Republicans Sell Out Again

Well it seems the Republicans have sold out…again.  Now there are two different lords the Party must bow to…The Christian Right and the Environmental Destroyers who are paying off our Congressmen/women and Senators to loosen or get rid of environmental laws.  Yeah guys, we don’t need a future…today is all that matters.

“The virus that has undermined the GOP and is weakening U.S. democracy is corruption. Our Supreme Court has made the United States the only democratic nation where bribery is constitutionally protected, where corporations have the privileges of citizens but none of the obligations, and where money is equated with speech. Dirty Energy has bought the party of Lincoln and now calls the shots.”  CARL POPE, chairman of the Sierra Club. Read More:
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Cost Of The War On Terrorism

A new report from Brown University has estimated that the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the counterinsurgency in Pakistan will end up costing 4 TRILLION dollars and leave around 225,000 dead civilians and soldiers. In addition over half a million disability claims have been filed with the VA.  It is estimated that over 8 million people have been displaced in the war-torn countries.  Full story

One also has to add to the cost of the wars; parts of our constitution, of which I think the largest loss is the right to privacy.  We have also lost our sense of dignity when we fly anywhere.  The sixth amendment–right to a speedy trial is going, as is Habeas corpus–the right to go before a judge and be heard and hear the charges against you.  We keep edging closer to a dictatorial government…it creeps in slowly so we don’t notice so much.  It’s kind of scary to lose so much.

Do you think we will have to give up wars because they cost to much?  One can only hope.

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How Much Our Government Lies to Us

“WikiLeaks’ Most Terrifying Revelation: Just How Much Our Government Lies to Us

Wikileaks has shown that our government and military form a ‘vast lying machine’ that perpetrates mass murder in our name.

Do you believe that it is in Americans’ interest to allow a small group of U.S. leaders to unilaterally murder, maim, imprison and/or torture anyone they choose anywhere in the world, without the knowledge let alone oversight of their citizens or the international community? And, despite their proven record of failure to protect America — from Indochina to Iran to Iraq — do you believe they should be permitted to clandestinely expand their war-making without informed public debate? If so, you are betraying the principles upon which America was founded, endangering your nation, and displaying a distinctly “unamerican” subservience to unaccountable authority. But if you oppose autocratic power, you are called to support Wikileaks and others trying to limit U.S. Executive Branch mass murder abroad and failure to protect Americans at home.”  Excerpted from AlterNet

And to think the government wants to prosecute You, if you lie to them.  That is so evil.  Our government has got to the point where it is totally corrupt and non-responsive to Americas many ills.  Since 9-11 our leaders have managed to “lose or misplace” a minimum of a trillion bucks and be the primary cause of up to a million civilian deaths.  We can guess that the trillion+ bucks that “disappeared” has been distributed to cronies of those in power in Washington and into the maws of the International banking system.  From what I hear this “war” on terror we have been fighting in the last 7 0r 8 years has made more millionaires then all the wars that came before combined.

It has sucked money from our country alarmingly quickly.  It has created a cadre of storm troopers and snoopers that infringe/stomp on our constitution on a daily basis.  It has created government agencies that plot together to keep us under their thumbs and always guessing…what’s next.  It has created the perfect war…the one that never goes away and is always sucking up more and more of Our resources.  We will never have peace from this war and one of the main reasons is our Federales can whip up more attacks anytime they want…just kill a few innocent Muslim citizens and tell the crazy Muslims that we pee’d on their Koran.

We as a country have mortgaged our future and sold our soul, following dysfunctional presidents and politicians and a perverted foreign policy and we break into war whenever our presidents get their lies together.  Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia,  Lebanon, Somalia, Panama and Grenada, Iraq and Afghanistan, with offshoot smaller wars now in Somalia (yet again), Yemen, Mauritania and Mali comes to mind.

What I find kind of funny is that Christian fundamentalists practically to a man/woman approve of our war against the Muslims.  God is a god of peace…until the Muslims get involved.

We Americans in particular and the world in general are the most manipulated humans that ever existed.  We let our leaders get away with anything they want and cheer them on when we go to war…how patriotic and loyal we are to liars and manipulators.  Sadly I think America has lost its high place, and it wasn’t the American people that caused it…it was our leaders…the ones getting rich on our blood.
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Start Profiling and Searching Muslims

So the TSA and other US government officials are telling us that the new airport security procedures of either a full body scan, using cancer causing radiation, or a rigorous personal pat-down that includes an improper and constitutionally forbidden (unreasonable search, probable cause) feel up of your genital area is necessary to counteract the new threats of terrorism that we Americans are suddenly faced with.

My question to them is just when do they think we will have a strong enough handle on this terrorism thing to be able to discontinue the maddening SS style security measures at airports across our country? We know where all the terrorism threats and action is coming from…we know the exact people and exact countries that are involved in threatening us, and the whole world, with destruction; why are we not acting on this knowledge…in our airports?

