Sherry Chandler

Must reads

From the ACLU’s Blog of Rights: Heads: Detention, Tails: Detention

This plan, if carried out, would give President Obama the dubious distinction of being the first president in our nation�s history to seek congressional codification of an expansive system of preventive detention. Perhaps even more telling, however, the plan amounts to a plea for Congress to enshrine into law, perhaps with some as-of-yet-undefined oversight, the power that President Bush asserted without any statutory support.

From I See Invisible People: A Justice for All?

I�ve been watching the brouhaha over Sonia Sottomayor with a little bit of caution and a great deal of cynicism. Yes, she�s a woman. Yes, she�s Hispanic. I got that part. Now tell me where she stands on Roe v. Wade and the Lily Ledbetter case.

Liberal women are being patted on the head by the Obama administration and told to relax and trust him. Sorry, dude. Your track record doesn�t merit that kind of faith. Barely 100 days into his administration, Obama is backtracking on too many issues for me to give him the benefit of the doubt on this.

And Glenn Greenwald: Obama’s support for the new Graham-Lieberman secrecy law

It was one thing when President Obama reversed himself last month by announcing that he would appeal the Second Circuit’s ruling that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) compelled disclosure of various photographs of detainee abuse sought by the ACLU. Agree or disagree with Obama’s decision, at least the basic legal framework of transparency was being respected, since Obama’s actions amounted to nothing more than a request that the Supreme Court review whether the mandates of FOIA actually required disclosure in this case. But now — obviously anticipating that the Government is likely to lose in court again (.pdf) — Obama wants Congress to change FOIA by retroactively narrowing its disclosure requirements, prevent a legal ruling by the courts, and vest himself with brand new secrecy powers under the law which, just as a factual matter, not even George Bush sought for himself.

The White House is actively supporting a new bill jointly sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman — called The Detainee Photographic Records Protection Act of 2009 — that literally has no purpose other than to allow the government to suppress any “photograph taken between September 11, 2001 and January 22, 2009 relating to the treatment of individuals engaged, captured, or detained after September 11, 2001, by the Armed Forces of the United States in operations outside of the United States.”

But lest one think my entire view of Mr. Obama is negative, I do think he has some charm, and I think Michelle Obama’s dress is smashing.

�I am taking my wife to New York City,� the president said in the statement, �because I promised her during the campaign that I would take her to a Broadway show after it was all finished.�

Holler 11 and some other stuff

Holler Poets Series finds unlikely home to quench a literary thirst

The Holler Poets don’t shout, but they sometimes lean into the microphone to be heard over the noise of the bar.

Yes, the bar. Al’s Bar, the seedy-chic establishment at Sixth and Limestone in North Lexington, features live music, a great jukebox, possibly the city’s shortest beer list and literary enlightenment.

About once a month for the past year, Kentucky writers of poetry and prose � some of whom grew up in hollers � have gathered at the bar to read from their works.

The first event, marking the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, was called “Poets for Peace.” The next, on Wednesday, is “Holler 11: Poets for Peace in the Mountains.” In this case, “peace” would mean an end to the blasting that takes off the tops of mountains to get to the coal below.

Among the authors who will be reading: Silas House, Erik Reece, George Ella Lyon and Jane Gentry Vance.

Read it all and watch the embedded videos.

Then come to Holler 11 at Al’s Bar, corner of Sixth and Limestone in Lexington, on Wednesday, March 25, at 8:00 o’clock.
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You can watch the original Poets for Peace reading on YouTube.

Here is out current Poet Laureate, Jane Gentry:

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Also of interest: Audio of Affrilachian Poets reading in Chicago from Chicago Public Radio.

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And on other fronts, today is the twentieth anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill — 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound. But, of course, our SCOTUS in their wisdom decided Exxon had suffered enough.

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And it’s Doc Watson’s birthday.

Buying Judges

Massey Energy was back in the headlines at the NYTimes on Sunday:

MATEWAN, W.Va. � Don L. Blankenship, the chief executive of the nation�s fourth-biggest coal mining company, is not shy about putting his money where his mouth is when it comes to West Virginia politics.

In 2004, he spent $3 million on tough advertisements attacking a justice of the State Supreme Court who was seeking re-election. Some of the advertisements said the justice had agreed to free a sex offender.

�I thought we would beat him more easily than we did,� Mr. Blankenship said, reflecting on how hard it was to persuade voters.

Brent D. Benjamin won that election and went on to join the 3-to-2 majority that threw out a $50 million jury verdict against Mr. Blankenship�s company, Massey Energy.

The question of whether Justice Benjamin should have disqualified himself is now before the United States Supreme Court.

The case, one of the most important of the term, has the potential to change the way judicial elections are conducted and the way cases are heard in the 39 states that elect at least some of their judges. In many states, campaigns for court seats these days rival in both expense and venom what goes on in, say, a governor�s race. Yet it is commonplace in American courtrooms for judges to hear cases involving lawyers and litigants who have contributed to or spent money to support their campaigns.

Don L. Blankenship has shown up on these pages before (see below on related links). For some background check here and here. However, this case has its complexities. I suggest you read the whole article.

Also see Is America Ready to Quit Coal?