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Highlights of Rebuttal to Obama on FISA

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:11:14 GMT

clipped by: seriousnews
clipper's remarks: Just a few highlights of a thorough, entertaining rebuttal to Barack Obama's latest justification of supporting the FISA Amendments Act.

Clip Source: irregulartimes.com

The FISA Amendments Act is itself a law that supersedes the authority of the FISA court. It strips power from the FISA court, making them impotent to stop spy programs initiated by the Attorney General.

You know what has happened as a result of that Inspectors General report that the Barack Obama campaign says so proudly will serve as a model for investigating George W. Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program? Two newspaper articles about the report were written. Then, 29 blog articles were written about what was revealed in those newspaper articles.

Scrambled eggs with arsenic, mercury and broken glass is better than scrambled eggs with arsenic, mercury, broken glass, anthrax spores and plutonium on the side. That doesn’t mean that you should eat the scrambled eggs with arsenic, mercury and broken glass. Saying that one thing is better than another ought not to convince anyone that the better thing is any good at all.

Tags: fisa amendments act, barack obama, rebuttal, spying, constitution, freedom, senate, vote, election

Myanmar and McCain - the Dirty Connection

Tue, 13 May 2008 01:32:03 GMT

clipped by: seriousnews
clipper's remarks: John McCain has become linked to the military junta of Myanmar at an embarrassing time, as one of his top aides was caught working for dictatorship. Now reasonable people may wonder - what other projects are all those other lobbyists on the McCain campaign working on, on the side?

Clip Source: irregulartimes.com

Newsweek broke the news this week (see, that’s why they call it Newsweek) that John McCain’s official Convention Chair, Doug Goodyear, is also a lobbyist. He’s not just any lobbyist, either; he’s CEO of DCI, a lobbying corporation that has promoted the interests of the autocratic military regime in Myanmar (nee Burma). In exchange for loads of cash, Goodyear used DCI to instigate a public relations campaign denying the abuses of the Myanmar junta and arguing for special favors for the brutes.

(Source: Newsweek, May 18 2008 issue)

Tags: myanmar, burma, doug goodyear, mccain, lobbyists, ethics

Be a Flag Waving Liberal To Confront GOP

Tue, 13 May 2008 01:23:19 GMT

clipped by: seriousnews
clipper's remarks: This sticker challenges people to become flag-waving liberals, confronting the superficial patriotism of Republicans with genuine substantial progressive civic patriotism.

Clip Source: progressivebumpersticker.com

The simpleton element of Republican ideology shows itself whenever Republicans start talking about the flag. They have little competitions with each other about who loves the flag the most, and they work up into a fury whenever they see someone who doesn’t have little flags plastered all over their clothes, their cars, and their homes.

Real patriotism is harder than just displaying a flag. Real patriotism means knowing who your representatives in Congress are, and how they’ve voted on issues that matter to you. Real patriotism means calling up elected officials and telling them what you think about what’s they’re doing in your name. Real patriotism means talking back to power, instead of just worshipping it.

Tags: flag, liberal, symbolism, republicans, patriotism, citizenship

Progressives More Coherent Than Democrats

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:46:43 GMT

clipped by: seriousnews
clipper's remarks: The analysis in this article astounds me, and gives me some hope. Its essential message is this: In terms of how they cosponsor bills in the Senate, separating Senators into Democrats and non-Democrats doesn't make much sense. Separating Senators into progressives and non-progressives, as defined by the Progressive Patriots legislative scorecard, does.

Clip Source: www.zimbio.com

A 21.6% explanation isn’t awful when trying to predict the thoroughly chaotic behavior of people in groups, but we can do better. I’ve looked at ratings of Senators on an progressive political index at Progressive Patriots, and the correlation between Senators’ progressive action score and Senators’ level of bill activity is higher (+0.69). Just by itself, Senators’ progressivism accounts for 48.0% of the variation in bill activity.

The bottom line is that if you’re wanting to understand why some members of the U.S. Senate are more active in bill sponsorship and promotion than other members, ditch party as an explanation. A much better explanation of that variation is the progressivism that a Senator maintains in his or her legislative conduct.

Tags: progressive, democrats, democratic party, statistics, cosponsorship, congress, legislation, politics

No Playboy For American Troops!

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:39:54 GMT

clipped by: seriousnews
clipper's remarks: Republican killjoy Congressman Paul Broun has joined with 16 other Republican members of the House of Representatives to try to ban American soldiers from buying Playboy Magazine. It's amazing to me that what with the rising death toll in Iraq, the American economy going down the drain, and climate change rearing its ugly head to devastate Americans' livelihoods, the Republicans think that the big problem facing America is that its young soldiers, exhausted and on the verge of cracking from years on end on fighting for their lives, want to look at pictures of beautiful women. Could they possibly get more out of touch?

Clip Source: thatsmycongress.com

So, why is it that 17 Republican members of Congress are coming together to support a law that forbids the troops from getting the things they want for support while fighting over in Iraq?

