Quick jab at the corporate media

A lot of stuff on dKos is good, but political (sometimes slightly leftish for even me). This is just good, no matter what side of the divide you are on. If any corporate media bigwigs are on this site, print, TV, cable, whatever...get your eye on the ball; You are truly the cause of much and the solution to little.

The magic numbers

Seven. Fifteen.

These are two numbers that should be on your mind full time from now until November. They are the exact number of Senate and House seats that we must pick up in order to relieve our nation from its current tyrranic rulers. Some people say that we need 6 senate seats - but if you read the BoC a touch closer, you will learn that Leiberman is NOT a democrat, so Lamont in CT-SEN would be a pickup.

I added a link to my page on ActBlue, which is a clearinghouse for contributions to Democratic candidates. That page is still under construction; I will soon add comments as to why these seats are important and why I specifically chose them for everlasting fame by appearing on another website that I assume will be similarly lightly-visited. Also, you'll see some other links to contribute at the bottom of this page.

Highly recommend you take a look - and if you actually contribute that would be great! If you have a candidate with solid progressive credentials you want me to add just leave a comment and I'll consider it. If you have an ActBlue page you want me to link to, same deal.

First and Fourth (at least) Amendments Restored!!

In a stunning confirmation of what everybody knows to be true, Judge Anna Diggs Taylor (of Detroit no less) rules that the Illegal Bush Phonetapping Powergrab (IBPP) is in fact illegal. More than the decision (as if that isn't enough!) is the completely cogenent, sensical and unbiased way in which Judge Taylor refuted every single claim by which the Fuhrer claimed that he had any legal basis to do this. I highly, highly recommend that you read every word of the decision (it is linked from the Times site) - this has the potentiality to be the watershed event that re-starts the rule of law in our great country.

Most important talking point - the end of the IBPP will not prevent the government from spying on terrorists! All it will do is prevent the government from illegally spying on non-terrorists like me. How do I know this to be true? Because the executive already has at his disposal a court, FISA, which will act quickly to rubberstamp any REASONABLE request to set up a phonetap on a US-Overseas phonecalls (or even US-US phonecalls!). The government should have all the authority to tap phones in order to find lawbreakers including terrorists - but they should always have to get a warrant. This is true both by law and by reason.

A lot of the Anti-Constitution folks (including their newest member) say that the warrant requirement simply protects the guilty - if you have nothing to hide, why would you care who is listening? The great fallacy in their logic is that the people who the Illegal Spying Committee have chosen to listen to are not chosen at random. You can be sure that along with the terrorists who came under the watchful eye of the NSA, there were any number of political opponents who the Bushies also conveniently forgot to get permission before listening to. Warrants are not there to protect the guilty - but they are completely indispensible for protecting those who have done nothing wrong other than oppose the current government's policy. Opposing the current government's policy being something any true American should be doing anyway.

Gonna throw in a quick LIEberman section, seeing as how the prima donna got a link above. The RSCC has now officially stated that they will not support their own candidate in the upcoming election. If not official, this is the last straw that makes little joe a full-fledged member of the GOP. If senate control is clear, he may still well caucus with the Dems for a while - but if/when he has the ability he will swing the Senate to the evildoers without batting an eyelash. There is plenty on CT-SEN on dailykos, and they say it better than I do...but if you vote in CT, and don't hate America, you should support Lamont wholeheartedly. If you don't live in CT, look at the list of Dem sens supporting the Traitor. Call/Write/Email them...especially Pryor, the man is asst chair of the DSCC for pete's sake!

The countdown Begins!

That's right...Entourage is on in 15 minutes, which means only one thing...less than 24 hours to the Season Premier of Weeds! It is my firm belief that this is the best show on TV, so if you have SHOW or SHOW on demand, it should become a priority in your life.

Perhaps my favorite thing about the show is how they are able to put in so much social commentary without beating you over the head with any of it. Maybe i've never really been to that part of northern california (or northern va, or metro dallas or metro atlanta)...but this is as damning a picture of suburban sprawl as you will find. See Celia's description of her "solarium" from season 1 for a great example. In any case, i have little worry that season 2 will disappoint - there are just too many plot lines left open from season 1 for it to become repetitive.

Plus, I am just really unlikely to come out against anything featuring Mary-Louise Parker, who is truly the finest actor/actress on television.

In the words of Season 1:

Satan! Satan! Lend me a dollar!
Satan! Satan! Lend me a dollar now!

A truly sad state of affairs...

In order to avoid any confusion, let me offer sincere congratulations to the British intelligence service (and, according to what I read, the Pakistani intelligence service also) on their successful disruption of the recent terror plot. They are imitable example of what can be done when a society gets serious, rather than political, about fighting terrorism. When a society finds terrorists by following the law instead of creating fear among its citizens. When a government, no matter its ideology, treats protecting its citizens as the primary goal of its existence.

