Serious Stuff

Well I have got to give the President a little credit with his “axis of evil” bit. I remember first hearing that phrase, used to describe Iran, Iraq and North Korea, in an address to the nation immediately following the attacks of September 11. To the Presidents credit, he appears to have gotten two out of three correct, even though in Iraq we appear to have gone to war with the least threatening of the three. As most of us now know, the war in Iraq has seriously damaged our nation’s credibility and our prestige around the globe. Our unilateral involvement places serious strains on our military, limiting our ability to project military power to other areas of the globe. Take Iran and North Korea as cases in point. Both countries are hostile to the United States and its allies, both countries are developing nuclear weapons programs and the systems to deliver them and both countries continue to snub their nose at the United States because they realize that we are limited in our ability to respond to their emerging threat. Not only do the regimes in North Korea and Iran realize that we currently lack sufficient military strength to threaten them directly, but that we are also hamstrung politically as domestic support for continued military conflicts dwindle and as Russia and China openly counter our efforts in both situations.

North Korea is the latest to challenge the regional status quo, with its well publicized missile launches last week. The North Korean missiles proved to be duds as they fell harmlessly into the Sea of Japan soon after launch and the situation was downplayed by many of the network talking heads and by even the President himself. However, don’t let the jokes on Leno fool you, this is serious. Japan, a country constitutionally prohibited from using war as a tool to settle international disputes, is publicly debating whether it should destroy any new North Korean missiles being readied for launch. The Japanese government was shaken by the North Korean missile launches and is hardening its stance heading into the U.N. Security Councils vote on tough sanctions proposed last week. Although the United States, Great Brittan and France (yes France) support the Japanese initiative, the odds on the resolution passing seem slim. Many feel that though Russia is likely to abstain from voting on the resolution, China will use its veto to keep the resolution from being adopted. To their credit, the Japanese government has taken an uncompromising stand against the North Korean action, refusing to change the resolutions wording despite the growing prospect of a Chinese veto. The Japanese government will not yield on its desire to see strict sanctions placed on Pyongyang. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso stated on Sunday that “to compromise (our position) because one country (China) has veto power, even though most other countries support us, would send the wrong message.” Absolutely!!! Let China veto the resolution. Maybe then the rest of the world will see China for what it really is and recognize it for the threat to world peace it has become.

The Bush Administration has repeatedly tried to downplay the North Korean threat as it continues to be distracted by the un-winnable war in Iraq. In fact, our own prestige has been so badly damaged world wide, that countries such as North Korea and Iran have now chosen to ignore any saber rattling coming out of Washington because they simply do not fear U.S. reprisal. Sadly they are right. How are we able to conduct a preemptive strike against Iraq, a country found to have no weapons of mass destruction and that posed no threat to this country, while allowing North Korea, a country known to possess nuclear weapons, to launch test missiles aimed at Alaska? We need to demonstrate a similar resolve to that of our friends in Tokyo. Yet the Bush administration feels that a hands off approach to North Korea will force Pyongyang back to the table and that a preemptive strike is too risky and thus not an option. It is my opinion that the risk of inaction will prove to be far greater. The North Korean government will continue to be emboldened by our lack of commitment and resolve to defend a line in the sand we ourselves drew. They will continue to stockpile missiles and nuclear materials, tipping the regional balance of power and pursuing its own interests with impunity. Even worse, North Korea has a long history of selling weapons systems to countries in the Middle East and may even sell them to terrorist groups. All the while Iran watches with interest as the drama unfolds, realizing that if the U.S. will not respond to North Korea, who just launched test missiles at Seattle, it will do little to effect their insatiable desire to develop nuclear weapons and modernize its military.

The Bush Administration seems paralyzed by internal divisions on how to best deal with North Korea and Iran and as a result we have chosen to outsource these issues to other Western countries and regional players. The truth is that North Korea will only modify its behavior when it recognizes that it is in immediate danger. That is why we should position ourselves to eliminate any North Korean missiles readied for launch and destroy the country’s weapons research and development facilities. We should follow up with surgical air strikes on any North Korean infrastructure that would support and enable goods to be transported into the country from China and place a naval blockade on the country further isolating Pyongyang from the rest of the world. We need to demonstrate to the North Koreans just how seriously we take their threats and call their bluff. Folks, I hate to tell you, appeasement never works. It did not work with Hitler and it will not work with the North Koreans or the Iranians. Diplomacy should always be the preferred method for settling international disputes. However, when diplomacy fails to produce the desired result, we must be prepared to use any and all options available to us. You can not offer carrots without the implied threat of the stick. When you offer only carrots, you only offer appeasement and enticements to go further. The truth is if you take care of North Korea you will take care of Iran. You will also send a strong message to Beijing and Moscow that they will no longer influence this country’s foreign policy in Asia or the Middle East. However, if we continue to ignore the issue, we will soon find ourselves with two very real and very serious threats…the type of threats we only imagined we had in Iraq. WMD in the hands of rogue regimes, hostile to the US and its allies, ready and willing to export their technology and ideology to developing countries across the globe.

Serious stuff…think about it.

It's About Time!

All I can say is it’s about time! It appears that Congress is finally waking up to the fact that this President and his administration have seriously crossed the line. In fact it seems that both Congress and the Supreme Court have woken up to smell the coffee. If you are a frequent reader of this Blog, then you are all too familiar with my position on the Presidents unprecedented abuse of executive authority. If you too are concerned about the Presidents assault on the Constitution and Congresses abdication of its constitutional responsibilities, then recent news out of Washington should provide you with some relief.

This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee announced that it was reviewing the Presidents questionable use of signing statements when signing new bills into law. These statements have become a primary tool for the President to subvert his duty and responsibility to uphold U.S. laws passed by Congress. President Bush has issued over 750 signing statements since taking office, often claiming the right not to enforce laws passed by Congress that he feels will infringe upon his presidential authority. This is obviously problematic because the President is responsible for enforcing the laws passed by Congress and to respect the separation of powers as outlined in the Constitution. However, President Bush consistently acts as though he is above the law and his aggressive use of these signing statements is evidence of that fact. For the record, President Bush is not the only executive to have issued signing statements. However, it is the manner in which President Bush uses these signing statements that is unprecedented. In most cases President Bush’s signing statements state that he would refuse to enforce part of a law, specifically if it conflicts with his unprecedented claim of presidential power. These statements are wide ranging and include a congressional ban on torture, affirmative action rules, protections for the integrity of scientific research and the protection of government whistleblowers. These statements and the actions of this administration are in blatant defiance of the constitutional powers granted to Congress and undermine the systems of checks and balances outlined therein. The President is using signing statements as a way around the use of a presidential veto. In fact, this President has not vetoed a single law passed by Congress. If the Congress passes a law that the President does not like, he simply states that he has no intention of executing the law as written. News flash Mr. President, neither the Constitution nor federal law provides you the right to choose which provisions of the laws passed by Congress you will enforce. Civics 101.

Also this week, the House Judiciary Committee adopted a “resolution of inquiry” to formally pursue any and all documents held specifically by the president and attorney general relating to warrantless requests made by the NSA and other Federal agencies to telecommunication providers regarding records of customers calls. House Resolution 819 requests the president and directs the attorney general to submit all documents relating to requests made without warrant by the NSA or other Federal agency to telephone providers…for access to telephone communications of persons within the United States, other than those authorized by federal electronic surveillance statutes. Bravo! The Presidents approval of the warrantless wiretapping of Americans by the NSA violates the unequivocal restrictions on domestic spying as outlined in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and reflects the Presidents determination to ignore the rule of law and the Constitution.


Finally, the Supreme Court ended its term by striking down the administrations use of military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay. The court ruled that the system of military tribunals established by the Bush administration to try detainees violates the Geneva conventions and U.S. law. The administration’s use of these tribunals is consistent with a larger pattern of the President’s abuse of executive power and judicial review of the administrations conduct is long over due. The court ruled 5-3 that the administration would either have to come up with new procedures to prosecute detainees or it will have to release them from military custody. Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority stated that “the tribunals must be understood to incorporate at least the barest of those trail protections that have been recognized by customary international law” and that “the military commission at issue is not expressly authorized by any congressional act.” In a concurring opinion, Justice Stephen Bayer wrote that Congress has not issued the executive a “blank check”, stating that Congress has denied the president the legislative authority to create military commissions of the kind at issue here. The court also establishes that federal courts have jurisdiction to hear appeals involving “enemy combatants” held overseas in military custody. The “enemy combatant” designation, according to the Bush administration, means the suspect can be held without charges in a military prison without the protections of the U.S. criminal justice system, such as the right to counsel. The ruling means that the administration will now have to adopt a military commission system for trying accused terrorists that meets international standards.
These developments are a welcome step in the right direction, as Congress and the Court confirmed at least in part that our country is to be governed by the rule of law not the rule of a man. However, we are not out of the woods just yet. Though Congress is to be applauded for finally confronting the President on his unparalleled grab for power, it too must be held accountable to finish what it started. It must restore the delicate balance of power and the system of checks and balances as outlined in the Constitution and never abdicate their responsibility to the will of one man. I’ll say it again, it’s about time…now keep it up!

