Coming to terms with FISA reform

People usually have to come to terms with death and disappointment. I have philosophical meltdowns about CSPAN.

To preface- I'm in love with Barack Obama. He sweeps me off my bitter, cynical feet and has done so ever since I read The Audacity of Hope. He has the power to make me feel optimistic and hopeful.. which doesn't typically happen to me without ingesting synthetic substances. He has done things that disappoint me, like you know- attending church. But nobody is perfect and there has yet to be a candidate that matches up perfectly with my crazy left wing tree hugging ideals.

Last Friday, the House of Representatives passed HR6304 which included criminal immunity for telecom companies who illegally wire-tapped American citizens in the wake of September 11th. Its being heralded as a bi-partisan compromise- lauded by our venerable Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. She expressed a sense of urgency- and although she have "preferred" an earlier bill (one that DID NOT) include immunity- the new bill was apparently the best our democratic majority could muster.

I was infuriated. My very own representative, Mr. Joe Baca, voted for the bill. Damn it I called the guy at least 3 times last week! the thought of our 4th amendment right to privacy has been pissed on over and over again... we as American people have a right to know exactly what crimes were committed by the white house and they must be held accountable!

The next step of course is for the Senate to rubber stamp the bill and send it off to King Bush and viola! the pillaging is complete. To my greatest disappointment, senator Obama has voiced his support for what can only be described as a democratic capitulation to FEAR. Once, I was livid. And heart broken. It seemed my philosophical love affair with Mr. Obama was coming to an end.

I get it. Senators like Obama are afraid of appearing weak on terror. Who wouldn't in this era of 30 second CNN soundbites about fist-pumps by candidates wives and yet another he said, he said religious test squabble. Issues? Nobody talks about issues- we cant touch the growing plutocracy, the carpet bombing of congressional election funds by telcos the day BEFORE and AFTER voting on the bill took place, or anything substantive for that matter. Obama, Pelosi, and other compromising dems claim that the new bill will put some structure into place. Since the old FISA expired the white house has no regulation on spying whatsoever, even via secret court. Besides, people can still pursue civil litigation.

It doesn't speak to accountability. We are allowing this to happen. I cant not NOT vote for Obama come November, there is simply too much at stake. The senate vote has been delayed until next month due to mavericks like Chris Dodd and Patrick Leahy. In the meantime, there is outrage building and action is being taken.

Sign the ALCU petition

What you can do- courtesy of alternet

My constitutional rights

To my surprise, I still have a few.

Apparently, there are certain amendments that the American government DARE not tamper with. The first of which is my right to own a gun. A split Supreme ruled that the District of Columbia's ban on guns violated the second amendment. Gun enthusiasts all over the country are hoisting their confederate flags and breaking open the bud ice in celebration! Their main contention is, of course, you can't mess with the constitution. I wonder- where were those gun enthusiasts when the Congress elected give immunity to telco companies who violated their 4th amendment rights? Do you think they will put down their semi-automatic rifles to phone their senators and urge them to vote against yet another FISA capitulation?

Secondly, the supreme court ruled that child rape does not warrant the death penalty. More importantly, the death penalty cannot be used in non-capital offenses. Rape should be a capital offense. Another topic for another day.

Did anyone else notice that on the same day the court ruled on the highly emotional child rape case they also decided to let Exxon Mobil off the hook? My my, how the profit margin doth swell! In any case, I noticed, because IM PAYING ATTENTION.

One way ticket to Holland please.

To drill or not to drill...

Of course not. A resounding NO even.

The repugs talking points are business as usual. Lets go through a few and see if we inject a little reality into the mix.

Lifting bans on offshore drilling will boost our supply- Neo-Con Linky Strike one repugs! Drilling more in America and we see a decrease of about a penny per gallon in 20 YEARS! Link 1 Link2 Link3 Link4

The Chinese are already drilling off of Florida's coast, so we should join in the action! FALSE. And whats worse, they all know its false. I watched the subcommittee on CSPAN this week when house democrats showed pictures of the alleged patch of ocean- its just a patch of ocean. There is nothing there but saltwater.

Drilling at home will spur the "Arabians" to produce more oil! Liberals cry HORSE SHIT! Saudis have already agreed to produce 200,000 more barrels a day to meet increasing demand for the next 30 years. Iranian sanctions certainly wont help. Neither will Israeli nukes on Iranian soil, but that's another post for another day.

Fact- Oil prices are high due to "speculation". Predictions about violence by our allies in the middle east. It has nothing to do with domestic production.

Fact- Our oil sucks anyway. The good stuff is in the middle east. It simply isn't worth devastating pristine Terra firma and displacing/killing endangered species to get to.

Fact- Oil companies have barrels of the stuff 'capped' (1, 2) right here in the good old U S of A. They drilled, and rigged, and then let it sit.

Fact- A republican controlled congress could have lifted the bans AT ANY TIME during their 6 years as a majority. They had a filibuster proof majority, and yet they did nothing.

Instead of crying about high gas prices, we need to be pushing for energy independence. Its within our grasp. We can tackle global warming and rid ourselves of the oil conglomerates that are presently running our lives via campaign contributions to prominent members of the party.

We will see how this unfolds. Are Americans willing to destroy their home and ultimately drive this country into the ground so they can have their 1.80 a gallon gas prices back? Is an endangered species worth your SUV? I wont even touch how we could grow our local economy with green energy jobs.

Gotta love run on sentences and the plethora of linky goodness.