Fabulously Jinxed | I like to break things

bid Laden helps Bush’s re-election

By | Published: February 28, 2006

I can’t help but laugh at this. Personally, I don’t think there was anything that obvious about Bush winning the election. I’m of the camp that believes that there was a lot of underhandedness_[1] that happened during the night of Nov.4, mostly by party representives (Blackwell) and supporters (Diebold). I also believe that most conservatives came to the polls that day to vote against gay marriage. Who would have thought that bin Laden was in on the theft too?

“I thought it was going to help,” Bush said. “I thought it would help remind people that if bin Laden doesn’t want Bush to be the president, something must be right with Bush.”

Honestly, though, I always find it suspicious that bin Laden drops in whenever Mr.Bush is in trouble (the folks a B-net laugh at me because of this). I’m sure he’ll be popping up anytime now to help take some of the heat because of this “NSA thing”. So, how is it that they need to eavesdrop on American’s phone calls when they really need to be tapping Al-Jazeera’s phone lines (they are the ones that keep getting the tapes, right?)? Well, if they caught bin Laden then the boogeyman would become ineffective. No one really wants that to happen. The boogeyman does help keep the Repubs in office._[2] I predict that as long as there is a Republican in the Oval Office bin Laden will remain in his cave (possibly on a ranch in Texas).

_{[1] Is that even a word?}

_{[2] The boogeyman can be any number of issues- gays, bin Laden, dasterdly liberals.}

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Looks like the Patriot Act is alive and well

By | Published: February 28, 2006

Soon the Patriot Act will be renewed, though it really doesn’t need to be (especially considering that the executive can pretty much do whatever he wants). I was extremely disappointed in the number of Democrats that voted to bring the measure out of debate and up for a vote. I was surprised to see that some Democrats voted “no” in a practice vote in protest, but don’t plan to stand by that vote when it was needed most.

Several Democrats voted “no” on the test vote Tuesday to protest the GOP majority’s refusal to allow amendments, but said they would vote for the bill on final passage. These lawmakers included Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Patrick Leahy , D-Vt., the Judiciary Committee’s senior Democrat.

What the hell is the point of a mock “no” in protest? Honestly, it doesn’t scare anyone to go along with your plan. It’s almost like a mini-tantrum by a child who knows that inevitably he still won’t get his way. What was the flippin’ point? A true and honest protest would be to vote “no” all the way around and let the damned president fight for his damned act. A true protest would be not to walk lock-in-step with the Bushbots! Of course, it wasn’t a true protest. Because they don’t want to rock the boat and upset their little status quo in D.C. Screw the people they represent.

I knew that the Patriot Act would be renewed simply because there are enough Republicans to pass it. I guess I was naive enough to think that the Democrats in power would have the balls to actually take a passionate stand against something- something a little more symbolic than a “practice” vote. Crap, this just makes my stomach turn. At least there were a couple of Dems who weren’t afraid to take their protests to a place where it would actually make a difference.

Roll Call

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I’m sad

By | Published: February 28, 2006

I have a very sad story to tell, so have your hankies at the ready.

My sister just started college (she’s 30) and called me for help with a paper she’s writing. She supposed to write an argumentative paper on something affecting society today. Ok. Here’s the gist of the conversation.

Me: You can’t think of anything? What about the ports deal?

Her: What’s that?

Me: You haven’t heard about that? Ok, well, it’s only a couple of weeks old. (then I give her my completely left-leaning version)

Her: I hadn’t heard that.

Me: Ok, well, what about the NSA surveillance scandal?

Her: I haven’t heard about that either.

Me: Well, what about the Intelligent Design debate?

Her: What about it? (I proceed to give her my leftist version of said event)Wow! I’m surprised by that. They’re all trying to take “God” out of the “Pledge of allegiance” I can’t believe they’re going to let that happen.

Me (my voice dripping with venom): They didn’t. That’s the point. Whatever. What about Dick Cheney? Did you at least hear about that?

Her: Oh, yeah, on all the hunting sites they’re talking about how he was “can hunting”. How do you know all this stuff anyway?

