Fonebone Is Watching You!
Help Stamp Out Acne!
Watch Out For Falling Bricks!
Keep Our Sidewalks Clean, Toilet Train Your Dog!
political, political cartoons, satire, cartoons, Uncle Sam, NSA, Mad Magazine, Don Martin
Happy New Year!
Daily Buzz - 12.31.05
All the news that’s fit to cut and paste.
- The Emperor’s Powers
- Justice Dept. Investigating Leak of NSA Wiretapping
- Santorum-Casey Race Headlines 2006, So Far
- Trump Weighs Run for N.Y. Governor
- Democrats Seek Records on Romney, Others
- Lobbyist Is Given Deadline to Take Deal or Go to Trial
- The DeLay-Abramoff Money Trail
- Iraq’s Baby Noor Flown to U.S. for Surgery
Ouch…
Friday Scat Blogging
Scat #1
Scat #2
Scat #3
political, political cartoons, satire, cartoons, Rove, Bush, Friday Cat Blogging
Brother Kenya is spreading the word on High Crimes….
The Heretik on the World Of Bush
Daily Buzz - 12.30.05
All the news that’s fit to cut and paste.
- The White House and National Security Agency have been caught tracking visitors to their websites in ways that may violate official US guidelines.
- US intelligence service bugged website visitors despite ban
- Black Lawmakers Vow to Repeal Ga. Voter Law
- President Bush’s “Brownie” quote wins award
- Snow urges Congress to raise debt limit
- Role of former chief accountant is crucial to Enron case
- Victory in name only
- Lawmakers Again Target Maligned Student Loan Subsidy
- Covert CIA Program Withstands New Furor
- Bill on Illegal-Immigrant Aid Draws Fire
Finally, did this really have to happen in Pennsylvania?
If George W. Bush Had Not Been An Un-American Un-President …
If George W. Bush had not been an un-American un-President, then he would have been elected by the greatest number of citizens voting for a candidate in the presidential election, or at least the greatest number of electoral votes cast based upon the popular vote; he would not have been put in office by an election rigged by his supporters who manufacture and operate the electronic voting machines, with no paper trail to audit.
If George W. Bush had not been an un-American un-President, then he would have led the international community to condemn any actions even vaguely resembling torture as patently inhuman and un-American; he would not have had the man who would be his attorney general torture logic and language and his vice president speak passionately before Congress and the public in pathetic attempts to justify and identify barbaric practices as anything but torture, which not only offends any being remotely human but also tends to yield information that those being interrogated just believe their tormentors want to hear.
If George W. Bush had not been an un-American un-President, then he would have championed the precious civil liberties that each of us as Americans is supposed to enjoy, that every human being deserves to exercise (as the administration repeatedly gives lip service to when waging war overseas), and that our sworn enemies swear to extinguish in the U.S. and the world; he would not have defied the explicit laws of the land, written by the legislative branch and equally rightly overseen by the judicial branch, in that most-American of institutions — the system of checks and balances — and he would have never even dreamed of employing the most powerful intelligence operations the world has ever known to go on fishing expeditions through untold millions of personal and business communications, almost all of which were made by innocent citizens thinking, naively, that their privacy would never be invaded except by court order, as guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment to our once-respected Constitution.
If George W. Bush had not been an un-American un-President, then he would have kept the international coalition formed in the wake of our tragedy of 9/11 together, hunting down those who actually attacked us and rebuilding societies we had to tear apart to root them out; he would not have squandered international good will, thumbing his nose at our traditional and new allies, calling them names, and feeding them — and the American public and Congress — “cherry picked intelligence,” half truths, and outright lies in order to lead our nation to war against a nation that never attacked us — for reasons that range from the discredited or imperialistic to petty or, most charitably, overly idealistic — stretching our forces to the breaking point and, as a consequence of scandalously poor planning, setting in motion a chain of potentially catastrophic events in a strategically vital area of the world over which we have precious little control.
