Posts Tagged ‘Bush sucked’

You might have picked up that I’m not too happy with the Grand Old Party. Let’s change gears and turn our attention to Barack Obama. Just because he’s not Bush doesn’t mean he gets a free pass: we’re a year into his presidency and I’ve got significant concerns with his approach to government transparency and civil liberties. Just so we’re all on the same page, freedom and the rule of law are non-partisan issues. Regardless of your political affiliation, you should be paying attention here. Behold, the bulleted list!

• Torture, assassinations and “Disappearing” people: Obama has correctly denounced Americans torturing prisoners. But sadly, he’s continued Bush’s practice of “rendition,” where the torture of prisoners is outsourced to other countries (second article here). And if torture isn’t enough to get you upset, how about a policy that permits government agents to assassinate American citizens (but only if you’re a terrorist, of course). But even if you’re cool with the government executing Americans without trials, how do you feel about the unmarked office complex next door that’s actually a secret detention facility where Immigration and Customs “disappears” people? This is messed up stuff.
• Government Transparency: Obama is worse than Bush in denying Freedom of Information Act requests. When he said during the campaign “My administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government” I thought he meant he would be better than his predecessors, not worse.
• Warrantless wiretapping: No American is above the law, even government agents. And when the law being broken by the government involves spying on Americans, you should be worried. I wasn’t happy when Obama flip-flopped during the campaign and voted to give retroactive immunity for Bush administration’s illegal wiretaps. In office, he’s actually gone farther than the Bush administration in his push to continue the policy and have all lawsuits about these thrown out (Related article in Washington Post or direct from EFF).
• Signing Statements: As you remember from seventh grade history, we don’t have a king. Instead, we’ve got three branches of government that keep each other in check. So we’ve got a problem when our president starts acting like a king by rewriting the laws congress passed (with so-called “signing statements”). Bush perfected this onerous practice, but constitutional scholar Obama has continued it, even after denouncing them during his campaign. The hypocrisy adds insult to injury.

Regardless of political affiliation, you should be angry now. If you’re a liberal and aren’t completely livid or have justified these abuses to yourself (“it’s just being done to the bad people,” or “but at least Obama’s not Bush”), just imagine President Palin using these tactics three years from now. If that doesn’t chill you to the bone, our freedoms truly are dead.

Health Care reform passed! It’s about bloody time, too. At the end of the day, it’s only a better-funded Massachusetts-style bill but even with all of its ugly compromises, it’s much better than nothing. Providing coverage to another 10% of the population, lowering the deficit over the next decade, and reigning in health care costs are big wins. The original Medicare bill was ugly too but it’s been refined over the decades, so hopefully the current wrinkles will be ironed out over time.

And giving the public another opportunity to see just how insane Republicans are just seals the deal. Seriously, when Palin opened her mouth and started blithering about “Death Panels” I thought the dialog couldn’t get any stupider but I was sadly disappointed. The depth of blatant lies and half-truths kicked around as “conventional wisdom” astounded me.

And no, this isn’t the end of freedom*. I do worry that this may be the end of rational discourse in this country, though. Not sure how we’re going to bridge the current partisan divide when half the population literally chooses not to believe in reality or facts.

* Sidenote: so where were the Republicans who are ranting about the “end of freedom,” “trampling on constitution,” etc. the last eight years while Bush was ACTUALLY trampling on the constitution? Seriously, this is the guy that illegally spied on American citizens, lied to get us into a war and called the constitution a “goddamned piece of paper.“** What type of double-think is necessary to just believe whatever Fox News tells you? I really can’t comprehend how these guys sleep at night.

** Sidenote 2: sorry for the swears mom, he said it not me and I needed to make a point.

So the first trial of a “detainee” at Guantanamo Bay has begun. Read more here to be either stunned at how low our country has fallen (or if you roll that way, see justice in action, your pick).

The prosecution called this “the most just war crimes trial that anybody has ever seen,” but I’m skeptical. Confessions given while being tortured are being accepted as evidence and even if acquitted, the Bush administration still reserves the right to just make him disappear for the rest of his life.

From the article:

Mr. Wizner [from the ACLU] said there was a more fundamental contradiction underlying the trial. The Bush administration insists that even if a detainee is acquitted, officials could hold him indefinitely.

