Holte's corner

Election Fraud and Jail terms for the victims

Elections have consequences -- especially fraudulent ones:

Congress is finally starting to dig into the allegations surrounding the politically driven prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, which is a case that shows why Democrats (and progressive people of all stripes) can't afford to be sanguine about the massive corruption of the past 7 years, nor the abuses of civil liberties involved with that corruption.

http://judiciary.house.gov/Printshop.aspx?Section=720
http://kerry.senate.gov/cfm/record.cfm?id=294236

It turns out all the usual suspects were involved: Karl Rove allegedly drove both the prosecution and some of the business involved, Abramoff drove the pecuniary financial motives involving efforts to derail a State Lottery initiative in Alabama in favor of Indian Gambling interests. The current (Riley) Governor's chief of Staff was Michael Scanlon who was later convicted along with Abramoff. The Chief Prosecutor in the case was Leura Canary, who had a financial interest not only in locking up Siegelman, but in derailing rival gambling efforts that would hurt her husbands interests.

Sounds like something out of Dallas. Come to think of it, the Bush Administration makes J.R.Ewing look like a mensch. The Ramban had a term for people like Abramoff, who keep the letter of "the law" but are still scoundrels: "Naval Birshut Ha-Torah" -- "Scoundrel within the bounds of Torah." What a shame.....

She Came one Night

I went to an excellent play last night at the "Teatro De la luna". It's name is "Volvió una noche" and it was written by Eduardo Rovner. Anyone who is an adult and has a traditional style mother can probably relate to this play. Even if they don't speak any Spanish. The play runs a translation in English over the play, and it is fun to watch even if one is a gringo like me....

References and more reading

"http://www.latinamericantheatre.com/rovner.htm"

http://www.potomacstages.com/Teatro.htm/a>

Exemplars and Originalism

It is important to listen to someone who is an enemy of important
principles. For example understanding the Federalist papers requires
understanding Patrick Henry, "Cato and Brutus" every bit as much as
any of the Federalist.

It's important to understand a document and its sections principles,
context, literal meaning, original intent, and historical developments
in its interpretation. Scalia as a sophisticated person is important
to listen to, but because he is sophisticated, radical and partisan it
is important to read him in context with others or balance his words
with someone like Ms. Smiths. He makes claims to an objectivity he
doesn't in fact possess. Which is the fault of many who claim an
objectivist position. They are not really objective at all. In fact their opinions are highly subjective.

Better than this is to use the principles of logic to ensure that principles are elucidated and applied as they are "originally" defined in the sense of being true principles. Ms. Smith appears to be critiquing Scalia, but she's really explaining how to reason from principle to practice.

http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/djclpp/index.php?action=showitem&id=46

Housing meltdown and the Brain

The housing market meltdown is occurring. Congress is letting the Feds bail out the largest perps, trying to close the barn-door (after the horses have run) and not doing much else. The "reform package" before them is a re-organization of the people involved in regulation and not a serious address of the underlying problems, which are the fact that a lot of people are losing their homes, and that financial institutions are backed by poor quality "financial instruments" as a result.

Jumping on Congress

Bruce Fein is still fighting for impeachment. So am I. The US Government broke laws at the behest of the President. They committed unconstitutional and immoral actions in torturing prisoners, spying on the People, and a long list of other corrupt, authoritarian and violent actions. The President, with cooperation from quisling democrats and goose-stepping followers broke the law and the constitution -- and continues to do so.

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1205-28.htm

Darwinism in the Movies

Some good recent movies: "The counterfeiters", manages to combine a movie about the Holocaust with a crime and technology tale. It's well worth seeing. The real story is even better: http://www.lawrencemalkin.com/kruegers-men-the-story.html .
Another good movie to watch is "There will be blood" which profiles turn of the century wild-catting and corporate shenanigans.

Both profile a world where self-interest is betrayed by moral confusion, and where people are making decisions of life and death in a world that seems darwinian.