Defiant Governor Drops Bombshell

ONE THING CAN BE SAID FOR IL GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH: HE DOES HAVE GUTS OF STEEL!

 

By Glenn S. Reiner

NO ONE WILL EVER ACCUSE Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich of buckling under pressure. No matter how you feel about him, you have to give the man his due.

He offered proof positive again today announcing to a national televised audience his appointment of former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.

I have to admit I feel quite ambivalent about the governor’s current legal and political issues. While I’m sure his ploy to sell the president-elect’s Senate seat is a clearly-defined ethics violation, I don’t honestly believe he has committed a crime. And I am not ready to convict him quite yet, not at least until I can completely examine all the facts, as well as the case law as it pertains to his actions.

So just what are the facts?

Well, for one thing, they haven’t even been presented yet in their entirety to a trial judge and jury. Like you, all I know is what U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has disclosed to the media.

I have no idea what the governor’s defense is, which his attorneys smartly won’t reveal until the government takes their client to trial, following a full disclosure of its entire case to them beforehand. That hasn’t happened yet.

So in truth, we don’t know all the facts — only a portion of them.

With respect to case law, the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides Blagojevich with the same presumption of innocence until guilt is proven that you and I are entitled to.

Therefore, I have to honor the man’s constitutional rights and wait until, and if, his case goes to court.

The wire-tap tapes released to the press by Fitzgerald clearly establishes Blagojevich sought money and future favors  in exchange for Obama’s seat. But I don’t believe this, on its face, violates federal law.

What the tapes do not establish is the governor following up on his rhetoric and actually committing the act, which would no doubt be illegal.

Let me offer an analogy:  When a drug dealer offers to make a sale to an undercover cop, he hasn’t yet committed a crime and cannot be arrested. It’s only when  he actually exchanges the dope for cash that the officer can slap the cuffs on him.

Another good comparison is when a married person attempts to hire a hit man to off their spouse but ends up with an undercover homicide detective instead. Before the detective could legally arrest that person, he has to ask them, “Are you sure you really want to go through with this?” In fact, many ask twice. If the person changes their mind and no money has been exchanged, charges cannot be filed.

Therefore as current governor of the great state of Illinois, Blagojevich – until convicted or extricated from office by the Illinois legislature — has every legal right to carry out the responsibilities of his office. This includes the Senate seat appointment.

“The people of Illinois are entitled to have two United States senators represent them in Washington, D.C. As governor, I am required to make this appointment. If I don’t make this appointment, then the people of Illinois will be deprived of their appropriate voice and vote in the United States Senate,” Blagojevich said at today’s press conference.

And he’s 100 percent on the money as far as I’m concerned. Not only are Illinois citizens entitled to two senators when the new Congress convenes in less than a week, but the Senate Democrats deserve to be fully staffed as well when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid commences the new Senate.

In all fairness, I believe the governor made a very intelligent choice in the notably rational and political squeaky-clean Burris, who apparently has all the makings of the perfect successor to Obama.

“Very, very low key,” said Don Rose, a former Democratic political consultant in Chicago, describing Mr. Burris, 71, to the New York Times. He’s just not a terribly exciting figure. But there’s never been a breath of scandal about him.”

Democratic Senators can threaten to block Burris from taking being seated all they want, but that would be unconstitutional.

I sincerely doubt there is a federal judge in this country, at any level, who would side against the currently sitting governor. And the Eighth Amendment leaves absolutely no room for partisan judicial interpretation.

To do so, would violate the oath that judge took to “uphold, protect and defend the constitution” — subjecting him/her to possible impeachment and subsequent removal from the bench.

_________

On January 15, 2008, Roland Burris was admitted into the U.S. Senate with the blessings of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durban, Illinois’ senior senator — filling Barack Obama’s vacated seat.

 

Israel Expands Military Assault After Unprecedented Hamas Attacks

The scene in Israel after one of many unprovoked attacks by Hamas

 

By Glenn S. Reiner

HAMAS reminds me of a life-long bully who constantly berates others and then gets angry when someone finally stands up to him and does him bodily harm.

