You can probably count this as another Tea Party pickup: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) will not run for reelection in 2012. “I am announcing today that I will not be a candidate for re-election in 2012,” she wrote in a letter to supporters. “That…

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Senator Hutchinson to Retire

Incoming Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) ran as a tea party candidate, who claimed to be determined to change how business was done in Washington. Yet on Fox News Sunday this morning, Lee was asked by Chris Wallace why if his goal was to “drain the swamp” would he pick to have an energy lobbyist as his Chief of Staff? Lee responded that he wasn’t “scared” of lobbyists and that his lobbyist was “brilliant”: read more

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New Sen. Mike Lee Defends Hiring Energy Lobbyist as Chief of Staff

Wow : By a vote of 63 to 33, with six Republicans joining Democrats, the Senate acted to cut off debate on a measure that would let President Obama declare an end to the Clinton-era policy, known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which allows gay members of the armed forces to serve only if they keep their sexual orientation a secret. The vote indicated that there was easily enough support to push the measure to final passage. “I don’t care who you love,” Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, said as the debate opened. “If you love this country enough to risk your life for it, you shouldn’t have to hide who you are.” Let us resolve to ignore all pop campaign strategist masquerading as journalists. Majorities are meant to be fucking used.

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Done

In an act that Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said “brought shame to Capitol Hill” last night, the House Republican leadership banded together at the last minute, and on purely specious grounds, to defeat a piece of legislation six years in the making aimed at preventing child marriage worldwide. The bill was supported by a wide-ranging coalition of groups including the International Women’s Health Coaliti on and CARE-USA. read more

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In "Shameful Act," Republicans Kill Bill to Prevent Child Marriage

Demanding the indictment of Julian Assange under the 1917 Espionage Act in a Wall Street Journal op-ed , Senator Diane Feinstein (or her resident ghost writer) quoted everyone’s favorite rationale for restricting speech: “the First Amendment is not a license to yell ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater.” Actually, like most people, she (or her staffer) misquoted this canard: “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a crowded theater and causing a panic,” (emphasis supplied) Justice Holmes wrote in 1919, in Schenck v U.S .  Given the truths exposed by WikiLeaks, you might argue that Assange was truly shouting fire in a crowded theater, and you might even characterize the ensuing “panic” as a kind of heckler’s veto.   Not that Holmes would have been at all sympathetic to Julian Assange (at least not in 1919). He offered his famous “falsely yelling fire in a crowded theater” analogy in upholding an early conviction under the Espionage Act. What terrible act of treason did this case entail? Charles Schenck was convicted of circulating pamphlets urging men to resist the draft. According to Holmes (writing for a unanimous Court), these pamphlets presented a “clear and present danger” to the republic. Today, Schenck is mainly survived by its famous one-liners. It was decided before the First Amendment was regarded as an essential restraint on federal and state power to restrict speech, when Justices Holmes and Brandeis, in particular, were just beginning to articulate theories of First Amendment rights. (In the immediate aftermath of World War I, the Court also upheld the Espionage Act conviction of Eugene Debs who, like Schenck, was prosecuted for speaking against the draft: he told his audience that they “were fit for something better than slavery and cannon fodder.” Emma Goldman was deported for criticizing the draft.) I like to assume that the Supreme Court would not uphold the these convictions today, even though it recently re-authorized the criminalization of political advocacy, in Holder v Humanitarian Law Project . Still, I don’t think the Court is quite ready to approve the prosecution of anti-war activists for circulating pamphlets or exhorting people not to regard themselves as cannon fodder. (Although the FBI might illegally monitor their activities and police might corral and arrest them.) But if the criminalization of anti-draft rhetoric seems anachronistic, Charles Schenck’s rhetorical defense of liberty was timeless, and could easily be echoed tomorrow by a right or left wing civil libertarian, or even a Tea Party activist, if Congress were to re-authorize a draft (and unleash a strong anti-war movement). Schenck regarded the draft as an unconstitutional usurpation of power, a violation of the 13th Amendment’s prohibition on slavery. He insisted that citizens had an obligation to protest the violation of their rights:     In lending tacit or silent consent to the conscription law, in neglecting to assert your rights, you are (whether knowingly or not) helping to condone and support a most infamous and insidious conspiracy to abridge and destroy the sacred and cherished rights of a free people. You are a citizen: not a subject! You delegate your power to the officers of the law to be used for your good and welfare, not against you. … Are you willing to submit to the degradation of having the Constitution of the United States treated as a mere scrap of paper … You are responsibile.  You must do your share to maintain, support, and uphold the rights of the people of this country … In this world crisis where do you stand? Are you with the forces of liberty and light or war and darkness? Waging war in the early 20th century, the federal government naturally saw itself on the side of “liberty and light” and its critics as purveyors of “war and darkness,” as governments waging war invariably do. Today, the U.S. at war is officially engaged in “Operation Enduring Freedom” and the Espionage Act is effectively framed as an instrument of freedom. The House Judiciary Committee will begin holding hearings on the Espionage Act this week; too bad its free-speaking victims–Charles Schenck, Emma Goldman, and Eugene Debs — aren’t around to testify.  