They’re living half a world away from their wives and girlfriends. Most of them are teenagers, or in their early 20s. They’re full of hormones, and they’ve been given tremendous responsibilities, and they don’t have any release for their tension.

There are a lot more serious problems for America to face than whether soldiers can buy Playboy with their own hard-earned money.

Tags: playboy, sex, pornography, censorship, soldiers, military, paul broun, republican, congress, legislation, politics, sexual

Loren Davis and McCain Satanic Symbols

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:23:16 GMT

clipped by: seriousnews
clipper's remarks: John McCain uses a 5 pointed star in his campaign logo.

McCain's supporters use slurs against Barack Obama from Loren Davis.

Loren Davis Ministries says that a 5 pointed star is a sign of Satan's followers.

So, let's follow the logic of John McCain's followers, then to its obvious conclusion: If they follow along with Loren Davis's attacks against Obama, they must also conclude that John McCain is a Satanist.

Hoo boy. That seems weird, doesn't it? That's because the politics of John McCain's right wing supporters has become contorted into grotesque forms as a result of its attempt to avoid the obvious truth: John McCain's politics of war and religious fervor have failed America.

Clip Source: irregular.gaia.com

Loren Davis is discovered to also be the source of rumors that public schools in the USA and the NFL are a satanic conspiracy

Loren Davis Ministries deletes its article accusing the NFL of being an agent of Satan in an attempt to quell the controversy, but they are caught in the process, and Irregular Times publishes a PDF of the deleted article

In the same article, Loren Davis is seen to claim that the 5 pointed star is a symbol of Satan, and guess what? The primary symbol in the campaign of John McCain for President is a 5 pointed star.

Tags: mccain, john mccain, barack obama, obama, loren davis, satan, satanism, football, symbolism, republican, presidential, 2008, election, rumors

Ron Paul Rakes In Big Bank Money

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:37:34 GMT

clipped by: seriousnews
clipper's remarks: Ron Paul is a fair weather libertarian who won't use the power of Congress to help ordinary working Americans, but does a whole lot to protect the interests of the wealthy and powerful, like financial corporations. That's why Ron Paul gets more campaign donations from big banks than any other member of the House of Representatives.

Clip Source: progressivepatriots.com

Why is it, then, that of all the hundreds of members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Ron Paul ranks among the highest in terms of campaign donations from large banks? Ron Paul is third highest out over over 400 members of the House, taking in huge amounts of money funneled to him by banks through their employees.

The Democrats in Ron Paul’s district aren’t even bothering to run a candidate against the man whose “Revolution” led down a dark alley filled with millions of dollars for Ron Paul to play around with. That’s very slick for Ron Paul, but not so slick for the people of the 14th congressional district.

Tags: ron paul, bank, money, congress, campaign, libertarian, corruption, politics, economy

Frank Marshall Davis and Barack Obama

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:16:02 GMT

clipped by: seriousnews
clipper's remarks: What's the truth about poet Frank Marshall Davis and Barack Obama? It's nothing so alarming as what the right wing activists want to make it out to be. Barack Obama talked to Frank Marshall Davis a few times when Obama was a teenager, three decades after Frank Marshall Davis left the American Communist Party. Frank Marshall Davis died over 20 years ago. THAT is what Republican activists call Obama's "ties to Communism". Pardon me if I'm not impressed.

Clip Source: www.squidoo.com

Let's be up front about this: Frank Marshall Davis is getting an increasing amount of attention because of someone he met way back in the 1970s - Barack Obama. Barack Obama talked with Frank Marshall Davis a few times, when Obama was between the ages of ten and eighteen years old. The two both lived in Hawaii at the time, and their paths crossed.

Did Frank Marshall Davis make Barack Obama into a raging Communist? The truth is rather inconvenient, but for who?

Tags: barack obama, obama, communist, communism, marxist, frank marshall davis, poet, scandal, rumors, 2008, president

Michelle Bachmann Defends Waste!

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:46:06 GMT

clipped by: seriousnews
clipper's remarks: Why are Republicans so strongly in favor of waste when it comes to America's energy? Michelle Bachmann leads the Dim Bulb Caucus in Congress, opposing efficient light bulbs in favor of outdated technology. Tell Representative Bachmann to stop defending waste!

Clip Source: thatsmycongress.com

The Dim Bulb Caucus has formed around the effort to pass a particularly dim witted piece of legislation, the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act. The Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act, H.R. 5616, would repeal sections of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 that establish a national phase out of old-fashioned inefficient light bulbs and a phase in of compact fluorescent light bulbs.

It’s sad that Michelle Bachmann has put her head in the sand, deciding to ignore the larger threats of mercury pollution, the economic impact of energy inefficiency, and the devastating effects that climate change is already having on humanity around the world. What’s even more regrettable, however, is that Michelle Bachmann has convinced 24 other members of the House of Representatives to go along with her scheme to attack the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

Tags: energy, environment, light bulbs, bachmann, fluorescent, michelle bachmann, republicans, legislation, congress, waste