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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
John McCain & the Republican Party should be ashamed of themselves for fostering this no-nothing on the American People. Never in my 80 years have I encountered such egotistical, arrogant Gaul & she proclaims she is ready & qualified to be Vice President of the U.S. She does not know that none of the NATO nations, who really oppose the admittance of Georgia into NATO, would not go to war with Russia over Georgia. She does NOT know that the Russian Bear still has Claws in the form of over 14 thousand nuclear warheads, over 5000 of which are strategic warheads mounted in intercontinental ballistic missiles, no doubt still targetted against the U.S. As for drilling oil in Alaska, the US Geological Service & the Dept of Energy have already reported that it will take 10 years before that oil would trickle down to the lower 48 states, would provide less than 2% of our annual needs, and would NOT reduce the cost of gasoline or heating oil. McCain stop insulting the American public.
The Republicans are just giving the people what they want - they want their religious bigotry stroked, their fears and hatreds reflected by their leaders, their legitimate feelings of being powerless mollified by someone who will lie to them and tell them they are strong.
In any rational nation McCain would be dismissed as a corrupt, failed and doddering has-been politician while Palin would be working as a clerk at the Shop-N-Save in Wasilla. That this isn't the case shows what a fantasy land many Americans live in.
To paraphrase Orwell, everyone believes whatever they want to believe in until the truth comes crashing down around them. He said this usually occurs on a battlefield, but with any luck ours will come on Wall Street and not in crazy Palin's war against the heathens.
re: library book banning
this was before the Web changed everything and pushed libraries near the bottom of any cultural battleground for free speech.
so cal - libraries/librarians remain at the forefront of free speech issues. Libraries are at the forefront of web free speech issues b/c libraries are not simply about books anymore.
The Patriot Act abuses of various amendments (privacy is as imp. as free speech in a democracy) have had impacts on libraries across the nation. Librarians have to deal with requests to ban books as well as requests to violate citizens' privacy - with the threat of prison as a consequence for the failure to comply. Speaking about these (specific) violations is also a crime. These violations have occurred, however, and as far as I know, a few librarians are the only ones who have challenged this act by speaking out.
Libraries pay for subscriptions to various reference dbs that are too expensive for one person to pay for by her/himself and they provide access to these dbs to patrons. Academic libraries constitute an entirely different sector - what's known as "the hidden web," with subscriptions to even more journals and other materials that most in this nation would have no access to at all without library services.
In addition, libraries stock media materials that may not be available, or not widely available, via business outlets as a service to patrons. Patrons may directly request particular materials and as many of those materials as is possible, within increasing budgetary constraints, are made available.
The groups that are traditionally the most vulnerable to being left behind by tech changes - the poor and the elderly - have access to computers and to instruction on how to use those computers through local libraries. Sometimes this is the only access poorer people have.
These are important functions of today's libraries. The idea that libraries are simply about hard-copy materials is outdated. Maintaining primary source documents is another important function of certain libraries, but not public ones.
I hate elections! I hate politics! I hate talking about it!
Why is it so difficult to find a woman who doesn't tell us what to read, not to read; can we get someone who supports the first amendment? Someone whose significant other that doesn't cast a shady, skeevy shadow on the whole country? I don't understand why we are still bashing over the issues of the sixties.
Live and let live. We are at war, and need to start looking at the opportunities presented before us rather than who can be gay and who can have an abortion. It's insulting to continue with these issues. Many of us are smart enough to be preventative and make intelligent decisions.
What does the Catholic church say about homosexuality???
I think it's far to say no other organization on this planet has spent more time and money discriminating against the gay community than the Catholic church.
should be "fair to say"
What happens if Palin (God forbid) becomes President? Has there ever been a possible President so woefully unprepared to lead this country and to be a leader on the worldstage? Has there ever been a possible President whose worldview is so at odds with everything that has made this country a haven for those who have escaped from tyranny, social and economic injustice, has made us a beacon to the world and a source of hope? The Bush administration has done so much to try to destroy America, will Palin finish the job? Has there ever been a possible President whose foreign and domestic policies will be so shaped by her belief in the battle between good and evil that will end when Jesus comes to earth and destroys all evil-doers and saves "Christians"? Who has made it clear that her religious beliefs shape who she is and what she thinks she should do as a leader?
Perhaps. But at this critical juncture in American history we simply can not take a chance that Palin could become President. The stakes are too high.
I never thought I would ever say or even think this, ever. But if Palin became President maybe the only thing that could save us would be a military coup. "Seven Days in May" but instead of the coup aimed at protecting us from a threat from outside (the Soviets), aimed at protecting us from a threat from within and from the person who has sworn to protect us, to lead us and to uphold the Constitution. Implausible? I really hope so.
That is why everyone who believes in the promise of America, who believes that the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are the most important documents in the history of nations must get out there and elect Obama and Biden.
The choice is clear: do we want to continue work toward getting closer to the ideals and values embodied in our founding documents? or, do we want to a government that will continue to lead us further and further from those ideals and values?
Patriotic Americans for Obama/Biden: spread the word; Get Out the Vote; get out of your seats and into the streets.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
