Stop Me Before I Vote Again

You go on voting for people [like Brown -- JSP] who have legitimized torture and the breakdown of our constitution, and encouraging others to vote for them too. And when the descent into fascism becomes so obvious that you can no longer pretend it isn't happening, you have no right to wonder how we got there, because you helped it happen. You are responsible.

• 1942 -- Japanese-American citizen internment
• 1919 -- Mass deportations of "undesirable" citizens, and and last but not least,
• 1876 -- Jim Crow begins his 90-year dance.

From http://counterpunch.org/nader09302006.html, which is an otherwise standard-issue jeremiad against the Administration's policies, something only an egomaniac and asshole would dare say.

Ralph Nader:

Democrats betray their principles to avoid last-minute attack ads. Our democracy is the big loser.

Except, of course, when the target was...Ralph Nader. To this day the donks are still bitter about how Nader "stole" the election from them...as your fine blog pointed out a few months back, refer to http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org/2006/09/joe_lieberman_the_ralph_nader.html

And of course, Ralph was always the heads-in-the cloud idealist...we're long past the period where Democrats had any principles left to betray.

The only light at the end of this Bush tunnel comes from many law professors and knowledgeable members of Congress, such as Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT), who believe that when this law reaches the Supreme Court, its offending and vague provisions will be declared unconstitutional."

I figure that's what was going through the heads of all the donks that signed on to the Torture bill... just wait until 2008!

Today's Wall Street Journal has a letter to the editor from House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO), arguing that the Military Commissions Act is "not tough enough on terrorists because there is no certainty the act will withstand the scrutiny of the Supreme Court. If the act is tied up in litigation and eventually struck down, convicted terrorists could have a 'get-out-of-jail-free' card."

J Alva Scruggs passed along this gem:

Clinton Equivocates on Torture

Despite her apparent opposition to torture, Hillary Clinton said in a Daily News editorial board meeting yesterday that the practice is acceptable in some circumstances.

Clinton got a rousing reception from the human rights community, and seemed to take an uncharacteristically bright-line stance, in a recent statement on the Senate floor during the debate over torture.... But at yesterday's Daily News editorial board meeting, it emerged that she's not actually against torture in all instances, and that her dispute with McCain and Bush is largely procedural.

She ... said that there is a place for what she called "severity," in a conversation that included mentioning waterboarding, hypothermia, and other techniques....

"I have said that those are very rare but if they occur there has to be some lawful authority for pursuing that.... There has to be some check and balance, some reporting. I don't mind if it’s reporting in a top secret context....

If so, allow me to recommend this, by "a political science professor at New York University":

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/19/AR2007031901638.html

In 2005, there were more than 7 million poor men ages 16 to 50 in the United States, and only half of them worked at all.... Poor men want to work and succeed, yet many cannot endure the slights and disappointments that work involves.... Congress is likely to raise the minimum wage, and wage subsidies for low-skilled men could also be increased. But if low wages are not the main cause of male nonwork, these steps will change little.

A better idea is to use the child support system, which requires absent fathers to support their families, and the criminal justice system, which is supposed to supervise many ex-offenders on parole after they leave prison.

The Wash Post reports:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/19/AR2007031901946.html?referrer=email

A man accused of conspiring to bomb London's public transport system in July 2005 told a court Monday that he deliberately made fake devices that were not meant to explode but would spread fear and panic as a protest against the invasion of Iraq.... Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, said he learned how to make the devices on the Internet, downloading a Web video on which an Arabic-speaking man in a ski mask described how to make explosives from hydrogen peroxide, an easily obtained household chemical...."When I saw how easy it is to make the stuff, the idea came to my head that I could use it to make fake explosives," Ibrahim told jurors at London's Woolwich Crown Court.

Ibrahim, who was born in Eritrea and moved to Britain at age 13, said he was angry about the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and had attended antiwar demonstrations. Finding these had little effect, he said, he decided to take "positive action."

Terrorizing the state security forces, by showing up their holes, is a dangerous game. I recall just a day or two after the bomb attack one Brazilian-born "underground commuter" received about 5 slugs (iirc) while lying on the floor of his ride to work, because he was "acting funny."

Did you know that under the Military Commissions Act of 2006, President Bush now has the power to declare anyone he wants, including U.S. citizens, to be an "enemy combatant" -- and imprison them indefinitely without access to our court system?

Indefinite imprisonment without judicial review is unconstitutional -- and fundamentally un-American. It's a hallmark of fascist dictatorships, not constitutional democracies like ours.

Fortunately, there is movement in Congress to restore this fundamental constitutional right. Tomorrow, Monday September 17th, the Senate is expected to resume debate on the Department of Defense Authorization bill, including S.185, the Specter-Leahy amendment to restore habeas corpus. The vote on this amendment will be the first full up-or-down vote in Congress on restoring habeas corpus.

Link

What would I do? WHAT WOULD I DO?! Long before I was hauled off, I'd write a stern email to these Vichy Democrat senators I've listed, I can assure you! And I'd forcefully CC these Vichy Democrat representatives too, yes indeed! That would do something.

A bill to authorize trial by military commission for violations of the law of war, and for other purposes.

Carper (D-DE), Johnson (D-SD), Landrieu (D-LA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Lieberman (D-CT), Menendez (D-NJ), Nelson (D-FL), Nelson (D-NE), Pryor (D-AR), Rockefeller (D-WV), Salazar (D-CO), Stabenow (D-MI)

For good measure, I'd scold the House Vichy Democrats who voted to renew the Patriot Act and their counterparts in the Senate to boot. Then -- and with conviction! -- I'd go to this Senate vote and this House vote, to see who voted for the first Patriot Act. Those still in office should be scolded! Oh and yeah, while I'm at it, the Vichy Democrat dudes and dudettes of the Senate and House who voted to approve Patriot 0.8 (Beta) should be scolded. Those still in office, that is. Like that dude Leahy, who's so hot and bothered now. For extra emphasis, I'd send a useless fearmongering email blast to everyone still gullible enough to think opportunistic collaborators will change their ways and I'd issue an affinity credit card, serviced by FIA Card Services, formerly MBNA, now owned by the Bank of America.

More seriously, what would I do if "they" came for me? I have no idea. Prior to that, I'd disabuse myself of as many fatuous, fairy tale, political notions as I can identify and possibly look for something more productive to do.