Back on this side of the pond, the response from the gestapo was swift and pathetic. Almost too swift. To quote the NYT,

On Wednesday, when the administration already knew that British agents were rounding up suspects in what they believed was a plot to blow up planes en route to the United States, Vice President Dick Cheney had a telephone interview with reporters to discuss the defeat of Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut in a Democratic primary. Mr. Cheney went off on a rather rambling disquisition, but its main point was clear: In rejecting Mr. Lieberman, who supported the war in Iraq, the Democrats were encouraging "the Al Qaeda types." Within the Democratic ranks, the vice president added, "there's a significant body of opinion that wants to go back. I guess the way I would describe it is sort of the pre-9/11 mind-set, in terms of how we deal with the world we live in."

This is the essence of power abuse - using the advance knowledge of covert intelligence activities to try to score a political point. Similar to when the bastards expose a lifelong covert operative, this type of leak can seriously harm the Global War on Terror. It's in fact completely different from when the New York Times blows the whistle on illegal government activities that impinge our civil rights.

Fortunately, it looks as though the general populace has taken this as nothing more than politics. What I think happened is that, despite their protestations otherwise, the all-spin zone gang realized that the result in Connecticut bodes worse for them than they can possibly imagine. There has been a lot of discussion on Kos, but anybody who believes that the Iraq War is/will be anything other than a negative for the administation in November is clearly not paying attention. The American public realizes that our presence has not only made the region (and hence our region) less secure, but the lack of capacity in our military has emboldened any number of potential enemies to do as they wish.

No longer is the Democratic Caucus at all split on the war - now that Lieberman has joined the GOP, we have officially differentiated ourselves. They want to continue doing whatever it is they are doing, as long as GWB wants to keep doing it. We realize that staying the course in Iraq only destabilizes and diverts our attention from the real threat! Their way involves handing out lucrative no bid contracts and settling old scores; our way actually involves going after the people who want to do America harm! Lest we forget,

During a news conference at the White House on March 13, 2002, Bush said something close to what Kerry quoted. "I truly am not that concerned about him [Bin Ladin]," the president said, according to the official White House transcript.

New Dork Box

Keepin it short and sweet...got a new piece of bling...the 15" MacBook Pro...it is pretty sweet to be able to post while watching a combination of Saving Private Ryan and the results from the CT Senate primary come in. A little ways to go, but I'm starting to get more confident that Lamont will pull out a squeaker...then all hell breaks loose...

A new link and my Favorite Rant

If you've spent more than 5 minutes in the same room with me, you are likely aware that publicly financed stadium constuction is perhaps the world's greatest evil. I could go on for hours, but instead I've just added a new link to Neil DeMause's excellent Field of Schemes website/blog, which adds a dry wit to a summary of the current headlines on the topic.

For those that are uneducated as to the issues involved, there are 3 cardinal rules that assure you and I will continue to pay for palaces that allow billionaires to continue to profit off of the athletic achievements of multi-millionaires.

First, owners (and to an even greater extent commissioners) do NOT care about their local communities. Any rational fan has long since accepted - and for that matter, the owners freely admit - that sports are a business; but if so, why do they need such obscene public subsidies? Other forms of entertainment - museums, operas, orchestras and theaters - also receive public subsidies, but unlike sports teams these are not businesses. Why? Because they are [mostly] non-competitive. In addition, to the best of my knowledge, the MoMA did not threaten to move to NoVa in order to fund their new facility.

Second, in order to get a stadium built, the pro-stadium forces can try as many times as they like, but only need to succeed once. Conversely, the anti-stadium coalition (if any), needs to have a perfect record in order to succeed. Flags fly forever, and once the stadium is approved, the team has won...at least for now.

Third, the complexity of the deals by which your hard-earned tax dollars get wasted will double in complexity every 18 months. Call it Moore's Law of Stadia. In the Good Old Days, your friendly city council and/or state legislature would simply shell out cash to build a stadium - and yet somehow it would end up privately owned, with only minimal tax revenue going to the state. Voters eventually got wise to this method (maybe it was the sweepstakes-style big checks that tipped 'em off), so now the method of paying for your new 9-figure piece of civic pride is a complex mix of tax-emempt bonds, property/sales tax subsidies, land acquisition payments and, in the case of MLB, lower revenue sharing payments. Nowhere is the complexity of the deals clearer than in my hometown. A degree in economics is not enough to figure out either of these deals...and even then there are probably subsidies that we aren't even being told about!

So i'm sure you are now asking..."What can I do to stop this travesty?" Short answer: vote. If you say live in Minnesota (probably the most enlightened anti-stadium state), the approval of Corporate Sponsor TBA Field by a one-vote margin in the State Senate is certain to be a big issue in the fall. Find out if your representative represented your best interests, and if not, kick the bum out and explain to all your friends why they should do the same. I like new stadiums as much as the next guy...but this is about priorities.

A Haiku about Alka Seltzer Morning Relief

Head pounding, mouth parched.
Two white disks - descent from blue;
Fizz me straight to work.