Memo to Congressional Dems: Fight like the British
By SilentPatriot Sunday Jun 15, 2008 2:20pmAcross the pond in Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is trying to push legislation through Parliament that would dramatically increase government detention and surveillance powers (Sound familiar?) The only difference is that over there, politicians from both parties are defiantly rising up in protest, with Tory MP David Davis going so far as to resign his seat in order to run for re-election on a platform of protecting civil liberties.
Over at Salon, Glenn Greenwald chronicles the fascinating developments and challenges Congressional Dems to grow a spine and stand up to the Bush administration's blatant overreaches on the new FISA "compromise."
When the history of the post 9/11-era in America is written, it will record that our country was ruled by an administration as radical as it was contemptuous of our laws and basic liberties, but was also aided and abetted every step of the way by a putative "opposition party" too craven and/or supportive even to attempt to impede any of it, let alone succeed in doing so. The very few times when certain of its members tried to take principled stances of the type Britain is now witnessing -- such as Feingold's vigorous opposition to Bush's illegal spying program, the Military Commissions Act, and excesses of the Patriot Act -- the Democratic Party leadership itself intervened to quash them and ensure they failed.
Wouldn't it be nice to have leaders in our own government who were willing to protect the rule of law and our cherished civil liberties from the tyranny of fear mongering?
If Senator Obama truly wanted to prove himself as a leader and strongly rebuke the past 8 years of privacy abuse and lawlessness, he would use his standing as presumptive nominee to rally Democrats (and some honest Republicans) to propose a new bill that closes any real "intelligence gaps," but demands that the telecoms defend their conduct in a court of law to determine whether or not they broke the law. That shouldn't be a controversial proposition. The telecoms can't break the law just because the President told them they could.
This is a perfect opportunity to expose the criminality of the Bush administration and salvage the remaining privacy rights we have left. All we need are courageous leaders willing to go to the mat over it.
- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
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Frist!
A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by Citizens for Resposibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) to force the Bushco office of information to release documents pertaining to why all those emails are missing.
I don't know about you guy's, but I'm all Bush'ed out. So many scandals, so little time. Even if they started impeachment, it would take months. I am way beyond depression.
One difference between us and them: They have the BBC, a venerable source of serious journalism. We have the Cirque de Soul-lessness that bends over backwards to not inform the public and work against subversive governmental practices.
It's a grand pity.
Whatever happened to that subpeona that was issued to Rove? What is wrong with the U.S. House of Representatives that the lack the will to enforce anything?
Someday I hope Conyers and Pelosi and the rest of the cowardly Democratic leadership will explain what they where so afraid of and why they failed utterly to defend the U.S. Constitution from the most corrupt administration this country has ever endured.
Frankly I'm for the 42 day extension and David Davis' actions are nothing more than a Tory stunt. Why didn't he threaten to do this before the vote so as to stir up a 'national debate'? If his constituency wasn't such a safe Conservative seat there's no way he'd be doing this. Not that it makes much difference anyway as it looks like the bill will get hammered down in the House of Lords i.e. by people who aren't even elected by the people!! Democracy my ass!
Ryan in IL, don't let the BBC take all the accolades, channel 4 news is a bastion of hope too.
Restore the Constitution @ 5:
If there is something they are afraid of by the time the truth comes out most of us will be dead and the most of the ones who will hear it have not been born yet.
Note to Pelosi: Clear the frickin table and put the only thing on it we REALLY care about! Impeach these criminals - until we do that nothing else can really happen.
And, Nancy, if you think hanging back and letting Bush and McCain hang themselves will carry the Dems through November YOU ARE DELUSIONAL.
The racist smears have hardly begun and it's only June. The only way to stop these criminals and cut their feet out from under them before it's too late is to put them under a full-bore, no holds barred, let the chips fall where they may, reinstatement of the Rule of Law.
Throw the book at them! Throw everything at them! Don't give them time to take a dump between now and when they get frogmarched out of our White House.
