voters, part 1

I'm gonna start a new column, with some articles on people who are so misinformed, these must be wet dreams for Republicans and right wingers.

Check out this article, and be sure to watch the video. I don't think it's possible for someone to have their head in the sand more than this woman.

And the truth is, I hope that she actually takes the time to find out the truth. Because I think she's a poster child for a very dangerous group of people in this country.

This isn't a 'she has to vote my way' kind of thing. I don't care who she votes for. But be INFORMED, for god sake.

This is a large (and growing) population who believe everything they hear, based on prejudices and lies. All of these people were suckered into voting for Bush, and they're being lied to and spun to believe ridiculous things, and spreading the lies and hatred in their communities.

The frightening thing is that their minds are so closed, that they've convinced themselves they're right.

Go watch the video and then visit the Concerned Women for America website, who have turned a pro-choice situation into Obama being for infanticied.

This situation has to do with Obama's nixing of the Illinois Born Alive Infants Protection Act.

One of the people who was at a hearing for the House Judiciary Subcommittee on this issue was registered nurse Jill L. Stanek, who was named one of the top 30 pro-life causers in the nation. She's become a celebrity, so it's pretty clear to see an agenda here amongst pro-lifers.

You can read her transcript here, in the comments section of this crazy blog, if you'd like.

For another view on the entire issue, Alternet has a very interesting and eye opening article on the entire debate happening almost strictly online.

I don't see this as a make-or-break issue this year, especially being pro-choice and having read this Alternet article.

There are bigger issues than this.

letter to Obama

I just read an article on the whole FISA bill and a lawsuit with AT&T, and it prompted me to write to Senator Obama, I figured I'd post it here.

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Senator, I just wanted to voice my opinion on the FISA bill.

It being an election year, Bush and the Republicans are using this opportunity to push you and other democrats into a corner, and it's working. There is a kow-towing here that is almost unprecedented. The Democrats, who can be accused of moving more centered, who ended up backing the war... aren't Democrats supposed to be the civil minded politicians? Forget the past. We have to. It's a new election. The end of a terrible era.

The Republicans have spun the FISA bill so that being against it means being for the terrorists, or some such nonsense. Being against it means that you're not concerned with keeping America safe, blah blah. It's very upsetting to me, not to mention any rational person in the US (basically half of us) that politicians feel they can use scare tactics and pressure to pass a bill that is not only setting up America to become a police state, but also denying us civil liberties that are locked into the Constitution.

You know, we've come to a peak where the average citizen has had enough. Not a breaking point, but a peak, where this years election is going to bring out a huge population of voters who are sick of the Bush regime. The problem is, having a stance of 'better than Bush/McCain' is not sufficient to bolster confidence in our next president, nor next years daunting task of fixing the economy. Frankly, it'll be you. Unless you or your wife ends up saying something monumentally stupid, you pretty much have this election sewn up. But right now you stand for compromise.

Do we compromise civil liberties now? Do we compromise the privacy of US citizens to get votes? Is that the kind of America we are now? Wouldn't it be better to come out against the FISA bill, regardless of your 'ties' to AT&T, and show a strong front for Democracy? Isn't this kind of compromise just perpetuating an America run by corporations and fueled by the greed of President Bush?

When it comes to the lives of the 300 million people who live here, doesn't it seem fair to say that with each compromise, the face of America is changing for the worse? The world has lost so much respect for us. We've just had 8 years of compromise and scare tactics. 8 years of the worst President on record. 8 years of being forced to take it from someone who doesn't care one iota about American citizens.

The Constitution is important. The ideas, the beliefs, the words that were said to us all by politicians we voted into office, they are important. I won't give examples, but this year has been a nightmare for voters who put some Democrats into office.

We're all hoping that in five months, the person who gets voted into office is going to follow the Constitution. He's going to listen to the people. He's going to continue to have new, wonderful, positive ideas. And he's going to cherish the beliefs that make this a great nation.

