CSIndy: Mikey’s Mission (March 2, 2006)
Our local weekly newpaper is doing an interesting article on the AFA religious fight. Best of luck to Mikey.
Category Archives: Politics
Oath of office – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From Oath of office – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other officials, including members of Congress, it specifies they “shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation to support this constitution.” At the start of each new U.S. Congress, in January of every odd-numbered year, those newly elected or re-elected Congressmen – the entire House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate – must recite an oath:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
I wonder if we could try the entire Congress for malfeasance?
Questions for a potential Representative
Jay Fawcett has dropped in on the Drinking Liberally crowd several times in the past few months. Jay is planning to run for Congress as a Democrat, in a district that is registered as 46% Republican and votes over 60% Republican. I think there is one elected Democratic official in the entire area covered by Colorado’s 5th Congressional District. He was just elected as a state representative of the largely liberal Manitou Springs district, and it was a squeaker (before that there hadn’t been any elected Democrats in the 5th Congressional for ten years or more, I think.)
Continue reading Questions for a potential Representative
On hiatus
Well, it has been a while since my last post. I’ve taken to drinking liberally, at least on odd Tuesdays. I also helped run a small SF convention.
In retrospect, I am not sure what I’ve been doing. I’ve discovered soduko, amazing how that will suck out your time.
Playing with the computer, trying to get MythTV working. More on that later in a geek posting.
Trying to get the books in order for income tax time.
Following the trials and tribulations of Teresa Nielsen Hayden. Sometimes the system can be so wrong.
And watching football playoffs, preparing forthe 2006 baseball season and trying to rip my music collection using MusicBrainz. Amazing how many CDs I have that aren’t in their database.
And now, it is off to a Linux Users Group.
What he said!
From Talking Points Memo via:
James Dobson: “If the nation’s politicians don’t fix this national disaster, then the oceans of gambling money with which Jack Abramoff tried to buy influence on Capitol Hill will only be the beginning of the corruption we’ll see. Some religious leaders want new ethics rules for Congress, but that’s only a band-aid fix. Politicians need to root out this infection. Gambling – all types of gambling – is driven by greed and subsists on greed. That makes it morally bankrupt from its very foundation. Gambling creates addicts, breeds crime and destroys families. We need courageous office holders who will begin the process of shutting down lotteries, casinos and other gambling outlets.”
I think he has a good basic theme here, let’s try that some other ways:
Continue reading What he said!
Organized Relations
I notice that Bush declares it legal to wiretap Americans without a warrant:
So, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, I authorize the interception of international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations.
from a Dec 19th, 2005 conference.
Evidently, Bush, sharp legal mind that he is, got this vetted by the same administration lawyers who think torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners is OK.
It is the last few words of the quote that worry me. Based on comments of the Vice-President, various administration officials and Republican lawmakers, over the past few years, I think the Democratic Party falls into the “related terrorist organizations” category, along with anyone who opposes the Bush and any of his policies. Good thing I’m not organized.
No, No, No, No, No
I heard Bush on the news last night saying that his job is to protect the American People. I believe he was saying this to justify spying on Americans without a warrant.
No, No, No, No, No!
Evidently Mr Bush wasn’t listening to himself when he took his oath of office.
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) 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.”
You see, Mr. Bush? Your job is to protect the Constitution, not the American People. I think we can defend ourselves quite nicely, thank you.
If Mr. Bush doesn’t listen to himself, why should the rest of us listen to him?
I notice, from the text of a speech he gave this morning, that he is still confused.
Gary Hart Interview
From a BuzzFlash Interview (via Sideshow) I found this quote from Gary Hart to be memorable:
… the reason you can’t mix religion and politics is, religion is about absolutes, right and wrong, good and evil. Politics is about compromise. If you cannot compromise on issues that are not central to a person’s faith – and that’s about 99% of the issues our country faces – then the country doesn’t work. The government doesn’t work.
I think I will have to check out the essay, God And Caesar in America: An Essay on Religion and Politics, that spawned the interview.
Yeah, without compromise, this country doesn’t work.
Capitol Hill Blue: Bush on the Constitution: ‘It’s just a goddamned piece of paper’
Capitol Hill Blue: Bush on the Constitution: ‘It’s just a goddamned piece of paper’
An interesting commentary, if true. I ran a quick Google on some key words and phrases, like: Bush, constitution, “piece of paper”, and I couldn’t find anyone else reporting this. I would think this would be a major story for any main stream media org.
Of course the major give-away is Bush’s statement that the Constiution is a ‘piece of paper’. I’m not sure that he even knows that.
EPIC West: Electronic Privacy Information Center West Coast Office: Hoofnagle’s Consumer Privacy Top 10
An interesting list of steps you can take to slow down the privacy invasion. As for the loyalty cards, I am:
George Bush
1600 Pensylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
202-456-1414
If he wants loyalty, he can have loyalty.