Shooting the wounded

--Saddam Hussein had his day in court yesterday. Or rather, his first of many days in court. I find it interesting that one of the charges he faces (in addition to the obvious ones for killing innocents) is for invading Kuwait. Am I the only one that sees the irony (I will refrain from saying "hypocrisy" for now) in invading Iraq so we can put him on trial for invading Kuwait? If his invasion of Kuwait in an unforgivable crime, how can we justify our own invasion of Iraq?

If anyone thinks that the Iraqis are really running this trail, think again. They're using prosecuting materials drawn up by the US Justice Dept. Ashcroft & co have made sure that nothing comes up that would be potentially embarrassing to the US. Like, uh, the fact that we sold him the chemical weapons that he's accused of using?

--A Florida state court ruled that the state has to turn over the list of nearly 50,000 voters who were declared ineligible to vote in 2000 due to supposed felonies. Perhaps--just perhaps--this means that a thorough analysis of the will be done and we will finally know exactly how many Florida residents were unjustly and illegally prevented from casting votes in the 2000 election. And perhaps--just perhaps--the public will give a shit.

None of this is news, of course. Greg Palast tried to alert the media when he first learned of the scheme back in late 2000. The news outlets could have just gotten the list from him; he has a copy. Of course, his copy was not obtained through proper channels, but so what? Someone tried to blow the whistle on Jeb Bush and Kathy Harris, and the American media ignored it. I appreciate the value of a legal ruling against the state, but the American media has lost all credibility with me. The days of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite are over. They now know only how to shoot the wounded.