Category: Politics
Political commentary and awareness
Think Before You Kill Julian Assange
Many people are in a uproar over the Wikileaks release of 251,287 United States embassy cables "the largest set of confidential documents ever to be released into the public domain." Reaction has included suggestions of naming Wikileaks as a terrorist organization. Some people have called for the execution of Julian Assange as a traitor. Proceed with caution! I’d like to take a moment to point out that history is repeating itself. Recall the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War. This exact situation was tried in 1971 in New York Times Co. v. United States with the outcome being the release of the documents is protected by the First Amendment.
Though inconvenient for officials, the revelation of information contained in any of the WikiLeaks files, much like the Pentagon Papers amid the Vietnam war, is protected by the First Amendment — a point made by the US Supreme Court in New York Times Co. v. United States in 1971.
[Source, The Raw Story, GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’]
In all that I have read, and in all the news commentary I have watched on television and online, nothing has been as notable and as important as the next three paragraphs of The Raw Story’s article.
"In seeking injunctions against these newspapers and in its presentation to the Court, the Executive Branch seems to have forgotten the essential purpose and history of the First Amendment," Justices Hugo Black and William Douglas wrote, taking the side of the Times, which had recently published what was then considered the largest cache of secret military information in US history.
[Source, The Raw Story, GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ emphasis added]
Read this next paragraph twice. This paragraph notes where main stream media is failing in its job in the name of page views, popularity and ad sales rather than serving the governed. Wikileaks has stepped up to do the job that our press corp has quit.
"In the First Amendment the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy," they continued. "The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government’s power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government."
[Source, The Raw Story, GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ emphasis added]
In conclusion, before passing negative judgment against Julian Assange and Wikileaks, read the words of Justices Black and Douglas in regard to the Pentagon Papers.
After the release of the Pentagon Papers, Justices Black and Douglas opined that "newspapers nobly did precisely that which the Founders hoped and trusted they would do."
[Source, The Raw Story, GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ emphasis added]
Please go to The Raw Story and read the entire article titled GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’. Take note that the people wanting to declare Wikileaks a terrorist organization and suppress information keeping you, the citizenry, in the dark are the exact same people embarrassed, or in a position of having their careers ended, by the release of these documents, like Hillary Clinton.
To close, one more quote from The Raw Story. Justice Potter Stewart’s comment.
Justice Potter Stewart added: "In the absence of the governmental checks and balances present in other areas of our national life, the only effective restraint upon executive policy and power in the areas of national defense and international affairs may lie in an enlightened citizenry – in an informed and critical public opinion which alone can here protect the values of democratic government. For this reason, it is perhaps here that a press that is alert, aware, and free most vitally serves the basic purpose of the First Amendment. For without an informed and free press there cannot be an enlightened people."
[Source, The Raw Story, GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ emphasis added]
Seen on Reddit Regarding the Nov 2 Election Results
America is like the girl that keeps getting back together with that abusive moron everyone hates.
…but he’s going to be different this time, he swears!
[Source, Reddit, majikmixx]
The commenter who probably has it correct.
The GOP was supposed to sweep the demms and get some insane majority, they have the house but not the senate and it wasn’t a giant sweep in other contests. Furthermore the two parties as they are aren’t terribly different.
My prediction, more of the same shit we’ve seen for many years. If this is one of your first elections it might come as a shock but this is really how it’s been going. As long as Obama doesn’t fuck around with interns I think he’s still in good shape.
And the Dems will be back in control in two years because lets face it, things aren’t going to get better anytime soon. I’m not sure anyone can change that.
We shall see…I just hope they don’t succeed in making those Bush tax cuts permanent.
Postcards from the Pledge
As the Republicans prepare for a battle to reclaim some power in Congress, they have announced a pledge discussing what the Republican party will do for this country. Jon Stewart with the Daily Show covers this very artfully! This is a must watch.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Postcards From the Pledge | ||||
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So why does the ice melt?
The country that brought us Chernobyl will now be floating 8 nuclear power plants on top of the world. Granted, the United States had Three Mile Island and I’m told by an old timer that apparently there is was a reactor meltdown in Oak Ridge in the 50s that was buried physically and by public relations but I cannot validate that. Let’s not forget who is the world leader in exploded nuclear bombs. As the arctic ice shrinks and exposes more land, a battle is brewing for the possible gas and oil reserves previously hidden by the ice. The major players will be Canada and Russia but other countries could try to stake claims. With these ships that could supply power to 45,000 for 12 years at a time..that’s 12 years without needing to return to port..Russia certainly has an advantage.
[Source, BBC, A rare view of Russia’s floating nuclear power station]
What will you do in November?
53 Years of Nuclear Bombs
How many nuclear bombs have been exploded? Many people would say, "One, over Japan" when it fact it was two, one over Hiroshima and another over Nagasaki. Would you believe that Britain has exploded a nuclear bomb in the United States? Would you believe that in 53 years 2053 nuclear bombs were exploded around the globe? I find the following video unsettling. It left me feeling hollow in my chest and subtly angry.
Tennessee – the hate state
Oh, TN, what happened to you?
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A Nashville man says he and his 10-year-old daughter were victims of road rage…Harry Weisiger gave him the bird and rammed into his vehicle, after noticing an Obama-Biden sticker on his car bumper…"He pointed at the back of my car," Duren said, "the bumper, flipped me off, one finger salute." [Source, WRKN.com, Road rage, accident centers on Obama bumper sticker]
BBC explains why people vote against their own interests
The BBC has delivered some excellent commentary on what we are living in American politics. These quotes hit the nail on the head:
[Thomas Frank] believes that the voters’ preference for emotional engagement over reasonable argument has allowed the Republican Party to blind them to their own real interests.
