Letters to the Editor
Pastafarians Unite!
Published Letters: 161 Editor's Choice: 5
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Dear Senator Feinstein:
[Read the article: Dodd's emphasis on constitutional and rule of law issues]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am appalled at your support for people who commit felonies. I find your “soft on crime” approach shameful. If you do not support the rule of law then you are violating your oath of office. The telecom industry colluded with the admitted breaking of the law by the Bush administration when it violated the privacy rights of the American public. The fact that you would sponsor a blanket amnesty for law breakers is, in itself, deplorable and a violation of the public trust.
"some of our country's richest, largest, most powerful and most well-connected corporations were caught breaking laws that have been in place for decades, such as Section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934, which provides that "[e]very telecommunications carrier has a duty to protect the confidentiality of proprietary information of . . . customers." 18 U.S.C. 2511 makes warrantless eavesdropping a felony; 18 U.S.C. 2702 requires that any "entity providing an electronic communication service to the public shall not knowingly divulge to any person or entity the contents of a communication" without a court order; and 18 U.S.C. 2520 provides for civil damages for any violations." Glen Greenwald October 14th, 2007
If I were to commit a felony, I would hope that someone would come along and decide - without the issue having ever been tried in a court of law - that I was to be forgiven my trespasses. I hope that your personal integrity would prevent this miscarriage of justice. I cannot remember a time in our history when a sitting President has lied so freely and then admitted breaking the law of the land - only to be let off the hook, not only by his own party, but also by the alleged opposition. When I voted for you, I was under the impression that you were not only a member of the Democratic Party, but also someone who took the separation of powers and the Articles of the Constitution seriously.
Well - this is what I wrote - and sent to the San Jose Mercury, the Sacramento Bee, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the LA Times -
Don't think any of those made it into print, though.
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How did the flower-wearing, pot-smoking, hot-tub using, pinko lefties...
[Read the article: The Weekly Standard mentality and the Senate Intelligence Committee]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...wind up as the bearers of the mantle of the "leftist doctrine called 'law'"? I want my tie-dye back - I am too old to learn how to drive a Buick, start wearing wingtips, and smoking cigars.
I want to be able to protest, grow my hair long enough to cover my bald spot, and rail against the "MAN."
I can't be the "MAN."
I am the Lefty, the Lefterino, or, if you must, His Royal Pinkness.
THIS SHALL NOT PASS!
But on the other hand....
What did I get for being co-opted?
Where are my government contracts?
Where are my targeted tax breaks?
I want my,
I want my,
I want my SUV!
The "Law" is on my side now!
Unfortunately, this just tells me how far the law has fallen, if the "powers that be" are giving it to us as a lagniappe.
Lewis Carrol, where are you now when we need you? "John Birch in Wonderland?" "The Right Wing through the Looking Glass?"
I just can't get my head around it.
Pax
(with my apologies to the Big Lebowski)
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Conservatism and Communism
[Read the article: How Bush wrecked conservatism]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Both, in theory, are valid ways of approaching the world.
I have never seen either where the ideals were not corrupted or perverted by persons either power-hungry or pandering or both.
The "true" conservative who believes in constraints upon centralized power all too often converts to a Federalist when the states start approving gay marriage or abortion rights. Fiscal conservatism is a joke - it is merely a matter of which hogs get to feed at the public trough. Social conservatism brought us Jim Crow and segregation.
If you read the conservative writings - you tend to find things much more extreme than I have made them.
Ten Principles of Conservatism:
1. God’s Law Governs Nations as Well as Men.
2. Life Is the First God-Given Right.
3. Marriage and Family Come Before the State and Deserve Its Protection.
4. Freedom of Conscience is the Soul of Liberty.
5. Private Property is the Servant of Freedom.
6. Government Dependency is the Seed of Tyranny.
7. The Constitution Means What It Says.
8. Taxes Are Justified Only to Fund Necessary Government Spending
9. National Defense Is Just That.
10. We Should Strive to Give Our Children a Better Country.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=18562
The first three sound pretty unconservative to me.
All the rest are "code" words- take #4 for example:
4. Freedom of Conscience is the Soul of Liberty
Understanding that freedom of conscience is at the heart of liberty, the Framers protected freedom of religion and assembly in the 1st Amendment. Movements to force the Boy Scouts to accept homosexual scout masters, or to compel religious individuals or organizations to distribute birth control or abortion drugs against their beliefs, directly attack these freedoms.
Compare this with #1 -
1. God’s Law Governs Nations as Well as Men.
The Ten Commandments should not only be enshrined in our courthouses, they should be engraved in our hearts and minds as guides to all behavior, public and private. As the Founders acknowledged in the Declaration of Independence, laws and policies that violate the natural law are abuses of government power that must be resisted and reversed.
If these are conservative views - welcome to the American Taliban.
Save me from those that would save us.
Pax
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I admit it - I am a politics nerd
[Read the article: Number of the Day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am not a Repug by any stretch and I could name 7 off the top of my head - if you count Brownback who is out - forgot Alan Keyes and Duncan Hunter -
And, of course, there is also Steven Colbert.
Pax