Dead Man Tell No Tales

The big Senate news is Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie's (D) selection to replace Sen. Daniel Inouye (D), who recently passed away. Inouye -- a legendary figure in Hawaiian politics -- released a deathbed letter saying his "one and only choice" for a successor was Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D). But Abercrombie rocked the boat by instead picking Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz to take the seat. Schatz will serve two years until a 2014 special election; the winner of that will have to run for reelection in 2016.

So the question on everyone's mind is why Abercrombie decided to spurn Inouye's dying wish? The line I've heard is that Abercrombie wanted to demonstrate "independence" from Inouye's giant shadow. If so, it strikes me as a bit weak -- it seems less like a bold stroke and more like, well, kicking a dead guy.

I'm not saying that Abercrombie was obligated to pick Hanabusa. I'm saying that one would hope that there are substantive differences between her and Schatz that motivated the pick, because if it was more of an inside-baseball sort of deal then I can't imagine that it will really turn out well for Abercrombie.

Inouye to Strip Franken Anti-Rape Amendment?

There isn't any official confirmation on this, but sources are indicating that Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) may strip Al Franken's anti-rape amendment from the defense appropriations bill. Franken's amendment was a response to the horrifying case of Jamie Jones, a KBR contractor in Iraq who was allegedly gang-raped by co-workers, then locked in a crate when she attempted to report the incident to superiors. Upon finally being released from her kidnappers, she attempted to sue in American courts, only to be told that her contract contained a mandatory arbitration clause that would keep her out of court. Arbitration lacks critical due process and oversight protections found in the judiciary, and the nature of the arbitration business makes it intrinsically biased towards repeat-players like defense contractors against individual claimants like Ms. Jones. Forcing rape victims to go into arbitration is effectively a way of shielding their rapists. So Senator Franken's amendment simply prohibits the United States government from working with defense contractors who include these clauses in their contracts.

While again, we don't know for sure Sen. Inouye's plans with regards to this amendment, it's kind of one of those things where you have to assume the worst and come out firing. If he's barraged with a ton of public pressure for something he was going to do anyway, no big deal. If we wait for "confirmation" from something his office undoubtedly wants to keep very quiet, we'll probably be too late.