Right-wing politics has become a vehicle for channelling this popular anger against intellectual snobs. The result is that many of America’s poorest citizens have a deep emotional attachment to a party that serves the interests of its richest.
[Source, BBC, Why do people often vote against their own interests?]
…whatever disadvantaged Americans think they are voting for, they get something quite different:
"You vote to strike a blow against elitism and you receive a social order in which wealth is more concentrated than ever before in our life times, workers have been stripped of power, and CEOs are rewarded in a manner that is beyond imagining." [Source, BBC, Why do people often vote against their own interests?]
And here’s my favorite. One for the history books:
"It’s like a French Revolution in reverse in which the workers come pouring down the street screaming more power to the aristocracy." [Source, BBC, Why do people often vote against their own interests?]
Air America Cruise Round 1 ends
If today’s live poll on Air America blog is any indication about the results of the first round of the cruise contest, Digsby jumped from position 20 into the top 5. Joe Jervis moved from position 11 into the top 5. And no one was successful in knocking Mike Lux, Karl Frisch, or Pam Spaulding out of the top 5. I hope I’m misinterpreting this and that Aunt B of Tiny Cat Pants actually made it into the top 5.
Update: Yes, here is the round two page.
The Rape Belt
I live in a state that supports rape in the workplace. See the info graphic at Republicans for Rape.
What killed the public option?
$19 million and 5 purchased votes shot down the best change that could have ever come to this country.
Max Baucus got $7,734,102, Blanche Lincoln received $4,190,592, Ken Conrad took in $3,287,891, Bill Nelson was given $2,414,895 and Tom Carper accepted $1,592,380 from health industry interests. [Source, Intershame.com, Bought by the Insurance Lobby]
These Senators clearly voted against the wishes of their constituents who 81% favor the public option. Is this another example of the Government of the Corporation? In CEO We Trust.
George Carlin and Bill Hicks explain our economic and political systems
We need a single payer option
Health care reform is essential in this country. People are dying so that other people can put dollars in their wallets. That is wrong.
Kimberly Young, vibrant 22-year-old who was working at least two jobs in Oxford after graduating with a double major in December 2008, became ill about two weeks ago, but didn’t seek care initially because she didn’t have health insurance and was worried about the cost. "That’s the most tragic part about it. If she had insurance, she would have gone to the doctor," Brent Mowery, her friend and former roommate, said. [Source, Crooks and Liars, R.I.P. Kimi Young, 22, Another Casualty of Our For-Profit Deathcare System.]
What happens when you yell “liar” at the President?
Question:If you, Republican Joe Wilson, show a utter lack of respect for the office of the presidency, a breech of protocol, a total lack of decorum, and a complete disregard for the level of professionalism expect by your elected position, what happens?
Answer: In less than 12 hours, 1362 people raise $45,475 to help elect Democrat Rob Miller as your replacement in the House of Representatives.
Update: 20 hours later, 4531 people have donated $155,362.
Update: 24 hours later, 5832 people have dontaed $203,070. Along with other Rob Miller campaigns on ActBlue, volunteers have donated a total of $592,075 to see Democrat Rob Miller displace Republican Joe Wilson in South Carolina’s 2nd district US House Representative.
See also: Joe Wilson is your pre-existing condition and career finance.
Update: Wilson health care industry darling and this is not the first time he has gone off at the mouth. See also and 2002 Joe Wilson lies about Saddam.
Update: Rich points to a youtube video of Democrats applauding during a state of the union address about blocking a bill as an example of Wilson like behavior. I understand their message in applauding goes against the President’s desires but it matches the excepted decorum on the Senate and no one outright demeaned the President.
The House is considering responding to Wilson’s actions.
"It is a clear violation of the rules of the House, and it needs to be resolved on the floor of the House either by an apology or by a resolution," said Brendan Daly, a spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
House rules and precedents provide substantial guidance on how a House member can and cannot refer to the president while speaking on the floor, and the guidelines state that it has been found impermissible to call the president a liar. The House was in formal session at the time of the speech.
[Source, New York Times, Heckler’s Behavior May Bring Action in House]
The White House has stiffened its stand against providing health care to illegal aliens. Whether this is what Obama said he was going to do or a response to Wilson won’t ever be known but is irrelevant as the end result is the same.
Here’s a tricky one. Joe Wilson Voted to Provide Taxpayer Money for Illegal Immigrants’ Healthcare. This is the crap that happens in our Congress.
However, in 2003, Wilson voted to provide federal funds for illegal immigrants’ healthcare. The vote came on the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, which contained Sec. 1011 authorizing $250,000 annually between 2003 and 2008 for government reimbursements to hospitals who provide treatment for uninsured illegal immigrants. The program has been extended through 2009 and there is currently a bipartisan bill in Congress to make it permanent. [Source, OpenCongress, Joe Wilson Voted to Provide Taxpayer Money for Illegal Immigrants’ Healthcare]
The misleading part of this is that the bill was "a much larger bill that contained many Republican priorities." Our bills should not be large bills with unrelated or concession type riders that force our lawmakers to let things slip through. I do not think this serves the people as much as it opens doors to serve the politicians and lobbyists with back scratching. "I’ve vote YES to your bill if you add this minor section."
