On the Constitution & its Shrinking Civil Liberties

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

-Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack

I’ll be blunt: no intro, no opening joke; our Bill of Rights is on the line and in the hands of a destructive Justice Department. With the introduction and twice reintroduction of the PATRIOT Act, the usage of warrantless wiretaps-even though the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act has courts was created to allow for clandestine warranted wiretaps-the suspension of Habeas Corpus, and the lack of countermanding between the DOJ and the Executive Branch, the Constitution and Bill of Rights are being attacked-blatantly and without precedent.

The first attack on our civil liberties was not 9/11, an act of destruction, but the aftermath; the formulation of the USA PATRIOT Act, an act asked for by President Bush to assert his ‘wartime powers’ was the act of terror-or at the very least the countermand to terror. But, while 'protecting' us from 'outside threats,' it has spawned another scandal; the firing of 8 DOJ prosecutors, which would be at least 26 and possibly all prosecutors, and hiring Bush cronies and right-wing loose constructionists would not be possible without the 98-2 vote on the USA PATRIOT Act(Bob Menendez[D-NJ] and Russ Feingold[D-WI] were the only Senators not to vote yea). Also, people who are considered imminent threats cannot get trials; they get 'military tribunals,' in which they are not entitled to a lawyer, not entitled to take the Fifth Amendment, nothing.

And then there was our second Civil Liberties Scandal, in which the President and the DOJ approved the illegal wiretaps of phones of millions, many of them American citizens who were not imminent threats. But, although there is a right to privacy in the Bill of Rights, as it is not fully shown to have a written right to privacy; thus, they went right ahead. Even though the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Surveillance Act is in place. Even though the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court has accepted all but four of all warrant applications-a rubber stamp!

Finally, there's the biggest breach of civil liberties of all-the suspension of the right to habeas corpus. Now, all people-citizens or not-cannot receive the reason they are being detained; they are not told the date of a trial; they do not know if there will be a trial to take place.

And then, people ask: who is allowing this to take place? The Bush Cronies in the Department of Justice, that's who. There is supposed to be an act of countermandance, an act of censure, when the Executive Branch steps too far in their duty to carry out law. But this DOJ doesn't do that; they don't uphold the law, they destroy it? Who allowed warrantless wiretaps: Alberto Gonzales and his DOJ didn't just allow it, he supported it and asked for it, too. Who allowed for the PATRIOT Act: John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales did.

And the Senate Judiciary Committee-And the Senate themselves? Where were they when our civil liberties were at risk?! Do they care about our freedom? It's exactly as the great Framer, Ben Franklin, said. But they gave up our safety in the process, putting our country in danger; not from Islamic extremists, but our own Executive Branch.

Monday, we go to the Election 2008 Spotlight on Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd. And remember, join us on June 7th for our preview show of Notepad.

"Good Night, and Good Luck."

-Edward R. Murrow, See It Now

On Education

Today, my little, elementary-school brother had his "state fair" at his school today; each student had to pick a state and do a poster board on it, along with bring in food, design a sculpture, and do other tasks. And the question arose: why aren't they doing this all the time?

In the Bushworld society we live in, we can foresee three things: death, taxes, and poor education reform. Due to No Child Left Behind, the public education system is deteriorating. Just as the Bush administration wants it to. Here's what's happening:

• Due to change in funding set-up, the schools who are doing well-because they have money-are getting more money, while the schools not doing well-mainly in the inner city, because they have no money-get nothing.
• Schools and states have to spend more money for the materials for standardized-tests needed to get federal funding, supporting capitalism and big business.
• High-schoolers, due to NCLB, unless an opt-out letter is signed, will be phoned, e-mailed, and snail-mailed information on recruiting, closing in on their right to privacy(it's not military recruiting that's bad; it's the way that the recruiters are doing it).

Education is quite an important issue, one issue that people focus on every year, right up there with the economy and national defense. Why isn't anyone standing up for this? Now, with high-stakes testing, principals teach to tests, creating a lack of curricula for rote memorization and learning processes in math, science and spelling. Now, with high-stakes standardized testing, arts and sciences are taken away year by year in favor of test prep upon test prep. Why can't we have both? Here's what we can do:

• Give the funding in reverse order: worse schools get the most, best schools get the least.
• Have teachers, and not corporations, create these standardized tests.
• Allocate funds from the war in Iraq, taking up almost a trillion dollars in our budget, and put it in education.
• Decrease class sizes and build more schools in the inner city; small class sizes are proven to raise grades and increase learning.
• Finally, make test-prep extracurricular, while keeping the arts and sciences in the curricula.
  

No post Friday or Sunday. Saturday: On the Constitution and its Shrinking civil liberties. On Monday: A lesson on Chris Dodd.

DC Idol!

Countdown w/Keith Olbermann, the hit news show on MSNBC, is at it again; why focus on the twenty-odd scandals affecting the Bush administration, and the crisis in Darfur, and the climate crisis, and the threat of terror, and a lack of diplomacy in our society today, when you can have a musical contest, lining up the Best of the Beltway? Yes, it's DC Idol, and it's sweeping the nation! (Well, just this Neo-Populist slanted blog with an author with too much free time on his hands.) Cast your vote on the link below for your favorite, and remember, vote on talent-be nonpartisan!

