Author: mkt

Two Simple Questions

Is there any precedent for a Senator’s recusal from a Committee on the Judiciary Supreme Court confirmation hearing  based on conflict of interest?

Is there any precedent for a Supreme Court nominee being a longtime major campaign contributor to the President making the nomination?

The Cornyn Connection

Texas Senator John Cornyn is a member of the Committee on the Judiciary that will be deciding whether or not to recommend a Miers confirmation to the full Senate. Federal Election Commission records indicate that for the time period extending from 2001 through 2005 Cornyn was one of the top 3 beneficiaries of Miers’ former law firm’s PAC. In fact, Locke Liddell & Sapp LLP PAC was one of the top 5 committee donors to Senator Cornyn’s campaigns. The Senator also received significant additional campaign contributions directly from the firm’s employees.

It is reasonable to assume that Locke, Liddell & Sapp would derive considerable benefit from the prestige of having its former President and Managing Partner join the Supreme Court.  Members of the firm would be inclined to strongly disapprove of any Senator’s decision to vote against Miers’ confirmation. Senator Cornyn’s vote would be likely to have a direct impact on the continued flow of income from the law firm and its employees. Is there sufficient reason here for Cornyn to consider recusing himself from the vote?

Locke, Liddell & Sapp LLP PAC Contributions to Cornyn

09/24/2001 $5,000
11/05/2001 $1,000
01/09/2002 $4,000
07/21/2004 $1,000
02/08/2005 $4,000
03/10/2005 $1,000
Total         $16,000

Locke, Liddell & Sapp LLP Employee Contributions to Cornyn (Partial)*

2001    $15,000
2002    $12,000
2003    $ 4,000
2004    $ 4,000
2005    $ 2,792
Total    $37,792

*This amount is probably incomplete due to likely variations in spelling of the company name in FEC records.

Miers’ Contributions to Governor Bush

According to OpenSecrets.org, Harriet Miers contributed a total of $20,000 to then Governor Bush in 1995 and 1997. In addition, between 1994 and 1997, Miers’ law firm’s PAC contributed $56,000 to Bush. Miers became president of Locke, Purnell, Rain & Harrell in March 1996. How much influence did Miers have over the decision making that determined the disposition of contributions by her firm’s political action committee?

Miers subsequently contributed an additional $4,000 to Bush’s presidential campaigns. The large sums contributed by the Supreme Court nominee to her nominator make the process seem tainted. Have any previous Supreme Court nominees been such major contributors?

Miers Contributions to Governor Bush
09/05/1995 $10,000
09/18/1997 $10,000
Total $20,000

Locke Purnell Rain Harrell PAC Contributions to Governor Bush
02/21/1994 $10,000
09/29/1994 $10,000
09/22/1995 $10,000
10/15/1996 $ 1,000
11/14/1996 $10,000
06/30/1997 $ 5,000
08/27/1997 $10,000
Total $56,000

Cross-posted at ePluribus Media and  Daily Kos.

Last year, then Deputy Chief of Staff Harriet Miers hosted four sessions of Ask the White House — “an online interactive forum where you can submit questions to Administration officials and friends of the White House.”  Miers’ responses suggested some characteristics that one might not necessarily associate with a prospective Supreme Court justice:

• She appeared to be comfortable with allowing blocks of text borrowed from other authors to be published under her name without any acknowledgement or formal attribution.
• She did not seem to feel obligated to ensure that her writings published at the official White House Web Site were proofread to identify and correct glaring errors.
• She appeared willing to continue to recite partisan political talking points after they had been largely dismissed as inaccurate or misleading to the public.

Miers’ Ask the White House responses also include some statements that may serve as the basis for a few provocative confirmation hearing questions.

On Borrowed Time

Forum participant C, from Tyler, Texas questioned then Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Miers on a day devoted to domestic policy issues:

Will there ever be a stop to the time changing. [sic] It is hurting everyone.  It’s been proven that our kids do worse in school everytime [sic] there is a time change…

On October 14, 2004,  Harriet Miers responded:

Daylight saving time has been around for most of this century and even earlier.  Did you know that Benjamin Franklin first suggested the idea in an essay he wrote titled, “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light”? The title of Franklin’s essay captures one of the principal reasons we have daylight saving time today: it saves energy.

