Ricin structure (Wikipedia)

Eleven LGBT bars in the Seattle area received letters this week from an individual who claims to be in possession of a biological weapon and plans to target at least 50 customers.

“Your establishment has been targeted,” the letters say. “I have in my possession approximately 67 grams of ricin with which I will indiscriminately target at least five of your clients.”

Ricin is a poison extracted from a common ornamental plant, the castor bean. Ingestion causes massive organ failure and a lethal is as small as a grain of salt. There is no antidote.

The Seattle Stranger also received a letter from the terrorist.

…addressed to the attention of “Obituaries.” The letter’s author said the paper should “be prepared to announce the deaths of approximately 55 individuals all of whom were patrons of the following establishments on a Saturday in January.” The listed bars are: the Elite, Neighbours, Wild Rose, the Cuff, Purr, the Eagle, R Place, Re-bar, CC’s, Madison Pub, and the Crescent. “I could take this moment to launch into a diatribe about my indignation towards the gay community,” the letter concludes, “however, I think the deaths will speak for themselves.”

The Seattle police and the FBI are investigating. Many of the bars are taking extra security precautions.

Photo: Lauren Victoria Burke

On ABC News Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney acknowledged knowing about and approving of the torture technique known as waterboarding.

“I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the agency in effect came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn’t do,” Cheney said. “And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it.” (Back in April, George W. Bush admitted as much, as well.)

Replaying the tape on MSNBC last night, Rachel Maddow asked Michigan Democrat Carl Levin, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committe, “Did he just admit to condoning torture?” His reply:

“As far as I’m concerned, that’s exactly what he admitted,” Levin said after a pause to shut his eyes, and shake his head as if still in disbelief.

“Now he’ll say that he doesn’t admit supporting torture,” Levin added, “but facts are that the policies which were approved, the legal opinions authorized these harsh techniques, and when the Vice President of the United States says that he believes — and he said that what, just a few nights ago — that waterboarding is ‘appropriate,’ there is no other conclusion that I can reach other than I know it’s a form of torture, it’s been acknowledged as a form of torture I think since the Inquisition. Senator McCain who was the subject of torture is absolutely clear on it, but I think every authority on waterboarding and torture will say that waterboarding constitutes ‘torture.’”

George W. Bush famously told CBS’ Katie Couric, “I’ve said to the people that we don’t torture, and we don’t.” But his administration has long danced around the definition of torture and whether waterboarding, a forced simulation of drowning, qualifies.

The Minnesota GOP is sending out a mailer attacking Barack Obama for his alleged “close ties to domestic terrorist” William Ayers. But at first glance it appears that the t-word is being applied to Obama: just above the mailing panel is the Democrat’s name and face, his head turned to the left. Near his mouth is a quote, attributed only to the New York Times. “I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough.”

CQ Politics — which has called the charge “so wrong it’s pants-on-fire wrong” — reports that Republicans in Virginia are sending out the same mailers.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee found that Minneapolis’ Hennepin County Medical Center did not have sufficient capacity to handle a terrorist attack. The committee completely overlooked St. Paul’s Regions Hospital, which would be the first responder in the unlikely event of a terrorist attack on the RNC.

The report looked at five cities at high risk for attacks — Washington, D.C.; New York City; Los Angeles; Chicago; and Houston — and then the two cities hosting the conventions this fall, Denver and Minneapolis. Except, St. Paul is hosting the actual convention. Rep. Betty McCollum, a Democrat representing St. Paul who also serves on the committee, attempted to set the record straight, according to the Associated Press. 

“In the event of an emergency at the Republican National Convention, Regions Hospital in St. Paul, an excellent facility, will be the primary responder, with the [Minneapolis] hospital examined in the report providing support,” she said.

“I live in Minnesota, and I need to set the record straight,” she told the committee members.

Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman is the Senate co-sponsor of a little-noticed domestic anti-terrorism bill that could carry us several steps closer to the good old days of the House Un-American Activities Committee and Joe McCarthy. The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act (S.1959) is currently in committee after passing the House last year with no media scrutiny and no real debate by a 404-6 margin. The primary sponsor of the Senate bill is fellow Republican Susan Collins of Maine.

The purpose of the measure is to create a permanent federal commission to scrutinize radicals and would-be terrorists, and to fund a series of university-based centers devoted to ferreting out and tracking the dangerous subversives among us. The latter would operate under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security. A handful of critics from the blogosphere and the legal world have called out the measure on grounds that it its vague mandate amounts to criminalizing dissent. But even in the civil liberties demi-monde, it seems to be making little impact.

