Wrong.

A Homeland Security Department spokesman was held Wednesday on felony charges of sexually preying on a detective posing as a 14-year-old girl through explicit online conversations. He was quickly suspended without pay from one of the nation’s top crime-fighting agencies.

The arrest of Brian J. Doyle, 55, raised doubts about the ability of an agency responsible for safeguarding the country to ensure the security credentials of its own people.

Gee, ya think?

Of course, it can’t get much worse than this, right?

Wrong.

When an Orlando mall security officer responded to a complaint about a man exposing himself to a girl in the food court, the suspect hurried out of the mall and ran through the parking lot.

The suspect was Frank Figueroa, then one of Florida’s highest-ranking federal law enforcement officers and the former head of a national program formed to target child sex predators.

In a total lack of coincidence, the previous article about Mr. Doyle notes that Operation Predator is run by the Department of Homeland Security:

Homeland Security also oversees an Operation Predator unit, which investigates child predators and pornographers.

That’s right, a guy who ran the DHS’ anti-child-trafficking program flashed a 16 year old girl…and it may not be the first time:

Homeland Security responded in writing Dec. 5, through Pamela J. Turner, assistant secretary for legislative affairs. Turner said Figueroa had been arrested “for similar behavior” in Amherst, N.Y., in 1977.

The case was dismissed, Turner wrote, “in the interest of justice because the perpetrator was never identified.”

At the time, Figueroa was an inspector with the Buffalo, N.Y., customs office.

Because of the earlier arrest, Turner wrote, ICE has initiated a review of all background investigations of employees who work on Operation Predator. She did not say whether a prior arrest would preclude work with the unit.

In Figueroa’s defense, he has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer insists that the ‘77 case, which was dropped, is irrelevant. Our nation is founded on laws that protect people charged with crimes. In America, we are all innocent until proven guilty.

That, however, is the very point I’m making here. These two cases raise an important question: just who is Bush talking about giving unlimited spying power to? The Bill of Rights was written specifically because men are not angels. Brian Doyle and Frank Figueroa may well be innocent of the charges they are accused of, but the simple truth is that these crimes are committed, and we know they’re committed more widely than anyone really knows. What kind of havoc could a sexual predator, or a violent bigot, or a stalker looking for revenge wreak with the power of the DHS or NSA, and no one watching the watchmen?

What was that question about why people with nothing to hide might be afraid of Big Brother?

There is a reason that Congress was given the power to hold the executive branch accountable. There’s a reason FISA was created. There’s a reason the Founding Fathers warned their heirs — us — of the dangers that arise when we give leaders too much power during wartime. That reason is staring us in the face at this very moment — whether we travel down a road paved with the best of intentions or are undermined by those whose intents are evil from the beginning, the final destination ahead is always abuse, fear, and ultimately, tyranny.

(Crossposted from The Justice Log.)

(/) Roland X
“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.”

Welcome to Bizarro World: as Iraq melts down in the wake of the Shi’a shrine bombing, Bush’s top priority appears to be making sure that some of Osama bin Laden’s best friends are given the keys to America’s ports:

From March, 2004:

The Central Intelligence Agency did not target Al Qaeda chief Osama bin laden once as he had the royal family of the United Arab Emirates with him in Afghanistan, the agency’s director, George Tenet, told the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States on Thursday.

Had the CIA targeted bin Laden, half the royal family would have been wiped out as well, he said.

I don’t see how it’s a good idea to hand over ports to Bin Laden’s pals.

Again, this is not about an “Arab company,” this is a company owned and controlled by the hereditary oligarchy of the UAE, many of whom, apparently, were Bin Laden’s jolly old pals.

Read the rest…

Well, the Daily Google was a wonderful idea, but given my (non-)copious free time, it was a bit…overly ambitious, shall we say. Therefore, this article series is now called the Weekly Google, and hopefully, it will be a bit more reliable in its release. Pardon our dust and all that. :-)

This week, we look into a topic that the East Valley Democrats will be addressing more regularly as November approaches: the Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the heck of a job he’s been doing for California.

Let’s start with Ahnold’s supposed strength: the budget. I say supposed because even some conservatives are amazed at his penchant for borrowing and spending:

Only a few years into the current boom, some states are already making the same mistake of overspending. In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a budget increase for fiscal 2007 of 8.4 percent, which follows a 9.7 percent increase in 2006. This is the same governor who, in 2003, said, “if you spend, spend, spend, then you have tax, tax, tax, but all of a sudden you say, ‘Where are the jobs?’ Gone, gone, gone.”

In seeking reelection this year, Schwarzenegger has found a new interest in “spend, spend, spend.”

Not that he’ll “tax, tax, tax,” of course. He’d rather go into debt, debt, debt — to the tune of $68 billion of bond debt alone.