Run Forrest...Run!!!

“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

-President Thomas Jefferson

Wasn’t it Forrest Gump who coined the phrase stupid is as stupid does? Well if it was good old Forrest who coined that now famous phrase, then Representative Peter King, R-NY and Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez are now the embodiment of it.

Over the weekend, Representative King, the sitting chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, urged the Bush administration to seek criminal charges against all newspapers that reported on a secret, albeit illegal, financial monitoring program used by the administration to trace terrorists called SWIFT. King said that he would encourage Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to begin an investigation and prosecution of the New York Times- the reporters, the editors and the publisher. King is quoted as saying that “we are at war and for the Times to release information about secret operations and methods is treasonous.” King also charged that the paper was “more concerned about a left-wing elitist agenda than it was about the security of America”. If that isn’t bad enough, Attorney General Gonzalez believes that he can prosecute these journalists for publishing classified information, simply by citing an obligation to national security. Thank you Patriot Act! Attorney General Gonzalez is also on the record as stating that the First Amendment right of a free press should not be absolute when it comes to national security and that he would not hesitate to track telephone calls made by reporters as part of a criminal leak investigation.

Folks, this is what I have been ranting about. This is America remember…the land of the free and the home of the brave? We are witnessing the hijacking of our country and we act as if we are powerless to stop it. America is standing at the edge of a great abyss and most Americans don’t even know what abyss means. When the Attorney General of the United States is on record as saying that the First Amendment right of a free press is not absolute then we have a real problem. If the First Amendment right of a free press is not absolute, then how can the press truly be considered free? One of the most hotly debated issues in this country today is the conduct of the war on terror and it is the responsibility of the free press to publish what they know about our government’s role in it and to provide the American public with what it needs to know in order to participate in the debate. Truth be known, Representative King is nothing more than a right wing thug trying to rally the conservative Republican base and Mr. Gonzalez is a Bush administration hatchet man trying to intimidate and suppress the actions of the media and the public’s right to know. If anyone has an agenda Mr. King it is the President, his administration and those of you in Congress who represent the interests of your party at the expense of those who elected you. Then, you have the audacity to sit there on Fox News and call the report absolutely disgraceful as if you are in some morally superior position to make such a declaration. You sir are absolutely disgraceful and the actions of this administration is criminal.

As I have stated before, we live in a country of law not of men. This is evident when you read the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Ours was designed to be a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Unfortunately that is no longer the case. Today our government is run by professional ideologues and stodgy old bureaucrats. For them it is all about remaining in power and keeping hold of that brass ring. Today politicians like Mr. King are more likely to declare news organizations such as the New York Times traitorous because it publicly reported embarrassing truths, then they are to prosecute government officials who blatantly and routinely break the law and ignore the very constitution they were sworn to defend. Now ask yourself…who is the real traitor? This is a very difficult time and these are very dangerous people. We can not shirk our responsibilities as citizens and blindly accept the actions of this government. Until they change how we elect our government officials, we still wield a very powerful weapon…our vote. However, if things are really ever going to change, then we can not continue to ignore the brutal facts of our reality… it is no longer about us, it is all about them. They patronize us, pacify us and punish us when we get out of line. They talk about doing what is best for America, yet only do what is best for them. Forrest was right; stupid is as stupid does and life can often be like that box of chocolates. However, if we are not able to stem the rising tide of arrogant authoritarianism in this country it might be in our best interest to listen to old Forrest one more time and run.

Think about it.

Calling All Sheep…

It was announced today that numerous federal and local law enforcement agencies across the country are gathering Americans’ phone records from private data brokers without warrant or subpoena. Many of these brokers who often market on the Internet, have broken into customer online accounts and tricked phone companies into revealing personal information, even admitting that their practices violate federal law. The fact that the law enforcement agencies rely on obtaining private information from vendors who openly break the law is disturbing. Legal experts and privacy advocates are very concerned that police actions, bypassing subpoena requirements to obtain private citizens phone records raise serious civil liberty questions.

Experts believe that hundreds of municipal police departments frequently use such services, as do the Department of Homeland Security, The FBI and The U.S. Marshals Service. When are we going to put an end to this? People wake up! This is clearly a violation of the rights and protections provided under the Constitution. This is big stuff and the average American could care less. Why…because the average American has the attention span of a sheep. I’m sorry bahhh its true. These departments continually request information from these companies because they do not have to get a warrant or subpoena. It is a loophole that must be closed. According to Ana Bueno, a police investigator in Redwood City California, her department is requesting any and all information that these companies have regarding cell phone information and account information, including account activity and the account holders address. Can anyone say probable cause? You see the loophole allows the government to circumvent the constitution by purchasing private information that is publicly available, even though the companies providing the data have obtained the information illegally. Congressional investigators estimate that the federal government alone spent over $30 million dollars last year buying personal data from private brokers. These numbers greatly understate the breadth of these transactions since brokers rarely if ever charge law enforcement agencies.

We should feel relieved that congress is set to investigate the matter as the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee plans to begin hearings today. The who is doing what? They might as well let my mother investigate the case, as it would probably get farther than it will in the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee. I’ll bet you a dollar to a doughnut that nothing ever comes of this investigation, it will be business as usual for the government and there is no one but us sheep to blame. Isn’t it obvious that our government, led by President Knucklehead will stoop to any means in order to get what it wants? Taking too much flack over the NSA wiretapping scandal? Purchase the information from criminal agencies. They don’t need a warrant and you don’t have to arrest them. These companies use trickery, impersonation and technology to gather information on phone records or any other private information they think is profitable. James Bearden, a Texas lawyer who represents four such data brokers, compares the actions of the companies in question to the actions of the NSA, which reportedly compiles phone records of ordinary private Americans. Bearden is on record as saying that these companies are being demonized for doing exactly what the government is doing, adding that many of these companies under investigation are partners with law enforcement agencies on a regular basis. James you are wrong, only our benevolent government has the right to illegally initiate and operate programs such as this. Many of the executives summoned to testify before Congress plan to invoke their Fifth Amendment Rights against self-incrimination…if those rights still exist.

It is amazing how it works though. Numerous federal agencies and local police departments have instructed their agents to stop the practice after Congressional inquiries, scattering like cockroaches when you turn on the lights. This practice is pernicious and is an end around the Fourth Amendment plain and simple. Law enforcement agencies are encouraging people in the private sector to commit crimes in order to get the information they want. As I have stated in earlier entries, the NSA and other intelligence agencies routinely ignore the Fourth Amendment protections provided in the Constitution. Their actions are now becoming public and thus a matter of public debate in a critical election year. So they have simply changed their methods.

So the war continues, not on terror but on the Constitution. Not on Islamic fundamentalism but on the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. When are we going to wake up? When are we going to say enough is truly enough? When are we going to hold elected officials accountable for their actions and the actions of their minions? Again I assert that average Americans are ignorant sheep and our government knows it, in fact it is banking on it. See the problem with sheep is that as long as they have grass to eat, water to drink and a hillside to roam they are fat and happy. The problem with sheep is that they never worry about tomorrow or the long-term consequences regarding the actions of their sheppard. The problem with sheep is they don’t vote. Are you a sheep?

Think About it.

It's Good to Be a Dick!

We are gathered here today in memory of a great country. A country founded on the principals of freedom, universal human rights and the rule of law. We are here to pay our respects to a fallen country, the land of the free and the home of the brave, because it ultimately succumbed to the ravages of a long and drawn out illness. We saw it coming yet we were in denial. Perhaps had we intervened sooner, the patient could have been saved. Hindsight is a wonderful yet maddening tool. The choices are so clear when they are viewed through the prism of history. You see the price of freedom is eternal vigilance and it was a price that ultimately proved to large to pay. Had we remained eternally vigilant, we would have recognized sooner the abuses of our government and acted accordingly. If we only knew sooner, we could have stopped our elected leaders from trampling upon the very bedrock of our freedoms and draining the lifeblood from our country. Yes, these are very troubling times indeed. Consider the impact of the expanding powers of the President and the executive branch of government. Consider if you will the impact of the actions of this President and the inaction of this Congress. Ponder the reality that we live in a country where we are no longer truly free and that our rights are no longer guaranteed. No, we live in a country where the government can seize evidence without warrant, spy without authority, imprison without charge and kill without cause.