“Where else in the world,” Mr. Wizner said after court one day, “is someone being prosecuted for a crime who is already serving a life sentence and will continue to serve one if he?s acquitted”

Hopefully Barack Obama will stand by his pledge to close Guantanamo.

Barack Obama was among the 69 senators voting to broaden government spy powers and give immunity to phone companies that aided in secret wiretapping.

(I know, I’ve just broken the three cardinal rules of blogging*. So sue me)

So Barack Obama previously said he would take a stand against providing retroactive immunity for companies that knowingly broke the law. But fast-forward to today and he’s voted for it. If Obama believes in any of the rhetoric he spouts, he needs to take a stand instead of voting for a “compromise” that boils down to “give Bush everything he wants.”

I’m not upset at Pelosi, Lieberman, and the rest of the wimps who haven’t stood up to Bush since taking over. I know where they stand: kissing Bush’s tail. There’s a reason their approval rating is lower than Bush’s: they’ve completely failed at the mandate they were voted into office to attain.

I am, however, upset at Obama. If you claim to want change for America, don’t vote to put into law one of the previous administration’s worst abuses of power. Here’s a candidate who wants me to entrust him with the most important position in the world, but has flip-flopped on an important issue because he’s afraid of George Bush and his cronies calling him soft on terror. Seriously, have you seen the relative approval ratings between these two? Call him out, Obama. Tell him that the American people are tired of being fed sound-bites and false dichotomies and take a stand. Don’t let your supporters down at the first sign of resistance. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see you’re being rolled: even HILLARY CLINTON saw the light on this issue and voted no!

So bloggers are unhappy about stuff all the time with little consequence in the real world. So what does my being angry at Obama mean? It means I will not be giving him dollars. In this election I have two votes: my pocketbook and my ballot. And at least one of them is NOT going to him. And in this election, Obama’s seriously banking on the small donors (read: me). I am your base. If you want to win this election don’t tick me off.

Now McCain, I know where he stands on the issues: diametrically opposed to me. But at least he’s consistent in being a Bush-wannabe instead of flip-flopping on previous statements about the importance of this issue.

* The cardinal rules of blogging:
1. Don’t blog when angry or tired.
2. Don’t blog about things you’re likely to have used against you in the court of law (or popular opinion) later
3. Don’t blog about politics. Period.

Before another Thanksgiving holiday comes draws to a sad close, here are the things I’m especially thankful for this year:

1. Modern medicine: if I’d been born years ago there’s a good chance I wouldn’t be living a “normal” life right now.
2. A solid job with a good boss in the best little city on earth
3. A wife who still puts up with me after all these years
4. The cat
5. Friends who keep me sane
6. Family
7. That Bush’s reign of terror ends in just over a year

The United States Transportation Security Administration is a $4.7 billion joke. As President, my first executive order will be to fire all current policy makers and hire folks that have taken high-school chemistry and have an ounce of common sense.

Exhibit A: the carry-on liquid restrictions
Current restrictions limit carry-on liquids to a tiny amount; these containers must then be carried in a zip-lock bag. This is ostensibly to prevent creation of explosives by someone who would combine otherwise harmless ingredients. Upon closer analysis the chemistry doesn’t make sense so the threat being targeted is non-existent (see Bruce Schneier’s analysis why). The policy makers are obviously trying to make it look like they’re doing something to keep me safe, but it’s a sham. Even if the chemistry did work, any conspirator with half a brain would just recruit 10 of his friends to bring small amounts of liquids through and consolidate once past the security barrier.

Then there’s the zip lock bag requirement. This just adds insult to injury. The trigger to this rant was a run in with the security screeners this week because of this ludicrous requirement (which the screeners didn’t even interpret correctly).

And that’s just my complaints about the carry-on liquid policies. Don’t even get me started about the secret “no-fly list.” Or the “random” security patdowns that I was coincidentally subjected to on every flight after I donated to the ACLU and EFF. After my last discussion with the screeners I fully expect many more “random” patdowns.

