Tag Archives: Citizen Wells open thread

Judge Lind decision flawed, Defense of LTC Terrence Lakin, White paper, Citizen Wells open thread, September 4, 2010

Judge Lind decision flawed, Defense of LTC Terrence Lakin, White paper

Courts Martial Defense of LTC Terrence Lakin September 3, 2010 researched and Prepared by J.B. Williams and Timothy Harrington

We find foundational flaws in Col. Lind’s decision, which Lakin’s defense team must seize upon in orderto alter the current course of this trial.

  • Lind’s authority is derived from the same place as LTC Lakin’s and all other members of the United States Military – from the supreme command of the office of Commander-in-Chief, the President of the United States.
  • Lind is attempting to use her authority under her Commander-in-Chief to break the military chain of command, isolating the Commander-in-Chief of the US Military specifically, exempting the President from his position of authority in the chain of command, without which, Lind herself has no authority to convene the Courts Martial.
  • Lind then reaches outside of the US Military Justice system to the Civil Court, relying upon civil court precedent to deny Lakin any access to discovery and thereby, a proper defense guaranteed him by the US Constitution and UCMJ, Uniform Code of Military Justice. Civil Court precedent has no legal standing in a UCMJ criminal proceeding. In fact, the UCMJ is based upon the Articles of War (aka War Articles) and is a “penal system” unlike the US Justice System – as explained by Col. William Winthrop in Military Law and Precedents. As a result, precedents set in courts outside of the UCMJ are without legal standing in any UCMJ proceeding.
  • Not even in the UCMJ can the United States government deny the accused his/her right to a trial, complete with discovery of related evidence. Yet Lind attempts to do so, under the authority derived from her Commander-in-Chief. If the chain of command is broken, then Lind herself has no authority.
  • Lind’s statement that the legality of the Commander-in-Chief is “not relevant” in matters ofmilitary command is false on its face. As stated in a sworn affidavit filed by LTG Thomas G. McInerney executed on August 20, 2010 – “In refusing to obey orders because of his doubts as totheir legality, LTC Lakin has acted exactly as proper training dictates. – By thus stepping up to the bar, LTC Lakin is demonstrating the courage of his convictions and his bravery. – That said, it is equally essential that he be allowed access to the evidence that will prove whether he made the correct decision.”
  • Lind attempts to break the chain of command at The Pentagon level, which she claims has no issue with the current Commander-in-Chief and that this should be good enough for Lakin. Yet she cannot break this chain of command without eliminating her own authority, and Lakin’s oath requires that he decide for himself whether or not his orders are legal, as affirmed in LTG McInerney’s sworn affidavit.

At issue is not whether or not LTC Lakin refused orders, but rather whether or not he “unlawfully” refused orders. If his orders were not “lawful,” including but not limited to, emanating from a “lawful”chain of command which begins with a lawful Commander-in-Chief, then Lakin must be found NOTGUILTY of “unlawfully” refusing orders.

Read more:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=12ad99e56f2bb6c8&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui%3D2%26ik%3D2485918dad%26view%3Datt%26th%3D12ad99e56f2bb6c8%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dattd%26zw&sig=AHIEtbQq8K2LEI7Jyn8E46_77A76s6qtiA&pli=1

Denise R. Lind, Lakin judge, Court Martial hearing, Judge Lind is wrong, Citizen Wells open thread, September 3, 2010

Denise R. Lind, Lakin judge, Court Martial hearing, Judge Lind is wrong

Reported here yesterday September 2, 2010 from a World Net Daily article.

“A career officer in the U.S. Army acting as a judge in the court-martial process for Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin today ruled that the military is no place for Barak Obama’s eligibility to be president to be evaluated.

Army Col. Denise R. Lind today ruled in a hearing regarding the evidence that will be allowed in the scheduled October court-martial for Lakin that he will be denied access to any of Obama’s records as well as any testimony from those who may have access to those records.

With her decision, Lind plunged into lockstep with a number of federal judges who have ruled on civil lawsuits over Obama’s eligibility. They have without exception denied the plaintiffs’ any access to any requested documentation regarding the president’s eligibility.

