Bush has new plan to avoid Congress

It's not quite signing statements, where President George W. Bush used legal means to "interpret" laws, allowing him to avoid Congressional directives, but the White House is now planning to implement as much new policy "as it can" by administrative order "after concluding that President Bush cannot do much business with the Democratic leadership."

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Where Does the Right-Wing End and the Media Begin?

Economist Paul Krugman on how the right-wing media machine is destroying social progress.

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FCC Set To End Sole Cable Deals For Apartments

Can I get that in writing?

Commission officials and consumer groups said the new rule could significantly lower cable prices for millions of subscribers who live in apartment buildings and have had no choice in selecting a company for paid television.

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Fearing Fear Itself

Many of the men who hope to be the next president have made unreasoning, unjustified terror the centerpiece of their campaigns. The American people realize that politicians who run around crying about how afraid they are don't qualify as leaders of the United States, nor are they able to properly represent the American people.

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Five Years Ago, Yesterday

Telecom Amnesty Whipcount

FCC Hearing Shuts Out the Public

In an appalling act of stubborn disregard of his duties as a public servant, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has called a hearing on media ownership regulations for next Thursday, October 31, 2007, just five business days from now. Congress and the American people overwhelmingly oppose relaxation of the rules, so Martin is trying another end run.

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Notes on FISA and PAA revisions

This is the MoveOn Action

Honorable Senator Rockefeller:

Please represent my views in support of one law, equally applied to all parties, under which all parties--citizens and corporations--are justly held accountable.

This particularly pertains to secret government programs to "monitor terrorists" by spying, eavesdropping and culling the phone records of law abiding citizens.

I refuse to let terrorists declare victory over our Constitutional rights.

In fact, our rights are enshrined in the Constitution, not because our government has any proprietary authority over who benefits from them and to what extent they are bestowed upon citizens, aliens and foreigners. No, on the contrary, the Second and Fourth Amendments and the limitations on the Article II powers are enshrined in the Constitution because they represent "universal truths" that are "self-evident" as the Declaration of Independence so plainly states.

These rights and the equality of their legal application pertain to "all men [people]." (They do not contain to fictional constructions such as corporations.)

The government's sole responsibility is to protect, safeguard and extend our citizens' rights, from rogue politicians, economic entitities or foreign and domestic enemies. Terrorists are any foreign and domestic entity that use terror for political gain.

What would constitute political gain for terrorists? How about frightening our "leaders" into attempting to curtail our God-given, Constitutionally codified rights and liberties.

Uphold the law, the Constitution and its principles. Do not give in to terror as some cowardly "leaders" insist we must do to "be safe."

The "soft on terror" are those who would capitulate by cowering from the front lines in defense of liberty and freedom and finding excuses like "economic necessity" or "national security" for placing restrictions and inequalities on universal, guaranteed American citizens' rights and liberties.

Sincerely,

Capitaine Dunquerque

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

There is a large part of the central Pacific Ocean that no one ever visits and only a few ever pass through. Sailors avoid it like the plague for it lacks the wind they need to sail Fishermen leave it alone because its lack of nutrients makes it an oceanic desert.

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Is a Presidential Coup Under Way?

The Constitution is being trampled and nothing less than American democracy itself is endangered -- a presidential coup is taking place. Where is Congress?

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When America Went Fascist -- Happy Halloween!

It is a truism in the blogosphere that one more terrorist attack will turn America into a fascist state. People speculate about what fascism in America will look like, or how they might fight it. Others boast that they plan to flee the country ahead of the coming fascist takeover of the United States.

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Fascist America, in 10 easy steps!

From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all.

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Be Careful

Telecom Companies Seeking Wiretap Immunity Donate to Senator

While seeking legal immunity, two phone companies held fund-raisers for Senator John D. Rockefeller IV.

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Confront the War President

I wonder how another Saturday march is going to be anything more than futile, but like Robert Jensen says, we need to meet with and support one another now more than ever.

One Graph Says It All About The New Telecom Immunity Bill

Another intrepid blogger has been scratching the surface of a story that seems to blind the mainstream, corporate news media.

by dday [@dKos]
Fri Oct 19, 2007 at 05:18:57 PM PDT
I want you to take a look at something.



The graph shows AT&T employee contributions to Senate Intelligence Committee chair Jay Rockefeller over the past several years. There weren't enough of them to fill out the graph until he got the chairman's gavel in early 2007. Then for some unexplained reason, the contributions skyrocketed. Same with Verizon.

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Clinton Bucks The Trend and Rakes in Cash From The US Weapons Industry

Their high level employees, among many others, have given more private donations to her campaign than to all the other Democrats combined. Use the links below to see for yourself: Committees:http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/can_give/S0NY00188Individuals: http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/can_ind/S0NY00188

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And, aside from the weapons lobby, this is an interesting group, too.

Arms and the Woman

Priests Protesting Torture at Fort Huachuca Jailed for Justice

Louis Vitale, 75, a Franciscan priest, and Steve Kelly, 58, a Jesuit priest, were each sentenced today to five months in federal prison for attempting to deliver a letter opposing the teaching of torture at Fort Huachuca in Arizona. Both priests were taken directly into jail from the courtroom after sentencing.

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'The Moment Has Come to Get Rid of Saddam'

There is a difference between being sure and being right.