That’s exactly what the terrorist group  is trying to pull off, as they again play the victim role after bombarding the Jewish State with missiles less than a week after their most recent ceasefire ended.  Now they’re screaming for vengeance. One thing for sure: This rogue bands  of thugs gives the word denial a whole new meaning.

If history serves, I cannot remember one single time Israeli attacks on its enemies were not justified and clearly a means to defend itself against Arab aggression. Since ancient times, these people have been thrown into slavery, chased from their land, persecuted in a multitude of  nations worldwide and exterminated by psychopathic lunatics.

But in order to keep things simple, let’s just go back to 1947 when the United Nations voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. This mandate was reached after over three decades of British rule.  Exhausted by the years of infighting between the two factions, England was more than happy to finally leave.

The UN resolution was accepted by the Jews, whose population had expanded greatly with the arrival of European Holocaust survivors.

But the Palestinians would have no part of it and began the war which ultimately solidified Israel’s declaration as an sovereign state. Joined by neighboring Arab countries, The Palestinians had a huge numerical advantage. But the Jewish forces wiped the floor – or should I say battlefield – with their enemies, leaving them crippled.

Two decades later, Israel was forced to defend itself again, this time against Egypt. The 1967 “Six-Day War” had its roots in then Egyptian President Gabel Abdul Nasser’s expulsion of a UN Emergency Force from the Sinai Peninsula that  had been stationed there for a decade.

Egypt – with strong support from several Arab allies — then positioned 1,000 tanks and nearly 100,000 soldiers on the Israeli border while closing the Straits of Tiran to all Israeli ships. Seeing the proverbial handwriting on the wall, Tel Aviv launched an offensive against the Egyptian Air Force.

Jordan answered with an attack against Western Jerusalem and Netanya.  Yet once again, the Jewish state prevailed, capturing control of the Sinai ,  Gaza Strip,  West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Golan Heights

Failing to learn from history, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel by surprise in 1973 on Yom Kippur — the Jewish highest holy day. After 18 days of fighting and thousands of lives lost on both ends, Israel again emerged as victors, earning territorial gains in Syria.

But in 1978, then President Jimmy Carter successfully negotiated the Israeli-Egyptian peace accords. A year later, both nations signed a full peace agreement, commencing full diplomatic relations. As part of the treaty, Israel agreed to return control of  the Sinai Peninsula to the Egyptians. In addition, it reopened the Suez Canal, while evacuating its 4,500 civilian inhabitants.

Fifteen years later, Jordan followed Cairo’s lead, becoming the second Arab nation to stabilize relations with Israel. Consequently, all territorial disputes between those two nations were resolved.

Until this weekend’s Israeli offensive (of should I say, defensive!), even Syria had been conducting  informal peace negations with Israel. Damascus believed a treaty would most likely result in the return of the Golan Heights.

Syria and the Jewish State have been arch enemies since the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, which came in response to PLO attacks launched from the Lebanese border.

However, Damascus today suspended all peace talks with Tel Aviv. Like Iran, its closest Muslim theocratic ally, it has been bankrolling and sheltering anti-Israeli terrorist groups for decades. So this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

In addition, thousands from major Middle-East cities didn’t waste any time taking to the streets today, protesting Israel’s actions.

Surprisingly, the prime minister of Turkey — another one of the few Muslim countries to have relations with Israel –  called the air assault a “crime against humanity.” Then again, when was the last time Istanbul was attacked by a terrorist organization?

And frankly, I find the prime minister’s rhetoric extremely insulting. When I hear the term ‘crimes against humanity,’ the names Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Milošević come to mind. How could anyone in their right mind fit <!–[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]–> Ben-Gurion, Meir, Rabin, Begin and currently Ehud Olmertnow   in with that group of genocidal maniacs.

But let’s face it: this anti-Semitic BS has been going on for millenniums. Through World War II, Jews had been the universal scapegoat. That is, until the establishment of Israel in 1948.  Since that time, both Israeli citizens as well as Jews globally have taken a stand, refusing to be made the proverbial sacrificial lamb of a bunch of ignorant bigots.

The plain truth is that Israel has made several peace overtures with the Palestinians in recent years, loosening their hold on both Gaza and the West Bank. It has engaged in peace negations over the years with the Palestinian Authority and the PLO before them.

