Letters to the Editor
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Amnesty Day for Bush and lawbreaking telecoms
The US is now officially a totalitarian police state.
Next up: mass political imprisonment.
Back in the US!
Back in the US!
Back in the USSR! -
Totally appalling
Why did we even bother electing the Democrats?
-- kate_b
Indeed; it's a disgrace they even have the nerve to call themselves that, and those who voted for this travesty are beneath contempt. I'm sure Richard Nixon is having a good, hearty laugh from beyond the grave.
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Teehee
@adnoto
And what are you doing, chief? -- Paul Daniel Ash
Oh nothing... nothing except trying to get people who argue with mentally retarded authoritarian trash to WAKE THE FUCK UP. It's time to give up the comfort of the Herman Miller Aeron Chair and start breaking some shit. It is way past time in fact.
But don't worry yourself, I'm just here for the popcorn and the laughs mostly.
"And what country can preserve its liberties, if it's rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson
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Almost funny
E-man tries to sway us with fear. He's told not to try to sway us with fear.
His response? "I can't sway you."
I must have missed the part where he tried to convince us with facts and arguments.
He's right though---if "we" have a candidate, it must be Obama now. And we'll just have to see.
Final comment, for E-man and for everyone who has castigated our useless Senate:
One must recall that democracy is not easy. And there's nothing permanent about it. Ever. We're lucky to have the system we have, and the people we have in it, because we have gotten so used to a system that didn't spy on, arrest, imprison, torture, execute, and bury us in mass graves, but ran without a lot of intervention---few riots, no rebellions, no civil wars. Think about how rare that is.
Remember that the gears of both justice and democracy turn slowly even when they are healthy. It took 2 or 3 years, but in 1944 the Supreme Court finally invalidated the internment of Japanese American citizens, and by that time the camps has already been largely emptied. It's not about Americans being nice people---it's about a system that ultimately punishes or at least neutralizes criminals.
Right now this system seems fairly compromised, like a virus in the brain. This may even be a sign of eventual death. But we have several layers in our public immune system. We vote to re-elect Congress every 6 years. We've already seen what's to come in the 2006 elections. I have no doubt that Constitutional transgressions will continue---count on it---and voter anger will increase. Our elections eventually will sort this out. But apparently not until we hand the authoritarians enough rope, and the freedom to hang themselves.
(We'll still be a corporate oligarchy, of course.)
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Ondelette
Maybe you're right. But, the link to Kos regarding the conference call reported by mcjoan is also confusing.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/12/144425/116/317/455317
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Buggers and thieves.
The lot of em. Bad seeds. And s-2248 (ie., the Bush/telecom retroactive/proactive immunity and amnesty act) is breathtakingly, short-sightedly bad.
Otoh, these people treat me like a house fly, tell me to shoo. 'They tell me to keep on dreaming... and that's just what I'm going to do.'
I'm gonna keep on dreaming peace and justice is not only possible, but inevitable.
sooner better than later,
bah.
ps. I was ...impressed that Dodd quoted you last night, Glenn. (with Dodd.) And, he was eloquent.
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@Elephantdung
We will address that shortly. After January 2009 you will hard-pressed to find any Repugs in power anywhere...
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Here's a Preview
Elephantman: Now, it is up to Obama, carrying this issue, to convince the voters in places like Shaker Heights OH, Warren MI, Orlando FL, Overland Park KS, and Lexington KY that his Senate vote for telcom lawsuits is the right one and that he should be our next Commander in Chief.
Let me give you a taste of his speech: "As President, I will protect you, the American voter, from being surveilled and monitored by telecommunications companies without probable cause."
Should I vote for the candidate who (A) fights for my rights, or for the candidate who (B) fights for the immunity of giant corporations that seek to circumvent my rights? Oooh, that's a tough one...
I think my two-year-old and my kindergartener would get that one. Unless half my DNA comes from you, I refuse to do what you say because you tell me it's for my own good.
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adnoto
I'm off for a 6 mile run. Why don't you join me? It's a good deal healthier than sneering at the folks here. You don't have to approve their methods at this point, but when it's time to riot - truly time to riot - they'd have your back and mine.
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Senator Clinton did not vote?
What is wrong with her? this should absolutly sink her candidacy. At least Obama voted not to give the telecoms immunity. Senator Clinton is self-destructing. Toast.
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Ya think?
Glenn, thanks for the petition. At least, at the end of such a depressing (but necessary and brightly-written) report on what our elected representatives are doing to us, you gave us an action to take. Feeling helpless is the worst.
So much for our republic. I am beginning to think that your last comments really address the situation best. Perhaps it's not re-election or coin in the pockets of the congress people that cause them to do the wrong thing like this. Maybe they do it because they don't understand what they are doing and so they, misguidedly, vote for the wrong thing thinking it is right.
No doubt this points to the value of a good education and of learning how to THINK, how to reason. In so many of Congress's actions I see a lack of understanding of our nation's history and of our Constitution. It's as if most of our representatives use the popularly-held "cheat note" beliefs about our Constitution and history. It's difficult for me to understand how they can make so many critical decisions that are antithetical to the Constitution and Bill of Rights if they are knowledgeable and can think. When our legislators are jumping around making decisions based on a party's or group's definition of "patriotism," "protection," and the like instead of on a solid knowledge and understanding of the true foundations of this country and a thorough understanding of how a democracy (read republic) works, we get into big trouble.
And we are in big trouble.