contact info here

House contact information here

Keith Olbermann had Joe Wilson on last night, and his response to Bush commuting Libby’s sentence.

Many good posts have already dissected the recent comments by Justice Antonin Scalia at a panel discussion:

Senior judges from North America and Europe were in the midst of a panel discussion about torture and terrorism law, when a Canadian judge’s passing remark - “Thankfully, security agencies in all our countries do not subscribe to the mantra A-What would Jack Bauer do?- ” - got the legal bulldog in [Justice Antonin Scalia] barking.

The conservative jurist stuck up for Agent Bauer, arguing that fictional or not, federal agents require latitude in times of great crisis. “Jack Bauer saved Los Angeles. … He saved hundreds of thousands of lives,” Judge Scalia said. Then, recalling Season 2, where the agent’s rough interrogation tactics saved California from a terrorist nuke, the Supreme Court judge etched a line in the sand.

“Are you going to convict Jack Bauer?” Judge Scalia challenged his fellow judges. “Say that criminal law is against him? A-You have the right to a jury trial?- Is any jury going to convict Jack Bauer? I don-t think so.”

Without discussing the merits or flaws of 24 as entertainment, it’s striking how so many conservatives view issues of national security and torture through its lens. It’s disturbing that people possessing a great deal of power, or seeking it, seem to be basing their policy decisions and legal judgments almost entirely on a work of fiction. Citing Jack Bauer isn’t as big a problem as invoking him as the Alpha and Omega of all “serious” discussion on important issues. Fine, mention Jack Bauer. But what about Maher Arar, the Canadian who the U.S. rendered to Syria to be tortured? What about David Hicks, the Australian whose arrest could be justified but whose treatment was abhorrent? What about all the horrible stories out of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo?
Read more »

By VERENA DOBNIK Associated Press Writer
from ABC News

Beverly Sills, the Brooklyn-born opera diva who was a global icon of can-do American culture with her dazzling voice, bubbly personality and management moxie in the arts world, died Monday of cancer, her manager said. She was 78.

It had been revealed just last month that Sills was gravely ill with inoperable lung cancer. Sills, who never smoked, died about 9 p.m. Monday at her Manhattan home with her family and doctor at her side, said her manager, Edgar Vincent.

Beyond the music world, Sills gained fans worldwide with a style that matched her childhood nickname, Bubbles. The relaxed, red-haired diva appeared frequently on “The Tonight Show,” “The Muppet Show” and in televised performances with her friend Carol Burnett.

Together, they did a show from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera called “Sills and Burnett at the Met,” singing rip-roaring duets with funny one-liners thrown in.

Long after the public stopped hearing her sing in 1980, Sills’ rich, infectious laughter filled the nation’s living rooms as she hosted live TV broadcasts. As recently as last season, she conducted backstage interviews for the Metropolitan Opera’s high-definition movie theater performances.

Sills first gained fame with a high-octane career that helped put Americans on the international map of opera stars.

read more from ABC NEWS

As of Monday, July 2, 2007, at least 3,583 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,942 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers.

The AP count is six higher than the Defense Department’s tally, last updated Monday at 10 a.m. EDT.

The British military has reported 156 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 20; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Romania, South Korea, one death each.

___

The latest deaths reported by the military:

• A soldier was killed Monday by an explosion in Salahuddin province.

• Two soldiers and one Marine were killed Sunday in Anbar province.

• A soldier was killed Sunday by small-arms fire in southern Baghdad.

___

The latest identifications reported by the military:

• Army Staff Sgt. Robb L. Rolfing, 29, Milton, Mass.; died Saturday in Baghdad of wounds from small-arms fire; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Carson, Colo.

• Army Pfc. Jonathan M. Rossi, 20, Safety Harbor, Fla.; died Sunday in Baghdad of wounds from an explosive and small-arms fire; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.