But terrorist groups like Hamas, who have long been committed to the Jewish State’s total destruction, has ruined any efforts by both sides with preemptive strikes that has killed an untold number of Israelis.

However, all these thugs ever seem to emphasize is the Palestinian civilians “murdered” in the crossfire of Israeli retaliatory strikes. Yet the children they have sent across the border as human bombs, killing untold numbers of Israeli civilians, isn’t even an afterthought to them.

This is not a complex situation. Actually it is very simple. Hamas, which is considerably far weaker and vastly outnumbered by Israel, needs to change its mindset to one that is common-sense based. It must stop its vicious attacks on the Jewish State and come to grips with the concept of compromise –  something it has not been willing to do before.

 

 

 

Was Scott Peterson Railroaded?

PETERSON IS HOUSED HERE ON SAN QUENTIN’S DEATH ROW

By Glenn S. Reiner

I HAVE HAD REASONABLE DOUBT about Scott Peterson’s guilt from the very start, as — for more than one reason — this judicial equation just doesn’t balance out!

Although there are exceptions, data has steadily shown violent criminals are the product of  abusive homes, broken family’s, and the most impoverished of neighborhoods. Peterson, conversely, grew up in a loving, upper middle-class family.

An educated, articulate man, he was no imbecile. If he wanted his wife out of the way to pursue a life with Amber Frey, why didn’t he just get a divorce? That would have been a far  simpler, easier and civilized way out.

His dishonesty with his wife about his affair with Frey and with Frey about his wife was not unusual, as this is quite common among cheating spouses. So was his inability to level with police. Modesto, CA, is  a small conservative town where morality is heavily weighed, and I believe Peterson was just merely trying to protect his reputation with the Christian majority.

I have always said if I was ever falsely accused of a crime, I would ask for a bench trial, as I don’t trust the average American juror’s ability to be objective. Time and again, we have seen them so easily swayed by their own personal values and emotional appeals from prosecutors.

There is an old saying in many law schools: “If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you don’t have the facts on your side but have the law on your side, pound the law. But if you don’t have the facts or the law on your side, pound the table.”

And this is what I believe the DA successfully did with Peterson’s jury.

Again, jurors tend to allow the emotional attorney outbursts of trial lawyers, as well as the defendants’ character flaws, influence their decisions. This certainly explains why many people have been convicted of crimes they didn’t commit and several exonerated of crimes they clearly did.

But a judge is a professional jurist and is bound to only consider the facts and law. He/she is seldom impressed by the emotional antics of the attorneys. They generally read the trial transcript before rendering a decision.

When testimony or an attorney’s inappropriate questions or comments are removed from the record, they honor that. What they heard doesn’t matter, only what they read and the law.

So my question still remains this: Was Peterson truly guilty or just railroaded by a jury convinced by circumstantial evidence along with his adulterous behavior.

And it is only fair to note why the DA asked for the death penalty. Peterson was accused of multiple murder, which — in California — is considered the “special circumstances” necessary for Capital Murder.

But one alleged victim was his unborn son — the operative word being UNBORN!

Can you smell the filthy hand of the Religious Right here? Although they believe life begins at conception, the American Medical Association and our legal system disagree.

Consequently, Peterson’s attorneys will most likely have his death sentence overturned on appeal.

This is why I sincerely doubt he will spend too many more of his days on death row. Plus, the public tide on capital punishment is changing rapidly.

Other states have already either eliminated their death penalty or are the process of doing so. And with California’s current budget woes, coupled with the lack of executions that actually have taken place there, I believe capital punishment in the “Golden State” will become moot within the next two years.

 

EVEN AFTER BAILOUT, BANKS CONTINUE DECEPTION OF TAXPAYERS!

This Will Become America’s Second Declaration Of Independence!

By Glenn S. Reiner

AS A SOCIAL-DEMOCRAT, I haven’t trusted a major corporation – especially the major banks on Wall Street – in nearly 30 years. Then again, my distrust for unregulated Capitalism has been supported by the greed of Corporate America since the Reagan years.

