Seriously, there are some lazy people in Federal Law enforcement. 8 million pings? There are not enough terrorists in this country to justify that many pings in one year.
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Recently in Civil Rights Category
I've been hearing, and reading, a lot lately on how investigating law breaking by the Bush administration would end up distracting Obama from his job of stewarding the country. How, exactly would Obama be distracted. It's not like the White House will be running any investigation. Let's remember, the Justice Department is an independent agency, not beholden to, or controlled by, the White House.
If memory serves me well (large amount of drugs and alcohol years ago make it not so much a possibility), when Nixon tried to control an investigation, he actually sealed his fate and ended up resigning.
Honestly, I think the village idiots are confused. It's they who would be distracted. We are talking about people who willingly, and easily, walked hand in hand with the Bush administration into the Greatest War Against Terror. And by hand in hand, I mean lead by the Bush administration because the villagers seem unable to walk and chew gum at the same time.
Okay, that was unfair. But it felt soooooo good to type.
Anyway, Obama's concern, which does hold merit, is that the American people would be distracted by the investigations, and the Republicans in the congress would step up their obstructionist behavior (and possibly a few complicit Democrats). However, is an increase in obstruction by Republicans any more of a problem then what they are doing now? And with the Blue Dogs already complicit in obstructing Health Reform....., well, I don't think it would be much worse then what he already faces. As for the American people? For the most part they are always distracted by something. Usually with the Legacy Media's help.
If memory serves me well (large amount of drugs and alcohol years ago make it not so much a possibility), when Nixon tried to control an investigation, he actually sealed his fate and ended up resigning.
Honestly, I think the village idiots are confused. It's they who would be distracted. We are talking about people who willingly, and easily, walked hand in hand with the Bush administration into the Greatest War Against Terror. And by hand in hand, I mean lead by the Bush administration because the villagers seem unable to walk and chew gum at the same time.
Okay, that was unfair. But it felt soooooo good to type.
Anyway, Obama's concern, which does hold merit, is that the American people would be distracted by the investigations, and the Republicans in the congress would step up their obstructionist behavior (and possibly a few complicit Democrats). However, is an increase in obstruction by Republicans any more of a problem then what they are doing now? And with the Blue Dogs already complicit in obstructing Health Reform....., well, I don't think it would be much worse then what he already faces. As for the American people? For the most part they are always distracted by something. Usually with the Legacy Media's help.
This is what Sarah Palin meant when she said it:
I've been struck by this since the beginning. If it is the case that the president can designate an Office of Legal Counsel functionary to immunize government officials and employees against criminal behavior, then it is true, to all intents and purposes that "if the president does it it's not illegal."And, from this article, we also learn that Cheney, who developed his executive beliefs and values from the Nixon White House, ordered the CIA to not inform Congress about the secret wiretapping programs.
(NYT)The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the agency's director, Leon E. Panetta, has told the Senate and House intelligence committees, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said Saturday.Next week sure is going to be an interesting news week.
Between you, me, and the lamp post across the street; John's right:
If I had to guess, we will see the end of DADT and homosexuals will be openly serving in the military before a tobacco ban.It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the smoking ban is used as a means to negotiate the end of DADT.
Say what you will, Gay Marriage would not be happening today if it wasn't for the remarks of Rick Santorum back on April 7th, 2003. Because of his crass, homophobic, and blindingly stupid remarks, a backlash of momentous proportion has now resulted in the 6th state making gay marriage legal. You go Rick!
This move to fight the gay marriage ban strikes me as right. Mustang Bobby is cautioning that a quick move to the Supreme Court could cause a backlash, as seen with several other cases. However, those cases were not quickly rushed to the courts, but made their way through the usual process of courts, appeals, etc., until they appeared before the SCOTUS.
This whole movement for gay marriage has happened quite quickly. In my 47+ years*, I've never seen social change occur at this pace. No doubt, it seems to be the tone for this particular issue, California and Florida not withstanding. For there to be a quick move to address this issue in front of the SCOTUS is in complete harmony with the advent of this topic. My gut tells me this will work out. I wish I could point to something concrete facts to support my intuition, but I can't. But then, if I could, it would be called reasoning, not intuition. Duh!
