Do Obama and Voters Have Blood on Their Hands in the Giffords Shooting?

An overflow crowd gathered
 for the memorial service in Tucson.

Most analysis of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting in Arizona has focused on hate-filled, right-wing rhetoric as the impetus for the gunman's act of violence. The news turned yesterday to President Barack Obama's appearance at a memorial service for the shooting victims.

There is irony in Obama's speech because, in our view, he helped set the stage for the tragedy in Tucson. The president undoubtedly did not intend for blood to be shed at a political event. But his limp response to Republican lawlessness during the George W. Bush administration--plus voters' endorsement of a right-wing agenda in the 2010 midterm elections--helped create the toxic environment that led to the Giffords shooting.

The underlying causes of Jared Loughner's shooting spree go beyond ugly right-wing rhetoric. They also include ugly right-wing actions during the previous administration. Obama essentially has excused those actions, and many voters have more or less approved them by putting one house of Congress back in GOP hands. In our view, that means the president and large chunks of the voting public share in the blame for Saturday's bloodshed.

Are we going too far? Well, consider that one of Obama's first acts after being elected president--before he had even taken office--was to announce that he was going to take a "look forward, not backwards" approach to the apparent crimes of officials in the Bush administration. This gave Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, and Bush himself (among others) a free pass for torture, warrantless wiretapping, political prosecutions, the unlawful firings of U.S. attorneys, and other wrongs--not to mention taking the country to war in Iraq on bogus grounds.

Here is something Mrs. Schnauzer and I have learned in our roughly 10-year battle against corrupt lawyers and judges, who have mostly been Republicans: The modern conservative movement features a significant number of adult bullies. And the last thing you want to do when dealing with bullies, of any age, is to embolden them.

Adult bullies, after all, are just overgrown children who are overdue for a good spanking. But how did Obama handle the Bush crowd? He said, in so many words, "We're not going to hold you accountable for your lying, stealing, cheating, and other abhorrent acts. We're going to overlook it and move 'forward.'"

A bully will take advantage of that approach every time. If you tell a bully it's OK to punch somebody . . . well, you had better be prepared to duck. And innocent people, who aren't aware of the need to duck, are likely to get hurt.

Ever since Obama took office, conservative bullies have come out punching with a litany of outrageous and inflammatory rhetoric. People like Jared Loughner were listening--and noticing that the nasty approach worked.

Obama is not the only one who helped set the stage for tragedy. In the November 2010 midterm elections, voters went to the polls and rewarded conservatives for their corrupt actions and ugly words. They turned the U.S. House of Representatives over to the GOP and cut deeply into the Democrats' advantage in the Senate. In Alabama, Republicans took over the state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction.

The message from voters to the GOP? "You've committed criminal acts, run our economy off a cliff, damaged our credibility in the international community, coarsened our national discourse--and we think that's great! Keep up the good work!"

No wonder some Republicans thought they could engage in all kinds of incendiary rhetoric and get away with it.

We don't know what thought process, if any, that Jared Loughner employed in the days leading up to the shootings in Tucson. But imagine the possible thinking of an unstable, but semi-rational individual with access to a gun and a score to settle. "Hey, the president said Rove, Cheney, Dubya, and the gang were going to receive a "get out of jail free" card--and their policies led to the deaths of thousands. Heck, I should get a free pass for bumping off a dozen or so folks in Tucson--no problem."

Obama said all the right things at last night's memorial. He's good at that kind of thing. "There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts," Obama said. "But know this: The hopes of a nation are here tonight."

You are right about that, Mr. President. But many in the nation also hope that you will finally grow a spine. Instead of trying to build a trumped-up criminal case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange--who is trying to shine light on wrongdoing--how about going after Karl Rove and others who are behind much of that wrongdoing? Where are your priorities, and how badly are they out of whack?

As far as we know right now, Jared Loughner alone planned and executed these shootings. But a growing chorus of voices is saying that our toxic political environment contributed to the tragedy.

I would take it one step farther. It might be convenient to lay all the blame on Sarah Palin and other tea-party types. But we think there is enough blame to go around. And some of it should land at the feet of a president--and a large block of voters--who have enabled bad actors in the conservative movement.

The modern Republican Party already was dysfunctional--and we have failed to deal with it. We should not be surprised when some conservative acolytes graduate to violence.

Obama's acquiescence to GOP thuggery has come home to roost--and some people's lives will never be the same.

Law Firm for Assange Accusers Has Apparent Ties to CIA and Torture

Thomas Bodstrom

A law firm representing the accusers in the case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has ties to the CIA and torture in the post-9/11 period, according to a 2009 report in Europe.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for Assange says his client is likely to be tortured or killed if he is extradited to Sweden and then handed over to the United States. Those concerns probably are valid, considering the background of a lawyer connected to Assange's accusers.

Thomas Bodstrom, from the firm representing two women who claim Assange committed sex-related crimes, served as Sweden's minister of justice from 2000-2006, under Prime Minister Goran Persson. The 2009 report, based on a book released at that time, says Bodstrom and Persson used CIA agents to help expel two terror suspects to Egypt, where they reportedly were subjected to torture.

The story even is breaking on YouTube. A new video there uses animation, humor, and the 2009 report to raise serious questions about the motives of the lawyers at the heart of the accusations against Assange.

Here is how the story was reported in Europe:

Former justice minister Thomas Bodström and former prime minister Göran Persson have been reported to the Riksdag's constitutional committee over the expulsion of two terror suspects Sweden to Egypt in 2001.

The case has already been subjected to investigation by the committee, but new details published in a book released on Monday cast doubt on the details surrounding the extradition.

"Bodström and Persson denied then that they knew that CIA agents were involved. If it is shown that they lied to the constitutional committee, then it is a very serious matter," said the Moderate party member of parliament Tomas Tobé.

The 2009 book raised new questions about the role Swedish officials played in an expulsion that reportedly led to torture:

Former foreign minister Anna Lindh, who was assassinated in 2003, has long been seen as the one responsible for the decision, and the use of CIA agents, to expel Ahmed Agiza and Mohammed Alzery to Egypt in late 2001.

