kmsor's Blogtag:www.talkingpointsmemo.com,2008:/talk/blogs/kmsor//16742008-10-09T23:59:39ZMovable Type Pro 4.21-enLet's Unite to Stop McCain/Palin's Ugly Campaigntag:tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com,2008:/talk//17.2232452008-10-09T23:59:39Z2008-10-09T23:59:39ZEvery American, regardless of political beliefs or party affiliation should be disgusted by the ugly campaign tactics being used by McCain and Palin. Whipping crowds at campaign stops into angry frenzies should have no place in the most important expression...kmsor
We need to take action before the hatred being generated at these events results in a national tragedy!
The only organization with the power to put a stop to this is the GOP. If the leadership of the GOP sees that current and future prospects of their party are being seriously damaged by McCain's tactics they will put a stop to it.
Please join me in contacting the leadership of the GOP and expressing your opinions about this issue. The main website for the GOP is:
From the main page you can access e-mail addresses and telephone numbers for party leaders as well as links to the GOP organizations in every state.
PLEASE BE CIVIL!! We don't want to adopt their tactics when expressing our disagreement with them. Keeping their phone lines and e-mail boxes busy with respectful communications regarding the hateful campaign being conducted by McCain is the best way to get their attention.
Please pass this information on to everyone on your e-mail lists in order to spread the word.
For your convenience some of the main contact info follows:
Mike Duncan, RNC Chairman Phone: 202-863-8700 Fax: 202-863-8820 Email: Chairman@gop.com
Jo Ann Davidson, Co-Chairman Phone: 202-863-8545 Fax: 202-863-8631 Email: Info@gop.com
Donor Programs Phone: 202-863-8720 Fax: 202-863-8690 Email: Finance@gop.com ]]>
An Open Letter to Dean Edleytag:tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com,2008:/talk//17.1885352008-04-11T23:01:22Z2008-04-11T23:01:22ZDear Dean Edley:Thank you for publishing your explanation regarding the "Torture Memos" written by Professor Yoo and the decision not to take any action against him. Your assumption that your explanation would not be totally satisfying to everyone was very...kmsor Thank you for publishing your explanation
regarding the "Torture Memos" written by Professor Yoo and the decision
not to take any action against him. Your assumption that your
explanation would not be totally satisfying to everyone was very
accurate, and I include myself among the dissatisfied for the following
reasons.
Your memo seems to offer the memos produced by
Professor Yoo the umbrella of "academic freedom." Since he was on leave
from the university and an employee of the federal government at the
time that he wrote them I don't believe his work can be defended as an
academic exercise. He was working as and being paid as a legal
counselor, and his memos were not destined for publication in a dusty,
little read, legal publication. They were meant for the top echelons of
our government and as such should have represented the highest and most
accurate understanding and interpretation of our nation's and
international laws.
For a moment let's give Professor Yoo the
benefit of assuming that he really believed his own reasoning and
conclusions; let's assume that the memos were not written simply to
support the aims of his employers (clients?). Wouldn't a prudent lawyer
have presented both sides of the argument so that his clients would
have the benefit of making a truly informed decision? I would think
that with such grave matters he would want his presentation to be fully
informative. Why didn't he do that?
In part your memo states: "no argument about what he did or didn't facilitate, or about his
special obligations as an attorney, makes his conduct morally
equivalent to that of his nominal clients, Secretary Rumsfeld, et al.,
or comparable to the conduct of interrogators distant in time, rank and
place." The Model Rules of Professional Conduct of the ABA,
Client-Lawyer Relationship, Rule 1.2: Scope of Representation and
Allocation of Authority Between Client and Lawyer, Section (d) states:
"A lawyer shall not counsel a client to engage, or assist a client, in
conduct that the lawyer knows is criminal or fraudulent, but a lawyer
may discuss the legal consequences of any proposed course of conduct
with a client and may counsel or assist a client to make a good faith
effort to determine the validity, scope, meaning or application of the
law." What of Professor Yoo's responsibility under this rule? It is
clear to me, at least, that the legal advice he presented in these
memos was woefully inadequate under this rule. As to the moral
equivalence of his role in justifying the actions that Rumsfeld,
Cheney, etal, were clearly championing I don't see how you can come to
the conclusion that Professor Yoo's culpability is less than that of
the "deciders" or the "perpetrators" of these crimes. It is not
credible that John Yoo wrote these memos without full knowledge that
his conclusions were at the least debatable, and that the results of
his tortured justifications would result in the use of torture by his
masters. At Nuremberg didn't civilized society determine that the
actions of Germany's government officials were as culpable as the
prison guards who carried out the bruatality at Auschwitz? How
is John Yoo not culpable?
I
understand the complexity of academic tenure and know that you cannot
easily dismiss Professor Yoo for his actions while he was employed by
the federal government, but I also understand the culture and dynamics
of universities and law schools. To wring your hands and hide behind
the Academic Personnel Manual of the University of California and
claim that the matter is really out of your hands is not very
admirable.