There are other better-known gaps in Bush’s record, such as his whereabouts during the Vietnam War when he seems to have not shown up for required National Guard duty. As for that period and for Bush's Guatemalan sojourn, it seems reasonable for reporters to ask the new president for some details to flesh out his sketchy life history.
© 2001 Robert Parry is an investigative reporter who broke many of the Iran-contra stories in the 1980s for The Associated Press and Newsweek

Theft Of The Presidency
BBC-TV Newsnight

. GREG PALAST: Washington, the marine band plays 'Hail to the Chief' for George W Bush, 43rd President of the United States. But in Florida, some are singing 'Hail to the Thief'.

COUNTRY SONG: After hundreds of lies Fake alibis

PALAST: We are coming into Tallahassee. We want to know whether George W Bush won the election or did brother Jeb steal it for him? Our investigation suggest the answer lies in this shuttered building and in a very expensive contract between Governor Jeb's division of elections and a private company named DBT, which accidentally wiped off the voter rolls thousands of Democratic voters. 18th floor division of elections, we have come to ask Mr Clayton Roberts, the director, a few questions. Roberts agreed to talk, but became a bit uncomfortable when he learned that we had obtained the secret DBT contract, and asked him if he knew what DBT were up to.

CLAYTON ROBERTS: Florida Director of Elections No, I didn't ask DBT. They do what we contract them to do. We have a statute that says we have to have a private company to do this. We put it out for bid, we put it out for bid, and I think I'm done with this interview.

PALAST: Let me just show you the contract if I could Mr Roberts. It says here in the contract that the verification is supposed to be done by DBT. That you paid them $4 million. It could look to others don't you think that you paid $4 million to purchase this election for the Republican party. 95% wrong on the felon list. Mr. Roberts, could you answer the question regarding the contract... Instead, Mr Roberts called out State troopers. It's interesting here?

STATE TROOPER: Oh, man! Never a dull moment.

PALAST: I don't know why he had to call the police. We hadn't gotten to our difficult questions yet! The difficult questions are: Did Governor Jeb Bush, his Secretary of State Katherine Harris, and her Director of Elections, Clayton Roberts, know they had wrongly barred 22,000 black, Democrat voters before the elections? After the elections did they use their powers to prevent the count of 20,000 votes for the Democrats? The Democrats say the answers to both questions are yes.

COMMISSIONER: In any other country in the world, if this had occurred, there probably would have been riots or military troops throughout the streets.

PARTY CHAIRMAN: Al Gore won the election. He won the popular vote and he won the vote in Florida. I think that that's pretty clear.

VOTER: It wasn't done fairly. They shouldn't allow you to contest an election then give you no way to contest it.

LEGISLATOR: Jeb Bush promised his brother he was going to deliver Florida. I believe the Republicans strategy was at all costs we deliver Florida.

CAMPAIGNER: Were people taken out of polls and stopped from voting? Yes, I think that was not right. I smell a rat!

PALAST: This is Database Technologies. This is the company that the state of Florida hired to remove the names of people who committed serious crimes from the voter lists. I have obtained a document marked "confidential and trade secret". It says the company was paid millions of dollars to make telephone calls to verify they got the right names - but they didn't. There is nothing in the state of Florida files that says they made these telephone calls. So the question remains, why did the Republican leaders of this state pay millions for a list that stopped thousands of innocent Democrats from voting? The first list from DBT included 8,000 names from Texas supplied by George Bush's state officials. They said they were all felons, serious criminals barred from voting. As it turns out, almost none were. Local officials raised a ruckus and DBT issued a new list naming 58,000 felons. But the one county which went through the whole expensive process of checking the new list name by name found it was still 95% wrong. Reverend Willie Whiting was one of those removed from voter roles after DBT wrongly labelled him a serious criminal.

REVEREND WILLIE WHITING: I have never spent a night in jail.

PALAST: Were you ever busted?

WHITING: No. I had a speeding ticket probably 25-30 years ago, I guess, but that's about it.

PALAST: Do you think you should be allowed to vote if you had a speeding ticket?

WHITING: Absolutely.

PALAST: The Florida legislature likes to see young prisoners paraded in front of the capital in old cavalry uniforms.

PRISON GUARD: Me and superman had a fight

PRISONERS: Me and superman had a fight

PRISON GUARD: I hit him in the head with some Kryptonite

PRISONERS: I hit him in the head with some Kryptonite

PALAST: More often than not in America, the prisoner's colour is black. Because of the way DBT generated the list, every genuine black felon in the United States could knock out every black voter in Florida with the same surname and similar date of birth. That's why the NAACP is suing Florida for violating voters' civil rights.

LARRY OTTINGER: Lawyer for NAACP Governor Bush, the Secretary of State Katherine Harris, Clayton Roberts, the head of elections, all knew or should have known in advance that certain election policies and practices would disproportionately impact low-income areas, and in particular black citizens and other minority citizens, and that this would disproportionately impact Democratic voters, based on historical voting trends.

AL GORE: Thank you, Florida!

PALAST: Altogether, it looks like this cost the Democrats about 22,000 votes in Florida, which George Bush won by only 537 votes. The US civil rights commission is also on the trail. They called in Bush, Harris and Roberts. Bush did not convince his critics.

UNNAMED MAN: You screwed up this state. You sealed the ballot.

PALAST: Commissioner Edley and his colleagues will be in Miami tomorrow to hear from voters wrongly disqualified.

DR CHRISTOPHER EDLEY: US Civil Rights Commissioner If you are going to do it, by all means as a matter of due process and fairness, it's got to be done with excruciating care. It's a democracy, the vote counts. There is a lot of public concern that the contractor selected is a firm that seems to have ties to the Republican party.

PALAST: They will be putting our evidence to Database Technologies. Their vice-president told us that "manual verification by telephone calls" does not mean ringing people up to check they have got the right person. So were they paid to produce a list which they knew would name thousands of innocent black people? In fact DBT told Newsnight that Clayton Roberts and the State of Florida: "... wanted there to be more names than were actually verified as being a convicted felon." So did they use their powers to prevent the count of 20,000 votes for the Democrats? You don't have to be black. In Palm Beach, America's privileged nurse their tans and their anger.

