A small victory in an undoubtedly ongoing battle.

Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court apparently rediscovered their Constitutional mandate to interpret the Constitution, and participate in the checks and balances upon the other two branches of our government. In a 5-3 decision, with Chief Justice Roberts recusing himself, the court ruled that President Bush had overstepped his authority in applying military tribunals to a so-called “enemy combatant” by the name of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, held in Guantanamo Bay. The court did; however, seem to leave the door open to allow Congress to provide the President with even more wartime powers, which might render this ruling moot.

The spineless administration lapdogs in Congress wasted no time jumping on that opportunity, and made it a point to “spin” the discussion in that direction. Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee said Thursday that he would sponsor legislation after the Holiday break that would authorize the military tribunals.” To keep America safe in the war on terror, I believe we should try terrorists only before military commissions, not in our civilian courts," said Frist. Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, has offered to work with the White House on legislation that would allow the administration to try the Guantanamo prisoners before a military tribunal. "The court said that military commissions would be proper if Congress blessed those commissions -- that the president by himself could not do this, that he had to come to Congress and get the Congress to bless the military tribunal. I agree with that. I think it would be better off if the Congress and the White House work together to pass a statute that would allow these terrorists to be tried in a military court."

So, given the direction this seems to be going, the obvious question to the Congress is, are we willing to legislate the violation of the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice by our government? Because that was one of the salient points of the Supreme Court ruling - "For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the military commission convened to try Hamdan lacks power to proceed because its structure and procedures violate both the UCMJ and the Geneva Conventions."

In effect, if the Congress passes legislation that gives the President the authority to convene such military tribunals for detainees such as Hamdan, we will be in violation of a treaty that we were a signatory to, as well as the “rules of the road” for military justice that we, ourselves, established. And the next obvious question becomes, what other laws, codes and international treaties are we willing to abandon in the name of national security? And what, may I ask, is the benefit of “national security” if we have now become a nation no longer bound by the rule of law?

I am truly encouraged by yesterday’s ruling by the Supreme Court. But my hope is somewhat tempered by the possibility that the Congress will take action that flies in the face of what the Justices were trying to say. Here’s a hint folks… this isn’t the way our founding fathers envisioned the evolution of our republic. And to continue to abandon the principles which they and the many that have followed them, have fought and in some cases, died to protect, would be a treason to their memory. On the eve of the Fourth of July Holiday, celebrating our great nation’s 230th birthday, that is a truly sad thought.

A major change in my philosophy.

It’s quite ironic that I owe some of my recent changes in philosophy and ideology to the current U.S. administration, whose politics, policies, and tactics I hold in complete and utter contempt (those of you who have read the blog will find this as no surprise). As a matter of fact, and in no small measure, my impetus for starting this blog, and my recent increased interest in politics and government, I owe to the Bush administration as well. If it wasn’t for this regime’s blatant and repetitive abuse of executive power, their total disregard for the Constitution and the laws of the U.S., and their complete hypocrisy on issues too numerous to name, I’d probably still be your typical, fat, dumb and happy American citizen, with only a passing interest in the political process.

And I’m sure I’m not alone in this. I’m sure there are many of us out there, who have had it “up to here” with the perversion of the American political system for the benefit of corporate and special interests. I recognize that this is not a new problem, and that the system was broken long before Buchco took office. However, this administration has taken the raping of the American political system to a new level. They have gone far beyond just making big bucks for themselves and their corporate buddies by manipulating the system. They have taken advantage of an unspeakable human tragedy to forward their own warped agenda, and used the tactics of fear and paranoia to justify and expand all of the crimes and abuses they have committed. And this forum in cyberspace has offered those of us in the mostly silent majority a venue to say loud and clearly, “enough is enough.”

So, thank you George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, and all the others in your criminal cabal, for giving me the inspiration to get involved and rage against your despicable betrayal of the American people to serve your own selfish ends. Your treason has helped so many of us put into sharp focus what is truly important to our nation and our world. You may have actually saved democracy in America… by trying to kill it. Time will tell.

And I also owe a debt to this regime for my recent change in position on another important issue, labor unions. Time was, I was no fan of organized labor in this country. While my view was contrary to that of most of my fellow Democrats, I had always felt that labor unions did a disservice to our country, making it much more difficult to compete in a global market. I also felt that while at one time in our history, unions served a vital role by protecting workers rights, today, there are more than enough government safeguards in place to assure the safety and welfare of our nation’s workforce. I can see now that my position on the subject was wrong.

