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God's Politics: Frist Fights Filibuster on Judicial Nominees
in "Justice Sunday"
War Resister Pablo Paredes Denied Conscientious Objector
Status
Bush Meets Longtime Saudi Ally in Crawford
Remembering Farouk Abdel-Muhti: Three Year Anniversary of
Detention of Palestinian Activist
God's Politics: Frist Fights Filibuster on Judicial
Nominees in "Justice Sunday"
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist delivered a taped speech
Sunday at an event called "Justice Sunday: Stopping the
Filibuster Against People of Faith," in which he again
threatened to ban Democrats from filibustering Bush's judicial
nominees. We speak with preacher activist Jim Wallis, author
of "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the
Left Doesn't Get It."
The battle over President Bush's judicial nominees reached
new heights this past weekend. Senate Majority leader Bill
Frist delivered a taped speech in which he again threatened
to ban Democrats from filibustering Bush's court nominees.
While the Republican leader's rhetoric was the same, it was
the venue of his address that grabbed national headlines.
The speech was part of an event organized by Christian conservative
groups called "Justice Sunday: Stopping the Filibuster
Against People of Faith." It was held at a packed Baptist
church east of Louisville, Kentucky and was simultaneously
broadcast to churches around the country, as well as to 61
million households.
In his speech, Frist threatened again to use what is known
as the "nuclear option," - changing Senate rules
to ban filibusters of judicial nominees.
Democrats have said they would retaliate by bringing most
Senate business to a halt. But now, the Senate's top two Democrats
- Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Minority Whip Richard
Durbin of Illinois said for the first time yesterday that
they would consider a compromise in which some of the seven
stalled nominees would be confirmed and the others withdrawn.
While Frist didn't mention religion in his speech, others
who were headlining the event did. Charles Colson, head of
Prison Fellowship Ministries, said filibustering of court
nominees is "destroying the balance of power, which was
a vital Christian contribution to the founding of our nation."
Religious groups and Democrats said Frist should have played
no role in the heavily promoted broadcast which they say inappropriately
brought religion into a political debate. Senator Chuck Schumer
of New York said the move, "Clearly argues that people
of one viewpoint have God on their side and all others are
faithless."
Frists speech comes as a new Washington-Post-ABC News poll
finds that Americans are opposed to changing the Senate rules
by a 2-1 margin. Meanwhile, the group, MoveOn.org, says it
will finance TV commercials criticizing the rule change and
organizers will hold 120 rallies around the country on Wednesday,
including one in Washington with a speech by former Vice President
Al Gore.
- Jim Wallis , author of "God's Politics: Why the
Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It." He
is a founder of the Sojourners
Community and editor of Sojourners Magazine.
War Resister Pablo Paredes Denied Conscientious Objector
Status
An investigating officer has recommended to deny Navy sailor
Pablo Paredes' request for conscientious objector status.
In addition, his request for Other than Honorable discharge
in lieu of trial was also denied. His court martial is scheduled
for May 11. Pablo Paredes he joins us on the line from California.
Bush Meets Longtime Saudi Ally in Crawford
President Bush met with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah for
the first time in three years at his ranch in Crawford, Texas
on Monday. The price of oil was the main topic of the talks.
We speak with Middle East expert, professor As'ad AbuKhalil.
President Bush met with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Monday
at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. The two leaders discussed
soaring global oil prices as well as political reform in Saudi
Arabia, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the so-called
"war on terror."
But it was the price of oil that topped the agenda. Crude
oil prices hit record highs in April, briefly topping $58
dollars a barrel. Nationwide retail gas prices have climbed
to over $2.28 (two dollars twenty eight cents) a gallon.
Prior to Abdullah's arrival, Bush spoke to reporters at his
ranch about oil and the energy bill.
- President Bush, speaking in Crawford, Texas, April 25,
2005.
Crown Prince Abdullah arrived soon after with a small entourage.
Bush greeted him with a hug and a kiss on both cheeks. The
president then took Abdullah's hand in his and guided him
up the path leading to his office, taking care to a point
a field of bluebonnets on the way.
The meeting between the two leaders was the first in three
years. Abdullah arrived in the United States on Sunday where
he met with Vice President Dick Cheney.
The Saudis presented a plan to increase oil production over
the next decade in what the Wall Street Journal describes
as a "recap of plans the Saudis already had announced."
Meanwhile, in a letter to President Bush, Human Rights Watch
called for charges against three Saudi dissidents to be dropped.
The three were imprisoned for more than a year for petitioning
for a constitutional monarchy. In the letter, the group also
said Bush should urge Saudi authorities to appoint women to
the recently-formed municipal councils, and to establish a
moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
- As'ad AbuKhalil, professor of political science at California
State University, Stanislaus and visiting professor at UC,
Berkeley. He is the author of several books, his latest
is "The Battle for Saudi Arabia: Royalty, Fundamentalism,
and Global Power." He runs a blog called "The
Angry Arab News Service."
Remembering Farouk Abdel-Muhti: Three Year Anniversary
of Detention of Palestinian Activist
Today marks the third anniversary of the arrest and imprisonment
of Palestinian human rights activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti. He
was jailed for two years without charge. He died last summer
just three months after being released. We hear an excerpt
of an address he gave the day after his release.
Today marks the third anniversary of the arrest and imprisonment
of Palestinian human rights activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti. He
was jailed for two years without charge. He died last summer
just three months after being released.
In March 2002, Farouk began working regularly at Pacifica
Radio station WBAI. He used his contacts to arrange interviews
with Palestinians in the Occupied Territories on the morning
radio program "Wake-Up Call."
Farouk was detained one month later, on April 26, 2002. He
was jailed in various facilities around the country for two
years. He was never charged with a crime. He was often held
in solitary confinement, subjected to extensive interrogation,
and often denied food. His health was failing but he remained
handcuffed and shackled whenever he went to the health clinic.
Two years after his detention, a federal judge ordered Farouk
to be deported, charged or released. He walked out of prison
on April 12, 2004.
On July 21, 2004, after giving a speech at the Ethical Society
in Philadelphia, Farouk's head fell to the table. He collapsed
and died shortly afterwards. His last words were "I believe
nobody can stop the Palestinian struggle and I believe it's
not going to stop, our insistence for rights."
To commemorate the third anniversary of his arrest we bring
you an excerpt of Farouk speaking the day after his release
from prison. He addressed a crowd of hundreds at Cooper Union
Hall.
- Farouk Abdel-Muhti, speaking in New York City, April
13, 2004.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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