Have any of you parents out there ever used this thing?
On McCain’s “Blog Interact” page, where the candidate’s supporters can find recommended blogs of all ideological stripes, the campaign is actually awarding points for trolling.
Help spread the word about John McCain on news and blog sites. Your efforts to help get the message out about John McCain’s policies and plan for the future is one of the most valuable things you can do for this campaign. You know why John McCain should be the next President of the United States and we need you to tell others why.
Select from the numerous web, blog and news sites listed here, go there, and make your opinions supporting John McCain known. Once you’ve commented on a post, video or news story, report the details of your comment by clicking the button below. After your comments are verified, you will be awarded points through the McCain Online Action Center.
The site even has “Today’s Talking Points” that McCain supporters can cut and paste into the comments sections of liberal blogs.
The lack of online savvy on display here is just stunning. But at least “John McCain is aware of the internet.”
(Courtesy of Andrew Sullivan on Mojo Blog)
I’m all wound up.
So, I’m relaxing by blowing a wad on maternity chemises and baby toys while eating pecan praline Soy Dream ice cream.
In October of 2007, Barack Obama’s spokesman, Bill Burton, stated:
To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies.
Please take a moment to write to Mr. Burton that this statement was not forgotten, and let him know that you expect Senator Obama to stand by his word.
bburton *at* barackobama *dot* com
– – –
My letter:
Mr. Burton:
In 2007, you stated –
“To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies.”
However, Barack Obama stated this week that he is supporting HR 6304. This is a grave disappointment. HR 6304 is a direct assault on the Fourth Amendment and the rule of law in this country, and serves to undermine the very foundation of what this country is built upon. I understand that a public show of support for this bill is advantageous for Senator Obama politically, but I had been led to believe that he was attempting to be a different sort of candidate – one that is not beholden to the gross political intrigues and the corruption of those that came before him. His support of this bill is not likely to garner him additional support from undecided voters, nor will it change the minds of those that have already committed to Senator McCain. However, it is tarnishing his reputation with those of us that believe that the preservation of our civil rights is paramount. Simply put: Barack Obama is going back on his word, and in an attempt to show a strong stance on national security, is supporting a bill that does nothing to protect this country and its citizens from further terrorist activity.
HR 6304 is not a compromise; it is a capitulation. It is simply the most recent in a long line of abuses that this administration has inflicted on the Constitution and on the American people, and the hypocrisy that Senator Obama is showing in his recent support of this corrupt FISA bill is disheartening.
Please encourage Senator Obama to show the leadership and strength he has promised the country, and that “Change We Can Believe In” is not simply another cheesy, hollow campaign slogan.
Thank you,
Elizabeth Barrial
Los Angeles, CA
– – –
I’m going to quote Glenn Greenwald here…
Either way, no good comes from lending uncritical support to a political leader, or cheering them on when they do bad and destructive things, or using twisted rationalizations to justify their full-scale assault on your core political values. The overriding lesson of the last seven years is that political figures, more than they need anything else, need checks and limits. That is just as important to keep in mind — probably more so — when you love or revere a political leader as it is when you detest one.
I agree. And the way I see it… if you disagree with Obama on his current position on the FISA bill, please show your support and respect FOR him by voicing that disagreement.
Please take a moment and call your state’s senators now and let them know how you feel about H.R. 6304, the UNCONSTITUTIONAL Hoyer/Bush FISA bill.
If you need to find the contact information for your senators, a form on the ACLU web site can help you out.
Can someone please explain to me how being strong on national security and strong against terrorism has to equal shitting on the Constitution and complete disregard for the rule of law in this fucking day and age?
Your results:
You are Supergirl
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Lean, muscular and feminine. Honest and a defender of the innocent.  |
Click here to take the “Which Superhero are you?” quiz…
C’mon.
Powergirl, mebbe. But Supergirl?