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The Espionage Act’s Shameful and Forgotten History

Six years after she was first diagnosed with breast cancer, Elizabeth Edwards has been advised to stop treating her disease after it spread to her liver. Edwards, an author, attorney, and estranged wife of former Senator John Edwards, posted a Facebook…

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Elizabeth Edwards’ Cancer Spreads

The Justice Department cleared Senator John Ensign of criminal allegations.

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Prosecutors Won’t Charge Ensign

In what the embattled lawmaker has dubbed an “early Christmas statement,” the Justice Department has ended its investigation of Senator John Ensign (R-Nev) for allegedly trying to cover up an extramarital affair with a top aide. However, Ensign is…

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Justice Dept. Ends Investigation of Ensign

Sen. Jon Kyl has gone against President Obama, US military leaders and National Security Officials to reject Senate consideration of the New START treaty in the current session of Congress. As a leading conservative, Republican Whip Kyl is willing to risk the security of the United States in order to deny President Obama any success in foreign policy. Senate committees have had 18 public hearings on the treaty. The vast majority of military and senior government officials have supported the treaty, but that is not enough for Senator Kyl. read more

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Sen. Jon Kyl Ignores Military on New START

Lawyers sent by the G.O.P. to challenge write-in ballots for Senator Lisa Murkowski have begun leaving the state.

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The Caucus: Lawyers Depart Alaska as Joe Miller’s Chances Dim

Republicans took control of the House after picking up 60 seats in midterm elections, the largest gain in the House since 1948. Democrats maintained control of the Senate (though they lost six seats), and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did not lose to Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle. “Harry Reid isn’t just Dracula. He isn’t just Lazarus; he’s our leader,” said Senator John Kerry. “Our whole caucus is thrilled that he’s unbreakable and unbeatable.” Time New York Times Three Iowa Supreme Court judges who ruled in favor of same-sex marriage were voted out of office, and exit polls suggested that 31 percent of self-identified homosexuals and bisexuals voted Republican. Washington Post Washington Post MSNBC suspended Keith Olbermann without pay for contributing $2,400 to the campaigns of three Democrats; the Republican National Committee showed its support for Nancy Pelosi’s bid to become the Minority Leader by hanging above their entrance a “Hire Pelosi” banner; and on election night in Long Island, a retired New York policeman and his sons beat a 38-year-old Turkish immigrant with American flags, telling the recently naturalized man to “get out of my country.” New York Times Talking Points Memo New York Pos “It would be hard to argue that we’re going backwards,” said President Barack Obama after the elections. “I think what you can argue is we’re stuck in neutral.” New York Times . . .

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CLAIRE GUTIERREZ—Weekly Review

Democratic Senator Patty Murray wins the close race for the US Senate seat in Washington state, leaving Alaska the only Senate result outstanding.

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Democrats win in Washington state

The winner may not be known for weeks, but Senator Lisa Murkowski appeared to have the upper hand over Joe Miller, the Republican nominee.

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In Alaska, ‘Write-In’ Leads, Giving Murkowski Hope

More Dems bites the dust: Despite hopes of a late comeback, Pennsylvania Senate candidate Joe Sestak lost his bid to Pat Toomey. In Wisconsin, Republican Ron Johnson has ousted incumbent Senator Russ Feingold. The longtime Wisconsin senator was a…

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Toomey Outdoes Sestak in Penn.

Looks like Joe Miller’s scandals may be catching up with him: A new poll in Alaska shows him in third place behind Senator Lisa Murkowski and Democrat Scott McAdams. Murkowski, waging a write-in campaign, polls at 34 percent, while McAdams polls at 29…

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Joe Miller Drops to Third Place