Lind ruled that it was “not relevant” for the military to be considering such claims, that the laws allegedly violated by Lakin were legitimate on their face and that the chain of command led up to the Pentagon and that should have been sufficient for Lakin.

Paul Rolf Jensen, Lakin’s civilian attorney, said the case would continue. But he said the courts now have denied his client the opportunity to present his defense.

Jensen had argued that under U.S.C. Rule 46, a defendant being put on court martial has the right to call any and all witnesses and obtain any evidence in his or her defense.

Lind, who took 40 minutes to read her decision to the courtroom, disagreed.

She said opening up such evidence could be an “embarrassment” to the president and anyway, it should be Congress that would call for impeachment of a sitting president.”

I stated the following and I stand by that now.

“It is apparent that Judge Lind does not know her ass from a hole in the ground. First of all, impeachment is not necessary or appropriate for removing a usurper, an illegal occupant of the White House.

Judge Lind’s first duty is to uphold and defend the US Constitution. Secondary to that is her duty as a judge to the defendant, the court and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

In regard to her statement about embarassment of Obama. First of all, Obama is not POTUS. Secondly, this situation of a usurper occupying the White House is already an embarassment to the nation.”

Judge Lind and all of the superior officers up the chain of command above Lt. Col. Terry Lakin, up to, and including, Barack Obama, who is masquerading as Commmander in Chief, are full of crap and most likely guilty of treason. I am calling for the removal of Judge Lind with a replacement more familiar and adherent to the US Constitution and military rules and protocol.

I have previously done much reading on the topics of chain of command and the duty of officers to obey and disobey orders. More to follow.

Obama not natural born citizen, The Blaze, Glenn Beck, Call me, Citizen Wells open thread, September 2, 2010

Obama not natural born citizen, The Blaze, Glenn Beck, Call me, Citizen Wells

“Why has Obama, for over 2 years, employed numerous private and government attorneys to avoid presenting a legitimate birth certificate and college records?”…Citizen Wells and millions of concerned Americans

Glenn Beck stated that he started The Blaze, TheBlaze.com, to counteract misinformation from websites like the Huffington Post. I will not let Beck get away with insulting concerned Americans who question Obama’s eligibility. Especially three star generals.

https://citizenwells.com/2010/09/01/the-blaze-theblaze-com-lakin-court-martial-glenn-beck-v-arianna-huffington/

From the Citizen Wells archives December 28, 2008.

“Why I ask, should not the ‘injunctions and prohibitions’ addressed by
the people in the Constitution to the States and the Legislatures of
States, be enforced by the people through the proposed amendment?” 
“The oath, the most solemn compact which man can make with his Maker,
was to bind the State Legislatures, executive officers, and judges to
sacredly respect the Constitution and all the rights secured by it.”
Rep. Bingham (See Cong. Globe, 39th, 1st Sess., 1090 (1866))

“To understand the intent of the founding fathers in using the words
“natural born citizen”, to define presidential eligibility, one must
first examine any influential documents and opinions from those
involved in crafting the US Constitution. What is clear and indisputable
is the following:

  • A naturalized citizen is a citizen by no act of law such as naturalization.
  • A child born to US citizens on US soil is a natural born citizen.
  • The Naturalization Act of 1790 provided the following:

“the children of citizens of the United States that may
be born beyond Sea, or out of the limits of the United
States, shall be considered as natural born Citizens””

“Vattel’s “The Law of Nations”, written in 1758, was a
valuable reference guide for the founding fathers.

“§ 212. Citizens and natives.
The citizens are the members of the civil society; bound to this society by
certain duties, and subject to its authority, they equally participate in
its advantages. The natives, or natural-born citizens, are those born in the
country, of parents who are citizens.”

“Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice John Jay, on
July 25, 1787, wrote the following to George Washington:

“Permit me to hint, whether it would be wise and seasonable to provide
a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the administration
of our national Government; and to declare expressly that the commander
in chief of the American army shall not be given to, nor devolve on any
but a natural born citizen.””

“The Lightfoot lawsuit in CA states the obvious:

“This letter shows that the meaning of natural born citizen, is one
without allegiance to any foreign powers, not subject to any foreign
jurisdiction at birth.””