But her friend and former press secretary Eva Franchell writes in a new book, entitled "Väninnan: Rapport från Rosenbad" ('Girlfriend: an account from Rosenbad'), released on Monday that the commonly held view doesn’t tell the whole story.

"It is important the burden of guilt is apportioned fairly," said Tobé.

Why does all of this matter? The 2009 report explains:

Shortly after the Swedish government decision in December 2001, a CIA plane left Cairo bound for Stockholm’s Bromma airport.

Agiza and Alzery were then handed over to US agents and flown back to Cairo in what was one of several extraordinary renditions carried out by the United States in the early years of the war on terror.

Both men later claimed they were tortured while being held in Egypt, leading many international human rights bodies to criticize Sweden for its role in the forced deportations.

Both men eventually had their deportations overturned and went on to receive damage awards from the Swedish state in 2008.

Could Assange's life now be in danger? His lawyer, Mark Stephens, says the answer is yes. Stephens' assertions came in a 35-page document that was released yesterday. Reports wired.com:

Stephens argued in the document that extraditing Assange could violate the European Convention on Human Rights if the U.S. then tried to extradite him from Sweden or, worse, grab him through an “illegal rendition.” The highly-charged reference is to the “extraordinary renditions” that the Central Intelligence Agency performed to illegally nab suspected terrorists and send them to countries overseas where they could be tortured in secret prisons. . . .

A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, is believed to be investigating possible criminal charges against Assange in relation to classified documents that his organization obtained from a source and published. If charges were filed in the U.S., Stephens asserted that Sweden was likely to “bow to US pressure and/or rely naively on diplomatic assurances from the USA that Mr. Assange would not be mistreated.”

As for Bodstrom, he has denied that he had any knowledge of how the 2001 deportations were to be carried out. But his involvement in the accusations against Assange, raises this question: Did Bodstrom help concoct a bogus case against Assange in an effort to make sure that WikiLeaks does not reveal the truth about Sweden's ties to the CIA and torture?

The new YouTube video raises just that question, and more, in an "interview" with Bodstrom's law partner, Claes Borgstrom, on an imaginary news network called XNN. The "interviewer" gets to the heart of the matter with this statement:

Thomas Bodstrom seems to be a man with many secrets and much to lose if those secrets are revealed. How would you respond to that?

When the Borgstrom character is stuck for answers, which is often, he becomes desperate to turn attention away from himself:

"Julian Assange kicks kittens. . . . Julian Assange kicks little baby cats. He kicks them hard."

"Julian Assange kicks puppies. . . . Julian Assange kicks little baby doggies, a lot--and makes them whimper."

"Julian Assange pulls the wings off butterflies."

It's funny, quirky stuff--about a very serious subject, one that could be dominating the news in the weeks ahead. You can check out the video below:

Bob Riley Can Fool Almost All the People, All the Time

Bob Riley

Bob Riley's eight-year reign as Alabama governor is, mercifully, almost over. The governor who came in on the heels of an apparent con--the mysterious overnight loss of votes for Democrat Don Siegelman--is going out with another.

The right-wing Alabama press is doing its darnedest to portray Riley as an ethical leader, unblemished by scandal. This for a governor with documented ties to Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon, two of the most notorious political criminals in American history.

Even some intelligent Alabamians are buying the Riley-as-Gandhi storyline. That includes Wayne Flynt, a long-time history professor at Auburn University and one of the most respected progressive voices in our state. When someone like Wayne Flynt starts praising the likes of Bob Riley, it might be time to check the water supply for hallucinogens.

If Birmingham News reporter Kim Chandler is to be believed, here is what Wayne Flynt actually had to say about the Riley years:

Alabama historian Wayne Flynt said Riley raised the bar for how governors should behave and how their cabinets operate.

"Keep in mind the bar has been pretty low, but Riley was honest and ethical and he held his cabinet and staff responsible for how they did their jobs and behaved," Flynt said.

Flynt is right about one thing: The bar is pretty low. But the notion that Riley raised it is laughable.

Wayne Flynt did not suddenly become stupid. He almost certainly knows that Riley is a corrupt con man who presided over one of the worst economies in Alabama history. Flynt is a tenured professor at Auburn, and in theory, enjoys "academic freedom" to speak his mind in a truthful fashion. But Flynt probably knows that even a tenured professor can face serious consequences if he does not toe the conservative line in Alabama's higher-education system. Anyone who doubts that should check with UAB labor economist and historian Glenn Feldman.

Riley has been protected throughout his two terms by a lap-dog, right-wing press and friendly federal prosecutors. Some political observers have noted Riley's physical resemblance to Ronald Reagan. Like the "Gipper," Riley seems to benefit from an industrial-strength coating of Teflon. Consider this passage from a recent post about Riley's efforts to pass an "ethics" bill:

Throughout Riley's tenure, he has been protected by Leura Canary, a Bush-appointed U.S. attorney in Montgomery. But if historians ever uncover the truth about the Riley years, he probably will go down as the most corrupt governor in Alabama history. Powerful evidence suggests that Riley:

* Benefited from election-night vote theft in Baldwin County, Alabama, giving him a razor-thin edge over Democrat incumbent Don Siegelman in the 2002 election;

* Benefited from $13-million of Mississippi gaming money that was laundered through GOP felon Jack Abramoff;

* Benefited from millions of Mississippi Choctaw gaming money that was distributed directly to the Riley campaign, according to public statements from former aide Bill Johnson.

* Misspent more than $340,000, which was intended to help elect candidates and instead went to anti-gambling initiatives.

* Saw his term winding down in 2010 as a string of mysterious deaths cropped up on Alabama's political landscape.

A source has told Legal Schnauzer that a Riley presidential run is a real possibility, especially if the European Aerospace Defence and Space Co. (EADS) lands the $35-billion Air Force tanker contract that would include construction of a major facility in Mobile, Alabama. Given the jumbled nature of the GOP field--and the fact another Southerner, Mississippi's Haley Barbour, recently shot himself in the foot with clod-headed remarks about the days of segregation--Riley might have a legit chance, our source says.

