Common Sense for Uncommon Times - Fair and Balanced |
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Random, occasionally rambling thoughts with links to interesting, scandalous, or partisan news of the day. Fair and Balanced 
We owe the liberty and freedom we take for granted to the enlisted men and women in the armed forces. They sacrifice family, ease, and even life laboring in service to all of us. The least we can do for them is honor their devotion with dignified pay scales, decent education for themselves and their children, and reasonable compensation for service away from their families and death on the battlefield. Flag waving politicians who praise the troops on one hand and cut their pay and benefits with the other should be deeply ashamed of themselves.
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Saturday, September 23, 2006
Bill of Rights Test Which amendment does trial without evidence violate? Which amendment does torture violate? Which amendment does extraordinary rendition violate? Which amendment does denial of habeas corpus violate? Which amendment does warrantless eavesdropping violate? Which part of the President's inaugural oath has he violated? Hints: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office ofPresident of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." --Presidential oath of office, Article II, Section 1, United States Constitution Amendment IV The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Amendment V No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. Amendment VI In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense. Amendment VIII Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. posted by Dave on 1:03 AM | 0 comments link
2006 Voting Test Three questions you must answer correctly to get your ballot. 1. Was Saddam Hussein involved with the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US? 2. Did Saddam Hussein have weapons of mass destruction? 3. Did George Bush know in advance that the September 11 attacks were going to happen? If you answer yes to any of these questions, you get a blank ballot. Sorry. posted by Dave on 1:00 AM | 0 comments link
Torture R Us I am ashamed that this once great nation can debate torture as a useful tool. I am ashamed that Bush and Rove forced tortured John McCain to lose his moral compass. I am ashamed that trials without evidence are the rule of the day. I am ashamed that for the third election cycle in a row, the American press and American people are being played for fools. And stand for it. I am ashamed that Bush is our President. I am ashamed that Karl Rove is not in jail. Most of all, I am ashamed for the media. When over 30% of people still think Saddam had something to do with 9/11, they have failed. Miserably. All of them. posted by Dave on 12:48 AM | 0 comments link -------------------- Sunday, September 17, 2006
Broder chooses ignorance "...I am not a reader of other blogs; I'd rather be out reporting than sitting in front of my computer." I used to think Bush was the least curious person in Washington. Maybe Broder wants the title. David Carr offers in the New York times another explanation besides lack of curiousity for the average MSM pundit's problem with the Internet: Journalists who have fought their way up amid the clutter in traditional media are used to having their opinions questioned, but not with the directness and ferocity that the Web encourages. That sounds like Broder to me. When you have been wrong as consistently as he has been in the last decade, the last thing you want is feedback. He couldn't set foot into the blogosphere without sensing the disdain for his views. posted by Dave on 11:35 AM | 0 comments link -------------------- Saturday, September 16, 2006
The Best and the Brightest Rajiv Chandrasekaran, a Washington Post Staff Writer and author of "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" pours salt into the personnel policy wound that is the Bush administration's gift to America. Think of Bush as the "Herpes Fairy" with people like Michael Brown, John Bolten, and this new crop of characters from the CPA. Read the whole article. After the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in April 2003, the opportunity to participate in the U.S.-led effort to reconstruct Iraq attracted all manner of Americans -- restless professionals, Arabic-speaking academics, development specialists and war-zone adventurers. But before they could go to Baghdad, they had to get past Jim O'Beirne's office in the Pentagon. To pass muster with O'Beirne, a political appointee who screens prospective political appointees for Defense Department posts, applicants didn't need to be experts in the Middle East or in post-conflict reconstruction. What seemed most important was loyalty to the Bush administration. What emerges most clearly from this excerpt is the unwillingness of the Bush administration to act like grownups. They simply can't be trusted to do anyting right. What pisses me off the most about this is the lost opportunities, both in Iraq and Afghanistan. We're a nation of can-do butt busters, but instead of sending our bipartisan first string to get the job done, we sent rookies, ne'er do wells, and hapless political hacks. I've had enough. posted by Dave on 2:46 PM | 0 comments link -------------------- Thursday, September 14, 2006
If you support veterans This is one of the greatest ads you'll see this election cycle. It strips away the hypocrisy from the Republicans who claim to love our troops but never manage to get around to supporting them. posted by Dave on 2:01 PM | 0 comments link