“After the US Constitution was written, further
clarifications can be found

“All persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign
power, excluding Indians not taxed, are declared to be citizens of the
United States.”

1866, Sec. 1992 of U.S. Revised

“every human being born within the jurisdiction of the United States of
parents not owing allegiance to any foreign sovereignty is, in the
language of your Constitution itself, a natural born citizen.””

“Rep. Bingham on Section 1992 (Cong. Globe, 39th, 1st Sess., 1291 (1866))

“Bingham subscribed to the same view as most everyone in Congress at the
time that in order to be born a citizen of the United States one must be
born within the allegiance of the Nation. Bingham had explained that to
be born within the allegiance of the United States the parents, or more
precisely, the father, must not owe allegiance to some other foreign
sovereignty (remember the U.S. abandoned England’s “natural allegiance”
doctrine). This of course, explains why emphasis of not owing allegiance
to anyone else was the affect of being subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States.””

“United States v. Wong Kim Ark, March 28, 1898 Reveals the following:

“Nevertheless, Congress has persisted from 1795 in rejecting the English
rule and in requiring the alien who would become a citizen of the United
States, in taking on himself the ties binding him to our Government, to
affirmatively sever the ties that bound him to any other.”

“It is beyond dispute that the most vital constituent of the English
common law rule has always been rejected in respect of citizenship of
the United States.”

“Considering the circumstances surrounding the framing of the Constitution,
I submit that it is unreasonable to conclude that “natural-born citizen”
applied to everybody born within the geographical tract known as the United
States, irrespective of circumstances, and that the children of foreigners,
happening to be born to them while passing through the country, whether of
royal parentage or not, or whether of the Mongolian, Malay or other race,
were eligible to the Presidency, while children of our citizens, born abroad,
were not.”

“Greisser was born in the State of Ohio in 1867, his father being a German
subject and domiciled in Germany, to which country the child returned.
After quoting the act of 1866 and the Fourteenth Amendment, Mr. Secretary
Bayard said:

Richard Greisser was no doubt born in the United States, but he was on his
birth “subject to a foreign power,” and “not subject to the jurisdiction
of the United States.” He was not, therefore, under the statute and the
Constitution a citizen of the United States by birth, and it is not
pretended that he has any other title to citizenship.”

“And it was to prevent the acquisition of citizenship by the children of
such aliens merely by birth within the geographical limits of the United
States that the words were inserted.

Two months after the statute was enacted, on June 16, 1866, the Fourteenth
Amendment was proposed, and declared ratified July 28, 1868. The first
clause of the first section reads:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State
wherein they reside.

The act was passed and the amendment proposed by the same Congress, and it
is not open to reasonable doubt that the words “subject to the jurisdiction
thereof” in the amendment were used as synonymous with the words “and not
subject to any foreign power” of the act.””

“Perkins v Elg, 307 U.S. 325,328 (1939) differentiates between a US citizen
and a natural born citizen.  Ms. Elg, was born in Brooklyn, NY to an
American mother and a Swedish father was a US citizen, but not a natural
born citizen.”

The entire article can be and should be read here:

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/natural-born-citizen-obama-is-not-eligible-obama-birth-certificate-us-constitution-founding-fathers-intent-lawsuits-obama-kenyan-vattel%e2%80%99s-the-law-of-nations-john-jay-berg-donofrio-k/

Obama Iraq speech, Obama truth, Obama takes credit Bush deserves, Citizen Wells open thread, September 1, 2010

Obama Iraq speech, Obama truth, Obama takes credit Bush deserves

From Fox News.

“President Obama’s Oval Office address Tuesday evening was timed to mark the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, though it also came two months before midterm congressional elections that could hinge on the state of the domestic economy — and Obama didn’t shy from drawing links and contrasts between the two.

Obama portrayed the end of the U.S. combat role in the Iraq as an opportunity to shift more focus to rebuilding the economy, which some economists say is increasingly in danger of falling back into a recession.

“We have spent a trillion dollars at war, often financed by borrowing from overseas. This, in turn, has short-changed investments in our own people, and contributed to record deficits,” he said, adding that too many middle-class families are working harder for less.

