Waldo’s Virginia Political Blogroll

It's amazing how stupid the Army leadership can be sometimes. Having faced a great deal of scrutiny over its handling of poor housing conditions for war veterans receiving out-patient care at Walter Reed, the Army's response is to hassle those vets who talked to the press.

Soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Medical Hold Unit say they have been told they will wake up at 6 a.m. every morning and have their rooms ready for inspection at 7 a.m., and that they must not speak to the media.

“Some soldiers believe this is a form of punishment for the trouble soldiers caused by talking to the media,” one Medical Hold Unit soldier said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

It is unusual for soldiers to have daily inspections after Basic Training.

Soldiers say their sergeant major gathered troops at 6 p.m. Monday to tell them they must follow their chain of command when asking for help with their medical evaluation paperwork, or when they spot mold, mice or other problems in their quarters.

They were also told they would be moving out of Building 18 to Building 14 within the next couple of weeks. Building 14 is a barracks that houses the administrative offices for the Medical Hold Unit and was renovated in 2006. It’s also located on the Walter Reed Campus, where reporters must be escorted by public affairs personnel. Building 18 is located just off campus and is easy to access.

If this is true - as the reporter tells this story - it's pretty insane. Hassling the troops with petty inspections as if they were green troops, moving them to buildings where the press can't talk to them - this just seems like a lot of misplaced energy, especially when the SecDef and the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army said they were going to investigate this issue. The very least these guys should get is relief from bullshit inspections and decent care now that they're off the battlefield.

It's probably worse than we know. Today's Washington Post reveals that the Army leadership at the post has known about these conditions for years, failing to address basic issues concerning living conditions. Once again, Sen. Barak Obama is leading the pack on addressing this issue.

Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) will today introduce a Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act to mandate that wounded soldiers receive proper treatment at decent facilities when they return from war. The legislation comes after a Washington Post series on deplorable conditions for veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Among other things, the bill calls for a Wounded Warrior Oversight Board appointed by Congress, 24-hour bilingual hotlines, federal protections for the jobs of family members who are caring for recovering service members, and establishment of a zero-tolerance policy for pest infestation at medical facilities.

I'm sure the Republicans are concerned also, but they have to ensure that there's no congressional debate about the Iraq war first, and to address funding Halliburton continued contingency operations and more Air Force jets and Navy submarines second. Then they'll take care of the wounded troops here at home... hopefully.

UPDATE: General who oversees Walter Reed hospital relieved of duties. Oh, SNAP!

It turns out that some other people had a problem with last week’s “State of the Schools” event thrown by the Richmond School Board. Carol Wolf, one of only two school board reps to vote against the board’s recent punk budget, sent a letter to Chairman George Braxton yesterday in response to insults, assumptions and [...]

If former American Muslim Council chief lobbyist Faisal Gill won't answer these accusations, then some of us will have to answer them for him. But Gill may not like what we have to say.

Kicks just keep gettin' harder to find
And all your kicks ain't bringin' you peace of mind
Before you find out it's too late, girl
You better get straight
—Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, "Kicks," as recorded by Paul Revere and the Raiders.

Kicks just keep getting harder to find. When being the chief lobbyist for a terrorist-led organization no longer excites, why not run for office?

BVBL writes on 2/28/07:

When Faisal Gill was up in front of the PWCRC on Monday night giving his candidate speech, a I was pretty amused at how he was on the defensive, talking about irrelevant things like the last time he had visited Pakistan and mentioning twice that “things have been written about me”, without addressing what they were.