UNNAMED WOMAN: I thought I voted for Al Gore but unfortunately I voted for Pat Buchanan, and I wasn't happy about that, because I am a Jewish voter and he would have been the last person in the world I would have voted for.

PALAST: Whacky butterfly ballots caused thousands in this Democrat town to accidentally mess up and they were refused replacement ballots promised them by state law.

JOANNE CARBONE: From the time the elections started until that awful decision that the Supreme Court made, I came across hundreds of people who made a mistake and I saw over 13,000 complaints filed by people who live in Palm Beach county.

PALAST: In all, Palm Beach voting machines misread 27,000 ballots. Jeb Bush's Secretary of State, Katharine Harris, stopped them counting these votes by hand. She did the same to Gadstone, one of Florida's blackest, poorest and most Democrat counties, where machines failed to count one in eight ballots. Again Harris stopped the hand count. This alone cost Gore another 700 votes, in an election in which Harris declared George Bush winner by only 537 votes.

KATHARINE HARRIS: In accordance with the laws of the State of Florida, I hereby declare Governor George W Bush the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes for the President of the United States.

PALAST: Harris was a busy woman. In charge of Florida's vote count and co-chair of Bush's presidential campaign.

LOIS FRANKEL: Had she really been unbiased? Wouldn't the appropriate actions for her to be to say - let's really get to the bottom of this election and let's make sure every vote is counted.

PALAST: Lois Frankel represents Palm Beach, in the State legislature where she leads the Democratic opposition.

FRANKEL: She wanted George Bush to win. She interpreted every rule, every law in a way to help George Bush.

PALAST: We are driving down to Miami to witness an American ritual. In Britain, you count the votes, then announce the winner. In Florida they declare the winner first and here we are, still counting the votes.

WOMAN'S VOICE: She is showing the ballot in front of the light. They can see the light through where the chads have been punched through. Then she holds it in front because sometimes you can see things in different light. They have a whole column.

PALAST: Normally these are machine-read, right?

UNNAMED WOMAN: Right.

PALAST: They are carefully going through the 179,855 uncounted ballots that Harris did not want tallied. They'll know the winner next month. Sources tell Newsnight that Gore's ahead by 20,000 votes. The Biltmore, grandest hotel in Miami. Democrats are upstairs eating with their richest friends charging $5,000 a plate. Let's see if we can get in. Not far away from the millionaires on the balcony a voter had taken hostages at gun point protesting against the election fraud. But here it is back to champagne politics as usual. One Democrat whispered they would have done the same as Katharine Harris if they had the chance. But another, party chairman, Bob Poe remains bitter about this.

BOB POE: Chairman, Florida Democrats Jeb Bush, Katharine Harris, Clay Roberts did everything they could to stop every legitimate count of the vote. And that's what did us in.

PALAST: All fingers point to the Jeb Bush crew in Tallahassee. Investigators want to breakthrough the iron shutters.

EDLEY: I have to say that thus far we have been disappointed by the explanations, or perhaps I should say the lack of explanation provided by the state officials. When we spoke with the Governor and the Secretary of State and even with the Director of the Bureau of Elections underneath the Secretary of State, they were pointing fingers at everybody else, saying "look it wasn't our responsibility", they were in charge, which is a disheartening disquieting thing for us to hear - who should be held accountable for what clearly was a system that broke down.

PALAST: State officials point the finger at the counties and say it is their responsibility to check if the names on the list are real felons before disqualifying them. Clayton Roberts says his job is just to pass on the list. Roberts now admits he didn't bother to check with DBT, if innocent people were on it.

ROBERTS: Please turn off that camera.

PALAST: Off camera he said: We did not call and say did you check the list again... the whole tenor of this is like OK you screwed up you didn't check with DBT and if you want to hang this on me that's fine. It is certainly fine for George W Bush. Even if investigators conclude that Jeb Bush and the Republicans conspired to steal this election, the man in that house for the next four years will be George W Bush.
© 2001 Award-winning investigative reporter Greg Palast writes, Inside Corporate America, fortnightly in the Observer (London), Sunday paper of Britain's Guardian. At http://www.GregPalast.com you can read and subscribe to Greg Palast's columns.

Daniels says in retrospect that was a mistake. "It is an artifice," he said, saying he agreed with Democratic critics of the maneuver. "This is an example of the nonproductive energy that is consumed when we attach too much importance to annual numbers."
© 2001 Glenn Kessler

Cheney Stonewalls While Burton Leaks

So from now on, no foreign leader can depend upon the privacy of a conversation with the American President. Unless, perhaps, that foreign leader also happens to be in the oil business.
© 2001 Joe Conason email Joe at: jconason@observer.com.

Quotable Quote

"President Bush is on what you call a working vacation. Aides say Bush will read several mystery novels while on vacation. I'm sure any book Bush picks up is a mystery!" -- Jay Leno

An Odd Summer For Arkansas Republicans

Now that's as cute a non-denial denial as Clinton himself could concoct.
©2001 Gene Lyons is a Little Rock author and recipient of the National Magazine Award.

Surveys Find European Public Critical Of Bush Policies

The polls suggested that the European unhappiness was more with Mr. Bush than with the United States. Asked whether American and European interests had grown closer or farther apart in recent years, only in Britain did a plurality say they had grown apart, a view held by 24 percent compared with 13 percent who said they had grown closer. The French were about evenly divided, while Germans and Italians were considerably more likely to think European and American interests were converging.
© 2001 Adam Clymer

Giuliani To Challenge 1st Amendment In NYC
By Robert Lederman

As Monday’s NY Times editorial (see below) notes, the announcement by the Mayor, the NYC Corporation Council and the Parks Department that they will appeal the ruling in Lederman et al v Giuliani (the Parks Department artist permit case) is part of a consistent eight year long effort to eliminate artists’ rights which began in 1994 when Giuliani became Mayor.

However, it’s not just artists who need to be concerned about an appeal. This case is essentially not about the right of street artists to sell their works without obtaining a permit or license. If the City were to successfully appeal this ruling or change the 1982 NYC permit exemption law it is based on, all First Amendment freedom on New York City streets would be effectively ended.

