Category: General

I love Schoolhouse Rock even more today than I did when I was a kid.

Do you know all the words to the Preamble to the Constitution? I do. And I tend to sing it, just as it’s sung in this song:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_TXJRZ4CFc&hl=en]

We, the People,
In order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice
ensure domestic tran-quil-i-tee hee-ee-ee,
provide for the common defense
promote the general welfare, an-nd
secure the blessings of liber-ty
to ourselves and our posteri-ty,

Do ordain and establish
this Constitution
Forrrrrr
The United State of
Am-er-i-caaaaa!!

“Right On!” indeed.

Senator Ron Wyden will support a fillibuster of the tragically unconstitutional FISA rewrite.

Thank you, Senator Wyden.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZYuRk1pFO0&hl=en]

…OK, now I want to try that. Off to the mall!

“Whoo! Yeah, sexy! How you doin’?”

I turned my head to the right as I walked home. From the sidewalk I could see the woman who had just called out to me. She sat in a lawn chair along with several others, visible in the back yard of a house in my neighborhood.

Yes, she was looking at me.

“And whatcha got in that bag?” she yelled out again.

I kept walking.

I had donuts in the bag.

Sure, you’ve heard of imdb, the Internet Movie Database.

But have you ever heard of imFdb? The Internet Movie Firearms Database?

See, the “F” stands for “Firearms”.

If you ever watched a movie and thought, “hey, what kind of gun did Rambo use?” this would be your first best resource. Unlike, say, the bajillions of other sites that would come up in a Google search, the imfdb focuses on guns.

Holy crab I learned a lot this week!

• Senator Barack Obama, the nominal Democratic nominee for President and the candidate I support, is not a liberal or progressive, but a centrist. As are most of the Democrats in Congress. And at least as it pertains to probable cause and civil liberties. It’s OK; I had the same problem with Bill Clinton and yet, overall, Clinton turned out to be a decent president. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to complain, though. And if you disagree, so should you.
• I can learn more about bicycle maintenance from the internets!
• Watch this video closely and try to figure out the sound he’s making. Then close your eyes or look away and just listen. Seeing is not believing.
• I just knew it was rum that gave me the worst hangovers, not tequila. And it turns out Cuervo Gold is almost half cheap rum. Go figure. (via John Gruber)
• I’m an average-paced runner in Oregon, even now, for 10Ks, according to Kelly Johnson’s calculations.
• I haven’t gotten any paper phone books in the three days since I signed up at this website. (via Dale at the Faith in Honest Doubt)
• “Faith” healing… doesn’t. Still. Ever.
• Likewise, some people are so blinded by religion that they hope concealing their religious motives somehow makes it OK to scar and disfigure children in their care. John Scalzi explains:
  

  First, yes, I’ve heard about the middle-school science teacher here in Ohio who is getting fired for branding crosses into the flesh of his students with a high frequency generator, and who was also slipping religion into his science teaching. Oops.

  What stands in my mind, however, is this bit from the article, in which the teacher explained “he simply was trying to demonstrate the device on several students and described the images as an ‘X,’ not a cross.” Because, you see, zapping an “X” into the flesh of your pubescent students with a tool that outputs 50,000 volts a pop is not a problem.

• I’m going to bet that the creators of this material, which is the blackest black ever, so black that light just seems to fall into it, are fans of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. It just makes sense.
• There are girls out there who would both a) consent to ride topless or naked through the streets of Portland, and b) yell at guys taking pictures of them in a way that girl doesn’t like. Funny!
• Lastly, this tracking shot, from the end of last Friday’s mid-season finale of Battlestar Galactica, is an instant TV classic, I believe. I’m linking it rather than embedding because it’s a huge spoiler if you haven’t seen the episode yet.

Mr. Burton:

Back in October, you stated, as a spokesman for the Senator, in simple, clear terms that Barack Obama would support a filibuster of any bill that contained retroactive immunity for the telecommunication companies that broke the law at the President’s urging.

Yesterday Barack Obama went back on that promise, by backing away and saying he would “work in the Senate to remove this provision so that we can seek full accountability for past offenses”.

That is not enough and it does not fulfill the promise you made on behalf of Senator Obama’s presidential campaign.