So what are they saying about Gill? I googled "Faisal Gill" and pulled the following three quotes off of the top ten items returned:

A White House political appointee with close ties to Republican power broker Grover Norquist and no apparent background in intelligence,...Gill had failed to list on security clearance documents his work in 2001 with the American Muslim Council, the officials said. The advocacy group, which was controlled by Alamoudi...Gill also worked in 2001 for a Muslim political outreach organization that Norquist co-founded with a former top aide to Alamoudi. Norquist did not respond to phone calls, a fax and an e-mail seeking comment.
—Mary Jacoby, Salon, 6/22/04

How does a guy with no intelligence background get appointed director of intelligence policy at DHS--and how does he keep that job and his security clearance after committing two possible felonies by failing to list his two foreign-funded employers on sworn government forms?!?!?!?! Republicans need to get over their fears of Norquist, put the nation's interests first...—Michelle Malkin, 6/22/04

It now appears that Mr. Norquist’s help has extended beyond facilitating high-level access and influence for various Muslim-American and Arab-American entities with troubling ties to, or at least sympathy for, radical Islamofascists – and even terrorists. Reportedly, his association also helped someone affiliated with such a group to gain a political appointment to an exceedingly sensitive post: “policy director” of the Department of Homeland Security’s Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection division.—Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., Front Page Magazine, 7/19/04

These statements contain the following accusations. Voters in the HOD-51 Republican convention would do well to ascertain what truth there is to these charges. For my part, I will continue to hone the information which I have in order to show that all six of the accusations are true.

(1) Gill knew, or should have known, that the American Muslim Council was controlled by Alamoudi in 2001, when Gill worked there.

(2) Gill knew, or should have known, that Khaled Saffuri, who founded the Islamic Institute for which Gill also worked, was a former top aide to Alamoudi.

(3) The American Muslim Council for which Gill worked was an advocacy group. Gill surely knew that, since he was the AMCs chief lobbyist.

(4) Gill's patron Grover Norquist has refused to provide information about the Islamic Institute or about his relationship with Gill, Saffuri and Alamoudi. If Norquist, an ally of Alamoudi, has information that would exonerate Gill why doesn't Norquist provide it?

(5) Gill knew or should have known that Gill's employers The American Muslim Council and the Islamic Institute both received foreign funding. (AMC founder Alamoudi was arrested in London in 2003 with a suitcase containing $340,000 in serially-numbered $100 bills. Alamoudi had received the money from the Libyan embassy there.)

(6) Gill knew or should have known that the American Muslim Council and the Islamic Institute were entities with troubling ties to, or at least sympathy for, radical Islamofascists – and even terrorists.

(7) Gill was affiliated with the American Muslim Council. Specifically, Gill was the chief lobbyist for the AMC.

Since these quotes Abdurahman Alamoud has been convicted of terrorist money-laundering. In his plea bargain Alamoudi admitted to having been laundering Libyan money since 1995. He is serving a 23-year sentence in federal prison.

Just received word through the campaign that Julie Lucas has formally announced her candidacy.

“During my campaign I will focus on transportation solutions, fully funding education while ensuring high expectations with accountability, and keeping taxes low for our families,” said Lucas.                       

Julie will be joined by Senator Jay O’Brien, Senator Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, Delegate Jeff Frederick, Delegate Jackson Miller, Sheriff Glen Hill and School Board Members Grant Lattin, Milt Johns, Betty Covington, and Don Richardson.

 

I support her candidacy, and hope she wins against Gil.

On Sept. 27, 2002, over 600 people were arrested at Pershing Park in Washington, DC, and then were held over night in jail with their hands tied to their ankles. Those arrested were protesting the fall meetings of the IMF and World Bank, as well as threats of war against Iraq. As WSWS reported the next day,

Over 600 demonstrators were arrested Friday in Washington DC during the first day of protests against the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, which are holding their annual meetings beginning this Sunday in the nation’s capital. The local authorities, egged on by the Bush administration and backed by the media, effectively suspended constitutional rights for those seeking to express their opposition to globalization and to the impending US military attack on Iraq.

District of Columbia police chief Charles Ramsey mobilized an unprecedented number of cops, more than 3,000 in all, heavily outnumbering the nonviolent demonstrators. Of the 649 people reported arrested by early evening, only five were charged with destruction of property, while all the others were charged with parading without a permit or failing to obey police orders to disperse.

