Permanent War Powers?

It is always time for Constitutional patriots to pay attention to what happens in Washington DC. Now is one of the more urgent times.

Here’s the latest bulletin from the ACLU:

The House of Representatives recently passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which contains a reckless provision that would give the president — any president — the power to unilaterally take our country to war wherever, whenever and however he or she sees fit. The Senate Armed Services Committee will begin debating the NDAA next week,

The Senate Armed Services Committee is about to consider a new stealth law authorizing America to be in a worldwide war.

We are very concerned that one or more senators may try to sneak this new amendment authorizing worldwide war into the National Defense Authorization Act. As early as Wednesday, the committee may vote on the new amendment, which would give this president — and all future presidents — the sole power to send American service men and women into war anywhere and everywhere around the globe, wherever there is a terrorism suspect. There would be no more checks and balances on these critical war decisions. The worldwide war amendment would have no clear enemy, no expiration date, no geographical boundaries, and no connection to the 9/11 attacks or any other harm or threat to Americans.

It is shocking that Congress is entertaining such legislation at a time when many are looking to see an end to escalating conflict and abuses of power in the name of fighting terrorism.

The worldwide war amendment would have no clear enemy, no expiration date, no geographical boundaries, and no connection to the 9/11 attacks or any other harm or threat to Americans. Congress should not wholesale hand over to this president -- and all future presidents -- the authority that the Constitution gives to Congress alone to decide whether, where, and why the country will go to war. If this provision passes, there will be no more checks and balances on the use of the military.

The time is now to restore respect for the Constitution and the system of checks and balances. The decision to go to war is too important to be decided in a secret debate on an amendment to a much bigger bill, and Congress should not turn over all of its power to this president and all future presidents.

President Obama says he opposes this provision. Let's hope he means it. That was not true for the previous president and will likely not be true for the next president. If the National Defense Authorization Act passes with this provision, with enough votes to over-ride a veto, our Constitution will be gutted.

Call your senators, please. Now.

Constitutional Meltdown Continues

Military action continues in Libya, despite the 60 day limit allowed by the 1973 War Powers Resolution. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has criticized legislators for avoiding confrontation with the President on the issue, saying Congress has become “not even a rubber stamp, but an irrelevancy”.

Tell us something new. Since being intimidated by Bush and Cheney’s “unitary executive” seizure of powers to make war, Congress has continued to abdicate its Constitutional duty.

Paul said, “The real hypocrisy of the conservative movement is that they claim to be such fans of the rule of law. But they sure aren’t willing to follow it, when it comes to how we go to war.”

I applaud him for this, and furthermore I’d substitute the word liberal for conservative and send the same message. We are suffering some serious Constitutional meltdown here, and both parties are to blame.

Poem For Sarah P.

The Midnight Ride of Sarah the Quitter


Gather 'round children and hear the tale
The one the Twit of the Tundra tells

Ride like the wind o'er hill and dale
And warn the British with shots and bells

Ding dong, pow pow
Listen to our song
Everything you thought
You knew is wrong

Priorities

Orwell wrote “Ignorance is strength” as a Party slogan in “1984”. It seems as if that is also an operating principle in our corporate media and education funding as well.

Newsweek featured a Citizenship test that amplifies this ignorance.

Here are a few disturbing examples:

Who’s in charge of the executive branch? The president. Correct: 73% Incorrect: 27%

Who did the United States fight in World War II? Japan, Germany, and Italy. Correct: 60% Incorrect: 40%

We elect a U.S. senator for how many years? Six. Correct: 39% Incorrect: 61%

Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government? To print money, to declare war, to create an army, or to make treaties. Correct: 19% Incorrect: 81%

How many justices are on the Supreme Court? Nine. Correct: 37% Incorrect: 63%

What do we call the first 10 amendments to the Constitution? The Bill of Rights. Correct: 57% Incorrect: 43%

Yesterday was the 67th anniversary of D-Day, the allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. I wonder how many Americans are even aware of this.

Never mind who wrote the Federalist Papers, forget civics. Americans are fed more vital information.

While the corporate media was falling all over each other to cover non-issues like a congressman’s Twittering skivvies and another certain Twittering Twit of the Tundra’s blathering about Paul Revere’s “shots and bells” warning the British, five more Americans died in Iraq for George W. Bush’s war of choice.

Yes, indeed. Mission accomplished...as long as the mission was the enrichment of corporate cronies, and political capital for the re-election of a “war president” in 2004. Those Americans killed this week did not die to protect us or our freedoms. They are still paying the true cost in blood for Bush’s “crusade” for political gain that he openly admitted he desired, before the cronies on the Supreme Court strangled democracy and gave him the White House.

