agitprop version 2.0

Bush's "Peter Principle" Appointment

NEWSFLASH: U.S. Supreme Court Seats Now Up For Sale!
An Exclusive Joint Report by Agi T. Prop and Blogenfreude

Sure, a Supreme Court seat costs more than say, a FEMA directorship, but if you do the time (or make the requisite contributions), you too can have a seat on the nation’s highest court!

Harriet Miers will forever be known as the Michael Brown of the federal judiciary. If Michael Brown epitomized Bush-era cronyism in the executive branch, Miers--who has no judicial experience whatsoever--will be the holy beacon of cronyism in the judiciary. By nominating his own personal lawyer to the highest court in the land, Bush has proved that he still has some cojones. Here's the latest dispatch from People for the American Way, an evil communist organization that hates freedom, loves terrorists and wants to destroy America:

“President Bush has nominated his personal lawyer and long-time friend to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court. His choice raises serious questions about whether he has found a nominee who has the requisite qualifications and independence for the nation’s highest court.   This nomination will require the closest scrutiny by the Senate,” said Neas.  “With no past judicial experience for the senators to consider, the burden will be on Miers to be forthright with the Senate and the American people.  She must outline her judicial philosophy and provide direct answers to questions about how – and whether – she will uphold fundamental rights, liberties and legal protections on which Americans rely.”

Now I understand why PFAW President Ralph Neas is #10 in the 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America--he believes in open government, impartial courts and civil liberties! But, back to Miers.

Her 30+ year experience as a corporate lawyer with big Texas firms is certain to make her a strong defender of corporate hegemony against the rights of individuals and consumers. Her time spent as the Dear Leader's personal lawyer foreshadows her championing executive power and privilege. She will rubber stamp Bush's pre-emptive wars and indefinite detentions of "enemy combatants". While Governor of Texas, Bush referred to Miers as "a pitbull in size 6 shoes".

MORE INFO: Matt nails it--Miers doesn't look like a pitbull, she looks like Iggy Pop with lipstick and dark eye-liner. Attytood uncovers Miers' role in the AWOL Bush/National Guard Scandal. NPR offers good coverage of the nomination.

UPDATE: People act quickly on the internets. Did you know that Harriet Miers has a blog? The Orwellian-named right-wing advocacy group Progress for America already thinks Miers is confirmed. Check out their latest web project: JusticeMiers.com

tags: harriet miers

Pledge of Allegiance

Wingnuts, freepers and other American Idiots have their panties in a knot over U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton's decision to declare "under God" as unconstitutional. Can we expect Pat Robertson and the other members of the American Taliban to issue fatwas for the head of Activist Judge Karlton? Hell yes! Torture General Alberto Gonzales has publicly pledged to fight this ruling.

The Culture Ghost gleefully enjoys the furious right-wing reaction to this ruling. John C reminds us that the words "under God" were inserted in the pledge during the 1950's, that nostalgic era of kept housewives, racial segregation and anti-communist fervor.

Personally, I could give a damn whether or not the words "under God" are in the pledge of allegiance. The pledge is merely a mindless Pavlovian exercise for children who don't even know what words they are reciting at eight o'clock every morning. In my schooling experience the pledge was always followed by prayers and intercessions (I went to Catholic school).

Here's Jello Biafra's take on the pledge, from his spoken word album I Blow Minds For A Living:

I pledge defiance to the flag
Of the United Snakes of Captivity
And to the Republic for which it stands,
I dip it in kerosene, and stick it up the ass of you know who and light it
One nation, under God--or else
One nation, under psychopathic Pentagon gangsters,
Whose idea of national security is concentration camps
For people who dare to use the drugs
That the CIA brings in and the government supplies themselves

One nation, under Wall Street:
If the cops and the government are all criminals,
I might as well be one too!
One Nation of sedated tabloid robots
Who actually believe what they see on tv, even on MTV!
But when asked they reply “I don’t care”

One nation, drowning in its own garbage
Indivisible from the fall of Rome
With liberty and justice for all (who can afford it)

Burn, Baby, Burn...

At which Jello goes on to talk about flag-burning.

pledge of allegiance

The Cruel Breeze of Legalese

Stoner #1:  Dude, he better lay off that shit if he wants to be Chief Justice.    

Stoner #2:  No doubt, his precedent is like ten times higher than stare decisis man!

Stoner #1:  Totally, and where's Ben Stein when you need him?

john roberts

With Rehnquist Dead, Roberts We Dread

                

Tagline: "I am the law"

Judge Dredd may have been a lame 1990's sci-fi/action film starring a sagging Sly Stallone. But Judge Dredd Roberts is real life horror film. He ain't no Dread Pirate Roberts. His soft, cushy boyish exterior will soon reveal a hardened heart, a programmed brain and a ruthless vacuous soul. A Chief Justice Roberts is not only Chief Justice of the Court, but he is Chief Justice of the United States.