Oh, and as a side note, in a not totally unrelated topic, the California Supreme Court did not rule the ban on gay marriage to be constitutional. At least not from what I read of the decision. What they did was hold up the process by which the ban was passed. Hopefully, Californians will pull their collective heads out of their collective asses, and reform their ballot initiative process. Because, quite frankly, Proposition 13 has destroyed them. But then, what the hell do you expect when you number it 13?
* Yes, I'm old. What of it?
This whole movement for gay marriage has happened quite quickly. In my 47+ years*, I've never seen social change occur at this pace. No doubt, it seems to be the tone for this particular issue, California and Florida not withstanding. For there to be a quick move to address this issue in front of the SCOTUS is in complete harmony with the advent of this topic. My gut tells me this will work out. I wish I could point to something concrete facts to support my intuition, but I can't. But then, if I could, it would be called reasoning, not intuition. Duh!
Oh, and as a side note, in a not totally unrelated topic, the California Supreme Court did not rule the ban on gay marriage to be constitutional. At least not from what I read of the decision. What they did was hold up the process by which the ban was passed. Hopefully, Californians will pull their collective heads out of their collective asses, and reform their ballot initiative process. Because, quite frankly, Proposition 13 has destroyed them. But then, what the hell do you expect when you number it 13?
* Yes, I'm old. What of it?
If you want proof that the extreme social conservatives are complete idiots, go read this post over at All Spin Zone.
Editor's note; typing errors from the original site corrected.
OK, this one shouldn't be surprising. We know, for instance, that the whack jobs on the social conservative extremist end of the GOP spectrum are a bit on the dim side and don't play all that well on the internet. Well, it was last Wednesday that the National Organization for Marriage launched their 2M4M campaign, not understanding that "M4M" is a standard abbreviation in personals for "man looking for man." In other words, their cute slogan reads like a solicitation for group gay sex. Hey, even Rachel Maddow has made fun of it. Today we find that the National Organization for Marriage was so stupid as to not buy up the domain names for their new initiative.Wait for the punch line.......
www.2m4m.org is now a place of inclusion that stands for civil rights.Teh stup, it burnzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Editor's note; typing errors from the original site corrected.
I am in a piss poor mood at the moment. In fact, too mad to write coherently about being stopped in River Falls by a cop. Suffice it to say, I believe The GirlFriend™ and I were stopped because of looking poor. You know, poor = criminal = drug addicts.
Yes, I kept my mouth shut about being a chemical dependency counselor. Honestly, I know when someone has made up their mind about me. I run into it all the time. I can see it in their eyes, and hear it in their voice. It's my job. And I do it well.
This dick of a cop pulled us over because he thought he had a couple of drug addicts from Minnesota.
Damn, it really pisses me off.
More later.
Yes, I kept my mouth shut about being a chemical dependency counselor. Honestly, I know when someone has made up their mind about me. I run into it all the time. I can see it in their eyes, and hear it in their voice. It's my job. And I do it well.
This dick of a cop pulled us over because he thought he had a couple of drug addicts from Minnesota.
Damn, it really pisses me off.
More later.
You know, after all these years, I finally figured out what the Republicans meant by "The Rule Of Law." They want a police state. They are not interested in constitutional rule of law, they simply want the police to rule.
CNN
(CNET) -- Republican politicians on Thursday called for a sweeping new federal law that would require all Internet providers and operators of millions of Wi-Fi access points, even hotels, local coffee shops, and home users, to keep records about users for two years to aid police investigations.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a blunt assessment of race relations in the United States, Attorney General Eric Holder Wednesday called the American people "essentially a nation of cowards" in failing to openly discuss the issue of race.You know the wing nuts are going to go, well, errr.... nuts over this.
I, on the other hand, happen to agree with Mr. Holder. We have been cowards. Oh, we can work with other races. But do you see yourself hanging out with other races after work? Even our TV shows still show a racial divide. There are TV shows for blacks. There are TV shows for whites. But there are very few TV shows that are homogenized.
