It's official: President Bush will not be arrested upon setting foot in the Twin Cities at the end of the summer for the GOP convention.
As Countdown to Crawford reported earlier, community activist Ed Felien wanted Bush charged with third-degree murder — defined by Minnesota statute as causing death "by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others" — for the Iraq war deaths of three Hennepin County residents.
Felien also alleged that Bush instigated the war in Iraq for his own personal gain, conspiring with the Saudi royal family to raise oil prices, and that he colluded with Afghan opium warlords to distribute heroin in Europe and the United States, including Hennepin County. From Felien's petition:
This brief is not concerned with George W. Bush's international crimes against humanity. Those are matters for an international court. This brief is not concerned with George W. Bush's crimes against the Constitution. Those are matters for Congress.
What concerns citizens of Hennepin County is whether George W. Bush has violated Minnesota state law. Have his actions caused serious harm to the citizens of Hennepin County? Was this harm incidental to the legitimate performance of his official duties as president, or were his actions and the consequent harm done in pursuit of personal gain? If, as I believe, there is probable cause that George W. Bush has committed crimes against the people of Hennepin County, then it is the responsibility and duty of the county attorney to charge him for these crimes and hold him accountable.
Patrick Diamond, chief deputy Hennepin County attorney, urged District Court Judge Gary Larson to deny Felien's request for a writ of mandamus, arguing that "whatever petitioner's, the county attorney's, or even the court's views as to the conduct of the president of the United States, we all operate under a system of laws with criminal processes designed to be fair and just."
Larson denied Felien's petition, reasoning that it's up to the county prosecutor to evaluate the case and decide whether to press charges.
Considering that Felien has been turned down by the Hennepin County attorney six times, it looks like Bush can attend the convention without fear of arrest.
What may be trickier is how John McCain's forces plan to position the president in the Twin Cities so that he brings out the conservative base while allowing the Arizona senator to play to the middle with a national television audience.
The House Judiciary Committee is gearing up for hearings July 25 that could be the closest Congress ever gets to impeaching President Bush.
After insisting that a full-scale impeachment of the president would distract from the work of Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi bowed to political reality this week and the House voted 238-180 to send one of Rep. Dennis Kucinich's articles of impeachment -- this one charging Bush with lying to the American public about the causes for the war in Iraq -- to the committee.
The catch: The committee can talk about anything deemed to be abuse of power by the president or the White House but not vote to impeach him, the first step toward removing him from office. Committee chairman John Conyers of Michigan put it this way.
Over the last seven plus years, there have been numerous credible allegations of serious misconduct by officials in the Bush administration. At the same time, the administration has adopted what many would describe as a radical view of its own powers and authorities. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I believe it is imperative that we pursue a comprehensive review commensurate to this constitutionally dangerous combination of circumstances. Next Friday's hearings will be an important part of that ongoing effort.
Kucinich filed 35 articles of impeachment with the House in June. He is expected to testify along with several academics, scholars and partisans in a two-hour hearing likely to be televised.
But the judiciary committee is not the only group gearing up. Veterans For Peace, which gathered over 23,000 signatures on an impeachment petition, has just announced that it is planning seven days of action between now and next Friday. Its chief goal: Get Congress to vote on impeachment. The group says:
After more than two months of trying to schedule a brief meeting with Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) to deliver VFP's 23,000 impeachment signatures, we politely informed the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, in writing, that we would drop by his Washington office with them. And we would sit there until he met with us or hauled us off in handcuffs.
On June 10 VFP issued a news release explaining our intention to call on Conyers the following day. Coincidentally (!) the morning of the 11th, his scheduler called asking, "I hear you're in town today, would you like to meet with the Congressman?"
Now the organization wants its members to call, write, e-mail and otherwise buttonhole legislators to push for a vote on impeachment. "We need as many
calls, emails and letters as possible before July 25th," the group says in a press release. "Get your friends and neighbors to call."
The terrorist watch list was created after 9/11 to alert airport personnel to potential threats to national security. Now, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, the list has grown to over one million names.
"America's new million-record watch list is a perfect symbol for what's wrong with the administration's approach to security," said Barry Steinhardt, who heads the ACLU's technology and liberty program. "Putting a million names on a watch list is a guarantee that the list will do more harm than good by interfering with the travel of innocent people and wasting huge amounts of our limited security resources on bureaucratic wheel-spinning,"
The ACLU is calling on the next president to review the list and pare it down to only "credible" threats. In the meantime, for the tens of thousands of Americans wrongly flagged for additional scrutiny, the Department of Homeland Security -- which once famously put Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts on the list -- has helpfully placed a link on its Web page for appeals.
Here at the White House this morning, they are taking their victories where they can -- and there are broad smiles.
As a matter of fact, Tony Fratto, the principal deputy White House spokesman, was grinning as he came out to talk with reporters at the morning gaggle. For one thing, he hadn't been on the intense four-day trip to Japan, from which the president returned Wednesday afternoon. But more likely it was the prospect of Bush signing the wiretap bill this afternoon that had him grinning and relaxed.
"Lots of people are happy about that," Fratto said.
For another, there's the economy. The economy? Yes.
