Bush backs bid to block gays from marrying

President Bush said July 31 that while he believed Americans should treat gays in a welcoming and respectful manner, he remained firmly opposed to gay marriages and that administration lawyers were working to ensure that the term “marriage” would cover only unions between men and women.

“I am mindful that we’re all sinners,” the president said. “On the other hand, that does not mean that somebody like me needs to compromise on issues such as marriage. And that’s really where the issue is headed here in Washington, and that is the definition of marriage. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman, and I believe we ought to codify that one way or the other and we have lawyers looking at the best way to do that.”

While Bush’s response had political clarity, it left supporters on both sides of the issue puzzled as to the legal aspects. The reason is that there already is a law, known as the Defense of Marriage Act, that appears to address the two principal concerns of gay marriage opponents. The law, signed by President Clinton in 1996, prohibits any federal recognition of gay marriage.

“We can’t figure out what it means,” Winnie Stachelberg, the political director of the Human Rights Coalition, a large Washington-based advocacy group for gay rights, said of Bush’s comments.

“We already have a law that meets those conditions — that is, deny Americans the basic right to enter into a marriage with a partner of their choice and receive the same benefits as anyone else.” (New York Times)

ACLU challenges US anti-terrorism law

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the federal government on July 30 aimed at curbing the vastly expanded spy powers won under the anti-terrorism law passed soon after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The suit, filed in federal court in Detroit on behalf of six Arab-American groups, targets a key provision of the USA Patriot Act that gives the FBI more leeway to conduct domestic surveillance.

“This lawsuit is the first legal challenge to the USA Patriot Act, passed shortly and with almost no public debate after the terrorist attacks of September 11,” said Kary Moss, director of the Michigan chapter of the ACLU.

Attorney General John Ashcroft, who has described the Patriot Act as a critical weapon in the war declared by President Bush after the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, is a defendant in the ACLU suit along with FBI Director Robert Mueller.

Under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which the lawsuit challenges as unconstitutional, the FBI can secretly search and seize records, books, papers or other personal belongings of practically anyone, without a warrant and without showing probable cause.

The agency can also impose a lifelong “gag” order prohibiting anyone served with Section 215 orders from telling someone else about the investigation.

The ACLU’s lawsuit was filed just a week after the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to roll back another key provision of the Patriot Act. And Moss said more than 143 cities across the nation have now passed local resolutions against the Patriot Act in what she described as a groundswell of opposition to “the government’s war on the Bill of Rights.”

Mary Rose Oakar, head of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee that is one of the six plaintiffs in the ACLU case, noted that Arabs and Muslim-Americans have been the primary target of the FBI’s counter-terror measures after Sept. 11. (Reuters)

Whistleblower accuses White House of
launching ‘dirty-tricks campaign’

The former American diplomat who exposed false claims that Iraq was trying to purchase uranium from Niger has accused members of the Bush administration of a dirty tricks campaign against him.

The revelation of Joseph Wilson’s investigation in the African state forced President George Bush to retract claims about Iraq’s attempts to buy uranium made in his State of the Union speech two months before the war began.

The administration is alleged to have leaked the name of Wilson’s wife, an undercover CIA operative in the field of weapons of mass destruction, with the aim of discrediting him. It is said that Wilson was selected to go on the trip to Niger last year only after his wife, Valerie Plame, suggested him.

US intelligence officials and the Democrats are furious about the move, arguing that it jeopardizes Plame’s work and undermines her husband. They have called for an inquiry.

Her identity was revealed by Bob Novak, a syndicated columnist, who said that he was given the information by “two senior administration officials.”

His report was followed by allegations on neo-conservative web sites that Wilson was an opponent of the Iraq war, and had an interest in refuting the threat from Saddam Hussein’s alleged WMDs. (Independent (UK)

Surveillance proposal expanded

A passenger-screening system designed to help capture terrorists could also be used to target people suspected of violent crimes, under a proposal approved by Department of Homeland Security officials.

Previously, government officials said the surveillance system known as CAPPS II would be used only to target potential terrorists and their allies — limits intended to assuage concerns about the program’s impact on privacy and civil liberties.

Plans called for using commercial information services to sort through demographic and marketing data to establish whether passengers are “rooted in the community.” Classified government computers would then review passengers with questionable reports for signs of terrorist intent. Anyone flagged by the system would receive extra screening or, in some circumstances, be detained.

A draft of a notice to be published in the Federal Register says “such information may be shared between law enforcement agencies and the Department of Homeland Security and appropriate action may be taken.” The document was reviewed by White House officials and signed by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge several days ago.

Officials envision deploying CAPPS II — short for the second-generation computer-assisted passenger pre-screening system — to screen truckers, railroad conductors and other transportation workers.

Although officials had said CAPPS II would be operational by now, it has been delayed by questions about the technology and its potential intrusiveness.

Civil libertarians complained earlier this year when Transportation Department lawyers issued a proposal that left open the possibility that the government could collect and keep a wide variety of records for decades.

While critics conceded that the new proposal narrows the use and collection of personal information, they contended that it appears to expand the potential applications of CAPPS II. (Washington Post)

US Senate report: World Bank, US agencies
subsidized corrupt Enron power project

A US Senate Committee last night released a report finding that the World Bank and US government institutions financed “questionable payments” by Enron for a Guatemalan power project. These payments, according to the investigation, “were disguised as add-on fuel charges in order to conceal them from US and Guatemalan tax authorities.”

The Senate Finance Committee report was completed in March 2003 but was only released to the public on July 29.  It concludes: “Enron benefited from taxpayer support and multilateral organization support to extend its international reach, including the Guatemalan power project with its questionable payments.” The report further notes that US government agencies have failed to pursue evidence of tax evasion and foreign corrupt practices associated with the scheme.

Despite these allegations, no case has been filed against Enron for possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or other relevant laws. (50 Years is Enough)

T.S.O.L. frontman running for governor of California

A singer perhaps best known for a song called “Abolish Government” is now hoping to join it.

Jack Grisham, frontman for the veteran punk group T.S.O.L., announced to MTV News on July 30 that he is running for governor of California in the controversial Oct. 7 recall election to unseat incumbent Democrat Gray Davis.

“I can’t afford health insurance, so I figure if I’m governor, at least they have a good health insurance plan,” Grisham joked. The charming singer made light of his first interview as a politician, but insisted his campaign is entirely serious.

“For years I was always, ‘F— the government. F— the government. F— the government.’ I was always bitching and not doing a thing about it,” he explained. “And the other day I said, ‘Now I am.’ I just got tired of seeing people hurt, that was the biggest thing. I got three sisters who are teachers, two brothers who are police officers, a bunch of friends who are labor workers, dock workers. I work with undocumented alien immigrants all the time and I got tired seeing what they go through and no one caring. And they put this new budget out and the first thing they slash is health care and the first thing they start screwing is the people.”

As for the state’s budget crisis, Grisham said he would hire top accountants to come up with solutions. “It’s like being a producer, you get the best people around you to take care of business,” he said.

On other issues, Grisham is for legalizing and taxing both marijuana and prostitution, and supports full amnesty for undocumented aliens.

Another entertainer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has confirmed that he will run as well. (MTV)