The troops in Iraq “have met every test that they faced,” Obama said. “Now, it is our turn. Now, it is our responsibility to honor them by coming together, all of us, and working to secure the dream that so many generations have fought for — the dream that a better life awaits anyone who is willing to work for it and reach for it”.

But Republicans refused to allow Obama to move on without noting the credit they say was due to President Bush for the troop surge in 2007 that ultimately saved a losing war effort. Although Obama had opposed the surge as a senator, Republican leaders said he should have given Bush kudos for its success.

John McCain, the Republican senator who ran against Obama in the 2008 presidential election, called it “a real lack of generosity of spirit.”

“What he should have said: ‘I opposed the surge. I was wrong. I made a mistake and George W. Bush deserves credit for doing something that was very unpopular at the time,'” McCain told Fox News. “Instead he had to say it’s well known that George Bush loves the troops.””

Read more:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/01/obamas-iraq-speech-shifts-focus-economy-draws-gop/

From Citizen Wells archives.

September 15, 2008.

“Obama was criticized by the Kenyan Government for his 2006 visit
to Kenya when he campaigned for his cousin Raila Odinga and
insulted the government. Now we learn that when Obama met with
Iraqi leaders “He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington,“, stated Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. The NY Post has a breaking news article on Obama’s meeting. Here are some exerpts from the article dated Monday, September 15, 2008:

“OBAMA TRIED TO STALL GIS’ IRAQ WITHDRAWAL“

“WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.”

Read more:

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/obama-guilty-of-treason-stall-iraq-withdrawal-logan-act-another-illegal-act-kenya-2006-obama-demand-ny-post-september-15-2008-obama-tried-to-stall-gis-iraq-withdrawal/

August 26, 2009

“This Youtube video of the town hall meeting in Kingman, AZ on August 22, 2009, hosted by representative Trent Franks, is a must see. What is compelling about this video is the US Army veteran that served in Iraq speaking the truth about our presence there, media bias from the likes of CNN and the fact that the Iraqis voted for the first time. The Army veteran also lauded the US Constitution as the law of the land and went on to praise George Bush as a much better commander in chief than Barack Obama.

Representative Franks held another town hall meeting last night, August 25, 2009. If a video surfaces from that meeting, please forward the info.
“I don’t know this guy, but I want to say thanks. And to all those who serve in the the United States Armed Forces, thank you. You sign your lives away for the freedom of others. There are no greater heroes in this country.””

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/trent-franks-town-hall-meeting-kingman-az-iraq-veteran-cnn-army-veteran-on-us-constitution-truth-about-iraq-arizona-town-hall-youtube-video/

Obama the hustler birth certificate defiance, Judicial misconduct, US Constitution, Citizen Wells open thread, August 30, 2010

 Obama the hustler birth certificate defiance, Judicial misconduct, US Constitution

In response to Obama, the hustler, continuing to arrogantly defy presenting a legitimate birth certificate, an article from the Citizen Wells archives dated November 12, 2008 is presented.