When I was in the Navy, this divide was very obvious among the enlisted on medium to large ships. The blacks would gather together in one common room, while the white enlisted would gather together in another. Now, that was back in 1983. Maybe today it's different. I don't know. I just know that when it comes to actually living with other races, we've hardly even begun to eliminate fear and bias.
I rarely think of myself as a "white" person. I strictly think of myself as a person. That is, until I was the lone white person in a room full of blacks. Then I was aware I was white. Yet, when going through my training as a Chemical Dependency counselor, I was taught that many blacks see themselves as a black person, not just a person, even when they are in a room full of only other blacks.
So, yes, Mr. Holder is correct. As a nation, we've a long way to go still.
StarTribuneWASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is singing the praises of newly passed legislation making it easier for workers to sue for discrimination on the job.
At a White House bill-signing ceremony, he said the measure upholds the principle that "we are all created equal" and that each person deserves an equal opportunity.
Damn! I can't bitch about this. Good news. Yes. Definitely good news.
Hehehehehe.
Talk about your rank hypocrisy. Jim Yeager, over at skippy international, catches some proposition 8 supporters attempting to circumvent proposition 9.
Or could it be they are scared of teh gay.
Talk about your rank hypocrisy. Jim Yeager, over at skippy international, catches some proposition 8 supporters attempting to circumvent proposition 9.
If you can't stand up for your convictions.... well, I guess there must not be much to them."Some gay activists have organized Web sites to actively encourage people to go after supporters of Proposition 8," said Frank Schubert, the campaign manager for Protect Marriage, the leading group behind the proposition. "And giving these people a map to your home or office leaves supporters of Proposition 8 feeling especially vulnerable. Really, it is chilling."
So chilling, apparently, that supporters have filed suit in Federal District Court in Sacramento seeking a preliminary injunction of a state election law that requires donors of $100 or more to disclose their names, addresses, occupations and other personal information. In particular, the suit seeks to stop the final filing for the 2008 election, which is due Jan. 31. That filing includes donations made in the closing days of the campaign, when the proposition surged to victory.
[snip]The election law in question, the Political Reform Act of 1974, was approved by California voters as Proposition 9, and gay rights advocates say there is rich irony in supporters of Proposition 8 opposing the earlier ballot measure.
"They believe in the will of the people if it's in tune with what they believe," said Jennifer C. Pizer, marriage project director with Lambda Legal, the gay rights legal organization, in Los Angeles.
Opponents of Proposition 8 are also suspicious of the intent of trying to prevent donors from being identified. "Do they want to hide something?" said Shannon P. Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco.
Or could it be they are scared of teh gay.
Finally, a clear sign of this administration breaking with the past.
They can't move fast enough to undue the damage of the last 8 years. But at least they are moving.GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Jan. 20 -- In one of its first actions, the Obama administration instructed military prosecutors late Tuesday to seek a 120-day suspension of legal proceedings involving detainees at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- a clear break with the approach of the outgoing Bush administration.
The instruction came in a motion filed with a military court in the case of five defendants accused of organizing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The motion called for "a continuance of the proceedings" until May 20 so that "the newly inaugurated president and his administration [can] review the military commissions process, generally, and the cases currently pending before military commissions, specifically."
Does the Navy even know it's supporting a pro gay/lesbian video?
Not that I have a problem with the Navy advertising on Jack Black's site. I would love to see the Don't Ask, Don't Tell abomination thrown out and the ban against gays and lesbians in the military lifted. From the sounds of it, Obama is leaning in just that direction.
However, considering the slant of Jack's video, the Navy allowing advertising must mean that at least one branch of the armed services is ready to allow gays and lesbians. But than, I am just conjecturing. I could be wrong.
Oh, by the way, the pic above is from Bark Bark Woof Woof. Go, enjoy the video. You'll be surprised at some of the performers.
Not that I have a problem with the Navy advertising on Jack Black's site. I would love to see the Don't Ask, Don't Tell abomination thrown out and the ban against gays and lesbians in the military lifted. From the sounds of it, Obama is leaning in just that direction.