That thought should send chills down the spine of every thinking American. Riley has enough baggage to sink the Lusitania. But folks who might have inside knowledge about the governor's operations have a curious habit of turning up dead.

For now, perhaps the best thing about Riley's exit is that we won't be subjected to the fawning photos of him The Birmingham News seems to run almost every day. Is it just me, or is Riley's picture in the paper about 10 times more often than those of previous governors? And I'm not talking just about Democratic predecessors, such as Don Siegelman. Even previous Republicans, such as Fob James and Guy Hunt, never received this kind of adoring treatment--at least not in my memory.

It's almost as if somebody at The Birmingham News has a massive man crush on Bob Riley. When Mrs. Schnauzer and I were in a darkly comic mood recently, we envisioned the paper's leaders gathered in a room, masturbating as they figured out which Riley photo to run that day. "Oh dear God, he's so white and gorgeous," one editor says. "And look at that incredible hair," says another. "Such a credit to our race--I mean state." "You know, he never dyes his hair. He has genes like Reagan! I think I'm feeling verklempt," says another.

(Sorry for the disturbing imagery, but we're going edgy and raw today at LS.)

Never mind that, when Riley opens his mouth, he sounds like Gomer Pyle. And never mind that Riley likely has been an illegitimate governor for years, the beneficiary of probable election theft. "I still refer to him as Congressman," a friend of ours says, "because that's the highest office to which he's been elected."

Riley is a white guy who looks like Reagan. And that's enough to make many Alabamians swoon. Perhaps that explains why our state is going nowhere fast.

Is the Obama Administration Helping Turn America Into a Police State?

Julian Assange

The Obama administration's efforts to obtain Twitter-account information about key individuals connected to WikiLeaks amounts to a declaration of war on those who would reveal government wrongdoing, according to a prominent whistleblower in Alabama.

Dana Jill Simpson, an attorney who revealed wrongdoing in the Bush-era prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, said Obama's actions are a first step toward limiting the First Amendment rights of journalists to protect their sources.

Simpson also decried reports that Obama is considering an Internet ID system for all Americans. Said Simpson:

"Whistleblowers have known for a long time that the Obama administration doesn't respect the desire of whistleblowers to bring truth to our nation's shores. The Obama Administration would rather hide the lies our government tells our citizens and prosecute the whistleblowers. It is easier, they think, than admitting the truth. The fact is that that our government has been lying to us about wars and other foreign affairs. I guess this is Obama's way of “looking forward.” He wants to ignore the lies our government and its officials told the citizens for the last 10 years.

Simpson noted the irony that Obama's "look forward, not backwards" approach to the apparent crimes of Bush-administration officials does not apply to WikiLeaks. In fact, the government seems to be going overboard in its efforts to build a case against Julian Assange and others associated with WikiLeaks:

[Obama] won't prosecute the people who illegally tortured people and politically prosecuted folks all over our country. Now it appears his administration prefers to prosecute the truth-telling whistleblowers who show the lies of the White House and Pentagon. This says something about our current government when admitted water-boarding torturers are protected and truth tellers like Assange are prosecuted for exposing the lies of our government.

Turning whistleblowers into targets could have dire consequences for our country, Simpson says:

We are getting dangerously close to becoming a "Dictator Democracy," where even our thoughts can get us in trouble--and anything we do to bring truth to our citizens can get us thrown in jail. All whistleblowers in our country are in danger as the U.S. government starts to shut out the truth from the people by serving secret subpoenas on the WikiLeaks accounts.

Simpson especially is alarmed about reports of a possible Internet-ID system:

Just when I thought it could not get worse, now Obama and the U.S. government want to give us an Internet license, just like a driver's license. Then, it will be a privilege to be on the Internet--and if we misbehave or authorities deem our remarks are not good for the government--well they can take away our license.

Gone will be our right to free speech on the Internet; our license could be pulled if someone doesn't like the content of our speech.

It seems Obama is afraid of the Internet. I have been attacked about as much as anyone on the Internet, but I still believe people have the right to say what they think. This idea of a license is the beginning of the end for our freedom to express the truth about what our government is doing. We now live, it appears, in a nation that is moving toward being a police state.

Gabrielle Giffords Shooting Reveals Cluelessness Among American Elites

Gabrielle Giffords

The shooting Saturday of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) has prompted a flood of commentary about what might have prompted the gunman to act in a violent way.

For now, we will leave that side of the story to others, who are giving it a thorough examination. But we were struck by the reaction of certain American elites, including some of Giffords' colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives. The comments indicate that a few of our nation's leaders are woefully out of touch with reality.

Consider Martha Roby, a Republican who was elected in November from my home state of Alabama. Roby correctly deemed the shooting a "senseless act of violence." But she went on to add this:

One of the characteristics that make America exceptional is that we settle our differences through civil dialogue, democratic rule, and the fair adjudication of disputes based on the rule of law—not through cowardly acts of violence. There is simply no place for that in American society, and it should never be tolerated.

What planet has Roby been living on for the past 10 years or so? It's certainly a different planet from the one I've been inhabiting. Consider some of the characteristics that, according to Roby, mark American society as "exceptional":

* We settle our differences through civil discourse--We do? Has Roby seen the U.S. map on Sarah Palin's Web site that had crosshairs superimposed on Giffords' district, making the Arizona Democrat a "target" for the tea party? Is Roby aware that Palin's Web site had put Giffords' name on a "hit list"? Is Roby aware that Giffords had been the target of threats, harassment, and vandalism in the wake of her vote supporting President Barack Obama's health-care plan, according to a report from Zachary Roth of Yahoo! News? Here in Alabama, if you write critically about the Republican governor, you can lose your job at a state university--and your wife can be cheated out of her job, too.

* We are governed by democratic rule--We are? Is Roby familiar with the 2000 presidential election, in which votes almost certainly were stolen from Democrat Al Gore--and the U.S. Supreme Court gift wrapped the White House for Republican George W. Bush? Is Roby familiar with the 2002 governor's race in her own state, Alabama, where votes from Democrat Don Siegelman vanished in the middle of the night, giving the election to Republican Bob Riley? Is Roby familiar with the 2004 presidential election, where significant evidence indicates Democrat John Kerry actually won Ohio, and thus the White House, only to have votes stolen via electronic chicanery?