In order to meet the 14th Amendment’s requirement of equal protection, the City’s permit requirement would have to be applied equally to artists, book and newspaper vendors, newspaper vending boxes, handing out leaflets, making a speech or holding a press conference anywhere on public property.

If you doubt that Mayor Giuliani could have such a draconian restriction in mind, examine his previous efforts to require a permit for press conferences at City Hall and for all gatherings of 20 or more people in a park.

Most of the 2001 candidates for mayor, public advocate and city council have assured us that if elected they would advocate taking down the gates at City Hall and would otherwise act to loosen the Mayor’s attempts to stifle freedom of speech. However, despite most of these candidates having been an integral part of the NYC government during eight years of daily artist arrests and despite the millions of dollars the City has wasted on legal costs and police overtime to carry them out, none have issued any public statement on this issue.

It’s not that they are unaware of it or have no opinion. The powerful real estate interests and elite groups including the Central Park Conservancy (now directed by the Mayor’s first wife and cousin, Reginna Perrugia) who are behind the permit agenda, don’t want them to take a position.

The NY Times certainly understands the implications of what it would mean if Giuliani were to win this appeal or get the 1982 law changed.

A few months ago the Mayor had the sidewalk newspaper vendors who sold the Times, Post Daily News and Newsday immediately around NY City Hall removed after I repeatedly publicized that they were free to sell without a permit or license under NYC law while artists were not. Since the first street artist Federal ruling in 1996 artists are subject to the exact same rights as newspaper publishers and book vendors. The ruling applied to creating, displaying or selling paintings, prints, photographs and sculptures.

Thousands of newspaper vending boxes around the City - whether dispensing their material for free or offering them for sale - would also be required to submit to any permit applied to artists. If as threatened the City were to change the 1982 law exempting literature vendors from any license or permit, handing out a leaflet about Jesus, registering people to vote or simply holding up a cardboard sign would require a permit.

The purpose of the First Amendment’s guarantee of unabridged freedom of speech is to keep the government from being in a position to decide who can speak and who can not speak. A system of permits for free speech guarantees that the government will have all the power it needs to do exactly that.

While many think a permit is about getting or giving permission, the exact opposite is true. The only purpose of a permit is to be able to deny permission, as Mayor Giuliani has demonstrated on countless occasions. Freedom of speech can only exist if we are free to speak without getting permission from anyone, least of all from the very government officials we are likely to find ourselves criticizing.

Can one imagine Giuliani granting me a permit to sell my portraits of him outside City Hall? Can reporters doubt that the Mayor who banned them from press conferences might not ban their newspaper from obtaining a permit to set up vending boxes on the street or that having denied elected officials the right to hold a press conference on the steps of City Hall he would hesitate to deny freedom of speech to those with no media access or political power?

Giuliani will be leaving office shortly, but his so-called legacy will continue to be debated and disputed for many years to come. In order for that debate to even be possible the full First Amendment right’s guaranteed by the U.S. and NY State Constitution’s and reinforced by the 1982 free speech exemption from all permits and licenses must be upheld.

Lederman v Giuliani did exactly that and that is why The Mayor and Commissioner Stern are so anxious to have it overturned. Please use your freedom of speech to help us keep them from doing that.
© 2001 Robert Lederman

The Ten Commandments: A Sequel
By Rob Boston for Church and State Magazine

According to the Book of Exodus, God handed down the Ten Commandments to Moses in a most dramatic fashion.

In the biblical account, lightning flashed in the sky and thunder boomed around Mt. Sinai. The entire mountain shook, and a horn blared out. The people trembled as Moses approached and ascended the cloud-covered summit. He emerged, after a personal encounter with God, carrying two stone tablets on which were engraved the Ten Commandments.

In light of this story, the religious nature of the Decalogue would seem to be beyond question. The list of commands itself bears this out: At least four of the decrees deal with specific matters of faith, admonishing believers to spurn false gods, reject graven images, avoid blasphemous speech and keep the Sabbath holy.

But to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, the Ten Commandments don’ necessarily have to be religious. According to Rehnquist, they are also a document that has played a "foundational role...in secular, legal matters" that can be featured in a city’ "celebration of its cultural and historical roots" without becoming "a promotion of religious faith."

Rehnquist’ comments were made public May 29, when the Supreme Court issued an order stating that it would not hear an appeal of a lower court ruling striking down the government’ display of a granite Ten Commandments monument in Elkhart, Ind. Rehnquist dissented from that action, and joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, made it clear that he believes the court should have overturned the ruling, clearing the way for government at all levels to display the Ten Commandments.

Justice John Paul Stevens, an advocate for church-state separation, found the trio’ reasoning convoluted. He noted that the monument in Elkhart contains two lines in large type that read, "THE TEN COMMANDMENTS I AM the LORD thy GOD." Observed Stevens, "The graphic emphasis placed on those first lines is rather hard to square with the proposition that the monument expresses no particular religious preference." After all, he continued, "the monument also depicts two Stars of David and a symbol composed of the Greek letters Chi and Rho superimposed on each other that represent Christ."

A few years ago, a handful of Religious Right organizations announced campaigns to get the Ten Commandments posted in government buildings and public schools all over the United States. The Supreme Court’ decision not to hear the City of Elkhart v. Books case should help bring those efforts to a halt.

But it won’ happen without a fight. Religious Right organizations were infuriated when the high court took a pass on the Indiana case and have vowed to find other ways to bring the matter before the justices. And they may have the chance at least 12 cases dealing with Ten Commandments displays are pending in seven states. (See "Commandments Controversies," page 13.) Meanwhile, in Elkhart, city officials are toying with open defiance.

Ironically, the monument that has sparked so much fuss was until a few years ago covered with weeds and vines. Many town residents didn’ even know it was there until a groundskeeper cleaned it off one day in 1998.

The monument had found a home in front of the Elkhart City Hall four decades earlier as a tie-in for a promotional campaign for a movie Hollywood producer Cecil B. DeMille’ biblical extravaganza "The Ten Commandments."

DeMille’ involvement grew out of a nationwide campaign first launched in 1943 by E.J. Ruegemer, a Minnesota juvenile court judge and head of a Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE) committee dealing with the problems of youth. Ruegemer claimed that many of the young people who ended up in his courtroom lacked a moral foundation, and he proposed posting paper copies of the Ten Commandments in juvenile courts to rectify that.