Philip J Berg lawsuit
Judge Surrick ruling exerpts:
“If, through the political process, Congress determines that citizens, voters, or party members should police the Constitution’s eligibility requirements for the Presidency, then it is free to pass laws conferring standing on individuals like Plaintiff. Until that time, voters do not have standing to bring the sort of challenge that Plaintiff attempts to bring in the Amended Complaint.”
“…regardless of questions of causation, the grievance remains too generalized to establish the existence of an injury in fact. To reiterate: a candidate’s ineligibility under the Natural Born Citizen Clause does not result in an injury in fact to voters. By extension, the theoretical constitutional harm experienced by voters does not change as the candidacy of an allegedly ineligible candidate progresses from the primaries to the general election.”
Philip J Berg response to ruling:
“an American citizen is asking questions of a presidential candidate’s eligibility to even hold that office in the first place, and the candidate is ducking and dodging questions through legal procedure.”
“This is a question of who has standing to stand up for our Constitution,”  “If I don’t have standing, if you don’t have standing, if your neighbor doesn’t have standing to ask whether or not the likely next president of the United States–the most powerful man in the entire world–is eligible to be in that office in the first place, then who does?”
Mark J. Fitzgibbons is President of Corporate and Legal Affairs at American Target Advertising:
“October 29, 2008
Who Enforces the Constitution’s Natural Born Citizen Clause?”
“So if the Framers established that courts “shall” hear cases arising under the Constitution, and failed to authorize Congress to otherwise establish who may sue to enforce the document, then where might we find conclusively that Berg has standing to sue?
The 10th Amendment to the Constitution states that the powers not delegated to the federal government, nor prohibited to the states, remain with the states or the people.  Therefore it seems that any state or any person has standing to sue to enforce not just the Natural Born Citizen Clause, but other constitutional requirements and rights, absent some expressly written bar within the Constitution itself.”
“Chief Justice John Marshall, writing in Marbury v. Madison, said that judges have a duty to decide cases under our paramount law, the Constitution. I have lamented previously about how some judges tend to evade their duty to decide constitutional matters by resorting to court-made doctrines.  Judge Surrick’s reliance on case law to dismiss Berg’s suit for lack of standing is reasoned from a lawyer’s perspective, but not heroic and perhaps evasive of his larger duty.
His decision to “punt” the matter to Congress creates, I suggest, a dangerous, longer and perhaps more painful constitutional quagmire than had he heard the evidence in the case.  Even had the case lacked merit, the Constitution would not have been harmed.”
Read more here:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/who_enforces_the_constitutions.html
Ellis Washington, currently a professor of law and political science at Savannah State University, former editor at the Michigan Law Review and law clerk at The Rutherford Institute, is a graduate of John Marshall Law School and a lecturer and freelance writer on constitutional law, legal history, political philosophy and critical race theory. He has written over a dozen law review articles and several books, including “The Inseparability of Law and Morality: The Constitution, Natural Law and the Rule of Law” (2002). See his law review article “Reply to Judge Richard Posner.” Washington’s latest book is “The Nuremberg Trials: Last Tragedy of the Holocaust.”
Mr. Washington wrote the following response to the Philip J Berg lawsuit and Judge Surrick ruling in a World Net Daily article dated November 8, 2008 :
“Unfortunately, just 10 days before the election, a court of appeals judge threw out Berg’s lawsuit challenging the veracity of Obama’s U.S. citizenship status on technical grounds. Judge R. Barclay Surrick, a Jimmy Carter-appointed judge, amazingly (and with a tinge of irony), stated his opinion in part:
In a 34-page memorandum that accompanied the court order, the Hon. R. Barclay Surrick concludes that ordinary citizens can’t sue to ensure that a presidential candidate actually meets the constitutional requirements of the office.
Surrick defers to Congress, saying that the legislature could determine “that citizens, voters, or party members should police the Constitution’s eligibility requirements for the Presidency,” but that it would take new laws to grant individual citizens that ability.
“Until that time,” Surrick says, “voters do not have standing to bring the sort of challenge that Plaintiff attempts to bring.”
Judge Surrick, quoting from Hollander, concludes, “The alleged harm to voters stemming from a presidential candidate’s failure to satisfy the eligibility requirements of the Natural Born Citizen Clause is not concrete or particularized enough to constitute an injury.”
Surrick also quotes Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, which stated, in part, “The Supreme Court has consistently held that a plaintiff raising only a generally available grievance about government – claiming only harm to his and every citizen’s interest in proper application of the Constitution and laws, and seeking relief that no more directly and tangibly benefits him than it does the public at large – does not state an Article III case or controversy.”
Constitutionally speaking, Judge Surrick’s reasoning is completely illogical and a total dereliction of his duty as a judge to substantively address this most vital constitutional controversy. Instead, in a gutless manner, Surrick dismissed Berg’s complaint 10 days before the elections on a technicality of standing, which to any rational person begs the question: If Philip J. Berg as an American citizen, a respected Democratic operative and former attorney general of Pennsylvania doesn’t have the “standing” to bring this type of lawsuit against Obama, then who in America does have standing? The good judge in all 34 pages of legal mumbo jumbo didn’t bother to answer this pivotal question.
That Berg’s complaint is not “concrete or particularized enough to constitute an injury” is an amazing admission by any person that went to law school and even more so given the fact that Surrick is a respected appellate judge!
I am somewhat hopeful that Berg will successfully appeal Surrick’s outrageous decision to 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals and then to the United States Supreme Court if necessary, even if technically he doesn’t have standing to hold Obama accountable to the Constitution. Why? Because this is America, and out of 300 million people, someone should give a damn enough about this republic to make sure the person who holds the highest elected office in the land holds it legitimately based on the black letter text of Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution.”
Read the complete article here:
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80435