One reason the bill has attracted so little attention: It’s a thoroughly bipartisan push that actually originated in the Democratic party. Though the Senate version is sponsored by two Republicans, the House version that passed last year was introduced by a Democrat, Jane Harman of California, and 10 of her 14 co-sponsors were also Democrats.

I contacted Peter Erlinder, a former president of the National Lawyers Guild and a constitutional criminal law professor at William Mitchell in St. Paul who has spoken up against the bill. “If politically motivated violence is what this war [the 'war on terror'] is about,” he tells Minnesota Monitor, “we can put virtually any definition to it that we choose to. Even, for example, something like a demonstration against the World Trade Organization where there might be some broken windows. Even the Republican National Convention in St. Paul this fall would carry with it the possibility that there might be some acts that are not completely passive. Under this definition, anyone associated with those acts, even if they didn’t intend the result, could conceivably find themselves being investigated by a commission like this.”

Currently S.1959 is before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Asked about the status of the bill at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day appearance in St. Paul, Coleman reportedly told the audience that he had no plans to try to bring it to the floor in this session. Even if true, that suggests it could well be an early item of congressional business during the administration of President Clinton/McCain/Obama.

There are more excerpts of Peter Erlinder’s remarks below the jump. 

Listen: Peter Erlinder talks about the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act (10:45)

More from Peter Erlinder regarding S.1959:

“We’ve had experience with this sort of thing before,” notes Erlinder. “The legislation not only sets up a study mechanism. It sets up a commission structure that would permit the Congress to organize commissions that would travel around the United States to see who, in any local area, might fit the definition.

“It’s similar to the hearings that the House Un-American Activities Committee had from the ’30s through the ’70s. ‘Un-American activities’ is a term that’s just as broad as ‘homegrown terrorism’ or ‘violent radicalization.’ There is no there there. [HUAC] was set up in order to study Nazi infiltration in the United States. After WWII, however, its character changed as the political climate changed. It then became the committee that was used to investigate alleged communist ties that people had. And because ‘un-Americanism’ is something that’s in the eye of the beholder, the committee would travel around the country having hearings to find out who was un-American in any particular community.

“The problem is that legislative commissions like this have the power of contempt, so that if a person either doesn’t answer questions because they don’t want to expose their friends to liability, or they don’t appear, they can be held in contempt of Congress and be sentenced to prison as a result. Under the HUAC period, that was about two years. So the Hollywood 10, when they refused to name names, were given two years. Under the current state of the law, however, the terrorism enhancements for criminal sentences have been used to extend contempt sentences from two years to 10 years. So people who don’t appear before this commission, or don’t answer questions the way the commission thinks they should, could face up to 10 years in prison for failing to cooperate.” 

On Sept. 14, bank accounts belonging to more than dozen money transferors were closed by Minnesota-based national banks, citing tough regulations. Though money wiring services, almost entirely used by immigrants, didn’t halt completely, its jolt was evident in the community.

But within that week, Hate Free Zone helped Washington state banks and money transferors reach a deal that would allow the latter to use state banks in lieu of national banks to conduct business. Most of Minnesota-based money transferors have branches operating in Washington.

“We would like to build alliances with Minnesota organizations in curbing the erosion of civil rights,

Still to be officially named, the new group comprises of members of the Muslim community, the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Some of it’s’ functions are the first in the nation.

“The purpose of the group is to develop a better understanding of each other; to workout any grievances, and to create an atmosphere conducive to trust and cooperation,

The call comes in the wake of the recent regulations that made it tough for local and national banks to offer accounts for money transferors due to terrorism and money laundering concerns.

In their second joint statement issued on Wednesday, Coleman and Kennedy asked the director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN) to organize a meeting intended to sort out the problems facing money transferors and explore possible remedies. The meeting would also include the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

  “It’s our hope that a meeting with federal banking regulators and the Somali community will help ensure that remittances can continue while at the same time protecting vital national security and law enforcement interests,

Yep, that was the headline that greeted me in this morning’s Star Tribune.  And while I’m ecstatic that these deplorable wretches (well, at least those found guilty) are finally being brought to justice, the timing seems a bit too opportunistic.  Here we are under two months before the November elections, almost 5 years after 9/11, and President Bush all of a sudden decides it’s finally time to try these suspects.  Holding the trial off until now seems like a thoroughly calculated political move intended to con the American public into believing that this administration is effective on defense (oh, and never-you-mind the war going on).

Oh well, we’re sure to see more of these tactics between now and November.  All we can do is sit back and try not to let the fear-mongoring get to us.  In the mean time, I’m still happy that justice is finally going to be served, it’s just too bad partisan politics got to decide the timeframe.