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Constance Baker Motley
Via Daily Kos:
Constance Baker Motley, a civil rights lawyer who fought nearly every important civil rights case for two decades and then became the first black woman to serve as a federal judge, died yesterday at NYU Downtown Hospital in Manhattan. She was 84.
The cause was congestive heart failure, said Isolde Motley, her daughter-in-law.
Judge Motley was the first black woman to serve in the New York State Senate, as well as the first woman to be Manhattan borough president, a position that guaranteed her a voice in running the entire city under an earlier system of local government called the Board of Estimate.
Judge Motley was at the center of the firestorm that raged through the South in the two decades after World War II, as blacks and their white allies pressed to end the segregation that had gripped the region since Reconstruction. She visited the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in jail, sang freedom songs in churches that had been bombed, and spent a night under armed guard with Medgar Evers, the civil rights leader who was later murdered.
But her métier was in the quieter, painstaking preparation and presentation of lawsuits that paved the way to fuller societal participation by blacks. She dressed elegantly, spoke in a low, lilting voice and, in case after case, earned a reputation as the chief courtroom tactician of the civil rights movement.
Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama and other staunch segregationists yielded, kicking and screaming, to the verdicts of courts ruling against racial segregation. These huge victories were led by the N.A.A.C.P.'s Legal Defense and Education Fund, led by Thurgood Marshall, for which Judge Motley, Jack Greenberg, Robert Carter and a handful of other underpaid, overworked lawyers labored.
In particular, she directed the legal campaign that resulted in the admission of James H. Meredith to the University of Mississippi in 1962. She argued 10 cases before the United States Supreme Court and won nine of them.
Judge Motley won cases that ended segregation in Memphis restaurants and at whites-only lunch counters in Birmingham, Ala. She fought for King's right to march in Albany, Ga. She played an important role in representing blacks seeking admission to the Universities of Florida, Georgia Alabama and Mississippi and Clemson College in South Carolina.
Rest in peace.
Thanks for the information, Casey.
Heads Up: Vic and I are covering the Women's Leadership Forum today--we will have photos and stories from the event.
We are attending as learners, and of course, the DCP does not endorse any politician or political party. We hope to share with you what is being developed as strategy for empowering more women to take on leadership roles in their communities, and in government.
too bad Karen (what do you mean, you don't want to be just like me) Hughes won't be around-or is she back from her I am here to bring you the gospel of housewive tour?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. general in Iraq on Wednesday cast doubt on his previous forecasts of a substantial cut in American forces in 2006, saying Iraq was in a period of heightened uncertainty that made it "too soon to tell" if troops can be brought home.
In March and again in July, Army Gen. George Casey, who commands the 147,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, predicted a "fairly substantial" reduction in American forces next spring and summer if Iraq's political process goes positively and progress is made in developing Iraqi security forces. Pentagon officials said that meant a reduction of perhaps 20,000 to 30,000 troops.
After briefing U.S. lawmakers behind closed doors on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Casey was more cautious when asked whether the troop reduction was still possible.
"I think right now we're in a period of a little greater uncertainty than when I was asked that question back in July and March," Casey told reporters, noting that Iraqis vote on a draft constitution in an October 15 referendum and, if they endorse it, then elect a new government on December 15.
"This constitutional referendum and whether it is supported by the Sunnis to a large degree, I think, is something that we just have to watch to see how that comes out. So until we're done with this political process here, with the referendum and the elections in December, I think it's too soon to tell."
The draft constitution largely reflects the views of the Shi'ite Muslim majority and the Kurds leading the U.S.-backed Iraqi government rather than the minority Sunni Arabs who controlled Iraq under deposed President Saddam Hussein. Iraq's insurgency draws the bulk of its support from the Sunni Arab community.
'POSITIVE TRENDS'
"One of the most positive trends that we see across Iraq is the willingness of the Sunnis to participate in a political process. We have seen them registering in large numbers in all of the major Sunni provinces," Casey said.
Some Sunni political and religious leaders have urged Sunnis to register to vote in the referendum and plan to mount a "no" campaign with a view to defeating the constitution.