Read more:

 
https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/obama-not-eligible-us-constitution-tenth-amendment-bill-of-rights-us-supreme-court-federal-judges-state-judges-state-election-officials-electoral-college-electors-philip-j-berg-lawsuit-leo-c/

Margaret Hemenway interview, Lt Col Lakin spokeswoman, Andrea Shea King show, Citizen Wells open thread, August 29, 2010

Margaret Hemenway interview, Lt Col Lakin spokeswoman, Andrea Shea King show

From a Andrea Shea King article and interview on August 23, 2010

“The quiet military support for Lt. Col. Terry Lakin”
“No vacation for Obama over eligibility questions

About half the nation was aware of the concern over the absence of public documentation of Barack Obama’s eligibility to be president a year ago.  A few months ago the dispute got top billing on CNN, and just a few days ago a new poll revealed six of 10 Americans are uncertain the president was born in the U.S.”  

“Tonight Margaret Calhoun Hemenway, spokeswoman for Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin, an Army medical doctor who has challenged Obama’s eligibility to serve as Commander-in-Chief, joins us on The ANDREA SHEA KING SHOW to discuss Lt. Col. Lakin’s case. Hemenway’s father-in-law John Hemenway represented a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits against Obama, Hollister v. Soetoro, which was dismissed by Judge John Robertson, who wrote in his opinion that Obama’s eligibility had been “blogged, texted, twittered and otherwise massaged” before the election.”
Interview:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/askshow/2010/08/24/the-andrea-shea-king-show
Read more:

http://radiopatriot.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/the-quiet-military-support-for-lt-col-terry-lakin/#comment-4056

Shirley Sherrod story, Rest of story, Media coverage, Pigford v Glickman, Obama, Citizen Wells open thread, August 27, 2010

Shirley Sherrod story, Rest of story, Media coverage, Pigford v Glickman, Obama

Has anyone out there heard Fox or any other major media player cover the complete Shirley Sherrod story and her connection to the controversy in the Pigford v Glickman payouts to black farmers? This story has been hovering in my mind for several weeks.

On February 23, 2010 Drill Down reported the following.

“Last Thursday, February 18th, 2010; the United States Department of Agriculture agreed to pay “Black Farmers” an additional 1.25 billion dollars to settle a previously “settled” class action discrimination suit.”

“Accordingly, in the 2008 “Farms Bill” House version known as “H.R.2419 Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008” section “4012. DETERMINATION ON MERITS OF PIGFORD CLAIMS,” inserted 100 million dollars for money to be paid for those claimants denied due to untimely filing. A corresponding provision was inserted into the Senate version of the Bill by then Senator Barack Obama. In a public statement, NBFA President John Boyd Jr. explained that it would take “billions” to settle the claims, but that “he had to accept” the 100 million to keep the suit alive.

Last Thursday, Obama, Holder, and the USDA, proved Boyd correct by agreeing to pay an additional 1.15 billion dollars to honor the “late” filers under the original settlement. There are now more than 70,000 claims of discrimination pending adjudication. Yes, that’s 70,000 IN ADDITION TO the original 22,000 claims; making the total number of claims almost 100,000. Or, roughly 4 times more than the total number of black farms in existence at the time of the alleged discrimination. The allocated funds which now exceed 2 billion dollars, will clearly be insufficient to honor all of the pending claims.”

Read more:

http://drilldown.blogtownhall.com/2010/02/23/back_door_reparations___pigford_ii_-_usda_settlement.thtml

American Thinker reported the following on July 21, 2010.

“Shirley Sherrod’s quick dismissal from the Obama administration may have had less to do with her comments on race before the NAACP than her long involvement in the aptly named Pigford case, a class action against the US government on behalf of black farmers alleging that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) had discriminated against black farmers during the period from 1983 through 1997.”

