Letter to the Editor
John McCain's anti-torture bill is a test of his personal integrity and leadership. McCain, who was tortured himself when he spend 5 years as a prisoner of war on Vietnam, sponsored this bill to try to stop Bush from torturing people that was the Communists and Nazis do. This law will make it clear that it really is illegal to torture people. Vice President Cheney however is fighting McCain's bill trying to provide a loophole to allow the torture to continue.
John McCain has been a very week advocate for his causes. He talks a good story but in the past usually caves in to what Bush wants. I think that McCain takes positions for show so that he can appear to have issues and creates the illusion that he stands for things. I think it's all and act and that McCain will cave into Bush even though he was personally tortured that way Bush is torturing others. If McCain can't get an anti-torture bill passed it's because he doesn't really want to do what it takes to make it happen.
Letter to the Editor
I used to shop at WalMart and I used to be a WalMart stockholder back when WalMart bragged about their products being made in America. Now I'm living in California where WalMart has given Governor Schwarzenegger over a million dollars to promote his special election reforms. WalMart is now the third largest trading partner with Communist China and I'm not comfortable with communist money being pumped into our local elections. So I'm going to vote against WalMart in the elections on Tuesday because I really don't think WalMart has the best interests of the people in mind.
As I watch the funeral of Rosa Parks I can't help but to think of the legacy she leaves behind. Some of the most important changes in the world start with one person who stands up and says No to power. She was as ordinary of a person as anyone can be, but she came to a point where she had had enough and wasn't going to take it anymore. A simple act that changed the world. We are reminded that sometimes it is far more convenient to just let things go and go along to get along. We should not only honor Rosa Parks by celebrating her life but honor her by refusing to give up our seat when the powers that suppress us today want us to move to the back of the bus. We too can change the world by saying no to injustice.
I sit here in total amusement watching Republican senators responding in total outrage to the Democrats declaring a "Closed Session" of the senate to discuss the issue of whether the Bush administration fabricated a fraud that led America into a war for false reasons. Republicans are totally shocked declaring that they have never seen such a thing before. "They have no convictions, they have no principles" declares Senator Frist. Republicans can not imagine that a politician would be so low as tp stoop to using "dirty tricks" for political advantage. Is this the beginning of Armageddon? Oh what a shocker!!!
Halloween has just past and the Democrats have risen from the dead!
Here's a good video that the DCCC produced. I think they really nailed the issues.
Letter to the Editor
I'm somewhat confused about that politics of the Judge Alito nomination. What confuses me is why the Right supports him and why the Left opposes him. Maybe I'm missing something but he voted in favor of partial birth abortion. He is also someone who considers being open minded as a virtue which is clearly liberal. As compared to Harriet Miers who was a right wing born again evangelical Christian, Alito is merely a Catholic.
I was somewhat amazed the Bush didn't appoint a real right wing extremist like Judge Bork or Kenneth Starr. And considering that Alito was already confirmed as judge by a unanimous decision of the Senate I would think it would be highly unlikely that they would be able to defeat this candidate. I think the media and the Right aren't going to get the fight they are looking for.
Letter to the Editor
I think special elections should be outlawed unless it is to replace an elected official who has died or otherwise hard to leave office. Governments often run special elections to pass issues due to low turnout that wouldn't pass in a regular election. Special elections are a manipulation of the electoral system requiring people to show up for elections that are not on a date that the usually expect to vote. I'm living in California now but I used to live in Springfield Missouri where it was common practice to try to sneak in a tax increase using a special election and hoping that few people will show up to oppose it.
Special elections are designed to subvert democracy and take away control from the people. I consider it to be un-American because I believe that the vote is something sacred. So I always vote against the government in special elections because I assume that if the government is trying to subvert the will of the people then it must be something that will not stand on its own merits. So I urge people in all states to vote against the government in all special elections as a way of preserving our rights as voters.
Letter to the Editor
President Bush has had a lot of problems lately and he needs to fix them quickly. Maybe Bush needs to think outside the box and try some unusual ideas to turn things around, not only for his legacy, but for the good of the country. Thinking outside the box I would suggest the following:
First - for the Supreme Court - appoint Patrick Fitzgerald. Not only is he universally liked, but it might solve two problems at once. He then needs to shake up his staff getting rid of Rove and bring in someone who knows how to get the job done. Someone who knows how to turn the economy around. Bush should make Bill Clinton chief of staff and the economy Czar. If you put politics aside and go with what works, Clinton is a natural choice. And if there's another opening on the Supreme Court - appoint Hillary Clinton. That would keep her from running for president and winning in 2008. Of course the right wing of the Republican party would hate it but for the last 5 years we did it their way and it's been a huge failure. Now that Bush can't run for president again and the Right Wing is backstabbing him, what's the point in sticking with failure?
Letter to the Editor
In these days when we talk about how to honor the 2000+ troops lost in Iraq I think that Scooter Libby's excuse that "he forgot" about exposing a CIA agent's identity as part of selling this fraudulent war to the world is more than just hard to believe. I think it's an insult to those who died thinking that they were protecting freedom, but died for a lie instead. Although Scooter's trial is technically about him obstructing justice by going out of his way to mislead the prosecutor in his investigation of who committed a crime the bigger question is, "Are we at war because Scooter was part of a lie?" And where is the outrage at the Whitehouse? Why isn't Bush outraged about the idea that America was misled into war? Why doesn't Bush want to talk about it?
This administration is far to comfortable with lies. To them it's all just "politics" and "everyone knows" that lying is just part of the game. It doesn't matter what's true, what matters is what you can get away with. America is supposed to accept that government is dishonest and that it's OK to lie. Well, it isn't. Lying to America to convince us that Iraq was close to having "the bomb" and leading us into war is treason. The question that I ask is, "Was Bush part of the lie that took us to war?" And if Bush lied he too should resign and go to jail.