Once again the Administrations disregard for the Constitution and the rule of law is on full display in the developing confrontation over the illegal NSA wiretapping program. As you may know, Senator Arlen Specter, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Intelligence Committee, has been waffling on the subject of issuing subpoenas for telecommunications executives and members of the administration who are involved in the wiretapping scandal. There has been an escalating, public debate between Senator Specter and Vice President Dick Cheney over Congressional oversight of the NSA eavesdropping program and other related domestic spying issues. Last week, Senator Specter in his best attempt at saber rattling, sent the Vice President a strongly worded letter threatening the administration with a “constitutional confrontation” over the issue. Of course Vice Chancellor Cheney responded erroneously by stating that the NSA did not need Congressional approval to run the program, adding though the administration is willing to work with Congress in “good faith”, he didn’t feel there was a need for legislation authorizing the NSA to monitor calls between people in the US and terrorist suspects overseas without court order. Cheney cited that the resolution passed by Congress in the aftermath of 9/11 and the Presidents authority as Commander and Chief give him the power to authorize the NSA program. Wrong again Dick.

The program is clearly in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, governing wiretaps and counterintelligence probes. Senator Specter has suggested additional legislation requiring the administration to submit the program to a constitutionality review by a secret federal court set up to approve such warrants. Apparently Senator Specter finally developed the resolve to confront the Vice Chancellor only after learning that Dick had been secretly been lobbing fellow Republicans on his committee without his knowledge. According to published reports, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch told Specter that the Vice Chancellor had gone around him in an effort to influence members of the committee to block subpoenas for administration officials and telecommunication executives. Even though the legality of the NSA program and the administrations approval of NSA actions are currently under review, it is clear that the NSA program is in direct conflict with the law as outlined in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. However, the lack of support Senator Specter is receiving from fellow Republican committee members on the issue of subpoenas is appalling and caused Specter to tone down his rhetoric. Obviously the Democrats are crying fowl because they are seeking to politicize the issue rather than confront the legality of it. Regardless, the Senator is waffling on his pledge to fully investigate the NSA program and hold accountable those who have violated the law. What else do you expect from the man who developed the “magic bullet theory” as a plausible explanation establishing Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone gunman responsible for the JFK assignation. Don’t get me started on that. Anyway, it appears that round 1 goes to the Vice Chancellor.

Of course Cheney defended his Senatorial “end around” as completely ethical, stating that it was just government at work…business as usual. That’s funny. When has the word “ethical” and the phrase “government at work” ever been used in the same sentence…that is with a straight face? Cheney stated that by forcing representatives of the telecommunications companies to testify, Congress could inadvertently disclose “extremely sensitive and classified information.” Really? Could it be the extremely classified and sensitive information that the VP is referring to are the names and identities of those ultimately responsible for breaking the law and violating our rights? I can understand can understand your desire to keep that a secret Dick.

Think about it.

Idiots

Representative Mel Watt from the great State of North Carolina is a complete idiot. Equally idiotic is the current leadership of the Democratic Party led by Representative Nancy Pelosi. Mr. Watt is on record implying that the FBI raid on the congressional office of Representative William Jefferson was racially motivated. Mr. Watt, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, went so far as to say that black voters might ask themselves why action was sought against a “black member of Congress” when there was neither precedent nor rule for it. Watt continued, “you’ve got a whole base of people out there who believe that the Democratic Party takes them for granted” and if action is taken against someone who “is a black member of congress, then our community will legitimately ask what in the world they are doing?” On the flip side you have Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic pals who wish to see Mr. Jefferson resign from Congress or seek to remove him from his position on the House Ways and Means Committee, even though the Congressman has not been indicted of any crime and is presumed innocent until proven guilty. You talk about missing the forest for the trees.

As a refresher, Representative Jefferson is a Democrat from Louisiana. Jefferson is facing a number of Federal charges for accepting over $500,000 in bribe money. While it is true that Mr. Jefferson has not been indicted, two men close to Jefferson have. Brett Pfeffer, a former Jefferson aid, was sentenced to eight years in prison last month for conspiring to commit bribery and aiding and abetting the bribery of a government official (Mr. Jefferson). Vernon Jackson, CEO of iGate Inc., a Louisville based telecommunications company, pled guilty to paying over $400,000 in bribe money to Jefferson. The FBI claims to have videotape of Jefferson taking over $100,000 in bribe money which agents later found stashed in the freezer of his home. The FBI searched Jefferson’s congressional office last month, triggering an outcry from both sides of the political isle that the FBI had encroached upon Congress’ constitutional powers. The President in an effort at damage control, ordered the materials seized by the FBI be turned over to the Justice Department and that the FBI not be involved in the investigation. There you have it, the Readers Digest version. If ever there was an example of the inherent stupidity of our elected officials, this is it. This incident clearly and without question, demonstrates how self-serving our elected officials truly are.

Mr. Watt, you are an idiot because this is clearly not a racial issue. Ms. Pelosi, you are an idiot because it is clearly a bigger issue that the November mid-term election. Mr. Watt, I know that you represent a low income, black constituency. In fact, your district is not dissimilar from the one represented by Mr. Jefferson. I also know that you have been an ineffective leader in Congress and that your ineptness continues to manifest itself by dwindling poll numbers back home. Now I’m thinking, if I were an ineffective black leader needing to reverse voter perception at home, what better way to solidify my base than to play the race card in my own predominantly black district?

Ms. Pelosi, you did a great job criticizing the executive branches power grab immediately after the FBI raid, but your current politically motivated actions are a transparent attempt to ease Jefferson from his position before the November campaign really kicks off. Ms. Pelosi, it is no secret that the Democrats intend to campaign hard and heavy against the Republicans by accusing them of presiding over a “culture of corruption”. Of course you realize that Mr. Jefferson’s continued presence would allow the Republicans to blur the issue in the mid-term election. What a transparent, self-protecting and stupid thing to do Ms Pelosi, even Mr. Watt pointed out that you were acting out of political expedience and that it could eventually blow up in your face.

With all due respect, the issue is about a crooked politician remaining in office and about the executive branch of our government overstepping its legal bounds, further eroding the constitutionally designed separation of powers and its system of checks and balances. For the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus to speak as though this is a race issue is absurd. Hey Mel, the Congressional Black Caucus is by its very definition a racist organization. Established in 1971, the CBC was founded specifically to influence the course of events pertinent to African Americans and to achieve greater equality for persons of African decent in the design and content of domestic and international programs and services. I wonder how the CBC would react to the formation of a Congressional Caucasian Caucus, espousing the same ideals as the CBC only in this case for white Americans? Congressman Watt, if you really want to make a difference do your job. You are an ineffective congressman who is playing the race card because you don’t possess a record of accomplishment that would warrant your reelection. You should be ashamed of yourself. By the way Congressmen Watt, when Ms. Pelosi recently convinced Representative Alan Mollohan of West Virginia to step aside as senior member of the House Ethics Committee after questions were raised over some of his legislative actions, where were you and the Congressional Black Caucus? You get the point don’t you Mel?

Ms. Pelosi, your actions are indicative of just how far our government has veered from its constitutionally mandated responsibilities to the people. You should stand up for issues that are important to all Americans. You are bound by the law to defend and obey the Constitution and the directions it provides. As your party’s congressional leader you should insist on the temporary removal of Mr. Jefferson from any committee he currently is a member of until he is convicted or exonerated of any charges. However, the man is innocent until proven guilty and if memory serves me right, he has not been convicted of any crime to date…hence the word temporary. I know that Mr. Jefferson’s unresolved legal status can have a potentially mitigating effect on your party’s election strategy come November, but he has not yet been charged with any crime. Can you say presumption of innocence or due process? As members of Congress, if you are not going to ensure that these constitutionally guaranteed rights are protected who is? You are both examples of what is wrong with our government. Weak and ineffective people, placed into positions of power and responsibility by an uninformed electorate, whose sole purpose becomes not serving the public good, but serving themselves and their party. For people like Mr. Watt and Ms. Pelosi, this is not really about race, ethics or the Constitution. It is about survival of their species, the promulgation of the political animal. For them and people like them it is more about personal re-election and winning a congressional majority come November. That is what it is really all about. However what is so sad, is that in order to achieve their goals and satisfy their greed, they would gladly sell the rights of the people and the soul of our nation.

Think about it.

Tip of the Iceberg

Here we go again! Brace yourself because another blow to our nations credibility is just around the corner. Members of Congress have quietly been warned about the results of an ongoing military investigation into the mass murder of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians and a broad attempt to distort the facts and cover-up these atrocities. Last week, senior Pentagon officials finally acknowledged that the preliminary results of an ongoing investigation supports the allegations that U.S. Marines killed 24 innocent Iraqis without provocation. It is believed the massacre took place on November 19, 2005 in the western Iraqi town of Haditha and involved a small number of U.S. Marines who went on a rampage after one of their own was killed by a roadside bomb. Initially, the military refused to acknowledge the possibility that the massacre took place, even ignoring eyewitness reports from Iraqi villagers and compelling evidence collected and presented by Time Magazine. The military was incredibly hostile said Time magazines Aparisim Ghosh. “They accused us of buying into enemy propaganda, sticking to their original story that a roadside bomb killed the Iraqis.”

