America in Chains

[Hogeye]

There is a wonderful banner (which unfortunately can't be replicated in this forum) from an article called There's No Such Thing As Goodminton by L. Neil Smith, sci-fi author of "The Probability Broach" and many other books. For the whole article (and banner download) click on the link above. Here are some excerpts:

Election 2006 has come and gone, uprooting Bible-thumpers, born again warmongers, xenophobes, torturers, and homo-haters, replacing them with what will soon prove to be endless hordes of food fascists, tree huggers, Luddites, energy Nazis, anti-smokers, animal rights (but never human rights) crazies, acid rain, ozone depletion, and global warming hoaxers, Sandalistas, and gun-grabbing victim disarmament zombies.

I realize that it needed to be done, but it's a lot like having a festering wound cleaned out by maggots. Somehow I don't really feel much better. It seems that Skull & Bones still wins, no matter what we do. ...

I have an exceedingly good political memory, too, and just now, I'm remembering that every single 20th century war America fought was started by the Democrats. George Bush had his imaginary Weapons of Mass Destruction, Lyndon Johnson had his imaginary Gulf of Tonkin incident.

The only reason fewer Democrats voted for the Patriot Act without reading it than Republicans is that there were fewer of them in the House and Senate. They went along, like so many Mussolinoid rubber- stampers, with Patriot II and the outrageously anticonstitutional Military Commissions Act. What happened on Election Day will change nothing. ...

And bap!—the birdie plops over onto the other side of the court. It's a grand old racket (if you'll kindly pardon the pun) and together, the Left and the Right have been working it for more than a century.

The thing to remember in all of this is that there's really only one "major" political organization, the Boot On Your Neck party, and that when everything else is said and done, you can forget about Right and Left, socialism and fascism, conservatives and liberals, Democrats and Republicans. All that government is about, all that government's ever been about, and all that government will ever be about is simply stealing. ...

left wing socialists have two glaring weaknesses that can easily be exploited to the advantage of individual liberty.

First, they are hypocrites who have spent the past six months or so denouncing policies they will now embrace as fully as the neocons did. Will the election, across the board, of Democrats stop the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? Will it repeal the Patriot Act and subsequent legislation? Will it shut down Guantanamo and other secret prisons and put an end to the torture? Will it bring freedom and dignity back to American airports? Will it restore the Bill of Rights and the rule of law?

Do you really need me to answer those questions?

Second, left wing socialists are fundamentally cruel and inhumane. Their vaunted platform, which traditionally offers peace, love, and understanding, is a charter for promoting conflict, hatred, and bigotry.

[Dardedar]

I have an exceedingly good political memory, too,...

The only reason fewer Democrats voted for the Patriot Act without reading it than Republicans is that there were fewer of them in the House and Senate.

DAR
Number of Repub's in the house that voted against the Patriot Act: 3 (1.5%)

Number of Demo's in the house that voted against the Patriot Act: 62 (31%)

link

[Hogeye]

L. Neil Smith's memory is accurate: 145 < 211. What you write is also true: "only" 69% of the Dem faction voted for the Patriot Act. So it's fair to say that the Dems voted overwhelmingly for it.

America in Chains
DAY 12
Since the Democrats in power failed to:
End the Illegal Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
Repeal the unconstitutional PATRIOT act
Abolish the fascist Department of Homeland Security
Restore the Bill of Rights

(The real banner updates the number of days. Do you think we should put it on the FayFreethinker's page?)

[Savonarola]

DAY 12
Since the Democrats in power failed to: ...

The Democrats took power on election day?

[Hogeye]

Good catch. They shouldn't start counting until the Dems are officially in office, January something or other...

I predict the Dems will not remedy any of the four items in the next two years. But of course, it doesn't take Rasputin to figure that one out!

[Dardedar]

...it's fair to say that the Dems voted overwhelmingly for it.

DAR
That's not what he said. What he SAID was:

"The only reason fewer Democrats voted for the Patriot Act without reading it than Republicans is that there were fewer of them in the House and Senate."

That's ridiculously false. The difference is 1.5% against versus 31% against. If his claim was true the percentages would be the same.

D.

[Hogeye]

You are right - there were many reasons the Dems voted overwhelmingly for the PATRIOT Act. It doesn't make much sense to narrow it down to one reason. Smith's "only reason" was wrong.

[Dardedar]

Lots of spin but you finally admit reality. I'll take it.

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

Why more people of either party didn't vote against the Patriot Act is they didn't read it. The neocons had it in readiness for any "emergency" to shove it through before people could read it. That's why a group called Downsize DC is proposing a "read the bills" act. My bet is that's why more people didn't vote against the MCA as well - they didn't read it, they just accepted the pressured hype from the sponsors.

As to giving back the Bill of Rights - depends on what you mean. I mean repealing MCA and then moving on to the Patriot Act and the martial law rider to the Defense budget. Chris Dodds (D, CT) has already annouced he's submitting a bill to restore habeas corpus and "investigate the constitutionality" of the MCA (and I've already called Blanche and Mark and left word with their staffers to co-sponsor the bill). I imagine the Patriot Act will come under scrutiny next, as will an "exit strategy" for Iraq. It's true they probably will not stop the "war on drugs" - as Dems they really can't and get it to stick (just like it needed an R to open China and another R to open relations with Russia). They do have to get into office first, of course. AND they have to get whatever they try to do over a presidential veto. (That's probably why Trent Lott is back in party power - the top Rs don't want moderate and pissed off Rs working with the Dems to get anything done - the Rs' version of bipartisan is runover everyone while in the majority and stonewall everything when not.)

As to Homeland Security - it is incredibly inefficient and redundant, but it's name is more fascist than it's activity. Sure it should be shut down and the authority it usurped going back to the agencies that were already doing the job. Many things caused 9/11, not the least of which was the administration ignoring (deliberately or otherwise) all warnings, but none of those causes were cured by adding another layer of bureaucracy.

[Hogeye]

Why more people of either party didn't vote against the Patriot Act is they didn't read it.

I agree; that is one of the many reasons that congresscritters from both factions voted overwhelmingly for the PATRIOT Act. Hopefully, such incompetence will encourage more people to boycott electoral politics.

Sure, the Dem politicians will make a lot of noise about restoring civil liberties, but they'll do nothing. The Dems are not against tyranny per se, they just want to switch the targets to e.g. gun owners, constitutionalists, militias, religious cults, etc. (Remember Janet Reno?)

Many things caused 9/11, not the least of which was the administration ignoring (deliberately or otherwise) all warnings, but none of those causes were cured by adding another layer of bureaucracy.

I agree. Of course, the main #1 cause of anti-USAmerican terrorism is US military intervention. But we have the usual mushroom effect. When government fouls something up, instead of eliminating the offending department or policy, they add more intervention to "remedy" the original intervention, making things even worse. (... and "requiring" yet more intervention.)

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

I repeat, the Dems have already started to do something about restoring civil liberties and taking dictatorial powers away from the executive. They have enough sense to know why those protections were written into the constitution in the first place. The only question is will they be able to convince enough Rs to reinstate the constitution to be able to override the president's veto.