It’s great that we have the Internet. It’s great that we have that Media Equalizer!” — cheer!
                  ~ Kansas City, MO Speech

Of all 2008 Presidential Candidates, Dr Ron Paul may understand the importance of Net Neutrality better than any other.

Ron Paul has seen, first hand, the immense POWER of the Net. I also found it refreshing that he phrased it in such a way that makes it crystal clear that he understands exactly WHY the Net is so important…

Because without it, the crooked, biased, horribly corrupt Big Media would run the show without a single counter balance. That’s exactly what the Internet is - the Media Equalizer.

When Congress passed the REAL ID ACT last year, federal politicians knew that a national ID was repugnant to many Americans. So instead, they slipped it in as a rider to a military spending bill (HR 1268) (HR 418) and then provided for grants of federal taxpayer money to compliant states.

Without this National ID, you won’t…
Drive your car
Board a plane, train, or bus
Enter any federal building
Open a bank account
Hold a job

The provisions of the bill are to go into effect in December 2009.

But no so fast!

Now many states are challenging or even rejecting completely this bill which is being advertised as being needed for national security. Let’s look at some facts about so-called “national ID” cards.

The Madrid bombings in March 2004 happened in a country with a national ID. British civil liberties group Privacy International studied the relationship between national ID cards and terrorism prevention finding that 80 percent of the 25 countries most adversely affected by terrorism since 1986 have national ID cards.

If REAL ID had been the law on 9/11, it would have had no influence on al-Qaida’s plan since the 9/11 terrorists were in the United States legally. They had legally issued drivers’ licenses and Social Security numbers.

If terrorists ever need a “false” REAL ID, U.S. immigration policy will not prevent them from obtaining one. The conflict between our demand for cheap labor and our tight lid on legal migration means there is an unending need for false documents. Time and time again across the U.S., state motor vehicle workers have been bribed by criminal networks that then feed documentation to illegal immigrants. REAL ID will not change this but, will instead, force us to rely on DMV workers for our security. Thats a scary thought.

Which states are challenging (or in some cases, rejecting altogether) these national ID’s? To date, they are:
Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Washington

But rejecting these ID’s may be tough in some states since the acceptance of these ID’s comes with a perk….a huge wad of federally-funded money.

Mandating that all Americans carry a national ID is not a response to 9/11 or a preventive of terrorism. It would satisfy the federal government’s demand for control, not Americans’ genuine need for security. Law-abiding, native-born citizens should not pay the price for the evil intent and the wrongful acts of others.

If Congress wants Americans to carry a national ID, they should vote for it openly, not tack it on to another bill in yet one more attempt to deceive American citizens and take them one great step closer to a Police State.

In what can only be described as a “gutsy move” by a group of high school Presidential Scholars visiting the White House, President Bush was presented with a letter signed by these 50 high school seniors asking him to halt to violations of the human rights of terror suspects being held by the United States. Bush had definitely not expected the letter but did stop to read it and talk with the young woman who gave the letter to him.

During Monday nights NBC Nightly News, there was a brief segment concerning this visit. During the segment anchor Brian Williams showed a copy of the students letter with an enlargement of the sentence:
“We do not want America to represent torture”
(full transcript below)

BRIAN WILLIAMS: A surprise for President Bush today at an otherwise perfectly ordinary annual event on the President’s schedule — 141 high school seniors from around the country, this year’s class of presidential scholars, came to the White House for a meet-and-greet with the President. When they got there, 50 of them presented him with a handwritten letter that they had signed demanding that the United States stop the practice of torture. Afterward, one of the students told our NBC News White House producer that the President told them the United States does not practice torture, the very same thing the President has said publicly in the past.