A lawsuit was subsequently brought by the Partnership for Civil Justice, and in a major victory for the First Amendment, the city has now agreed to pay four of the plaintiffs $50,000 each and to expunge their arrest records. Perhaps more importantly for principles of free speech, the settlement also mandates that DC police must undergo training in crowd control – which will include new prohibitions on certain police tactics that have become common in recent years.

As an email sent out by the Partnership for Civil Justice on Wednesday explains,

The settlement obligates the District of Columbia to provide, and document, training to all officers employed within the Special Operations Division, the specialized unit within the MPD which is assigned to protest activity. The training and documentation required to be provided to SOD officers will include warnings that no officer may arrest any protestor for parading or demonstrating without a permit, detailed descriptions of new restrictions on the use of police lines, new rules that prohibit the SOD from requiring protestors to have a permit and from sending protest organizers to other agencies for secondary permits (a tactic the SOD has routinely used to prevent or frustrate protest), as well as the rights of protestors to engage in free speech without unlawful police interference.

In order to ensure accountability and responsibility, each SOD officer must sign a written statement attesting that he or she has received written notice of the provisions of the First Amendment Rights and Police Standards Act which sets forth restrictions and obligations upon the police in the context of free speech activities. The documentation will be required to be maintained at the SOD. The First Amendment Rights and Police Standards Act was enacted by the D.C. Council in response to this and other cases detailing widespread violations of the constitutional rights of protestors in Washington, D.C.

There is also a class action lawsuit still pending for 400 others arrested that day.

The House worked on H.R. 556 (National Security Foreign Investment Reform and Strengthened Transparency Act of 2007). Before we get to the final vote, lets have a look at the amendments our contestants proposed: Amendment 3 – Frank – An amendment numbered 3 printed in the Congressional Record making sundry changes to the bill. Agreed by [...]

OpenCongress is like Richmond Sunlight, but for Washington D.C., and better.

Yes, organized labor. Apparently terrorism takes a back seat to the horrific threat of government workers becoming unionized. The Democrats are moving legislation through the Senate that would implement many of the 9/11 Commision's recommendations, which the American public overwhelmingly approves. But Pres. Bush plans to veto the bill because of a provision that would give union benefits to 45,000 airport workers. Thirty-seven of the Senate's 49 Republicans sent a letter to Bush assuring him that they have the votes to ensure that his veto will not get overridden.

The man belonging to the so-called party of small government will use his 2nd veto in 6+ years. First to fund stem-cell research, and now to fund anti-terrorism measures.

The Republicans whine on, and on, and on about what message we're sending the terrorists with our every action. What kind of message does it send when you proclaim that people who want health insurance are a bigger threat than al Qaeda?

We mentioned in the long story about MZM and the indictment against Dusty Foggo and Brent Wilkes that the Gonzalez Justice Department had basically "fired" Carol Lam, the prosecutor in San Diego who had brought down Randy "Duke" Cunningham.  Ms. Lam is actually one of 8 US Attorneys who got canned in the last few months under circumstances that sure look like raw politics.

Now one of the US Attorneys who lost his job is talking -- David Iglesias of New Mexico.

Iglesias and six other U.S. attorneys were notified by phone on Dec. 7 that they were being fired and were offered no explanations for their dismissals. An eighth U.S. attorney in Little Rock also left office in December after being removed in order to make room for a former aide to presidential adviser Karl Rove.

http://www.washingto...
Salon also has a story -- http://www.salon.com...

Let's talk about this...
Carol Lam was faulted for spending too much time going after white collar crime and not enough time going after Mexican illegal immigrants.  We can't prove that she got canned for going after Cunningham -- in fact, it seems unlikely that Cunningham had any friends left -- he was generally regarded by his colleagues as being too over-the-top.  Politicians of experience or cynicism know that you'll do just fine if you're not too piggish.  And Cunningham was too piggish.

