Ok, I am convinced.  Jefferson is friggin crook trying to hide behind privilage.  A lying cheating bribe taking crook.

Besides the cash in his freezer from the bribe he took, he tried to hide evidence from the FBI when they searched his house last August.  How much more blatant can you be?

Congressman Tried to Hide Papers, Justice Dept. Says

The Justice Department yesterday vigorously defended the recent weekend raid of Rep. William J. Jefferson's Capitol Hill office as part of a bribery investigation, asserting that the Democratic lawmaker attempted to hide documents from FBI agents while they were searching his New Orleans home last August.

The government questioned in a 34-page motion filed in U.S. District Court here whether it could have obtained all the materials it had sought in a subpoena if it had not launched the surprise raid on Jefferson's congressional office May 20. According to the government filing, an FBI agent caught Jefferson slipping documents into a blue bag in the living room of his New Orleans home during a search.

"It is my belief that when Congressman Jefferson placed documents into the blue bag, he was attempting to conceal documents that were relevant to the investigation," FBI agent Stacey E. Kent of New Orleans stated in an affidavit that was part of the government's court submission. The document was filed in response to Jefferson's lawsuit demanding that the government return to him documents seized during the raid on his Capitol Hill office 11 days ago.

Last Aug. 3, FBI agents searched Jefferson's New Orleans home while the congressman and family members were present. Kent said she was assigned to watch Jefferson and his family during the search, according to her affidavit accompanying the government motion yesterday.

She said she observed him looking at several pieces of paper on a table. At one point, she said, he asked to see a copy of the subpoena.

"After a copy had been brought to him and he reviewed it, I observed Congressman Jefferson then take the subpoena and the documents he had been reading earlier and place them together under his elbow on the kitchen table."

Albet Einstein once said that Insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

By his definition these people may have embraced that philosophy.

War protesters in Olympia blasted with pepper spray, 22 arrested

Dozens of people protesting Iraq-bound military shipments were blasted with pepper spray and 22 people were arrested in continuing war protests at the Port of Olympia.

Two people were arrested for failure to disperse and the rest for criminal trespass Tuesday night after protesters tore off a gate, entered port property, lay down and refused to leave, Thurston County sheriff's Capt. Bradley Watkins said.

For the second straight night pepper spray was blasted at the demonstrators repeatedly, on one occasion after some protesters hurled bottles and rocks at 60 to 70 law enforcement officers from the Washington State Patrol, sheriff's office and Olympia and Tumwater police, said Watkins, the incident commander.

No one was seriously injured, and after the arrests the number of protesters dwindled from several hundred to about 100, he said. About three dozen held a late-night vigil, some stayed overnight and more demonstrators arrived Wednesday morning.

Most of the arrests were made shortly after the protest started about 5 p.m. when demonstrators tore down the chain-link gate at the main port entry and confronted a line of law enforcement personnel in riot gear and helmets with face shields.

As the protesters lay on the ground and linked arms, they were dragged away one by one and handcuffed as supporters yelled, "Let them go, let them go."

During the uproar, City Council member TJ Johnson got upset with officers who had used a baton to prod a bakery owner who had been watching as a bystander, The Olympian reported.

Johnson, who stood face-to-face with the troopers in defiance until pepper spray was fired, told the newspaper afterward there was plenty of blame to go around for what happened but added that he understood protesters were frustrated.

"They're thinking of everything they can to stop this war, and it still continues, even through our downtown," he said.

Free assembly is a simple concept really.  Anyone can gather to protest and exercise their free speech rights.  I support it, I love it...when it is peaceful.

Get violent however?  Meet Mr Pepper Spray.

Here in Washington, Seattle may be the home turf to the local Liberals, but not too far to the south, Olympia reveals its own hotbed of liberal activism.

Anti-War Protesters Pepper Sprayed at Port of Olympia

Police fired pepper spray as about 150 anti-war protesters tried to enter the Port of Olympia as part of ongoing demonstrations against the shipment of Army equipment to Iraq.

Protesters chanted "Out of Olympia, Out of Iraq" as they rocked a chain-link gate to the port late Monday, and at least three tried to use wooden boards to pry the gate open, The Olympian newspaper reported. A 50-ton piece of equipment was moved to reinforce the gate on the other side.

Idiots.  First warning sign: a fence.  Second sign: police.

