From Bush on down to soldiers, And Iraq to Cuba, We forgot our history, And all that we stood for. -- Silash

If you are serious, please get your song together, make a video and post it on YouTube. I like what you have so far. You put that up on YouTube and watch it go viral. Please post a link if/when you get it done.

Ironically, even though that's one of my standing assumptions, I still become outraged instead of gratified when reality meets, even exceeds, my infinitesimally low expectations.

Yes - that, I believe, is because you have -- for wont of a better word -- more "hope" than you are willing to acknowledge. I think that's true for most people who spend a lot of their free time paying attention to and being angry about political matters. Even those who feign resignation and defeatism actually believe things can be different/better and harbor hope that it will be. If they didn't, they wouldn't be expending so much time and mental energy paying attention to all of it.

That's obviously not true for everyone -- some people masochistically enjoy staring at things they hate but can't do anything about -- but I generally see proclamations of defeatism as a defense mechanism to guard against bitter disappointment when things fail.

I like the way you think. Your plan of action is comprehensive absent the impeachment proceedings that should be considered for Pelosi, Harmon, Hoyer and Rockefeller.
— Nequals1

Members of the legislature are not subject to impeachment. A member of either house can be expelled upon the vote of two-thirds of the members of that house (Article I, Section 5).

Kitty

If anyone knows what Sir Aych is trying to say please stand up. Cause I sure don't know. -- Kitt

You don't because you are a simpleton.

-- adnoto

Another sexist rears his ugly head. Amazing, isn't it, how they do that without the least bit of understanding of how they are exposing them selves. That is what makes it so clear that they are dyed in the wool misogynist sexists.

"No, that's not it. My actual name is Kitt. Nothing to do with Miss Kitty or Kit Carson (all though, I am a fan of Kit Carson). So making fun of dipshits like Tiberius ..."

I see your point. I still think that one should not make fun of anyone's name but rather bash him/her with the facts.

Besides, do not be so thin skinned. Oddly, as I was reading your message Mr. Kitty came over to tell me he wanted more tuna. He is 21 pounds of tom-cat and he ripped me to shreds the one and only time I took him to the vet without him being properly contained in a caring device. He had been wounded defending his yard against raccoons when he was only a year old. He is a "tuxedo cat" but I swear to you he has panther in him.

We are great friends, Mr. Kitty and I, and he is one of the most affectionate cats we have ever owned (or been owned by), but he is not "sissy" by any stretch. So do not let a silly name get you down.

I think I am done on this topic if you don't mind; I have to work on the little iMac-like dock on my desk-top as the last update seems to have change the settings. Linux is fun; but sometimes ... Hey! Wait a damn minute. The awn dock problem occurred just after I asked if you had a magic act.

You leave my computer alone; only the feds are supposed to be playing with it!

:-)

When I write about helping Cindy Sheehan, I'm not suggesting the Act Blue/Accountability Now PAC money be poured into her race.

If folks here at Salon want to help her out, they can donate directly at her web site and/or urge friends and family who live in that congressional district to help get her on the ballot and vote for her in November.

What I do think would be most excellent is an acknowledgment of Cindy Sheehan along the lines of what was done for Rick Noriega and Darcy Burner. A small check was cut for their campaigns and their strong stance against the FISA bill was given public props in one of the more widely read online political blogs.

Symbolic? Yes.

Wasted? No.

www.cindyforcongress.org

Pelosi needs to sweat and Sheehan is the only candidate who can turn up the heat this election cycle.

I like the way you think. Your plan of action is comprehensive absent the impeachment proceedings that should be considered for Pelosi, Harmon, Hoyer and Rockefeller. It would change the media narrative, and it would re-center the framing of the issue.

Constitutional defense, support and preservation - what a "radical" notion!

Excuse me, which part of "makes an application in accordance with this title to a judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court" didn't you understand? That's the part where a warrant is required to be applied for, no?

Quite true, but entirely irrelevant to your claim which was:

Is there anything in said FISA bill about warrantless home searches. No.

It probably escapes your attention, but having a warrant before making a search is different from having to apply for a warrant within 7 days of making the search especially when the warrant is supposed to be "particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized". It makes that part a bit easier if you've already done the search.

Thanks for taking the time to respond in such detail.

I do understand.

I am indulging my own sentimentality, if that's what it is, by contributing to Sheehan's campaign. From each according to his ability, as it were. I see her as a throwback, in a way; an ingenuous (in the original sense) "citizen politician"-- a far cry from the present devolved, elite professional political class of middle managers running wholly owned subsidiaries in a para-corporate business. An Eloi invading a Morlock stronghold-- what's not to root for?

My screed was motivated by a cumulative outrage that the more we learn about our political elite and their machinations, the more we find that the partisan corruption is extended and woven in innumerable directions and levels.

Ironically, even though that's one of my standing assumptions, I still become outraged instead of gratified when reality meets, even exceeds, my infinitesimally low expectations.

It also occurs to me that I do become defensive about supporting (and admiring) Sheehan-- who has paid her dues and taken way more crap than she deserves-- and perceive slights that aren't there. If your present endeavors don't permit you the luxury of doing good for the Sheehans et al, at least you're not doing them harm.

Or, as we Sixties cats still occasionally say: putting her down.

You've enriched my understanding. Thanks again.