However, considering the slant of Jack's video, the Navy allowing advertising must mean that at least one branch of the armed services is ready to allow gays and lesbians. But than, I am just conjecturing. I could be wrong.
Oh, by the way, the pic above is from Bark Bark Woof Woof. Go, enjoy the video. You'll be surprised at some of the performers.
CNN
(CNN) -- A Florida circuit judge declared unconstitutional Tuesday a 31-year-old state law that prevents gays and lesbians from adopting children, saying "the blanket exclusion" of gay applicants "defeated Florida's goal of providing dependent children a permanent family."
It's coming. All the screeching, snarling, and howling by the rabid right-wing fundamentalists will not be able to stop the eventual recognition by our government of gays and lesbians as equal citizens.
Get use to it, fundies. Your world is coming to an end. And none too soon.
Get use to it, fundies. Your world is coming to an end. And none too soon.
CNNThe congressional oversight committees said Thursday that the Americans targeted included military officers in Iraq who called friends and family in the United States.
The allegations were made by two former military intercept operators on a television news report Thursday evening.
A terrorist surveillance program instituted by the Bush administration allows the intelligence community to monitor phone calls between the United States and overseas without a court order -- as long as one party to the call is a terror suspect.
So much for trusting the Bush Administration.
The fight has only just begun. I understand many people believed that the passing of this new FISA law was going to signal the end of our Constitutionally created country. But the passing of a law -- hell, the passing of an amendment -- is not set in concrete. The only thing set in concrete is the existence of the will of the people.
Hope people. Hope. The Fourth Amendment has not been repealed. It is just a law that was passed. They get struck down quite a bit.
Hope people. Hope. The Fourth Amendment has not been repealed. It is just a law that was passed. They get struck down quite a bit.
Bark Bark Woof Woof[Sigh] It seems I am being misunderstood all the way around when it comes to my last post about Hillary. I am not sad to see Hillary suspend her campaign. I was sad to see the manner in which she was forced out. Had a man been in Hillary's place, he would have been able to stay in the race right into the convention. I am bemoaning the sexism that is apparent in the push for her to bow out of the race as far back as four months ago.
Friday Blogaround
Did anything happen this week? Ask the Liberal Coalition.- A Blog Around The Clock: honeybees dancingHave a good weekend. I still have 2,759 boxes to unpack...
- archy: passive aggressive resistance, or just laziness?
- Bark Bark Woof Woof: that morning forty years ago.
- Bloggg: had enough?
- Dohiyi Mir: adventures in babysitting.
- Echidne Of The Snakes: Apparently Granny Clampett is Cal Thomas's ideal woman president.
- Florida Progressive Coalition Blog: If not Hillary, who's the next woman to run for president?
- Left Is Right is asking for your predictions of Republican shenanigans.
- Lefty Side of the Dial: Lefty doesn't like Chris Matthews.
- Musing's musings: Make up and get to work, Dems.
- Pen-Elayne on the Web reviews a new movie by Neil Innes.
- Rook's Rant: Rook is sorry to see Hillary go.
- rubber hose: permanently in Iraq?
- Scrutiny Hooligans: not a bargaining chip.
- SoonerThought: Senate rebukes Bush and Cheny; they lied about Iraq.
- Speedkill: Deceptions.
- Steve Bates, The Yellow Doggerel Democrat: Get well, Tabitha.
- Stupid Enough Unexplanation: Rush Limbaugh explains why it's not his fault the GOP will lose.
- The Invisible Library: face reality, people.
- WTF Is It Now?? No, Sen. McCain, you did not.
I've been loathed to post about torture. To actually have to make an argument that torture is wrong seems so ridiculous. It is like writing an essay explaining the importance of breathing. Who the hell needs to have the importance of breathing explained to them?
That we are having any type of discourse over the legitimacy of torture is beyond the pale. Our current leadership is at an intellectual capacity as to render the discourse in this country to an elementary school level. But than, we here in Left Blogstonia have been aware of the childishness of our leader since 2002.