“One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief. My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it. If I have a chance to invade…, if I had that much capital, I'm not going to waste it. I'm going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I'm going to have a successful presidency.” – George W. Bush 1999

That “capital” was spent through Orwellian “war is peace” doublespeak on behalf of permanent war and the shredding of the Bill of Rights.

“I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace.” - George W. Bush

“Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way..." – G. W. B. 4-20-04

But never mind all that. It’s “old news”. Let’s hear more about wieners, shots and bells. And isn’t it more important to hear politicians’ bickering about “values” and government debt while they continue to give tax breaks to the rich and austerity for the rest of us?

Above all, shouldn’t we focus on everything that is NOT about restoring peace, our educational system, our economy, our infrastructure, and our jobs?

Edwards the Scoundrel

So John Edwards turned out to be another pretty boy slimeball, and possibly a criminal. Another slippery cheater, to say the least. Plenty of that ilk in DC.

That still doesn’t make him wrong on policy and I don’t regret supporting him over the rest in ’08.

All we had were his words back then, and those words happened to be to the left of Obama. He may have lied to his wife and others, but his opinions on the issues were far more on track with solutions to the Big Mess.

Bush and Cheney also lied and are criminals. Whose lies were fatal to hundreds of thousands?

They usually all get elected before the real treachery comes out, and that is usually far worse for all of us than a guy who didn't even get elected, right?

Fresh FOX(R) Fascism

For our latest Fox Fascism and Reich Wing hate fest let’s turn to the May 4th edition of FOX (R) “Business” channel’s “Follow The Money”.

Corporate media buffoons are falling all over themselves gloating about how torture helped us kill bin-Laden. They have no evidence of this, but with our corporate media, who cares?

But FOX(R) is always especially ridiculous....and vile.

Never mind they “forgot” Bush shut down the special CIA unit tracking bin-Laded in 2005 after he famously said bin-Laden no longer “concerns me” when asked about him.

The video clip is at Media Matters.

Here’s the transcript of our fearless fascist fantasist on torture:

Eric Bolling: I wanted to know who else at home who you thought should be waterboarded. So, Louise says, waterboard "Joy Behar." Patti says "Senate Dems... and then Obama... and then the kooks on The View, starting with Joy." Jerry says he wants to see Alan Colmes get waterboarded. "The secrets of the left wing cabal will come pouring out of that boy." This guy's a bit more sentimental, go ahead, waterboard "my ex-wife." Denise says Keith Olbermann and Rachael Maddow. And Mike says "Waterboard the Westboro Baptists Church." I agree with them.

In response to Media Matters showing the clip, Bolling falsely claimed that Media Matters smeared him and added, "Hey Media Matters... I'd love to waterboard you for the truth."

They just can’t help it. It is truly ingrained into their little authoritarian reptilian brains.

The Dark Side

I thought I’d wait a couple days after the release of President Obama’s long form birth certificate before saying anything. I figured, let’s give the birthers time to admit they were wrong or misled, and demand an end to one of the American radical Right’s Big Lies.

...Crickets.

Heavens to Orly Taitz, not a peep. Does any sane person expect anything different from the RepubliCON Cult? Of course not. They are a cult so enraged by the fact there is a Black man in the White House, they accept any wild notion that justifies their fear, anger and hatred. They embrace the twisted belief system of racists, fascists and idiots. And as we all know, racists, fascists and idiots are never wrong, and never have to recognize, or admit to holding, any false beliefs.

The horror is not that these goose-stepping moral failures cannot admit they are wrong, or refuse to show any interest in learning the truth; but they are virtually half the voting block of the Republican Party. These arrogant, racist fascist fools are why we have the Republican Party in power. The true meaning of “useful idiots” is on display for the world to see. How can anyone be proud of this country with this reality? We are no better than 1930’s Germany. We are now practically begging for a Republican police state. Fascism has come. The Big Lies are here. The “pinhead patriots” are ignorant and frightened authoritarians who believe those who disagree with them are Marxist threats to their vile notion of what a free democratic republic should be.

The servants of Mammon are in control of our politicians, and what was once called a government of, by and for the people has been bought and paid for. The legislative, judicial and executive branches of our federal and state governments are being locked into serving the agenda of the power brokers of Wall Street, insurance companies, energy conglomerates, Pharma, and the Military Industrial Complex. Money is Free Speech. Corporations are Persons. (Thank you Supreme Corporate Cronies.) War is peace. (Thank you, GWB, “I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace.”) Freedom is slavery. (Goodbye jobs, fair pay, benefits and pensions.) Ignorance is strength. (Thank you, Trump and Birthers.)

This is a clear symptom of the growing power of the Dark Side. “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Thank you, Jesus.