No, Carol Lam got on the radar screen when she and her investigators started talking about getting subpoenas to continue the investigation into defense contractors buying Congressmen.  One Congressman who may be in the sights of the investigators is Duncan Hunter, who was Chair of the House Armed Services Committee.  If Republicans upset about Carol Lam's priorities made a few phone calls, it would certainly NOT be out of the realm of possibility that an adminstration that has made "protect your friends" one of the prime political virtues would see a reason to make a change.

The same logic can be applied to some of the other midterm firings.

In New Mexico, U.S. Attorney David Iglesias has just been booted, and he is blaming political connections.  He received some phone calls from some unidentified politicians before the fall elections, apparently asking about an investigation into a Democratic state lawmaker.  The questions dealt in part with timing -- would any indictments be coming before the elections?  He refused to answer the questions.  He believes that it was his refusal to give a politically satisfying answer that led to Republican pressure to remove him. 

The Washington Post story continues:

The firings have prompted a noisy debate on Capitol Hill over the power of the attorney general to appoint interim prosecutors indefinitely, and some Democrats have also accused the Justice Department of targeting prosecutors who were pursuing public corruption cases. In addition to Iglesias's probe involving Democrats, fired prosecutors in Arizona, Nevada and California were conducting ongoing corruption probes involving Republicans at the time of their dismissals.

Justice officials have acknowledged political motives in the Arkansas case but have said the seven others were fired for "performance-related" reasons. At least six of the eight prosecutors received positive job evaluations prior to being fired, however.

So what's the deal in Nevada?  Corruption?  In Nevada?  In "what happens here stays here" Nevada?  I'm shocked!  Shocked!  But it turns out that the newly elected Republican Governor Jim Gibbons is facing federal investigation for failing to report some illegal gifts given to him while he was a Congressman.  The gifts were given by a software company that got secret defense contracts.  Just to give you a flavor, the software president, Warren Trepp -- a long-time friend and contributor -- took a vacation with Gibbons and his wife.  According to the Las Vega Sun,

The evidence cited includes e-mails to Trepp discussing a payment or gifts to then-Rep. Gibbons. The e-mails also show Gibbons using his congressional office to help the company seek classified military and civilian contracts, the newspaper said.

"Please don't forget to bring the money you promised Jim and Dawn," Trepp's wife, Jale Trepp, said in a March 22, 2005, e-mail days before Trepp and his wife embarked on the Caribbean cruise with Jim Gibbons and his wife, Dawn, a former Nevada state assemblywoman.

According to the Journal, Trepp responded minutes later saying: "Don't you ever send this kind of message to me! Erase this message from your computer right now!"

Gibbons said he knew nothing about the e-mails.

Gibbons did not disclose the cruise and travel on Trepp's leased private jet, as required by House ethics rules. He later asked the House Ethics Committee for an exemption, but left office before any action was taken.

http://www.lasvegass...

So what's the deal in Arizona?  Fired U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton ascribes his termination to "principled reasons", not the "performance issues" that Department of Justice officials blame.  http://www.azcentral...

The "principled reason" may be that Charlton did not want to use the federal death penalty as much as his superiors in Washington wanted him to.  I have not been able to confirm the Washington Post's suggestion that the US Attorney in Arizona had a corruption probe going on; looking at their website, the last big story deals with a guilty plea for defrauding the federal Mad Cow program.  http://www.usdoj.gov...(Farabee).pdf  I'm not kidding.  Other sources available to me at this point mention a federal corruption conviction of a border inspector who worked for INS, but it is hard to believe that that is what would get someone fired.  And there are news reports of corruption charges involving some local government officers, but nothing that seems to justify the firing of the top prosecutor.