The Uniform Time Act passed by Congress in 1966 created daylight saving time to begin on the last Sunday of April and to end on the last Sunday of October. Any area that wanted to be exempt from Daylight Saving Time could do so by passing a local ordinance. The law was amended in 1986 to begin daylight saving time on the first Sunday in April. This was done mostly to conserve energy during the month of April. Adding the entire month of April is estimated to save nationwide about 300,000 barrels of oil each year!

Studies done by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that daylight saving time trims the entire country’s electricity usage by almost one percent each day with daylight saving time. We save energy in both the evening and the morning because we use less electricity for lighting and appliances. The same poll indicated that Americans liked Daylight Saving Time because “there is more light in the evenings/can do more in the evenings.”  [Emphasis added]

One would expect that by the fourth quarter of 2004, any prospective Supreme Court justice would be cognizant of the recent turn of the century. Unfortunately, Miers’ response does not conclusively provide evidence of her level of awareness of the transition to the new millenium as the majority of the writing in her response does not appear to be her own.

Back in the twentieth century, Bob Aldrich of the California Energy Commission wrote these familiar words in his on-line article, ” SAVING TIME, SAVING ENERGY Daylight Saving Time, Its History and Why We Use It”:

Daylight Saving Time has been around for most of this century and even earlier. Benjamin Franklin, while a minister to France, first suggested the idea in an essay titled “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light.”

…The Uniform Time Act of 1966 (15 U.S. Code Section 260a) created Daylight Saving Time to begin on the last Sunday of April and to end on the last Sunday of October. Any area that wanted to be exempt from Daylight Saving Time could do so by passing a local ordinance. The law was amended in 1986 to begin Daylight Saving Time on the first Sunday in April.

…Studies done in the 1970s by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that we trim the entire country’s electricity usage by about one percent EACH DAY with Daylight Saving Time.

[A poll done by the U.S. Department of Transportation] indicated that Americans liked Daylight Saving Time because “there is more light in the evenings / can do more in the evenings.”

All of the non-bracketed text written by Mr. Aldrich was published verbatim and without attribution at whitehouse.gov in 2004 as part of Harriet Miers’ response. archive.org confirms that the majority of Aldrich’s text was published on-line in 1998 and that some minor revisions were completed in 2001.  The following copyright statement is listed at the bottom of the article:

Any reprinting of this document is prohibited without prior approval. © 1995-2005 Bob Aldrich

Did Miers or her staff obtain permission to publish excerpts from Mr. Aldrich’s article without attribution?

Borrowing from the Department of Justice

In her responses, Harriet Miers also appeared to borrow entire passages from federal Web sites without attribution.

In one example, Jeannie, from Tampa, Florida asked:

Is it true that the right for African Americans to vote will expire in 2007, when the Voters Rights Act expires? From what I’ve been told is that Former President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Act in 1965 and it was amended by Former President Ronald Reagan in 1982 for another 25 years. Please advise.

Harriet Miers responded:

Thanks for the question, Jeannie. The Department of Justice has received numerous inquiries concerning a rumor that has been intermittently circulating around the nation that the Voting Rights Act will expire in 2007. The rumor is false. The voting rights of African Americans are guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Voting Rights Act, and those guarantees are permanent and do not expire. The 15th amendment to the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibit racial discrimination in voting. Under the 15th amendment and the Voting Rights Act, no one may be denied the right to vote because of his or her race or color. These prohibitions against racial discrimination in voting are permanent; they do not expire… [Emphasis added]

The italicized text in Miers’ response appears to have been copied directly from the U.S. Department of Justice Web site.

 Does the federal government have a rule that authorizes its employees to freely use each other’s writing without any form of acknowledgement? Is not providing attribution to excerpts taken from such published works a commonly accepted practice?