While higher union wages may make American products more expensive than their Asian counterparts, there is something to be said for quality, and consumers ARE willing to pay a premium for it. Over an above that, the idea that American wages are too high is most certainly the wrong way to look at things. We should be working on raising the bar for third world countries, not lowering the bar for ours. What advocates of cheap labor don’t seem to realize is that in the end, they are shooting themselves in the foot. Increasing pay scales to a real “living wage” will produce more consumers capable of affording the products that are being produced, which in the end, is good for labor and management alike. Keeping wages down may be beneficial to corporate interests in the short term; it will adversely affect the overall health of the economy in the long run. Corporate America needs to stop being so shortsighted.

And it’s obvious that we are going backwards as far as worker protections are concerned. This administration has repeatedly hired the fox to guard the hen house when it comes to assuring worker safety and welfare. Our government places coal executives in charge of mine safety, nuclear industry executives in charge of nuclear power plant safety, oil executives in charge of emissions standards, pharmaceutical executives in charge of drug safety. You get the idea. Not to mention that this administration has been actively involved in union-busting tactics within and without the structure of our government. As a matter of fact, a recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia admonished the administration’s Department of Homeland Security for it’s efforts to squelch union representation within it’s ranks. The Court stated, "The government's position not only defies the well-understood meaning of collective bargaining, it also defies common sense." Here’s an article on the ruling:

DHS Ruling Deals Administration a Setback

And then there’s the issue of the minimum wage. Last week, Congress decides to vote itself a pay raise. This week, they decide NOT to increase the minimum wage, leaving workers at this pay scale $6000 BELOW the poverty line. It’s OK for fat, lazy politicians to line their own pockets, but God forbid an entry level worker should be able to put food on the table for his family.

It’s obvious to me that this administration specifically, and our federal government in general, are no friend of the working man these days. The American workforce needs a voice, an advocate, looking out for their best interests. And who better to do so that the same people who have been doing it for over a century – America’s labor unions. We need our unions, now more than ever, if for no other reason than the very survival of working class America.

More election year bloviating on the part of our elected representatives.

And, as with all the other posturing that has gone on during this Congressional session, this is purely for show, is a waste of valuable legislative time and tax dollars, and in the end, does more to divide our country than unite it. So, given the nature of this administration, and this do-nothing Congress, it’s just what the doctor ordered.

Yes indeed, in a stroke of pure political genius, our elected representatives have proposed (again) a Constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, or more specifically, “the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.” The scary part is that this ridiculous legislation has a chance of passing this time.

Despite the fact that the Supreme Court has established the precedent that banning the burning of state flags is unconstitutional, and that the proposed amendment is in apparent direct conflict with the much more important first amendment, Congressmen and Senators have jumped on the political bandwagon to support this travesty. That includes many Democrats, proving once again that they are willing to be the nation’s chickenshits to complement their Republican chickenhawk counterparts.

I mean, God forbid our elected representatives should stand up for the Constitution. Certainly not in an election year. No, it seems to me that legislators of all political persuasion are losing their backbones and taking a “cut and run” attitude… They’re cutting up the constitution and running for re-election.

A few voices of dissent (and reason) have surfaced to remind the rest of our representatives that they have a responsibility to their constituents over and above their desire to get re-elected. Sen. Patrick Leahy stated, "The First Amendment never needs defending when it comes to popular speech… It's when it comes to unpopular speech that it needs defending." Even a Republican, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, showed a level of moral fortitude sadly lacking within most of the ruling party: "I think the First Amendment has served us well for over 200 years. I don't think it needs to be altered”.

If this amendment passes, it will demonstrate once again, that the prevailing philosophy in Washington is, as summed up so succinctly by our President, that “the Constitution is just a piece of paper.” And apparently, as far as Congress is concerned, not worth the paper it is printed on. And it looks like we’re in good company when it comes to outlawing flag burning. Currently, there are only three nations on the planet that outlaw the burning of their national flag… Cuba, China, and Iran. See any similarities here?

They’re grasping at straws again. How sad.