If George W. Bush had not been an un-American un-President, then he would have done everything in his power to prevent the drowning of an American city or at least have done everything in his power to save its inundated survivors and rebuild its vital, storied region; he and his subordinates would not have installed in positions responsible for not only that but also other concerns vital to America (such as protection vs. an avian influenza pandemic or a bioterrorist attack) cronies whose only “qualifications” for the jobs, often taken at the expense of renowned experts in the fields, were their purely political connections.
If George W. Bush had not been an un-American un-President, then he would have focused on helping our fellow citizens most in need — the grassroots of our economy, to be perfectly dispassionate about it — including any and all of us when facing medical catastrophe; he would not have concentrated on enriching those already rich, tried to gut Social Security, promoted legislation that benefits drug and insurance companies more than the seniors it was purported to help, and sent his vice president to cast the tie-breaking vote cutting off help for those less fortunate than most (let alone those in the president’s inner circle).
If George W. Bush had not been an un-American un-President, then he would have practiced fiscal responsibility, balancing budgets and continuing to amass surpluses for our treasury, as did his predecessor; he would not have put this country unnecessarily deeper in debt, particularly to foreign powers.
If George W. Bush had not been an un-American un-President, then he would have encouraged legislation protecting our irreplaceable American heritage of land, air, and water; he would not have done everything he could to exploit the priceless treasures of our nation as a whole for the short-term greed of a few.
If George W. Bush had not been an un-American un-President, then he would have demanded the resignation of anyone in his administration who revealed the identity of an intelligence agent, and thus her operatives and contacts overseas, fighting terrorism, and encouraged whistleblowers to come forth and help root out inefficiency and corruption at all levels of government; he would not have fostered a climate of stonewalling and antagonism towards those who speak the sometimes uncomfortable truth, vital to our national security.
If George W. Bush had not been an un-American un-President, then he would have nominated for the Supreme Court those whose primary mission in public life was to protect the powerless from the powerful; he would not have nominated those whose professional life was devoted to serving the powerful, at the expense of the powerless.
If George W. Bush had not been an un-American un-President, then his popularity might be growing, not shrinking, as he became respected for standing up for what is best in America; he would probably not be increasingly mentioned in terms of impeachment on a variety of high crimes and misdemeanors (far more serious than Oval Office hankie pankie).
So as the GOP rats increasingly desert the sinking Bush ship of state, allow me to wish you a happy midterm congressional election year of 2006. And remember, it takes a village — or at least a majority in one house of Congress — to raise a subpoena.
Bill O’Reilly’s Next Big Battle
The King Of Zembla on the Other Terrorist Attack from 2001 that has gone ignored by the Bush Administration.
Preemptive Karma on Bush pressuring newspaper editors, and lobbyists buying off winger journalists.
anonyMoses at The American Street on the role of Conservatives.
political, political cartoons, satire, cartoons, O//’Reilly, Fox News
Daily Buzz - 12.28.05
All the news that’s fit to cut and paste.
- Pro-War Group Takes to the Airwaves
- Dozens indicted in alleged Katrina scam
- Balancing Act: Iowa, N.H. vs. Critics
- Frustration Over Iraq Vote Unlikely to Trouble Clinton
- Appeals Court Said to Hear DeLay Request
- Sen. Schumer Sets Sights High for 2006
- Calif. Gay Marriage Opponents Shift Focus
- No end to Brazil hostage crisis
- US punishes firms for Iran sales
- How tsunami swamped a revolt Rebels in Aceh formally end fight against Indonesia
- Enron guilty plea deal Ex-accounting chief could boost case against Lay, Skilling
- Villagers Block Roads around U.S. Steel Serbia to Protest Pollution
- Senate Democrats target seven states in 2006
And finally, persecution complex? The enigma of paranoid disorders…
The Constitution and not the moment
The Opinionated Bastard is a smart guy who can think things through in a comprehensive, extensive and exhaustive manner. He also has no faith in America.
Recently he wrote the following:
Citizen Smash says:
AS A STORM BREWS on Capitol Hill over revelations that the President authorized the NSA to conduct surveillance within our borders, now is a good time to take a step back, and examine our priorities.
Here are mine:
We must defeat our enemies, and prevent further attacks against our nation.
