Monday, February 25, 2008

The real Saturday radio address

I just came across this great diary from BarbinMD over at the Daily Kos. I have to tell you, if I weren't so busy laughing then I would surely be weeping. My favorite is this: "Without protection from lawsuits, [private companies will be increasingly unwilling to take the risk of helping us with vital intelligence activities] impeachment might be back on the table when Joe and Jane Six-Pack find out my administration has been spying on them."

Check it out, and please let me know your thoughts.

Video of the day

This clip is a pretty good example of what made me such an over-the-top Springsteen fan all those years ago. It's from a concert in Passaic, N.J. in September 1978. Enjoy.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

The Nexus of Terror and Politics

I urge everyone to see this piece that Keith Olbermann ran on Countdown last Thursday. I've been aware of this confluence for a long time, but to see everything connected in such a succinct manner as Keith and his producers have done simply staggers the imagination. A novelist could not get this published, it is so ridiculous.

I warn you, it tracks in a little long at just over sixteen minutes, but it's well worth your time. If it were up to me, this would be required viewing in every high school government or history class in the country.

Thank you American people for electing these idiots, crooks and liars to two terms. As Winston Churchill said, the best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.

The FISA Follies roll on

Once again, Glenn Greenwald at Salon gets to the bottom of what's really going with the expiration of the Protect America Act (PAA). Namely, that while the administration and Republicans in Congress (along with quite a few DINOs) cry wolf about terrorists already benefitting from the expiration of the act, they are the ones who forced the expiration. I believe the word is chutzpah.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Cindy McCain's pride in America

Perhaps it shouldn't surprise me that Cindy McCain was so quick to jump on Michelle Obama's comment about being, for the first time in her life, really proud to be an American. Cindy has every reason to be proud. For example, in America only a rich Senator's wife can manage to hire attorneys like John Dowd to avoid a drug prosecution.

Cindy McCain's drug history

Maybe it's time the mainstream media takes a closer look at this loving couple. McCain was involved in the Keating Five Savings and Loan scandal in the late 80s, and now it's apparent that his wife has had a few problems of her own along the way.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Another loss for the Bill of Rights

The cowards in the Senate once more gave in to a lame duck President today, voting 68-29 to grant ridiculous spying powers to a President who doesn't give a damn about our Constitution. The bill also gives immunity to the telecom companies who without a doubt broke the FISA laws by allowing illegal wiretaps on American citizens.

In all my years of study, I can't find an instance where the American people rolled over for an authoritarian government the way we've rolled over for everything Bush and Cheney insist upon. The saddest thing is that most people don't even seem to realize what's being done to them in the name of fear and national security.

Jay Rockefeller and Joe Lieberman, along with every other Senator who voted for this bill, should be ashamed of themselves. How much are we willing to put up with from people who supposedly represent us, the citizens whom the Constitution and Bill of Rights is supposed to protect?

I'm telling you, if the Democrats somehow manage to lose the election this year, then the America I in which I grew up and for which I served in the Armed Forces will be in serious danger of disappearing.


UPDATE: See this post by Glenn Greenwald in Salon for a thorough explanation of just exactly how wrong this is for our country.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Why I'm supporting Barack Obama

I voted in the Arizona primary this week, and my vote went to Barack Obama. There are several reasons why I'm supporting him, but one in particular stands head and shoulders above all the others: he spoke against the war when it was an act of political courage to do so, and she voted for it.

My problem with Senator Clinton isn't just that she voted for the war -- a sizable number of Democratic senators did (Dodd, Edwards, Daschle, etc). My problem is that she still refuses to admit that it was a mistake. The others did.

The present idiot-in-chief has consistently proven that he cannot admit a mistake. The last thing I want to see is another President with that same character flaw.

Don't get me wrong. Come the general election, I'll vote for the Democratic nominee, whether it be Obama or Clinton. I don't think our Constitution and government can stand four more years of Republican rule. And after watching John McCain as my Senator for over twenty years, you couldn't pay me enough money to vote for him. So I'll do anything I can to see a Democrat get elected and to see that they increase their majorities in each house. However, if the nominee is Obama, it will be a lot easier to be enthusiastic about my support.

Why is impeachment off the table?

The more I think about it, the angrier I become. The FISA scandal alone seems to be to be solid ground for impeachment, without even looking at little things such as lying us into a war, politicizing the justice department, torturing people in contravention of U.S. and international law, etc....

Isn't it obvious to everyone that the only reason the Bush administration could possibly have for insisting on amnesty for the telecom companies is that they broke the law -- at his behest? This seems like such a no-brainer to me. I can't understand why Pelosi won't listen to people like Robert Wexler who insist that, at the very least, it's time for an investigation into the wrongdoings of the Bush/Cheney crime family. Let's face it, the Corleones had nothing on these people when it came to breaking the law and not getting caught or paying any consequences.

Unfortunately, my representative is the (dis)honorable Trent Frank, who has not even bothered to respond to my barrage of emails and letters urging him to look out for the Constitution rather than for his pork barrel buddies, and my communications with Rep. Pelosi have been similarly to no avail. However, if any of you have a rep who doesn't have his nose stuck all the way up the shrub's behind, please contact them and demand explanations for their dereliction of duty. After all, their oath is to the constitution -- not the President.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Hey Don!!!!!!!!!!

Give me a freakin call.

Hey Don!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, February 1, 2008

So why the hell is he a hero?

He got shot down and taken prisoner. He knew the Gulf Of Tonkin was a BS story. (he was there) If the people who are going to vote for him had their way he'd still be in the Hilton.

Whats his name?