Breach fence, meet police.  Meet police, meet Me Pepper Spray.  Duh.

Police and sheriff's deputies clad in riot gear fired at least four rounds of pepper spray in an hour after asking the demonstrators several times to stop, authorities said. No one was arrested, but paramedics were dispatched to treat some activists.

Dozens of demonstrators crouched in the port plaza, dousing each other's eyes with water and offering slices of onion to soothe their throats. 

"It burned. I couldn't open my eyes for 20 minutes," said Rachel Graham, among those hit. "My face is burning. I dunked my face in water and in Puget Sound." 

Eww...god that water is hardly the cleanest...

Activists began watching for a military ship more than a week ago after learning that Stryker vehicles and other Army gear from the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, a 4,000-soldier unit stationed at Fort Lewis, was being shipped to Iraq through the port.

Sixteen people were arrested in three days last week, mostly for pedestrian interference. The vessel arrived in Budd Inlet at the south end of Puget Sound about 7:30 p.m. Monday, accompanied by Coast Guard vessels with large guns to secure the waterway.

The SCOTUS, in a divided ruling laid down limitations to the claims of whistleblowers in a decision that affects millions of government employees.

Justices Set Limits on Public Employees' Speech Rights

The Supreme Court declared today, in a ruling affecting millions of government employees, that the Constitution does not always protect their free-speech rights for what they say on the job.

In a 5-to-4 decision, the court held that public employees' free-speech rights are protected when they speak out as citizens on matters of public concern, but not when they speak out in the course of their official duties.

"We hold that when public employees make statements pursuant to their official duties, the employees are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes, and the Constitution does not insulate their communications from employer discipline," Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the court.

In writing the decision that reversed the Ninth Circuit today, Justice Kennedy noted that the Supreme Court has made it clear in previous rulings "that public employees do not surrender all their First Amendment rights by reason of their employment." On the other hand, he wrote, "When a citizen enters government service, the citizen by necessity must accept certain limitations on his or her freedom."

That last paragraph speaks to a core principle that will may have far reaching effects, because I am wondering if this might have a bearing on anonymous leaks to the press, such as Mary McCathy, formerly of the CIA.

Granted if the allegations are true, she is already guilty of violation of her confidentiality agreements.  What makes me ponder this is that some of her defenders are trying to defend her under the blanket of free speech protection.  At American Daily they recount this:

On the Fox News Sunday morning program, Left-leaning pundit Juan Williams looked like he was having an acid flashback as he insisted that Mary McCarthy’s release of classified information to reporter Dana Priest was all about McCarthy’s First Amendment rights to free speech and her efforts to get out the “truth” to the press.

The culture of corruption takes another blow, and once again it is a Democrat, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid.  He of course denies all wrong doing, but the timing here was no better or worse then most of the other recent ethics scandals.  Harry Reid still has to answer questions about Casino money from Abramoff's clients.

The tickets themselves are only an ethics issue because Reid was worjing on Federal oversight legislation of the boxing industry.

He and fellow Democrats love to point fingers, but their continued accusations about corrupt Republicans get more hollow each time they do.

Senate Leader Took Free Boxing Tickets

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid accepted free ringside tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission to three professional boxing matches while that state agency was trying to influence him on federal regulation of boxing.

Reid, D-Nev., took the free seats for Las Vegas fights between 2003 and 2005 as he was pressing legislation to increase government oversight of the sport, including the creation of a federal boxing commission that Nevada's agency feared might usurp its authority.

He defended the gifts, saying they would never influence his position on the bill and was simply trying to learn how his legislation might affect an important home state industry. "Anyone from Nevada would say I'm glad he is there taking care of the state's No. 1 businesses," he told The Associated Press.

"I love the fights anyways, so it wasn't like being punished," added the senator, a former boxer and boxing judge.

Senate ethics rules generally allow lawmakers to accept gifts from federal, state or local governments, but specifically warn against taking such gifts - particularly on multiple occasions - when they might be connected to efforts to influence official actions.

It is a sound policy, called being above reproach, he should try it.  This is another element of congressional arrogance.

"Senators and Senate staff should be wary of accepting any gift where it appears that the gift is motivated by a desire to reward, influence, or elicit favorable official action," the Senate ethics manual states. It cites the 1990s example of an Oregon lawmaker who took gifts for personal use from a South Carolina state university and its president while that school was trying to influence his official actions.

