Living the Liminal » Politics

Speak Up

LtL — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 03:18:50 +0000

A Tea Party Lesson

LtL — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:48:07 +0000

Of course, I doubt teabaggers will have the patience to read the entire piece, or the comprehension skills to understand it, but for the rest of us, it’s a great history lessson:

Tax History: Four Things You Should Know About the Boston Tea Party by Joseph J. Thorndike

via Capital Gains and Games

An Open Letter to President Obama

LtL — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:38:58 +0000

Dear Mr. President,

I regret to say that while I support you in a lot of ways, I will not vote for you in the next election, no matter who the Republican’s run or how bad I think they may be for the country. By sanctioning assassination on Anwar al-Awlaki you have crossed a moral line that I cannot accept and that is fundamentally opposed to the rule of law.

I realize you have an incredibly complex job and that there is no easy answer for most of the situations and problems that we face as a country. However, sanctioning murder is not the answer. Ever.

I understand that you have a personal relationship to Jesus and I have to ask, in what way does ordering the cold-blooded killing of someone who is suspected of crimes square with your faith? How does it square with American rule of law? How does that square with your call for hope and for change?

I wish you the best, but I will never vote for you again.

References:
Salon

NYT

Washington Post

A Note to Those Considering Domestic Terrorism

LtL — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 20:05:39 +0000

Do you really want to fight? Then let’s fight.

But know this: we won’t come at you with guns and hatred in our eyes. We won’t threaten your children and shrug our shoulders and mutter “collateral damage.” We won’t attempt to bully you and wrap ourselves in the flag while demonstrating that democracy and freedom are mere words to be thrown around and not concepts to respect and embrace. We won’t throw temper tantrums and mock people with Parkinson’s disease or make fun of 11 year old boys whose mother died because of a shitty health care system.

No.

We are going to fight you through the laws of this country. We are going to fight you by organizing and getting angry and organizing more and making sure that we show everybody just how toxic and racist and un-democratic you are. We are going to call you by your rightful names: American Taliban, Terrorists, Criminals. You can believe what you want, you can scream and shout your imbecilic beliefs about birth certificates and death squads, you can fantasize about shooting liberals and taking back the government through force for all I care. Go to it.

But you turn that fantasy into action. You martyr another innocent person in the name of your petty, selfish, black-hearted fear that the world doesn’t revolve around you and only you, and we will fight tooth and nail . . . to make sure that you are given your Miranda rights and a fair trial.

Does that seem weak to you? A pansy way to go? A soft, liberal answer? That’s because you are the weak ones. You are the scared ones. You are the ones that don’t understand just how valuable and important the rule of law is to a free nation. You are the ones who don’t have the strength and the guts to stand up for democracy and America. Instead, you hide in your bunkers and beneath your banners of vitriol and scream over and over again that you are the “Real Americans” that you are the Patriots. You are neither. You are a sad, scared group of people who have all the emotional maturity of a two-year-old. You like to pretend you are tough and macho, but inside you know that you are desperate and afraid. That’s why you need your guns and your hatred, because deep down you know that you’ve already lost, that you are pitiful, and that you are terrified of your own obsolescence.

We’ve already won. And you know it. With one hand tied behind our back with due process, we will still win. Because, as Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”

So do you really want to fight? Really? When you can grow the fuck up and take responsibility for your actions and this country and agree that we can always disagree about policy and fiscal choices; about who we tax and how; about issues of governance and the intricacies of government involvement in our lives. Let me state this as clearly as I can: we do not have to agree on anything but the fundamental necessity for a democracy to operate through the rule of law and through the operation of its established political system. You don’t like something, then win the fucking election and change it. But don’t you dare, don’t you dare tread down the path of violence and have the effrontery to be shocked when we call you out for being criminals and terrorists.

So what will it be? Do you want to fight or do you want to get back on board with trying to make our country a strong and secure nation for all of its citizens, as well as being a moral leader for the world?

Go ahead, take some time to cool down, catch your breath, and make a choice. But know this, and know it deep in your heart:

We will fight for this country, for freedom, and for justice.

And we will win.

McCain Introduces Bill To Make Obama More Powerful Than A King

LtL — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:55:14 +0000

S.3081 is obscene. S.3081 is profoundly anti-law. S.3081 allows for indeterminate detention for pretty much anyone the President “considers appropriate.” S.3081 is backed by Republicans who talk a big game when it comes to freedom and liberty and the rule of law, but who, as this bill demonstrates, are really bullies and thugs who have no regard for the Constitution, the rule of law, or basic ethical principles. McCain and Lieberman (and the others who have signed onto this bill) are doing the terrorists work for them by allowing the United States to become a land ruled by fear and imperial dictate rather than a system of justice that presumes innocence until guilt is proven.