Of course, she would know about Dick Cheney from reading hunting web sites. I should’ve known. And once again I get the “The ACLU is evil because they’re taking God out of everything!”_[1] My head and heart really hurt when I finally managed to get the hell off the phone.

So a couple of things are illustrated by this conversation that kind of concern me.

First, it shows how disconnected some regular (I use that term loosely when speaking of anyone related to me) people are from politics. They’re too busy to bog themselves down with the news- in any media- and read only to lift themselves out of their mundane lives- and politics is too depressing. My sister works full time and has two kids, plus she’s now attending college. She’s married, but her husband is a little, um, randy and doesn’t really help much with house, bills, and/or kids. She spends a lot of her time doing things that affect her directly right now. If she is at all indictitive of the rest of Ohio, then we’re screwed. Because the only way these kind of people are going to find time to make it to the polls is if there is an issue that directly affects them right now. Of course, the Repubs always fall back on the “anti-gay” platform _[2] to get their people out to the polls. We have the war and government abuse of power. But is that enough to get people out? We can point to the Ohio Club of Corruption, but is that strong enough when people have so much more to worry about (like food, clothes, and medical bills). I suggest that the focus be on getting jobs to Ohio and staying here. That would really get people out. Give them hope for a good job in the future and they might just make that trip out.

Second thing that concerns me is…my sister is a closet Bush supporter. That is the real travesty of that conversation.

_{[1] My sister is one of those people that pass along junk emails like “How to tell if your husband is an animal…pass this along!” and “God loves you that’s why I sent this to you…pass it along to ten people of burn in hell for eternity!”}

_{[2] Last election it was gay marriage, now it looks like gay adoption.}

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NY Times sues gov’t for information

By | Published: February 27, 2006

Looks like the NY Times isn’t going down without a fight.(AP-Reuters)
I’m using two sources here, because they offer slightly different information.

The Times is suing the DoD, saying that they have refused to turn over requested documents relating to the NSA surveillance program in a timely manner. They are asking that the DoD be compelled to comply with the Freedom of Information Act.

The Times wants a list of documents including all internal memos and e-mails about the program of monitoring phone calls without court approval. It also seeks the names of the people or groups identified by it.

The Times had requested the documents in December under the Freedom of Information Act but sued upon being unsatisfied with the
Pentagon’s response that the request was “being processed as quickly as possible,” according to the six-page suit filed at federal court in New York.

David McCraw, a lawyer for the Times, acknowledged that the list of documents sought was lengthy but that the Pentagon failed to assert there were “unusual circumstances,” a provision of the law that would grant the Pentagon extra time to respond.

The Defense Department, which was sued as the parent agency of the NSA, did not immediately respond to the suit(Reuters)

Reuter’s is 5 hours ahead of Ap reporting, by the way. So, AP does fill in a couple of blanks.

Maj. Susan Idziak, a Defense Department spokeswoman, said the department would work closely with the
Department of Justice on litigation regarding the matter.

The newspaper said it asked for meeting logs, calendar items and notes related to discussions of the program, including meetings held by Vice President
Dick Cheney and his staff with members of Congress and telecommunications executives.

It also requested all complaints of abuse or possible violations in the operations of the program or the legal rationale behind it.

And it sought the names and descriptions of people or groups identified through the use of the program and a description of relevant episodes used to identify the targets of the intercepts.

The lawsuit said the Defense Department acknowledged receipt of the request on Dec. 30, 2005, but the response, required in 20 business days, never came.(AP)

So, supposedly this doesn’t have anything to do with the Justice Dept. investigating the NYT for leaking the NSA story. I don’t know if I believe that or not. But I do think that the NYT is spot on. I’m afraid that the administration won’t comply with any kind of court order, but the Times is standing by it’s right to tell the American people that our government is running on the dark side. I support the Times 100%.

I’m really just glad that they’re keeping this in the front of everything else that is going on. They are, in a way, defending all of our rights against a government that would happily do away with the Constitution all together. I commend them for that. I’m thrilled to see how this is progressing and how we the people aren’t letting this story die. Good going, NYT.