* We have "fair adjudication of disputes based on the rule of law"--We do? Is Roby aware that we currently know of at least six political prisoners in the U.S. at this very moment, including three from her own state--Richard Scrushy, Gary White, and Sue Schmitz, plus three from Mississippi (Paul Minor, Wes Teel, and John Whitfield). If Siegelman's conviction is not overturned on appeal--and it must be overturned if the actual law means anything--that will make a seventh political prisoner. And those are just the ones we know about, from only two states. Is Roby aware that it is commonplace for Americans to go into court--civil and criminal, at both the state and federal levels--and have their cases decided by judges who intentionally make unlawful rulings? Is Roby aware that appellate courts often stamp such bogus trial-court rulings with "affirmed," providing no explanation and no legitimate review? Is Roby aware that Americans have their constitutional rights trampled in U.S. courts almost every day? We've reported extensively about our own experiences with such judicial shenanigans, and we've written about other individuals who have been the targets of similar cheat jobs.

How is this for irony? A few minutes after I learned about the Giffords shooting on Saturday, I went to our mailbox and retrieved two interesting items. They were orders from two federal judges in Birmingham--in two separate matters, both stemming from our interactions with a troublesome neighbor and his sleazy lawyer--and neither order was based remotely on the facts or the law.

These judges, much like the state judges I've encountered, apparently think I'm too stupid to realize when I'm being cheated. I suspect they have the same feelings toward most average Americans. We will discuss these orders, and others like them, in a series of upcoming posts. But for now, let's just say that moments after reading about one form of American lawlessness in Arizona, I came face to face with another form in Alabama.

What does this have to do with the Giffords' shooting and the alleged gunman, 22-year-old Jared Loughner? Maybe nothing, in a direct sense. But the shooting did prompt the above comment from Martha Roby. And in an indirect sense, that shines a spotlight on the nature of lawlessness that exists in postmodern America.

Many Americans, especially elites, tend to think of crime in a "bottom-up" fashion. It's something that an individual from a lower class inflicts upon an individual from a higher class. In that sense, Jared Loughner appears to be a standard-issue American criminal. He apparently is a troubled guy, perhaps inflamed by right-wing rhetoric, who had access to a gun and took out his anger on an innocent person from a higher class. Had one of Loughner's targets not been a member of Congress, many Americans probably would have never heard about the shooting. Many of us, after all, have become anesthetized to bottom-up crime.

That, however, is not the only flavor of American mayhem. We have intimate experience with what might be called "top-down" crime--the kind that folks like Martha Roby prefer to ignore. It is dumped from above, by people in positions of power, on those of us down below. This blog, at its heart and soul, is about the victims of top-down crime--and how they often are ignored by people who have the authority to do something about it.

Consider our current president. Before he had even taken office, Barack Obama said that he was going to take a "look forward, not backwards" approach to the apparent crimes of Bush-administration officials. In essence, Obama was saying, "Lawlessness is OK, as long as it's practiced by higher ups."

Martha Roby says a certain kind of lawlessness, the bottom-up variety, "should never be tolerated" in American society. And she's right about that.

But Rep. Roby is wearing her elitist blinders. She apparently is blissfully unaware of top-down lawlessness, even though she lives in Alabama, which we have called "Ground Zero" for Bush-era criminality. It has become clear that many American elites, such as Martha Roby, are willing to tolerate top-down crime. Unfortunately, the rest of us let them get away with it.

As long as we tolerate lawlessness of either variety, and allow the free flow of guns throughout our society, we should not be surprised by ugly events like the one that took place Saturday in Arizona.

This Death-Penalty Case Should Give Anyone Pause

Ryan Gerald Russell

Like many Americans, I used to be in favor of the death penalty. But after 10-plus years of witnessing rampant corruption in our justice system, I've done an about face. Our system, I've come to believe, is so infested with rogue judges, lawyers, and law-enforcement officials, that it has no business taking anyone's life.

That belief became even stronger with the recent case of Ryan Gerald Russell in Shelby County, Alabama, where I live. Russell was sentenced to death in December for the killing of Katherine Helen Gillespie, the 11-year-old cousin for whom he was serving as legal guardian.

The case hits close to home for us because it was investigated by the Shelby County Sheriff's Department, which we have shown is blatantly corrupt. The trial was overseen by Circuit Judge J. Michael Joiner, whose multiple unlawful rulings in a civil lawsuit filed by our troublesome neighbor are largely responsible for our legal headaches.

The stench surrounding the Russell case, however, goes well beyond our personal experiences. Based on press coverage of the trial, there appeared to be ample reasonable doubt that Russell committed murder, much less capital murder. And count me as one observer who has serious doubts that Russell is responsible at all for Katherine Gillespie's death.

Even press coverage of the case makes it seem that a railroad job is going on. Consider this paragraph from The Birmingham News' story about the death sentence, written by Malcomb Daniels:

Evidence at Russell's trial showed he shot the girl in the back of the head in a laundry room of his house, stuffed her body head-first into a plastic trash can and placed the trash can in the back seat of his Cadillac Escalade that was parked in the garage.

That certainly is the story that prosecutors presented to the jury. But did the evidence really show that?  According to this story that Daniels wrote during the trial, it did not. In fact, the story indicates that a forensics expert presented no evidence that Russell fired the gun at all.

Meanwhile, the Shelby County Reporter wrote that Ed Moran, the forensics expert, could not come to solid conclusions about key evidence:

Moran said the bullet jacket recovered from the body could not be marked back to any of the guns he examined. He said there was not enough microscopic markings on the jacket for him to make a conclusion.

A man was convicted of capital murder, based on that kind of evidence? And he now faces a death sentence?

Katherine Gillespie's body, and the gun prosecutors believe was used to kill her, were found in Russell's home, where she lived with him. But that's about as strong as the prosecution's evidence gets. Based on press reports, we know that at least six other people--a former girlfriend, three teenagers, and at least two sheriff's deputies (called first by the teens, then by the former girlfriend)--were on or near the Russell property that night.