We must emerge from this war with our Constitution intact.Yeah, what he said. (OB words in italics)
The first priority in this construction is that we must defeat our enemies (however they are defined) and then once that goal is accomplished, see what shape the Constitution is in hope that it is not that tattered.
I am amazed at the lack of faith that the defenders of the illegal wiretaps have in America. This is the country that almost split apart during the War of 1812, engaged in the bloodiest war in our history over the question of slavery; faced a series of massive and crippling financial panics and a decade long depression and then went to war against eliminationist totaltarian regimes that actually had the capability to carry out their desires. And finally for thirty five to forty years lived under the dreaded logic of Mutually Assured Destruction.
America is a damn strong country, and we have survived the past quite well partially because we have believed in our laws despite the mistakes that we have made. The Constitution has been a strong source of strength, even as it has been evolved, changed, and been reintrepreted and amended as times move forward.
Bin Laden and his ideology are vile, reprehensable and dangerous. However Al-Quaeda is not an existential threat to the United States. If the United States could have survived the Civil War, the Second World War, and the Cold War without trashing the Constitution while seeking victory, against this far less capable and dangerous threat, we should not seek to transform this country into a Nixonian dystopia of an above the law rule of man.
We can do better than this. We must do better than this.
Daily Buzz - 12.27.05
All the news that’s fit to cut and paste.
- Bush’s High Crimes
- Taliban Leader Threatens Suicide Attacks
- Powell says Bush could have obtained warrants
- White House Press Room To Be Closed For Makeover
- Bush Seeks to Win More Battles in 2006
- Internet Fosters Local Political Movements
- Europe’s space race with US begins
- Power That Bush Can’t Just Take
- Are You Being Tracked?
- History Texts Take Up Clinton Impeachment
- Arianna Huffington - The Things I Want to Forget
Ben Franklin
political, political cartoons, satire, cartoons, Ben Franklin, Founding Fathers, Constitution
I can’t seem to comment , or even read comments over at Shakespeare’s Sister, or Me4President2008. I updated security on my computer, and I don’t know if it is blocking the haloscan window from their sites, but I am able to get the haloscan on other sites, like Comments From Left Field. This isn’t the first time I’ve had funky things happen when I’ve tried to use haloscan. Is it me, or is anyone else having trouble? Any suggestions?
Life and Death vs. Profit
Call me a cynic but it is my belief that there are certain things that should not be left up to free market forces, most importantly crucial health care issues. While the market can usually be relied upon to create competition which typically produces superior products, this always requires a profit incentive. When it comes to curing fatal diseases, free market capitalism leaves much to be desired. Seriously, when was the last time we cured/eradicated a disease? Polio?
I have always believed that there is simply more motive to create drugs that will help people to “live” with disease than there is to actually get rid of the disease itself. Think about it, since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic the free market has given us a plethora of insanely expensive drugs that can keep a patient alive for years, but has made absolutely no progress toward eradicating the disease itself. It is all about profit and there is not very much to be had by getting rid of diseases like this.
So I was not at all surprised to read today that the federal chief of AIDS research has come out and said plainly that if a cure is to be found it will have to come from the Government.
In an unusually candid admission, the federal chief of AIDS research says he believes drug companies don’t have an incentive to create a vaccine for the HIV and are likely to wait to profit from it after the government develops one.“If we look at the vaccine, HIV vaccine, we’re going to have an HIV vaccine. It’s not going to be made by a company,” Tramont said. “They’re dropping out like flies because there’s no real incentive for them to do it. We have to do it.”
“They will eventually - if it works, they won’t have to make that big investment. And they can make it and sell it and make a profit,” he said.
Of course this is the opinion of only one man, albeit one very visible and important man. I also have to admit that I am more apt to latch onto these comments because they agree with my point of view. But a couple questions beg to be asked. Does anyone believe that we should leave issues of life and death up to corporations whose collective goal is to maximize profit? Is it possible to create an incentive for these corporations to think beyond their bottom lines?