The Republican Senate spinmeister dujour, Sen. Rick Santorum of PA, held a press conference yesterday to announce to the world (or at least the portion of the world that actually gives a crap about his rantings), that “hundreds” of WMDs have been found in Iraq. Santorum, referring to rusting shells buried near the Iran border for well over 15 years, insisted, “Clearly, we went to war due to WMD. The contents of these shells are still hazardous potentially lethal, which qualifies them as WMD. Because, even if the shells, themselves, can't be fired, the contents remains hazardous and able to maim and kill - an effective WMD”

Never mind the fact that the defense department has already debunked the claim, stating, “these are not the WMD’s this country and the rest of the world believed Iraq had and not the WMD’s for which this country went to war.” Never mind the fact that Santorum was actually taken to task on this by none other than Faux News’ Alan Colmes. Colmes told the Senator “Senator, the Iraq Survey Group — let me go to the Duelfer Report — says that Iraq did not have the weapons our intelligence believed were there. And Jim Angle reported this for Fox News quotes a defense official who says these were pre-1991 weapons that could not have been fired as designed because they already been degraded.”

Still, Santorum defended his claims, flying in the face of the reality of the situation, which, given that we’re talking about Rick Santorum, should be no surprise to anyone. And the right wing bloggers have been coming to Santorum’s defense. They are absolutely giddy, thinking they have discovered the “holy grail” that will prop up their sagging house of cards. They are so desparate for this to be true that they are unwilling to face the reality that this administration lied to get us into a war of their chosing, to benefit their corporate masters and further their irrational ideology that the United States should be an empire, not a Republic.

In the end, this is just sad. It’s sad that we have a political party that is more interested in “winning” than being right. It’s sad that they are unwilling to let go of their fallacious claims, even in light of undisputable evidence to the contrary. It's sad that there are those willing to defend and support this ridiculous misadventure in Iraq, despite how obviously unjust, illegal and downright wrong it is. But what is most sad is that this is the party that is running our government right now, and running our country into the ground.

I've said it before, I'll say it again... Blindly following those that would lead you to your own destruction doesn't make you righteous, it simply makes you stupid.

Our elected “representatives” in Washington seem to be more interested in representing their corporate masters than their true constituents.

Just last week, Congress was kind enough to vote themselves a pay raise, bringing their salaries to nearly $170,000. You may not have heard about that – after all, they did a pretty good job of keeping it quiet. Today, Congress will be playing politics with a proposed increase in the federal minimum wage, with the Republicans using tactics guaranteed to make sure it gets voted down.

The Democrats in the Senate are proposing an increase in the minimum wage from $5.15/hr. to $7.25/hr. Republicans in the Senate are using a parliamentary tactic to require 60 votes to pass, guaranteeing it won't, and offering their own bill to increase the wage to $6.25/hr. while reducing overtime pay. Just to make sure their own bill won’t pass, the Republicans are attaching abortion legislation onto their bill, along with tax breaks for employers.

In the House, our lawmakers are taking an even simpler approach – they’re refusing to allow the bill come to the House floor.

This is an absolute travesty. The men and women we have sent to Washington, ESPECIALLY the Republicans, are, as always, putting corporate interests ahead of the interests of working families in this country. They seem to be of the opinion that the Constitution starts with the words “We the Corporations” or “We the Campaign Contributors”, rather than “We the People”. When are we going to demand that our elected officials start respecting their constituents?

And to all you working-class Republicans out there who keep supporting your corrupt, arrogant, insincere, elitist representatives... The next time you have to choose between making the car or the house payment or putting food on the table, the next time you decide you can't afford a well-deserved family vacation, the next time you have to tell your kids, "mommy and daddy can't afford that", the next time you have to tell your kids they're gonna have to wait one more year to go to college; just remember, you did this to yourselves by supporting these clowns and sending them back to Congress year after year after year.

For once, put the good of your country before loyalty to your party. It's called being a patriot - you might try it sometime.

Apparently, someone woke up the mainstream media.

Last night, much to my surprise, the ABC show “Nightline” broadcast a piece about the so-called “Tipton three”, three young British men of Arab descent, who were in U.S. custody for nearly 2 ½ years, the majority of that time at the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Why was I surprised? Because it’s not like the mainstream media to broadcast stories about the true horrors of the so-called “global war on terror”. Perhaps the media shills for this administration are just trying to get “ahead of the story” on these young men, since there will be a movie coming out on June 23rd that documents their ordeal. I hope I’m wrong about that.

Here’s an article on their story.