Saw the debate on C-Span.
Their cons are pissed.
P.D. @ 3:
It would keep them from causing anymore trouble. Instead of the ridiculous tax holiday, maybe the entire federal government should take a government holiday. Come back in January.
Sorry to burst some bubbles on this, but this is mainly a self-serving publicity stunt by Davis, as anyone who has followed his career would tell you. This is just a way for him to bring up the big rightwing boogyman of immigration (yes, we have a collection of reactionary morons too!!) as well as hatred for Europe which is such a red flag issue for them and brings a reaction that Pavlov himself would have been shocked by it!! This is seen as such a stunt that the government isn't even bothering to put up a candidate to fight this.
You guys and girls who have worked so hard hear this. The church doesn't want to help and our representatives know to many people who have died by the elites hand, so feel good that you are of the brave and tireless. Know that Our understanding is one that is without peril. So stay in tune with our creator and he will guide you into the next step.
Not placing the blame anywhere but where it should be - on the electorate.
Only 50% of them get off their dead asses and vote. Of those 50% are only voting because they fear a gay couple will move in next door, seduce their child, steal their guns and burn down Pastor Billy Bob Joe' Church of God in Christ's Blood and Snake Tossing Society.
Of the other 50%, most are "moderates" who prefer the status quo regardless of what that may be.
The press has become a joke because "we" tolerate it. The internet is NOT filled with truth seeking bloggers - it's filled with demagogues from both extremes who make Ann Coulter sound like a normal human being. Yes, there are a few who might get a job on a small city weekly if they'd apply themselves, but it's much easier to just scream what some other moron is already screaming.
The radical right has a tiny degree of direction coming from the Roves, the Drudges and Faux News - so they can concentrate their fire.
And yes - Reed and Pelosi are craven politicians.
There is no Loyal Opposition as in Britain. There is no united electorate as in any European country. When was the last time Americans had a general strike in support of anything.
We're way too busy worrying about ourselves to worry about our neighbor or our country - as long as we have cable tv, an employer paid health policy and can still buy gas for the his and her Chevy Suburbans out in the driveway - screw the malcontents like yellow dog.
ah, remembering the days of checks and balances between branches of government. I would say there is some check of power between political parties if any existed. Thanks Harry, thanks Nancy, for one party rule.
Republicans & Right wingnuts = Tories, its that simple...
Loyal to the King, the dictatorial 'unitary executive' BS...
Federalists = Feudalists
Memo to Congressional Dems: Fight like the British
Caning each other's butt?
Oooh...sign me up.
Those who yearn for "leaders" as much as SP does in this post, need to check their "follower" mentality.
Restore the Constitution @ 5:
Ditto.
Fight like our lives depend on it
Then we are screwed.
the danger in Obama championing any single issue before congress is the risk that its merits will be immediately overshadowed by the partisan imperatives of the presidential race. For moderate Republicans opposition to telecom immunity ought not to equate to support for the democratic candidate - a tactic we know the White House would deploy in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately for Mr. Davis, neither the Lib Dems nor Labour are challenging him in the local election, so he'll win easily, with little political effect.
Restore the Constitution @ 5:
It's a good point. As long as you have a single individual out there that has broken the law of the land and openly thumbs his nose at congress, you can forget about restoring the rule of law at any higher levels. All the house's efforts should be focused on Rove and through him, the rest of the administration.
bush is a crook and without doubt the worst to ever hold the highest of offices here in the us, Cheney wants power and wealth and stopped at nothing to achieve those, rove is a slimey little wizard who knows all the tricks to get his candidate elected. Colin Powell sold his soul to be in what he perceived was the in crowd. None of them holds a candle in pure evil to the little weasel lieberman. first order of business of the new prez should be to go after elmer fudd LIeberman with all the litigation the white house lawyers can muster. he's on an even par with our courageous press corps. Both measure the same amount of integrity.
So much of our nations time and money tax dollars spent to hurt itself. Our laws are no longer King, except if they serve multinational corporation interests.