But I never thought these sociopaths in Brooks Brothers suits would come up with the 14-karat chutzpah to again scam the American people, who these Banks’ very existence has been, at least temporarily, expanded by the taxpayer’s generosity to the tune of $700 billion.

That money was intended to aid homeowners from further foreclosure, while stimulating the economy and stopping the mass unemployment that has plagued this society for the past year.

With almost half of the bail-out money dispensed already, there is no evidence a red cent has been used for that purpose. And when asked to account for how it has been spent, the smug mortgage bank executives – in their infinite arrogance – chose not to respond honestly or even at all in one case.

“We’ve lent some of it. We’ve not lent some of it. We’ve not given any accounting of, ‘Here’s how we’re doing it,’” said Thomas Kelly, a spokesman of JP Morgan Chase, which received $25 billion in emergency bailout money. “We have not disclosed that to the public. We’re declining to.” 

The Associated Press recently contacted 21 banks that received at least $1 billion in government money and asked four questions: How much has been spent? What was it spent on? How much is being held in savings, and what’s the plan for the rest?

Yet not one of the banks provided concrete answers.

This is exactly why so many Capitol Hill legislators opposed bailing out Wall Street in the first place. The only reason they passed the $17 billion auto rescue plan was to prevent a further hemorrhage in the unemployment picture.

When was the last time we have seen any form of integrity in Corporate America? When have they last shown an iota of compassion and concern for the middle-class and poor?

It’s too bad we can’t throw the lot of them in federal prison – where they belong for at least 20 years – while confiscating their personal fortunes. However, these insatiable, money-hungry thugs’ agreement breach with the government is strictly a civil matter.

If I were Timothy Geithner — President-Elect Barack Obama’s candidate for treasury secretary — I would call on the Justice Department of the new administration in January to litigate the immediate reimbursement of every cent foolishly given to them thus far. I would also ask the court to order them to pay interest and legal fees.

In addition, I would send the other $350 billion remaining from the original $700 million back to the Chinese, who lent us the money for this fiasco. Yet, incredible as it might sound, George W. Bush’s Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is currently attempting to convince the Congress to release that money as well to these rogue bankers.

Hasn’t Paulson done enough damage, disgracing his boss, the man who depended on him for a competent fiscal assessment of the Wall Street fiasco? Like most presidents, Bush is not an economist and relies on his “expert” for advice. Instead, Paulson is leaving him with even more egg all over his face – this coming as the president is trying to make some last minute sane moves that would help his already-tarnished legacy.

Something bothered me in the first place about the treasury secretary’s original proposal to Congress for the bailout, which completely lacked legitimate oversight. Not surprisingly, as with most Republicans, he was protecting the affluent at the expense of the rest of us – the very tactic that has put this country in the worse fiscal quagmire since the Great Depression.

The genesis of this financial downturn goes all the way back to 1980 when then President Reagan virtually deregulated big business. The fact it has come to a boil the past few months was inevitable.

Jim Cramer, host of CNBC’s Mad Money and a former hedge fund manager understands Wall Street as well as anyone. In an interview today with Mike Barnacle on MSNBC’s Hardball, he virtually called the $700 billion bailout the most corrupt act yet of the Bush White House.

Speaking of which, there are exactly 29 days before this administration gets shown the door. As far as I’m concerned, they couldn’t go by fast enough!

Staying In The Center Will Work For Obama

ULTRA-FEMINIST BONNIE ERBE TENDS TO OVERSTATE REALITY

 

By Glenn S. Reiner

The following is a column by angry feminist Bonnie Erbe,  contributing editor at US News & World Report and host of PBS’s weekly news analysis program, To the Contrary with Bonnie Erbie. After reading it, you will clearly understand my response on her blog.

 

Barack Obama’s Cabinet Appointments: More Women Needed

Now that the Obama cabinet selection process is about over, the final tally is close to what I expected it to be, and disappointing to a number of the president-elect’s key constituencies. There is one cabinet-level appointment yet to be announced, out of 15 cabinet positions (filled with today’s announcements) and at least seven cabinet-level appointments. From among these 22 coveted jobs, five appointees are women. Since women are 52 percent of the U.S. population and Obama’s transition team promised a cabinet that “looked like America,” one would have to say that, in terms of gender, Obama has failed.