An Answer in Search of a Proofreader

Joshua, from Albany, GA wrote:

how is Pres. Bush’s plan for healthcare going to provide better healthcare policies, and extend coverage? In Britain they have national coverage. Why wouldn’t that work here?

Harriet Miers responded:

Thanks for the question, Joshua. The American medical system is the envy of the world because it provides the best care and provides patients with the most choices. The President firmly believes that medical decisions should be made by patients and their physician, not by government bureaucrats. President Bush has proposed a comprehensive and affordable plan to make health care more affordable and more accessible for all Americans. See my answer to the question from Justin from Oklahoma City for more details or Thanks for the question, Joshua. The American medical system is the envy of the world because it provides the best care and provides patients with the most choices. The President firmly believes that medical decisions should be made by patients and their physician, not by government bureaucrats. President Bush has proposed a comprehensive and affordable plan to make health care more affordable and more accessible for all Americans. See my answer to the question from Justin from Oklahoma City for more details or http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/healthcare/. Have a great day!

Miers seems to have avoided fully answering Joshua’s question twice. One would expect that Miers would have an assistant available to proofread her published writings to catch such obvious errors.

Beating a Dead Horse

Not surprisingly, hosting Ask the White House often involved regurgitating administration talking points.  In one such instance, fully embracing a discredited party line that had misled many Americans, Miers strongly disagreed with a questioner who suggested that the government should cease linking Iraq and 9/11 as there was no evidence that Iraq was involved in the attacks on America:

Caleb, from California wrote:

Dear Harriet,With the 911 Commission report stating there was no linkable evidence between Sept. 11th and Iraq, why are the two often grouped together? Shouldn’t they be considered two separate fights?
Thanks.

Harriet Miers responded:

Hello, Caleb. I believe you must be referring to some language in the Report that can be misread. Like the Administration, the Commission did not find evidence that, before 9/11, these long-established ties between Iraq and al Qaeda had evolved into a “collaborative operational relationship” for “carrying out attacks against the United States.” (chapter 2, § 2.5, page 66) However, the Commission’s report catalogs some of the extensive contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda… [Cites alleged contacts] So, no, I don’t think they should be considered separately. They are both part of the War on Terror.

‘Hustling’ on 9/11

Responding to an open ended question on 9/11, Miers’ recollection of the events of the day focused on receiving a tidbit of praise from the President upon ensuring successful completion of what appears to have been a clerical task.

Karrin, from OHIO asked:

Where were you on September 11th and what did you do?

Harriet Miers responded

Karrin, I was traveling with the President on September 11, 2001. So I started out in Florida. I was the President’s Staff Secretary at that point in time, so I continued to do those duties. I was responsible for making sure the remarks he prepared to give to the Nation from Louisiana were properly prepared for him. It took some time, and the President saw me hurrying to give them to him. He said, “Good hustle!” He made me feel good that I was contributing. Typical. That was a remarkable day I will never forget. I will never forget how strong the President’s response was to something so dreadful and so unexpected. [Emphasis added]

“He made me feel good that I was contributing” is not a statement one might ordinarily expect from the former managing partner of major law form and past President of the Texas State Bar.

A Few Questions for Ms. Miers

Ms. Miers Ask the White House responses may offer a few possibilities for potential confirmation hearing questions. A Senator might wish to ask to the nominee to elaborate on her published statement on stem cell research:

Scientists tell us it is too early to tell what can be accomplished through embryonic stem cell research. And, taking one life to save another presents moral and ethical issues, and these important issues must be balanced with the potential scientific benefits that may be derived from stem cell research.

Or, Miers might be asked to comment on her willingness to embrace this rather hyperbolic definition of the war on terror:

John, from Scheldt offered:

GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GEORGE w. BUSH – Could you please emphasize the point that we are in a struggle for civilization and the survival of the free world against anarchism and barbarism? – this is not just about Iraq or even the Middle East – it’s about the fight to preserve our way of life against extremists who would return us to the Dark Ages. Would it be too much to ask to promote this point at every opportunity – does the White House feel the same??John

 Harriet Miers expressed her strong concurrence:

John, thank you for writing and for expressing yourself so wonderfully. I certainly agree with you. As I said before, we will persevere and we will not relent!