The tax-paid FDA flagrantly dispatches reps to attend international CODEX Alimentarius meetings, with the intention of undermining the US grassroots law (DSHEA.) CODEX would rule by threat of trade sanctions. DSHEA impinges on FDA regulatory power, and on FDA capacity to serve Big Pharma, by limiting our access to supplements, therapies and information that compete against drugs. It's already much worse across the pond for health freedom.
Do you all think it's simple coincidence that Bush & Co. have had unlimited freedom to tap anyone's phone calls and emails while at the same time so many Democrats cower in fear? Wouldn't surprise me one bit if each one has been J.-Edgar-Hoovered into submission. Not wanting to be outed for whatever they have to hide doesn't in any way give them a pass, but it would provide an explanation for their mysterious votes.
Why won't any of the lefty blogs - including Glenn Greenwald's - give some suggestion of how the rest of us could band together to flood the offices of a half-dozen legislators whose votes could make the difference between passing and not passing this dastardly FISA "compromise" (read: "sell out")?
Annie @ 18:
http://rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/16/conyers-reemphasizes-subpoena-thre...
(:>
My disappointment in Gordon Brown is equalled only by my excitement at Barack Obama.
He, like McCain, has dismissed his former self in the name of power and position that he does not deserve to have and will ultimately lose. He tries desperately to be the strong leader he thinks he should be, as opposed to the great man he simply is. Gordon Brown is capable of incredible things, but flops in indecision and grandstanding in a pathetic attempt to 'be in charge'.
If Gordon Brown were to stand true to the beliefs he espoused over the last few decades, both his Leadership and the country as a whole would be in far better shape. Instead he attempts to cling to Blairism, failing to appreciate that the end of Blairism was the most desired thing in having Brown as Prime Minister.
I'm quitting the Democrats and becoming an Independent if the Democra
pts cave on this.Enough is enough.
I disagree with yellow dog's fatalism; there are millions of us out here, on the internet and otherwise, who are doing our best, which may not be much, to rid the country of these parasites. I like to think of our Dem invertebrates as collaborators; I hope someday they'll be prosecuted, or at least persecuted, as such.
I tend to agree totally with the leadin paragraph on this thread.. Oh indeed if Obama wanted to make a statement that makes everyone stand up and take notice about a new sharriff in town... yea, something like what's suggested here makes sense to me .... So of course, no fucking way will any of it ever happen.... And somewhere over the rainbow Edmund Burke is chiming in...'tol ya so'..........After the last eight years??? Most of what I'm seeing, most of what is being promised seems pathetically inadequate as response to what's been done to us as a people, our nation and its' reputation and our constitution and its' integrity...... I'm gonna vote for this guy, because despite what anyone might put out as pouty alternative, there really isn't any other choice... but I sure as hell wish he'd go ahead and bitch slap the rest of the dems in congress for being such spineless appeasers when they aren't just sticking their heads in the sand going la la puppies and kittens puppies and kittens, anytime someone like say, Kucinich or a few others makes a principled stand about something like say....
oh I don't know... IMPEACHMENT !!! maybe......JD
P.D. @ 3:
I hear ya
rooth terrorist fist jab baby mama hussein @ 8:
Support Cindy Sheehan!
Well, I'm not convinced by David Davis' motivations, but if you are interested in the vote for 42 days and the (failed) Labour backbench rebellion against the bill, I'd suggest taking a read of Diane Abbott's excoriation of Gordon Brown and the 42day bill.
I wish I could find a video of her speech, it really was something to see.
and who would dare upset the millionaires' apple cart?
You nuts the demos have a very bad habit of playing along to get along I wonder if they have to ask permission to raise their voice before they roll over.
All the talk about protections against terrror have nothing to do with terror and all to do with control of the sheep.
The federal judge that threw out the lawsuit to get to the bottom of some of the misdeeds of this regime would probably be a pick in Mccrazy's supreme court
Support Cindy Sheehan!