“So where does Sherrod come into this picture?  In a special to the Washington Examiner, Tom Blumer explains  that Sherrod and the group she formed along with family members and others, New Communities. Inc. received the largest single settlement under Pigford.
 … New Communities is due to receive approximately $13 million ($8,247,560 for loss of land and $4,241,602 for loss of income; plus $150,000 each to Shirley and Charles for pain and suffering). There may also be an unspecified amount in forgiveness of debt. This is the largest award so far in the minority farmers law suit (Pigford vs Vilsack).
What makes this even more interesting to me is that Charles appears to be Charles Sherrod, who was a big player in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the early 1960s.  The SNCC was the political womb that nurtured the Black Power movement and the Black Panthers before it faded away.
Blumer has some questions about this settlement and about Sherrod’s rapid departure from the USDA
•Was Ms. Sherrod’s USDA appointment an unspoken condition of her organization’s settlement?
•How much “debt forgiveness” is involved in USDA’s settlement with New Communities?
•Why were the Sherrods so deserving of a combined $300,000 in “pain and suffering” payments — amounts that far exceed the average payout thus far to everyone else? ($1.15 billion divided by 16,000 is about $72,000)?
•Given that New Communities wound down its operations so long ago (it appears that this occurred sometime during the late 1980s), what is really being done with that $13 million in settlement money?
Here are a few bigger-picture questions:
•Did Shirley Sherrod resign so quickly because the circumstances of her hiring and the lawsuit settlement with her organization that preceded it might expose some unpleasant truths about her possible and possibly sanctioned conflicts of interest?
•Is USDA worried about the exposure of possible waste, fraud, and abuse in its handling of Pigford?
•Did USDA also dispatch Sherrod hastily because her continued presence, even for another day, might have gotten in the way of settling Pigford matters quickly?”

Read more:

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/07/forty_acres_a_mule_sherrod_sty.html

From BigGovernment.com August 26, 2010.

““After all the friendly gestures between Secretary Vilsack and Mrs. Sherrod, there are still several questions unanswered. Why is Secretary Vilsack taking responsibility for the decision when Mrs. Sherrod has maintained she was contacted by the White House? Did the White House demand Secretary Vilsack fire Mrs. Sherrod? Is she still being paid by the federal government? Has Mrs. Sherrod agreed not to file another lawsuit against Secretary Vilsack or the federal government? Was Shirley Sherrod granted an additional settlement in exchange for her silence and an agreement not to sue Vilsack again? Why is Mrs. Sherrod filing suit against Andrew Breitbart, but hugging the man who fired her?””

Read more:

http://biggovernment.com/publius/2010/08/26/pigford-vilsack-sherrod-press-conference-raises-serious-questions/

Is this story being covered?

Blagojevich retrial hearing, August 26, 2010, Judge James Zagel, Citizen Wells open thread

Blagojevich retrial hearing, August 26, 2010, Judge James Zagel

The retrial hearing for Rod Blagojevich takes place today, Thursday, August 26, 2010.

From the Chicago Tribune.

“The retrial of Rod Blagojevich could look decidedly different from the first go-around if the bombastic father-and-son team of Sam Adam and Sam Adam Jr. drop off the case, as the former governor’s lead lawyers have hinted since last week.

Both Adams have suggested they want out of a repeat performance, with the younger one telling attorneys in the case that it’s time for him and his father to move on, according to sources.

Sheldon Sorosky, another Blagojevich lawyer who could remain on a reduced two-member defense team, said Wednesday he believes the younger Adam, whom he described as a “legal Michelangelo,” may struggle to find the energy to tackle the mammoth task again.

Adam’s closing argument was marked by loud and passionate pleas, a flurry of government objections and even an apology for sweating on a juror.

Some answers could become apparent Thursday as U.S. District Judge James Zagel holds the first public status hearing since the trial ended last week, with the jury convicting Blagojevich of lying to the FBI about his knowledge of political fundraising but deadlocking on all the other 23 counts.”

“”The primary purpose (for the hearing) is to set a new trial date,” Sorosky said. “Then, as in any retrial situation, the second purpose — which this time may eclipse the first — is the lawyer situation.”