Shafiq Rasul, Ruhal Ahmed, and Asif Iqbal were apparently simply in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and of the wrong ethnicity. These three friends, who made their home in Tipton, England, had traveled to Pakistan in the fall of 2001. During their visit, they answered the call of a cleric at a local mosque to help provide humanitarian aid to neighboring Afghanistan. In route between Kandahar and Kabul, the three became trapped in the middle of fighting between Northern Alliance forces and the Taliban. They were captured in November of 2001 and turned over to U.S. forces, who, after a month of holding them in Kandahar, transported them to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

During their detention at the gulag in Guantanamo, the three Brits witnessed and experienced treatment and techniques that I can only describe as torture. (Note: That is MY choice of words, not theirs. They were much kinder in their description.) Some of these practices included forced injections (they still don't know what they were injected with), hog-tying, beatings, being subjected to blaring music and strobe lights, and being forced to watch videos of prisoners who had allegedly been ordered to sodomize each other.

The men report that they had witnessed numerous attempted suicides during their incarceration at the camp. Even so, until recently, there had been no successful suicides at Guantanamo. But given the treatment, conditions, and hopeless prospects of the detainees currently at the camp, one can understand why some of the prisoners feel that suicide is their only option. And for those who do succeed in taking their lives, their blood is most certainly on the hands of our President and his administration.

Without ever being charged, the three friends were finally turned over to British authorities in March of 2004, who immediately released them. So, for Shafiq Rasul, Ruhal Ahmed, and Asif Iqbal, life is great, right? Not so. All three have moved from their homes in Tipton after receiving death threats. They are constantly being detained and searched when they go through customs at British airports. In February, even two the actors who portray the men in the upcoming film, “Road to Guantanamo”, had been detained and held for questioning under British anti-terror laws. For all intents and purposes, these men’s lives have been destroyed because our government can’t seem to be able to tell the difference between real terrorists and Brits of Arab descent on vacation.

So I applaud ABC News and the Associated Press for covering the story of these young men. And I hope that this isn’t simply an administration-driven ramp-up to try to discredit them and their story. This country desperately needs more entities in the mainstream media to do some real journalism and report the dirty truth and gory details of this so-called “global war on terror”. Perhaps the media is finally waking up and discovering they have an important responsibility to fulfill. Now America, it’s time for the rest of us to do the same.

We need to put the brakes on, and we need to do it NOW.

There are those on the right who accuse us liberals of having the Henny Penny “the sky is falling” attitude. They would contend that many of us on the left are alarmists, and always paint the bleakest picture. And while there have been occasions where that assessment had a certain amount of validity; this is not one of them. The picture is bleak. The glass is much less than half full. And the sky most certainly IS falling.

Yesterday, a federal judge in New York ruled that the government could detain non-citizens purely on the basis of their race, religion, or country of origin, and hold them indefinitely without explanation. Can you think of anything as patently un-American as this? You would have thought we would have learned the error of our ways after the Japanese internment camps of WWII.

We are at the top of a very slippery slope right now, and the Republicans apparently want to hit the gas, not the brakes. The Legislative and Judicial braches of the government, in apparent lockstep with the Executive, continue to whittle away at any vestiges of civil liberties and Constitutional freedoms. Merrily we go barreling down the hill, heading straight for the totalitarian state that Orwell envisioned.

Am I exaggerating? Am I being an alarmist? I don’t think so. Perhaps one could draw that conclusion if we weren’t seeing a pattern here, a progressive attack upon the freedoms we have all taken for granted for far too long. Wiretapping and data mining. Corporate complicity in turning over citizen’s private information. Abdication of oversight responsibilities by our elected representatives. Increasing levels of secrecy and deceit on the part of the administration. Profiling and targeting based on race, religion, ethnicity, and ideology rather than probable cause. Need I say more?

America, we need to put a stop to this, and we need to do it right now. We need to show up the fascists who are running the show for what they are. We need to get our friends, our neighbors, our families and our countrymen to take up the cry “No more!” And we need to join together as Americans, and take back our nation.

Ann Coulter continuing her “Hatespeak 2006” tour…

Ann Coulter, the blonde conshell who has raised eyebrows, blood pressures, and bile in my throat recently with her new book, “Godless: The Church of Liberalism”, and her deliberately insensitive remarks regarding 9/11 widows, continued her spew circuit last night with an appearance on The Tonight Show. Now I’m not generally a Leno fan, and I’m certainly not an Ann Coulter fan, but I did watch The Tonight Show last night, mainly because I love George Carlin and K.T. Tunstall. I was also somewhat hoping that Mr. Carlin would ream Ann a new one – it couldn’t happen to a nicer bitch, and it couldn’t come from a better source. Alas, that didn’t happen. Everyone pretty much behaved themselves.