The stark reality is shown in living color on this New Agenda page link, which sports photos of the Obama cabinet members and makes an important visual point.

While Obama is breaking records for putting his cabinet in place more quickly than prior presidents, he broke no new ground with his female cabinet appointments. No woman had ever been selected to head the key Securities and Exchange Commission before Obama’s selection of Mary Schapiro, but she is not in the cabinet. He had ample opportunity to name female secretaries of defense, treasury, and even veterans affairs. He declined.

I’ve cited this post before, but it’s important to reinforce the fact that Obama’s breaking no new number with his female appointments.

At the start of his first term, President Bush nominated four women to his Cabinet. Bill Clinton had five women in his Cabinet at the start of his presidency, and George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan each had two, according to research conducted by New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service in partnership with The Washington Post.

Just because I’m talking quantity does not mean I’m not also concerned about quality. But read the New Agenda list of women he passed over. There were plenty of experienced, talented, professional women available to fill any of his cabinet posts.

Women should take this into account when he’s up for re-election four years from now. Women aren’t the only disappointed constituency. He’s annoyed many Southerners, as well as liberals who see his selections as too middle-of-the-road:

CHICAGO—President-elect Barack Obama spent the campaign fighting the notion that he’s an unabashed liberal. Now he can point to Exhibit A: a Cabinet that’s a middle-of-the-roaders’ dream. Consider the scorecard: The centrist Democratic Leadership Council claims ties with half the group. Movement progressives count a single one, California Rep. Hilda Solis at Labor, a union favorite. But if Obama gives with Solis, he takes away with former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, a free-trade advocate for trade representative, no union favorite. Classic Obama, some grumbled. “We just hoped the political diversity would have been stronger,” said Tim Carpenter, executive director of Progressive Democrats of America. “We see a lot of recycled Clinton folks and he gets a strong ‘D’ on the policy side. We hope he will hustle them to be more progressive.”

And then there’s this:

“Women’s groups who have been hoping for an historic breakthrough in the numbers of women and feminists in the cabinet are looking at a Cabinet now that has lower numbers of women than the Clinton Administration,” said Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal. “With only three Cabinet positions remaining, the women’s groups are pushing ahead not only for more women in the Cabinet, but for more women to be appointed to the thousands of plum jobs that are available. A number of groups have formed a Feminist Appointment Wiki Project to make sure that more strong women and feminist names are put forth.”Ellen Malcolm, the president and founder of Emily’s List, told The Washington Post that Obama “obviously started off with a bang, with Janet Napolitano, Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice . . ..we’ve been disappointed to see women suggested for some positions and not chosen.”Women’s groups are also very concerned about the economic recovery package, which so far is specifying the creation of jobs primarily in the construction industries, which under-represent women. Smeal commented that “we are also alarmed that the key components of the economic recovery package revealed to the public are emphasizing construction jobs, which notoriously under-represent women workers. Although we support a physical infrastructure stimulus package, we believe it must be accompanied with a human infrastructure component that will employ a majority of women workers. With women nearly half of the workforce, a successful stimulus package must include jobs that will employ significant numbers of women and men.”

Dear Bonnie:

The old adage, “You can’t please everybody,” seems so prevalent right now.

As you noted, the president elect promised us a centrist administration during the campaign, rebutting GOP claims he would take us radically to the left. Clearly, his cabinet picks have shown he is, indeed, a man of his word!

In choosing his team, he has angered several political factions, who — as always — ‘want what they want, when then want it.’ But doesn’t a mature political mind accept that ‘we get, what we get, when we get it.’

I have yet to see any other president-elect in my 55 years on this planet work as hard as he has during their transition periods. And does he receive gratitude for his efforts? No! Instead he has had criticism thrown his way from every direction.

I get you are a clearly-defined feminist. As a life-long Liberal, I supported the ERA, have done my best as a writer to advocate women’s rights, and have even donated money to NOW.

I believe our woman have come a long way since my birth in the ’50s. And I realize the job isn’t nearly done. I have also come to understand the collective American mindset, which historically has  been noticeably inert and has struggled with the concept of change — especially anything radical. Let’s not forget how our revered founding fathers wrote a Constitution that barely showed much respect for woman.

