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Coming Soon from CounterPunch Books Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison by KATHY KELLY Click Here to Order!   Today's Stories June 23, 2005 Kathy Kelly Where You Stand Determines What You See June 22, 2005 Kevin Zeese The Bush Administration's Psy-Ops on the American Public: an Interview with Col. Sam Gardiner William S. Lind Afghanistan: the Other War Arsalan Iftikhar Patriots Against the PATRIOT Act Dan Nagengast Give Populism a Chance: From France to Kansas David Krieger To the Graduates: We Live in an Interdependent World Kathleen & Bill Christison Tempest in Santa Fe: Confronting Israeli Myth-making   June 21, 2005 Brian Cloughley Destroy the Unbelievers! Mike Whitney President Disconnect Dave Lindorff Who Needs Big Bird, Anyway? Mark Weisbrot Bush's Lonely Campaign Against Hugo Chavez Matthew R. Simmons The Coming Saudi Oil Crisis Dave Zirin The Crass Slipper Fits: Ron Howard's Terrible "Cinderella Man" Virginia Rodino The Anti-War Movement and Impeachment Paul Craig Roberts A War Waged by Liars and Morons   June 20, 2005 Alan Maass The GM Job Massacre Tariq Ali To the Gates of the Gleneagles Hotel! Mickey Z. WMDs American-Style: It's 60 Years Since Alamogordo William Blum Some Things You Need to Know Before the World Ends Gary Leupp Old News Indeed: In 1999, Bush Craved Chance to Attack Iraq Jason Leopold Someone Tell Bush Iraq Wasn't Behind 9/11, Before He Starts Another War Dave Lindorff Why the Media Should be Schiavo'd Alan Maass The GM Job Massacre Uri Avnery Condi and Hamas Website of the Day Crimes Against Poetry June 18 / 19, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Is the Jury Dead? Greg Moses Race Bias and the Death Penalty, One More Time Benjamin Shepard Arrested for Stickering, Biking and Other Misadventures: Creative Direct Action in the Era of the PATRIOT Act Stan Goff Stuff to Do to Stop the War: 95 Days to Pre-Nixonize George W. Bush Lee Sustar Does Iraq's Main Labor Union Support the Occupation? Jude Wanniski The Tipping Point: Getting Out of Iraq Diana Barahona Librarians as Spooks: the Scheme to Infiltrate Cuba Via Libraries Brian Concannon, Jr. Justice Dodge in Haiti, Again: Impunity and the Raboteau Massacre Fred Gardner How Many Wins Can We Take? Mike Whitney Gen. Tommy Friedman's Plan to "Win" the War in Iraq: Reinstate the Draft Ahmad Faruqui Star Wars or Earth Wars? Manuel García, Jr. De-Eichmannizing America Roger Howard Leave Iranian Politics to Iranians Ron Jacobs Eros and the Grateful Dead Ben Tripp Situation Desperate: Why Am I Not Pleased? Poets' Basement Louise, Albert and Engel Website of the Weekend Christ's Entry into Washington   June 17, 2005 Ricardo Alarcón Who Helped Posada Enter the US? Clay Conrad Medical Marijuana: Is Jury Nullification the Next Step? Marc Estrin Open-Ended Closure: the Death Penalty and the Culture of Victimhood Colin Brown Firebombing Fallujah: Pentagon Lied About Use of Napalm in Iraq Christopher Brauchli Pennies for Africa: Bush's Phony Money Joshua Frank Blue State Warriors: How Democrats Derailed the Peace Movement Norman Solomon The Killing Street Memo Mary Rizzo Who's Afraid of Gilad Atzmon? Bond / Brutus / Setshedi How Bono and Trojan Horse NGOs Sabotage the Struggle Against Neoliberalism   June 16, 2005 John Walsh The Iraq War Polls: Dems' Stance Even Less Popular Than Bush's Dave Lindorff Work 'Till You Die: the Bush Retirement Plan Adrian Lomax Torture in U.S. Prisons: Common, Lethal, Unreported Tom Crumpacker The CIA, Posada and the Bombing of Cubana Flight 455 Jeffrey Kolakowski The Kinsley Paradigm: Downsizing the Downing St. Memo Julene Bair Turning Off the Ogallala Spigot: Toward a New Way to Farm on the Great Plains Michael Dickinson As We Forgive Our Debtors: the Madness of Money Francois Houtart / Isabel Parra, et al. Against Terrorism; In Defense of Humanity: an Appeal Tom Barry Meet Bolton's Replacement: Robert "First Strike" Joseph   June 15, 2005 Stan Goff An Open Letter to US Troops on Loyalty Daniel Wolff The Palace at 4 A.M. Tim Wise Discover the Nutwork: David Horowitz and the Politics of Ad Hominem Distortion Ricardo Alarcón The New CIA Revelations About Posada Joshua Frank House Republicans vs. Bush: "This is Not a Conservative War" John Hilary Bloodsuckers' Summit: Why the Left Should Rendezvous at the G8 Norman Solomon Iran's Reformers: a Threat to Theocrats and Neocons Alexander Cockburn / Jeffrey St. Clair Juries and Lynch Mobs Website of the Day What It Feels Like to be Tasered (Turn Up the Volume)   June 14, 2005 Paul Craig Roberts Enabling Evil: Bush's Willing Executioners Forrest Hylton Stalemate in Bolivia Richard Gott The Crisis in Bolivia Fred Gardner The Raich Decision: All Power to the Feds Steve Breyman Doing the Right Thing is Also Politically Expedient Dave Zirin Sacred Hoops: Basketball in the Barrio Robert Kent Outsourcing Torture and the Stop-Loss Program Paul Craig Roberts Enabling Evil: Bush's Willing Executioners   June 13, 2005 Gary Leupp Another Damning Document Dave Lindorff The Inca and Us John Stauber Mad Cow USA: the Cover-Up Begins to Unravel Fred Gardner Supreme Indignity: Medical Pot Doctors Respond to Justice Stevens Evelyn J. Pringle TeenScreen: the Lawsuits Begin Norman Solomon Letter From Tehran Winslow T. Wheeler Neo-Con Unfurls the Big Picture   June 10 / 12, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Thomas Friedman's Imaginary World Sharon Smith Torturers and Liars: Masters of Deception Brian Cloughley "Support Our Torturers!" Chris Kromm Home Cookin': Pentagon's Base Relignment Plan Would Increase South's Share Heather Gray A Day in Mississippi: Some Things Have Changed; Some Remain the Same Kevin Zeese What the Left Must Learn from 2004: an Interview with Josh Frank Mickey Z. The Pentagon Papers, 34 Years Later Gary Leupp A Review of Sison's "At Home in the World" Eli Stephens The Asshole in El Paso: Why Posada Carriles Matters Nick Dearden A Scottish Band in the Occupied Territories Oscar Olivera Recovering Bolivia's Oil and Gas Robert Fisk Screening "Kingdom of Heaven" in Beirut Michael Dickinson Oh My God!: Gunning for Blasphemers Poets' Basement Engel, Albert, Louise, Ford Website of the Weekend Gravity's Rainbow, Illustrated