If Congressman John Murtha is correct, the news of the massacre and its subsequent cover-up will be far more damaging to our war efforts in Iraq and that the political fallout will be much worse than was experienced after the Abu Ghraib scandal. Murtha quotes reports at the “highest level” confirming that the massacre took place without provocation and that there exists a military/government conspiracy to cover it up. Murtha alleges that the Iraqi government was aware of the killings because they made payments to the families for “accidental deaths”. Murtha went on to say that the military initially tried to pin the Iraqi deaths on an IED. Murtha said that a military team was immediately deployed on site to conduct an investigation, but that the preliminary results of the investigation were withheld. "Nobody hears about it. "They don’t tell anybody" Murtha said. "Until March when Time magazine broke the news, nobody realized or recognized what happened.”

Another cover-up. Another tragedy our leaders have tried to sweep under the carpet and hide under a veil of secrecy. How can this continue to happen and what else are we not being told? I speak about the power of a free press, a press that has unfettered access to the halls of power. In this instance, you can see how a free press represents a very real threat to this administration and its conduct of the war. We would not have known about the NSA wiretapping policy, the Abu Ghraib torture scandal or now the Haditha massacre if it were not for the free press. If not for the free press we wouldn't know about the attampted cover-up or that the Iraqi government authorized hush money payouts to families of the murdered Iraqis. You can be sure of one thing, if the Iraqi government was making "accidental death" payouts on behalf of the U.S. military, then people in our military and our government knew about it. They will tell you they didn’t, but I would bet the farm that they did. Published reports state that there are as many as eight Marines from Kilo company of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment who were directly involved, but that other units knew of what happened because they helped document the aftermath. How do you reconcile the fact that the military documents the massacre in November 2005 and then decided that they are not going to investigate further…that is until the Time article forced their hand. Ask yourself, who decided? Who approved the cover-up? Was it the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs? Think about it, if payouts were made by the Iraqi government to cover-up the actions of the U.S. military and that additional Marine units were brought in to investigate, document and clean up in the aftermath, do you really think that the head of the military would be completely unaware? Really? Do you really think that if the Chairman of the J.C.S had prior knowledge of a massacre that Secretary Rumsfeld was ignorant of the incident? Really?

The massacre of innocent Iraqi civilians is a tragedy. It is an extremely disturbing act and those who are responsible must be brought to justice. All indications point to a small group of Marines who snapped after having just lost a fellow soldier to an IED. It is an immense and inexcusable tragedy but hopefully it is an isolated one. What is potentially more disturbing is the fact that our government refuses to come clean. Though the President issued a statment on the Haditha tragedy, his administration does not feel compelled to address the specifics of issue or to discuss any aspects of the cove-up. This administration wants us to have faith in their actions and confidence in their decision-making. Yet these same officials continue to operate outside the boundaries of U.S. and international law. They condone murder, domestic espionage, torture and who knows what else under the guise of national security. Ultimately these acts are committed in our names. The blood of these innocent men, women and children are on our hands and we must ensure that those responsible are held accountable.

Over the next few months, as details of the massacre and the investigation become public, I caution you not to be lulled to sleep by government double speak and political deal making. Remain informed and do not become distracted, as continuing to allow our elected officials to operate with impunity will only encourage them to continue to do so with increasing frequency. Acts like this will severely hinder our efforts in Iraq and damage our prestige and credibility around the world. Make no mistake, victory in Iraq has to be a political victory, it cannot be won militarily. It will be hard to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, when the actions of a few taint the image of the whole. Just as the prestige of our military continues to suffer in Iraq because of the indignant actions of a handful of soldiers, so to does the prestige of the American people when its government acts with impunity and operates without conscience or restraint. I fear that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg, and if what we see is only the tip, I can only imagine what lurks just beneath the surface.

Think about it.

Memorial Day

“We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies”

“In Flowers Fields” - Moina Michaels 1915

Today is Memorial Day and I have spent the morning reflecting upon its meaning and about what the day truly means to me. Of course I know that the holiday is intended as a day of remembrance for those who died in the service of our country. I also know that as is the case with most holidays, their original meanings and traditions have rapidly faded from our collective National conscience. How profound is the power of reflection…to purposely ponder issues and ideas in an effort to understand the very reason for their existence.

Memorial Day was first called Decoration Day and it was intended to honor those who died in the service of our country. Many towns claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, though Waterloo, NY was officially given that distinction by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966. Though the origins of the day may remain in question, the intent of the day is not, to honor and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms in the defense of our nation and its values. Proclaimed by National Commander of the Army, General John Logan in 1868, the first Memorial Day Holiday was celebrated on May 30th of the same year. In post Civil War America, Memorial Day was seen as an opportunity to eliminate divisions, to reconcile the North and the South, and to honor those on both sides of the conflict who gave their lives. However, it was not until immediately after World War I that Memorial Day changed from remembering those who died in the Civil War to honoring all Americans who died in any war. Congress inadvertently diminished the importance of the day when it passed the National Holiday Act of 1971, making all federal holidays such as Memorial Day a three-day weekend. In doing so the day became less about the remembrance of those who died for our freedoms, than it did about backyard barbeques, pool parties and the Indianapolis 500…in other words, it became just another three-day weekend. The government has tried on several occasions to re-educate and to remind Americans about the true meaning of the holiday with little or no success. If we are to remember and honor those who died in defense of this country, I think that we have an obligation to possess a cursory understanding of the history and the significance of the day. We have an obligation to remember those who sacrificed their lives for this country, regardless of political ideology or popular public opinion. For many, today is a day of remembrance and a time to honor those who served and died for this country. For others, the mothers who lost a son; the fathers who lost a daughter; the children who lost a parent, it is a time of profound loss and numbing grief.

We cannot assign blame or view one conflict as being morally superior to another, when honoring those who have defended this nation. Given the current political environment in this country and the growing lack of public support for the war in Iraq, it is easy to forget or to downplay the current sacrifices of our men and women in the armed forces. If you recall, our country turned its back on its veterans who fought in Vietnam, another political quagmire and a hugely unpopular war. Then as now, we hear eerily similar government propaganda in an effort to justify this country’s actions. We hear of a need to stem the tide of a dangerous ideology, then communism and now Islamic fundamentalism, in an attempt to prevent a “domino effect” from taking place. Today, the “domino effect” refers to the threat of Middle Eastern countries falling one after the other under the influence of Islamic fundamentalist. In Vietnam, the “domino effect” referred to the threat of third-world countries similarly falling under the influence of communist ideology. In both cases our government cited the benefits of fighting the enemy "over there" as opposed to on American soil…sound familiar? Ironically, then as now, we were told that we are winning the war and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The point is that during the Vietnam War, we at home found it difficult to separate the war from the warrior, as our soldiers…our kids…returned home only to be spit upon. We must guard against the same injustices from happening today. The Iraq War is in many ways as unpopular a War as was Vietnam. However, the Americans troops fighting in Iraq do so at the direction of a misguided politician. It is not for them to decide who our enemies are and are not. They do not decide which country is friend or foe. They are men and women who willingly place their lives on the line every day in service of this country and they deserve our support and our respect. Today many will remember with pride the sacrifices of those who perished in World War II & I and many will honor the dignity of those who died in Korea. They will do so because history has deemed them as morally just wars, clearly pitting good verses evil. However, we can never allow the unpopular politics of a specific war to taint the valor or minimize the sacrifice of the warrior. So today we must equally remember, respect and honor those who fought and died in wars such as Vietnam, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq even if we disdain the politics and the politicians who declared them.

I have never been forced to grieve the death of a family member lost on the field of battle. I have never faced the reality of a son or daughter heading off to war in a far away and foreign land. I realize that I have been shielded from this in great measure by the heroic sacrifices of our men and women in uniform. So today, I remember those who are responsible for the freedoms that I enjoy and I honor those who have died to protect them. I am grateful to those who fight for this country every day, even though I may not agree with the politics that place them in harms way. I do so today with a newfound understanding of what Memorial Day should mean not only to me but also to others. I do so with the hope that today, on this Memorial Day, you will choose to do the same.

So Thats a Hypocrite

President Ronald Regan once said that politics was supposed to be the world’s second oldest profession but he quickly realized that it bore a very close resemblance to the first. Truer words have never been spoken. If you haven’t listened to the news or read the paper lately, you are probably unaware of the growing tension developing between the executive branch of government and Congress. Events over the weekend have prompted leaders from both sides of the isle to express their deep and growing concerns over the increasingly aggressive executive branch, breaching the constitutional separation of powers and further eroding its system of checks and balances.

