Supporting the Separation of Church and State
Posts Tagged ‘FISA’
RSS Review 5-14-08
Categorized: Politics
Tagged: Atheism, FISA, Fundamentalism, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, National Security, Racism, Religious Freedom, Reproductive Rights, Torture
Sorry this one is getting out late but I am sick today. However I didn’t feel right not publishing anything so here I am. Don’t be mad at me if its shorter and crappier than normal. Thats just about how I feel today. Well, maybe not shorter. crappier though for sure. At least I’m not suffering alone (get feeling better Jessica). Hope your all have a great day and I will try to post more later.
Hillary Clinton Wins BIG in West Virginia
Even though I have decided to support Obama I am still very happy to see that Clinton is not only competitive in blue collar states, but overwhelmingly preferred 67% to 26%. I know that it wont happen but showings like this make my dreams of a unity ticket seem almost possible sometimes.
Hagee Flip Flops on Religious Views
Taking a line from the McCain campaign John Hagee has flip flopped on his outspoken attacks on the Catholic Church. Every time McCain flip flops on a position his supporters can chalk it up to pandering for votes (or Alzheimer’s). What is it called when religious leaders flip flop on their beliefs?
The Rest of The News
- A bar owner in Marietta is selling racist Obama – Curious George T-Shirts. Just more proof that we have a lot of work to do still.
- Republican Congressional candidate Mike Erickson is being accused by an Oregon woman of having paid for her abortion. If true this will mark the one millionth Republican hypocrite outed this year. I think he wins a toaster.
- Conservatives are still trying to get amnesty for their big business telecom buddies. Over at DailyKOS mcjoan has listed the names and numbers for the conservative Democrats the Republicans are targeting. If they are yours give them a call.
- Was Einstein an atheist? Personally I could care less what Einsteins religious beliefs are but some people are making a big deal about it.
- In Ohio a father was jailed after his daughter failed to pass the math portion of her GED. As always there is more to the story, but it doesn’t get better. Read about it here at Newshoggers.
- Charges have been dropped against the “20th hijacker” Mohammed al-Qahtani. During his interrogation Mohammed was subjected to what people in a civilized society would refer to as torture.
In the log, U.S. interrogators describe how they ratcheted up techniques on their captive during 50 days starting in November 2002 to extract a confession – by using sleep deprivation, leaving him strapped to an intravenous drip without bathroom breaks and having him strip naked….A special Guantanamo investigator, Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall Schmidt, subsequently told Congress that al-Qahtani was also forced to wear a woman’s bra, dance with a male guard, “perform dog tricks” and was smeared with fake menstrual blood to lower his self-esteem – techniques the general described as “degrading and abusive” but not inhumane.
Cageprisoners.com
Daily Video
Todays video is John Stewarts interview with the unapologetic neocon Douglas Feith. If there is one think to admire about neocons like Feith, they never get caught up in the little things like reality or facts. Crooks and Liars has a good write up on the interview.
Part 1
Part 2
Thats all for this morning. I’m going to take some more medicine and go lie down for a while. I know that some of the news is actually from this morning but yesterday was a pretty slow news day. Besides I normally start these the night before and then just check for new stuff in the morning. Of course this is an open thread and I’ll make sure and moderate comments through the day.
William ~ WWJV4.com
Dodds Retroactive Immunity Ammendment Fails
Categorized: Politics
Tagged: Chris Dodd, FISA, Justice
Just got this from Think Progress. The Dodd/Feingold amendment to strip the retroactive immunity provisions from the FISA bill failed to get the 51 votes needed. The final tally was 31-67. Hillary Clinton also failed to make the vote, though she has spoken in support of removing retroactive immunity in the past and was a co-sponsor (along with Obama). I’m still disappointed in her for not making the vote, I expect more from someone who wants to be given the most important job in the world.
Here is a list of the Democrats who voted against accountability and enforcing the rule of law. If you want to see the official tally here it is. The Democrats would be …
- Bayh (D-IN)
- Carper (D-DE)
- Conrad (D-ND)
- Feinstein (D-CA)
- Inouye (D-HI)
- Johnson (D-SD)
- Landrieu (D-LA)
- Lincoln (D-AR)
- McCaskill (D-MO)
- Mikulski (D-MD)
- Nelson (D-FL)
- Nelson (D-NE)
- Pryor (D-AR)
- Rockefeller (D-WV)
- Salazar (D-CO)
- Stabenow (D-MI)
- Webb (D-VA)
Each of thir names link to a contact form so you can let them know how they have betrayed our principles and the rule of law. Expect this to be an election day issue when they want their jobs back. Of course it doesn’t need to be said, but please keep any correspondence professional and polite. Even though we may disagree with their actions we are still better than Republicans. Thanks.
So once again it looks like the Bush administration and their Republican puppets are going to prevent accountability for those who have broken the law.
Dodd’s FISA Fillubuster Gaining Supporters
Dodd Keeps Trying to Get My Vote
Categorized: Activism, Democrats
Tagged: Chris Dodd, FISA
I have been a strong supporter for Clinton for quite a while. I feel that after 8 years of far right extremism the best thing to unite the country is a moderate President. Hillary offers a moderate position, something that I feel will help heal the rift that Bush has created in this country while at the same time pissing off the radical right who can’t admit that aside from one stained dress Bill was an excellent president. Hillary has a strong record and I support her positions on basically everything so while I think she falls short of ideal, she is very appealing.
But every time I get good and settled in with Hillary as my candidate something happens to make me question myself. Lately that something has been Chris Dodd. Most importantly his recent blocking of the amnesty laden domestic spying bill (read more about this here) has forced me to consider him as a serious candidate. Dodd has single handidly stood up for justice by fighting against any domestic spying bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies who assisted in the illegal spying on US Citizens. A vile practice that we now learn started well prior to 9/11.
Chris Dodd has placed a hold on the bill and will even filibuster if Harry Reid follows through on his promise to ignore the hold. This kind of leadership in defense of our rights is exactly what is needed from the Democrats and I would like to see more than just Joe Biden step up and offer their support. This is what we have been asking from our elected representatives when we sent them to Washington. Stand up for our rights, and fight against an evil and oppressive right wing movement that threatens our way of life.
This in addition to having very solid policy ideas and an excellent record of leadership and experience makes Chris Dodd a very good candidate for president. If you would like to watch his short video and sign your pledge to support Chris Dodd’s defense of justice go check out his campaign website here. I also urge everyone to let their candidates of choice know that you support Chris Dodd’s hold and ask them to do the same.
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