But according to the Washington Post article series “Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency” by Barton Gellman and Jo Becker, Cheney’s beliefs are quite different. Obviously Mr. Cheney believes torture is an accepted form of prisoner interrogation and the terms of the Geneva Convention can, and will, be ignored in Bush’s “war on terror.”
(excerpt below)

“Shortly after the first accused terrorists reached the U.S. naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Jan. 11, 2002, a delegation from CIA headquarters arrived in the Situation Room. The agency presented a delicate problem to White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales, a man with next to no experience on the subject. Vice President Cheney’s lawyer, who had a great deal of experience, sat nearby. The meeting marked “the first time that the issue of interrogations comes up” among top-ranking White House officials, recalled John C. Yoo, who represented the Justice Department. “The CIA guys said, ‘We’re going to have some real difficulties getting actionable intelligence from detainees’” if interrogators confined themselves to humane techniques allowed by the Geneva Conventions.

From that moment, well before previous accounts have suggested, Cheney turned his attention to the practical business of crushing a captive’s will to resist. The vice president’s office played a central role in shattering limits on coercion in U.S. custody, commissioning and defending legal opinions that the Bush administration has since portrayed as the initiatives, months later, of lower-ranking officials.

Cheney and his allies, according to more than two dozen current and former officials, pioneered a novel distinction between forbidden “torture” and permitted use of “cruel, inhuman or degrading” methods of questioning. They did not originate every idea to rewrite or reinterpret the law, but fresh accounts from participants show that they translated muscular theories, from Yoo and others, into the operational language of government.”

AFP World News
Politics, Friday, June 22, 2007
White House defends Cheney over security secrets

WASHINGTON - The White House on Friday defended Vice President Dick Cheney’s four-year-long refusal to divulge information about the handling of classified material, saying an executive order did not apply to him.

Cheney has not cooperated since 2003 with a government office charged with safeguarding national security information, despite a presidential order that says all executive branch entities must report annually on the information they keep secret.

According to official documents, the vice presidency believes that the order does not apply to it because it believes it is not a part of the executive branch.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said although she did not know why Cheney’s office stopped reporting the information the same year the US-led war in Iraq began, he was following the rules when it came to the handling of secret documents.

“The president and the vice president are complying with all the rules and regulations regarding the handling of classified material and making sure that it is safeguarded and protected,” she said.

“There’s no question that he is in compliance in terms of the meat of the issue, which is the handling of classified documents,” she said.

“This is simply a matter of a small portion of an executive order (EO) regarding reporting requirements of which he’s not subject to in the interpretation of the EO.”

The Democratic chair of a House committee that is investigating the matter, Henry Waxman, said Thursday that Cheney’s office conformed in 2001 and 2002 with requests to report on how much material was classified and declassified.

However, Cheney stopped cooperating after that and his office refused an inspection in 2004. When the Information Security Oversight Office pressed the matter, Cheney’s office recommended that it be shut down, Waxman said.

————————————-
The Bush-Cheney administration has been an administration of criminal conduct worthy of impeachment. They have betrayed democracy and have relied on lies, deceit, propaganda, and manipulation in a way that would have been worthy of a totalitarian regime.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeating it.” (George Santayana)

This nation can’t afford a “repeat performance” by the next administration.

FW

I’m sure everyone knows about G.W. Bush’s “The Constitution is just a goddamn piece of paper” comments on the Hill in 2005 concerning the patriot act or so it’s said in some  circles.

(There are 1540 links at google about his comment. Here is just one of 1500 plus quotes.)

I guess in the most literal way the Constitution is a piece of paper however, every freedom you know and have is because of the Constitution and it’s legal framework. Allowing ANYONE, Republican or Democrat to change the meaning of the words or values in the Constitution is an attack on all Americans and is the most deadly form of terrorism there is.

I tend to think that no one would have wasted the time for even mentioning his comments on the Constitution in passing if there weren’t an already solid history in Bush abuses, flipping the camera man off, patriot act, Hitler like executive orders, yawn …. etc… so even if you don’t feel Bush could have said such a thing, take a look at the video and some of the things he has done to the Constitution and Americans in general.

