Politics As Usual

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
why do you think the government would do a better job of this than your corporate clients?

My clients don't pretend to lose documents they have, and they don't get away with saying they'll produce documents and then just dicking around. Maybe they just need better lawyers.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
oh. this was meant to call for a response from the 3 (at least) lefties who claim to do litigation.

I am NOT a lefty. Anyway, when dealing with military records especially, the absence of 30 year old documents can hardly be described as unusual.

In fact, it is probably as common and regrettable as the deplorable records of national service of dissolute children of privilege in the Baby Boom generation.

S_A_M

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Not Me
Bush Lied!

Clarke Was Out of the Loop!

S_A_M

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
In fact, it is probably as common and regrettable as the deplorable records of national service of dissolute children of privilege in the Baby Boom generation.

S_A_M

Daa-um. SAM, I know Hank was teasing, but that's no reason to go all medieval on his ass. Really, he was in Alberta for a JOB. Let's let sleeping dogs lie.

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
My clients don't pretend to lose documents they have, and they don't get away with saying they'll produce documents and then just dicking around. Maybe they just need better lawyers.

You have honest clients . . .

[SlaveNoMore]

sgtclub
You have honest clients . . .

:rofl:

good one.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
My clients don't pretend to lose documents they have, and they don't get away with saying they'll produce documents and then just dicking around. Maybe they just need better lawyers.

So you're saying there's nothing unusual, except for those of us willing to buy into your delusions?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Does anyone know anything about the Michael Badnarik campaign for the Libertarian Party? http://www.electoral-vote.com/ is saying that he's polling at about 1% in the midwest. "Its support is coming almost entirely from disgruntled Republicans who like Bush's stand on taxes but dislike his approach to social issues." Not quite Nader's 3-6%, but this is one of those "hey you never know" sort of elections.

Also, apparently the Mason/Dixon poll has North Carolina at a 3% Bush advantage. That's a significant difference from the Gallup poll that had Bush/Cheney comfortably ahead by 15 points.

Read yesterday that his views are way out there. He hasn't filed income taxes for years because he wants the IRS to prove to him its legitimacy. Also refuses to get a driver's license because Texas wants (e.g.) his SSN for it, and as a result has been ticketed many times for driving without a license.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by sgtclub
You have honest clients . . .

Or none.

The only reason clients ever produce something resembling a complete production is because the lawyers ride their ass until it happens. And even then there are the hidden file cabinets.

Of course, I don't think Ty works for Shook, Hardy.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

An update on the introduction of the rule of law in Baghdad:

• Iyad Allawi, the new Prime Minister of Iraq, pulled a pistol and executed as many as six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station, just days before Washington handed control of the country to his interim government, according to two people who allege they witnessed the killings.
  
  ....the informants told the Herald that Dr Allawi shot each young man in the head as about a dozen Iraqi policemen and four Americans from the Prime Minister's personal security team watched in stunned silence.
  
  ....The Herald has established the names of three of the prisoners alleged to have been killed....The three names were provided to the Interior Ministry, where senior adviser Sabah Khadum undertook to provide a status report on each. He was asked if they were prisoners, were they alive or had they died in custody.
  
  But the next day he cut short an interview by hanging up the phone, saying only: "I have no information — I don't want to comment on that specific matter."

From the Sydney Morning Herald, by way of Political Animal.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by sgtclub
Understood. But the lefties tend to be on the costs and not in the heartland.

Let's not assume this means that therre's no activism going on in that heartland, OK?

Liberals have had their runs at dominating the federal court system, now it's the Republicans' turn. It’s not a sport, but it has some spectacular gyrations: Call it judicial flip-flopping.

Most recently, it's played by federal judges in Wyoming and Washington, D.C. -- one ordering the National Park Service to ban snowmobiles in Yellowstone Park, and the other ordering the Park Service to allow snowmobiles.

In another flip-flop, different federal judges ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to run Missouri River dams to cause high river flows for barge traffic, and low flows for endangered species.

One federal judge in Idaho tosses out the roadless forest initiative, which protected 56 million acres, then the appeals court in San Francisco reinstalls the protection.

