Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

At Last! EMILY’S LIST Endorses Taddeo

Posted on August 7, 2008 by Michael Froomkin

Well, it's about time! EMILY'S LIST has gotten off the the fence and endorsed Annette Taddeo for Congress in FL-18.

Yes, I can see why in the abstract it might be hard for a feminist group to come out against a senior woman in the House. But in this case, given just how bad Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's record is on women's issues, it should have been easy.

Here's the key part of the EMILY'S LIST's announcement:

Annette Taddeo, Florida’s 18th Congressional District
A small business owner and a community leader, Annette Taddeo is running for Congress because she believes South Florida needs a new beginning. As founder and CEO of LanguageSpeak, Taddeo has a 15 year track record as a successful businesswoman and was named Businesswoman of the Year by the South Florida Business Journal and one of the top 50 Latina entrepreneurs in the country by Hispanic Magazine. Taddeo is also a strong advocate for women as the chair of the Women’s Enterprise National Council’s Leadership Forum and a National Founding Partner and member of the executive board of WIPP —Women Impacting Public Policy. Taddeo’s priorities reflect the values of the 18th district. She has already raised more than every recent Democratic challenger in this seat combined and the district is seeing historic increases in Democratic voter registration. Annette Taddeo’s leadership, experience, and dedication to her community will make her a valuable voice for the working families she will represent in Congress.

This is a very big deal for the Taddeo campaign — and it means that Debbie Wasserman Schultz is now virtually isolated in her failure to get on the Taddeo bandwagon. Wasserman Schultz Must Support Taddeo. Come on Debbie — time is running out. We're waiting.

Posted in Politics: FL-18 | 2 Comments

Torture Wasn’t About Getting the Truth

Posted on August 7, 2008 by Michael Froomkin

I believe it was Mark Twain who said, “Do good and you'll be lonesome.”

Whoever said, the case Air Force Reserve Colonel Steve Kleinman proves its truth. Col. Kleinman is one of the heroes of Jane Mayer's book, “The Dark Side.”

Kleinman was sent to Iraq in the fall of 2003 to offer advice on interrogation, and was horrified to find that military-CIA task forces were abusing prisoners in ways that had been reverse engineered from a torture-resistance training program.

He tried to stop it. As Mayer wrote: “For bucking these direct orders from the top rungs of the Pentagon to inflict illegal levels of cruelty on the prisoners, Kleinman soon found himself 'the least popular officer in the whole country. I got into serious arguments with many people. They wanted to do these things. They were itching to. It was about revenge, not interrogation. And they thought I was coddling terrorists.'”

In a new article at NiemanWatchdog.org, Kleinman asks why the president's legal advisers were so intent on rationalizing the violation of longstanding law in order to adopt an approach –- coercion — that experienced interrogation practitioners agree is not just ineffective, but counterproductive.

Whatever was going on, it doesn't seem to have been about actually getting the truth out of people.

Setting aside the moral arguments against torture, the considerable time and energy spent in establishing a legal justification for harsher methods, such as the so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques,” would have seemed a more reasonable course of action if substantial evidence existed that these methods were objectively of superior operational effectiveness than more traditional approaches and/or had proven necessary in the context of a new dimension of conflict.

The CIA, the agency exclusively authorized to operate under this separate set of standards, did not — and could not — offer objective arguments that would justify such a conclusion.

Of course, this is the administration that doesn't ever let facts get in its way…

Posted in Torture | Comments Off on Torture Wasn’t About Getting the Truth

Is Obama Too Young to Be President?

Posted on August 7, 2008 by Michael Froomkin

Steven Calebresi has a pretty persuasive argument that if you interpret the Constitution dynamically, Obama is Too young for the No. 1 job.

Good thing Calabresi doesn't have standing to raise it in court!

Continue reading →

Posted in Law: Reading the Constitution | 7 Comments

His Lips Are Moving

Posted on August 6, 2008 by Michael Froomkin

Pumped: It looks real, but it's true, so that's the giveaway that this “McCain Ad” must be a fake:

Posted in Politics: McCain | Comments Off on His Lips Are Moving

I Was Part of the Sample for this Poll

Posted on August 6, 2008 by Michael Froomkin

The Public Policy Polling (PPP) has released the results of the robopoll that I blogged about taking the other day (see Wasserman Schultz Must Support Taddeo).

Here's how TheBuzz summarizes the results,

“The Democrats crossing over to support McCain are disproportionately older white females, an indication that Hillary Clinton's base may not be completely behind Obama in the Sunshine State.

“Obama has slipped with Hispanic voters in the last month, leading among them just 48-45 after holding a 51-37 advantage in PPP's previous Florida poll. The numbers show an unusual gender gap, with McCain leading by 11 points among women while trailing by 5 points with men. Last month's results similarly showed Obama doing eight points better with men than women, a trend PPP has not seen in any of its other state by state polling. Obama has a large lead among young voters, McCain has a big one with senior citizens, and the candidates are virtually tied with those in between.”

Also some weird U.S. Senate match-ups against Mel Martinez (Bob Graham beating Martinez by 20 pionts and Debbie Wasserman Schultz basically tied).

Posted in Politics: US: 2008 Elections | 1 Comment

Latest Obama Ad: “The Original Maverick?”

Posted on August 6, 2008 by Michael Froomkin

Obama's New Ad “Original”

Is this the best they can do? It's not going to stand out much in the clutter of TV ads.

Amazingly ho-hum presentation given how damning the facts are.

Posted in Politics: US: 2008 Elections | Comments Off on Latest Obama Ad: “The Original Maverick?”