If you read this blog regularly you know that I am very concerned about this President, our government and the overall direction of the country. You know that I am troubled by the Presidents unrelenting assault on the Constitution and the protections offered under the Bill of Rights. You know that I am also very critical of Congress because it either fails to recognize the dangerously growing abuses of the executive branch or it simply lacks the political will to oppose him. Lou Dobbs was right on the money when he stated in a recent editorial that, “never before in our country’s history have both the President and Congress been so out of touch with most Americans. Never before have so few elected officials and corporate leaders been less willing to commit to the national interest. And never before has our nation’s largest constituent group, some 200 million middle class Americans, been without representation in our nation’s capital.” That really kind of sums it up for me, our wonderfully apathetic, ineffective and self-serving government.

You can imagine my surprise when I heard the news about a growing and united front that was forming in Washington, as members of Congress finally sought to check the alarmingly fast growing and intrusive power of the executive branch. So what was the proverbial straw? What finally caused members of the congressional leadership to cry foul? Was it the information uncovered while investigating the NSA scandal or a certain queasiness that developed during General Hayden’s CIA testimony? Was it the Presidents daily disregard for the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure and generalized warrants? Could it be the CIA torture camps operated without congressional oversight, or a developing guilt with regard to all the prisoners held in those camps whose human rights are ignored and whose legal rights are denied. Could it be that Members of Congress finally recognize the dangerous precedent that would be set by allowing our military to be deployed on domestic soil? Or could they just be plain tired of a President who feels he is empowered to break the law or circumvent the constitution whenever he sees fit? Nope. Then what did cause this newly united congressional leadership to so publicly express such grave concerns and outrage over the executive branch’s newest unprecedented intrusion?

It was the FBI and a Congressman named William Jefferson. Representative Jefferson, a Democrat from Louisiana, is under federal investigation for allegedly accepting bribes. It seems that the Justice Department has Mr. Jefferson on videotape accepting $100,000 in bribe money and a search of Jefferson’s home uncovered $90,000 of the cash hidden in Jefferson’s freezer. Earlier this month, a Kentucky businessman by the name of Vernon Jackson pled guilty in federal court, to giving Jefferson $400,000 in bribe money to help him promote a high-tech business venture in Africa. Last weekend the FBI took the unprecedented step of raiding Jefferson’s D.C. office, removing documents and other potentially incriminating evidence. Talk about circling the wagons! Congressional leaders immediately condemned the move as an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of executive power. In a joint statement released on Wednesday, Republican House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called for an immediate return of all documents that were unconstitutionally seized in the raid. The sharply worded statement called last Saturdays FBI search a clear violation of the principal of separation of powers and of the speech and debate clause in Article 1 Section 6 of the Constitution. Speaker Hastert was vociferous in his comments expressing alarm at the raid, “these actions of the Justice Department in seeking and executing this warrant raise important Constitutional issues that go well beyond the specifics of this case. Insofar as I am aware, since the founding of our Republic 219 years ago, the Justice Department has never found it necessary to do what it did on Saturday night, crossing this Separation of Powers line, in order to successfully prosecute corruption by Members of Congress. Nothing I have learned in the last 48 hours leads me to believe that there was any necessity to change the precedent established over those 219 years.” House Minority Leader Pelosi said in a statement that “members of Congress must obey the law and fully cooperate with any criminal investigation but that Justice Department investigations must be conducted in accordance with Constitutional protections and historical precedent.” Here is one for you, even former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called Saturday nights raid, “the most blatant violation of the Constitutional Separation of Powers in his lifetime.” The issue for many revolves around the speech or debate clause I previously mentioned. This clause was intended to shield lawmakers from intimidation by the executive branch, though many legal experts feel that the FBI raid was an intimidating tactic never before used against the legislative branch.

Serious constitutional issues aside, do you recognize the hypocrisy of it all? It’s ok with Congress for the President to violate the Constitution when it only affects average American citizens. Congress is equally culpable when the President illegally wiretap us, eliminates our protections from unreasonable search and seizure and diminishes the governments need to demonstrate probable cause. It has enabled the administration to effectively dilute the power of the Judiciary and our right for judicial review. It passed laws making torture illegal, only to turn a blind eye as the President defiantly declared that he was not bound these laws. To date, Congress has taken a back seat in every instance permitting this President to break or circumvent the law and act with impunity. Maybe that’s why Congressional public approval rates are the only ones that are lower than the Presidents. The sad irony is that given all of these issues, all of these abuses, Congress was finally compelled to act, not in order to protect our rights, but in order to protect its own self serving interests. They are not interested in protecting our rights and liberties…they are interested in protecting their own. Congress had no problem allowing the President to circumvent the law and distort the constitution as long as it did not affect them. Is it a coincidence that immediately after the FBI fired this shot directly across the congressional bow, Congress has suddenly become so concerned about the Constitution, the protection of rights and the rule of law? That it is suddenly so concerned about protecting the provisions of Constitution that it is willing to ignore the fact that Congressman Jefferson is in all probability a criminal. They will have you believe that this issue is bigger than Representative Jefferson and his potential legal issues. They will cite many of the concerns I have just outlined in this entry. What they won’t do is address their hypocrisy. They won’t tell you why they are more interested in the rights of a criminal than protecting us from one. They won’t tell you why it was ok for dangerous precedents to be set limiting our personal rights and freedoms, while refusing to allow similar precedents to be established with regard to their own protections under the Constitution. They might not address these issues...but we can! Do not allow the actions of our elected officials to effect your rights to participate in the political process. No, they may not ever honestly address their hypocrisy, but come November we can address it for them. I encourage you to become informed, to become engaged and to vote your conscience. I firmly believe that every vote counts and that our vote represents the quintessential political capital. I encourage you to spend this currency wisely because there is a politician on every street corner gladly willing to accept it. Remember, politics is the world’s oldest profession.

Think about it.

An Extraordinary Rendition

Extraordinary rendition as a term actually sounds fairly quaint. However, you will see that the government's policy of rendition is in a class all by itself and can hardly be considered benign. Have you ever heard of a man named Khaled El-Masri? If your answer is no, you can be sure that there is a very good reason. Mr. El-Masri is a Kuwaiti born, German citizen. Born in 1963 to Lebanese parents, Mr. El-Masri is a loving husband and father of five. In Germany Mr. El-Masri is a carpenter by trade, but had been working as a car salesman near Neu Ulm. For those who don't know, here's the abbreviated scoop on Mr. El-Masri:

On December 31, 2003, Khaled El-Masri was traveling to Skopje, Macedonia for a holiday. Upon entering Macedonia, El-Masri was detained at the behest of the U.S. government by Macedonian officials, his passport confiscated and he was forcibly taken to a nearby hotel. He remained in that hotel for 23 days. During that time he was never permitted to leave the room as he was continually interrogated about his associates, his mosque, his activities and about meetings that never took place. On the 23rd day, a group of Macedonian men entered the room and forced him to make a video. He was instructed to state that had been treated well and would be flying back to Germany soon. He was then handcuffed, blindfolded and placed into a car. He was taken to a place near the local airport, brutally beaten, stripped of his clothes and forcibly sodomized with a foreign object. The men placed a diaper on El-Masri and clothed him in a jumpsuit, before drugging him and flying him to Afghanistan. There he was held in a notoriously brutal CIA run prison known as the "Salt Pit" where he suffered continual beatings to the head, the soles of his feet and the small of his back. He was held in a small, dank cell without a bed and only a small bottle of putrid water to sustain him. He remained in solitary confinement for 4 months! During this time he was photographed and fingerprinted. Blood and urine samples were forcibly drawn while his requests to meet with German Government officials ignored. El-Masri engaged in a hunger strike for 37 days until a tube was forced down his throat and he was force-fed. He was finally able to meet with two of his American captors, one identified as the prison director, while the other held a higher rank. He was warned that as a condition of his release, he was never to speak of what happened to him. On May 28, 2004, El-Masri was pulled from his cell, blindfolded, handcuffed and placed into a waiting car. He was flown to Albania, where his possessions were returned and he was released.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia recently denied El-Masri access to legal justice, because according to the court, the simple fact of holding the proceedings would jeopardize state secrets. What! In his opinion, Judge T.S. Ellis III held that the CIA properly invoked the state secrets defense to dismiss El-Masri's lawsuit. The court acknowledged that, "if El-Masri's allegations are true or essentially true, then all fair minded people, including those who believe that state secrets must be protected and that this lawsuit cannot proceed, and that renditions are a necessary step to take in this war, must also agree that El-Masri has suffered injuries as a result of our country's mistake and deserves a remedy." Unbelievable! The CIA actions violated U.S. Federal law, International law, and universal human rights when they abducted El-Masri, beat him, humiliated him, sodomized him with a foreign object, drugged him and transported him to a secret prison in Afghanistan. Five months later, he was transported to Albania and deposited on a remote hilltop without explanation or charges ever being filed. This court essentially gave the government a green light to continue their horrific and illegal practices without fear of reprisal. The courts decision essentially shields the CIA and other government officials from scrutiny or accountability. The man was kidnapped and held against his will, sodomized and tortured for 5 months, and the government denies El-Masri his day in court on the grounds that the administration can't disclose facts of a case that the rest of the world already knows. Ask yourself why you haven't heard about this? Ask yourself why you don't know about Mr. El-Masri? I wonder incredulously how our government can criticize other nations such as China, North Korea, Iraq or Iran, when it grossly violates human rights in this illegal and heinous manner. Our government is allowing these abuses to take place in the name of freedom and liberty...are you kidding me? These acts of barbarism are unconscionable and this administration must be held accountable. As you ponder this, I have a question for you. Do you feel that the odds are greater that you will be effected by an act of terrorisim on American soil, or that your civil rights will be violated in some way by your own government? I know my answer, what's yours?

