Monday Roundup: New Feature, More TYC

Today we have a feature by Democratic National Committee member Betty Richie on the importance of rural America, be it in Democratic politics or otherwise. You can read it here.

The American Conservative Union is old school and keeping it large — they are a conservative lobbying group with a long reach, they rank politicians and candidates numerically in a widely-distributed system that provides insight into how each candidate lines up with conservative ideals, and they are responsible for bringing CPAC to you, year after punishing year. However, 4 members of the ACU's board resigned recently when someone they considered to have betrayed the conservative movement was appointed to the board. If you guessed that appointee was Tom DeLay, you were right. How embarrassing! No Retreat, No Surrender, Tom. Never forget 9/28/05.

The Texas Observer's Nate Blakeslee does some killer reporting on a developing aspect of the TYC scandal, in which supervisors and directors engaged in some consensual redacting. The "unauthorized redacting" will likely emerge as an efficient instrument facility directors used to downplay or outright cover up problems, complaints, and abuse. Not only that, but the Observer also has some documents which seem geared towards blocking any negative light from falling on the TYC's central leadership.

The New York Times reports that, since the problems at TYC have been uncovered, complaints have been rolling in about threats and abuse from facilities all over the state. Apparently, since the story broke last month, more than 1,100 investigations have been opened, and the hotline that takes complaints for possible investigation is staffed around the clock. I am assuming that number will increase.

From the "We've-already-fixed-everything-else" department comes legislation from Rep. Joe Barton which rails against the practice of Caller ID spoofing. The legislation (which is bipartisan, mind you, with Rep. Eliot Engel from New York throwing the D) carries fines and penalties. Last week, a bill along the same lines which made Caller ID spoofing a felony passed the House 413-1. Ron Paul was the lone dissenting vote, but hey, he's got a Presidential campaign to mount. If he can't use his Vonage account to make your Caller ID say "RON PAUL ROX" when he calls you, what's the point of even running?

Arianna Huffington calls for the impeachment of Alberto Gonzales, keying it as "the quickest way to the truth." Bush's weekend radio address did in fact complain about a possible upcoming "unnecessary confrontation," and my first reaction to that is to think back to the Clinton impeachment trials. However, I think the larger issue at hand here is that the attorney firing scandal is the tip of an iceberg, and that this will provide an access point to the entire Bush administration's secretive process. Something's going to give one way or the other on this deal — there's no way that time on this will simply run out, or that Bush and his guy can fend everything off until his term is over.

Were you protesting against Bush at the RNC in 2004? Did you feel like you were in a spy movie, under sinister surveillance? Well, you probably were. The New York Times reports that New York City police traveled all over the place (even to other countries) to spy on groups planning on protesting at the convention. Undercover infiltration was rampant. While not as Orwellian as it may sound up front, the story is worth reading.