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) tells it like it is (video at link) "In light of the rantings that went on for 30 minutes by two colleagues from the other side, I'd like to state for the record that America is not tired of fighting terrorism; America is tired of the wrongheaded and boneheaded leadership of the Republican party that has sent six and a half billion a month to Iraq while the front line was Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. That led this country to attack Saddam Hussein, when we were attacked by Osama bin Laden. Who captured a man who did not attack the country and let loose a man that did. Americans are tired of boneheaded Republican leadership that alienates our allies when we need them the most. Americans are most certainly tired of leadership that despite documenting mistake after mistake after mistake, even of their own party admitting mistakes, never admit they do anything wrong. That's the kind of leadership Americans are tired of." She concluded, "I'm not going to sit here as a Democrat and let the Republican leadership come to the floor and talk about Democrats not making us safe. They're the ones in charge and Osama bin Laden is still at loose." posted by Dave on 1:56 PM | 0 comments link
Ripped entirely from a FireDogLake Commenter: Dems need to plainly tell the truth about what we believe: We believe that the Geneva Convention works. We do not believe in torture. We believe in accountability and the rule of law. We do not believe in secret prisons or warrantless wiretaps, outside the scrutiny of the courts. We believe that our morality is not dependent upon the morality of others. We do not believe in giving up our moral stature in times of war. We believe that no one is above the law - not the president, not the CIA, not the Justice Department, not the Congress, not the courts, not corporations, not unions, not lobbyists. We believe that no one is beneath the law - not the poor, not the non-English speakers, not the immigrant (legal or not), not the ill, not the outcasts of our society. We believe that the military and the officers of the intelligence communuity are safer with the Geneva Conventions in place. We do not believe in cutting and running from the protections of Geneva. Most of all, we believe in three branches of government that hold each other accountable as they do the people’s business. We do not believe in King George. Not in 1776, and not in 2006. posted by Dave on 10:36 AM | 0 comments link
Ann Richards is gone. Some people are larger than life. Ann Richards was one of them. She was sassy, tough, and principled. One of a crop of great Texan Democratic women. I'll always treasure her line about George Bush: "Poor George, he can't help it — he was born with a silver foot in his mouth," Christy at Firedoglake has a more detailed look posted by Dave on 9:21 AM | 0 comments link
MSM Determined to Attack in the US This crisp post by A Tiny Revolution captures the castrati nature of the Washington Post's Len Downie perfectly. If only Downie would have listened to George Bush more attentively: "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." —President George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002 posted by Dave on 9:07 AM | 0 comments link -------------------- Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Come on, it was just a year... To my legion of regular readers, I'm sorry for the long hiatus. Try running a restaurant and bar when you're halfway to geezerhood and you'll start to understand. The current election cycle is heating up and I can't resist a chance for some action. In spite of all the predictions of a Democratic surge, I'm going to hang onto my "show me" mode. Republicans kicked our ass in 2002 and 2004 and until the votes are counted, I'm not going against the trend. Still, we've got some mighty good candidates. We're unified more than at any time in the recent past. Finally we have all the evidence we need that the Republicans are incompetent at running out country, unable to understand balance of powers, and unwilling to honor the Constitution. With no further ado, here's my campaign song for this year. Memorize it. Put the bumper stickers on your car. Tell all your friends that you've "had enough". posted by Dave on 11:36 PM | 0 comments link
Chafee's win an expensive proposition. The Washington Post's Jim VandeHei and Chris Cillizza today talked about the get out the vote effort in Rhode Island. Instead of taking Rove's "we always kill the Democrats" dictation, they should have followed Deep Throat's advice and followed the money more closely. Their article reports that a total of $2.1 million on the turnout operation. Digging into some RI reporting from CQ, we find The turnout of more than 64,000 voters in Tuesday’s Republican primary not only shattered the party’s record of 45,000, which occurred in 1994 — it was just less than the total of 69,000 registered Republican voters in the state. A little arithmetic and we're looking at $32 per vote. Obviously some of them are going to turn out anyway, but that would just make the marginal vote even more expensive. Using the same CQ numbers and their previous record turnout in 1994, the extra 20,000 voters they turned out this year cost them more than $100 each. Even with $50 million on hand, that's only 500,000 purchased voters to spread around a whole bunch of contested House and Senate seats. MoveOn alone has 3,000,000 members and I would imagine ALL of them are going to be voting. I'm not counseling complacency, but a little realism is always necessary when consuming the WaPo Kool Aid. posted by Dave on 10:55 PM | 0 comments link -------------------- |