This is why Obama — deep, sensitive and astute politician he has proven to be — has done his best to create a diversified team, and I believe he has done a damn good job of it at that!

Granted, this clearly isn’t the all-liberal administration I have always dreamed of. Then again, it’s not the Nazi right-wing White house ‘W’ assembled either — Colin Powell and Condi rice being the only exceptions.

So to move to middle, I believe, is not only a proverbial quantum leap, but just what this country needs right now. It is also a huge step in uniting the nation for the first time since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Instead of complaining about which women you argue he passed over, why not be grateful his five female picks are still a record, even if only marginal. And let’s not forget — again with the exception of Condi Rice — the Bush woman were not only regressive, but hurt the middle-class, poor and needy badly.

For decades, my doctors have been women, as male physicians — with their emotional detachment to patients – have turned me off. I have felt a special kinship to women throughout my adulthood and have always treated them as equals. My mother was a feminist before the term was even coined, so I was brought up with an emphasis on broad-mindedness and forward thinking.

It is for this reason I perceive your stand as an overstatement at best. It would behoove you to take a deeper look within, examine your motives, and reevaluate your spin.

Respectfully Yours,

Glenn S. Reiner

(Coconut Creek, FL)

AMERICANS TO DETROIT: ‘DROP DEAD!’

IF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SAW THIS PICTURE OF AN UNEMPLOYMENT LINE DURING THE DEPRESSION, THEY MIGHT SING A DIFFERENT TUNE!

 

By Glenn S. Reiner

PERHAPS IT’S TIME to add economics to the high school curriculum, especially since only a fraction of the American people – yours truly excluded – have more than a basic understanding of American Capitalism and it’s nuances.

I personally believe the reason a significant majority of Americans are so opposed to helping the “Big 3″ lies in how some of the approved Wall Street bailout funds have already been misused by a few banking giants, which weren’t in trouble in the first place.

Instead of using the money to rehire recently layed-off employees, they purchased smaller banks with the million of dollars appropriated to them only by the grace of Uncle Sam.

I personally find this sad state of affairs completely reprehensible and beyond belief, as obviously do 55 percent of Americans — particularly the working middle-class taxpayers — who believe they were totally mislead and shafted, a totally justified conclusion.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson offered a very compelling argument that sold us all on the $700 billion bailout of the white-collar, criminally-run banking empire. With much reservation, the bailout was passed by Congress and signed by the president despite the root causes for Wall Street’s problems: egocentric executives, greed and more greed — not to mention a lack of federal oversight that’s been going since the Reagan Administration almost 30 years ago.

So now Detroit wants help, albeit on a much smaller scale. Yet again, money-hungry corporate mismanagement and the refusal to change course in order to remain competitive with foreign auto makers is at the bottom of its calamity.

I believe President Bush’s overture last week to possibly supply the “Big 3″ with $14 billion out of Wall Street’s funds was noble and the right thing to do. It could actually represent the first taxpayer dollars to Corporate American in a long time that is legitimate.

Why? Because virtually every top-flight economist believes refusal to do so would have a horrifying domino effect, dragging down the economy even further — possibly to depression proportions.

Since my expertise and experience has revolved around the world of politics and not economics, I have to trust the experts. One of them, Felix Rohatyn, was the financial genious who personally pulled New York out near bankruptcy in the late ’70s.

The economists’ contention that a failure to help Detroit now would sharply increase the already-inflated unemployment stats is valid. It was just days ago that U.S. Department of Labor figures showed a loss of an additional 150,000 jobs last month alone — a 34-year high.

This is why I stand behind the president’s thinking — something I’ve rarely done for the past eight years.

My only concern is whether the corporate-friendly White House will be willing to impose the same oversights on Detroit contained in the House bill passed last week. If so, how could I honestly oppose this plan?

_________________________

On Dec. 19,  President Bush agreed to release $17 billion to Chrysler and GM from the $700 billion Wall St. bailout funds, or TARP, virtually with the same stipulations contained in the original House Bill. Ford already said it has enough money to last through 2009 and therefore wasn’t included in this package.