That we are having any type of discourse over the legitimacy of torture is beyond the pale. Our current leadership is at an intellectual capacity as to render the discourse in this country to an elementary school level. But than, we here in Left Blogstonia have been aware of the childishness of our leader since 2002.
I am having one of those days where I am unhappy with the direction of my life. I am working in a field that is swamped with unnecessary regulations and oversight, filled with dysfunctional people, and poorly funded. That means I am paid squat for the work I do in trying to help others overcome their addictions.
I want to write. Not just blog, but write. I have this novel I've been slowly-hell glacially-working on, but I let the other aspects of life interfere. I am struggling in a low paying job, living in a country that currently despises the lower class of it's citizens, which means I feel alienated and hated.
Yeah, I am fed up. I am angry at my country. I am angry at my country's leadership. I am sick and tired of living in a mockracy, not a democracy. We are currently in the early stages of fascism. Our rights have been eroded away bit by bit, each time with a claim of protecting our freedom. My rights are my freedom. Taking away my freedom to ensure my freedom is insanity. Yet time and again I am faced with another claim of taking my freedom to ensure my freedom.
It's like the drunk who keep drinking with the hope that this time it will result in normal drinking; only to wake up in the morning once again having no memory of the activities of the night before.
The country is falling apart, and I feel powerless to stop its slow, inevitable decent into tyranny.
I want to write. Not just blog, but write. I have this novel I've been slowly-hell glacially-working on, but I let the other aspects of life interfere. I am struggling in a low paying job, living in a country that currently despises the lower class of it's citizens, which means I feel alienated and hated.
Yeah, I am fed up. I am angry at my country. I am angry at my country's leadership. I am sick and tired of living in a mockracy, not a democracy. We are currently in the early stages of fascism. Our rights have been eroded away bit by bit, each time with a claim of protecting our freedom. My rights are my freedom. Taking away my freedom to ensure my freedom is insanity. Yet time and again I am faced with another claim of taking my freedom to ensure my freedom.
It's like the drunk who keep drinking with the hope that this time it will result in normal drinking; only to wake up in the morning once again having no memory of the activities of the night before.
The country is falling apart, and I feel powerless to stop its slow, inevitable decent into tyranny.
By way of Blue Girl, Red State:
New York TimesI hope the son-of-a-bitch is hung out to dry by Padilla and his legal team. And wouldn't it be just grand if a memo from the President was discovered that directed Yoo to write those heinous legal opinions.
Jose Padilla, the American citizen who was held in military detention for more than three years as an enemy combatant, filed a lawsuit Friday against a former Justice Department lawyer who helped provide the legal justifications for what the suit says was Mr. Padilla’s unconstitutional confinement and “gross physical and psychological abuse.”The lawyer, John C. Yoo, now a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, wrote or helped prepare a series of legal memorandums on interrogations and the treatment of detainees after the Sept. 11 attacks.
A lawyer for Mr. Yoo, Eric M. George, called Mr. Padilla’s suit “a political diatribe” that “belongs, at best, in a journal, not before a federal court.”
Mr. Padilla, 37, was transferred from military custody to the criminal justice system in 2006, and in August he was convicted of terrorism-related charges in Miami. He awaits sentencing.
The new lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, seeks only one dollar in damages. “That’s what Padilla directed us to ask for,” said Jonathan M. Freiman, one of Mr. Padilla’s lawyers. “At bottom, this isn’t about money. It’s about right and wrong.”
Studs Terkel points out that our government has had a habit of unconstitutional surveillance on the general populace far longer than just during this administration.
Prison Planet.comI don't know if this is legitimate, so it's offered without comment.
So we chose to 'microwave' our cash, over $1000 in twenties in a stack, not spread out on a carasoul. Do you know what exploded on American money?? The right eye of Andrew Jackson on the new twenty, every bill was uniform in it's burning... Isnt that interesting?
Now we have to take all of our bills to the bank and have them replaced, cause they are now 'burnt'.
We will now be wrapping all of our larger bills in foil on a regular basis.
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