Are you a Democrat or worse, a Democrat who in any way upset the President of the Far-Right of America? Well then, be afraid, be very afraid. I will let Scott Horton play you the latest song:
It’s beginning to sound like a stuck record. Another strike by the Bush Justice Department, keeping the country safe. Who’s the target this time? A crack dealer? An al Qaeda terrorist? No. It’s a wing-tip shoed Miami lawyer, who served as president of the bar association, is held in universally high esteem (outside, of course, of the political hacks who run the Bush Justice Department) and who advised Al Gore in the 2000 Florida recount battle. According to the Justice Department, the lawyer’s involvement with Democratic politics has nothing to do with his being charged. Quite a few of his contemporaries are having problems buying that, and still bigger problems understanding his supposed “crime.”
<snip>
Some other facts make the Justice Department’s conduct look stranger still. The matter was not determined by local attorneys in the Miami U.S. Attorney’s office, but by political appointees from main Justice in Washington. Law.com collects a number of statements from leaders in the Florida bar, reacting angrily to the charges, including Kuehne’s lawyer:
“This highly improbable charge involves important and unprecedented issues of law, policy and procedure,” Moscowitz wrote. The indictment was brought by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Seller and Thomas Pinder of the Justice Department’s asset forfeiture and money laundering section in Washington. The case went to Washington because the U.S. Attorney’s office in Miami had a conflict as Ochoa’s prosecutor. Magistrate Brown’s courtroom overflowed with attorneys who support Kuehne. They included CNN legal commentator Jayne Weintraub and criminal defense attorney Frank Quintero Jr., who won a hard-fought acquittal on drug-smuggling conspiracy and laundering charges. Others waited outside because the courtroom was too small for everyone who wanted to attend. Leaving court, Kuehne was upbeat and thanked everyone for their support. “Ben Kuehne has more integrity than any lawyer I know,” Weintraub said. The prosecution is “an indictment on the legal profession.”
Other lawyers angrily denounced the charges.”It’s now official: It’s a crime to be a criminal defense attorney,” Miami criminal defense attorney Milton Hirsch said. Referring to Kuehne’s courtly, buttoned-down demeanor, he said, “They picked a guy who sleeps with wing-tipped shoes on and indicted him for going above and beyond to make sure legal fees paid to a different lawyer are clean.”
In sum, the prosecutors are saying that by rendering a legal opinion, Kuehne made himself into a part of a conspiracy. So whether his opinion was right or wrong, he was just another cog in a criminal enterprise. They’re arguing that he cannot claim an innocent mistake as to the law as a defense."
In short my friends, time to start demanding impeachment. In fact, I will support any candidate of any party who will demand impeachment be back on the table. Anyone failing to do so, is not qualified to be the President of the United States. Simply put, I don't give a rat's ass about your position on anything, until you make clear your position on the Constitution. So, what is your position on the Constitution candidate x?
I want that question answered now. I don't care who made someone's kid cry or who Oprah adores. I don't care if they think God is their real-life best friend who visits daily and shares recipes. I don't want to hear anything about anything until I have heard the first and most important thing: rule of law. Because in reality the only time the phrase "you are either with us or against us" should be applied is when discussing the one thing that makes us all Americans. The Constitution. Do you get it yet?
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Read Horton's full piece:
http://harpers.org/archive/2008/02/hbc-90002346cross posted at my place:
http://www.atlargely.com/2008/02/the-reich-minis.html
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