Needless to say, Congressional Conservatives immediately criticized the president, as he circumvented their obstruction of the original bill in the Senate.

Many of them lost reelection bids in November and won’t be returning January to the new Congress, which will be dominated significantly this time by the Democrats.

So what are my parting words to those congressional Republicans? Adios assholes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DEJA VU: THREE NY COPS INDICTED FOR SODOMY

SOME POLICE OFFICERS ARE AS PSYCHOPATHIC AS THE CRIMINALS THEY PURSUE.

By Glenn S. Reiner

I STRONGLY BELIEVE in the old saying: “One who doesn’t learn from history is doomed to repeat it.”

This adage has been confirmed once more by three NYPD officers, who are currently being prosecuted for the alleged sodomy of  a tattoo artist they arrested in October.

The cops chased the man, who they believed was smoking pot,  into a subway station. According to the alleged victim, they handcuffed him and pulled down his pants. One of the officers, he said, sodomized him with the antenna of a hand-held radio while he screamed. Last week, a grand jury handed down an indictment on all three.

I honestly wish this alleged heinous crime was unprecedented — especially in  New York, where I was born and raised — but that is not the case.

Who can ever forget the Abner Louima atrocity in 1997, when the Haitian immigrant visited a popular nightclub in Brooklyn. Hours later, he and several others attempted to break up a fight between two women.

Several cops showed up and a confrontation between them and customers, as well as bystanders, occurred outside the club. One officer thought he was sucker-punched by Louima and arrested him.

The arresting officers beat Louima with their fists, nightsticks, and hand-held police radios while transporting him to the 70th precinct, which protected me during my childhood and whose cops I respected and adored.

Shortly after their arrival, the cops once more beat the Haitian again in a bathroom. Then one officer kicked him in the testicles, squeezed them and then sodomized him with a broomstick.

Adding insult to injury, the cop then led him through the precinct, forced to hold the broomstick – full of blood and excrement – proudly showing off how he had taught him a lesson.

Louima suffered major internal injuries to his colon and bladder that required several operations to repair.

The sociopathic rapist cop was eventually sentenced in Federal Court to 30 years without parole for violating Louima’s civil rights, obstruction of justice and making false statements to police. One of his co-conspirators received a five-year sentence for perjury. Three other NYPD officers were indicted but exonerated for their involvement in trying to cover up the assault.

Have you ever noticed how roughly 95 percent of all police brutality victims are Black? What does that tell us about these brutal cops?

I have always been a student and strong advocate of the Constitution. I believe in the presumption of innocence until guilt is proven in a court of law.

All too often, a person is convicted by the media before he/she is even arraigned or indicted. I avoid any assessments on that basis. Until the evidence is presented in front of a judge, I can’t come to an informed conclusion.

Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]–>Kings County (Brooklyn) District Attorney Charles Hynese has an extremely difficult job with a constant overabundance of cases. He is not the type to prosecute a felony unless he feels extremely confident in winning. He can’t afford to do otherwise, like the DA’s in other boroughs of the Big Apple.

Don’t misunderstand me; I believe 95 percent of the nation’s police are terrific in doing a high-pressured, extremely difficult job which requires them to put their lives on the line every day. My experiences with them have generally been very positive and uplifting.

But I detest rogue cops and strongly believe they are hired because of vague psychological screening. Do you honestly believe that a written exam and 15 minutes with a busy shrink is sufficient to get the job done properly?

I contend it’s time for the federal and state governments to mandate all police departments in the country to do an expansive check on potential officers, this way more competently weeding out candidates who possess the same psychopathy as criminals.

There is only one way to get this accomplished: We all get on the horn with the offices of both our congressmen/women and senators — TODAY! We also should contact our state legislators, who are generally much more available. It wouldn’t hurt either to spread the word to our friends, family and co-workers.

This proposal also needs to shared with the nation’s major publications and cable news outlets (with the exception of the Fox News (Nazi) Channel, which is so far to the right politically, it is off the pavement). Progressive news outlets are always willing to apply the heat to law makers. A quality journalist is always looking for the type of story that could evoke change, improving the quality of our society

This is clearly the case here!