The teens followed Russell to his house after he reportedly collided with their vehicle and drove off. Instead of getting the tag number and address and contacting authorities, the teens reportedly confronted Katherine Gillespie and caused her to become emotional. The teens reportedly tried to confront Russell, but he refused to get out of his vehicle and eventually pulled it into the garage.

The role of the teens in Katherine Gillespie's death remains murky. News reports at the time of the shooting quoted neighbors as saying four teens were at the Russell house that night:

Police were also tight-lipped about a hit-and-run accident hours earlier. In that accident, four people followed a person, who they say hit their truck, to the same house where the girl was found dead.

What happened to the fourth person, presumably a teen? Or were neighbors mistaken about the number of people who showed up in an angry mood at the Russell house that night?

A press release about the charges against Russell made no mention of the teens or the hit-and-run accident. At a news conference the next day, Shelby County Sheriff spokesman John Samaniego  downplayed the role of the accident:

A hit-and-run accident Monday night near Russell's house may not have been connected to the death. The preliminary theory is the hit-and-run and the death had nothing to do with each other, Samaniego said.

By the time the trial began, however, the accident was a key part of the narrative. And the number of teens had dropped from four to three. Two of the teens--Andrew Stone and Robert "Bo" Montiel--testified at the trial. The third teen was identified as Stone's younger sister.

News reports have said little about motive in the killing. Katherine reportedly was a straight-A student who was very fond of Russell and regarded him as a father figure. Russell apparently was at a stressful point in his life. A home builder, his business had suffered during the Bush recession, and his landlord had started eviction proceedings. A former girlfriend testified that Russell had a serious drinking problem.

But murder is about the intentional taking of a life. And we have seen pretty much no information that indicates Ryan Russell had a reason to intentionally kill Katherine Gillespie. Janet Adwell, a parent of one of Katherine's friends, said Russell appeared to be deeply involved in Katherine's life:

Adwell is baffled because the man charged with Katherine's murder, Ryan Russell, her legal guardian and adopted cousin, is someone Adwell trusted and admired.

"Definitely the type of man you'd let your child be around and not think anything of it," Janet Adwell said.

Russell even chaperoned Jennifer, Katheirne and some of their friends on a recent field trip to Atlanta.

"He was always at school. Anytime I was there, he was there: chaperones, computer labs, science labs you name it--he was always at school," Janet Adwell said.

Is it possible that Ryan Russell, under financial duress and the influence of alcohol, accidentally shot the girl he seemingly cared about so much? The answer appears to be yes, and a psychiatrist testified at a sentencing hearing that Russell told him the shooting was an accident. Those circumstances, of course, do not go to murder--and certainly not capital murder.

Is it possible that someone else on the scene that night had a gun and accidentally shot Katherine? It appears that authorities never seriously considered that possibility, and of course, that scenario would not go to murder either. It might, however, go to a massive wrongful-death lawsuit against the persons or entities responsible.

Are authorities in Shelby County capable of making Ryan Russell a fall guy to help cover up for the negligent or reckless act of someone else? The answer to that, based on our experience, unquestionably is yes.

Was John Wheeler's Murder Connected to Bird Deaths in Arkansas?

Arkansas bird deaths

Update at 6:40, central time, on 1/5/11: A trusted source tells us that the European Union Times (EU Times), from which the following story came, is a neo-Nazi publication that probably is not to be trusted on the John P. Wheeler III murder story.

EU Times has a slick-looking Web site, and on its "About" page, it claims to be "an international newspaper based in Europe with operational branches in America and Canada. Our online edition of The European Union Times (also known as The EU Times) is constantly updated to bring you the top news stories from around the world." That sounds legit, and it fooled us the first time around.

But upon closer review, you see a regular diet of anti-Zionist pieces, such as one titled "If Obama Could Put America's Own Real Interests First." That piece includes this:

The headline is not meant to imply that I think he will. As things are he can’t because of the stranglehold on American policy for Israel/Palestine of the Zionist lobby and its stooges in Congress, the mainstream media and many institutions of state including the Pentagon and intelligence agencies. My purpose is only to offer an answer to this question: What could happen if President Obama was able to put America’s own real interests first?

Is it possible that John P. Wheeler's murder is connected to the bird deaths in Arkansas? It might be. Is the EU Times a reliable source of information on the subject? I don't think so. The Wheeler/birds story is spreading rapidly on the Web, and we regret being part of that process. We will continue to follow the Wheeler story.

The murder of a former Bush-administration official, his body dumped in a Delaware landfill, is connected to the recent deaths of black birds in Arkansas, according to a report in the European Union Times (EU Times).

Citing a report prepared for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, EU Times says John P. Wheeler was murdered after he threatened to expose that the bird deaths were caused by an accidental spraying of a poisonous gas from a U.S. military plane. The report states that the U.S. has been storing an estimated 63,000 metric tons of Phosgene, which had been removed from Iraq, at an arsenal in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

The lethal gas was being transported on a U.S. Air Force tanker when a malfunction caused the gas to spray, leading to the bird deaths. Wheeler traveled from his Delaware home to Washington, D.C., to confront Pentagon and White House officials who were responsible for the incident, the report says. A short time later, his body was discovered in a landfill near Wilmington, Delaware.

Reports the EU Times:

To the direct reason for Wheeler’s murder, this report says, was this past week’s transport of Iraqi Phosgene poisonous gas aboard a US Air Force KC-767 tanker aircraft from Little Rock Air Force Base en route to Afghanistan that shortly after takeoff had a ‘critical malfunction’ of its aerial spraying computer directed command and control system over central Arkansas causing the deaths of thousands of red-wing blackbirds.

According to US reports an estimated 4,000 of these birds were killed outright and were quickly removed by US Environmental Services workers wearing hazmat suits and gas masks. Another US report states that cause of death to these thousands of birds was “trauma in the breast tissue, with blood clots in the body cavity and a lot of internal bleeding” which this GRU report states is consistent with Phosgene exposure.