We know what religion all the terrorists are; this has been consistent all over the world since 9-11. So it seems to me that all we have to do is put these 2 bits of information together about a specific person and we have reasonable cause to suspect certain people and put THEM through the gauntlet of security anytime they want to fly into or around the US. This is not rocket science, it is common sense.

Fairness and non-discrimination doesn’t enter in to the calculation; if you are a Muslim and come from–Ohhh, let’s say… Saudi Arabia…then you are going to get the full body scan and/or genital pat-down. If you are a Muslim women…the TSA will see your junk and you will bring shame on your family. My 90 year old, white haired granny from Kentucky will not be bothered, nor will I or my six year old grandson.

All the Muslims have to do to stop this insanity is to totally disown and lock-down all the crazy sons-a-bitch Mullahs and batspit crazy fundamentalists that prey on legitimate Muslims. Show us that you really are a “religion of peace.” When all the terrorist killings and bombings going on in the world is committed by Muslims it does not bring peace of mind to us, and I’m tired of paying the price for your religious idiots.

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Sikhs are mad over extra screening because of their turbans
Sikhs are not supposed to take off their turbans in public, but now because of tighter screening rules the TSA says they must do just this…Sikhs are not happy.
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We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Probable Cause

A law that’s been on American books (and in the Constitution) forever is now biting the dust because of Presidents Bush and Obama. Breaking his campaign promises to enhance civil liberties in relation to national security the Obama administration is continuing the screwing over the American Constitution that Bush started.

“The Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies to turn over records of an individual’s Internet activity without a court order if agents deem the information relevant to a terrorism or intelligence investigation.

The administration wants to add just four words — “electronic communication transactional records” — to a list of items that the law says the FBI may demand without a judge’s approval. Government lawyers say this category of information includes the addresses to which an Internet user sends e-mail; the times and dates e-mail was sent and received; and possibly a user’s browser history. It does not include, the lawyers hasten to point out, the “content” of e-mail or other Internet communication.”  From the Washington Post.

The use of National Security Letters is equivalent to the old ‘Writs of Assistance’ the British used against us here in America in pre-revolutionary times

From Wikipedia
“In practice, customs writs of assistance served as general search warrants that did not expire, allowing customs officials to search anywhere for smuggled goods without having to obtain a specific warrant. These writs became controversial when they were issued by courts in British America in the 1760s, especially the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Controversy over these general writs of assistance inspired the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which forbids general search warrants in the United States.

The NSL’s are the modern equivalent to general search warrants which are constitutionally forbidden.  Good luck on getting the administration to admit this. 😦   The American government just keeps pushing the envelope regarding how much the citizens will put up with. I think the general feeling among top officials is that they can get away with pretty much anything…if they mention terrorism.
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Separation of Church and State

Quote of the day

The decision for complete religious freedom and for separation of church and state in the eyes of the rest of the world was perhaps the most important decision reached in the New World. Everywhere in the western world of the 18th century, church and state were one; and everywhere the state maintained an established church and tried to force conformity to its dogma.

The British had attempted — half-heartedly — to extend the Anglican Establishment to America, but they had, on the whole, permitted a good deal of religious freedom and independence. When the American states became independent they inevitably threw off the Anglican Establishment. A few of them tried to keep an establishment of their own, but given the pluralism of American religion, that attempt was clearly foredoomed.

Virginia led the way by announcing not only complete religious freedom, but the separation of church and state, and thereafter, one after another, all the original states followed this principle. When James Madison introduced the Bill of Rights to the first Congress, the very first of them embraced freedom of religion, and that was adopted by the Congress and by the states, and incorporated as a fundamental article of American constitutionalism.

Thus the new United States took the lead among the nations of the earth in the establishment of religious freedom. That is one reason America has never had any religious wars or any religious persecutions. — Henry Steele Commager

There are some people that really want the churches to be in power in America…watch who runs on the Republican ticket in 2012.  Check their credentials carefully

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The Neverending War

Quote of the Day:

“In so far as the structural clue to the power elite today lies in the enlarged and military state, that clue becomes evident in the military ascendancy. The warlords have gained decisive Political relevance, and the military structure of America is now in considerable part a political structure. The seemingly permanent military threat places a premium on the military and upon their control of men, materiel, money, and power; virtually all political and economic actions are now judged in terms of military definitions of reality: the higher warlords have ascended to a firm position within the power elite of the fifth epoch.”  The Power Elite C. Wright Mills, 1956

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Arrest Em’ Before the Crime

A very disturbing story.  Oregon police/swat team arrests man they think would commit crimes

Several Oregon government and law enforcement agencies are patting themselves on the back for preventing a possible mass shooting incident by sending a SWAT team to arrest a recently laid-off employee of the state’s Department of Transportation. A news release from the Medford, Oregon, police department (yes, they put out a news release announcing their good work) says the man purchased three guns after his dismissal, and that former colleagues described him as “very disgruntled.” He was taken to a mental hospital for evaluation. By Radley Balko | March 11, 2010
Reason webmag.  http://reason.com/blog/2010/03/11/oregon-officials-consult-preco

Original story
Oregon’s-Mail Tribune-online newspaper.

