I can't find the quote online, but Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says "Until we have a strategy in Afghanistan, we aren't going to resource the mission." Really? What exactly have you been doing for the last eight years then, other than "resourcing the mission"? Just as in Iraq, watch what they do, not what they say.
In another corner of Washington, the Supreme Court is debating free speech [sic] issues involving dog fighting videos, and speculating about the legality of human snuff films. "Original constructionist" Justice Scalia claims "the First Amendment did not allow the government to limit speech and expression unless it involved sex or obscenity." Really? He must have a different copy of the Constitution than I do, because mine says "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." I looked in vain for the words "sex" and "obscenity," but couldn't find them.
Incidentally, I also couldn't find anything saying that giving money to politicians was "speech," nor that inanimate corporations were capable of "speech," nor that making snuff films constitutes "speech" either, for that matter. And, though I'm no "original constructionist," I have a hard time believing the founders of the nation contemplated any of those things as "speech" either (nor does the dictionary, for that matter).
I'm reminded by a reader that Scalia is also the person who expresses incredulity at the idea that the cross is a religious symbol.
And, finally, for a bonus having nothing to do with the title of this diary (other than as a response to Nancy Pelosi), a video of yesterday's demonstration against the occupation of Afghanistan:
Reprinted from Left I on the News