If we can see past the flames, and pictures of innocent dead children...

With all the horrors in the Middle East, it's been hard to concentrate on Constitutional issues, but a few bits of good news did surface this week.

1. Check out our friends at The Carpetbagger Report. They've been keeping on top of things as well as anyone in the blogosphere. Kudos in particular for an excellent report on the sputtering Alberto Gonzales testifying before Congress on the NSA Wiretapping. In particular: "Literally Obstructing Justice," and "Bush and the DoJ's Office of Professional Responsibility — Day 2."
2. The American Bar Association is getting in on the act regarding those illegal signing statements. (It's about time.) Again, at Carpetbagger, check out "Challenging signing statements — in court."
3. And in a particularly nice bit of legal work, "Bush's warrantless searches will go to court."

In the latter, a very sweet victory, the Electronic Frontier Foundation prevailed over AT&T because a Federal District Court Judge did not dismiss the EFF case against AT&T and the Bush administration for warrantless wiretaps. Which has made Sen. Specter reconsider his ill-considered legislation to make the Church Committee work void by making this program retroactively legal. As if we were still staring down the barrel of Soviet ACBMs! Geesh, these warmongers will use the terrorism excuse for everything, when terrorism is and always has been a fact of life among humans who oppress other humans. Oppression breeds more terrorism, you idiots. You want to stop terrorism, stop being fucking greedheads. Save your posturing for real threats, like those from Hitler, Lenin, and Stalin.

Speaking of the greedheads, since they can't win an election legitimately (and I do hope Lopes-Obradors in Mexico proves to be their undoing), and they've proven the adage that you can only fool some of the people all of the time, they're up to their old tricks in Georgia, going after their favorite target again, Rep. Cynthia McKinney. (Who is unflinching in going after them, natch. Makes her enemy number one.) Read more about that here:

REPORTS: GA Dem. Paperless Electronic Primary Votes Flipping from Cynthia McKinney to Opponent Hank Johnson.

Obviously we still have our work cut out for us, because as long as they control the way we vote, which controls Congress - the representatives of the Sovereign People, which means us - they are preventing us from firing their good-for-nothing asses, so we can find some people who are prepared to lead and govern this country on our behalf.

And maybe in the process find people who use REAL diplomacy to do something about North Korean missile tests, not to mention the Middle East. On a humorous note, you just have to read this blurb about this administration's idea of "diplomacy":

Snow: ‘Nobody Has Been More Diplomatically Active Than We Have’ On The Middle East Peace Process