Casey was joined by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Gen. John Abizaid, the head of U.S. Central Command, in separate briefings on the Iraq war to members of the Senate and House of Representatives. They appeared earlier in the day with President George W. Bush at the White House and were due to testify on Thursday before the Senate and House armed services committees.
"There was nothing that we heard today to suggest that we are coming out of Iraq soon," Illinois Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin (news, bio, voting record) told reporters. "There is no indication from the president or the leadership that they have a plan that will bring our troops home soon."
"And in terms of the capability of the Iraqis to fend for themselves, defend their country, there's been no clear indication from this administration that they have the stand-up capability to do that. And until that happens, there is no end in sight," Durbin added.
Posted by: mkh at September 29, 2005 08:46 AM
Karen "I'm just a mom" Hughes is not having a very good time trying to influence the women of the Middle East that democracy means driving your kids to soccer matches in SUVs...
Turkish Women, Too, Have Words With U.S. Envoy (on Iraq War)
ISTANBUL, Sept. 28 - Under Secretary of State Karen P. Hughes, seeking common ground with leading women's rights advocates in Turkey, was confronted instead on Wednesday with anguished denunciations of the war in Iraq and what the women said were American efforts to export democracy by force.
It was the second day in a row that Ms. Hughes found herself at odds with groups of women on her "public diplomacy" tour, aimed at improving the American image in the Middle East. On Tuesday, she told Saudi Arabian women she would support efforts to raise their status but was taken aback when some of them responded that Americans misunderstand their embrace of traditions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/29/international/europe/29hughes.html?th&emc=th
I swear, but if the term " Under Secretary of State Karen P. Hughes" doesn't set your soul on fire, I don't know what will.
She is about as qualified for that title as Mike Brown was for his.
Sucker Mom's, Unite
September 28, 2005
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was too young and too busy to feel much effect from the social changes of the late 1960s.
"I was very young at the time of the counterculture. I was 12 or 13," Rice, 50, told an interviewer this week. "And I was a music major. All I did was play the piano and ice skate. And so I don't think I focused very much on the counterculture. "
Rice did not answer Fox News Channel reporter James Rosen's question about whether she ever did drugs. She suggested he return to asking questions about foreign policy.
But Rosen was on a roll. He also asked Rice whether she would like to have any superpowers.
"Superpowers?" said Rice, the most powerful woman in the Bush administration and arguably one of the most powerful people in the world, period.
Rosen tried again, and got this response: "I'd like to be able to see through walls."
This comment refers to the bottom of the previous thread where Lindy apologized to everyone but didn't ask GWB for the apology he owes her and the world.
I find it interesting that this was brought up because on my flight home, I spoke to a professor whose "specialty" was Japan and is currently writing a book describing the numerous times Japan has apologized for its role in WWII, yet every anniversary is asked to apologize again. (Each time, headlines read, "Japan apologizes for the first time!")
So this discussion was focused on the purpose of an apology:
1. to admit wrongdoing
2. to learn from the wrong doing
3. to be held accountable to society's laws because you have committed a violation of the law.
From those issues, we spoke about the admission of wrong doing from the U.S. gov't to the japaneese who were held in internment camps. BUT on the other hand, the U.S. gov't still refuses to apologize for slavery.
One aspect discussed was that the japaneese had an organized group demanding an apology and it took many years. The government (though our tax dollars) has paid for its violation of human rights to this group. Yet, even though blacks have an advocacy group demanding an apology, the U.S. has failed to apologize and refuses to pay reparations.
I asked her, "Why can't the people of the U.S. and the world demand an apology for the war in Iraq, demand an apology for the victims of the hurricane (sure looked like ethnic cleansing to me!), and demand an apology from the administration who intentionally chose to violate the Geneva Conventions which led to the prison abuse?"
Her response, "Who would demand the apology? We are the people of the U.S. How do we demand an apology from our own government? Others, the world at large, needs to keep demanding an apology from the U.S. government for the crimes against humanity. Others need to hold the government accountable for the systematic abuse of ethnic groups. And we the people of the U.S. need to hold our Congressmembers and the White House accountable for all abuses of power--not just corruption--but abuses of power."
Ok..so it seems to me the demand for an apology becomes a weapon of sorts as well as the morally correct thing to do.
What do you think?
Posted by: monkey at September 29, 2005 09:35 AM
And too bad we can't send Condi back to ice skating and movies because she surely doesn't have the job skills to be Secretary of State!
NeoCON corruption scorecard--warning: counting them takes fingers and toes!
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room
From Texas to Florida to Ohio, from K Street to Congress to the inner circles of the Bush administration itself, the Republican Party is suddenly -- or maybe not so -- looking like the party of scandal. You can't keep up without a scorecard. Here's ours.
Tom DeLay: The House majority leader was indicted today on a felony charge that he conspired to launder corporate campaign contributions through the national Republican Party in Washington and back to legislative candidates in Texas.
Bill Frist: The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are both investigating the Senate majority leader's sale of shares in his family's healthcare business just before the stock's value plummeted in June.
Jack Abramoff: The Republican super-lobbyist, known to have bragged about his contacts with Karl Rove, was indicted in Florida last month along with his business partner on wire fraud and conspiracy fraud charges related to their purchase of a fleet of gambling boats. This week, three men were arrested -- including two who received payments from Abramoff's business partner -- in the Mafia-style killing of the man from whom Abramoff and his partner purchased the gambling boats.
David Safavian: The president's chief procurement officer stepped down two weeks ago and was arrested last week on charges of lying to investigators and obstructing a separate federal investigation into Abramoff's dealings in Washington. Some Republicans who received campaign contributions from Safavian are divesting themselves of his money now.
Timothy Flanigan: The president's nominee to serve as deputy attorney general has announced that he will have to recuse himself from the Abramoff investigation if he is confirmed because he hired Abramoff to help the company where he works -- scandal-ridden Tyco International Ltd. -- lobby DeLay and Rove on tax issues.
Michael Brown: The president's FEMA director resigned earlier this month amid complaints about his handling of Hurricane Katrina and charges that he and other FEMA officials got their jobs based on political connections and cronyism rather than competence or qualifications.
Bob Taft: The Republican governor of Ohio pleaded guilty last month to criminal charges based on his failure to report gifts as required by state law, among them golfing trips paid for by Tom Noe, a major Republican fundraiser who is the subject of his own scandal regarding the state's investment in $50 million in rare coins, some of which have mysteriously gone missing.
Randy "Duke" Cunningham: A federal grand jury in San Diego is investigating allegations that the veteran Republican congressman received financial favors from a defense contractor who allegedly bought Cunningham's house at an inflated price and let him live for free on the contractor's 42-foot yacht.
Ernie Fletcher: The Republican governor of Kentucky has refused to answer questions from a grand jury investigating whether his administration based hiring decisions on political considerations rather than merit. Fletcher has pardoned nine people in the probe -- including the chairman of Kentucky's Republican party -- and fired members of his staff.
George Ryan: Federal prosecutors made their opening statements this week in the criminal trial of the former Republican governor of Illinois. Ryan and a friend, Chicago insurance adjuster Lawrence Warner, are charged with racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, tax fraud and lying to federal agents.
And then there's Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. The grand jury investigating the outing of Valerie Plame is scheduled to complete its work in late October. While neither Rove nor Libby is apparently a "target" of the investigation -- and while the "corruption" in Plamegate is moral rather than financial -- both men are known to have played a role in revealing or confirming Plame's identity in conversations with reporters, which may be a crime under federal law.
sparrow... I was struck by the "too busy to notice the social change" comment. So elitist, so distant from the deeper understanding of the struggles that shaped this nation during her very upbringing.
It is SO the way of the chickenhawk, knowing nothing of the fight, always somehow gliding about the rest of the riff-raff. It's actually working out quite well for her.
I'll bet Barbara loves her like a mistress-in-law.
Posted by: monkey at September 29, 2005 10:09 AM
Well, both seem to have the "I don't need to worry this beautiful..."
Well...you get the picture.
Reuters says that the US is threatening journalists in Iraq.
"Reuters has told the US government that American forces' conduct towards journalists in Iraq is "spiralling out of control" and preventing full coverage of the war reaching the public.
The detention and accidental shootings of journalists is limiting how journalists can operate, wrote David Schlesinger, the Reuters global managing editor, in a letter to Senator John Warner, head of the armed services committee.
The Reuters news service chief referred to "a long parade of disturbing incidents whereby professional journalists have been killed, wrongfully detained, and/or illegally abused by US forces in Iraq".
Mr Schlesinger urged the senator to raise the concerns with Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who is due to testify to the committee this Thursday."
more...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1580244,00....
Picked up off DU.
Oh come on, Condi! What a load of crap. I am 52 and was a kid in isolated Montana during the 60's; we had two African American families in our town and several Chinese American families and we were completely affected by what was going on.
I was "busy", too, being a straight A student but white me was aware of what was going on. I had to accept an award for one of my best friends at the local private business club because he was Chinese and they wouldn't let his parents join. An African American friend of mine was not allowed to try on prom dresses at the one and only local department store.
We all felt the outrage---what kind of lie is she telling!!??
Posted by: Amy at September 29, 2005 10:28 AM
We've all heard the words "Don't shoot the messenger" countless times, but it appears that their meaning continues to elude the Bush Administration on the most fundamental of levels.
Janet, I dont think she's telling a lie at all.
I think she see's herself as "above" all that, completely disinterested. I am certain this is why she is so well respected by the Bush family and their loyal royal rah-rah faction.
Statements like these disqualify her from any link to the plight of the Afican American community... she clearly does not speak with any credibility or real life understanding of the issues.
Token it to the streets.
From WaPo today:
Attempt to Pick Successor Is Foiled
Blunt Temporarily Takes Reins as Conservatives Reject Dreier
The first part of the article talks about the arm-twisting yesterday that resulted in Blunt being named as DeLay's "temporary" replacement rather than Dreier. There are 2 more sections in the same article worthy of note. More culture of corruption in Missouri it seems; the Blunt family holds a lot of electoral power and looks like Philip Morris has got them locked up.
Then the article ends with a little item on what DeLay did yesterday evening...
----------
DeLay and Hastert handpicked Blunt in 1999 to become chief deputy whip, just a few years after he won his House seat. Blunt rose to the whip job in 2003, after DeLay became majority leader.
In Missouri, the Blunt organization is a family affair. Son Matt, 34, is governor, and son Andrew, 29, is a top state-government lobbyist whose client list is studded with major donors to his father.
As majority whip, Blunt, even more than DeLay before him, has created a formal alliance with K Street lobbyists, empowering corporate representatives and trade association executives to assist the House leadership in counting votes and negotiating amendments to bring holdouts into the fold.
Last year, when the House leadership faced apparently insurmountable odds in passing legislation eliminating a $50 billion export tax break, the lobbying community stepped in to add billions of new tax breaks for major corporations with facilities in nearly every district -- General Electric, Boeing, Caterpillar, United Technologies, Honeywell and Emerson. The support built up majority backing for the measure.
Blunt's best-known special-interest intervention was a 2003 late-night attempt -- unsuccessful, as it turned out -- to add an amendment sought by Philip Morris. Blunt's son then was a lobbyist for Philip Morris in Missouri; Blunt himself was dating a Philip Morris lobbyist whom he later married, and he had received more than $150,000 in contributions from the company and subsidiaries.
-------
In a sign of DeLay's confidence he will return, he will keep his majority leader office in the Capitol rather than vacate it for Blunt.
DeLay found a friendly audience last night at a banquet of Stand for Israel, an organization of evangelical Christians and Jews, which gave him a standing ovation.
"So how was your day?" DeLay said, producing a burst of laughter. "It's really good to be here among so many old friends and brothers and sisters in the cause for justice and human freedom," he said. "Today, as you may know, the justice part has taken on a particularly personal meaning for me. And in case you were wondering, ladies and gentlemen, I fear no evil. The truth is on my side. And make no mistake about it -- justice will be served."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092802550_pf.html
Posted by: monkey at September 29, 2005 10:48 AM
Neoconservatives find her intellegent and admirable. (Take if from me...I've heard them really swoon for her! And they use her as an example for their young daughters.)
Makes me wonder if she was this stupid with George Sr. or if she just knows how to keep a job.
Wiretap rules for VoIP, broadband coming in 2007
Published: September 26, 2005
By Declan McCullagh and Anne Broache
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Broadband providers and Internet phone services have until spring 2007 to follow a new and complex set of rules designed to make it easier for police to seek wiretaps, federal regulators have ruled.
It's clear from the Federal Communications Commission's 59-page decision released late Friday evening, that any voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, provider linking with the public telephone network must be wiretap-ready. That list would include companies such as Vonage, SkypeOut and Packet 8.
But what remains uncertain is what the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) ruling means for companies, universities, nonprofits--and even individuals offering wireless or other forms of Internet access.
"Because of that very fundamental difference between the Internet and the public switched network, the commission has had a hard time defining who, exactly, is covered, and they have in this order completely punted on the question of who is responsible for what," Jim Dempsey, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said Monday.
Terrorism and homeland security concerns make such regulations necessary, the FCC said, echoing the arguments of Bush administration officials who have warned of VoIP services becoming a "haven" for terrorists, criminals and spies. "It is clearly not in the public interest to allow terrorists and criminals to avoid lawful surveillance by law enforcement agencies by using broadband Internet access services," the FCC said.
Even though the FBI has been lobbying on this topic since at least mid-2003, and regulators have been formally considering the request since March 2004, the rules remain fuzzy. The FCC's order says, for instance, that "we reach no conclusions" about whether universities, and small and rural broadband providers, must cease providing Net connectivity until their networks comply with police requirements.
The FCC's 59-page rule applies to any "Internet access service" that offers upstream or downstream speeds of at least 200kbps--which would easily cover Wi-Fi hot spots operated by individuals or businesses. In a footnote, however, the FCC suggests that its regulations "are not intended" to cover hotels, coffee shops and bookstores that provide Wi-Fi service.
Some answers are likely to come in a second regulation that the FCC promises to release by the end of the year. That's also expected to address whether taxpayers will pay for the cost of equipment upgrades and yield more details about deadlines. (The requirements kick in 18 months from the formal publication of the rules in the Federal Register--which has not happened yet--yielding a deadline of about April 2007.)
An FCC representative who did not want to be identified by name said Monday that "whoever operates the system" would be subject to federal wiretap requirements. The representative said someone who "actually has a network"--as opposed to a cafe that just buys Internet service--would be responsible for complying.
Representatives from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and the Voice On the Net Coalition said they would work with the FCC to ensure that their services complied with the requirements, though they acknowledged that important questions remained unanswered.
more...
http://news.com.com/Wiretap+rules+for+VoIP%2C+broadband+coming+in+2007/2100-7352_3-5883032.html?tag=nl
Informative post from a Houston insider:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4923524
snip
"Again, despite the ignorant National media BS, this indictment will not cost DeLay his re-election bid next year. DeLay's district in Sugarland, Texas (SW suburb of Houston) is made up of mostly high income white professionals. While people in DeLay's district may not like his tactics, he gets things done, and funnels a lot of money into the Houston/SW Houston area. The bottom line is people vote their "pocket-book" particularly in Texas. This is particularly true in the Houston area, where our City is totally out of control from past Democrat abuses."
There's also another interesting post on DU from a lawyer who maintains that Delay must have copped a plea.... apparently he waived the statute of limitations on the charge, probably in exchange for a reduction in charges....
THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARING TOLL-FREE PHONE NUMBER TO OPPOSE JOHN ROBERTS
So many people were calling to object to Roberts the line went down
by thepen
You've seen and heard the number everywhere, 877-762-8762. Thom Hartman has a jingle that was produced for his radio program to help you remember the number. You have also heard Al Franken talk about 877-SOB-U-SOB. Do a Google search for the number and look at all the sites that have used it as their PRIMARY contract number for people to call Congress. And now it is gone, a permanent fast circuit busy, even in the middle of the night. There are two other more obscure toll-free numbers you can use to call your senators right now, 888-818-6641 and 888-355-3588 (and you can get other working numbers at http://www.millionphonemarch.com), but the one most familiar to all of us is out of commission.
It started last Friday morning with thousands and thousands of people calling their senators to complain about the John Roberts’ nomination. Many were very angry at the three Democrat senators, Leahy, Feingold and Kohl, who inexplicably voted for Roberts in the judiciary committee, despite their serious misgivings about his record. By late afternoon you could no longer get through on the main line, and it's been that way ever since.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_thepen_050927_the_mysterious_disap.htm
We all felt the outrage---what kind of lie is she telling!!??
Posted by: janet at September 29, 2005 10:35 AM
she clearly does not speak with any credibility or real life understanding of the issues.
Posted by: monkey at September 29, 2005 10:48 AM
IMHO, it's what many people I encounter on a daily basis suffer from even today...living in a bubble. It's so safe. It's so easy. It's their own version of reality and they're happy there.
I call it clueless.
I was thinking what a different world this would be if a Constance Baker Motley was appointed to the Supreme Court instead of a Rehnquist, Scalia or Thomas.
I wonder how she would do in this day and age?
Come to think of it, it was BECAUSE of her and people like her that we have the practical basis for equal protection under the law. None of us would be here, banding together to share info and opinions from across the country in an open forum. Especially in this day and age.
Its important to mark her passing, as we lose more of this generation of people who stood for something larger than themselves, in a day and age where reason and fairness was hard to achieve. People like her saw the future ahead and knew what they had to fight for.
We should feel this loss and absorb it, because drawing from her strength, we can learn much, energized by the fact that a few individuals in the face of incredible odds fought long and hard to change the system---and won.
Remember her for all our sakes.
I call it clueless.
Posted by: madame defarge at September 29, 2005 11:04 AM
I disagree, I call it willful negligence.
Sparrow asked: Must the trial be in 90 days?
No Texas did away with our speedy trial laws years ago and the timing of the trial will be scheduled by the District's Ct's Ct Co-ordinator, the Judge in Travis Cty, and the court's docket and managing district judge. DeLay probably won't be tried until March or April 2006. Discovery motions according to Dick Degeurin will be filed in the next three weeks and heard around Thanksgiving.
Dick Deguerin is the finest criminal mind in the state of Texas and is feared in our criminal courts for his brilliance. If Ronnie Earl pulls this off it will take a stroke of legal genius. Hopefully he can turn one of the TRIMPAC defendants against Delay but I am not counting on a conviction.
DeLay's announced political strategy for next November. He claims that he is running against those wild eyed liberal interests in Austin, i.e. pitting Houston voters against those flaming liberal Bush twins in Austin.
"Superpowers?" said Rice, the most powerful woman in the Bush administration and arguably one of the most powerful people in the world, period.
Rosen tried again, and got this response: "I'd like to be able to see through walls."
Posted by: monkey at September 29, 2005 09:35 AM
That explains alot. It's kind of hard to get an objective view of the world and the U.S.A. when you are too busy with music and ice skating to notice the events of the sixties.
I long for some leadership comprised of people who weren't born priviledged.
Oh, yeah, I forgot. That's why I'm not a "conservative" any more.
It was the second day in a row that Ms. Hughes found herself at odds with groups of women on her "public diplomacy" tour, aimed at improving the American image in the Middle East. On Tuesday, she told Saudi Arabian women she would support efforts to raise their status but was taken aback when some of them responded that Americans misunderstand their embrace of traditions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/29/international/europe/29hughes.html?th&emc=th
Posted by: madame defarge at September 29, 2005 09:10 AM
Chuckle. I think it's great. I really laughed
when I heard she was going over there in the first place.
She's most effective on the 700 Club, but she's not an international embassador.
I think the original attempt was to show that we
are "uniters not dividers, and are in the process of liberating all the downtrodden abused women in the Middle East", you know, kinda like we are doing in Iraq as we hand those women there another Theocratic government.?.
I love it. hahah