“But what about the terrorists who hate our freedom?” you may be asking? “If you gut the TSA, how can we prevent another 9/11?” My response is simple: lock the cockpit doors. After 9/11, passengers are going to fight any would-be-suicide-hijackers tooth-and-nail. Anyone who gets past all of the soccer moms and football dads would have a locked door to deal with before they could gain access to the cockpit. Now that this technique has been neutralized, it is time to focus on port and border security which have been woefully ignored.

In conclusion, as your next President I will work hard to implement effective and convenient safety measures. Just say no to meaningless “do something, anything!” security policies. Thank you for your vote.

September 11 is coming around once again and the media blitz has started. While you’re watching the talking heads babble, ponder these statistics:

• Deaths in America this century from Osama Bin Laden’s terrorism: almost 3,000¹
• Yearly deaths on US Highways: over 40,000²
• Yearly deaths related to smoking: 438,000³
• Yearly heart disease deaths: over 500,000⁴

So why have we spent $450,000,000,000 against enemies which in the big picture have caused a miniscule number of deaths?

Why do my fellow citizens seem so willing to waste billions of dollars, decimate essential liberties, and sacrifice thousands of our soldiers’ lives for a cause which in the big picture doesn’t really matter. The 9/11 terror attacks were horrible and the deaths were tragic. But the millions of other completely preventable deaths each year are equally tragic and for a whole lot less money and dead soldiers we could actually do something about them!

Bruce Schneier (a really smart guy) has put together a great essay on perceived risk versus actual risk which is helping me to understand why we as human beings tend to get so worked up about things which are really low risk (death by terror attack, shark attack, etc.) but are blas? about millions the truly dangerous things we deal with every day (death by auto accident).

Check it out!

And while I’m ranting… something that really made me sad is to realize that the same $450,000,000,000 we’ve spent on the War on Terror could have hired 8 million public school teachers for a year, insured 300 million children for a year, or given 22 million college students full four-year scholarships at public universities.

Our country’s priorities are seriously out of whack.

Sources:

1. the infallible Wikipedia
2. Department of Transportation
3. Center for Disease Control and Prevention
4. American Heart Association

I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to the excellent posting on slashdot that pointed me to these chilling statistics.

Habeas Corpus has been in the news lately now that Congress and the White House have passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006. One of the first questions that pops to mind is “What is habeas corpus? Why should I care that I don’t have it anymore?”

The Wikipedia defines it as “…a legal instrument or writ by means of which detainees can seek release from unlawful imprisonment. A writ of habeas corpus is a court order addressed to a prison official (or other custodian) ordering that a detainee be brought to the court so it can be determined whether or not that person is imprisoned lawfully and whether or not he or she should be released from custody. The writ of habeas corpus in common law countries is an important instrument for the safeguarding of individual freedom against arbitrary state action.”

A vast simplification is that habeas corpus ensures you or I can’t be imprisoned indefinitely without a trial to determine our innocence or guilt. It was a pretty cool right that as Americans we used to have. George W. Bush and the idiots in Congress have conspired to wipe away one of our most crucial civil liberties.

This is a bad thing. This is an act in blatant defiance of the Constitution this country was founded on. In a country with a sane government or populace that cared, Bush would already have been impeached and our congressional scuzz-buckets carted off to Guantanamo.

It’s time for a revolution. This revolution starts with electing men and women to congress that will stand up for liberty. This is not a partisan issue. Both Democrats and Republicans sold out their country and voted for this vile piece of legislation. Check each candidate’s stand on these issues. This may mean stepping out of your comfort zone and picking a third-party candidate instead of the lesser-of-two-evils.

For the love of everything, vote for liberty on November 7!

For those who stopped reading a few paragraphs ago, click the thingy to see an eloquent man use better words than I.

(If the embedded player doesn’t work for you just visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXre7MDT0bA and see for yourself.)

Thanks to Lyle

Seen on the cover of that bastion of journalism–USA Today: “51% of Americans concerned about secret government phone tapping.” My subheadline: “49% of Americans absolutely, idiotically, completely, unbelievably stupid.”

Seriously. I’m going to go out on a limb here and take a stand: I am against the American government compiling secret databases of everybody that I call (without a warrant!) This is stupid, and the government that sanctioned this should be impeached, tarred-and-feathered, and put in Guatanamo Bay where we are putting other threats to American freedom.