Other AGITPROP films starring John Roberts:

[The Manchurian Candidate] [Go Johnny Go Go] [Up In Smoke] [Pillow Talk]

rehnquist

Stealth Nominee Roberts

            

According to Sean Hannity, four out the seven Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices have gone soft on conservatism and turned into moderates while serving on the Court. I heard a sound byte this morning from Insannity in which he hoped that John Roberts would remain an "originalist" in the mold of Rehnquist, Scalia and Thomas as opposed to those traitor justices Kennedy, O'Connor, Stevens and Souter. When Hannity says "originalist", I take that to mean someone who interprets the Constitution literally as it was ratified in 1789. In other words, African-Americans are 3/5 of a person, women are only good for having babies and slavery is a noble and integral part of the free market economy.

John Roberts looks like a nice guy, and he probably is. He is probably very intelligent too. But the more I think about Roberts, I realize that he is a lawyer's lawyer--one who loyally serves the interests of his client over the interests of the public as a whole. For his loyalty to the Reagan and Bush I administrations President Bush has rewarded Roberts with this Supreme Court appointment. He has been thoroughly programmed over the years during his work with the conservative activists of the Reagan Revolution. I'd be willing to bet that Roberts will not follow the path of those traitors but will instead honor his conservative roots and serve the Bush administration proudly.   

Other Agitprop films starring John Roberts:  [Go Johnny Go Go] [Up In Smoke] [Pillow Talk]

john roberts

Go Johnny Go Go

His mother told him 'Someday you will be a man, and you will be the leader of a big old band. Many people coming from miles around to hear you play your music when the sun go down. Maybe someday your name will be in lights, saying Johnny B. Goode tonight.' -- from Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry

It seems as if everyday there is some new information released about SCOTUS nominee John Roberts. Yesterday there was word that Roberts had assisted gay rights activists in preparing their case to the Supreme Court. Naturally, fundies like James Dobson and Fascists in the Family got their panties in a knot over that startling revelation. But today we learned that Roberts was in fact a faithful servant of the Reagan and Bush I administrations. The White House has refused to release memos from Roberts' service in the late 1980s and early 1990s. What are they hiding?    

I think John Roberts is the type of lawyer who merely exists to serve his client. When his client was the U.S. government and he worked in the Solicitor General's office in the Bush I administration under Grand Inquisitor Kenneth Starr, he argued for overturning Roe v. Wade and for weakening civil rights legislation. But when he worked as a private lawyer he was happy to defend gay rights activists in exhange for money. Typical lawyer, right?

Is John Roberts a decent guy who practices virtuous jurisprudence? Is he a slave to the rulers, one who faithfully serves his master? Or is he a judicial activist--a velvet glove that conceals a right-wing iron fist? I honestly have no hard-formed opinions about the man. I'm waiting to decide until I watch the Senate hearings this fall. 

   

What are your thoughts on John Roberts?

john roberts

John Roberts & The Federalist Society

The Washington Post reports that although Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. has repeatedly said that he has no memory of belonging to the Federalist Society, but his name does in fact appears in the organization's 1997-1998 leadership directory.

Having served only two years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit after a long career as a government and private-sector lawyer, Roberts has not amassed much of a public paper record that would show his judicial philosophy. Working with the Federalist Society would provide some clue of his sympathies. The organization keeps its membership rolls secret, but many key policymakers in the Bush administration are acknowledged current or former members . . . Yesterday, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Roberts "has no recollection of being a member of the Federalist Society, or its steering committee." Roberts has acknowledged taking part in some Federalist Society activities, Perino said. The Federalist Society was founded in 1982 by conservatives who disagreed with what they saw as a leftist tilt in the nation's law schools. The group sponsors legal symposia and similar activities and serves as a network for rising conservative lawyers.

How does one have no memory of belonging to an organization as influential and elitist as The Federalist Society? I admit that this story is less titillating than a pubic hair on a coke can, but it sounds like lying to me. I personally remember being a member of the Cub Scouts over eighteen years ago. Why can't Roberts remember his membership in The Federalist Society only seven or eight years ago? Either Roberts is hiding his membership in order to deceive the American people or he is a chronic pot-smoker who's memory has been virtually erased from decades of toking. I would venture to guess that it's the former reason.

Although The Federalist Society states that their goals are to combat the plague of liberalism affecting American with conservative-libertarian jurisprudence, their ultimate goal is a return to 19th century America ripe with capitalist robber barons and non-existent labor unions. Their Board of Visitors includes Robert Bork and Orrin Hatch as co-chairmen. Their recommended reading list for pre-law students features Milton Friedman for economics, Irving Kristol and Thomas Sowell for neoconservative ideology, and Antonin Scalia and Robert Bork for constitutional law and political theory. I certainly can't pass up that reading list . . .

            

             

john roberts

And They Call It Monkey Love...

               

President Bush admires his conservative nominee for the Supreme Court, federal appeals judge John G. Roberts Jr.

He's like so better looking than Condi!