Many of us hope that, come January, Barack Obama will put his hand on a holy book and say these words:
I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Perhaps he should begin now by showing us that he WILL preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States by taking a stand against this flawed and corrupt FISA bill.
A handfull of reasons why Obama should support a filibuster of this bill — courtesy of the ACLU:
• H.R. 6304 permits the government to conduct mass, untargeted surveillance of all communications coming into and out of the United States, without any individualized review, and without any finding of wrongdoing.
• H.R. 6304 permits only minimal court oversight. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court) only reviews general procedures for targeting and minimizing the use of information that is collected. The court may not know who, what or where will actually be tapped.
• H.R. 6304 contains a general ban on reverse targeting. However, it lacks stronger language that was contained in prior House bills that included clear statutory directives about when the government should return to the FISA court and obtain an individualized order if it wants to continue listening to a US person’s communications.
• H.R.6304 contains an “exigent” circumstance loophole that thwarts the prior judicial review requirement. The bill permits the government to start a spying program and wait to go to court for up to 7 days every time “intelligence important to the national security of the US may be lost or not timely acquired.” By definition, court applications take time and will delay the collection of information. It is highly unlikely there is a situation where this exception doesn’t swallow the rule.
• H.R. 6304 further trivializes court review by explicitly permitting the government to continue surveillance programs even if the application is denied by the court. The government has the authority to wiretap through the entire appeals process, and then keep and use whatever it gathered in the meantime.
• H.R. 6304 ensures the dismissal of all cases pending against the telecommunication companies that facilitated the warrantless wiretapping programs over the last 7 years. The test in the bill is not whether the government certifications were actually legal – only whether they were issued. Because it is public knowledge that they were, all the cases seeking to find out what these companies and the government did with our communications will be killed.
• Members of Congress not on Judiciary or Intelligence Committees are NOT guaranteed access to reports from the Attorney General, Director of National Intelligence, and Inspector General.
The New FISA Bill: A Bad Deal: Courtesy of Senator Russ Feingold
Highlights:
On retroactive immunity, the bill virtually guarantees it, despite the fig-leaf of a district court review.
In their infinite wisdom, Hoyer and the negotiators set the bill to sunset in the fall of 2012–just before the next presidential election. This bad bill should not be in effect for that long, and shouldn’t be subject to election year politics, again.
The protections against reverse targeting are inadequte–the guidelines for targeting someone in the U.S. are not subject to judicial review, or the requirement of a court order for that surveillance.
The bill doesn’t prohibit bulk collection–“the collection of all international communications into and out of the U.S. to a whole continent or even the entire world.”
The bill contains a far too broad “exigency” exception to the idea of FISC exclusivity–the Attorney General or DNI can certify that they don’t have time to get a court order.
Even if the FISC determines after that fact that the surveillance violated the law, the government can still keep and use any of the information it obtains under those illegal warrants.
The bill doesn’t provide additional checks and balances for Americans at home whose international communications are obtained because they are communicating with someone overseas.
And, just so the point gets hammered in a little more, here’s a tidbit from Salon.com entitled George Bush’s latest powers, courtesy of the Democratic Congress.
AND, because I refuse to let it go, What Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and Fred Hiatt mean by “bipartisanship”. Pelosi. What a fucking disappointment you are.
You can contact Senator Obama’s presidential campaign at (866) 675-2008 and give him a piece of your mind.
I still think its incredibly awesome that Ed Asner voiced Granny Goodness on Superman: the Animated Series. Granny hates spunk.
Baby kicks are neat.
I hate the heat.
My butt is jiggling more than I really think it should. Its like two bulldogs fighting in a blanket.
I loved Alien Nation and V when I was a kid. I wonder if I still would if I watched them again?
I read a lot of fuckin’ comic books. Ted and I put away a bunch we’d read recently, and well… I came to the conclusion that I read a lot of fuckin’ comic books.
I really hate the heat.
Thank God for Tums.