John P. Wheeler

Poisonous gas also was responsible for a massive fish kill recently on the Arkansas River, the report says:

Even more chilling than this incident is this GRU report stating that it was the second “accidental” release of Phosgene poisonous gas in as many days, as the day before, this same US Air Force KC-767 tanker aircraft also had a “critical malfunction” causing a release over the Arkansas River that killed over 100,000 fish.

As we reported in a recent post, Wheeler had extensive experience with aerospace technology and logistics, especially with tankers. EU Times reports that Wheeler also had vast knowledge of biological and chemical weapons and became outraged when he learned about the problems in Arkansas:

Upon Wheeler discovering what was happening with Iraq’s Phosgene poisonous gas stockpiles, this report continues, he traveled from his home in Delaware to Washington D.C. where he openly confronted and threatened to expose the Pentagon and White House Officials responsible. Being a Vietnam Veteran who was responsible for having the famous memorial to that war erected, Wheeler was more than knowledgeable about the United States massive chemical and biological attacks in that conflict and had vowed to not let happen again.

Sadly, but all too common in the United States these days, when Wheeler threatened to go public with what was happening he was targeted for death, and as a “sign” to anyone else thinking of going against the regime, had his body dumped in a garbage pit for all the World to see.

Was Justice Done in Chicago "Dog-Urination" Murder?

Charles Clements and his lawn

A Chicago man last week was sentenced to probation for the murder of a neighbor who had allowed his dog to urinate on the man's lawn.

Charles J. Clements, a 69-year-old great-grandfather, was convicted in October of second-degree murder in the shooting of Joshua Funches, 23. The two men got into a confrontation on May 9 after Funches allowed his fox terrier to take a leak on Clements well manicured lawn.

While stating that a gun never should have been entered into the equation, leading to a fatal shooting, I was somewhat sympathetic toward Clements when we first wrote about this story. As regular readers know, I tend to be supportive of anyone who makes lawful efforts to protect their private-property rights--and early news reports indicated Clements was claiming self defense after Funches had threatened and punched him several times.

More recent news reports, however, give us considerable pause about Clements' actions. And it's hard to see how a judge could justify giving such a light sentence for what a jury determined was second-degree murder.

As we stated in our earlier posts, the incident could have been avoided if Funches, when confronted about the placement of his dog's pee, had simply said "sorry" and kept walking. Clements was within his legal rights to request that the dog, and its urine, stay off his property in the future--even if that request might seem over the top to many people, including me.

Clements, however, moved off solid legal footing when he decided to follow Funches down the street. Here is how the Chicago Tribune reported the story last week, based on trial testimony:

On May 9, Clements took a break from watching a tape of the 1986 Chicago Bears Super Bowl game to escort his wife out to her car, carrying a loaded .45-caliber pistol in his pocket. As he sat on the porch waiting for her to return from the post office, Funches walked past.

Clements testified at trial that Funches looked up at him "with a smug and defiant look on his face" and let the dog urinate on his lawn. He decided to confront Funches because he had been finding "stool deposits in my yard and on the sidewalk."

"I suspected he might be the person," Clements said. "I told him, 'You are supposed to clean up after your animal.'"

Clements said he was hoping to talk with Funches when he left his porch and followed Funches down the street. Instead, the two men argued, and Clements showed Funches the gun he was carrying in his overalls.

In earlier reports, it was unclear exactly where the confrontation and shooting took place--in front of Clements' house or somewhere down the street. This report makes it clear that Clements followed Funches down the street--and it shows that Funches probably never would have sassed or punched Clements if the older man had not followed him. Reports the Tribune:

The argument escalated after Funches said, "Old man, if you pull a gun on me, you better plan on using it." Eventually, Funches, who was unarmed, punched Clements once in the face, according to trial testimony.

Funches was standing motionless, Clements testified, when he pulled out his gun and opened fire. Funches was shot once in the abdomen in front of his aunt's house, on the street where he learned to ride a bike and walked to school as a child.

The father of two stumbled down the street to the sidewalk outside his mother's old house, which he and his girlfriend had recently fixed up and moved into, while Clements tried to rack another round.

Under this set of circumstances, one can understand why a jury considered this an act of murder. The judge apparently took Clements' age and clean record into consideration when deciding the sentence:

[Clements] could have faced up to 20 years in prison. Instead, Judge Daniel Rozak, who last year sentenced a spectator to three weeks in jail for loudly yawning in his courtroom, ordered Clements to serve 4 years of probation.

"This is not justice," said Gail Williams, one of Joshua's aunts. "It's unbelievable to know that in this day and age, you can follow a person down the street, pull a gun … kill a man, get charged with second-degree murder and walk out of a courtroom (with probation). . . . "

Rozak said the slaying wasn't about a puppy urinating on Clements' manicured lawn but "about (Clements') reaction … to being yelled at, pushed and punched in the face by a 23-year-old man."

Prosecutors called Rozak "an excellent judge"--lawyers always say that about judges when it's for public consumption--and said they will not appeal the sentence. But we think both the judge and the prosecutors are wrong. The sentence should be appealed because the punishment in this case does not fit the crime.

By introducing a gun into the equation and following Funches down the street, Clements committed an offense that deserves quite a bit more than probation.

Why Did Former Bush-Administration Official Wind Up Dead In A Delaware Landfill?

John P. Wheeler III

A former Bush-administration official has turned up dead, his body found in a Delaware landfill, and police are calling it a homicide.

John P. Wheeler III, 66, had extensive experience with defense and foreign-policy issues. Wheeler's biography indicates he had particular expertise in the areas of aerospace, technology, and logistics.

The Delaware murder raises an eyebrow here at Legal Schnauzer for a couple of reasons: (1) We've written about the mysterious deaths of at least four Alabamians in the past year with connections to outgoing Republican Governor Bob Riley; (2) We've reported on the battle between Boeing and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) for a $35-billion Air Force tanker contract and noted its possible corrupting influence on Alabama politics.