Think about it....We really need to think about it.

Rage Against the Machine

For the past week I have tried to provide you with examples of governmental abuse of power. Mostly, I have criticized the President because these abuses are happening on his watch. However, I must reiterate that efforts to remake the government go well beyond the executive branch, as it is clear that Congress is complicit as well. Here is a small example of how it all works; of how our government keeps all of us fat, dumb and happy.

We all know about the NSA wiretapping scandal and about the Bush administration’s not so secret war against the Constitution. We know about the Patriot Act and how it is keeping us safe from terrorist…how it is protecting our national security. Oh how ignorance is bliss. In March of this year, President Bush signed legislation, reauthorizing the Patriot Act. However, did you know that the document Bush signed included an addendum stating that the President did not feel obliged to obey certain requirements of the Act? Specifically, the President stated that he did not feel compelled to notify Congress as to how the FBI was using the Patriot Act’s expanded police powers. So here we have the President of the United States, reauthorizing the Patriot Act and calling it “a piece of legislation that’s vital to win the war on terror and to protect the American people”, simultaneously stating that he was not obliged to follow its requirements. Wow! I bet you didn’t even know that one did you? The President was not happy with some of the new provisions intended to make sure that the FBI did not abuse their special terrorism-related powers to search homes and secretly seize documents. You see, shortly after the conclusion of the official signing ceremony, the White House quietly released a “signing statement” outlining the Presidents interpretation of the new law. In the statement, Mr. Bush said that he did not consider himself to be bound by the new law requiring he tell Congress how the Patriot Act powers were being used. It continued by stating that the President felt he could withhold any information that he deemed dangerous to national security, the deliberative process of the executive, to ongoing foreign relations or the performance of the executive’s constitutional duties. This is a perfect example of President Bush erroneously claiming his constitutional authority to bypass the law! When President Bush authorized the military to conduct electronic surveillance of Americans’ international phone calls and emails without obtaining warrants, Bush claimed that his wartime powers gave him the right to ignore the law. According to the Constitution only Congress has the power to declare war, which by the way it has yet to do, so where did the President get these wartime powers? The same can be said for the illegal actions of the NSA, CIA and the FBI. When Congress passed a law forbidding the torture of any detainee in U.S. custody, the President signed the bill with great public fanfare, only to quietly release another “signing statement” claiming executive authority to bypass the law if he believed using harsh interrogation techniques was necessary to protect national security. The President’s outrageous claims of power, specifically the power to ignore federal law, is in direct violation of the Constitution which clearly charges Congress with the power to write laws and the President the duty to “faithfully execute” the laws passed by Congress.

The scary part is that Congress is not willing to do anything to curb these abuses. In fact, Congress is currently attempting to pass a new law called the “Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006,” which would authorize the warrantless wiretapping of American residents. The bill allows for the NSA to monitor telephone and email communications without requiring judicial review or court approval. In other words, it would roll back the protections granted all Americans under the FISA. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) is a post-Watergate law, which was specifically enacted to restrict the President’s ability to spy on Americans under the guise of national security! Prior to the Watergate scandal and before the passage of FISA, a Congressional committee called the Church Committee was convened to investigate the NSA and allegations of its illegal domestic surveillance program. The Church Committee discovered that the NSA was in fact monitoring millions of international telegrams and that the agency maintained files on approximately 75,000 U.S. citizens! The findings of the Church Committee led to the establishment FISA, requiring the government to establish probable cause, receive judicial review and obtain a specific warrant before any American could be wiretapped. The Terrorist Act of 2006 would potentially authorize indefinite wiretaps and the electronic communications monitoring of Americans in this country. It would do so without the need for an independent court to determine if the American in question has actually done anything wrong. Under the proposed Act, communications could be monitored for 45 days, giving the administration the option of seeking a court order or notifying a Congressional subcommittee. The subcommittee is not a court and would not have the power to grant or deny approval…how convenient. Under the proposed legislation, court approval for wiretapping would no longer be mandatory as a matter of law and the Fourth Amendment be dammed. Gone is the need for probable cause, as government agents will be allowed to initiate surveillance based on mere suspicion, unencumbered by the need for judicial review or approval. What I find most disturbing is that Congress is willing to pass this legislation without first receiving the basic information it is entitled to regarding the current NSA scandal. I guess that’s good given how the Terrorist Act of 2006 greatly diminishes the need for Congressional oversight. Rather that get to the heart of the issue, as was the case with the Church Committee, Congress would rather move forward with flawed legislation designed to provide political cover for lawmakers through plausible deniability. How can Congress pass legislation such as this, if it does not have a clear understanding of what the administration is doing and why the current law is inadequate? A strong Congress should not legislate anything before it gets the information it needs and it should force the President to explain why he feels that it is necessary to change the current law. This legislation will not only erode the civil liberties of U.S. citizens by eliminating the checks and balances on domestic surveillance. It will also eliminate the protections granted under FISA, making judicial review optional; it will significantly increase the power of the President over Congress and the Supreme Court and it clearly violates the Fourth Amendment’s requirement for probable cause and its protection against the issuance of general warrants. If that isn’t enough, the bill would impose harsh penalties on “whistleblowers”. Anyone making “unauthorized disclosures” about the “terrorist surveillance program” will be fined up to $1,000,000 and imprisoned for up to 15 years. You know if it were not for whistleblowers, neither Congress nor the American people would be aware of the NSA’s illegal surveillance programs now “under investigation”.

The proposed legislation eliminates the need for judicial review and the issuance of specific warrants, waters down the definition of probable cause and allows for the electronic surveillance of American citizens. It imposes strict penalties for “whistleblowers” while offering retroactive protection for lawmakers who prefer to remain ignorant as to specifics of this administrations illegal actions based on the notion of plausible deniability. The proposed law would allow for all of this even though the Constitution clearly does not. I can’t help but to recall the Presidents words as he signed the reauthorization of the Patriot Act? That line about how it is vital to win the war on terror and to protect the American people. The President may feel that he is protecting us from al Qaeda but I wonder who is protecting the rest of us from him?

Think about it.

This was never my intent

I have to be honest; the benefit of maintaining this blog is that it forces me to think. It forces me to view the world through a completely different set of glasses. The original intent of my blog was not to rail against injustice or governmental abuse of power. To the contrary, I have aspirations of being an author and of writing a novel. So I figured what better way to hone my writing skills than to write a little bit every day. I never really intended for my writings to turn so political, even though I have always been somewhat of a political animal. You see I was once very much like the person I referred to in my previous entry as a new friend. I was an ideologue, conforming my thoughts and belief system to fall under a specific political category or label. For my entire life, I considered myself to be an economically conservative, socially moderate Republican. Now how is that for a label? As a person who was comfortable with galvanizing political nomenclature, I was able to categorize others, easily identifying them as political friend or foe. Thus, I was able to discuss or discount their political views accordingly, often without even listening to them speak. Sound familiar?

As I stated in an earlier entry, I voted for President Bush in both elections and I honestly feel that I did this country a great disservice. It’s not that I feel that my one vote put the President into the White House; it’s just that I believe so passionately in our system and I know that ultimately every vote counts. So as I’ve said before, this web log is my penance, it is my attempt to engage people in such a way that they will critically think about the importance of what is going on around them. Because I voted for President Bush and in the aftermath of his war in Iraq, I became disenchanted with the President, his administration and with our government in general. Every article in the paper, every lead story on the news, highlighted some new scandal, some new abuse or some new crime perpetrated by our government in the name of liberty. However, I didn’t look at it in quite that way. The Declaration of Independence clearly states that the government derives its power from the consent of the governed. That said I honestly feel that these acts have not been committed in the precious name of liberty in as much as they have been committed in my name, our names, the consenters. So I will continue to speak out, regardless of political party or where issues may fall on liberal/conservative spectrum. I will continue to speak out because it is my right, it is my duty, and it is my penance. What about you?

Think about it.

I'm a Liberal!!!

