] lawmakers opted for an ill-conceived program that has
] become a disappointment for seniors, a boondoggle for
] drug companies and a rapidly rising burden for taxpayers.

Now normally USA Today gives one viewpoint and their second OpEd piece is a counterpoint from someone who disagrees with them. Either they couldn't find anyone to argue or maybe that "Drug Discount" is just as screwed up as they think it is.

Answer? It's even more screwed up than they think it is. And who is the idiot who thought this would be just great? Complaints can be sent to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Attn: Village Idiot.

McPaper Attacks!

] The head of a new federal voting commission suggested to
] congressional leaders Monday that there should be a
] process for canceling or rescheduling an election
] interrupted by terrorism, but national security adviser
] Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) said no such plan is
] being considered by the administration.

Holy crap... Condi got something right! Hey, If Tom Clancy can ram a 747 into the capitol building, kill all of Congress and the Supreme Court and let the states figure out how to send new representatives, I fail to see how this much less thoughtful group can come to anything resembling a good idea that wouldn't be used the same way the Reichstag fire was in 1933.

Leave the damn thing alone and get rid of Soaries who keeps asking about it. He got brought in to PREVENT another Florida, not make it possible to do the same thing nationwide!

Yahoo! News - Officials Want Election Rescheduling Rules

] Bush noted problems cited in the Senate report, including
] a shortage of human-gathered intelligence and poor
] coordination among intelligence services. But he did not
] comment on ideas proposed for reforming America's
] intelligence network

Hey George? They told you what the problem was, everyone has KNOWN what the problems was. Your solution? Add ANOTHER agency that doesn't talk to anyone! Way to go...

Yahoo! News - Bush Defends Decision to Invade Iraq

] U.S. officials have discussed the idea of postponing
] Election Day in the event of a terrorist attack on or
] about that day, a Homeland Security Department spokesman
] said Sunday.

How about, "don't even think about 'postponing elections' you damn fascists." Gee George, why don't you burn down the capitol and blame that on Al Qaeda too. There's historical precedent for that working. Of course there's also historical precedent for the entire rest of the world getting together to kick the ass of the jackass who did it, but why worry yourself about that?

Election Theft Part Two

And now for today's thought...

The following is the Oath of Office required to be President of the United States.

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

The following is the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

And just for good measure, the 5th Amendment to the same document.

"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

Now, I am not going to go into whether or not Jose Padilla is guilty or innocent of the dirty bomb thing he's accused of. What I am going to discuss is this.

George W. Bush has violated his Oath of Office.

That's a pretty strong statement to make but, What is absolutely clear is that Mr. Padilla or whatever he feels like calling himself these days has been in holding since May 8, 2002, without being charged with anything, and in fact moved from civilian custody to military custody to block any access to him.

Now I don't know the specifics of the case against him, and neither does anyone else apparantly because he's been held all this time as an "enemy combatant." Basically he's being accused of being a traitor. Fine. We know how to deal with traitors in this country. When they are found guilty they are taken out and "hanged by the neck until dead." (Not that I'm any great fan of capital punishment either, but that's not this argument.)

By the actions of Mr. Bush, he is not preserving, protecting or defending the Constitution, his actions in this case are in direct opposition to that. The Constitution has some very specific rules in it, and you will also note it does not say "citizen," it says "person." What that means is it doesn't even matter if you ARE a citizen.

The very thing that separates the United States, and what is the reason this IS a great country is that it is not supposed to matter who you are or where you are from, the rules apply to everyone equally. The current administration seems to be opposed to that idea and has not lived up to the oaths taken when they assumed office.

I am not going to say those are not some big shoes to fill, but it is obvious that the current bearer of them is not even trying to wear them. If you would like grounds for impeachment there they are. Even if you would not like them, how do you refute them?

postscript: Before someone brings up Japanese internment in World War II, the only analogous case to this, it was done in a state of declared war (which must be done by an act of Congress, Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution) and later, the families of those people were given an apology and restitution, again by act of Congress, for that abrogation of their rights. Japanese internment is considered one of the blackest marks in the history of this country.

] The activist, author and director told the Sunday Herald
] that, as long as pirated copies of his film were not
] being sold, he had no problem with it being downloaded.
]
] "I don't agree with the copyright laws and I
] don't have a problem with people downloading the
] movie and sharing it with people as long as they're
] not trying to make a profit off my labour. I would oppose
] that," he said.
]
] "I do well enough already and I made this film
] because I want the world, to change. The more people who
] see it the better, so I'm happy this is
] happening."
...
] Defenders of Moore’s position include Pulp Fiction
] director Quentin Tarantino, who earlier this year
] encouraged audiences in countries where his films are
] not legally available to obtain counterfeit copies.
...
] Valenti said: “Nobody can allow their rights to be
] stolen because, if you can’t retrieve your investment,
] you’re out of the movie business,
]
] "I don't think there's really a single
] actor or director in the world who does not believe that
] if you don't combat piracy, it will devour you in
] the future."

Jack Valenti, meet Mr. Moore and Mr. Tarentino. Both had had
movies at the top of the box office charts now, maybe you've
heard of them? While there is a nuance to what you say that
would let you weasel out a defensible position, it doesn't look
good. Moore and Tarentino's views are both influenced based ON
MPAA policies (ratings, getting the word out for the first,
market/region encoding in the second) not because they are
disinterested in money or hate the movie industry.

Go Michael! Tell Jack Valenti to kiss your pretty damn expansive white ass! LOL

Moore: pirate my film, no problem - [Sunday Herald]

you can just imagine.

Now this is a wonder to beholden... or something like that LOL

Quotes from Bush

] Former Enron CEO Ken Lay, left, is led into Federal Court
] by law enforcment officers in Houston Thursday July 8,
] 2004.

Nothing like a good perp walk.

Yeah... it wasn't as entertaining as the infamous "low speed chase" but then all OJ did was allegedly whack his ex wife and hoyfriend. This guy screwed the retirement money of a few thousand people.

Yahoo! News - AP Photo - Ken Lay

] Sen. Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican who heads the
] committee, told reporters that assessments that Iraq had
] chemical and biological weapons and could make a nuclear
] weapon by the end of the decade were wrong.
]
]
] "As the report will show, they were also unreasonable and
] largely unsupported by the available intelligence," he
] said.

Yep, so much for those WMD's. So now that we've got close to 900 dead and over 5000 wounded to protect the world from something that never existed, can we please get the hell out of the goddamn desert?

Yahoo! News - Report: CIA Gave False Info on Iraq

] served four years of active duty and another four years
] in the reserves, a commitment he believed expired Dec.
] 19. The Army maintains he will be in a voluntary reserve
] status until he's 50.

So now they're looking around for legal loopholes to suck people back in to send to (thank you Daily Show for this one) Mess-O'Potamia?

Reservist Sues to Avoid Recall