I was rather surprised by the ovation Coulter received, and I suspect that Coulter’s people “stuffed the ballot box” as far as the crowd is concerned. Hey, it works for elections, why not talk shows? I was also reminded why it is that I’m not so fond of Jay Leno… The man can’t do an interview to save his life, and he actually called Coulter a “great writer” – no accounting for taste (perhaps Jay considers “great writing” to be the ability to form complete sentences). And while he paid lip service to the idea that Ann may have offended some people, he certainly didn’t take her to task for her rampant hate speech. If Tony Snow decides to leave the post as White House Press Secretary, they can always offer it to Leno – he can toss bad one-liners in with the misinformation.

All-in-all, it was a pretty tame show, with Coulter coming across as her usual sickeningly smug, superior-than-thou self, Leno coming across as the dolt he normally is, Carlin incredibly funny and irreverent, as always, and Tunstall sounding great as ever.

Now I thought that while I was on the subject of Ms. Coulter, I’d offer her some ideas for her next book:

Soulless: The Conservative Church of Greed and Corruption.

Shameless: How I made a fortune from the 9/11 tragedy by accusing real victims of doing the same thing.

Brainless: Intelligence is WAY overrated.

Spineless: The art of calling others cowards while hiding from reality.

Shemale: My secret life as a Nazi man in a neocon woman’s body.

And finally, in deference to Dale Carnegie…

How to make money and influence policy: Friends and people are WAY overrated.


Whadya think Ann? Have I pegged your ideological bent pretty accurately?

How does one deal with a stubborn, spoiled brat?

You know the type of kid I’m talking about. Ornery, defiant, unwilling to listen to those who are older and wiser. Many times, such a child’s stubborn streak prevents him from seeing the “big picture”, and often puts himself and those around him in difficult, if not dangerous situations. So what is one to do? How do you take the “brat” out of the child?

Apparently, that is the question much of the rest of the world is asking in regards to the immature, defiant country known as the United States. In a recent Pew Research Group poll, 17,000 people in 15 countries were asked about the “war on terror”, the threat posed by a nuclear Iran, and the threat posed by the U.S. being in Iraq, among other things. For the United States, the numbers are not good.

A few key items identified in the poll:

10 of the 15 countries surveyed had an “unfavorable” opinion of the U.S. Only 3 of those countries had an unfavorable opinion of the U.S. in 2002.

12 of the 15 countries considered the U.S. presence in Iraq to be a greater threat to world peace than a nuclear Iran.

China is looked upon more favorably than the U.S. in the majority of the countries surveyed.

In none of the countries surveyed (including the U.S.) do the majority of the people believe that the war leading to Saddam Hussein's removal made the world safer.


The good news? In most countries surveyed, Americans are seen as "inventive" and "hardworking". Unfortunately, they are also seen by many as "violent" and "greedy" - a judgment with which many Americans agree.

It's too bad that this administration has pissed away the goodwill of the rest of the world towards America. Especially since we had such an outpouring of support after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

As it is now, it won't be long before the majority of the "free" world starts to look at the U.S. with the same level of contempt that was previously reserved for the former Soviet Union.

But hey, let's "stay the course". Cause the good old U.S. of A.; nothing more than a child in terms of maturity as a country, knows what's best for the rest of the world. And if the rest of the world doesn't agree, we'll just throw a temper tantrum! After all, we’ve already got the spoiled brat to do it. None other than the U.S. “Ambassador” to the U.N., John Bolton.

It’s too bad the adult, rational portion of the world can't give the U.S. a "time out". We desperately need one.

I just had to share this with everyone...

Take a look:

Asshole Video

Enjoy

I sure have become popular with the right-wing crowd.

Seems I have another fan from the right side of the political spectrum. A gentleman by the name of Jim (to respect his privacy, I'll not list the last name), decided to drop me a line to tell me what a bang-up job I, and my fellow left-wing bloggers were doing:

" You are all Idiots!!!!!!!!!!

As a Marine that has served my nation in combat you cowardly left tree-huggers kill me. You have no clue what is going on in the world and only make up shit(your agenda) as you go.

You people are the cowards that say you have "freedom of speech" but have never contributed in any way by defending your nation. Oh, there are a few veterans that are left wingers but most of them where shit birds anyway.

These "blogs" are just a bunch of little spineless butt-nuggets that have to hide behind a PC monitor because they don't have a set of balls to face the TRUE AMERICANS. THE VETERANS!!!!!

From a veteran that bled. Semper Fi

Jim ******

(253)###-####

Call and we can meet anytome , any place."

Well Jim, I'm sorry you feel that way. Perhaps someday you'll see beyond the "wave the flag" partisan bullshit that has been spewed your way and realize that "tree-huggers" like me love our country just as much as you do.