Then again, Mr. Economy can’t even keep his own campaign in the black. The Schwarzenegger campaign already owes $400,000. I’m sure that when you’re a multi-millionaire ex-superstar, you don’t have to worry about where your next $100-per-fillup Hummer is coming from, but running for office costs real money, as does running a state.

Of course, in the wake of his initiative debacle, he needs to buy back some good will. A pity he means to do so literally, with the taxpayers’ money, over the next two decades. These cynical efforts have shown some small success, but for a man who once loomed over California politics like a colossus, his still-anemic %40 approval rating shows that the majority of Californians see through this desperate change of kabuki masks. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that the Governator spoke proudly of “kicking the butts” of California’s nurses, teachers, police officers and firefighters.

Well, at least now we know he’s better as an actor than as Governor.

The Blue Phoenix
It’s time to rise

Um, I thought we were at war:

President Bush will use his new budget to propose cutting the size of the Army Reserve to its lowest level in three decades and stripping up to $4 billion next year from two fighter aircraft programs.

…

Under the plan, the authorized troop strength of the Army Reserve would drop from 205,000 - the current number of slots it is allowed - to 188,000, the number of soldiers it had at the end of 2005. Because of recruiting and other problems, the Army Reserve has been unable to fill its ranks to its authorized level.

Army leaders have already said they are taking a similar approach to shrinking the National Guard, which the Army is proposing to cut from its authorized level of 350,000 soldiers to 333,000, the number now on National Guard rolls.

Now I’m not going to weigh in on the fighter craft issue, since it involves some money juggling that might get our Air Force more F-22s in the long run. Considering the problems in Iraq and the shortages of manpower displayed by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I have to ask…what are they thinking?!?

Or, as one blogger said on AMERICAblog:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Because you can’t recruit (oh, I wonder why?) your answer is to CUT the size of the military at a time war? WTF!! Tax cuts stay, we don’t need more money in a time of war!

Of course, this could be overreacting. After all, no less of an American than Tom “the Hammer” DeLay (indictments? what indictments?) maintained a vital perspective on this issue:

DeLay also said it was Congress’ duty in a time of war to significantly cut taxes. “Nothing is more important in the face of a war than cutting taxes,” he said.

And thus we clearly see the face of the modern GOP. Nothing is more important than reducing the tax “burden” of the rich. Not security, not stability, not liberty, not justice, not even the centerpiece of their party platform for the past several years, the “War on Terror.” Then again, I suppose this represents Bush “staying the course” on his relationship with the National Guard.

The Blue Phoenix
It’s time to rise

Thank you Senator Feinstein!

The last two days have been amazing.

Early Thursday afternoon, we broke the news that Senator John Kerry would lead a filibuster against Judge Sam Alito if he could get 41 Senators to sustain the filibuster. Three hours later, CNN confirmed our story.

…

But even as Karl Rove was doing his dirty work, progressive activists like you were calling your Senators urging them to support John Kerry’s filibuster.

And one by one, Democratic Senators began to turn around.

http://democrats.com/alito-48

At the start of the day, only Dick Durbin and Debbie Stabenow supported Kerry and Kennedy. Just before noon, Hillary Clinton’s office called to say she supported us. Then Harry Reid came on board, along with Barbara Boxer, Russ Feingold, Ron Wyden, Chris Dodd, and (I think) Chuck Schumer.

Most importantly, we even picked up Dianne Feinstein, who just yesterday said she opposed a filibuster.

Bold type theirs, italics mine.

This is simply amazing news. Senator Feinstein has really come through after some initial, disappointing opposition to the Alito filibuster, and I believe she deserves our praise for her willingness to oppose this radical transformation of the Supreme Court. Bravo.

Update: Senator Feinstein makes the statement on her own site.

The Blue Phoenix
It’s time to rise

Greetings, and welcome to the East Valley Democratic Club’s blog. Here, we fight for our basic rights and liberties in the face of an increasingly authoritarian administration in Washington and the vapid Governator here at home.

Fighting words? You bet. We are your father’s Democrats — two-fisted, passionate, and ready to stand up for what we believe in. Formed around a core of activists united by the Dean candidacy, we have taken his call to the “Democratic wing of the Democratic party” (originally coined by Paul Wellstone) to heart. Setting triangulation and appeasement aside, we intend to let America know what we stand for and what we believe in, no apologies, no regrets. It’s time to stop giving plum government positions to corporate lobbyists and incompetent cronies. It’s time to end unilateral wars that distract us from America’s real enemies and put the focus back on the murderers who want us dead. It’s time to return our attention to a badly abused environment before it turns against us. It’s time to stop shoveling money at the obscenely rich and restore hope to the people who do the work in this country. It’s time to put an end to torture and illegal spying — violations of the fundamental principles America was founded on — and restore our republic’s good name. In short, it’s time to restore liberty and justice for all.

Read the rest…