Meanwhile, another federal judge in Wyoming (the one who likes snowmobiles) tosses out the forest protection initiative again, a ruling that is now in the appeals court in Denver, where it may become yet another flip-flop.

We can retire once and for all the idealistic notion that the federal courts are a sanctuary from sweaty politics.

Just as another allegedly sacred institution costumed in robes -- the Catholic Church -- has been exposed as human, the federal courts are also being exposed. It's important for Westerners, because federal judges have more influence here than in any other region.

Judges decide countless issues related to all the federal land -- rulings that affect not only the environment but also local economies, recreation, the trademark scenery and wildlife, the whole feel of the region. Even as they try to rule based on the intricacies of law and facts, judges are bound to show personal leanings, based on their own experiences and beliefs.

Hence a native Wyoming judge, Clarence Brimmer, who is unabashedly rooted in a culture of oil and gas drilling and ranching, views snowmobiles in the national park as acceptable. No surprise; Judge Brimmer has a long pattern of rulings against wilderness protection and for cattle grazing.

Meanwhile, his D.C. counterpart, Judge Emmet Sullivan, has a different pattern -- not only ruling against snowmobiles, but also ordering Vice President Dick Cheney to cough up records of his energy task force, and ruling against a nuclear-waste dump in California.

Judges' leanings show up even in the most basic breakdown, by political party.

In environmental cases, judges appointed by Republican presidents are more likely to rule in favor of industry, compared to judges appointed by Democratic presidents -- a general conclusion of statistical studies. In the snowmobile example, Judge Brimmer was appointed by Republican President Gerald Ford. Judge Sullivan was appointed to his current job by Democratic President Bill Clinton.

In all kinds of cases, judges appointed by Republican presidents tend to want fewer laws and regulations, while invoking Christian religion to circumscribe personal freedoms.

Today’s courts are already shaped by right-wing influence. That wing has held the presidency for 16 of the last 24 years, with Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and now George W. Bush. As a result, 57 percent of all federal judges holding the coveted lifetime positions were appointed by Republican presidents.

link

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Or none.

The only reason clients ever produce something resembling a complete production is because the lawyers ride their ass until it happens. And even then there are the hidden file cabinets.

Of course, I don't think Ty works for Shook, Hardy.

pet peeve.

the guy who taught me would say get the crap produced and be done with it. a lawsuit has momentum. get your worst facts out early then turn it around. plus give it all up, then in response to 2nd round of requests you can say "you have all that."

So I tell clients let's get it over with, we're supposed to, plus it makes sense in the long run.

6 months later the client is saying why am I paying you to fight them to give up documents and why did I give them up?

then the cutest part is the magistrate deciding he hates both sides because you need to go in so often.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
An update on the introduction of the rule of law in Baghdad:

[Pistol-packin' Dr. Allawi, carryin' out justice -- Iraqi Style]

Wow. Well, this puts him one up on Dr. Frist.

[The Larry Davis Experience]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
then the cutest part is the magistrate deciding he hates both sides because you need to go in so often.

So you're saying that if I keep bringing this up I'll get you to hate the admin too?

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
An update on the introduction of the rule of law in Baghdad:

• Iyad Allawi, the new Prime Minister of Iraq, pulled a pistol and executed as many as six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station, just days before Washington handed control of the country to his interim government, according to two people who allege they witnessed the killings.
  
  ....the informants told the Herald that Dr Allawi shot each young man in the head as about a dozen Iraqi policemen and four Americans from the Prime Minister's personal security team watched in stunned silence.
  
  ....The Herald has established the names of three of the prisoners alleged to have been killed....The three names were provided to the Interior Ministry, where senior adviser Sabah Khadum undertook to provide a status report on each. He was asked if they were prisoners, were they alive or had they died in custody.
  
  But the next day he cut short an interview by hanging up the phone, saying only: "I have no information — I don't want to comment on that specific matter."

From the Sydney Morning Herald, by way of Political Animal.

So he put panties on some people's heads. Big friggin deal.