DeMille got wind of Ruegemer’ project as he was working on his epic film, which starred Charlton Heston as Moses. DeMille, eager to drum up publicity for the 1956 movie, proposed displaying bronze tablets instead of paper copies, but Ruegemer felt that granite markers would be more appropriate, arguing that the original Ten Commandments were probably made of stone. DeMille agreed and authorized Ruegemer to contract with a Minnesota granite firm to begin production. Eagles units soon began donating them to cities around the country.

DeMille carefully exploited the situation to ensure maximum publicity for his movie, and some of the monument dedications were even timed to tie in with the release of the film. In one town, Dunseith, N.D., actor Heston appeared personally for the ceremony. In Milwaukee, a Ten Commandments monument was unveiled the same week the film debuted, with actor Yul Brynner Pharaoh in the movie on hand for the festivities.

Ruegemer, 98 and still living in Minnesota, told the South Bend Tribune in May that the Eagles were at first wary of taking on the project, fearing that it might be perceived as sectarian. To get around that, organizational leaders asked Catholic, Protestant and Jewish representatives to come together and decide on how to word and list the commandments in a way that was agreeable to all. (Roman Catholics, Protestants and Jews use different versions of the Ten Commandments. For example, in the Catholic version, the fourth commandment is "Honor your mother and father." In the Protestant and Jewish versions, it is "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.")

Thanks to the DeMille-Eagles partnership, more than 2,000 Ten Commandments monuments were donated to communities around the country. The FOE kept the project going long after the film opened, and some monuments did not get erected until 10 years later. Elkhart’ monument was dedicated on Memorial Day of 1958, when local Protestant, Jewish and Catholic clergy in Elkhart, joined by FOE officers and city officials, unveiled it at a public ceremony.

Four decades passed. In 1998, when the monument was rediscovered, it immediately became a focus of controversy and the target of a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union. A federal district court ruled against the ACLU, but the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals took the opposite tack.

In its Dec. 13, 2000, decision, the appellate panel insisted that government display of the religious text violates the constitutional separation of church and state, suggesting that some faith traditions are officially favored.

Court precedents "simply prevent government at any level from intruding into the religious life of our people by sponsoring or endorsing a particular perspective on religious matters," observed the 2-1 majority. "It prevents, as Justice O’onnor has pointed out, government from creating among our people ‘ns’and ‘uts’on the basis of religion."

Monument defenders, disappointed with the appeals court’ decision, urged the Supreme Court to take the case. But the court said no over the strong objections of Scalia, Thomas and Rehnquist. (Four members of the high court must agree to take a case in order to get the dispute on the docket.)

Why all the sudden interest in the Ten Commandments? Much of the activity stems from the Religious Right. At least four organizations have been active in this area recently Liberty Counsel, TV preacher Pat Robertson’ American Center For Law and Justice (ACLJ), the National Clergy Council and the Family Research Council (FRC).

Many of these organizations are still smarting from the Supreme Court’ 1980 Stone v. Graham ruling. In Stone, the high court struck down a Kentucky law requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in all public schools. Religious Right groups may see the current crusade as a way to spark a new challenge to that holding and build public support for their other political objectives.

The groups are also angry over more recent decisions by lower courts striking down government display of the Ten Commandments. In 1994 the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered officials in Cobb County, Ga., to remove a Ten Commandments display from the courthouse. In addition, Americans United has won legal cases against government display of the Ten Commandments in Charleston, S.C., and Manhattan, Kan.

Undaunted by the string of legal defeats, FRC, a group loosely affiliated with radio counselor James C. Dobson’ Focus on the Family, launched a special Ten Commandments project in November of 1999. Called "Hang Ten," the effort was designed to encourage state and local governments to post the Decalogue at government buildings and public schools as well as win passage of the "Ten Commandments Defense Act," legislation sponsored by Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) that would have stripped the federal courts of their ability to even hear legal cases challenging government-sponsored Ten Commandments displays.

FRC announced the "Hang Ten" campaign with much fanfare, but the project hasn’ achieved much so far. Aderholt’ bill has never come to a vote in the House, and the crusade is going nowhere in the courts. Nevertheless, Religious Right leaders have vowed to keep fighting. On the day the Supreme Court refused the Elkhart case, several released statements blasting the court action.

Falwell, in his Falwell Confidential bulletin, asserted that "people of faith across the nation were disheartened" by the action. The Lynchburg televangelist went on to claim that "activist judges are deliberately ignoring the actuality of America’ founding an actuality of dependence on the Bible and Judeo-Christian values."

The day after the high court rejected the case, ACLJ founder Robertson ranted about the justices’action on his "700 Club" program. The Virginia Beach televangelist called the action "the craziest thing" and wasted no time launching an attack on church-state separation.

Asserted Robertson, "There’ nothing in the Constitution that ever intended this, nor and this is very important the phrase ‘eparation of church and state’does not appear in the United States Constitution. It was in the Constitution of the former Soviet Union, but not in the U.S. Constitution."

Robertson insisted that Congress should stand up to "the power of the black-robed justices." Congress, he said, "can take away their money. They can also take away their appellate jurisdiction if they so choose, because the Constitution gives that power."

The ACLJ, which helped defend the city of Elkhart and has worked on other Ten Commandments cases, issued a bland statement expressing disappointment. Earlier, however, the organization had bitterly criticized groups like Americans United for opposing such displays. In a shrill fund-raising letter mailed in March, ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow asserted that court action against government display of the Ten Commandments could put the country on a "‘lippery slope’toward moral ruin."

Religious Right legal groups have prodded local officials to continue fighting for the commandments, despite the prevailing legal trend.

Even in Elkhart, resistance remains. Local officials have pledged to find a way to keep the Ten Commandments monument in place. Mayor David Miller, a 44-year-old graphic artist who has led the campaign to defend the marker, told reporters, "I will fight to keep the monument standing right where it is."

During the legal battle, Miller went so far as to design pro-monument bumper stickers and led a petition drive to keep the commandments up. With his final legal appeal exhausted, Miller has proposed adding other types of historical documents and markers around the monument, which he argues will make the display constitutional.

