Democracy for New Mexico

Glenn Greenwald Talks Telecom Immunity

Video from Firedoglake. Go sign the letter to Harry Reid.NY Times Op-Ed by Studs Terkel: The Wiretap This Time.

Tell Reid: No Amnesty for Lawbreaking Telecoms

Although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has been asked by Sen. Chris Dodd to put a "hold" on the legislation that would grant lawbreaking telecoms retroactive immunity for their actions in the warrantless surveillance scandal, so far he's refused to do so. Now a number of national groups and bloggers (see below) have drafted a letter to Reid urging him to do what's right. Click to add your name to the letter, which will be delivered to Reid, as well as the Senate Democratic leadership and Senate Judiciary Committee members.

See our previous post for info on additional action you can take to try and stop telecom immunity.

National groups that signed onto the letter include:

American Civil Liberties Union
ColorOfChange.org
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Moveon.org Political Action
Working Assets Wireless

National bloggers who signed it include:

Glenn Greenwald, Salon
Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake
Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, Dailykos
Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake
Matt Stoller, OpenLeft
Digby, Hullabaloo
Taylor Marsh, TaylorMarsh.com
Duncan Black, Atrios
John Aravosis, Americablog
Chris Bowers, OpenLeft
John Amato, Crooks and Liars
Howie Klein, DownWithTyranny

Sign the Petition to Support Domestic Parnerships in NM

From Equality New Mexico:
Families formed by same-sex couples have been denied the basic protections all families deserve for far too long. Equality New Mexico is committed to passing the Domestic Partnership Bill early next year.

If the DP bill is to be passed in the 30 day legislative session that starts in January, we must start now lobbying our legislators and growing our network of supporters. Today we ask you to start this process by signing our petition in support of the Domestic Partnership Bill. We'll immediately let your State Senator and State Representative know you signed the petition. After you sign the petition you'll have an opportunity to send it to your friends and family.

We urge you to ask everyone you know throughout the state to sign the petition. Now is the time to strengthen our movement for the struggle ahead. Together we will win!

Alexis Blizman, Executive Director
Equality New Mexico

Editor's Note: You can review the fate of the Domestic Partnership Bill in the January 2007 New Mexico Legislature and the Special Session called immediately afterwards by Gov. Bill Richardson in a previous post. Basically, the bill came within one vote of passage.

(Updated) Call Today to Stop Telecom Amnesty in the Senate Judiciary Committee

UPDATE 10.25.07: Three more Senators on the SJC have pledged to vote against telecom amnesty: Joe Biden (D-DE), Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Ben Cardin (D-MD). Let's keep the pressure on the others. Yesterday, presidential candidate Bill Richardson issued a statement urging the Senate to reject telecom immunity.
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Senator Chris Dodd has been leading the fight in the Senate against amnesty for lawbreaking on the part of the telecoms who allowed Bush to conduct warrantless surveillence using their facilities. He has pledged to request a hold on the bill to stop it from getting a vote on the Senate floor or to filibuster the legislation, if necessary, to stop it.  In the meantime, he suggests we try to stop telecom amnesty in the Senate Judiciary Committee. So far, only Sen. Russ Feingold has said he will vote no. Click on the image above and it will take you to a page that provides the info you need to call the other members of the committee.  Pass it on.

Valerie Plame Wilson at Santa Fe's Lensic 11.6.07

Valerie Plame Wilson Book Event
Occurrences:		Dates: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 Times: 6:00 PM
Presented by:		Garcia Street Books
Location:		The Lensic, Santa Fe's Performing Arts Center
City:		Santa Fe
Address:		211 West San Francisco Street
Description:		Valerie Plame Wilson will be reading from and discussing her newly released book, "Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House." More info.
Contact:		Tickets Santa Fe at The Lensic
Phone:		505-988-1234
Email:		boxoffice@lensic.com
Website:		https://www.ticketssantafe.org
Ticket Prices:		$15/ $50 Includes Book/ $250 Includes Signed Book & Reception
Ticket Phone:		(505)988-1234

Click for EVENT FLYER (doc). Click for an invitation to meet Valerie Plame Wilson and Ambassador Joe Wilson.

Yesterday, Firedoglake hosted an online salon about the book with Santa Fe resident Valerie Plame and host Sidney Blumenthal. And here's a good reference piece on Plame and the new book by Sidney Blumenthal in The Guardian.

Dodd, Feingold, Leahy: Dem Senators With Backbone on FISA

Sen. Chris Dodd will stop the flawed FISA legislation by a "hold" or by filibuster. >Click to support him.

Glenn Greenwald explains how too many Dem Senators, including Sen. Harry Reid, are apparently willing to grant retroactive immunity to the telecom companies that colluded with the Bush administration in illegal surveillance activities, and approve FISA legislation that gives away the store on civil liberties.

Meanwhile Firedoglake reports how much money Sen. Jay Rockefeller, who heads the Senate intelligence committee, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid get from the telecoms, and reveals Reid's telecom stock ownership. Connect the dots.

