NFTT: These are the things

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Saturday June 12, 2010 · 3:13 PM PDT

2010/06/12 · 15:13

When a couple of "step-nephews" went over to Iraq and Afghanistan, my good intention to send care packages to the troops became a plan... finally. So many soldiers, a long way from home, and yet it was far too easy to get distracted by more "immediate" concerns.

I thought I understood how the troops lived - in a vague, overly general sense. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

My faulty assumptions were bumped off by gaining new information - first from the USO, then the great hearts at Anysoldier.com. Now I'm really glad to support Netroots For The Troops again, pooling resources with other Kossacks. This is one of the more immediate ways I can thank these warrior-folks who are living in such difficult conditions, and going without so many things I take for granted here.

Rabbithead

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Wednesday August 27, 2008 · 7:04 AM PDT

2008/08/27 · 07:04

Even if we were shagged out the door by 10:30 or so by the candidate (heh!), last night was rather upbeat at the headquarters of Steve Blythe, the Democrat who's gunning to take back the Florida 15th. He beat a challenger two-to-one who was a Republican until December 2006.

It's been inspiring and to see what about twenty volunteers (most of them retirees) accomplished on behalf of a principled, plain-talking man.
Last night it occurred to me that there's a lot of grass-roots experience among the Kossacks, when it comes to taking on a well-financed opponent - so I got the go-ahead to request your input. Even though there's no incumbent to take on in the general election, the real adventure is just beginning...

Rabbithead

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Tuesday July 29, 2008 · 9:37 AM PDT

2008/07/29 · 09:37

A provocative ThinkProgress piece by Ali contains this excerpt from the impending issue of Newsweek:

[Suzanne Smalley:] On torture, why should the CIA be treated differently from the armed services regarding the use of harsh interrogation tactics?

[John McCain:] Because they play a special role in the United States of America and our ability to combat terrorists. But we have made it very clear that there is nothing they can do that would violate the Geneva Conventions, the Detainee Treatment Act, which prohibits torture. We could never torture anyone, but some people misconstrue that who don't understand what the Detainee Treatment Act and the Geneva Conventions are all about.

Rabbithead

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Saturday June 07, 2008 · 11:33 AM PDT

2008/06/07 · 11:33

Well, earlier in the week the presumptive Republican nominee was said to be more emphatic about the legality of warrantless wiretapping.
(The source article from the NYT also has some history about the Senator's position of several months ago, which seemed a lot more thoughtful - plus it contained this gem:)

Mr. McCain believes that "neither the administration nor the telecoms need apologize for actions that most people, except for the A.C.L.U. and trial lawyers, understand were constitutional and appropriate in the wake of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001," Mr. Holtz-Eakin wrote.

But by Friday, the Senator himself spoke with less certainty...

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NFTT: These are the things

FL-15: input requested for Steve Blythe's battle

"We could never torture anyone"

McCain: "It's ambiguous as to whether the president acted within his authority or not."