Attorneys at the Indiana branch of the ACLU disagree and have proposed moving the monument to private property. U.S. District Judge Allen Sharp has been given the task of finding a solution. Sharp has been directed by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to ensure that "although the condition that offends the Constitution is eliminated, Elkhart retains the authority to make decisions regarding the placement of the monument." (One suggestion involves selling the monument and the land around it to a private group.)

An Internet poll sponsored by the Elkhart Truth newspaper found that 71 percent of respondents favored leaving the Ten Commandments where it is. Although such polls are not scientifically valid, city leaders insist that the overwhelming majority of residents oppose moving the marker.

Like the residents of Elkhart, most Americans, polls show, favor the idea of government promotion of the Ten Commandments. One survey, conducted in July of 1999, found 74 percent endorsing the idea of Ten Commandments displays in public schools. But those polls also show widespread ignorance about what the commandments say. A few years ago, a Gallup poll found that only 42 percent of Americans are able to name even five of the Ten Commandments.

Since most Americans don’ know what the commandments say, it’ not surprising that many of them persist in believing that the Decalogue is the basis for U.S. law. In Elkhart, for example, one official asserted that the monument should stay because the commandments, aside from their religious significance, have influenced secular law.

"This has tons of historical significance," said John Mann, a spokesman for Mayor Miller. "Let’ say that hypothetically, Moses got the Ten Commandments from aliens or just made them up or something. Still, they are the basis for every modern legal system."

This claim, while frequently spouted by Religious Right activists, does not stand up to historical scrutiny, say church-state experts.

Steven K. Green, legal director for Americans United, researched this question in 1999-2000 for a scholarly article that appeared in the Journal of Law & Religion (Vol. XIV, No. 2). Green, who holds a Ph.D. in religious and constitutional history, concluded that the claim that U.S. law is based on the Ten Commandments is usually asserted and accepted as a given without historical evidence. For example, Chief Justice Rehnquist in his recent Elkhart dissent, referred to "the foundational role of the Ten Commandments in secular, legal matters." But he cited no precedent or scholarly authority for that view.

Green notes that American law is an outgrowth of British common law and "more generally, the Western legal tradition." Claims that the common law was based on the Bible, he says, were first put forth by scholar monks in the Dark Ages, who were trying to defend the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church over temporal governments. The claim is shaky at best, Green writes, pointing out that the common law "relied primarily on custom."

Green also discovered that America’ Founding Fathers adopted only that portion of British common law that "was consistent with republican ideals." He writes of the Founding period, "[I]t is not surprising that express references to the Decalogue or scripture as a source of law were nonexistent."

Even a cursory reading of the Constitution debunks the claim that U.S. law is based on the Ten Commandments. The Constitution contains no religious directives whatsoever and makes no mention of the Ten Commandments or even God. The Constitution, a secular document, instead establishes religious freedom for all by separating church and state in the First Amendment. In addition, both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams explicitly denied that Christianity is the basis for American common law.

(And, despite frequent repetition by the Religious Right, there is no evidence that James Madison ever stated, "We have staked the whole future of American civilization...upon the capacity of each of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God." This quotation pops up repeatedly in Religious Right circles, but it is almost certainly bogus.)

AU’ Green concluded that arguments that U.S. law is based on the Ten Commandments or any religious code are specious. "At best, the most that could be said about the relationship of the Ten Commandments to the law is that the former has influenced legal notions of right and wrong...," Green concluded. "[T]hat has always been a noncontroversial fact. But to insist on a closer relationship or to hold the Ten Commandments up as having a special place in the development of American law lacks historical support."

Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn said Green’ research proving that the Ten Commandments are not the foundation of the American legal system will be extremely useful. Green’ scholarship, said Lynn, shows that there is no "secular purpose" for government display of the Ten Commandments.

Concluded Lynn. "There’ an easy solution to this controversy: Let religious groups promote the Ten Commandments. The government should stay out of it."
© 2001 Rob Boston

Dead Letter Office

Heil Bush,

Dear Propaganda Ansager Novak,

Congratulations you have just been awarded the Vidkun Quisling Award for 2001. Your name will now live throughout history with such past award winners as Marcus Junius Brutus, Judas Iscariot, Benedict Arnold, Vidkun Quisling and last year's winner Volksjudge Antoni (light-fingers) Scalia.

Without your help shilling for us, spinning the truth, telling out right lies and ignoring the real news, holding onto power after our Coup D' Etat would have been impossible. With the help of our mutual friends, the other "Media Whores," you have made it possible for all of us to goose-step off to a brave new bank account.

Along with this award there will be an Iron Cross 2nd class presented by our glorious Fuhrer Herr Bush at a gala celebration in der Wolf's Lair (formerly Rancho de Bimbo) on 9-03-2001. We salute you Herr Novak! Sieg Heil!

Signed,
Deputy Fuhrer Cheney

Heil Bush

Who's Holier Than Thou? Not the GOP!
By Molly Ivins

AUSTIN, Texas - Several mostly overlooked news stories of late can be added to the collection under "Defining the Zeitgeist," our perpetual quest to understand our times--also known as "getting a grip."

In the Fleecing of America category, the special prosecutor in charge of the Henry Cisneros case is still at work, at a cost of more than $2 million a year to the taxpayers. This same special prosecutor spent $10 million getting Henry C. to plead to a misdemeanor count for which Cisneros paid a $10,000 fine: his legal involvement in the case is now at an end, there are no more charges against him.

The prosecutor, David Barrett, has since spent another $5 million. Henry C. left his position as secretary of housing and urban development in 1997: Barrett has now been investigating years longer than Cisneros served in the Cabinet. The case, you may recall, involved the fact that Cisneros had an affair, a matter that was public knowledge before he went to Washington.

He had also agreed to pay his former mistress to help support her daughter from a previous marriage, also a matter of public knowledge. The case revolved around whether Henry C. told the FBI how much money he had sent the woman in question. Four years after Barrett's investigation began, he copped the misdemeanor plea, so we have justice at last. Barrett prosecuted Cisneros' former mistress for bank fraud, and she served 18 months in prison. President Clinton pardoned both of them.