Harriet Miers Hosts ‘Ask the White House’

August 11, 2004
September 10, 2004
October 14, 2004
October 29. 2004

Cross-posted at ePluribus Media and Daily Kos

Warning: This diary includes profanity-laden quotations from an adult Web site and descriptions of adult content.

To avoid paying a $10 donation to ogle nude women at an adult Web site, it appears that American soldiers have agreed to trade photos from their personal collections of images of horribly mutilated Iraqi corpses. Yes, for a lousy ten bucks, it seems that some of our men in uniform are allegedly selling the last remaining shreds of dignity of their fellow human beings.

The Associated Press summarized the findings of the Army’s preliminary investigation into the matter:

After an initial look at complaints about U.S. soldiers posting photos of Iraq war dead on an Internet site, Army investigators concluded they had too little evidence to pursue criminal charges.

So much for that quaint Geneva Convention! Can you imagine Americans shrugging and looking the other way while pictures of the mutilated bodies of their sons and daughters were displayed on a foreign pornographic Web site?

A close, albeit sickening, look at the subject Web site immediately revealed a few important points. It seems relatively easy to track down the individuals that posted the images. Some users appear to not only have made no attempt to cover their tracks, but have provided a clearly marked trail. In addition to the disturbing photos of gore, the adult site also features many photos of our men in uniform comporting themselves in ways that seem extremely unbecoming of the uniform.

Until I took a few moments to look at the site, I did not fully grasp the absolute monstrosity of juxtaposing pornography with sensationalistic, grisly images of the remains of someone’s father/brother/son. The Army needs to be prevented from sweeping this one under the rug. Allowing the culture — widespread or isolated — that produced this disgraceful display to continue will only serve to bring more shame and dishonor on our country.

The Specifics of the Deal: Trading Images of Death for Images of Sex

The webmaster of www.nowthatsfuckedup.com summarizes the special offer made available to military patrons:

If you are a U.S. Soldier stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, or any other combat area and would like free SUPPORTER access for the site, you can post real pictures you or your buddies have taken while you have been deployed.

This section is for the gory ones so that people who do not wish to see that kind of stuff can just not go in here. I also do not want already published pictures that were taken by news people. This is supposed to be an area where we can see pictures posted by the solders themselves.

Just post your pics like you normally would and when I see them I will approve you for free access to the wife and g/f area. There have only been a few people cheat from this but I do now know what kind of pics to expect from the guys over there. So please do not waste my time if you are not a military person by just posting iraq pics you found on CNN or something.

Keep up the good work over there guys, we love seeing your pics.

Uploading pictures of the dead grants a serviceman a full 90 days of access to the Amateur Wife and Girlfriend Forum where members are encouraged to post photos of their naked wife or girlfriend.

The uploaded images of the Iraqi corpses and body parts are displayed on a page built with the adult site’s standard template. Chillingly, in lieu of a caption, textual advertisements for porn web sites are displayed beneath each image of death.  Here are just a few examples of the words used to honor the Iraqi dead:

See My Wifes Huge Tits
A little peek at one of my naughty little wife when she got horny and the camera was handy.

TEENS FUCKED IN THEIR SLEEP(!)
SWEET DREAMS BITCHES! HOT TEEN GIRLS GETTING FUCKED WHILE THEY SLEEP- VERY PRETTY GIRLS RAMMED HARD!

My Girl FUCKS 4 GUYS
My girlfriend fucks 4 of my buddies at the same time! Watch her take cock like a champ

Crack Whore Confessions
Real Prostitutes get naked and tell their Fucked Up Stories!

Enormously Giant Black Cocks
Fucking and Ruining tight white pussys

To make the presentation even more disrespectful, each member comment includes a ranking that accompanies the user name. Here is a depiction of the default ranking:

Yes, each page of horrifying images of corpses is accompanied by comments where each begins, “I’m Just Here to Masturbate.”