June 23 , 2005 Thomas B. Griffith and Rule 49 He Practiced Law Without a License, Now He's a Federal Appeals Court Judge By CHRISTOPHER BRAUCHLI One of the first things Thomas B. Griffith will want to do is convince his colleagues of the importance of changing their Rule 49. It shouldn't be that hard since he's now a member of that court and can tell his colleagues from personal experience what a useless rule it is. And it only makes sense that he work to get it changed since it was a rule he flaunted during the time he practiced in that jurisdiction and he must be thanking his lucky stars that he didn't get caught. Mr. Griffith serves to remind us that if you are sufficiently conservative, a lack of integrity or respect for the law is no hindrance to advancement in the Bush administration. That is the lesson taught by Thomas B. Griffith's confirmation to serve on the federal court of appeals for the District of Columbia. The fact that he was Mr. Bush's second choice does not make the lesson less painful. The first choice was Miguel Estrada. Mr. Estrada's confirmation was filibustered and in 2003 he dropped out of contention. He wasn't filibustered because he lacked the ethical qualities that the legal profession expects of its members even when they are as important as Thomas B. Griffith. His confirmation was filibustered because his views were unknown but believed to be out of the legal mainstream. Instead of proving his critics wrong he stonewalled them. He refused to discuss his views or provide samples of his legal writing that might have demonstrated his legal philosophy and proved his critics wrong. As a result his nomination stalled and, ultimately, he withdrew his name. Whether or not the country and the federal bench were well served by his withdrawal is impossible to know. What is known is that the man who has been elevated in his place is a man who, had the facts about his career been known by appropriate authorities before he was nominated, might have faced severe discipline for his flagrant disregard of the professional rules that govern the conduct of lawyers in the District of Columbia and Utah. Rule 49, of which Mr. Griffith was contemptuous, is a rule of the U.S. Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia. It says: "No person shall engage in the practice of law in the District of Columbia or in any manner hold out as authorized or competent to practice law in the District of Columbia unless enrolled as an active member of the District of Columbia Bar, except as otherwise permitted by these rules." None of the exceptions applies to Mr. Griffith. Mr. Griffith found the rule quaint and chose to ignore it. He practiced law for three years in that jurisdiction without the required license. Had the licensing authorities known of his transgression he would have faced discipline. Happily for him, he left the jurisdiction before anyone noticed that he didn't find the court's rules to his liking. Furthermore he blamed his staff--saying in effect that he was much too important to attend to such trivia and his staff should have insured his compliance with applicable rules. Having successfully flaunted the rules of the court on which he now serves he moved to Utah to became chief legal counsel for the University of Utah. He served in that capacity for four years. Acting as legal counsel for the university of Utah is considered practicing law in Utah. Utah, like the District of Columbia has a rule against practicing law without a license. Rule 1.0 of Chapter 13a of the Rules of Professional Conduct of the State of Utah provides: "Except as set forth in subsection (c) of the Rule, only persons who are active, licensed members of the Utah State Bar in good standing may engage in the practice of law in Utah." It did not include the phrase "unless you are really important or are called Thomas B. Griffith." That would probably have surprised Mr. Griffith. It didn't matter. No one noticed that he was again ignoring the rules imposed by the court and no disciplinary proceedings were commenced. The one thing we have learned from Mr. Griffith's conduct is that rules don't apply to him. As a federal judge he will be beholden to no one. He will like that. Notwithstanding Mr. Griffith's example, if any of my readers were contemplating practicing law in the District of Columbia the reader would be well advised to follow the rules even though one of the sitting judges thought himself above them. Lady Luck might not smile on all who thus transgress. Promotion to a federal court is even less likely to follow unless, of course, George W. Bush is making the appointment. In the Bush White House conservative philosophy trumps morality and ethics every time. Mr. Griffith is just the most recent example of that. Christopher Brauchli is a lawyer and writer living in Boulder, Colorado. He can be reached at: 56@post.harvard.edu   Keep CounterPunch Alive: Make a Tax--Deductible Donation Today Online! home / subscribe / about us / books / archives / search / links /