"The flames kindled on the Fourth of July, 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume these engines and all who work them" -Thomas Jefferson, 1821

I really love this whole blogging thing. Meeting new friends, engaging in spirited debate and quoting cool stuff from famous people. Here is something funny. I have just read an email that I believe accuses me of being a left-winger. Now that is a first! As always, I appreciate your comments and I look forward to more of them as we continue this journey together. I also love political neophytes who like to label that which they do not completely understand. My new friend questioned my whereabouts when President Clinton was in office, stating that the Clinton Presidency was much more abusive than the current administration. He cites the war in Bosnia, Clinton's sexual proclivity and the fact that the President lied on television as evidence of this abuses. That stuff is just Bush league (no pun intended). I would like to respond to my new friend just for the record. First, I agree with you regarding the war in Bosnia, it was certainly politically motivated as most wars are. Second, it is my understanding that President Clinton was impeached and I believe that he should have been removed from office. Third, all politicians lie on television. Here is a hint; you can always tell when a politician is lying because his or her lips are moving. Is my new friend really defending a President who ignores the limits of executive power so clearly outlined in the Constitution by comparing it to a misguided war in Bosnia? Can you say Grenada? Can you say Panama? Is he really defending the actions of President Bush by comparing it to oral sex in the White House? I must admit that is a tough one, which is the biggest threat to national security, Monica Lewinsky and her famous blue dress, or the complete and utter disregard this President has for the First and Fourth Amendments? You cannot defend the horribly misguided actions of one President, by bringing up dirt on another. Remember, momma always says, two wrongs don't make a right.

Seriously, if we are going to talk about President Clinton why don't we just compare apples to apples? How about the Clinton administration's misguided policies with regard to China and the future ramifications of those policies on the United States? Discuss if you will the magnitude of the Clinton administration's numerous missteps, fumbling and outright appeasement of the Chinese Government and what that means for the future of this country and for world peace. In my humble opinion, the Clinton Administration actually helped to create a new superpower threat, which in time will challenge the United States for economic and military supremacy. It is also my opinion that the Pro-China policies of the Clinton-Gore administration were a disaster for American national security interests. The Clinton administration's loosening of trade restrictions on China dramatically strengthened China's military power through the legal transfers of strategic high-level technologies. Why not discuss the Clinton-Gore fund-raising scandal, where as the Chinese government indirectly and directly influenced the 1996 Clinton-Gore reelection campaign. Expound if you will upon the manner in which the Chinese government funneled over $1.2 million into Democratic Party coffers, purchasing direct access to top officials in the administration. To quote Mao, "The mind of the enemy and the will of his leaders is a target of far more importance than the bodies of his troops." It is clear that the influence of the Chinese government on the Clinton administration made it easier to conduct espionage against the United States, particularly against our nuclear weapons facilities and that loosened trade restrictions enhanced China's massive technology gathering efforts to the point that they were able to acquire hundreds of advanced U.S. supercomputers. The NSA reported in May 2000 that the China Academy of Engineering Physics, the Chinese government's primary nuclear weapons development facility, was using U.S. acquired supercomputers to conduct simulated nuclear detonations. Clinton ignored these reports and his administration sought to further loosen controls on high performance computers to China. Now we begin to compare apples to apples.

The fundamental flaw with arguments such as those made by my new friend is that they fail to address the issues. Right is right and wrong is wrong. As people become indoctrinated into the political process, they allow themselves to be labeled. They identify themselves and others as Democrat or Republican; conservative or liberal; left wing or right wing, and the list goes on and on. Can you say Compassionate Conservative? What does that mean? The funny thing is that most people don't even know what these labels mean. Since when do you have to be right wing in order to be right? Do people really think that any side of the political equation has a monopoly on right and wrong? Here is a unique idea, just make informed decisions. Evaluate the facts and make your determinations on truths, which are based on knowledge and not ideology. My friend, I have been there and I want you to know that it's ok to develop your own thoughts and ideas, even if they don't conform to your self administered labels or your particular party's ideology. It is a truly liberating experience and one that I recommend highly.

I would like to address your remaining concerns. You rhetorically inquired as to my whereabouts during the Clinton administration years. I was waiting for the idea of web logging to be developed. Had the whole blogging thing been available during those years, you would probably have considered me a brother right-winger. As for concerns over rising gas prices and drilling for oil in Alaska, I wonder if you have read any of the recent studies on the impact of increasing fuel mileage standards on all vehicles and the corresponding reductions in the emissions of greenhouse gasses? If you did you would realize that the answer is not in Alaska but in Detroit. We put monkeys in space for crying out loud; you would think that we could design a car that gets 60 miles to the gallon. Greater fuel efficiency means that our vehicles would require less fuel to go greater distances. The corresponding lower demand for fuel will ultimately mean lower prices at the pump (see the law of supply and demand). Finally, burning less carbon-based, fossil fuels in our vehicles will reduce greenhouse gas emissions thereby helping the environment. Did I say environment? I must be a liberal. As you ponder this remember, it is ok to think big picture and still be a Republican. However, if there are people out there who are more afraid of a $3.00 gallon gas than they are about protecting our rights guaranteed under the Constitution, than we have bigger problems than the fact that we elect idiots as Presidents. Apologetically and in closing, I must admit that I find your comparisons of Yahoo and Google cookie caches to the dangers of NSA data mining and domestic surveillance as funny. I am far more concerned with losing my rights and privileges as an American and about our governments continued assault on the constitution, than I am about Google or Yahoo knowing that I like to visit ESPN.com.

Think about it.

What a Bunch of Hooey

Well President Bush is at is again. Monday night the President announced on national television his plans for stemming the tide of illegal immigration and for the deployment of the military along our southern border with Mexico. It’s amazing to see how this President continues to ignore the Constitution and how these abuses of power have become so commonplace in our country. The government is clearly playing to our fears about border security, jobs lost to illegal immigrants and the fact that we will all be speaking Spanish by the end of the decade. The President will have us believe that fencing off our newly militarized southern boarder will somehow make us safer. The fact is that his address to the nation was nothing more than a prime time photo op for a floundering administration desperately attempting to portray Bush as a wartime President, protecting our national security interests in post 9/11 America. What a bunch of hooey! If you are talking about national security in the post 9/11 era you have to begin with the actual event. You have to demonstrate an understanding of the basic causes of that terrible day and of the days leading up to the attack. Then you must develop and execute a strategy predicated upon those findings. The problem for me is that I have no doubt that this administration has done that. The fact that we have not been attacked again is not simply a matter of blind luck. However that is not the real issue is it? The real issue is that this President once again feels compelled to ignore U.S. Federal Law when it is politically convenient to do so. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prohibits the use of the United States military in civil law enforcement. There are those in the government and elsewhere who would debate this legal point and who knows they may be right. However, isn’t it interesting that the same President who this week claimed the right to deploy federal troops on domestic soil in order to stem the tide of illegal immigration, is the same President who refused to deploy federal troops on domestic soil in order to stop the chaos, looting and murder occuring in New Orleans immediately after Hurricane Katrina. If you recall, President Bush stated that he needed the Governor of Louisiana to request federal military assistance before he could legally approve federal troop deployment. How crazy is that? Can anybody say hypocrite? The fact of the matter is that it is all about party politics and what is in the best interests of the party. Now if you are still unsure about the Presidents political motivations or you actually believe that the deployment of U.S. troops along our southern border is critical to national security, ask yourself one question. How did Mohammad Atta and the rest of the 9/11 terrorists gain access to the U.S.? I’ll give you a hint; it wasn’t because of our porous border with Mexico.

These are indeed troubling times. It is troubling that most people today are so ambivalent and politically unaware that they are willing to sacrifice the precious rights and freedoms that so many of our sons and daughters fought and died to protect. More troubling than the general lack of political efficacy in this country is the absolute moral bankruptcy of our elected officials. When I think about this moral decay, I cannot help but to recall a famous quote regarding the corruptible nature of power and how absolute power corrupts absolutely. We need to wake up and we need to wake up fast! It should be obvious to even the most uninformed person that this President and his cronies are willing to do anything in order to maintain their tight grip on power…even if it means violating our civil rights or trashing the protections guaranteed each of us by the Constitution of the United States. That’s what makes this political mumbo jumbo all the more disturbing. The deployment of federal troops on domestic soil is not about national security…it’s about votes. It's about Republicans talking tough and trying to rally their conservative base. It's really quite simple, mid-term elections are just around the corner, it’s looking ugly for the Republicans and they are all running scared. Apparently lost in all this talk about illegal immigration, building 500-mile fences and domestic troop deployment, is the fact that Republicans genuinely seem more terrified about the potential fallout from mid-term elections than they are concerned about actual terrorism and that the Republican leadership is currently more concerned about Al Gore than it is about al Qaeda.

Think about it.

Can you hear me now?

Is it just me or does it seem as though every day there is a new story breaking in the media regarding governmental abuse of power? A few days ago we heard about the NSA illegally obtaining domestic phone records and of electronic spying on US citizens. Then it was announced that the Pentagon has been asked to develop a domestic military deployment plan in order to use American troops to patrol our borders. Oh, and by the way, did you know that we are going to put an Air Force General in charge of the CIA?