In a private conference last week with attorneys in the case, Zagel said he expects the former governor to be allowed just two lawyers for the retrial.

Blagojevich, who had seven attorneys for the first trial, has tapped out his $2.7 million campaign fund, which under Zagel’s supervision was used to pay his legal fees. Rules under the Criminal Justice Act allow a defendant whose defense is paid for with taxpayer funds to have no more than two lawyers.”

Read more:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/08/blagojevich-hearing-could-answer-question-over-lawyers.html

Unemployment facts, Bush tax cuts, Democrat Congress is problem, Socialist President and Congress bigger problem, Citizen Wells open thread, August 25, 2010

Unemployment facts, Bush tax cuts, Democrat Congress is problem, Socialist President and Congress bigger problem

The Bush Tax Cuts were enacted in 2003 with a Republican president and Congress. The Democrats took control of Congress in 2006. Many lies about the economy and unemployment rate have been told, including consistently by Obama. These numbers do not lie.

Historical unemployment rates
Dec-2002 6.0% 
Jan-2003 5.8%  
Feb-2003 5.9%  
Mar-2003 5.9%  
Apr-2003 6.0%  
May-2003 6.1%  
Jun-2003 6.3%  
Jul-2003 6.2%  
Aug-2003 6.1%  
Sep-2003 6.1%  
Oct-2003 6.0%  
Nov-2003 5.8%  
Dec-2003 5.7%  
Jan-2004 5.7%  
Feb-2004 5.6%  
Mar-2004 5.8%  
Apr-2004 5.6%  
May-2004 5.6%  
Jun-2004 5.6%  
Jul-2004 5.5%  
Aug-2004 5.4%  
Sep-2004 5.4%  
Oct-2004 5.5%  
Nov-2004 5.4%  
Dec-2004 5.4%  
Jan-2005 5.3%  
Feb-2005 5.4%  
Mar-2005 5.2%  
Apr-2005 5.2%  
May-2005 5.1%  
Jun-2005 5.0%  
Jul-2005 5.0%  
Aug-2005 4.9%  
Sep-2005 5.0%  
Oct-2005 5.0%  
Nov-2005 5.0%  
Dec-2005 4.9%  
Jan-2006 4.7%  
Feb-2006 4.8%  
Mar-2006 4.7%  
Apr-2006 4.7%  
May-2006 4.6%  
Jun-2006 4.6%  
Jul-2006 4.7%  
Aug-2006 4.7%  
Sep-2006 4.5%  
Oct-2006 4.4%  
Nov-2006 4.5%  
Dec-2006 4.4%  
Jan-2007 4.6%  
Feb-2007 4.5%  
Mar-2007 4.4%  
Apr-2007 4.5%  
May-2007 4.4%  
Jun-2007 4.6%  
Jul-2007 4.6%  
Aug-2007 4.6%  
Sep-2007 4.7%  
Oct-2007 4.7%  
Nov-2007 4.7%  
Dec-2007 5.0%  
Jan-2008 5.0%  
Feb-2008 4.8%  
Mar-2008 5.1%  
Apr-2008 5.0%  
May-2008 5.4%  
Jun-2008 5.5%  
Jul-2008 5.8%  
Aug-2008 6.1%  
Sep-2008 6.2%  
Oct-2008 6.6%  
Nov-2008 6.9%  
Dec-2008 7.4%

Blagojevich trial January 2011?, Judge James Zagel, Public defenders, Citizen Wells open thread, August 24, 2010

Blagojevich trial January 2011?, Judge James Zagel, Public defenders

From the Chicago Tribune August 23, 2010.

“At a private meeting last week with lawyers in the case, U.S. District Judge James Zagel said he was eyeing January for a second trial and suggested he would appoint two attorneys for Blagojevich at taxpayer expense, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Blagojevich’s legal team of seven lawyers was paid from his campaign funds for the first trial, but taxpayers will have to foot the bill for the retrial because the $2.7 million in campaign money ran out.

No date for a retrial has been picked, and the matter remains fluid, those with knowledge of the meeting said. The attorneys are scheduled to meet for a public status hearing in front of Zagel on Thursday.”

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/blagojevich/ct-met-blagojevich-retrial-0824-20100823,0,7833059.story