It's too early to draw definitive connections between the Boeing/EADS battle, the Alabama deaths, and the Wheeler murder. But we do know this: If EADS wins the contract, the tanker planes will be built in Mobile, Alabama. Gov. Riley has played a prominent role in trying to secure the deal for his state, while U.S. Senators Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby have led the push in D.C.

According to recent press reports, the winner of the tanker contract is expected to be announced early in 2011. One Alabama report says EADS is in the lead, and the company has said it is moving forward with construction plans in Mobile. Just before Christmas, Gulf Coast political leaders claimed Boeing supporters were trying to "sabotage" the deal with 11th-hour maneuvering in Congress.

Where might John P. Wheeler have fit into all of this? His biography indicates he was the kind of person who might have had knowledge about issues surrounding the Boeing/EADS battle. He currently worked as a defense consultant and served as special assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force from 2005 to 2008. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Wheeler had served on the Council of Foreign Relations and played a leading role in supporting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Wheeler had a distinguished career in both the public and private sectors, and this line from his bio jumps out at us:

His career combines federal service and starting up, growing and turning around companies and charities. He was Secretary, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, on the team that worked major insider trader investigations, and consultant to the acting Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics regarding tankers and other issues.

Wheeler clearly had strong knowledge about tankers, their use and acquisition. Starting in 2009, he became a consultant for Mitre Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that manages federally funded research and development centers. Mitre currently operates such centers for the U.S. Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security, along with the IRS and the Federal Aviation Administration.

One of Mitre's components is the Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD), which is based in McLean, Virginia.  Our research has found reports of alliances between Boeing and Mitre/CAASD--and that, of course, is not surprising considering Boeing's prominence in the American aerospace industry.

We are left, for now, with this question: Did John Wheeler, through his consultancy with Mitre, become an advocate for Boeing in the tanker-contract battle? Did that contribute to his puzzling and grisly death? Delawareonline.com reports:

Friends and neighbors were shocked to learn Wheeler had been murdered.

“This is just not the kind of guy who gets murdered,” said Bayard Marin, a Wilmington attorney who represented Wheeler. "This is not the kind of guy you find in a landfill.”

Wheeler worked in Washington, D.C., and was returning home to Delaware on an Amtrak train last Tuesday night. His body was discovered at the Cherry Island landfill on New Year's Eve and identified the next day. He was last seen getting off the Amtrak train in Wilmington.

Alabama, it turns out, is not the only place where suspicious deaths are starting to pile up. They also are piling up in the D.C. area. In late September, Department of Justice lawyer Nicholas Marsh died of an apparent suicide. Marsh was under investigation for his role in the botched Ted Stevens case in Alaska, and Marsh's lawyer, Robert Luskin, had represented former Bush White House strategist Karl Rove. Marsh's death has been described as a self-induced hanging, but the story apparently has received almost no serious inquiry in the mainstream press.

As for Wheeler, he did have at least one known non-political dispute in his life. Wheeler and his wife had been involved in a property-related lawsuit with a neighbor:

In 2009, Wheeler and his wife Katherine Klyce, filed a lawsuit to stop construction of a home near the parking lot of Battery Park in Old New Castle.

Wheeler and Klyce opposed construction of a new home being built by Frank and Regina Marini. The Marinis wanted to build a two-and-a-half story home across the street from Klyce and Wheeler on the 100 block of West Third Street. It would have blocked Klyce's and Wheeler’s view.

The Marinis home is under construction at the entrance of Battery Park along the Delaware River.

Regina Marini said she wanted to move back to her hometown with her mother. But the fight over construction dragged and her mother died before the home was built.

The lawsuit remains unresolved. Could John Wheeler have been killed over a property issue? His lawyer seems to doubt it, according to a report in The New York Times:

“This case has all the intrigue of a murder mystery,” Mr. Marin said. “There’s ongoing litigation, but I would put that pretty far down the list.”

What should be near the top of the list for homicide investigators? We would suggest that they look at Wheeler's ties to the defense and aerospace industries--and any connections he might have had to the Boeing/EADS tanker battle.

The Rove/Assange Story Hits the International Press in Sweden

Nyheter24

The story of Karl Rove's likely connection to the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been picked up by a major news site in Sweden. We are pleased to say that our work here at Legal Schnauzer played a part in an important story going global.

Nyheter24 ("News 24"), a Stockholm-based online tabloid that is targeted at the 15-39 age group, broke the story in Sweden. The newspaper cites reporting by Andrew Kreig at Huffington Post (and the Justice Integrity Project), plus our work at Legal Schnauzer. Here is the Nyheter24 headline:

Karl Rove hjälper Reinfeldt att hantera Julian Assange: Enligt källor till Huffington Post har George W Bushs högra hand, Karl Rove, hjälpt den svenska regeringen att hantera fallet Julian Assange.

What does that mean? Well, we've been working on our Swedish--by pushing the translation button on our Google toolbar--and we will get to that in a moment.

But first, we must say that it's pretty cool for our humble blog to have reached a global audience. We have international visitors to the blog on a regular basis, and they have picked up considerably since we've been writing about the Rove/Assange story. But to our knowledge, this is the first time our work has been picked up by a major news outlet in a foreign country.

Even though we can't read Swedish, we pretty quickly discerned that Nyheter24 reporter Aaron Israelson had cited our work:

Nu anklagas Karl Rove för att ligga bakom den svenska regeringens kampanj för att få Wikileaks grundare och chefredaktör, Julian Assange, utlämnad hit. I syfte att därefter utlämna honom till USA - där ett spionåtal hotar Assange.

Den amerikanske journalisten Roger Shuler, som bloggar på välbesökta och ansedda Legal Schnauzer, skriver att en säker källa uppger att Rove hjälper regeringen Reinfeldt med fallet Assange.

What does that mean? With the click of a button, here is the translation I came up with--and I swear I didn't have anything to do with the writing of this story:

Now accused Karl Rove of being behind the Swedish government's campaign to get Wikileaks founder and editor, Julian Assange , extradited here. In order to then hand him over to the U.S.--where a spy prosecutions threaten Assange.

The American journalist Roger Shuler, who blogs on the popular and prestigious Legal Schnauzer, writes that a reliable source says that Rove will help the government Reinfeldt case Assange.