Whatever you think of me, thank you for your service to our country. Whatever our differences in ideology, I strongly feel that serving your nation in the armed forces is a most noble thing to do, and I have never taken for granted the sacrifices that our men and women in uniform make for our country, and I am very grateful.

Believe it or not, one can support the troops and NOT support an ill-advised, unjust, and illegal war. Because in the end, this misadventure in Iraq is exactly that. And history my friend, will prove us bleeding-heart-tree-huggers right on that count.

And incidently, I, like so many among the "loyal opposition" are "True Americans", no matter what you have to say about it. We love our country enough to want to defend the very foundations upon which our great nation was formed. The Constitution, and the principles it embodies are far more important than cheap oil or corporate greed. And they are certainly more important than partisan political posturing on BOTH sides of the aisle. And in the end, they are more important than either one of us. That is what I would take a bullet for. That is what I would fight and die to defend. I would hope you would do the same.

And I defend my nation every day. This is how I do it. I'm willing to speak truth to people who sometimes seem to have more testosterone than brains. And I will continue to do it. So please don't waste your breath, or my time with intimidation tactics like calling me a coward or challenging me to meet you "anytome , any place". I'm secure in my beliefs, in my honor, and in my patriotism. And no schoolyard bulley antics are ever going to shake that.

Perhaps someday you'll get beyond your anger and the blinders you wear and realize that you and I are not so different. That we are both patriots. That we both love our country. We are a nation divided, and we need to heal that chasm for the good of all Americans.

I wish you well.

Is Senator Specter taking his job seriously, or is this just election year posturing?

Yesterday, much to my surprise, Sen. Arlen Specter, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a rather tersely worded letter to Vice President Dick Cheney, admonishing the veep for lobbying Republican members of his committee. Apparently, Cheney had contacted other Senators on the Judiciary Committee urging them to oppose any hearings involving the question of phone companies turning over millions of customer records to the NSA. My question is, is the good Senator actually sincere in his indignation over the administration overstepping its bounds, or is this simply an election year stunt to improve the chances of Republican victories in November? For the sake of our nation, I’m hoping it’s the former, but my cynical gut tells me it is probably the latter.

In Specter’s letter, the Senator took the opportunity to criticize several of this administration’s questionable policies:

“We press this issue in the context of repeated stances by the Administration on expansion of Article II power, frequently at the expense of Congress’s Article I authority. There are the Presidential signing statements where the President seeks to cherry-pick which parts of the statute he will follow. There has been the refusal of the Department of Justice to provide the necessary clearances to permit its Office of Professional Responsibility to determine the propriety of the legal advice given by the Department of Justice on the electronic surveillance program. There is the recent Executive Branch search and seizure of Congressman Jefferson’s office. There are the recent and repeated assertions by the Department of Justice that it has the authority to criminally prosecute newspapers and reporters under highly questionable criminal statutes.”

Here’s a link to a PDF copy of the letter:

Sen. Specter's letter to V.P. Cheney
(if you can't view the file, right click on the link and choose "Save Target As")

Sure sounds like someone finally discovered they had a constitutional responsibility to provide oversight to the Executive Branch. But why is Senator Specter the lone voice of dissent on the Republican side of the aisle? Why are so many of our elected representatives unwilling or unable to put their responsibilities to their constituents, and their oath of office, before partisan loyalties? Is it force of habit? Is it apathy? Or is there more pressure being brought to bear on these legislators than the occasional phone call from Dead-eye Dick Cheney?

As we get closer to the fall elections, don’t be surprised if you see more Senators and Congressmen rediscovering their constitutional responsibilities. After all, politics in our country these days isn’t about actually doing the people’s work, it’s about getting re-elected. And what better way is there to ensure re-election than to pretend to do the people’s work?

Smoke and mirrors… again.

We have some real problems facing our nation. Millions of Americans are without health care. Our education system needs a major overhaul. Energy prices are at an all-time high. Our trade deficit is skyrocketing. Our national debt is astronomical. Government spending is at the highest level ever. Inflation is on the rise. Interest rates are going up. We are in a protracted, bloody occupation in Iraq. Iran poses a serious national security threat as a potential nuclear power. North Korea poses a serious national security threat because it IS a nuclear power. Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri are still at large. Never in our nation’s history have we faced so many serious threats to our stability, our security, and our way of life.