No, the only thing that I can find is that it my friends in Phoenix tell me that the U.S. Attorney has been investigating Republican Congressman Rick Renzi.  I'm not sure enough of the details

In any event, Charlton has had nothing but glowing reviews for the performance of his office, so the notion of "performance issues" must be shorthand for something else.

Finally, in Arkansas --

Bud Cummings, the respected U.S. attorney in Little Rock, Ark., was canned to make room for a Republican opposition research operative and Karl Rove acolyte named Timothy Griffin. Could that conceivably have anything to do with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential candidacy?

http://www.salon.com...
Griffin's qualifications?  -- he was an aide to White House political adviser Karl Rove and a spokesman for the Republican National Committee.

Unhappy with legislative failure in Richmond, the leaders of the City of Alexandria, Virginia have turned to a new, rather unique, tool in their effort to force local businesses to ban smoking:

Frustrated that the state legislature failed to ban smoking in bars and restaurants, Alexandria officials have come up with a maverick plan of their own that would prohibit smoking in all new eateries and make it more difficult for existing establishments to allow people to light up.

The unusual proposal would use the city’s zoning authority to mandate smoke-free restaurants.

If successful, Alexandria would become the first jurisdiction to bar restaurant smoking in Virginia, where the state legislature severely limits local authority. That means individual governments do not have the power to institute outright smoking bans in restaurants and bars, such as those adopted in the District and several Maryland jurisdictions.

So Alexandria has decided to use its limited powers to achieve the same result.

(…)

Alexandria would seize control of the smoking issue with such mundane tools as use permits. When a bar or restaurant came to the city to request a permit, the city would require it to be smoke-free before granting the permit.

And if you own a restaurant that already has a use permit, don’t think that you’re safe:

Restaurants that have permits must agree to go smoke-free in three months or risk future restrictions or even closure.

So much, it seems, for the right of a private business owner to decide how he or she wishes to cater to potential customers. So much for the idea of sitting outside on a summer evening at a restraurant on King Street and smoking a cigar just because you want to. So much for property rights and freedom in the city that George Washington called home.

The ‘Drift is interested in races all over Virgina, and one that has this eyebrow raised is in the 51st between Republicans Faisal Gill and Julie Lucas. And there’s more… Ragnar, a BD contributor, personally knows and supports the Navy Lt. Cmdr. reservist, Gill. But I am not so quick to jump on the bandwagon. His challenger, [...]

We've gotten a bit of a news dump regarding Charlottesville City Council lately. First, Kendra Hamilton announced she will not seek a second term (Daily Progress, 2/23/07). This was followed by Democratic Central discussing who will run. And Waldo picked up that blog post and ran with it on CvilleNews.

In all this talk about how many seats might come open and who might be on the November slate, I'm not hearing jack about what makes a good Councilor--just who everyone likes or doesn't like. Maybe I need to turn my hearing aid up a bit. If I had one, I would.

There have been a handful of elected officials I have genuinely liked, and many more than that for whom I have voted. IMO, "like" shouldn't come into the equation nearly as much as "respect" should.

There are some things I believe are self-evident regarding people who run for public office. One of those things is that everyone who runs for public office has an agenda. They have issues they feel strongly about, changes they want to make. That's the freakin' common denominator among anyone who bothers to vote, let alone campaign.

Once the ballots are counted, that person takes on a job, and every job has a job description--duties that must be fulfilled. If you do not think a candidate has the ability to perform the duties, does it matter whether you agree on the issues or whether you like him/her?

IMO, not so much. There are some basic personality characteristics I look for: Integrity ranks high, as does responsibility. I want a candidate who balances principled conviction balanced with flexibility of mind, so that conviction doesn't become an excuse for arrogance or laziness. Beyond that, it comes down to what each candidate brings into the office.