OK to be fair, no one knows if this was intentional or not, but as the article below notes, there are enough obscure holidays that Google will give celebrity to via creative logo mods, that them doing nothing on Memorial Day does seem odd at best.

If it was some anti military or anti war demonstration, well that is their right.  But it is fairly childish.  WND certainly makes the case that this is deliberate, but that is unclear.

If it was an accidental oversight, one might ask why so much attention is given to so many other days, many of which are not even recognized here, and so little attention given to our Federal Holidays.

Either way, it is a slap in the face of Vets.  My Father in law who passed away a few years ago was a World War II vet.  He deserves better.

Google forgets Memorial Day? 

Search engine's catchy holiday logos have honored Earth Day, Persian New Year – but not war dead

Google's habit of celebrating holidays like New Year's, Halloween, Christmas and Thanksgiving by altering its logo to match the season's theme has been extended in the past to honor the birthdays of famous inventors, scientists, artists and musicians, as well as Earth Day and the Persian New Year, but on the day Americans honor those who died serving their country, it's business as usual at the Internet-search giant.

Memorial Day visitors to the website found Google's standard logo – but no mention of Memorial Day. This was true as well at the company's news-search site.

Since 1999, Google has redesigned its logo for major holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, as well as minor ones like Ground Hog Day and St. Patrick's Day. It's even honored artists like Picasso, Monet, and Andy Warhol as well as Earth Day and the Burning Man festival.

"If you go back through the Google archives, you'll find that, although it has over the years commemorated Shichi-go-san being celebrated in Japan, Bastille Day in France, and Korean Liberation Day, it appears that Google has never dressed up its logo for Memorial Day," wrote Newsbusters blogger Noel Sheppard.

The debate over allowing or banning funeral protests is essentially one that seeks to balance respect with free speech. 

The free speech advocates, Such as the disgusting Rev Fred Phelps, say free means anywhere any time.

The other camp suggests that sometimes respect for the fallen and their grieving loved ones outweighs that.

Common sense suggests that there is a reasonable expectation of dignity and respect at a funeral that most normal people would honor. and even in areas of free speech there is a time and a place for everything.  

In this case, Common sense teamed up with respect and they, with the help of Congress and the President seem to have won the day...for now:

Bush Signs Funeral Protest Ban

President Bush has signed into law a bill that prevents demonstrators from disrupting military funerals. The measure is aimed squarely at the Reverend Fred Phelps, an ultra-conservative clergyman from Kansas who has been picketing the funerals of Iraqi war dead, claiming that God hates the U.S. for its tolerance of homosexuality. Phelps has also made news for protesting the funerals of AIDS victims. He also demonstrated at the funeral of slain gay man Matthew Shepherd, claiming that Shepherd deserved what he got and displaying signs reading "God hates fags."

The new law bars protests within 300 feet of the entrance of a national cemetery and within 150 feet of a road into the cemetery. This restriction applies an hour before until an hour after a funeral. Those violating the act would face up to a $100,000 fine and up to a year in prison.

Phelps and his followers showed up today to protest Memorial Day observances at Arlington National Cemetery. They were met by placard-carrying demonstrators who were showing their support for American troops.

Shortly after the new legislation passed the House, Phelps charged that Congress was "blatantly violating" his First Amendment rights. He said that if became law, he would continue to demonstrate but would abide by the law's restrictions.

I am sure a legal protest will ensue, and it will not shock me to see this law overturned.  Nothing really surprises me anymore.

I am reposting this from last year, not just because I am too lazy to write a fitting tribute this year, but because in reading it, it struck me how much like last year this year has been.

So, I am reposting it because a lot of what was said and was happening here is still relevant this year.

Sometimes things don't change all that much...sadly.

Originally posted May 30, 2005

We went to visit Nancy’s parents as they lay in rest at Mt Tahoma National Cemetery yesterday. Being Memorial Day Weekend, the place was of course decked out with flags and such.

Now I am not a big fan of cemeteries, but I admit the peaceful settings in this one are fairly awesome. It is set in a very natural environment, each section of plots separated by trees, and it is far enough from the city to be fairly quiet and serene.

Being a National Cemetery, the stones have that Arlington like similarity.  The flags on each stone are placed there by a local Middle School. Each year they volunteer to come out, wash the stones off, and place a flag next to each one, as their way of thanking all the Veterans laying in rest here. I think it shows that an old fashioned type of respect still does exist in many places.

It seems that every day we read about some school changing things, removing flags, or portraits of presidents. The idea seems to permeate us that schools devalue military service and patriotism.

A Seattle High School PTSA recently voted to bar military recruiters from campus. Since the vote has no force other then advisory, in effect it had no weight and the district policy to allow recruiters on campus still is in effect, but the fact remains that this PTSA, one member most vocally, has seen fit to decide that military service is not acceptable for their children.

NOTE:  That same group of people including Ms Hagopian (below) is still attempting to bar recruiters from High Schools, this time via the ballot box with Seattle’s initiative I-86.  Read more here- LSU

Let me start by saying  that I really do like and admire Tony.  When a lot of the right wingers were on the partisan band wagon he was not afraid to be critical.  He is right wing conservative, no doubt.  No one can accuse him of being a moderate or neutral.

But he was not afraid to be a little out of step with the administration, something somewhat rare in some conservative circles..or liberal for that matter.  Writers at HuffPo don't devote a huge amount of time taking their liberal leaders to task either.

Now that he is Press Secretary, he is the voice of the administration.  In the matter of immigration, he has long since voiced on radio his unhappiness about the lack of immigration policy,  From my memory only, he is much in line with the President on this.  Secure the borders, register the aliens (amnesty essentially), make a guest worker program and shut down illegal employers.  His columns on Townhall seem to support this.

Most of these are not terribly hard to debate.  Most people see the need for a new type of guest worker program, everyone (except Mexico) wants to secure the border, and most people agree businesses that hire illegals need to be dealt with.

The amnesty issue is where the divide hits.  The program settled on by the Senate allows illegals to register, essentially turning themselves in, pay a fine and taxes and then they go to the back of the line for naturalization.  Along the way they have to learn English.  This is what the administration and the Senate are trying to sell.  And the people are buying it, as the last poll I saw showed overwhelming favor of it, or something similar.  The House does not, nor do many Republicans particularly in the blogosphere.

Me?  I am pragmatic.  There is no reasonable way to deport 11 or 12 million people.  Yes, we can try to stop the job market for illegals with a national ID and stiff penalties.  That according to many supporters will make them go home.  I disagree.  It may just make them homeless here instead of working here.  And there will always be a place for them to go, sadly.  Employers will always cater to them because it helps their bottom line.  And I have doubts about the proposed tamper proof IDs that are supposed to fix this.

The MSM loves to look down on bloggers as just a bunch of hacks, but apparently the Court's see them as filling the same role as the traditoinal pres.

Apple loses court bid to identify source

A state appeals court on Friday rejected Apple Computer Inc.'s bid to identify the sources of leaked product information that appeared on Web sites, ruling that online reporters and bloggers are entitled to the same protections as traditional journalists.

"In no relevant respect do they appear to differ from a reporter or editor for a traditional business-oriented periodical who solicits or otherwise comes into possession of confidential internal information about a company," Justice Conrad Rushing of the 6th District Court of Appeal wrote in a unanimous 69-page ruling.

"We decline the implicit invitation to embroil ourselves in questions of what constitutes 'legitimate journalism," he wrote. "The shield law is intended to protect the gathering and dissemination of news, and that is what petitioners did here."

The online journalists are thus entitled to the protections provided under California's shield law as well as the privacy protections for e-mails allowed under federal law, the court ruled.

Two years ago, Apple went to court seeking to identify the culprits behind the leak of confidential information about an unreleased product code-named as "Asteroid" to online media outlets.

Apple contended it was entitled to identify the sources — presumed in this case to be company employees — because the leak constituted a violation of trade secrets. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company subpoenaed the Internet service providers of three online journalists to turn over e-mail records aiming to uncover the possible sources.

A lower court last year ruled in Apple's favor, but the Electronic Frontier Foundation, whose attorneys represent the online journalists of AppleInsider.com, PowerPage.org and MacNN.com appealed.

The appeals court based in San Jose sided with the civil liberties organization, overturning the lower court's decision. The three-member appellate panel agreed not only with the group's constitutional arguments but also the contention that Apple failed to exhaust other investigative options to root out the source before going to court and issuing subpoenas.