The nominees are:

• General and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, singing "YMCA"
• Congressman and two-time fringe Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich(D-OH), singing "Sixteen Tons"
• Former Attorney General and professed Anti-Semitic John Ashcroft, singing "Let the Eagles Soar"
• Bush administration political advisor and "Bush's Brain" Karl "MC" Rove
• Former President Bill Clinton singing "Imagine"

Watch the nominees and cast your vote at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18682547/

Czars, Wars and Abortion Bars?

First of all, disregard the idiot's rhyme in the title. If you enjoyed the rhyme in the title, disregard the first sentence. The title represents the faults of Karl Rove and the Bush Administration, with the 'war czar' enactment, the War in Iraq boondoggle-and Congress' plan to end any legislation by shuffling their feet, and the Republican debate, from which all laid down their abortion stances on the line.

First, the war czar scandal, if you like to call it a scandal(we all know the Bush administration has had enough of the 's word'). President Bush has asked for the past two months for a 'war czar,' or, as the exceedingly long title puts it, "Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan," who would brief the president on the sister wars and hold gravitas over the Pentagon, is quite a stupid idea. First of all, there are just too many people advising on the subject of the Wars on Terror, such as the National Security Advisor, the Joint Chiefs, and the director of CENTCOM, that a war czar isn't necessary. Second, this decision on a war czar has to go to the Senate, based on the fact that Mr. Bush has nominated 3-star Lieutenant General Douglas Lute was nominated. I'm surprised twofold: primarily that the Bush Administration actually nominated someone who is not one of the Bush cronies, and secondarily that they didn't know the Senate rules, that the Senate has to confirm any new job of a three-star or above general, which will make it, as Sen. Trent Lott said about the Iraq War Funding Bill, "Dead on arrival." Finally, there is absolutely no way of spinning this: “Even the spinning champion[White House press secretary Tony Snow]…could not spin the subject of a war czar," said MSNBC host Keith Olbermann on the subject of Tony Snow trying to approve of this at today's White House press briefing.

Secondly, there is the subject of the War in Iraq itself. With two regulations on the war being rejected in the Senate just today, three in the past two months, when will the Senate understand that people are dying there? When will the Senate understand that our young men and women, some under 20 years old, will return home with prosthetics, and some will return home with Post-partum Depression Syndrome, if not some 20-year olds and teenagers returning from Iraq and Fallujah in body bags?! When will the Senate understand that Iraq will not break into civil war if we leave; it is already in civil war. Just today, in the Green Zone, a mortar bomb exploded, killing a few while injuring dozens. This is the Green Zone-which is supposed to be safe! And yet neither the Democratic nor the Republican Parties will not come to a happy medium to solve such a macabre and morally backwards subject!

Finally, staying on the topic of morally backwards, the GOP debate was last night on the Faux News Channel. Republican candidates, along with Libertarian Candidate Rep. Ron Paul(TX), debated on several topics, including abortion. Many GOP candidates called themselves flip-flops(and what a time to be talking about summer footwear) in the debate, one of a possible six leading up to the primaries, and rightfully so; many have changed their stance on abortion, such as Mitt Romney, while others have quasi-changed it, such as former New York City mayor Rudy Guliani. This is growing worse than John Kerry's "I voted for it...before I voted against it" speech on Iraq; these are Republican candidates, and front-runner Republican candidates at that, having to change their opinion-on a Republican-spawned, Karl Rove "wedge issue!" The hilarity of this is overwhelming.

Well, there you have it. A GOP in shambles, with Presidents Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt rolling in their graves.

"Patriotism means to stand by your country. It does not mean to stand by your President."

-President Theodore Roosevelt(R-NY)

Election 2008 Spotlight: Mitt Romney

Hey, guys. So, I come home after a long day at school and at work, and I look in my mailbox, finding a (late) edition of TIME Magazine-with a large portrait of Former Gov. Mitt Romney(R-MA) on the cover. Aside from the fact that his first name is Willard, I really knew everything about him. In layman's knowledge, here's what you need to know to vote right in
Twenty-ought-eight on Mitt Romney:

• His father was a politician, running for(and winning) the gubernatorial election in Michigan, but losing his senatorial election. Mitt considers his father, George, his hero.
• His father also was a businessman, buying American Motor Company and turning it into a reputable national car company.
• Mitt is former governor in Massachussetts, in which he was strict on economic reform, while spending billions upon billions for the infamous Boston 'Big Dig' project.
• Mitt helped save the '02 Olympics in Salt Lake City from corruption and bankruptcy, making it, in my opinion, one of the best Winter Olympics ever.
• Mitt is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.(In other words, he's Mormon.[I think you know that.])
• Mitt can't decide on any Karl Rove 'wedge issue.' On abortion: he hates it, but thinks that women have a Constitutional right to choose(which he developed over time-a few months, to be exact); on gun control: he supports it but is against it(after he started his campaign, saying he was an avid hunter; he really just hunted twice for "varmints"); the list goes on. Any question why his nickname in some political circles is "Multiple-Choice Mitt?'
• He raised the most money in the first 6 months of his campaign(the 'money primary').

So, there it is. Mitt Romney, everybody. (Not a lot).

Next week, we go to the other side of the aisle, talking about Sen. Chris Dodd(D-CT).