So, of course, our illustrious President and our nation’s legislators are working hard to come up with effective solutions in our nation’s hour of need. Their latest proposal to address the country’s woes? A constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage! That’ll fix everything!

What??? Are you kidding me? This people, is nothing more than an election-year stunt to put a wedge issue front-and-center, to distract the people from focusing on our real problems, and encourage voter turnout amongst the conservative holyshit crowd. ”Oh my God! Men are marrying men! Women are marrying women! It’s unholy! It’s eeeeeevil! What is our nation coming to?” I guess the good news is that the 25% who were too stupid to realize there was something seriously wrong in our country are now up in arms. The bad news… They don’t have a clue as to what the REAL problems are.

So I have to ask the minority in this country who are still blindly supporting this President and his administration… What REAL problems has this man actually solved? What serious issues has he even addressed?? Cause unless you consider the wealthiest 1% of the population not having enough take-home pay to be a “serious” problem, this guy and his team have accomplished absolutely NOTHING since he’s taken the oath of office. This administration is about dividing, not uniting. They are about creating elaborate solutions to nonexistent problems. When in doubt, drive a wedge into the public debate, and while the rabble are distracted, we can make some more money for our corporate friends. We are being PLAYED folks. We are being played like a cheap fiddle. And sadly, a quarter of the population hasn’t seemed to figure that out yet.

There is good news. Cheap stunts and sideshow antics like this are far too little, far too late. The vast majority of the American people HAVE figured out the game that these folks are playing. And I’m betting that they are going to make evident their displeasure, loud and clear, come the November elections. America deserves better than smoke and mirrors, better than band-aid fixes to serious national problems. And come November 7th, America is going to demand better, with the greatest gift our founding fathers bequeathed to us, our vote.

And just when we thought the administration’s “big brother” mentality couldn’t get any worse…

According to the L.A. Times, the Justice Department and the FBI have asked Internet providers and phone companies to keep records of users online activities for two years. Most of these companies, who usually only keep this information for a few days, are gearing up for a legal battle over the issue. According to the article, the Justice Department has made assurances that “it was not seeking to have e-mail content archived, just information about the websites people visit and those with whom they correspond.”

"This is not simply limited to kiddie porn or terrorism. It's a real break with precedent," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center. "Data retention is open-ended. The government is saying, 'Keep everything about everyone and we'll sort it out later.' " Here’s a link to the article:

Online Privacy Again at Issue


Hey Bush, Mueller & Gonzales....

"Bring it on." I WANT you to know what I've been saying. I WANT you to know what websites I've been visiting. I WANT you to know what I think of you and your ilk. And then, I WANT you to use that info. against me and a few hundred thousand of my closest friends.

Because when that finally happens, when you clowns take this charade to the next logical step, the sleeping giant known as "We The People" will finally wake up and see you for what you really are. God help you and your regime when that happens.

Some would say, "By that time, it will be too late." I say it's never too late to rid the world of fascist tyrants.

The advantage we have over the German people in the 30's? We are much more heavily armed, we are much more technologically savvy, and we have a culture and a history that does not long tolerate tyranny.

"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it." - Abraham Lincoln

Every single American, Democrat and Republican, needs to read this.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., son of the late Robert Kennedy, wrote an article that will appear in the next issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Mr. Kennedy has come to the same conclusion as so many other Americans - that the Presidential election in 2004 was stolen. And the prime culprit of the theft? None other than the Secretary of State of my beloved state of Ohio, Kenneth Blackwell. Here's an excerpt:

"Like many Americans, I spent the evening of the 2004 election watching the returns on television and wondering how the exit polls, which predicted an overwhelming victory for John Kerry, had gotten it so wrong. By midnight, the official tallies showed a decisive lead for George Bush -- and the next day, lacking enough legal evidence to contest the results, Kerry conceded. Republicans derided anyone who expressed doubts about Bush's victory as nut cases in ''tinfoil hats,'' while the national media, with few exceptions, did little to question the validity of the election. The Washington Post immediately dismissed allegations of fraud as ''conspiracy theories,''(1) and The New York Times declared that ''there is no evidence of vote theft or errors on a large scale.''(2)

But despite the media blackout, indications continued to emerge that something deeply troubling had taken place in 2004. Nearly half of the 6 million American voters living abroad(3) never received their ballots -- or received them too late to vote(4) -- after the Pentagon unaccountably shut down a state-of-the-art Web site used to file overseas registrations.(5) A consulting firm called Sproul & Associates, which was hired by the Republican National Committee to register voters in six battleground states,(6) was discovered shredding Democratic registrations.(7) In New Mexico, which was decided by 5,988 votes,(8) malfunctioning machines mysteriously failed to properly register a presidential vote on more than 20,000 ballots.(9) Nationwide, according to the federal commission charged with implementing election reforms, as many as 1 million ballots were spoiled by faulty voting equipment -- roughly one for every 100 cast.(10)"

Here's a link to the complete article... this is a MUST READ:

Was the 2004 Election Stolen?

