“Using the powers of the office of President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in disregard of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has repeatedly engaged in conduct violating the constitutional rights of citizens, impairing the due and proper administration of justice and the conduct of lawful inquiries, or contravening the laws governing agencies of the executive branch and the purposed of these agencies.” (more…)

If the article in this morning’s Coeur d’Alene Press is even close to accurate and complete, the public’s pocket is being picked by elements of the McScrew’em Park Project.  One source has estimated this pocket-picking’s value to be between $220,000 and $225,000.

But why be concerned?  After all, our City officials built $600,000 for that purpose into the budget.  It’s called the “contingency fund.”  The $600,000 is about 4.1% of the Project’s projected total budget.

Never mind that your pocket is still being picked.  It was planned!  Now, doesn’t that make you feel better?  It shouldn’t.  That means there could still be about $380,000 in the planned pocket-picking account before the Coeur d’Alene City Council would have to vote to approve an increase in the budget.   That’s a lot of money that can still be doled out.  And it might not end there. (more…)

Today’s online Coeur d’Alene Press is running this article bylined Mike Patrick and titled Playing politics in a strange new world.

The article discusses how an unnamed “…organization purchased hyperlinks to the names of candidates that organization does not support.”  The result was that online readers following the link were taken to a website that supported candidates by the organization unnamed in the article.

Why didn’t the Press, why didn’t Mike Patrick name the organization who purchased the misdirecting hyperlink ads?  From following the links remaining in the online article, some people might conclude that the ads were purchased by the same group who purchased the remaining linked ads.  That may or may not be accurate, but the Coeur d’Alene Press and Mike Patrick surely know who did purchase the deceptive links.  Regardless of who that is, fairness to all the candidates requires that the Press identify the misdirection ads’ buyers.  As for the intra-skewspaper discussion reported, shouldn’t that have taken place before the hyperlink ad was accepted?

ADDENDUM:  Some time later this afternoon, the Press article was updated to include a press release from Balance North Idaho which acknowledged it had placed the deceptive hyperlinks.   I wonder if Balance North Idaho’s “well Balanced candidates” endorsed and supported the deceptive practice?   I wonder if Balance North Idaho’s Board of Directors would appreciate having their personal names hyperlinked in alleged news stories to unsavory websites?  No doubt they would not.  After all, appropriation of one’s name or likeness for commercial or political purposes  but without his explicit permission violates his privacy rights in many states.

Governor Otter has issued a proclamation declaring May 2013 as Idaho 2nd Amendment Protection Month, and encouraging arms and ammunition manufacturers nationwide to consider Idaho for potential expansion and relocation.

Anyone really think that the City of Coeur d’Alene will be first in line to seek out arms and ammunition manufacturers to relocate here?

You can also vote your choice in our poll question.

Here is the Agenda for the Coeur d’Alene City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 7, at 6:00 p.m.  Here’s the Addendum Agenda.  Remember,  agenda items can be added during the meeting.

One item especially worth noting is in the Adjournment.  It reads, “Recess to […] May 20th at 12:00 Noon for a Council Workshop to discuss the Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive property transfer from ITD.

This answers the often-asked question, “Is our City still considering taking on this very costly white elephant?”

Gun buyback programs seem to be the latest way for municipalities to feel warm and fuzzy, that they’re doing something effective to stop violence by people using firearms unlawfully.

The usual buyback transaction has the municipality shaking down the locals for monetary or in-kind donations.  In-kind donations are paid directly or used to buy something like fixed-value gift cards.  The gift cards are given to the people turning in firearms.

I’ve often wondered about something. (more…)

According to an April 29 Washington Post article headlined FBI looking into relationship between McDonnells, donor, “FBI agents are conducting interviews about the relationship between Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, his wife, Maureen, and a major campaign donor who paid [approximately $15,000] for the food at the wedding of the governor’s daughter…”

The issue at hand is whether the Republican governor gave a major campaign donor special treatment in return for personal gifts to his family.

In terms of compromising the integrity of the office an official holds and the public’s trust in the official, does it really matter if the high-value items such as cash, gifts, or lucrative business contracts have been given to close family members rather than directly to the public official?

After Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had regained consciousness in a Boston hospital, he was interviewed by federal and police investigators.  Some of the interview was intentionally conducted prior to Tsarnaev’s being the Miranda warnings which inform someone in custody of his right to remain silent and to have legal counsel.

The news media characterized the reasoning behind the pre-Miranda questioning as being the “public safety exception.”

On April 24, 2013, the Congressional Research Service released its report explaining the basis for the “public safety exception.”  The 13-page report is titled Terrorism, Miranda, and Related Matters.