Letters to the Editor
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Double Highs
A large percentage, perhaps even a majority, of politicians in Washington are what Dr Bob Altemeyer calls "double highs", ie they score high both on the right wing authoritarian scale and on the social dominance scale.
According to Dr Bob it only takes a few double highs to turn any organization into a rapacious and amoral/immoral entity.
If you have no clue what I'm talking about then you really should take a look at Dr Bob's book _The Authoritarians_. It's online in PDF format and is free to read/print/distribute as long as it is not done for profit.
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/
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To the self satisfaction of Senator Leahy
Thank you Senator Leahy. I was heartened by the appeal you and Sen. Specter made to the NFL Network to be more easily available so your citizens could enjoy watching the Steelers. As a Steeler fan and a former citizen of Vermont I thought this was indeed an act of profound courage.
You have shown no courage in regard to the illegal actions of our government. Yes, you write impassioned letters, and occasionally jump up like the puppet Howdy Doody to express your outrage at the personal and governmental insults of the current administrations. But what have you done? Just a producer of sound bites, signifying nothing has been the result of your 30 years in the Senate.
You went to post Watergate Washington styled as a modern Lincoln, a pillar of integrity. Unlike Lincoln you proved to be a bystander as history marched by you. You acquiesced to the Iran-Contra scandal, the savings and loan scandal, the torture, the illegal telecom spying and as Judiciary Chair or ranking member the irreversible corruption of the Department of Justice. You have silently helped the Supreme Court become a corporate tool. You may not have been able to prevent these actions but you, as a senior Senator, could have provided an illuminating voice throughout the land. You are in a position to break through the media curtain just as Senator Hatch has. Instead you occasionally rouse yourself to save a few words for the folks back home. Outside Vermont your voice is silent.
Senator Dodd, your good friend went to the mat without your support on the FISA bill. This is a bill you were complicit in ramrodding through Congress last August. Yes, you did your show trial counter bill from the Judiciary Committee but you never intended to allow your bill to reach the floor of the Senate. You are a ‘go along to get along’ person. Not a person of principle but one seeking self enrichment and comfort. You know that once you are elected to the Senate the voters of Vermont will loyally support you; they only ask that you support them as well. You have not. Ethan Allen would have looked you in the eye and proclaimed loudly for all to hear: “You, sir, are a Tory!”
The Bear
Gainesville, Florida
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hats off to tempus
you said everything I've been thinking at 5:22 post save for Ron Paul but thats just my personal thing. If any of my senators (Chuck S and HRC) or my congressional reps support and pass telecom amnesty, I will also actively engage in getting rid of every last one of them.
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~ has any one here Reid the book...?...I thought...
I thought you were gonna ask if we read Chris Floyd's book.
I'm hoeing Floyd will send us readers one for a Reid on The Winter Solstice eve. I'll barter a rake? A pitchfork? Two spoons of soup? Nope? No dope.
I hope Chris Floyd sends Reid and all us who are angry at Harry-Reid a free DVD. COD?
I'm just happy I promised to shovel sawdust and gold manure to make a pathway for a winter season gift. I won't have to Reid about drugs and dope at each Archduchess's dancing dope-bug, same-same, can-can, each damn dope SOP Reid here of a Can-Can,
Same-same, dinky dao, heh, no embarrass me please...each time I make a silly
post.
ha.
achoo.
sneeze.
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Sigh...David Larry D
There are no "levers" that need to be manipulated to get Reid to do the bidding of evil puppetmasters! That is the point! Reid IS his past legislative history. He "bootstrapped" his corporate-connections family members because he support HIS family and corporations first and foremost, screw everyone else. The fact that he has done this IS a "feature" of his "character" and it shows a character that is sorely wanting. There is no need to pull levers because Reid is eager to pull them himself.
There is no mystery! There is no blackmail! Reid does what he does precisely because he personally FULLY SUPPORTS everything he does. Get that into your heads people. Occam's Razor is your friend. The war in Iraq, further imperial wars of aggression for corporate gain, kleptocracy, destruction of Constitutional and human rights...it is ALL fully supported, even eagerly supported, by Reid and his minions. There is no mystery here! No, I take that back. The only mystery here is why so many refuse to view and accept the truth sitting right in front of their faces!
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Will money work?
I've been quite concerned with this issue for a long time. And in recent months, defense of the Constitution has supplanted healthcare and Iraq as my top issues. I even donated to Dodd (who I believe has no actual chance to win) in the hopes that participating in a surge of donations to a candidate doing the right thing would have the effect of encouraging the others to behave similarly.
However, I've recently started to wonder if a "carrot and stick" approach might work better. I'm thinking of calling Obama (my otherwise preferred candidate) today and pledging $250 or $500 in late January IF the FISA bill with telecom immunity has been killed, AND IF Obama played a leading role in getting it killed. Issuing press releases from 1,000 miles away "supporting" Dodd's efforts doesn't qualify.
$500 isn't an insignificant amount to me, and it'd be difficult to actually do, but this is THAT important to me.
If he wants my vote and my support to become this country's leader, he needs to demonstrate actual leadership. Otherwise, I'm moving on to another candidate.
The question is...will this work? What if dozens of people call? Thoughts?