Not that it's doing so well. Rather, there's the matter of the stimulus checks. The last of them are just going out, and Fratto said the package was having more of a positive effect than anticipated.
Citing anecdotal evidence and unspecified data, he said Americans were spending more than anticipated had there been no stimulus program.
"There's no question it has supported growth and made growth higher than it might have otherwise been," Fratto told reporters.
But there's the bigger picture: energy prices and the ripple --no, tidal wave -- effect they may be having across the economy.
Bush is planning to meet with energy and economic advisors Friday at the Energy Department to talk about food prices, transportation -- the gamut of economic sectors in which prices are being fueled by the cost of oil. But don't expect any major announcements, Fratto said.
As the Senate debates changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- and nears a vote to protect telecommunications companies from civil lawsuits even if the telecoms helped the government's wiretapping without warrants -- senators might step off the floor and check out this MSNBC piece.
Yikes, Rachel Maddow, hosting the network's cleverly named "Countdown," talks awfully fast. And Professor Jonathan Turley of George Washington law school squeezes in the law at a rapid pace -- and with head-spinning detail.
But what's this? He says "what the Democrats are doing here with the White House is they are trying to conceal a crime..."
Barack Obama is in Turley's sights. Obama gave his OK to the measure, calling it a "compromise." Turley calls it a "cave-in."
Strong language. And here comes the Senate vote...
It was his last Fourth of July as president -- and his first visit to Monticello, the home of the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson. It was not a long trip. It took the presidential party 40 minutes
by helicopter from the White House -- plus a 10-minute motorcade -- to
arrive at the home Jefferson built for himself and his family in Charlottesville, Va.
The president's stated purpose was to welcome and attend the swearing-in of 72 new citizens from 30 countries, including one from Burma. But his voice showed emotion when he talked about spreading freedom to other countries, one of his stated rationales for the war in Iraq. Quoting Jefferson as saying that the principles of the Declaration were universal, Bush said: "We honor Jefferson's legacy by aiding the rise of liberty in lands that do not know the blessings of freedom." Without mentioning Iraq, Afghanistan or the war on terrorism, he added, "And on this Fourth of July, we pay tribute to the brave men and women who wear the uniform of the United States of America." Watch the video here.
Bush was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, shouting "Defend the Constitution, Impeach Bush!" and "War Criminal!" Bush diverged from his prepared remarks to respond to the hecklers, explaining to America's newest citizens, "We believe in free speech in the United States of America."
One of the protesters, David Swanson, has gone online to explain his behavior, saying
When Bush opened his mouth to speak I shouted "Defend the Constitution, Impeach Bush!" I repeated that several times, as people nearby knocked me over, cops handcuffed me, people gave me smiles and thumbs up signs. They threw me out and a couple of more defenders of our Constitution behind me, and then a few more, and then a few more. The handcuffed citizens who'd done their duty kept coming down the hill. They did not arrest us but did give us a ride down the mountain where we joined a crowd of protesters in the road who greeted Bush's limo coming and going.
Bush, who celebrates his 62nd birthday on Sunday, said he was delighted to spend part of the weekend at the home of the nation's third president, who died on
July 4, 1826, the 50th birthday of the United States.
"This is a fitting place to celebrate our nation's independence," Bush
said. "Thomas Jefferson once said he'd rather celebrate the Fourth of
July than his own birthday. To me, it's pretty simple -- the Fourth of
July weekend is my weekend birthday."
Praising Jefferson's achievements -- a well-read man whose book
collection formed the basis of the Library of Congress -- Bush noted
that although Jefferson was the nation's first secretary of State, second vice
president and third president, he hated public speaking.
Alluding to his own reputation for muffing a speech line from time to
time, Bush said, "It seems Jefferson got away with only delivering two
public speeches during his presidency." Pausing for the laugh, he
added, "I'm sure a lot of Americans wish that were the case today."
First, they asked to see the Justice Department's documents, memos and guides on the collection of information through tracking people's cellphone use.
Then, in a complaint filed Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union and a group called the Electronic Frontier Foundation asked for information about the number of times the U.S. government has asked courts to let agencies track cellphone use -- without establishing probable cause. They had petitioned for all this back in November. When they got no word, lawsuit.
Let's be clear here. The FBI is supposed to use all of its tools -- including cellphone use -- to track the bad guys. Local law enforcement has started using the technology too -- not only to find criminals but also to rescue victims like those kidnapped or abandoned after a carjacking.
But, says ACLU attorney Catherine Crump, law enforcement needs to get clearance from the courts first. "Signing up for cellphone services should not be synonymous with signing up to be spied on and tracked by the government," she said.
The U.S. government insists that no wholesale tracking is going on. "Law enforcement has absolutely no interest in tracking the locations of law-abiding citizens," Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd told the Washington Post. "Courts determine whether or not cell-site data or more precise cell location data can be turned over to law enforcement in a particular case."
James Gerstenzang and Johanna Neuman are reporters in The Times' Washington bureau. Between the two of them, they have covered the White House, diplomacy, military affairs, the environment, international economics, trade and Congress. They have both spent time in Crawford, Texas.
