To Filibuster, Or Not To Filibuster... Crap, Suddenly I'm Not Sure !!!

[WillyT]

Admittedly, I do not know the health of the nomination of William J. Haynes II, General Counsel for the Department of Defense, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Didn't get to see the hearings, don't have any sense of what the head count will be, and if any\enough rePukes will vote against this jerk.

But I'm listening to Randi's reading of this letter from 20 retired military leaders of the U.S. Armed Forces sent to Arlan Specter and Patrick Leahy about their concerns over Haynes (something that has NEVER OCCURED BEFORE), and thinkin... If it looks like the Pubs have enough votes to win on the Senate floor, than THIS is the time to pull the trigger and filibuster this son-of-a-bitch and make the Senate rePukes use the nuclear option. Let 'em defend this espouser of torture and kidnapping. Make them wreck the god-damned Senate over it. There's only a few months until the election and this might be the very thing (Done Deftly) that could give us the friggin Senate. Throw that gauntlet down I say.

And then I start wondering, just how many lifetime appointments would these fascist enablers be able to ram through the Senate between now and November if the filibuster was gone? And just what acts of Judiciary desperation would they be capable of between now and the swearing in of the next congress? Is it smarter to keep the filibuster in its comatose state and drag these suckers out until the election and the swearing-in, or should we put their reckless disregard for ALMOST EVERYTHING on display for all to see.

I'm truly not sure here.

Could be the wine, LOL!

:shrug:

Part of the letter:

<snip>

GENERAL JOSEPH HOAR, USMC (RET.)
LIEUTENANT GENERAL ROBERT G. GARD, JR., USA (RET.)
VICE ADMIRAL LEE F. GUNN, USN (RET.)
LIEUTENANT GENERAL CLAUDIA J. KENNEDY, USA (RET.)
VICE ADMIRAL AL KONETZNI, USN (RET.)
LIEUTENANT GENERAL CHARLES OTSTOTT, USA (RET.)
MAJOR GENERAL JOHN BATISTE, USA (RET.)
MAJOR GENERAL JOHN L. FUGH, USA (RET.)
REAR ADMIRAL DONALD J. GUTER, USN (RET.)
MAJOR GENERAL FRED E. HAYNES, USMC (RET.)
REAR ADMIRAL JOHN D. HUTSON, USN (RET.)
MAJOR GENERAL MELVYN MONTANO, ANG (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL DAVID M. BRAHMS, USMC (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL JAMES CULLEN, USA (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL EVELYN P. FOOTE, USA (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL DAVID R. IRVINE, USA (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL MURRAY G. SAGSVEEN, USA (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL STEPHEN N. XENAKIS, USA (RET.)
COLONEL LAWRENCE B. WILKERSON, USA (RET.)
AMBASSADOR/FORMER VIETNAM POW DOUGLAS "PETE" PETERSON, USAF (RET.)

July 7, 2006
The Honorable Arlen Specter, Chairman
The Honorable Patrick Leahy, Ranking Member

Senate Judiciary Committee
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Specter and Senator Leahy:

As retired military leaders of the U.S. Armed Forces, we write to express our deep concern about
the nomination of William J. Haynes II, General Counsel for the Department of Defense, to a
seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. We send this letter reluctantly
and after much reflection; none of us has publicly expressed concerns about any other nominee
to the federal bench.

What compels us to take this unusual step is our profound concern about the role Mr. Haynes
played in establishing – over the objections of uniformed military lawyers – detention and
interrogation policies in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo which led not only to the abuse of
detainees in U.S. custody but to a dangerous abrogation of the military’s long-standing
commitment to the rule of law.

Before asking your colleagues on the Judiciary Committee to vote on Mr. Haynes’ confirmation
to a lifetime judicial appointment, we strongly urge you to conduct a thorough examination of his
views on the law in this area and his role in facilitating the adoption of policies that
compromised military values, ignored federal and international law, and damaged America’s
reputation and world leadership.

We recognize that Mr. Haynes does not bear sole responsibility for these policies, many of which
were based on legal opinions emanating from the White House Counsel’s Office and the Office
of Legal Counsel (OLC) in the Justice Department. But a number of senior Administration
officials, including Secretary of State Powell and his legal advisor, vigorously disputed those
opinions and sought to challenge them. Mr. Haynes was arguably in the strongest position of
any other senior government official to sound the alarm about the likely consequences for
military personnel of the views being put forward by the Justice Department, because he had the
benefit of the clear and unanimous concerns voiced by the uniformed Judge Advocates General
of each of the military services. Yet Mr. Haynes seems to have muted these concerns, rather
than amplify them.

<snip>

Link (.pdf doc): http://images1.americanprogress.org/il80web20037/ThinkProgress/2006/haynes%20letter%201.pdf

Randi's info on home page (with links): http://www.therandirhodesshow.com/live/

[global1]

1. If The Shoe Were On The Other Foot - Ask Yourself - What Would....

the repugs do?

[jbnow]

2. He'd sit on a court

where many of the related cases could be heard.

Oddly I hope Graham comes through and he doesn't get out of committee. We'll see if party loyalty is of higher value than his sense of decency regarding torture, his JAG background.
But if it comes to a vote Filibuster isn't even a question to me, it's a must, it's essential. If the republicans want to use the nuclear option in defense of torture then we can talk about that loudly and clearly. Good Lord, we have let to many horrors get by without putting up a fight.
I don't understand the mixed feelings and I hoped they are not shared by our Senators.

[wtmusic]

4. Either way it's not looking good for...them

If Graham splits with Repub leadership on this it only divides the party more. If they uncork the nuclear option, they have more to lose than gain.

[sandnsea]

3. They're out for August, then again on Sept 29

There isn't much more damage they can do between now and Nov., for whatever that's worth. The question would be whether anybody in the media will report what these retired military leaders say.

[Warren Stupidity]

5. What has not taking a stand done for us?

How has not calling their bluff worked so far? Why are you even asking this question at this point.

The 'gang of 14' compromise WAS THE NUCLEAR OPTION. We, as usual, got snookered.

Here is a hint: the way to stand up and fight these bastards is to stand up and fight these bastards.

[WillyT]

6. OK... You Convinced Me, Now... How Do We Get The Senate Dems To Do It ???

And how will Mr. Lieberman vote on this one?



:shrug:

[Justice Is Comin]

7. Well now ain't that purdy.

Have to lol at that. See mommy I'm a Democrat pansy wansy. Just the p-e-rfect expression.

[Warren Stupidity]

8. The primary challenge to the pink tutu asshat is a good start.

This how, precinct by precinct, state by state, we are going to force our party to change course. There has to be a cost for being idiots and trators.

[WillyT]

9. Right ... er,Left On, Man !!!

:bounce: