http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-privacy05.html

If that doesn’t say “We need a right to privacy!” to you, or at the very least “Congress should protect our privacy!”, I don’t know what will. For those unwilling or unable to click the link, your cell phone records are available online to anyone who wants them for the low, low price of $110. Whom you called, who called you…The whole shebang. Were I a political blogger, I might suggest that how we deal with this might be linked to how we view the current wiretapping scandal….

I’ve come down with a case of the flu, so I doubt I’ll be posting much in the coming days as I am not even taking my finals. However, the NYTimes has a must read article on the National Security Agency tapping lines in America without warrants.

Some officials familiar with it say they consider warrantless eavesdropping inside the United States to be unlawful and possibly unconstitutional, amounting to an improper search. One government official involved in the operation said he privately complained to a Congressional official about his doubts about the program’s legality. But nothing came of his inquiry. “People just looked the other way because they didn’t want to know what was going on,” he said.

A senior government official recalled that he was taken aback when he first learned of the operation. “My first reaction was, ‘We’re doing what?’ ” he said. While he said he eventually felt that adequate safeguards were put in place, he added that questions about the program’s legitimacy were understandable.

Some of those who object to the operation argue that is unnecessary. By getting warrants through the foreign intelligence court, the N.S.A. and F.B.I. could eavesdrop on people inside the United States who might be tied to terrorist groups without skirting longstanding rules, they say.

As Gary mentioned earlier we are going to start having some guest bloggers in addition to he and I. I’m happy to introduce Jon Margolick, a senior at Brown concentrating in Public Policy. He intends to blog on a wide range of cultural and political issues, in particular more philosophical matters related to law and sociology.

Sorry again everyone, but unfortunatley school and other obligations seem to get the best of Zac and myself every now and again. Finals begin this week for me, only two that I’m really worried about. Blogging will re-commence and hopefully stay up, we’re going to be asking some friends to help us out with the blog as well, I realized a one man job was far too much, and a two man job isn’t necessarily better.

In other news, I’m proud to report that the American Democracy Institute the organization I have been interning for held the first leadership Summit on December 3rd in Chicago. I was able to attend on a panel discussion regarding using technology to get involved. I encourage you to check out the new blog VOX and become part of our conversation.

As far as this blog goes, we’ll start posting again, so start getting ready to comment and tell us why we’re so hopelessly wrong on some topic.

Before we get to far ahead of ourselves here, I think a few things need to be said. According The Hotline, for those of you with a subscription, Alan Colmes, you know him that great voice of liberalism on the Fox News Channel, had some choice words for fellow liberals:

“As a liberal, I don’t think this is good for the country. I don’t … rejoice in this. I hear conservatives say liberals think it’s ‘Fitzmas’ … when the indictments come out. We’re all excited about it. I think this is very bad for where we are as a country that we’d be doing this. This is not a good thing for us. Why would anybody take any joy in this?”

I feel as though, as someone who gladly called it Fitzmas, this needs addressing. No, I do not take joy in the fact that we have a White House where a man is being indicted for five felonies. I don’t take any joy in the fact that this case proves that a White House could be this corrupt. But I do take joy that this is how corruption and deceit are rectified, that it may lead to a greater debate about the intelligence surrounding the Iraq War, especially the role the Vice President’s office and Libby played in analyzing pre-war intelligence, intelligence which by and large has been proven wrong. On that note, also from the National Journal:

Waas reports that Cheney and Libby, “overruling advice” from some WH political staffers and lawyers, decided to withhold crucial documents from the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2004 when the panel was investigating the use of pre-war intelligence that erroneously concluded Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” sources said. Among the WH materials withheld from the cmte were “Libby-authored” passages in drafts of a speech that then-Sec/State Colin Powell delivered to the UN in 2/03 to argue the Bush admin’s case for war with Iraq. The withheld documents “also included intelligence data that Cheney’s office — and Libby in particular — pushed to be included in Powell’s speech, sources said. The new information that Cheney and Libby blocked information to the Senate Intelligence Committee further underscores the central role played by the vice president’s office in trying to blunt criticism that the Bush administration exaggerated intelligence data to make the case to go to war.

The lies and the deceit go straight back to the lead up to war and the mishandling of intelligence. What other motive did the Vice President’s office have in releasing Plame’s name and attacking Joe Wilson? If, as the Vice President’s office and the mea culpa in 2003 are true, then the missteps in intelligence came not from the White House but from the CIA. The actions taken by Libby and Cheney show a different story.

So I take no joy in the fact that these lies and this corruption are running around in the halls of the White House. I take no joy in knowing that 2,000 are dead on false information. I agree with Colmes, this is terrible for the country that all this is going on. That is also where I disagree with Colmes, because the indictments are a positive thing for the country.

These indictments show the American people that the system of justice that we place our faith in works, and works at all levels. They show that there is no division in the American people, and that we must all abide by the same laws, and the deceit and corruption will not go unpunished. I think it’s appropriate to rejoice in that, to know that the system is working, albeit slowly. I think it’s proper to take joy in the fact that crimes are being prosecuted, that the FBI is intensifying its investigation into the forged Niger documents, and that Congress is demanding further investigation. That is what I take joy in and that’s why I’m fine with joking around and calling it Fitzmas.

Instead of Colmes trying to assert some high ground and seem like a “good liberal” in the eyes of Sean Hannity, he should be a real liberal, and also applaud what is happening here. I take joy in knowing that justice is working, that corruption is being exposed, and the media are asking better questions. If that’s not something for a liberal to be happy about, then maybe someone should ask Alan to turn in his card.

You’ll have to suffer some more academic economics from me today. The currency has gained more than 10% this year, hitting a two-year high against the yen last week and a three-month peak against the euro. This is despite an American current-account deficit even wider than last year’s and apparently reduced enthusiasm among Asian central banks for dollar-denominated assets.

However, this trend is unlikely to continue. The dollar’s exchange rate is perhaps moving upwards as there is a perception that there are sellers of dollars, ie central banks, who are waiting for the right price. Other non-commercial banks have longer positions in dollar futures then previously, which is a bad. As the dollar possible continues to strengthens, our investors are placing their money into foreign markets, which, again, in time could stop the rise.

Also, risk averse investors from abroad (read, Japan) are currently capturing higher yields in America and are likely to flee the market at any dollar shakeups. Finally, the Euro has lost value since earlier this year, but as the Fed will likely stop raising interest rates the first half of next year, the European Central bank will most likely start- which will make their currency gain back value.

A good post over at Democrary Arsenal worth reading.

Well, it’s Friday, the ‘News Dump’. Instead of looking for everything that went under the radar, let’s take a more light-hearted approach.

In the Great State of New Jersey, Mercer County Candidate for Clerk, Paula Sollami-Covello (D), now that’s an Italian name, recently apologized to voters for parking in a handicap spot while filming her latest campaign ad, so reports the Trenton Times

According to the Hotline’s Last Call…

Remember the kid who nailed neo-con pundit extraordinaire Bill Kristol with a pie? Well, today a judge sentenced him to 30 hours of community service as well as $156 in court fees. From the AP.

Anyway, that’s for now, we’ll resume actual commentary on politics, or whatever it is we claim to do, tomorrow.

Let’s try this again, college has proven to be a lot this year, especially with an internship. However, I think things are calm, and this is something I miss doing. I’m talking to Zac too who assures me he’ll return to the main page soon. So, let’s try not to mess this up again, we’re back, baby.

President Bush Approval Rating is at 41% with his disapproval rating at 53% according to a NY TImes/CBS News poll.

The hurricane, alone, does not appear to have taken any significant toll on Mr. Bush’s overall job approval rating, which remains stuck virtually where it has been since early summer. But the findings do suggest that the slow federal response to the hurricane has increased public doubts about the Bush administration’s effectiveness. Fifty-six percent of Americans said they were now less confident about the government’s ability to respond to a terrorist attack or natural disaster.

If you read Robert’s testimony carefully, you can see that he considers Roe settled precedence. However, Casey determines its continuing authority. This does not mean that Roberts will never vote to overrule Roe, as some have suggested. Rather it means that Roe is settled insofar that the precedence does not become vulnerable along the lines set forth by the Casey opinion. Specifically this vulnerability is if the “reliance interest” in the precedent is too large, the precedence proves unworkable, the precedence is undermined by later rulings or new facts arise. This works into the belief, suggested by Prof Jack Balkin and others, that his approach may well be to narrowly read Roe and slowly weaken it. Roberts did acknowledge the existence of a right to privacy and the soundness of Griswold v. Connecticut, but he certainly did not say the right was expansive or in anyway particularly inclusive.

Interesting Blog Post by Karen Pearl, Planned Parenthood of America on the Washington Post.

Funny moment happened earlier today:

Sen. Arlen Specter joked that he was still waiting for answers to questions he had submitted to Reich when he was secretary of Health and Human Services.

“That’s because I was Secretary of Labor,” Reich replied.

Also NY Times news analysis of Specter’s questions with regards to overturning congressional acts. Interesting and important to know, although I do not have a cogent view on the matter.

We’ll be back on Sunday to a regular posting schedule, I guess Zac and I both forgot how crazy it gets moving and settling back in to school.

Of course, our hearts and prayers go out to the victims of Katrina. And I would encourage everyone to give money and not goods. The Red Cross is well equipped to deal with this type of situation, and they need support. Their hurricane relief system has helped thousands over the years, and this is something of a scale they have never dealt with. Also, be sure to stop over and give blood, medical supplies will be in demand.