So, here we are with this tireless Inspector Javert still in hot pursuit of evildoing two years after Congress killed the special prosecutor law that allows him to continue. Meanwhile, Cisneros is back in San Antonio creating innovative new public-private approaches to cure urban sprawl and to provide affordable housing. You may recall that even the most rabid Republicans thought he was an excellent secretary of housing.

But just to prove that the Bush II administration believes in redemption, Elliott Abrams, whom you may recall from the glorious Iran-contra scandal, was convicted for lying to Congress about that mess, which had slightly more impact on people's lives than Cisneros' affair.

For those of you who weren't paying attention at the time, the executive branch of the United States government was illegally selling arms to Iran and using the proceeds to illegally fund a right-wing insurrection in Nicaragua against a government we didn't like. A lot of people died.

Elliott Abrams was convicted on two misdemeanor counts of lying to Congress--former Rep. Jack Brooks of Texas said at the time Abrams "took more pride in not knowing anything than anybody I ever saw." Abrams was also involved up to his eyebrows in funding the right-wing death squads in Guatemala (100,000 dead) and El Salvador (70,000 dead). He was one of several Iran-contra figures pardoned by George I at the end of his presidency.

Abrams now holds a senior position on the White House National Security Council, where it is to be hoped he won't take a dislike to anyone in Latin America. It is the first time a high government official pardoned for criminal activity by one president has been appointed to a high government position by another. Hope for Henry C.!

And lest we forget Florida, that state's Republican Party chairman, Al Cardenas, was recently quoted in an article for The Weekly Standard on how he plans to handle the African-American vote in 2002: "We need to call into question the African-American leaders and what they are saying," and to "question the credibility" of the leadership. Cardenas also serves on the Republican National Committee's "New Voices, New Faces" program for minority outreach.

My favorite new Bushism: "I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe, and I believe what I believe is right." And if he continues to articulate it that well, how happy we all shall be. The problem, of course, is not what Bush believes but how well he can think.

The gush of stories that followed his minimalist decision on stem cell research dwelt on the deep cerebration involved, the heavy ideation, the breadth of his intellectualization. Karen Hughes, one of President Bush's closest aides, even waved a book Bush had actually read (!) at the press. He studied, he talked to many experts! He thought!

And then, this elephantine procedure produced . . . a mouse. A few people are going to make a lot of money out of this decision. I'm hoping for the best, but remember, his last decision before that was to come home to Texas for the month of August.
©2001 Molly Ivins of Creators Syndicate

Looking Glass Land
By Tally Briggs

"Curiouser and Curiouser" as Alice would say. I feel as though I’ve not only fallen down the rabbit hole and stepped through the Looking Glass simultaneously, but now almost the entire population has been taken over by the Pod People from Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It was bad in November when I first made the observation that the Pod People had arrived, but now it has gotten so much worse my brain is having a very hard time accepting it.

What the Fuck is going on????

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE:

- The Bogus POTUS is a man who refused to permit a legal vote count, and did everything in his power to insure there wasn’t one. And the Media & citizens allowed it.

- The United States Supreme Court illegally took control of a national election, where they have no jurisdiction, and disenfranchised the ENTIRE NATION, making a mockery of not only the highest court in the land, but the judicial system itself. And the Media and citizens allowed it.

- This ‘Selected’ administration is now in the process of doing everything in it’s power to turn eight years of peace and prosperity into what? War and Poverty, all to repay the big businesses that contributed to their campaign, no matter if it hurts the majority of the nation – or the world - in the process, as long as it helps the wealthiest 1% - the other 99% can all go to hell. And the Media and the citizens allowed it.

- The top Law Enforcement Officer of The United States - The Attorney General – has just given the ok for a criminal probe of ALL of President Clinton’s last minute pardons – no matter that the US CONSTITUTION says the Presidential Pardon is ABSOLUTE. Period. That leads me to believe that the US Constitution is now obsolete, and they are writing their own laws. And the MEDIA AND THE CITIZENS ARE ALLOWING IT.

Not only that, the Media is supporting it. There are also many in the GOP who are endorsing all of the above behavior as if it is morally correct. To Cheat and lie is to be Closer to God apparently.

I must have been mistakenly beamed to an alternate universe. I distinctly remember living in a society where lying and bearing ‘false witness’ is a sin, and morally wrong. Where getting a legal, correct total vote count was mandatory by law. Where the US Constitution was the law of the land, and all who serve in public office take an oath to uphold that law.

I didn’t think there was that much money in the universe that could buy off so many people and take them over to the Dark Side. I believed no one could buy conscience and faith. Right is right and wrong is wrong. Love your neighbor. Don’t steal. Hold hands and look both ways when you cross the street. Take care of each other. Don't sell illegal arms to the enemy. Don't sacrifice integrity and safety for money. Apparently in this alternate universe I’ve been sucked into none of these things are morally right. It truly is Looking Glass Land.

Well, I may be living in this new alternate universe, and I’m not sure how to get home. (I know I don’t have any ruby slippers handy, (oops, wrong story) and I certainly haven't been Queened yet.) But I do know where I’m from. I haven’t been invaded by the Pod People, I don’t need special glasses to see "them", and I know that if I win the lotto I won’t be seduced into changing my beliefs about what is right & wrong. Those things are still the same in my heart, and no amount of money can buy my conscience, my faith, and most certainly not my soul.
© 2001 Tally Briggs email Tally at: bardgal@yahoo.com
While Tally prepares for a role on TV we'll run her greatest hits until she returns!

The Cartoon Corner

This edition we're proud to showcase the cartoons of Rayberry

He Won, But Why?

Sung to the tune of "As Time Goes By"
From the motion picture Casa Blanca

(instrumental intro)

Of this you must take note
A vote is still a vote,
A chad is just a chad
And so it makes us very sad
That we've been had.

When some go to the polls
They don't punch quite clean holes,
On this you can rely
But Bush said those votes weren't real
He won, but why?

Ballots in some towns awfully out of date
Down in Miami, butterflies we hate
Recounts begun, rejected as too late
That no one can deny

It's still the same old story
In Bush's fight for glory
A case of win or die
The White House now belongs to Dub'ya
He won, but why?

