Filibuster Catch-All

[southsider2k5]

More assholeism by Robert Mugabe. The opposition leader is being held by police:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/world/af...05zimbabwe.html

 

Interesting to see where this goes, and what Mbeki has to say about it.

 

The whole reason they wanted him to come back from exile is so that they could imprison and kill him.

[NorthSideSox72]

As a follow up, CNN has a breaking news band at the top of their site saying:

Now further info - it was Zimbabwean police and soldiers who were in on the action. Not pretty.

 

[jackie hayes]

Pretty unreal.

 

Some conflicting info on Tsvanirai's arrest. From NSS's CNN link:

 

Police detained Tsvangirai on Wednesday, saying he was going to attend an unauthorized meeting in southern Zimbabwe. They released him 10 hours later without filing charges.

 

From the NYT:

 

Mr. Tsvangirai was held for nine hours and charged with drawing a big crowd before being released.

 

Which would be a funny charge if it weren't so completely in character for Mugabe.

[jackie hayes]

The whole reason they wanted him to come back from exile is so that they could imprison and kill him.

Didn't he only come back after receiving assurances from the leaders of neighbor states that they would work to assure his safety? (Mbeki being the big one.) I thought I read something like that...

 

Actually, interesting note:

 

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was freed from police detention after a phone appeal by South African President Thabo Mbeki to the Harare government, Mbeki's spokesman said Thursday.

 

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iv_46j...TBCI3BHB0yH_B0g

 

Oh, and Mugabe's suspended all activities of aid groups in a starving country. Lots of good stuff there.

[jackie hayes]

Tsvangirai is being held by police. Again.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/inter...tsvangirai.html

[jackie hayes]

And again. And again. Tsvangirai arrested twice in one day, along with other top officials in his party.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/world/af...13zimbabwe.html

[HuskyCaucasian]

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/...en_anything.php

The White House pulled out the old executive privilege trump card at the last minute today to avert a House government oversight committee vote to hold Administration officials in contempt of Congress.

 

Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) has announced that EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson and Susan Dudley, administrator for information and regulatory affairs at the White House, have invoked executive privilege as the basis for not complying with subpoenas from Waxman's committee seeking documents about new smog requirements and a decision blocking California greenhouse gas limits.

 

Waxman postponed the vote on contempt in order to determine whether the statements of executive privilege were valid. "But," he emphasized, "to date I have not seen a valid instance of their executive privilege":

I don't thin

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we've had a

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ituation li

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e thi

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ince Richard Nixon wa

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pre

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ident.

When the Pre

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ident of the United

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tate

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, may have been involved in acting contrary to law and the evidence that would determine that que

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tion for Congre

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, in exerci

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ing our over

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ight, i

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being bloc

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ed by an a

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ertion of executive privilege. I would hope and expect thi

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admini

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tration would not be ma

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ing thi

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a

s

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ertion without a valid ba

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i

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for it, but to date I have not

s

een a valid in

s

tance of their executive privilege.

[lostfan]

This whole "Executive Privilege" thing is getting annoying. Clearly there is a need for it in order to maintain the integrity of separation of powers but wtf. Abuse of it does the exact opposite.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Steve Colbert launched a new Green Screen Challenge earlier this month. It uses footage of McCain iin front of a "green screen" the day Obama won the Democratic nomination. I LOVED his first green screen challenge. Colbert "gets it".

 

Check these out, pretty funny....

 

 

McCain Headroom LMAO!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 22, 2008 by Athomeboy_2000

[jackie hayes]

Tsvangirai dropped out of the runoff election, saying the government-sponsored violence has made a free and fair election impossible. Pretty obvious to anyone who's not a shill for Mugabe. Speaking of which, your move, Mbeki.

[Balta1701]

From the "You have so got to be kidding me" file...

 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky seems to be getting a Libertarian party challenger. His name, Sonny Landham.

 

His claim to fame?

 

The movie Predator.

 

It seems fighting an Alien in South American jungles is by far the best training for public office in the U.S. you could ask for. He ought to run for governor if this run doesn't succeed.

[jackie hayes]

Election day in Zimbabwe! Democracy in action! And by "democracy", I mean threatening the life and home of anyone who doesn't want to vote, informing people that their votes will be recorded and checked, blocking people from the South African embassy, and, of course, prohibiting journalists from covering anything.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080627/ap_on_re_af/zimbabwe

 

Oh, and Thabo Mbeki is a f***ing coward.

[jackie hayes]

Official results in Zimbabwe's "election" (man, they were sure able to get a vote count quickly this time!):

The electoral commission said total results showed more than 2 million votes for Mugabe, and 233,000 for opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai. Turnout was put at about 42 percent, and 131,000 ballots had been defaced or otherwise spoiled, apparently as an act of protest.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080629/ap_on_re_af/zimbabwe

 

I read something recently suggesting that Mugabe would have to give Tsvangirai enough votes to make the election look credible, and I really didn't understand why he'd even bother. Apparently he didn't see the need, either. He was "sworn" in shortly after the "results" were announced.

 

The US is preparing sanctions, but they will likely not have much of an effect, since China and South Africa are unlikely to go along with it.

 

And I was wrong about Thabo Mbeki. He's not merely a coward, he's scum, as well.

Edited June 29, 2008 by jackie hayes

[southsider2k5]

Official results in Zimbabwe's "election" (man, they were sure able to get a vote count quickly this time!):

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080629/ap_on_re_af/zimbabwe

 

I read something recently suggesting that Mugabe would have to give Tsvangirai enough votes to make the election look credible, and I really didn't understand why he'd even bother. Apparently he didn't see the need, either. He was "sworn" in shortly after the "results" were announced.

 

The US is preparing sanctions, but they will likely not have much of an effect, since China and South Africa are unlikely to go along with it.

 

And I was wrong about Thabo Mbeki. He's not merely a coward, he's scum, as well.

 

Sanctions aren't going to matter because there is no economy there left to destroy. They took care of that years ago...

[jackie hayes]

Sanctions aren't going to matter because there is no economy there left to destroy. They took care of that years ago...

They would matter if they'd squeeze Mugabe and his cronies.

[southsider2k5]

They would matter if they'd squeeze Mugabe and his cronies.

 

If food shortages, political witchhunts, and one million percent inflation haven't done that, I don't know what will. I think this election was Zimbabwe's last good chance for a while. I think they are pretty much stuck until the guy dies now.

[jackie hayes]

If food shortages, political witchhunts, and one million percent inflation haven't done that, I don't know what will. I think this election was Zimbabwe's last good chance for a while. I think they are pretty much stuck until the guy dies now.

Disagree. An arms embargo could be pretty useful, I'd guess, and it would weaken a key Mugabe prop without exacerbating the food/currency problem. It probably won't happen, but it should.

[jackie hayes]

The Colombian military freed 15 FARC hostages, including 3 Americans as well as Ingrid Betancourt, a Colombian politician.

 

The whole story is worth checking out. And the man in charge of checking the medical condition of the freed American hostages? Col Jackie Hayes. If that doesn't promise quality, I don't know what does.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/04/world/am...s/04rescue.html

[knightni]

Random online image:

 

http://www.charredtech.com/wp-content/uplo.../r315812455.jpg

[Rex Kickass]

If food shortages, political witchhunts, and one million percent inflation haven't done that, I don't know what will. I think this election was Zimbabwe's last good chance for a while. I think they are pretty much stuck until the guy dies now.

Dude is almost 80 so... that might not be too long from now.

[BigSqwert]

I don't think it's possible to find a more perfect example of irony.