GOP Domestic Spying Propaganda Debunked
With everyone being so busy this time of year it is very easy for important tidbits of information to go unnoticed. One of those tidbits was a piece put together by the good folks at Media Matters which debunks the top 12 myths and outright untruths surrounding the President’s domestic spying scandal. Here is a little snip from the list:
4: Clinton, Carter also authorized warrantless searches of U.S. citizensAnother tactic conservatives have used to defend the Bush administration has been to claim that it is not unusual for a president to authorize secret surveillance of U.S. citizens without a court order, asserting that Democratic presidents have also done so. For example, on the December 21 edition of Fox News’s Special Report, host Brit Hume claimed that former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton issued executive orders “to perform wiretaps and searches of American citizens without a warrant.”
But as the ThinkProgress weblog noted on December 20, executive orders on the topic by Clinton and Carter were merely explaining the rules established by FISA, which do not allow for warrantless searches on “United States persons.” Subsequent reports by NBC chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell and The Washington Post also debunked the conservative talking point while noting that the claim was highlighted in the December 21 RNC press release.
From ThinkProgress, which documented how internet gossip Matt Drudge selectively cited from the Clinton and Carter executive orders to falsely suggest they authorized secret surveillance of U.S. citizens without court-obtained warrants:
What Drudge says:
Clinton, February 9, 1995: “The Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order”
What Clinton actually signed:
Section 1. Pursuant to section 302(a)(1) [50 U.S.C. 1822(a)] of the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance] Act, the Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order, to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year, if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that section.
That section requires the Attorney General to certify is the search will not involve “the premises, information, material, or property of a United States person.” That means U.S. citizens or anyone inside of the United States.
The entire controversy about Bush’s program is that, for the first time ever, allows warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens and other people inside of the United States. Clinton’s 1995 executive order did not authorize that.
Drudge pulls the same trick with Carter.
What Drudge says:
Jimmy Carter Signed Executive Order on May 23, 1979: “Attorney General is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order.”
What Carter’s executive order actually says:
1-101. Pursuant to Section 102(a)(1) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802(a)), the Attorney General is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order, but only if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that Section.
What the Attorney General has to certify under that section is that the surveillance will not contain “the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party.” So again, no U.S. persons are involved.
Read the rest of this piece here at Media Matters for America.
Daily Buzz - 12.26.05
All the news that’s fit to cut and paste.
- U.S. spy unit collected more telecom data than acknowledged
- Top commander admits Iraqis want US out ‘as soon as possible’ (AFP)
- AP Powell: ‘Nothing Wrong’ With Eavesdropping
- Bush Presses Editors on Security
- Debate on Response to Katrina Creates Partisan Divide
- Scholar Stands by Post-9/11 Writings On Torture, Domestic Eavesdropping
- Some fear eavesdropping could undermine work of spy agency
- Iran hails “first Islamist Arab state” in Iraq
- Der Spiegel - Speculations over US attack against Iran
And straight from the idiot file…
Happy Holidays
But seriously, Merry Christmas and Happy Hannuka to everyone that has contributed to Comments From Left Field. To all of our bloggers; Artie, Mr. M, Fester, Doug, Alicia, Zen, llindat - your contributions have made this little corner of the blogosphere a pleasure to hang around. And let’s not forget the regular readers/commentors who make this dialogue worth having; Xranger, Shawn, Patrick, Rob, Ol’Froth, Cernig, RD, Maria, Seth, Eli, fatman, Lynn and everyone else (sorry if I left you out but there is no way to include everyone). Thank you all. Have a great holiday, whatever it is you celebrate, and savor this time spent with your loved ones.
War on Christmas
Correntewire is on top of their game!
political, political cartoons, satire, cartoons, War on Christmas
Vacation
Just to let yall know, I’ll probably be taking the weekend off starting… NOW!
Have a Cool Christmas, Killer Kwanza, Hellacious Hannakuh (I always spell that one wrong), Neato- New Year, and you know what? It is just easier to say…
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Meth
The Heretik has moved…update your blogrolls, or add him if haven’t already!
Shakespeare’s Sister on the grumblings of the rest of the FISA Court judges…
Why Are We Back In Iraq shows why Powerline was leaving out hyperlinks in a post about wiretapping.
The King Of Zembla on Joe Bageant, by way of Arvin Hill
political, political cartoons, satire, cartoons, NSA, Bush