Popular and prestigious? Man, you gotta love those Swedish journalists. Mrs. Schnauzer and I got quite a hoot out of that translation. Even we would not describe the blog in such glowing terms. But given that we both have been cheated out of our jobs here in Alabama, largely because of the progressive tone of this blog, it's nice to see that our work is appreciated across the Atlantic.

It's also interesting to see how the work of a blogger based in Birmingham can travel. To those who doubt the potential power of the alternative press . . . well, they might want to take a gander at the Nyheter24 article.

What was my first thought upon seeing a reference to my little Alabama-based blog in a Swedish publication? Well, as a long-time fan of tennis and pop music, I immediately thought, "Geez, I wonder if Bjorn Borg or one of the chicks in ABBA will read this."

As for the headline, here's how it translates into English, with a reference to Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt:

Karl Rove helps Reinfeldt to manage Julian Assange: According to sources at the Huffington Post, Bush's right-hand man, Karl Rove, helped the Swedish government to handle the case Julian Assange.


Where does Nyheter24 fit in the Swedish media pecking order? Well, it's a feisty up and comer. The country's  two largest newspapers appear to be the "centre-right" Expressen, published by Bonnior AB, and the "social democratic" Aftonbladet. Nyheter24 was launched in 2008 as an online challenger for the left-leaning audience of Aftonbladet.

One report says Nyheter24 receives inspiration from the The Sun tabloid of London. One of the news site's founders is Douglas Roos, former CEO of Ladbrokes, a London-based gaming company. Ladbrokes used to be associated with the Hilton Hotel Group and apparently involves some seriously deep pockets. With its emphasis on 24-hour online news coverage and the youth market--plus the fact it has strong financial backers--we suspect Nyheter24 could become a major force in the international press.

Where will the Rove/Assange story go from here? That remains to be seen, but the story seems to be picking up steam. We knew that numerous European blogs had picked up on the story. But the Nyheter24 piece appears to take things to a new level.

Here is the full English translation of the Rove/Assange story. The translation from Swedish to English apparently is not seamless, so the wording is rough in some places:

STOCKHOLM/WASHINGTON--The Republican strategist Karl Rove made his name worldwide as an advisor to President George W. Bush. He helped him to become governor of Texas and then also president of the United States.

In addition, norskättade Karl Rove since the 80s also acted as advisor to the Swedish Moderate Party--the only foreign party as "the king of spin" brag about to his credit.

Helped win the election
According to several tasks hired Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt also Rove to help moderates win the 2010 election. These data, however, denied by the Moderates former party secretary Per Schlingmann--now Secretary of State in the Prime Minister with responsibility for communications.

Now accused Karl Rove of being behind the Swedish government's campaign to get Wikileaks founder and editor, Julian Assange, extradited here. In order to then hand him over to the U.S.--where a spy prosecutions threaten Assange.

The American journalist Roger Shuler, who blogs on the popular and prestigious Legal Schnauzer, writes that a reliable source says that Rove will help the government Reinfeldt case Assange. Apparently, it seems that [Rove], who claims he is svenskättad, feel a kinship to Sweden . . . and he has taken advantage of it several times.

Protects legacy of Bush
Why then should Rove be interested in prosecuting Assange for sex crimes charges in Sweden? In order to protect the legacy of George W. Bush, the source said.

"Just the guy who leaked the documents, to the detriment of the Bush family the most, is also the guy that Bush's right hand can control by being the Swedish prime minister's brain and adviser to the intelligence and economic affairs," said the source to the Legal Schnauzer.

Also, journalist and lawyer Andrew Kreig, which include writing for the Huffington Post, has received the same information of a credible political agents.

"This bear [Karl's] signature. He must be so happy. He is back in action. He makes a lot of value to his new friends and get to see the U.S. government to do exactly what he himself would have done--while he makes life miserable for their opponents," the source to the Huffington Post.

Engaged in political trials
Karl Rove has since Barack Obama and the Democrats regained power in Washington has been under fire for his alleged involvement in a politicized trial of former Alabama governor Don Siegelman.

Democrat Siegelman was accused of corruption and threatened by a 30-year prison term, but has always maintained that the process against him was politically motivated--and directed by Karl Rove. When Rove was questioned by the U.S. Congress about his involvement, he saw to flee the country--to Sweden.

"When he was in trouble and did not want to testify at the three occasions when he called he ended up in Sweden," a source told Legal Schnauzer. "Moreover, it was Reinfeldt who first hired Karl when he was expelled from the White House."

Wikileaks embarrassing for Sweden
According to reports, it was just mess around Don Siegelman who was George W. Bush to finally ask his closest advisers to throw in the towel. This too has been denied by Rove himself.

Wikileaks has caused not only the U.S. government embarrassment, but also the Swedish. Among other things, it has been revealed that the Swedish government representative has asked the U.S. Embassy to allow surveillance in the context of Surveillance Detection Unit (SDU), run "informally" to ensure that parliament would [not] examine it.

The latest in a series of revelations also show how the U.S. helped--or renutav dictated--the Swedish government's policy in the war against file sharing.

Julian Assange, the 39-year-old Australian nomad, searched for previous residence in Sweden to carry on from here Wikileaks activities.

But instead he fell into the arms of two Swedish women who went to police with the sex allegations.

This was followed by an infected right process and try to get him extradited to Sweden from the UK.

Here is the translation of a sidebar about Rove:

This is Karl Rove

Karl Christian Rove was born December 25, 1950, in Denver, Colorado. He is an American political consultant--so-called spin doctor--and was previously general counsel and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush.

Rove is regarded as the political architect of Bush's electoral victories, first as governor of Texas and then in the two presidential elections.

Karl Rove visited Sweden a few days in the early 80s to give the Conservatives tips on fund-raising --that is, how to raise money for political campaigns.

During the political week Almedalen Gotland 2008, Rove at a seminar organized by industry think tank Timbro.

Rove has appeared in numerous criminal investigations, but never prosecuted.

According to information on the web, Karl Rove has advised Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt in the election campaign 2010.