If this is true, God help us all, and God help our country. The only consolation I can take is that I know that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Blackwell will meet their maker someday, and boy is the shit gonna hit the fan!

More cowardly attacks on President Carter

Back on May 23rd, I had posted and entry regarding an effort to censure former President Jimmy Carter. I minced no words when describing the lowlifes who were behind these ridiculous antics.

Well, apparently I got the attention of one Mr. Robert Dixon, Executive Director of the right-wing propaganda machine behind this effort, MoveAmericaForward.org. Mr. Dixon was kind enough to put me on the mailing list for their slimy propaganda. Here's what I received last night in my e-mail:


Fox News Reports on Carter – Bin Ladin Ties

Today, Wednesday May 31st, Fox News Channel's "The Big Story w/ John Gibson” reported that former President Jimmy Carter's "Carter Center" in Atlanta, Georgia has received over $1,000,000 in funding from the family of Osama Bin Ladin. The information was collected by the Censure Carter Committee - a project of the pro-troop non-profit group, Move America Forward.

Watch The Fox News Segment Here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYegJHEWjKU



Sign the Censure Carter Petition - HERE

FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://www.CensureCarter.com

E-Mail: info@CensureCarter.com
Phone: (916) 441-6197

Well, I couldn't let this one go by, so I emailed Mr. Dixon back:

Gee Robert, would you like me to remind you of the
close ties between the Bush family and the Bin Laden
family.

Guess you overlooked that little fact.

As usual, all you are spouting is typical, mindless,
neocon drivel. Perhaps the chronically unintelligent
on the right just eats up this crap, but you are
insulting the intelligence of the majority of
Americans.

Good luck with your slime campaign.



Dixon was gracious enough to send me a reply:

If you watched the link included in the e-mail you would see we are
very aware of that connection. Thanks for seeing the exact point we are trying to make.



Finally, here is my reply to Mr. Dixon's latest email:

So I guess your point is that it's OK for the Bush
family to be in bed with the Bin Ladens, but not
kosher for the Carter Center to (allegedly) receive
money from the Bin Laden family?

I did watch the video. It's funny how Melanie says "I
have the papers right here", suggesting she has dug up
some legitimate information on the Bin Laden
contributions. Quite frankly, anybody can ruffle some
papers and say "I have the proof right here", without
submitting the supposed "evidence" for scrutiny. I
certainly wouldn't put an underhanded tactic like that
above a political hack like Melanie Morgan.

So I would challenge you to prove your case by making
those alleged documents public, and let the American
people be the judge. I think you underestimate the
intelligence of the American people if you think
they'll swallow your propaganda hook, line and sinker
without proof of the validity of your claims. We've
been burned entirely too much by neocon lies, we're
not as trusting as we used to be.

I also find it hilarious that you are still so pissed
at Michael Moore and his movie, and Russ Feingold and
his censure resolution, that you have to stoop to new
lows by sliming a great American like President Jimmy
Carter in a pathetic attempt to retaliate against
Michael Moore and Russ Feingold.

Once upon a time in this country, an honorable man
would have the courage and the morality to take issue
directly with someone he had a disagreement with, he
wouldn't attack an innocent third party in an attempt
to "get at" his opponent.

I see no difference between your cowardly slime
campaign against President Jimmy Carter and President
Bush's cowardly act of "outing" Valerie Plame to get
back at Ambassador Joe Wilson. It just demonstrates
that both the current occupant of the White House, and
the political hacks who support him have no honor.

I was hoping that at some time, the Republican party
would develop some moral fortitude, if for no other
reason than for political survival. I guess I was
asking too much.

In the end, antics like those of your organization
will backfire. The American people are smart enough to
see these acts for what they are. And as a result,
your party will lose credibility, loyalty, and
ultimately, lose any semblance of power in American
politics.

When that happens, give yourself and Melanie a pat on
the back for a job well done.



I just thought I'd share this with everyone, to show the kind of irresponsible propaganda MoveForwardAmerica.org is spewing.

Let's keep these clowns on their toes & show them for what they are, every chance we get.