Today, Sen. Russ Feingold released a statement about the FISA legislation that included this pledge:

If the bill that ultimately reaches the Senate floor includes immunity and does not adequately protect the privacy of Americans, I will fight it vigorously with every tool at my disposal.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, also finds the deal on the FISA bill made by Sen. Rockefeller and others on the Senate Intelligence Committee unacceptable, as reported in The Hill.

All this points to an intense fight about the bill in both Houses of Congress, with those still afraid to confront Bush on illegal surveillance and civil liberties pitted against those who still have a conscience in some form. Stay tuned.

Guest Blog: Anne Kass on Appointment of Charles Daniels to NM Supreme Court

This is a guest blog by political activist and retired Second Judicial District Judge Anne Kass of Albuquerque:

Bill Richardson made a very good decision this week -- he appointed Charles Daniels to the New Mexico Supreme Court. 

I thought all of the names that were submitted to the Governor belonged to really good people. My favorite was Charlie, largely because he has been devoted to civil rights and human rights his entire legal career. He has been a law professor and ACLU hero  He plays in a rock 'n roll/cowboy band and drives a race car. He is a real live human being who has rich life experiences on which to draw. He is knowledgeable about the law, but more importantly, he is knowledgeable about and sympathetic to the human condition.   

In my view, the judiciary desperately needs independent judges as opposed to cookie-cutter-judges who work so hard to appear neutral that they disappear into blandness. I think that Earl Warren got it right that one major role of the judiciary is to protect individual human beings against over-reaching by the other two branches of government, as the other two branches of government have been doing for too long now. I see Charlie as someone cut from Earl Warren cloth, not someone who will look for an invisibility cloak. Let me just say that I'm really jazzed about this appointment.

He will need petitions signed to run for election in November 08, so I'm hoping you will either contact him at KS@FBDLAW.com or me at annesmok@msn.com and we'll will see to it that petitions are sent your way.

For now, rest easy and know that in New Mexico at least, the Bill of Rights is in good hands.

Editor's Notes: Here's the statement issued by Governor Bill Richardson about his appointment of Charles W. Daniels to the New Mexico Supreme Court to replace Justice Pamela B. Minzner, who passed away in August. You can read his legal profile .

This is a guest blog by Anne Kass. Guest blogs provide our reader with an opportunity to express their opinions and may or may not represent our views. If you'd like to submit a piece for consideration as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand side of the page.

New Gore Videos: Is He Running?

Yesterday, Al Gore added three short, campaign style videos to Current.com, the online website of the cable TV channel he helped found. As far as I can tell, he's never done this before. What does it signal? Watch them and then you tell me:

• He's for universal, single-payer health care: Health Care Is a Right
• He thinks we need more protection against government surveillance: Americans Deserve More Protection
• He wants to bring the troops home as quickly as possible: Get the Troops Home

ABQ Mayor Chavez and Police Chief Apologize to Peace Demonstrators

Some good news. As described in a previous post, peaceful demonstrators at last Saturday's Iraq occupation protest at Kirtland AFB's Truman Gate in Albuquerque got a raw deal from members of the Albuquerque Police Department. Those participating in the protest were called names, cars parked in legal spaces were ticketed if they had certain bumperstickers, mounted officers steered their horses onto the sidewalk where people were standing with signs and other problems were reported.

As KRQE News 13 reports, representatives of the peace movement met with Mayor Martin Chavez and APD Chief Ray Schultz last Thursday and received their apologies, as well as a pledge that officers will receive additional training on how to respond to peaceful demonstrations:

A confrontation between anti-war protestors and Albuquerque police last weekend has brought an apology from city officials and a promise of more training for police, according to a protest leader.

... "There's going to be training on First Amendment rights," protest organizer Jeanne Pahls said. "We in the peace movement are looking forward to see how the Police Oversight Committee deals with this.

"We'd like to see there's some accountability for the behavior we saw on Saturday."

View the KRQE News report, which includes video taken at the protest by participants:

Two Powerful Speakers to Discuss Iraq War at DPBC Thursday Meeting

Don't miss this one. The Third Thursday Meeting of the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County will be held on September 20, 2007, at 6:00 PM in Room 2401 at the UNM Law School located at 1117 Stanford Dr NE in Albuquerque (map). All Democrats are welcome. Two excellent speakers will address the dire situations being created by the ongoing Iraq occupation and attacks on our Constitution:

• Major General Melvin Montaño, Ret., former Adjutant General, US Air National Guard
  • THE IRAQ OCCUPATION: Impact on the National Guard and the states supported by the National Guard, including the long-term effects on local communities and the homeland security of the United States.

and

• Bruce Clark, former Marine, with a son currently serving in Iraq North of Baghdad
  • MISSING IN ACTION - AMERICA: With the Iraqi bloodbath reaching new heights and the Constitution treated like a doormat, we can't afford any more of the same under a different label. We'll never get something right that was wrong in the first place or legitimate a lie. In particular, we need to make our elected officials and candidates hear us so we can bring our troops home now and get our country back again. It's time for Democrats to act like Democrats again.

If you attended the Iraq Summer Campaign's Take a Stand town hall meeting last month, you know how passionate, informed and articulate these two speakers are about what's going on in Iraq and our nation because of the woeful Bush administration and its rubberstamps like Sen. Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson. Highly recommended. (Click on photos for larger images.)