The Images of User I_AM_LONG

I arbitrarily selected a single user to investigate how soldiers were using the Web site. As of late Thursday evening, 23,935 users have viewed the extremely gruesome photos I_AM_LONG submitted less than a week ago on Saturday, September 24. (View only with great caution! These are extremely disturbing images of mutilated corpses.) Similarly graphic photos posted by some other users have been viewed more than 100,000 times.

In another section of the site, I_AM_LONG has also posted general photos that include images of what appear to be he and his friends cavorting.  He opens his post with the comment:

Hey, I just got in from Iraq, and my friend showed me this site, it’s awsome! [sic] I really want access, so i’m going to post my pictures from Iraq here, I’m also going to put some in the gory section. This site is awsome, [sic] I love that it is allowing us a place to post our stuff from overseas so everyone can see it!

The majority of solo portraits in the series are of a same individual who I assume is probably I_AM_LONG. In one head and shoulders portrait, the non-Caucasian subject appears in uniform wearing a homemade hat emblazoned with a Nazi swastika and the slogan “White Power”. It is difficult to imagine the circumstances that resulted in this photograph and why any soldier would elect to post it on the internet.

In another image, three uniformed soldiers pose with their pants and underwear at their ankles and their genitals discretely covered by their armor or helmets.

An image entitled WhatPortaJohn.jpg depicts one soldier who appears to be directing a stream of urine towards a sleeping soldier while a third soldier looks on. The urinating soldier’s surname is prominently emblazoned on a rear pants pocket.

An image labeled FullMoonTonight.jpg depicts a soldier dropping his trousers and pointing his posterior in the direction of a sleeping soldier’s face.

These images are reminiscent of cliché drunken fraternity pranks. In that respect, I guess the images shouldn’t be that surprising. After all, these young men appear to be of college age. However, the setting is missing the alcohol. And any sense of judgement is glaringly absent. Why take easily identifiable photographs of you and your buddies in uniform engaging in such activities and post them on an internet porn site? Do you suppose any of these soldiers had the privilege of receiving any cultural training in the rigorous modesty standards of the country in which they are serving?

Identifying I_AM_LONG

In case the Army is unable to identify I_AM_LONG from the many photos of the subject and his buddies in the various locations they were stationed, there is another major clue.  One of the comments referencing a second thread states:

this is the post I put up for I_AM_LONG while he was still overseas

This user who posted the comment very conveniently includes a link to his personal web site that leads to a street address and telephone number.

Beastiality, Blow-up Dolls and Breasts

Unlike the photos of death, the majority of general photos from soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are fairly mundane. However, a quick scan of a few contributed posts reveals a number of images that Karen Hughes, our newly anointed Middle East PR guru, would have quite a challenge defending.

User muteelfdisorder posted a self-portrait that features full frontal nudity and depicts a simulated act of bestiality with a seemingly disinterested, tethered donkey. The introduction to this remarkable photo series states:

This is a donkey my unit bought from a local guy near Kandahar, Afghanistan. If I don’t deserve access for these I don’t know who does!

elbambino remains fully clothed in his uniform as he poses with a blow-up sex doll.

And, I don’t believe this is the image that the Army wants to convey of its female soldiers.

The Military Needs to Take Action

I greatly respect the courage and dedication of the men and women serving in our military. However, I am appalled by the apparent lack of leadership that has contributed to the disgraceful spectacle on display at  the rather aptly named www.nowthatsfuckedup.com.

Military leaders need to ensure that all soldiers understand the immorality (and illegality) of taking trophy photos of the dead and posting them on the internet. There should be a policy of zero tolerance policy for such behavior.

The leadership should also make it clear that publicly posting photos of oneself or fellow soldiers engaged in activities that would be commonly perceived as lewd or immoral by the residents of the country where they are stationed is not only inappropriate but potentially extremely damaging to the mission.

Technical Note: Clicking on hyperlinks to jpg images at the subject Web site may result in the display of a 403-Forbidden error message. If you encounter this error, you may still view the image. In Internet Explorer, right click on the hyperlink and select Properties. Copy the URL for the image to the address window of your browser.

Cross posted at ePluribus Media and Daily Kos.