Let’s talk a little bit about the issue regarding the NSA. According to reports published in the USA Today, the NSA has developed and maintains a database of over two trillion domestic phone calls, using information obtained from Bell South, AT&T and Verizon. Can you hear me now? The NSA can, according to published reports. Over two trillion calls…think about that! The fact that this information was collected and that it exists, not to mention the manner in which it was obtained, is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment. For those who are not familiar with the Fourth Amendment, it goes like this:

“The right of the people to be secure in their own persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue without probable cause, support by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons”

Soon after the tragic events of 9-11, President Bush issued a secret executive order authorizing the NSA to conduct electronic surveillance of international communications without the need of a warrant. President Bush defended these actions by stating that surveillance was conducted only on international calls or on calls from anyone suspected of having links to al-Qaeda or its affiliates. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg, as full and complete details of this order are currently classified and not known. In fact the order is so closely guarded that only a few select members of the Joint House/Senate Intelligence Committee and the Congressional leadership are fully aware of the complete details. The very existence of this executive order remained hidden from the public until December 2005, when the New York Times broke the story.

Here is where the rubber meets the road. The NSA debacle is an excellent example of how the President is deftly using the concepts of executive order to circumvent the Constitution and executive privilege to withhold “sensitive” information from the other branches of government. This is a very, very slippery slope. A President who shows such contempt for the law of the land is a threat to the very structure of our government. The Founding Fathers were adamant that they established a government of law…not of men. The system of checks and balances was designed with the purpose of ensuring that the country would be governed through the rule of law. A President, who assumes to himself the power to ignore the legislative directives of congress or to operate outside the checks of the judiciary, becomes exactly the type of threat to democracy that the Founding Fathers sought to protect our country from.

Whatever the current administration has not been able to accomplish through the use executive order or executive privilege it has accomplished through the use of the Patriot Act. Have you ever read the Patriot Act or is what you “know” about it been obtained through media sound bites or politician double speak? Be honest with yourself. If you are not familiar with the Patriot Act, then I advise you to become familiar with it quickly. You should be familiar with the Act that allows the government to monitor your activities without the need of judicial review or the issuance of warrants. You should know that the Patriot Act allows the government to secretly obtain your credit and library records without prior judicial review or approval. You should know all about the Patriot Act provisions granting the government powers to arrest and detain suspects without warrant, probable cause or criminal charges. You should know every intimate detail of the legislation that is keeping the basic workings of our judicial branch of government hidden under a veil of secrecy and violates the essential principals of our American democracy.

Do you know anything about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA)? It specifically prohibits the surveillance of people within the United States without individual approval by the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Now here is a great question; how do you go about collecting two trillion domestic phone calls with individual court approval? The answer is you don’t get court approval. Thanks to the Patriot Act, the protections provided by the fourth amendment and FISA have been altered or eliminated. They can arrest you, detain you, deny you your rights as an American citizen and refuse to admit that you even exist. They can listen to your calls, read your communications, check your credit, review your bank records and enter your home without warrant or probable cause. They can restrict or eliminate your right to effectively protest, all the while curtailing the rights of a free press so essential in holding our public servants accountable. Remember, the Constitution clearly states that the people are the ultimate source of our government’s power. So for the people to make informed decisions about the direction and position that our Government takes, the press must have unfettered access to the workings of government. Unfettered access to government, combined with information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, should in theory help keep honest people honest within our government. When access is limited and critical information is withheld, altered or edited, decisions are made without fear or consequence.

I hope this entry will stimulate your thoughts. I hope that you begin to question. Unlike our President, I do not ask that you accept anything I am saying at face value. I only wish to encourage people to gain knowledge, eliminate ignorance and search for the truth. I also want to make a confession, for I fear that these entries may be viewed by many as the ranting of an anti-Bush left winger. The truth is that I am a lifelong moderate Republican and I voted for President Bush both times. In my opinion, President Bush and his administration have severely damaged the honor and dignity of our country, escalated the level of tension and hostility worldwide. Yes I voted twice for “W” and I apologize. I hope that through the written word this Blog will serve as my penance.

American History 101

“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands, which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation”

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principals, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness".

Action of the Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776 The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America

Wow, I still love reading those words! Men, openly declaring ideas of national separation from the British Empire based on the notion of natural law, unalienable rights and self-evident truths. They espouse with clear-cut equanimity that the nature and source of governments true power to govern, comes only from the consent of the governed. These are powerful words, carefully written in the Declaration of Independence and subsequently in the United States Constitution, which carefully outlined the framework for what has become the oldest enduring republic in the history of the world.

When is the last time that you read either document? Be honest with yourself.

Now ask yourself this question: could any of us stand in front of the White House or on the steps of the Nations Capital and espouse for all to hear, these revolutionary words of our founding fathers? The first Amendment to the Constitution clearly gives us the right to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Government or law enforcement officials will tell you (after you are removed) that you can peaceably assemble or protest if you follow the law, rules and regulations put in place to neutralize the impact of your protests. However, those laws are contrary to the rights guaranteed to us in the first amendment. It goes like this:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”.

First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

When is the last time you read the United States Bill of Rights? Be honest with yourself.

Look, I apologize for the history lesson but as I stated in my remarks yesterday, I feel that political ignorance (ambivalence) is running rampant in this country and that it constitutes a very real, very clear and very present danger to our Republic. The first Ten Amendments to the Constitution, often referred to as the Bill of Rights, were adopted on December 15, 1791 and were added specifically to limit the power of the Federal Government, protecting the rights of the people from a Congress, which may seek to abridge our freedoms of speech, religion, press, assembly, worship, unreasonable search and seizure, as well as the right to due process (there are others obviously, but we will save that for another day).

However, before we go further with our discussion, I first recommend that you look these documents up on the web or purchase the small booklet from your local bookstore...and then read them! If you are looking for answers as to why things are the way they are, you must go back to point where it all began. To critically analyze the current situation you must understand what the founding fathers of our country intended for this republic. To understand that, you must read the actual unfiltered content of the documents for yourself and apply what you read to what you actually see. I promise you it will be interesting. Will you see a government operating inside or outside of the boundaries set forth in our constitution? Will you see a government that protects and values your rights or tramples upon them with impunity? Will you see a government that derives its power from the consent of the governed, or one that is empowered by default because a majority of its populace is misinformed, uninformed or apathetic? What will you see? What will you really see? Be honest.

Anyway, that's it for now. Stay safe, be happy and become informed. I look forward to chatting with you again.

Day 1: I'm a Blogger

Well, after much thought and internal debate I have convinced myself to plunge head first into the wonderful world of blogging. Before making this decision, I must admit that I was plagued by various concerns as to what would I talk about and if anybody would really care enough to read it? I am probably not much different than most people my age. Having passively gone through most of my life blindly accepting authority and the way things were, though never really questioning why it was so. Don't get me wrong, I am not embarking on this endeavour by painting myself as the angry victim of a system gone bad. I am not going to sit here an complain about how the deck has been stacked against me and that society is to blame for my plight. No, I am no victim of circumstance, I am the product of it.

Ever since I was a young man, I always felt that there was no such thing as a "normal life". I felt that there was only life and that "it" was what you made of it. So, I did the college and grad school thing, I am currently doing the great job thing and I suppose by some account, that I am living the dream. There is only one problem. It just doesn't make sense. It seems as though the wisdom (some call it hindsight) that comes with age has effected my view of the world. It is amazing how my entire belief system has changed. So many perceived realities, that for so long I held as fact, have been unmasked as nothing more than an elaborate ruse.

For the past few years I have been on a quest of sorts, a search for my own personal truth. During this period of my life, I traveled great distances through the pages of time, using books and web search engines as my primary transporter and guide. It is my opinion that having a better understanding of where we have been and what we have done, will ultimately provide us a more accurate compass and a clearer path for us follow. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many people as they still blindly accept authority and blindly do what they are told. Religion tells us what is best for the eternal salvation of our souls. Governments treat citizens as though they are children who don't know any better. Please do not misunderstand me as I am neither anti-religion nor anti-government. I am merely anti-ignorance. Ignorance is stronger and far more dangerous to our society than guns, bombs or missiles. We have all heard the line that "ignorance is bliss" right? Well sheep might look happy but they are still just sheep. Think about it.

My hope for this blog is to stimulate thought (hopefully my own) through the respectful exchange of individual ideas. I do not want the thoughts and ideas discussed here to become an embedded part of someone's own belief system, because for me the journey is as important as the destination. To that point I hope that these discussions provide a spark for those who are looking for their own truth. That in some way, these words will inspire you to search for knowledge, to think critically and to make informed decisions based what you know and not necessarily on what you are told.

I eagerly look forward to this new journey and I hope that others will take the opportunity to join the ride.