Many people are watching this bill, and are continuing to take action to prevent it from becoming signed in to law by the least popular President in the history of polling. I, as do many others, understand that the retroactive immunity contained in the bill is just one of many provisions that are damaging to the core principles of our Constitution and specifically the Fourth Amendment. The bill enacts and makes legal many of the illegal practices the Bush Administration began in 2001, prior to the attacks on American soil on September 11th, putting the lie to the idea that forgoing the protections and freedoms guaranteed in our country is necessary to keep us safe. If President Bush’s illegal wiretapping did not prevent the horror of the attacks on that fateful day, why is the Democratic leadership joining with the Republicans to retroactively enable them?

As an Obama supporter, I am holding the Senator to his promise, and I will urge my friends and family to do so as well.

*****
NOTE: If you agree with me that Senator Obama should keep his promise and stand up for our civil liberties, email Mr. Burton, or use the phone number listed at MoveOn and follow up to let MoveOn know what response, if any, you received.

The FISA re-write passed by the House today (against the objections of a majority of the Democratic caucus) is not a “compromise” at all.

The “exclusivity” clause in Title I, which Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer both claimed were strong counters, are no stronger than the exclusivity clause that President Bush ignored in the previous version of FISA, a clause wiped away with a simple secret memo from John Woo. President Bush felt free to ignore the law before; why would he care now, when he is a lame duck?

The granting of retroactive immunity enshrines into law the shocking Nixonian claim “if the President says so, it is not illegal” and finally establishes the telecommunications corporations just as much above the law as the Bush Administration, to the detriment of our democracy and our Constitution.

Senator Obama stated today his opposition to the retroactive immunity portion of the bill, but would only go so far as to suggest trying to remove that portion. Because he is the nominal head of the Democratic Party, I cannot believe that this bill did not come to pass without either his direct involvement, or at least his blessing. Perhaps he wishes to make use of it’s many provisions for collecting “intelligence” on American citizens… or his own political enemies… in addition to those who see America as a threat to themselves. I support Senator Obama in his bid for the Presidency, but I do not wish him to be a monarch; I wish him to be a President of a democratic (small “d”) republic. Perhaps Sen. Obama is under the mistaken belief, as Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer, and Senate Majority Leader Reid seem to be, that giving the White House and Republicans in Congress more than they wanted in intelligence gathering is “bipartisan compromise” is seen by American voters as “being strong”.

Not so, Senator Wyden. Not so.

Perhaps you can have the courage to put the Constitution and the country ahead of party and politics. Perhaps you can step up and prevent this erosion of our rights. Perhaps you can take action that other more fearful (or calculating) politicians seem unable to do.

A simple “hold” can stop this bill in its tracks. A fillibuster can derail it. Do not give cover to those who broke the law. Do not allow the most unpopular president in history any victory at all.

Many are paying attention to this matter, including myself. Markos Moulitsas Zuniga is paying attention. Glenn Greenwald is paying attention. The ACLU is paying attention. And we are all working to elect more and better Democrats. Be the kind of Democratic Senator the majority wish to see.

I sent the following email this morning to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer:

I’m paying attention. So many others are paying attention, too. Markos Moulitsas Zuniga is paying attention. Glenn Greenwald is paying attention. The ACLU is paying attention. And citizens on the right are paying attention, as well.

Allowing the law-breaking telecoms to get off scott-free for their crimes (why would they need amnesty unless they committed crimes?) is not what the American public hungers for. Allowing the extremely unpopular Bush Administration to escape accountability is not what America desires. Allowing any president, whether Democratic or Republican, unlimited power to spy on citizens is not freedom.

Money is being raised specifically to educate voters in your district, Majority Leader Hoyer. Hope you’ve enjoyed your political career.

It sounds threatening, doesn’t it? I’m kinda mad about the whole thing, I guess. But I’m just threatening him with voting him out of office, at most. Like Kos said:

We kicked Joe Lieberman out of the caucus. We got rid of Al Wynn this year. Those were test runs, so to speak. We’ve got a lot more of that ready to unleash in 2010.

More and better Democrats, both. Let’s make sure our government reflects the values of the majority for once.

Part 1 of many.

“Hanging that cell phone right there makes your hips look wider.”