(instrumental break)

Of this you must take note
A vote is still a vote,
A chad is just a chad
And so it makes us very sad
That we've been had.

When some go to the polls
They don't punch quite clean holes,
On this you can rely
But Bush said those votes weren't real
He won, but why?

Ballots in some towns awfully out of date
Down in Miami, butterflies we hate
Recounts begun, rejected as too late
That no one can deny

It's still the same old story
In Bush's fight for glory
A case of win or die
The White House now belongs to Dub'ya
He won, but why?
New lyrics by Lydia Theys, LydiaTheys@aol.com

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing." ... Edmund Burke

LAUGH OF THE CENTURY .....

http://www.orgop.org/OR2001-WesternLdrshpRegist.pdf

The Republican Leadership Conference has scheduled Katherine Harris, secretary of State, FL as a guest speaker on Friday October 5th.

The "subjest" is VOTER FRAUD!! There is a registration form at the link above if anyone wants to attend & I assume, learn how to commit voter fraud! Did you Florida voters know that there is a special provision in the new Florida "Reform" to allow military to vote by FAX and WITHOUT BEING REGISTERED TO VOTE?!!

FOR FLORIDA VOTERS WHO ARE TIRED OF PAYING FOR KATHERINE HARRIS'S LUXURY TRIPS.....this is the info given on the hotel. There are 160 luxury guest rooms at The Resort at the Mountain. Several other lodging places are mentioned but:

Do you have any doubts as to where Katherine Harris will be staying? I would think that this is the time to write to the unhonorable Sec. of State and tell her to pay her own damn bills. She was born with more money than God and we should not have to pay for the flozzie to take luxury trips with Jebbie, Dubya, etc.

Something's rotten in Florida? Are we going to just sit idly by and do nothing?

Maggie
Pensacola, FL - My vote did not count
© 2001 G.A.G.

New Protests From Voter March

August 22, Wed., Voter March NY General Meeting

Voter March New York will have a general meeting at Chris Acosta's loft in Union Square at 239 Park Avenue South, Loft # 3C, (betw 19th and 20th Streets) on Wednesday, August 22nd from 7 pm to 9 pm. Key on the agenda are the upcoming actions: Scalia Protest at Hofstra law School on Sunday, September 9th and the Bush Protest at the United Nations on Monday, September 24th. There is no admission fee, but feel free to bring snacks or non-alcoholic beverages. Please RSVP to outreach@votermarch.org

September 9, Hempstead, Long Island, NY, Scalia Protest

A protest is planned at the Hofstra University School of Law on Sunday, September 9, where Antonin Scalia, one of the 5 Supreme Court Justices who stopped the hand counting of votes in Bush v. Gore, will give a keynote address at the Legal Ethics 2002 Conference. Scalia is scheduled to be a speaker from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm and at 6:00 pm there will be a banquet in honor of Justice Antonin Scalia. The banquet will be at Carlton on the Park at Eisenhower Park, near Hofstra University School of Law. Hofstra University is located in Hempstead, Long island, about 25 miles east of Manhattan, less than an hour away by train or automobile.

September 24, Monday, United Nations, New York City
Protest Bush at U.N. General Assembly

To protest Bush at his appearance and speech at the General Assembly of the United Nations. We will gather before noon at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza Park at 47th Street and First Avenue in Manhattan. Voter March has a permit pending and is inviting all pro-democracy groups to join in with this protest action. We will have a stage and sound system. For additional information, contact info@votermarch.org

For updates and additional information on all these events, see Voters March

SUPPORT THE OREGON DEMOCRATS' PROPOSAL TO IMPEACH THE FELONIOUS FIVE!

Here's what you can do to help:

1. Write your members of Congress and urge them to support the Democratic Party of Oregon's resolution.

2. Contact your local and/or state Democratic Party office urging them to also support the resolution.

3. Contribute to the Democratic Party of Oregon. We plan to continue to promote this resolution and your contribution, no matter how small, will help us in this fight for democracy. Click on Democratic Party of Oregon to send your support today!

Supreme Injustice
by STEVE COBBLE

Lest we forget--just over six months ago, the Rehnquist Court stole an election in broad daylight. In fear of the truth, the Scalia Five intervened to block all votes from being counted, an action "unprecedented" (both historically and judicially) in US history. Though the June 12 "anniversary" went unnoticed by the media, we must never forget.

Was it the worst Supreme Court decision in US history, as American University Constitutional scholar Jamin Raskin has suggested? Considering that Raskin is a staunch civil rights advocate, the very thought that he would rank Bush v. Gore lower than both the Dred Scott and Plessy rulings is instructive. Nor does Raskin stand alone in his opinion of this judicial coup.

Justice John Paul Stevens: "One thing, however, is certain. Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law. I respectfully dissent."

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: "In sum, the Court's conclusion that a constitutionally adequate recount is impractical is a prophecy the Court's own judgment will not allow to be tested. Such an untested prophecy should not decide the Presidency of the United States. I dissent." And related is the unsigned per curiam decision of the Scalia 5, a transparent attempt to try to avoid history's scarlet letter.

Hendrik Hertzberg, former presidential speechwriter: "The election of 2000 was not stolen. It was expropriated."

David Kairys, Temple University: "We had a constitutional crisis, and it was Bush v. Gore. History will not be kind."

Suzanna Sherry, Vanderbilt University: "There is really very little way to reconcile this opinion other than that they wanted Bush to win."

Jeffrey Rosen, legal scholar: "They have...made it impossible for citizens of the United States to sustain any kind of faith in the rule of law as something larger than the self-interested political preferences of William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy, and Sandra Day O'Connor."

Randall Kennedy, Harvard University: "But we should also insist that there be no confirmation for Scalia-like champions of the right-wing agenda. The Supreme Court has hurt its own reputation by wrongly intervening to ensure the victory of George W. Bush. Those who abhor what the Court did should say so and say so loudly and clearly."

Jesse Jackson and John Sweeney: "But if it comes down for justices to the 14th amendment and the promise of equal protection, one can only hope for the sake of the country that they consider how not counting all the votes mirrors too closely the habits of heart and mind that brought us slavery and segregation--the original sins of our nation that the equal protection clause sought to repair."

