In the event of FISA capitulation by congress, they will have signed the warrant of our demise as an open society governed by a system of checks and balances - a government that is in theory responsible to the people and our rights.

Voting them out is not the end of our power. If the new rule is to get elected, raid the treasury and change the laws that hamper you, and then go away, then we are just voting in new thieves.

The great joke of 2006 was this: we said that we want change, and they took us literally. A handful of change if you make the minimum.

Here is a letter that I just wrote to Bruce Schneier asking him for advice on a course of action by the people, for the people. Bruce Schneier is an expert on security and cryptography with superb credentials.

My letter to him in now way can be construed as sedition. I just want my 4th amendment honored. Since destroying the equipment that is listening to us is destruction of property, I wonder if there might not be another way around it.

Below is my letter:

So, it was interesting blogging here yesterday.

I learned all the new rules here, and I have to say, it is a lot funner at the bottom.

The great thing is, playing by these new rules allows be to say right up front that Clinton has to keep Obama under the necessary delegates at the end so the superdelegates can coronate her.

The first and foremost reason I base this on is because, apparently, the supporters of Barack Obama here are too stupid to be allowed to vote.

Now before you get shrill, remember that I am playing by the new rules.

Where to start? Hmmm...

One of the things that amazes me about this heated Democratic primary contest is the degree of vitriol leveled at both Bill and Hillary Clinton by many people on this site.

The nature of the attacks are straight out of the Republican play book.

It has started spilling over into personal attacks on Clinton supporters with statements like, "I don't care anymore. I hate her so much that I just don't care what you think", and then proceed to interject some nasty comments.

I would never suggest that someone hold back for the sake of party unity, that's not where I'm coming from. I saying it because the attacks have transcended reality, and have taken on a distinct ring of pseudospeciation.

I could have choked but he saved my life.

He sure is swell!

There's more below the fold.

Two cows were standing in a field and talking:

"Say, old chap, this Mad Cow disease has me in a bit of a tizzy."
"Not me," replied the second, "I’m a duck."


I like irony. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I know it when it hits me. I can’t say I know it when I see it because I suspect there is good deal of irony that gets lost on me – which is ironic, for someone who likes irony.

Well, it looks like we got the bastards at last.

You probably want evidence because every time you hear this claim, reality turns out to be wrong.

Well, prepare to be blown away...

I have both Barrack Obama's and Hillary Clinton's websites open right now, and I will be refering to them here. I have not yet decided on a candidate and I watched their debate the other night with great interest and really enjoyed it.

At its conclusion, I thought they both did great. I was proud and I kept thinking about what fine command they both have on the issues, and how bankrupt the Republicans seem in comparison.

The big problem for me is that I'm still undecided. It got me thinking about what either one could say to secure my vote, and the answers I came up with stunned me in their obviousness.

I keep hearing talk from them about being bold, and new directions, and changing Washington, and transparency, but what they are not saying is almost embarrassing.

The thing is, the issues I came up with all have clear solutions but require some backbone.

I caught the tail end of a movie called Children of Men on HBO the other day. It had some remarkably powerful urban war scenes that reminded me of Saving Private Ryan - which I'll get to in a bit.

Anyway, I was ordering some movies and luckily I remembered the title Children of Men and so ordered it too.

I'm so glad I did, and not just for the movie.

Ted Klaudt, a former Republican state law maker from South Dakota who served eight years in the state House from 1999 to 2006 was convicted on four counts of second degree rape.

A scary tale
That must be told
Venture if you dare
Below the fold

I have to come out and say what's been bothering me. I just don't understand it; this place is billed as a politically savvy site so it must be me that is stupid. It is my understanding that someone running for president will do or say nearly anything required of him or her to get elected. Ride around in tanks, kiss babies, promise twice as much.

What I'm finding on this site is that, in the case of Hillary Clinton, every move she makes is analyzed under a microscope and then reported on in that same isolated context while seemingly missing the obvious picture.

Please read on before whipping out the flamethrowers.

I'm writing this to ask you a favor, but first let me congratulate you on your successful surgery and wish you a speedy recovery. MGH is a great hospital and it was heartening to hear that your overall health is excellent.

I feel bad asking you to do anything. You are a tireless champion of the people and for the people. It truly saddens me that you had to see what politics has become, and to see what this administration has done to the country and the values we hold dear.

We, the people... indeed!

I can't help but to think what the outcome would have been had Bush presided during the Cuban missile crisis. A confrontation with Iran carries with it unforeseeable dangers that could rise to the same level as the missile crisis, and look who is at the helm. Do you trust this administration to make wise and rational decisions of such import?

Anyway, my favor is comparatively small.

The electricity requirements to enrich uranium to bomb grade are enormous and cannot be hidden. For comparison, the facilities at Oak Ridge consumed 20 percent more electricity than all of New York City during the Manhattan Project.

Either the Republicans are not aware of this or they simply prefer to use irrational fear to make their case because you simply do not hide this kind of consumption.

My guess is that by monitoring the electricity consumption at places like the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran, we probably know, or can know exactly how far along Iran is in any nuclear program.

What would you think if you saw a chimpanzee gazing in placid wonder at the night sky?

What about a chimpanzee bashing another one with a rock?

What is it that separates us from the animals?

One of my favorite answers is only man uses toilet paper. There it is: the difference between man and beast is that we wipe our asses. If it were the overarching feature that separated us from the animals then we would need a disclaimer: toilet paper required. If we are made in God’s own image then either God isn’t exactly perfect or there is some deeper significance to wiping our asses that has not revealed itself yet.

Anyway, this diary isn’t about wiping our asses or about kicking the legs out from under God.  It’s about a feature that separates man from beast, a feature that possibly came to exist by accident. Mostly this diary is about two aspects of this feature that compliment each other even as they work to opposite ends. Along the way, this diary may offer hints as to a condition that has afflicted man from time immortal and maybe explain why it is so miserably difficult to dig our way out from under its power.

The story begins long, long ago...

Gore, G-Gore, G-Gore Gore Gore.

More Gore.
GorGor.

More Gore, Less War.

Gore For Shore.

Al's My Pal.

There's More...

Yesterday, OPOL published this diary asking where are the good Democrats. In it, he correctly issued a call to action for the Democrats.

Below, I would like to suggest one quick and painless thing that can be done to send a message to Congress that we, the people, are not being heard and are not happy about it.

It will be a week today since John Kerry sat next to John McCain on Press the Meat with Tim Russert and I still can't get it out of my head.

To me, it brought into sharp focus many of the problems our country is suffering with.

I know Kerry and McCain have been friends in the past and I remember watching them work together lobbying for CAFE standards in, I think, 2001. I remember watching those debates and thinking this is how government should be run. Two senators from both sides of the isle working from extremely well researched material informing the rest of the committee about why the common interest would be well served by passing the legislation.

How low we have sunk...

Slow Death Syndrome can take up to 100 years to kill you. It sounds cruel, doesn't it? It's known by many other names such as old age and there is no cure for it because it's not really a disease.

I was recently subjected to an attempt to cure me of liberalism by an organization that should be sued for malpractice.

I'm talking about CNN in particular but it really applies to the MSM as a whole. Malprictice is the service they are rendering.