I’m really torn about this story. On the one hand…yes the police probably did stop a very bad scenario, if the reported story is true in all the details given.

On the other hand if this pre-emptive strike stands as a legally defensible right of the police forces of our country…we are in serious trouble as a nation of free people.

Can you imagine all the bad that would come from this method of keeping the peace?  Do you think it should be allowed to stand??

1984 wrong date…right story.

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A Government Gone Crazy

A Canadian citizen Peter Watts who holds a doctorate in Zoology and works as a marine biologist and also writes science fiction (six published) novels, was crossing the border back into Canada after helping a friend move to the United States when he was singled out for a search and because he asked what they were doing HE was assaulted, punched in the face, pepper sprayed and thrown in jail and HE was charged with assaulting a customs officer?????

It seems at least once every week or two I hear stories like this. Innocent people are wrongfully assaulted and charged by border guards or customs officials.  They are basically acting like Nazi SS Storm Troopers…at least they don’t have the authority to kill whomever they decide to attack, although the way they use force does sometimes cause the death of innocents.

Although I do not know the man, he is a fellow writer and a human after all, and I feel terrible that he was treated that way by paranoid American officials who have obviously gone power mad and psycho.

I have personally witnessed police officers using their power in unprofessional manners and the only consequence they have faced is a slap on the hand, and the persons that suffered at the hands of this ugly use of police power were subject to humiliation and physical abuse.

It has gotten to the point here in America that the various and sundry abusive political enforcement squads have no respect for our own people or our human rights.  They indiscriminately use massive amounts of weaponry and manpower for the slightest reason, for the slightest infraction.

We as a nation are sinking deeper and deeper in to a fascist state where there is no justice for anyone who questions the powers that be, and the only thing that matters is the unquestioned power of the federal government to do what they want…no matter how wrong they are.

It’s already admitted by the feds that they have unfettered access (no search warrants needed) to ALL citizens’ communications no matter what form they take.  Anyone who speaks out against the abuses of the federal government; you know, things like asking your congressman when the various constitutional amendments are going to be honored again, or when will Habeas corpus be reinstated in our courts, or when our elected officials will quit lying to us, will be checked out by Homeland Security or the FBI or some other lettered federal agency and put on a watch list.

We are always told that the measures the government takes to control us are for our own good, and somehow many people believe this lie and sheepishly go about their business, and if they are ever confronted by authority they just put up with whatever indignities “the man” bestows on them. This keeps up long enough and these “helpful” authorities become Overlords and we are screwed…again.

Presidential Oath or Affirmation:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Article 2 section 1, US constitution

“The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall NOT be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” Section 9, paragraph 2, US constitution.

Because of the nature of the religious warfare waged against the United States by Islamic religious personnel, are we somehow in a constant state of Invasion and the government cannot reinstate Habeas corpus?

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” 4th. Amendment – Search and Seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791.

We are no longer secure in our person, papers, and effects. Government officials may at their own discretion search and seize you or your personal papers and property…no search warrant needed anymore…and you will play hell getting back any property seized.  These government officials can search anything, anything at all…with no restrictions.  They may also search your house and computer by breaking in to your property when you are not there and they can tell any neighbor who happens to see their dastardly act that they will be arrested on a felony charge if they tell you what happened while you were away.

They can retrieve your records of checked out books at the local library, the local bookstores and Amazon or Barnes and Noble, etc. online and forbid the librarian or seller from telling you. I don’t mind telling you that although I am squeaky clean as far as nefarious deeds go, I am chilled to the bone and damn mad that my countries government has and uses this power. This clandestine act is dangerously close to mind or thought control. It precisely matches cowardly acts committed by Nazi, Fascist, and Communist Secret Services forces in Europe and other far eastern parts of the world.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…”
From the Declaration of Independence

Parts of the 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments are in jeopardy as well.

We are seeing an Orwellian mindset in all parts of what used to be a government of the people, and I’m really scared for my family, my friends, and my country. No one seems to give a damn any more.

Obama and Secrecy and Human Rights

Obama’s support for the new Graham-Lieberman secrecy law

Sounds like a dry subject, but t really isn’t.
Follow this link if you believe in human rights and want to get really mad
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/06/01/photos/index.html

I voted for this guy and believed in his platform…what a fool I was.

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