I can report that it was with great pleasure that I walked into the Curry Building here in Bloomington, Indiana, yesterday, and voted early (using a paper ballot that can not only be scanned but READ BY A HUMAN BEING). Early voting started Monday, 10/6.

Voting this time was pretty easy. I identified the little oval by the number for voting a straight Democratic ticket, triple checked I had the right little oval, then let my pencil speak for me.

The only other races you had to vote individually were school board and State Supreme Court. For the court races, your only options are ‘Retain in Office: Yes or No?’. It was my pleasure to vote NO, throw the bums out, for the Republican members of the bench.

The sad part is a good friend of mine is on the ballot for an empty judge slot here in Bloomington… as a Republican. I had lunch with him a couple months ago, and had to explain as best I could without hurting his feelings that although I did not categorize him with Bush/Rove/Cheney Republicanism, my conscience right now would never let me vote Republican again for any office, for any reason, as long as the Republican party remains what it has become, the opposite of conservative, and trending in fact towards full-scale corporate fascism with overtones of Stalinist communism.

One final note from probably the most liberal spot on the map in the middle of the state of Indiana, Bloomington. After voting I dropped by the barber shop to get a hair cut. Now this is a traditional men’s barber shop, not a trendy salon smelling of hairspray and dryers. I am actually amazed sometimes that they do not still have pictures of bulldogs playing cards on the walls, which I remember so fondly from my youth in the barbershops in rural Alabama where I grew up.

At any rate, once I mentioned I had just voted, and decided to test the waters by mentioning it had been a straight ticket for the first time in years (our council rep was a decent Republican), I was flabbergasted that both barbers and the other customers all took turns chiming in and denouncing McCain and especially Sarah Palin, who I think scares the bejeezus out of any sane American. It was unanimous.

FWIW, while chatting with the guy who guts my hair regularly, we continued our chat on politics, and I outlined the whole sorry history of Leo Strauss and his philosophy of the straw man popular man of the people president who is elected by the elite corporate and intellectuals so they can manipulate him to their ends; PNAC (Project for the the New American Century) and Cheney and that whole effort; and the Neo-Con takeover of the party with the goal of implementing these goals, and how that has led to the current disaster. As I was getting ready to leave, he had me write down the key words so he could goggle the topics and read up on them.

Maybe we will survive the madness and horror that Bush/Cheney and the crews outlined above have plunged us into in just eight years.

Maybe.

Faxed to Rep. Baron Hill, Senator Evan Bath, and Senator Richard Lugar.

Long Live the New Union of Socialist Republicans

Welcome news comrades! We the People are now We the Owners. The People’s Insurance Company, formerly known as AIG, was saved for the time being from the forces of capitalism by the new Union of Republican Socialists, formerly known as the GOP. Somewhere in the great beyond, the ghost of Karl Marx is grinning while the spirit of Adam Smith forks over the one dollar bet with an invisible hand.

In a move aimed at averting a new global economic shock, the US Federal Reserve agreed an unprecedented 85-billion-dollar rescue loan for American International Group. The deal, sealed late Tuesday, saved AIG from collapse and gave the US government a 79.9 percent stake in the insurance behemoth.

Now that the People own a major insurance company, it’s fair to ask how the People’s Insurance Company, along with the People’s Mortgage Companies and the People’s Investment Banks, will benefit the People who Own them.

Can we expect lower premiums, equity sharing, and corporate perks for our hundreds of billions of dollars? Should we start checking our mailbox for dividend checks? Who gets paid first, claimants, bondholders, stockholders, or we the new taxpayer owners? We the Owners, want to know, and the Union of Socialist Republicans better damn well tell us, fast.

Of course, as we all know all too well, laissez faire capitalism and losses are only for us proles, the citizen wage and salary workers.

Nationalization and Socialism and assuming massive failures and debts generated by private corporations through deregulation followed by massive corruption and mismanagement, followed up with a health dose of golden parachutes to the failed CEOs of these companies in the tens of millions of dollars, that is reserved only for the plutocratic oligarchy of this great nation.

Well, at any rate, the revolution has finally come.

I am sure we can anticipate the national health care plan making insurance and health care available to all Americans any day now.

Are we right? Posted also to http://keepamericafree.com, with cc: Adam Smith

On Wednesday, July 9th, 69 Senators voted to ignore their oath of office to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. They passed FISA legislation that retroactively (and in direct violation of the Constitution’s prohibitions on ex post facto laws) grants immunity to the telecommunications companies who violated the law by obeying the illegal commands of the Bush / Cheney administration and illegally, without warrants, have been wiretapping the communications of Americans for almost the entire Bush / Cheney term.

We are already members of the ACLU, but will be donating additional money to help support the ACLU lawsuit, which the ACLU has promised to file within minutes of George W. Bush signing this atrocious legislation, which simply eviscerates the Fourth Amendment protections guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. We will actively oppose the re-election of any Senator or Representative who voted for this illegal act.