You know McCain isn't going to provide that. You know we've been without that kind of honor for a while now. You know how important it all is.

Compromise has its place. It does. But not when you compromise on something illegal.

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Feel like contacting the senator yourself? Go here.

3 recent McCain articles

McCain backs gay marriage ban in California.

8 inappropriate jokes by McCain.

McCain doesn't know the price of gas.

Sigh.

4th amendment woes

Well, first we have Obama saying he won't back a filibuster of the new FISA bill, when he said he would.

Word is coming out that Blue State Digital, a company directly responsible for helping Obama raise funds, has ties with AT&T, one of the companies that the FISA bill would protect.

And now we have Senator Russ Feingold discussing the searching of laptops of Americans who are coming back from overseas.

What exactly is happening in this country?

Seems to me that politicians we're supposed to be trusting are compromising our civil liberties. Democrats are being forced to pass bills because it's an election year. Bush is using his last few months to leverage his all encompassing plan to send America into the shitter, his final Presidential legacy plans.

Obama is in a tough situation. Does he kow-tow until he's President? Or does he take a stand and then get the shit kicked out of him by Republicans who say he's soft on terror and the security of the nation? If he does the latter, he's got to sit there and take it as the citizens of this country get screwed over by a dictator president.

Disgusting.

Oregon senate seat... watch this.

Check out this article from Boston.com about how a seat in Oregon is possibly up for grabs, and an unlikely Senator bosting a...

Well, just go watch it.

Amazing, the landscape of politics these days.

the direction of oil

Two articles today about oil and what Congress can do about it.

An article on The Wall Street Journal talks about 4 energy analysts who presented their case to Congress. They go on to talk about the speculation market and how it's inflated the price of oil.

This ties in to an article dealing with the Enron loophole that created the speculation market problem, supposedly.

What makes me laugh about the whole thing is the line where the Republican Senator of Texas who pushed the Enron bill through is now an economic advisor to McCain.

Unreal.

Obama is out to close the loophole. In this US News.com article, he places the blame squarely on Republican Texas Senator Phil Gramm.

Have to wait and see what Congress decides to do about this, but it's pretty clear that if this action, of closing this provision in the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, decreases oil prices in the US, whatever candidate pushes for it will garner a large support base.

Having an aide who is responsible sounds like a big problem.

John McCain and Michelle Obama... oh boy

You know, it's bizarre how, in the internet age, a ridiculous company like FOX would go out of their way to edit something like this from all transcripts. I've seen this a few times on a few different sites, this isn't a hoax.

My dad was a Vietnam vet. He did two tours. And he was not proud of America for doing what they were doing. First, he goes over there and it's hell, you know. Not Hanoi Hilton hell, but hell none-the-less.

Then he comes home to anti-war protesters... I remember I took some pictures of the Vietnam memorial and gave them to my dad. I was, christ, in 5th grade, I think? He looked at them and said "You can keep these, I don't want them."

So, while I understand what McCain is saying... as a presidential candidate, I don't think it's possible to say something dumber, unless you say "I really respect George W. Bush."

McCain hasn't said that, has he? Christ, I'm sure it's out there somewhere...

But the biggest problem here is the Michelle Obama connection.

This is an awful video, the sound synch is way off, but Michelle Obama has been attacked repeatedly in the press, especially by right news networks like FOX, about her statement of being proud of America for the first time in her adult life.



With this, I'm sure you can see why FOX has gone out of their way to edit their transcripts.

These things seem to get the hackles up on people who don't go and do some research, or take into consideration the context. And they vote with their insignificant amount of knowledge, because it's better to hear about politics from 3rd or 4th hand mouths than from trusted sources.

Any anti-war protester over the last five years is not 'proud' of America. They're ashamed. Does that mean they hate America?

This isn't an issue, in my opinion. But you'll be hearing a lot about this FOX editing in the weeks to come, if they don't lay off the Michelle Obama attack, and frankly I think that the McCain line is worse.