You know. The one that Obama thinks is the "the right battlefield." How’s that working out? If you’re an Afghan civilian, not so well.
There is convincing evidence that 60 children and 30 adults were killed in a US air strike in western Afghanistan last Friday, the United Nations says.
But I’m sure that once he’s elected and increases military spending and shifts more troops into Afghanistan, things there will get much, much better. Just like they did in Iraq!
North Carolinaaaaa! Come on and raise up! (c) Petey Pablo
We already know that Gilbert Arenas is a joke-stealing douche. Turns out, he’s also a bit of dummy. This is one of my biggest pet peeves with election season. People who pay absolutely no attention to politics for three and a half years all of a sudden feel the need to spout their dimwitted musings about the presidential race. From a recent blog post by Agent Zero Intelligence:
The Election
I’m not into politics, but I see what’s going on in the presidential race and I’m seeing rappers make songs for Obama and Mr. McCain doing all his stuff and I’m thinking, this is getting out of control, people. Whatever happened to Democrats and Republicans? You vote for who’s who.It’s hard for me to vote, because since I’ve been in the NBA I’ve been in the upper class so I’ve been a Republican. If you have any type of money, you’re a Republican, period. So, it’s hard because you see a better looking president in Obama – I don’t even want to say because he’s black, but he just looks the part – and then you have McCain who is Republican and I’m like, man. I know Obama is going to raise taxes on the upper class from 20-60 percent, that’s what I’m looking at. To be honest, I stopped paying attention a long time ago when it was Bush and Gore when Gore won the popular vote, but Bush was the president.
Basically, what that told me was that everybody in America voted for Gore, but somehow, Bush became president. I am confused. Obviously, our vote doesn’t really mean anything. Then you have this thing called the delegate, then you got the super delegate and then you got the hidden delegate that nobody knows about. If you’ve never heard of the hidden delegate, that’s like when you’re buying a car and they say the taxes on the car are 20 percent, and then when you look at your statement, they charge you an extra three, that’s the same thing. It’s the hidden fee delegate that nobody knows about who has all this power. They actually get to pick who they want for president. So when I start looking at it like that, that’s when I stop paying attention because at the end of the day, our votes really don’t matter. I don’t mean to be rude about it, but it seems like it doesn’t matter. If Gore wins by thousands of votes and Bush is president eight years later … come on.
There’s another reason I don’t vote – I don’t want jury duty. If you’re not registered to vote, you can’t get jury duty. I know that campaign Diddy had a couple years ago, “Vote or Die,” yeah if the alternative is jury duty, I’m going to die. I’m not going to get in one of these cases where they blow the jury members’ houses up to get out of the trial, I’m cool. I’ve seen too many movies.
For whatever president that wins, what can I tell you? Do a good job. Change the world. I remember when we were voting for class president in high school, the guy who won was the guy who said he’s going to put the vending machines in the school cafeteria. That’s who I voted for. So until I hear vending machines or lower gas prices, I’m not voting. As soon as I hear, “Yeah, I’m going to lower gas prices,” then you got me, I’ll sit in jury duty.
This is coming from a guy who spent 2 years in college…kind of, lives in our nation’s capital, is a multi-millionaire, and only works for 7 months out of the year. Scary.
Another strong segment from Wyatt.
Turns out the boy wonder was bought and paid for to the tune of $205,795. That’s a lot of change.
From the Raleigh News & Observer
RALEIGH - L.F. Eason III gave up the only job he’d ever had rather than lower a flag to honor former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms.
Eason, a 29-year veteran of the state Department of Agriculture, instructed his staff at a small Raleigh lab not to fly the U.S. or North Carolina flags at half-staff Monday, as called for in a directive to all state agencies by Gov. Mike Easley.
When a superior ordered the lab to follow the directive, Eason decided to retire rather than pay tribute to Helms. After several hours’ delay, one of Eason’s employees hung the flags at half-staff.
Glenn Greenwald calls Obama out on his FISA capitulation:
UPDATE VII: Barack Obama got around to issuing a statement and — citing what he calls "the grave threats that we face" — he just announced that he supports this warrantless eavesdropping and telecom amnesty "compromise":
Given the grave threats that we face, our national security agencies must have the capability to gather intelligence and track down terrorists before they strike, while respecting the rule of law and the privacy and civil liberties of the American people. . . .
After months of negotiation, the House today passed a compromise that, while far from perfect, is a marked improvement over last year’s Protect America Act. . . It does, however, grant retroactive immunity, and I will work in the Senate to remove this provision so that we can seek full accountability for past offenses.
It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as President, I will carefully monitor the program, review the report by the Inspectors General, and work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary to protect the lives -– and the liberty –- of the American people.
Telling Americans that we have to give up basic constitutional rights — and allow rampant lawbreaking — if we want to save ourselves from "the grave threats we face" sounds awfully familiar. He says he will work to remove amnesty from the bill, but once that fails, will vote for the "compromise." Obama has obviously calculated that sacrificing the rule of law and the Fourth Amendment is a worthwhile price to pay to bolster his standing a tiny bit in a couple of swing states. The full Obama statement is here.
If you refuse to hold war criminals accountable for their actions, what fucking good are you to me?
—————————
Dear Mr. Adams:
Thank you for your letter concerning impeachment proceedings against President Bush. I appreciate the time you took to write and welcome the opportunity to respond.
In our recent elections, the American people expressed clear disapproval with the path this country was on. They are tired of partisan politics and of an Administration that pays little heed to the wishes of the American people. They want-and deserve-a Congress that holds the Administration accountable and fulfills its Constitutional responsibility to check and balance the Executive. I share this sentiment and am determined to work hard and across party lines in the United States Senate to promote issues that are of real concern to most Americans, including the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, homeland security, global warming, and lobbying and election reform.
At this time, however, I believe that impeachment proceedings against President Bush will only divide the country even further, frustrating our hopes for a meaningful change in direction, while having little chance of success.
I have been deeply disappointed by many of this Administration’s actions and have been outspoken in those instances. Nevertheless, given the challenges our country faces I believe that we need to focus on constructive and cooperative steps that would lead us in the right direction.
Again, thank you for your continued correspondence. If you have any further questions or comments, please contact my office in Washington, D.C. at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
And here I was thinking that I might get an actual substantive answer from someone who is elected to represent my interest in Washington. Silly me.
————————
May 27, 2008
Mr. Nick Adams
8335 1/4 Blackburn Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90048-4217
Dear Mr. Adams:
Thank you for contacting me to follow up on our recent
correspondence concerning H.R. 5843, a bill to remove federal
penalties for the personal use of marijuana. Although we have a
different perspective on the issue, I appreciate having the benefit
of your view. I hope you will continue to keep in touch in the
future on matters of concern.
To learn more about my work in Congress or sign up for
periodic e-mail updates, please visit www.waxman.house.gov and
http://oversight.house.gov.
Again, thank you for contacting me and I hope you will
continue to keep in touch on issues of concern.
With kind regards, I am
Sincerely,
Henry A. Waxman
Member of Congress.
—————————–
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
The Honorable Henry Waxman
2204 Rayburn House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Waxman,
I’m just curious as to what your perspective is. I have taken the logical and common sense tact that there is no reason to continue the criminalization of a substance that has been demonstrated to be significantly less harmful to the user and to society than alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs. Since you have refused to even address the points that I made in my original letter, it’s impossible for me to know where you stand. I’ll repeat:
Right now, thousands of your constituents in Santa Monica, West Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood are partaking of marijuana in the comfort and safety of their own homes, harming no one.
Why continue to treat them like criminals?
Sincerely,
Nick Adams