-- Mark Danner, NY Review of Books

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Democrats put off vote on eavesdrop bill

On a day of sharp debate over the bill, Republicans accused Democrats of giving U.S. constitutional rights to suspected terrorists and Bush said the legislation would be a setback in the fight against terrorism.

What makes this so unpalatable is that the reason the U.S. rights are in the Constitution is because they are "universal truths," "self-evident." We have no proprietary ownership of human rights, to parcel out or withhold according to our political calculations! This is the self-consuming power-lust of the blind, blinded by their own fear and greed for power.

The Washington Post reports that

"There is absolutely no reason our intelligence officials should have to consult government lawyers before listening in to terrorist communications with the likes of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and other foreign terror groups," said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

The measure "extends our Constitution beyond American soil to our enemies who want to cut the heads off Americans," said Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.).

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Gore Derangement Syndrome

In today's Times, Krugman asks the rhetorical question, "Why does the right wing hate Al Gore so much?"

Actually, the editorialist fails to distinguish between "the right wing" and the "right wing pundits and media." Hopefully there is a difference by now. In the collapse of the Bush administration, the right wing must contain some principled and reasoning Americans, splintered off from the mob in spite of the continuous propaganda of hatred and distortion that emanates from the corporate media and did so much to promote the Bush Administration and its failed policies.

So if science says that we have a big problem that can’t be solved with tax cuts or bombs — well, the science must be rejected, and the scientists must be slimed.

Aside from the fact that the mob from the church and the country club stood aside and cheered in 2000 when the corporate/military chiefs foisted BushCo onto the nation in spite of Gore's popular vote victory--in Florida, as well as in the nation as a whole--and BushCo has had a six year honeymoon with a pro-censorship, corporate controlled media that has slimed Gore at every opportunity--Gore continues to dwarf Bush in popularity, achievement, and world stature.

Demonstrate Against Occupation

Uncertainty Cuts Both Ways

Just when you thought we were all waking up from a nightmare, it turns out to be real.

chapter 1's diary at dKos.

Global Warming: Scientific Consensus Proved Wrong.

Fixing FISA

(I hate to say it but, you know, that really does mean the terrorists have won...) --Digby

Based on what is revealed about McConnel's role in outsourcing military contracts and his willingness to toss around threatening language to the Congress like e.f.p.s, you'd think there would be a little more muckraking in the mainstream media about him right now.

As Digby says,

It's pretty clear why McConnell is so hellbent on immunity for telcoms isn't it? This man is one of the architects of a new shadowy, privatized defense industry that's sprung up over the past few years, an industry that's paid for by you and me, but over which we don't have any say, either as individuals or through our representatives in congress. It makes Ike's military industrial complex look positively benign by comparison.

Congress Ignoring Critical Report on Pentagon Spending

CRS 2006 Report

The Congressional Research Service published a couple of reports this year on the runaway costs of the So-Called War On Terror.Congress seems to be ignoring the findings and related testimony by the Comptroller General of the GAO, David Walker.The facts suggest Pentagon accounting is inaccurate and wasteful, in urgent need of oversight.

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Democrats Seem Ready to Extend Wiretap Powers

If anybody was holding onto the hope that Democrats would stand up to the Administration, the media, and the terrorists in defense of our civil rights and Constitution, it looks like that hope was misplaced.

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New revelations in attack on American spy ship [USS Liberty]

Ray McGovern sheds even more light on the incident at Consortium News.

[Written by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist John Crewdson] "Veterans, documents suggest U.S., Israel didn't tell full story of deadly '67 incident"... That's an understatement. Veterans, documents PROVE Israeli misconduct and intentional attacking of the US craft. Again. This just piles onto previous evidence.

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Billie J. Kramer & The Dakotas in 1965

I've been trying to post this for a week.



Maybe this will work.

How the Democrats blew it

"if you strike the king, you must kill him"

The Iraq debacle handed Democrats a golden opportunity to deal the GOP a mortal blow and change America's flawed Mideast policies.

They played it safe. They didn't have the conviction to really change American policy regarding defense and foreign affairs. Yes, it was risky, but above all, it would have been messy. And, to quote the Decider, "It's hard work!"


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Local Solutions: Challenge Corporate Power, Embrace True Democracy

Vandana Shiva, writing in Alternet, has another insightful piece on the danger of so-called solutions to the problems of globalization: pollution, monopoly, disenfranchisement.

So here you have globalization adding to emissions and it needs to be a continued part of our work. And you've got false solutions that were laid out by Jerry [Mander]. But the false solution that I think we need to pay particular attention to is the dominant solution in terms of carbon trading. Because at the philosophical level, at the world-view level, it's the second privatization of the atmospheric commons. The first privatization was putting the pollution into the atmosphere beyond the earth's recycling capacity. Now with carbon trading, the rights to the earth's carbon cycling capacity are gravitating exactly into the arms of the polluters. The environmental principal used to be the polluter must pay. Carbon trading is transforming that into the polluter gets paid.

She rightfully zeros in on carbon-trading and corporate-controlled governments as the enemies of our future generations in the battle for survival of life as we know it on our planet.

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U.S. Pays Steep Price for Private Security in Iraq

Shady accounting practices have helped Halliburton and KBR conceal their charges to the American people for security and other services in the so-called, "War On Terror." But you don't have to be a CPA to understand that the real war BushCo is fighting in Iraq is against the American taxpayer.

It costs the U.S. government a lot more to hire contract employees as security guards in Iraq than to use American troops.

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