We've got 50-some-odd members of Congress who have gone down on record as opponents of the rule of law. They clearly understand that their vote is in favor of an authoritarian dictatorship in this country. They feel that they stand to benefit from such an arrangement, for whatever reason, and so they voted for it.

But now we've got Shitter and Elephantman trying bravely to argue the logic behind this vote. That requires more dishonesty than I've ever seen operating in any single human being, and I've been to my share of used car lots.

Shitter's rationale is this: you have a far greater chance of being affected by a terrorist attack (which, he assumes, this eavesdropping of Americans is designed to prevent) than having your rights trodden on by this law. The facts completely refute this. Shitter, 3,000 Americans died due to terrorists, while millions and millions of Americans have had their calling data monitored. Therefore, your chance of being involved in a terrorist attack is about the same as being struck by lightning, whereas your chance of having your 4th amendment rights trodden on by this law is pretty much a sure thing.

Therefore, Shitter's argument is the height of dishonesty, and he knows it. This is the kind of person you're going to encounter in the years and months ahead who support the change of our government into an authoritarian dictatorship. Get used to it. Post-revolution, they'll all be tarred and feathered.

Elephantman has no rationale, he just mouths Bush propaganda that "no law was broken" even though laws clearly were broken. FISA was broken for years, and was modified last summer. Prior to last summer, the warrantless spying was extra-legal, hence the need (by the law-breakers) for its modification. No one contests this.

Elephantman, I get the idea that you can't acknowledge that your president actually broke the law, while you still defend his right to spy on us. Can you explain that for us? That is, if we can prove conclusively that the president broke the FISA law, will you change your opinion on this? Or do you believe that the president has the inalienable right to break the law? Moreover, will you continue to believe the president can break the law when that president has a D next to his name?

My fury at the people who enabled our country to quietly slide into the dungheap of history knows no bounds right now. Elephant and Shitter, every Republican in Congress, and those like Diane Feinstein who enabled their law-breaking, may you come down with an incurable, fatal and very painful disease. That is my fondest wish for you.

What I have thought for years, but never so much as today, is that the US will soon be in a civil war, on insurgency- and terrorist-led series of attacks. It will begin once a democrat is elected president, at which point some wingnuts will launch an attack on a well-known symbol of liberalism. If I were working in Berkley City Hall right now, I'd start circulating my resume.

This protest by Berkeley, pointless and in some ways misguided as it may be, is necessary. Yes, the military has protected our freedoms in the past, and we have every reason to be grateful for that. However, they are no longer protecting our freedoms, but are involved in a mission that is making us increasingly less safe. Moreover, they are killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. This needs to be resisted on all levels, and that includes kicking the military out of your town if you have the power to do so. It means keeping Blackwater out as well.

Free speech? Military recruiters lie their asses off, telling most recruits that hell, you won't be sent to Iraq, naw, you'll probably go to one of those country clubs in Bavaria. Is that protected by the 1st amendment? No. The 1st amendment was designed to protect the people from speaking out against government abuses.

As for all those 30%ers who turned up in Berkely, sadly shaking their heads that these kids don't know the proper respect, yadda yadda yadda, unfortunately they simply haven't kept up with the news. The US military may have one day been promoting freedom, but those days are gone. Best get over it and act accordingly.