So, here are my criteria for the job of City Councilor:

Understanding of and dedication to the actual job of being a public servant;

Willingness to do the background research into the issues brought before the dais, so that each vote made is informed as much by hard knowledge as it is by personal belief in "the right thing to do";

Desire to go beyond the parameters set by staff, which necessarily entails doing more analysis than just reading staff reports, although those are an important tool in decision-making;

Active solicitation of opposing points of view on any potentially controversial issue, and not just from friends, or at public hearings, or through the charlottesville.org e-mail inbox;

Ability to identify and prioritize the greater good;

Knowledge of structural/organizational systems, and how to work within one to change it; and

Time management, time management, time management.

That's my wish list, and I'm hoping our November slate has people who, individually or combined and working together, possess all of them.

.

Thinking back to the 2004 Presidential election when Kerry's buddy and V.P. running mate John Edwards made these comments, the Investors Business Daily had some interesting info on his new "spread"...

"But this home belongs to the John Edwards who said during the 2004 campaign that there are "two Americas," one "that is struggling to get by," another "that can buy anything it wants."

"Trial lawyer and presidential candidate John Edwards and wife Elizabeth live a 10,778-square-foot main home near Chapel Hill, N.C., that sprawls across a spread that would take up several blocks in an East Coast city."

Connected to Edwards' not-so-humble abode are 15,600 square feet of outbuildings that house a gym, a pool, a raquetball court, two stages, a four-story tower and a room set aside as John's Lounge.

http://ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=257471698173513

Guest Blogger V hasn't sent me any rants in a while so I'm stealing a particularly good comment from my first Unity08 post and promoting it to the front page. Enjoy:Good luck, Robb. I don't think it will work as it seems too contrived. But hey, it is an idea that is different from the status quo and for that reason alone it may have merit. BTW, I am a bit puzzled by your defensiveness at being

As a ham-handed conservative power broker whose local reputation can best be described as "radioactive," I am pleased to announce and strongly recommend a late addition to the Conservative Political Action Conference agenda:

Blogger and co-author of the outstanding Donkey Cons, R.S. McCain, will be at CPAC signing copies of Donkey Cons, on Thursday, March 1, at 1:00 pm (sponsored by Young America's Foundation).

See you there!

Tomorrow I’m headed to Washington for the next couple days for the 34th Annual Conservative Political Action Conference. It should be a lot of fun. The agenda looks incredible. Nevertheless, I’ll be mostly away from my computer and won’t have time to blog. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post a weekend caption contest photo on Friday or Saturday after I return.

Mr. Natural asks, "Does this WW 2 poster remind you of anything in recent history?"

The poster is by Ben Shahn, 1942, and was originally printed by the Government Printing Office for the Office of War Information and is an image in the realm of the power of persuasion...

The image is familiar, but I'm not sure the underlying story is close to recent history.

This years bloggers conference will be Aug 10-12 in Newport News!

Click here for details- and I hope everyone (blog readers AND writers) can make it!

The trial against Jose Padilla will move ahead following todays ruling he is competent to assist in his own defense. From Deborah Sontag at the New York Times:

A federal judge ruled late this afternoon that Jose Padilla was competent to stand trial on terrorism conspiracy charges, granting a significant victory to the government in the high-profile criminal case of a United States citizen who was initially designated an “enemy combatant” and held without charges.

After three and a half days of an intensely argued hearing, Judge Marcia G. Cooke of the United States District Court here rejected the defense lawyers’ request that Mr. Padilla be sent to a hospital for psychiatric treatment so that he could be “healed” from what they said was post-traumatic stress disorder caused during his three years and eight months in military detention.

“This defendant clearly has the capacity to assist his attorneys,” Judge Cooke said, adding that Mr. Padilla’s case was “unique” and that “he understands that.”

Judge Cooke, who allowed limited testimony from military brig officials during the competency hearing, said that her ruling should not be construed as a finding on Mr. Padilla’s claims of mistreatment during his detention and interrogations at a naval brig in South Carolina.

Meanwhile, I've learned that conspiracy theorists believe Mr. Padilla to be John Doe Number Two from the Olklahoma City bombings. Now there's a story...