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Party Victory @ 37:
ok I stole that because I agree with that.
Pelosi makes no sense whatsoever.
Now that Obama is the man, why should he bother? He's learned, with a record of non-performance in the Senate, that winning is all about P-R.
Purging Republican legislators is only the beginning. Their Democratic collaborators also have to be purged. How many Dems voted for the Patriot Act? They all gotta go.
a little ditty for September
can be sung for the GOP convention
rooth terrorist fist jab baby mama hussein @ 8:
yes, impeach chimpy and shooter now, let them rot in a cell until after the election.
Suicidal Zebra @ 34:
I found a link to Dianne Abbotts speech on the organisation Liberty's website. Dianne's speech come in at 5min.02sec http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/VideoPlayer.aspx?meetingId=1884&st=16:...
NoOneYouKnow @ 30:
I really hope your correct, but history tells me that North Americans do not react by taking collective political action the way the French or Germans or even, albeit only occasionally, the Brits do. Americans (and Canadians) are far more likely to take the John Wayne approach where the hero singlehandedly protects Maureen O'Hara and himself using one six shooter to hold off the whole Sioux Nation.
We started down the road of united action when workers discovered collective bargaining, but the right wing media, funded by the wealthiest of the wealthy, have demonized unions and workers have yawned and flipped on their tv's to watch NASCAR.
Look at the difference between our reaction to the havoc wreaked on our economy by a small group of commodities speculators. No attempts to block traffic - just a pitiful drive on Washington" that probably bankrupt a pile of independent truckers. No tying up of the fishing fleet as in some countries. Wait for the student riots in Paris this summer - and this on a continent that didn't rip up rail lines to make ATV trails (exactly what they did in my part of Maine).
The UK's National Health Service - much feared and excoriated by the right wing - was the product of a post war government in fear of the returning vets no longer willing to roll over for the moneyed class.
Like I said, I hope you're correct (hate the word right), but I fear your deluding yourself. Nothing is going to happen precisely because no pressure is being applied.
Ryan in IL @ 1:
anybody know where the nearest torch and pitchfork shop is what?
anybody know why huckabee was in the race cuz then mccain didn't have to debate ron paul one on one and get his liberal arse mopped off the stage what?
anybody know where the idea that all liberals and conservatives hate each other came from oh the neo conservatives and neo liberals thats right what?
liberals/conservatives ----fight----> nazi's/fascists/absolutists/neocons/neolibs
cmon guys, in world war 2 who stormed the beaches of normandy...American's against fascists...if we want to win liberals and conservitives gotta stop being brainwashed, channel your hate to the fascists that's how they are winning.
john mccain is the neo lib in that quote by the way
Those same Democratic leaders who have been complicit every step of the way with Bushco, will later be defendants in criminal trials and in war crimes tribunals.
I agree with 47. Tweedle dee and tweedle dum are just two ends of the Corporations Party. Voting is just another distraction. When you sissy Americans get some cahones and resist serving in the Corporations army and take to the streets like the French do when their corporations want to rip them --then and only then u will get your country back.
Stop whining about the spineless Dems. They are just serving their sponsors.
Michael Moore said it best. "The Republicans will kill u for your stuff-the dems will just cheat u out of it".
We Canadians are not any better. Two of our provinces mimic american style fascism . We dont have the jam to take to the streets, all our newspapers push the Corporate agenda and our prime minister just signed a free trade agreement with super corrupt Colombia (they shoot trade unionists) On a positive note we just have the CBC to give us some real news, healthcare to give us more options, a much much superior system of government (how many democracies have copied the easily corrupted two party American model?) no real racial problems, a decent education for all and most importantly we dont get all weepy when somebody hoists the canadian flag.
Do something. Show courage otherwise your elites will kill us all.
Given the attention to every implied comma in the speech of both candidates it might be worth checking exactly what Burke said.
While the sentiment is surely one he would endorse, he never said it in that way.
http://tartarus.org/~martin/essays/burkequote.html.
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