The legislation is unconstitutional on its face. There is absolutely nothing in existing FISA law that prevented or would prevent proper, legal, court reviewed surveillance. This legislation is just the last straw in seven years of laws passed by the cowards in Congress who have chipped away at the foundation of the rule of the law, beginning with the Patriot Act, until we have become a nation our Founding Fathers simply would no longer recognize as the a Republic, operating under the rule of law, not the whim and dogma of individuals in power.

As Glenn Greenwald points out:

What we learned in December, 2005 that George Bush and the telecoms were doing — listening in on the private conversations of American citizens without warrants — is a felony under clear U.S. law, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine for each offense. Anyone can go read the section of FISA — right here — that says that as clearly as can be:

A person is guilty of an offense if he intentionally — (1) engages in electronic surveillance under color of law except as authorized by statute; . . .

An offense described in this section is punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both.

It was also as clear a violation of the Fourth Amendment as can be. For the Government to invade our communications with no probable cause showing to a court is exactly what the Founders prohibited as clearly as the English language permitted.

Today’s coverup of surveillance crimes and Barack Obama

We will also be donating to the efforts organized by Glenn Greenwald, who has written incredibly detailed and insightful analysis repeatedly at salon.com on just what truly bad legislation this is. Here is his commentary after the vote passing the bill: Congress votes to immunize lawbreaking telecoms, legalize warrantless eavesdropping.

Here is the link to the organization that is bringing together supporters from all sides of the political spectrum, who all recognize the threat to their liberties, no matter their political leanings: Strange Bedfellows. The Accountability Now PAC.

For any American citizen who does not understand we have already been plunged headlong into the shadowy world of a police state, with a justice system corrupted by this administration, I suggest they read the following report.

How Do You Prove You Were Warrantlessly Wiretapped If It’s A Secret?

As we continue to debate the question of telco immunity, there’s a separate, but related legal issue that’s worth paying attention to as well: the question of who can actually sue about having their rights abused by supposedly warrantless wiretaps. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that various groups such as the ACLU couldn’t sue because they had no “standing” (i.e., proof that they were impacted by the warrantless wiretaps). It’s a bit convoluted when you think about it: there’s no way to determine if illegal spying took place because the only way you could get the evidence would be to first prove you have the evidence that it took place. But if you think that’s twisted, it gets even more bizarre.

It turns out that in one related case, the government accidentally sent over proof that it used a warrantless wiretap to monitor a certain group. Thus, that group can actually show it has standing… sorta. One of the lawyers involved in pushing just such a lawsuit forward has a stunning tale explaining the amazing obstacle course he had to traverse to actually have this lawsuit move forward (and it’s not over yet). Basically, the government claims the information in the document is still secret, even though it gave it out, and some of the details have been reported on the news (in business contexts once info is out, it’s no longer secret — apparently, not so with the government).

Following is the ACLU press release promising suit will be filed within minutes of George W. Bush signing this awful piece of legislation.

Senate Passes Unconstitutional Spying Bill And Grants Sweeping Immunity To Phone Companies (7/9/2008)

ACLU Announces Legal Challenge To Follow President’s Signature

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (202) 675-2312, media@dcaclu.org or
(212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

WASHINGTON – Today, in a blatant assault upon civil liberties and the right to privacy, the Senate passed an unconstitutional domestic spying bill that violates the Fourth Amendment and eliminates any meaningful role for judicial oversight of government surveillance. The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 was approved by a vote of 69 to 28 and is expected to be signed into law by President Bush shortly. This bill essentially legalizes the president’s unlawful warrantless wiretapping program revealed in December 2005 by the New York Times.

“Once again, Congress blinked and succumbed to the president’s fear-mongering. With today’s vote, the government has been given a green light to expand its power to spy on Americans and run roughshod over the Constitution,” said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “This legislation will give the government unfettered and unchecked access to innocent Americans’ international communications without a warrant. This is not only unconstitutional, but absolutely un-American.”

The FISA Amendments Act nearly eviscerates oversight of government surveillance by allowing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to review only general procedures for spying rather than individual warrants. The FISC will not be told any specifics about who will actually be wiretapped, thereby undercutting any meaningful role for the court and violating the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

The bill further trivializes court review by authorizing the government to continue a surveillance program even after the government’s general spying procedures are found insufficient or unconstitutional by the FISC. The government has the authority to wiretap through the entire appeals process, and then keep and use whatever information was gathered in the meantime. A provision touted as a major “concession” by proponents of the bill calls for investigations by the inspectors general of four agencies overseeing spying activities. But members of Congress who do not sit on the Judiciary or Intelligence committees will not be guaranteed access to the agencies’ reports.

