Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Hamdan Cert Grant

Posted on November 7, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Although I rather doubt that the law professors’ letter had much to do with it, I’m pleased to learn that the Supreme Court has granted cert. in the Hamdan appeal.

Posted in Law: The Supremes | 4 Comments

Shorter Dick Cheney

Posted on November 7, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Shorter Dick Cheney: We don’t torture people but I will fight to the death for our right to do so, because without it we will not be able to, er, fight terrorism.

Posted in Torture | Comments Off on Shorter Dick Cheney

Somewhere, Saul Alinsky is Smiling

Posted on November 6, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

How Bush Visit Became the Siege Of Howard U.

Posted in Politics: US | Comments Off on Somewhere, Saul Alinsky is Smiling

Groupies Next?

Posted on November 6, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

My brother doesn’t just have fans, he has breathless excited fans who are just really really excited about their brush with greatness. See Meet the columnist, or how I (almost) fixed Dan Froomkin’s laptop yesterday.

And why not? If you haven’t read the latest White House Briefing, you really should: it has dynamite stuff about how Lawrence Wilkerson — kinda Powell’s Cheney — says that there’s a trail of memos that ties prisoner abuse right back to the Vice President’s office.

Yes, that’s the same Veep who spent today lobbying the Senate in a failed attempt to lessen its support for legislation blocking torture abusive treatment by the CIA.

Posted in Dan Froomkin | Comments Off on Groupies Next?

My Curmudgeon Moment

Posted on November 5, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

This morning NPR was telling me about some program in prisons somewhere where the inmates are trained to run marathons as way of creating self-reliance, rehabilitation, connections with non-inmates and no doubt a host of other good things I was too sleepy to take in shortly after 7am on a Saturday.

Call me a curmudgeon if you must, but my first thought was to wonder whether teaching criminals to run faster really was an optimal use of tax dollars…

Posted in Completely Different | 5 Comments

McCain Relentless

Posted on November 4, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

It took him long enough, but when he finally gets going McCain can certainly be tough:

McCain Vows to Add Detainee-Abuse Provision to All Senate Bills: The U.S. Senate added language barring inhumane treatment of enemy combatants to legislation that sets military policy, the second major defense measure the chamber has amended with this provision.

The amendment sponsored by Arizona Republican Senator John McCain passed by a voice vote. It was attached to the Senate’s fiscal 2006 defense spending bill Oct. 6 by a vote of 90-9. That bill is being negotiated with members of the U.S. House, including Republicans whose support is in question.

McCain said his intent is to prevent abuses such as those at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. He vowed today that his measure would be “on every vehicle that goes through this body” until it’s enacted into law. “It’s not going away,” he said on the Senate floor. “This issue is incredibly harmful to the United States of America and our image throughout the world.”

I still think he’d be an awful President, but this is good stuff.

Posted in Torture | 10 Comments