And, of course, Vincent Bugliosi, prosecutor of Charles Manson and author of several bestselling true-crime books, in The Betrayal of America: ". . . the Court committed the unpardonable sin of being a knowing surrogate for the Republican Party instead of being an impartial arbiter of the law.... [The Court searched] mightily for a way, any way at all, to aid their choice for president, Bush, in the suppression of the truth, finally settling, in their judicial coup d'État, on the untenable argument that there was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause..."

Recent polls indicate the public's growing dissatisfaction with the results of the Scalia Five's decision. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center and Princeton Survey Research Associates (June 13-17) showed George W. Bush's job approval rating at just 50 percent, down six points from March; the New York Times survey with CBS News (June 14-18) put the rating at 53 percent, down seven points from March. And Democracy Corps's Greenberg Quinlan Rosner poll (June 11-13) found that 48 percent of likely voters think the nation is currently on the "wrong track." Perhaps most tellingly, 25 percent of voters in the Democracy Corps poll said that the phrase "not really elected President" describes Bush "very well," with another 15 percent saying that it describes him "well"--in other words, six months after the Scalia Five coup, 40 percent of likely voters still believe Bush was not really elected President.

What then, is to be done?

The least we can do is know our own history, and to understand that what the Injustices did was an insult to the dreams and ideals of Lexington and Concord, Valley Forge and Jefferson and Paine, Gettsyburg and Lincoln and Douglass, Selma and King, Seneca Falls and Anthony, Delano and Chavez, Flint and Debs and Lewis. We can bear witness to injustice, in the nonviolent protest tradition of Thoreau, Gandhi, King, Havel, Robinson, Chavez.

The Scalia Five's judicial coup came down on the second Tuesday last December. So, on the second Tuesday of July, July 10, 2001, the Tuesday after the Pro-Democracy Convention in Philadelphia, the Tuesday between Independence Day and Bastille Day, the Institute for Policy Studies and friends are calling for a peaceful, nonviolent vigil at the Supreme Court building, at noon.

On July 10--and each Tuesday at noon from then on--let's gather at the scene of the crime, and bear witness to the truth. The Scalia Five won't be there; but we should be.

Bring a candle or a bell, like the Czechs a decade ago. Bring a copy of the Voters' Bill of Rights, or the US Constitution. Send an e-mail to all your friends, with your favorite quote from this list. Bring Pablo Neruda's and Marge Piercy's poems. Bring the next generation, so they will never forget. Bring your commitment to restore, rebuild, and expand American democracy. The Supreme Court cheated. Democracy lost. For now.
©2001 STEVE COBBLE

Send $100 or $1000 to The Heritage Foundation or Other Right-Wing Groups

This ultra-conservative group needs donations! Lend them a helping hand by sending them a few $100 or $1000 bills ... Confederate ones! Click here to print or download the bills. Send them to other right-wing groups as well!

And if you still want to annoy the Heritage Foundation, you can always go to their online donation form as soon as you try to leave the page, a pop-up window appears asking why you decided not to donate. Give them an explanation, but remember to be polite!

TO OUR REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS IN THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS

We, the undersigned voters, know that our cherished democracy is endangered from within by the grave and potentially fatal flaws in our voting systems exposed by the Presidential Election of 2000.

As our elected representatives, you have the duty, the opportunity, and the privilege to correct these flaws and to restore fair and honest elections throughout our nation. To this end, we charge you to construct and pass a VOTERS BILL OF RIGHTS, which shall include:

Strict enforcement and extension of the Voting Rights Act to prevent the disenfranchisement of voters and require full investigation and criminal prosecution of any offenders;

Standardized, easily understandable federal election ballots

Funding to replace old and unreliable voting machines to ensure that every vote is counted fairly and accurately

Genuine campaign finance reform that bans campaign contributions from special interests

Replacement of the Electoral College with a majority-rule election, or substantial reform of the Electoral College to allow for proportional representation

Measures to increase voter participation by eliminating bureaucratic hurdles to voter registration and turnout, including language barriers, physical barriers, archaic equipment, and lack of resources

Enactment and enforcement of a VOTERS BILL OF RIGHTS will restore trust in our government and encourage participation in our democratic processes. The linchpin of a democracy is the process by which we select our representatives and leaders. The right to vote is our defining right as citizens of this nation. We call upon our elected representatives to protect our Constitution from abusive exercise of government power by enacting a VOTERS BILL OF RIGHTS.

We pledge our full and constant support for enactment of a VOTERS BILL OF RIGHTS.

A Note of Protest:

It is likely that 50% of the U.S. population is strongly dissatisfied with the ascendancy of George W. Bush to the office of President. There are three likely reasons:
1. Bush won the election under questionable circumstances;
2. Bush has espoused a reactionary platform that places him far to the right of mainstream America;
3. Bush has demonstrated none of the intellectual attributes expected of a president.

In the interest of democracy, one could discredit election gripes (point number one) as being unfair to our longstanding electoral college process.. Also, one might disregard Bush’s agenda (point number two) because the hallmark of the United States Constitution is tolerance for divergent political and moral beliefs.

However, point number three leads to a more egregious problem, namely that a rather anonymous man, with no distinguishing ambition or vision has, by virtue of family wealth and connection, been installed as President of the United States. Even the most cursory glance at George W. Bush’s history and character builds a strong case for charges of nepotism and cronyism. Such a glaring display of favoritism, to benefit an individual with no considerable talent, runs counter to the spirit of competition and fair play that has driven the engine of American capitalism for more than two hundred years.

There is a way to tangibly and immediately raise a voice in protest of George W. Bush as President. For the remainder of his term, conscientious Americans should simply write "George W. Bush is an Idiot" on all U.S. currency that passes through their hands.

This protest has already begun. The first bills were marked and spent in San Francisco as of January 26, 2001. What is important, though, is to not only begin marking all currency (and to continue the effort throughout the Bush presidency), but to forward this memo as much as possible so as to replicate the message throughout our money supply.

In an effort to mark money more industriously, many of us have ordered a BUSH IS A FRAUD rubber stamp; these self-inking rubber stamps are useful for marking the "Fraud" message in red ink.

Make your voice heard,
Steven Capozzola
San Francisco, California