The bill essentially grants absolute retroactive immunity to telecommunication companies that facilitated the president’s warrantless wiretapping program over the last seven years by ensuring the dismissal of court cases pending against those companies. The test for the companies’ right to immunity is not whether the government certifications they acted on were actually legal – only whether they were issued. Because it is public knowledge that certifications were issued, all of the pending cases will be summarily dismissed. This means Americans may never learn the truth about what the companies and the government did with our private communications.

“With one vote, Congress has strengthened the executive branch, weakened the judiciary and rendered itself irrelevant,” said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “This bill – soon to be law – is a constitutional nightmare. Americans should know that if this legislation is enacted and upheld, what they say on international phone calls or emails is no longer private. The government can listen in without having a specific reason to do so. Our rights as Americans have been curtailed and our privacy can no longer be assumed.”

In advance of the president’s signature, the ACLU announced its plan to challenge the new law in court.

“This fight is not over. We intend to challenge this bill as soon as President Bush signs it into law,” said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. “The bill allows the warrantless and dragnet surveillance of Americans’ international telephone and email communications. It plainly violates the Fourth Amendment.”

Russ Feingold, one of the few members of Congress who have consistently spoken against the rush to pass law after law that is blatantly outside the framework of Constitutional restraint, has posted a detailed and cogent list of just exactly what is wrong with the current FISA law extension that passed in the House on Friday, and now up for consideration in the Senate.

Fact Sheets: The New FISA Bill: A Bad Deal

Among the points in the fact sheet are the following.

Under the new FISA bill, H.R. 6304, the immunity outcome is predetermined. A federal district court could review in secret the letters to companies to determine whether ‘substantial evidence’ indicates that they received written requests stating the activity was authorized by the President and determined to be lawful. But information declassified by the Senate Intelligence Committee already indicates that the companies got such written requests – meaning immunity is virtually guaranteed. The plaintiffs could participate in briefing to the court, but only to the extent it does not necessitate the disclosure of classified information, which will seriously impair their ability to participate in a meaningful way.

Under the bill, surveillance can begin after the FISA Court authorizes the program, or if the Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence certify that they don’t have time to get a court order and that intelligence important to national security may be lost or not timely acquired. This broad ‘exigency’ exception could very well swallow the rule, and undermine any presumption of prior judicial approval.

Feingold’s analysis is very conservative and accurate in pointing out the major flaws in this horrible piece of legislation.

Congressional Democrats need to wake up and realize they do no-one a favor by continuing to support George W. Bush and Republicans in their efforts to deconstruct the Constitution and destroy the Civil Liberties of the American People.

To: Sen. Barack Obama
Sen. Evan Bayh

Subj: Democratic Capitulation on Unconstitutional FISA Extension

The House bill passed Friday was passed with 24 hours of introduction. Not even time enough for members to pretend to have read it. One business day later, here is the bill in the Senate, so Senators can pretend they have read it.

And, as in the case of the so oxymoronically named Patriot Act, the Senate apparently is ready to cave and grant what is fundamentally unconstitutional retroactive immunity to the telecoms, who have been pouring millions of dollars into the pockets of both houses of Congress to buy this legislation.

Of course Bush will be thrilled, since this illegal act not only will prevent public scrutiny in court of the multiple illegal acts of warrantless surveillance they started putting in place even before 9/11; this act expands permissions to ignore the Civil Liberties of the American people, and sets up an absurd secret police structure in which the Department of Justice gets to communicate secretly with a different court, and tell the court essentially what to do whenever the DOJ chooses.

As for the candidacy of Sen. Obama for President?

I actually stood in the audience in front of the stage when he appeared here in Bloomington, IN, at Assembly Hall. After almost giving up on politicians, I actually dared believe his words::

“I have studied the Constitution. I have taught the Constitution. And as President, I will uphold and obey the Constitution.”

Apparently those words did not mean what I thought they meant, in light of Sen. Obama’s rather pathetic waffling statement on the passage of the House bill last Friday. George W. Bush could have written that statement, and no one would have known the difference.

Once again, the Democrats adopt the position that because we are afraid of some shadowy group of terrorists, it is perfectly acceptable to gut the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the rule of law, and continue to support the notion that the President can do anything he wants, illegal or not, including waging war, spying, kidnapping, and torture, and there are no consequences.

The founders of this nation would be cringing in disgust at this notion. The Constitution is not optional. The Bill of Rights is not optional.

Uphold your oath of office. Filibuster this obscene bill. Stop this madness, and start acting like you mean it when you say you want to return America to the rule of law, and away from the lawlessness of the past seven years.

We do not see how we can continue contributing to the campaign of Sen. Obama (to date $150, after $200 to Edwards before he withdrew), if this is how Sen. Obama betrays principle. We also support MoveOn.Org, donate to it, and worked for it in the last election cycle doing GOTV. We had already committed to doing the same for Obama. We will have to reconsider, it appears.

The above post was faxed to Sen. Bayh and Sen. Obama Monday morning, June 23.