Go ahead, someone prove to me why giving the President the power to label someone a “high-value detainee” based on whatever reasons that President decides to make up and then holding that person indefinitely is a good idea for a democracy. I thought the whole fucking point of the United States was that we didn’t live in a dictatorship/monarchy.

And I hope all you fucking teabaggers and libertarians take down the GOP for their desire to concentrate even more power in the hands of the President. But somehow I don’t think you will because you were perfectly happy to give up your rights to Bush and his cronies, and you’re now too busy whining about the fact that liberals want to actually get you better health care.

CRITERIA FOR DESIGNATION OF INDIVIDUALS AS HIGH-VALUE DETAINEES- The regulations required by this subsection shall include criteria for designating an individual as a high-value detainee based on the following: (A) The potential threat the individual poses for an attack on civilians or civilian facilities within the United States or upon United States citizens or United States civilian facilities abroad at the time of capture or when coming under the custody or control of the United States. (B) The potential threat the individual poses to United States military personnel or United States military facilities at the time of capture or when coming under the custody or control of the United States. (C) The potential intelligence value of the individual. (D) Membership in al Qaeda or in a terrorist group affiliated with al Qaeda. (E) Such other matters as the President considers appropriate. Text of S.3081 as Introduced in Senate: Enemy Belligerent, Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010… OpenCongress

via Glenn Greenwald

Food Policies Designed to Make Us Unhealthy

LtL — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:22:46 +0000

This is not rocket science, people:

The government also purchases surplus foods like cheese, milk, pork, and beef for distribution to food assistance programs—including school lunches. The government is not required to purchase nutritious foods. (Link)

If anyone thinks that the Government isn’t already deeply entrenched in what you eat and what foods are available at low costs, they are either deeply misinformed or deliberately blind to the facts. We need smart policies that are designed for a healthy population instead of policies that line the pockets of the few at the expense of the rest of us. The surest way to keep the status quo is to fool people into thinking that diet and nutrition are entirely personal choices and not part of an economic and political system that effects each and every one of us.

Update: Stubborn Mule has an excellent article about the problems inherent with pyramid charts and how they distort numbers.

One Simple Question

LtL — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:40:52 +0000

If you don’t trust the government, how in the world do you trust the corporations who dominate the “free market,” and whose primary purpose is to take your money away from you to do anything for the betterment of you, your family, your community, or your nation?

I ask this in all sincerity because I’d really like someone to provide a well-reasoned argument that, say, Anthem Blue Cross, is more trustworthy and effective at promoting civic well-being than the government.

A Chance to Speak and Be Heard

LtL — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:02:46 +0000

The Environmental Protection Agency is soliciting ideas and comments from the public until March 19, 2010.

Give us your ideas on how we can:

Work better with others inside & outside the government
Solicit feedback from the public
Improve the availability & quality of information
Be more innovative & efficient
Create EPA’s Open Government Plan

Transparency and the willingness of government agencies to actively solicit public opinion only works if we are paying attention. So if you have an idea, or even if you don’t, head over to the website and participate in the discussion because the only way for the We, the People to participate in our governance is to participate.

h/t BoingBoing

These People are Idiots

LtL — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:00:28 +0000

FAIL:

The Tea Party’s choice in the Florida Republican primary, Marco Rubio, began his address to a crowd of conservative conventioneers by taking a shot at President Obama for reading from a teleprompter. He did it while standing in front of two easily visible teleprompters. Rubio Slams Obama’s Teleprompter While In Front Of Telemprompters At CPAC

The reality blinders on these people are astounding.

Republicans or Political Pustules, You Decide

LtL — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:14:45 +0000

What is there to say about these political pustules? They are hypocritical and don’t give a damn about the American people or about good governance or about doing what is right for the country.

For Republicans, the idea of requiring every American to have health insurance is one of the most abhorrent provisions of the Democrats’ health overhaul bills. “Congress has never crossed the line between regulating what people choose to do and ordering them to do it,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). “The difference between regulating and requiring is liberty.” But Hatch’s opposition is ironic, or some would say, politically motivated. The last time Congress debated a health overhaul, when Bill Clinton was president, Hatch and several other senators who now oppose the so-called individual mandate actually supported a bill that would have required it. wbur.org » News » Republicans Spurn Once-Favored Health Mandate

Don’t get me wrong, the Democrats aren’t much better and have enabled this kind of obstructionist hypocrisy every step of the way. But the GOP is really quite special when it comes to being lying sacks of shit who want to ensure that 1% of Americans can continually benefit at the expense of the rest of us.