The video below is about 1hr long but much worth watching. It starts with the IRS’ fraudulent laws, crimes on Americans and in the process uncovers something far more dangerous. Soon, it moves on to Bush and his administrations masterful attack on the world.

This is where I, for the first time, saw Bush’s comment about the constitution is just a goddamn piece of paper.

I also find Ron Paul’s comments on America very interesting, to say the least.

“What if your own Government is using more force and more coercion on It’s own citizens for the purpose of achieving It’s own political ends? Is that Government engaged in terrorism?”

Author Claims: This video had over 3 million views before Google removed it.

The only difference between the tax man and a taxidermist is the taxidermist leaves the skin.
~ Mark Twain

Senators are deliberately not mentioning that for the first time in this countries history all tax payers will have to pay for the lawyers for the illegal aliens and this will take legal services away from Americas poor.

Basically taking away American’s rights to help someone else that is breaking the law. This new bill would give Illegal aliens priorty over americans in poverty .

This bill would also change the law and “reduce” the fencing from 854 miles to 200 miles.

Gang members would simply “renounce” their dealings with Gangs and they would be allowed “Amnesty”.

President Bush and Sen. Kennedy pass for political stars in our tortured times, and that is sad enough. But if we follow the course they’ve set, true tragedy awaits us. And the fault will be ours.

Does Duncan Hunter really believe that this answers the real question about gitmo or is he really that lost?

Lets see, so the Armed Forces Committee Chairman says it’s OK to hold Guantanamo Bay prisoners for indefinite amounts of time without world representation to so much as look in on them, and yet claim they’re being treated fairly because they get “two types of fruit”. He fits so well into the Bush administration agenda, gg Hunter.

CNN’s Andersen Cooper and YouTube host 1st of it’s kind, co-sponsored Presidential Debate where Internet users pose their own questions to the candidates.

See current YouTube User submitted questions here: CNN/YouTube Debates

This could get interesting…

The real test: Will Ron Paul be given his appropriate time in the spotlight or will CNN continue to downplay his popularity? The same question will stand for other’s such as Mike Gravel from the side of the Democrats.

Last month, when CNN unfairly failed to include Ron Paul in their polling to determine debate winners, users of social sites like Digg.com and Reddit.com made themselves known by strongly protesting on the CNN website.

This time, considering the online “neighborhood” of the debates, manipulating the viewer perception may be more difficult. Still, don’t be surprised if things are still weighted to benefit certain candidates.

The topic of media manipulation of viewer perception has grown into a very large concern with most grass roots supporters.

But, for now, lets concentrate on getting out there and asking the tough questions that CNN and ABC refuse to ask.

Think Net Neutrality, 911, Guantanamo Bay, Socialized Health Care, the real threat of Nuclear War and all your own creative questions waiting to be answered. We all know many important issues tend to get downplayed or ignored altogether during most televised debates. Lets see how much different the American People will act when put in the driver’s seat!

Hopefully the candid bunch at Digg and Reddit will step up and take action like they usually do.

Bush pushing the cold war has decided that no matter what Putin say about defending his country in response to Bush’s plans to put up U.S. missile defense systems in Putin’s back yard. “Read US missile defense plans are still on” The complete conference dictation that was NOT printed in any major media in this country.

“Mr President, it seems like Russia is not very fond of the West. Our relations have somewhat deteriorated. And we can also mention the deterioration of your relations with America. Are we once again approaching a Cold War?”

Read the rest of this entry »

“I promised the President today that I wouldn’t say anything bad about … this piece of shit bill,” he said, according to two attendees. Evidently one of them was a blogger.

“I’ll see you at the Bill signing,” Bush said with confidence about his immigration Bill that has run into deep “Shit” on Capitol Hill.

America you awake out there? I mean has anyone else seen Senator Jeff Session’s“20 Loopholes in the Senate Immigration Bill”? People, please wake up and look at whats going on in your Government today before it’s too late for you to make those changes. Call, write or petition your congress and have this bill killed now.