You Approve of Domestic Spying?
Then Start With Skull & Bones!
Let's get it straight, you actually believe that the government has the right to spy at will. You really think there's nothing wrong with listening in on domestic phone conversations or intercepting personal e-mail or cell calls. You really have no qualms about bypassing the courts and warrants to spy on Americans who might have expressed opposition to the invasion of a militarily castrated nation? You bought into the idea that secret government spying will keep Americans safe. And you have no problem with spying on grass roots peace organizations whose members walk around with signs demanding a safer and friendlier world?
All right then, if spying is the way to go, why not snoop in the right places?
In your future blogging about what used to be referred to as "unwarranted domestic spying", please change all future references to the policy as "terrorist surveillance program."
[Six here, folks, I caught this wonderful piece over at The Crisis Papers, and thought it explained a little too much....enjoy!]
Today Forbes carries the AP wire service story of Alberto Gonzalez's role in the political theater production of "obscure that annoying fact."
Keep in mind as you read that this is the same Gonzalez who was so cavalier in dismissing the Geneva Convention and concluding that torture really doesn't mean what you always thought torture meant, and, besides, if the good guys are doing the torturing, it must be okay.
The one thing you can count on from our President and his staff is the zealous ducking of responsibility. Who could have known that there wasn't a nuclear weapon program in Iraq? Who could have predicted the Iraqi insurgency? Who in the world thought we'd need many more troops? Surely you can't blame us for not predicting the disaster in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina.
One by one these claims have been shown to be bogus, and today's Washington Post has a story debunking the Hurricane Katrina dodge.
That's pretty much the gist of an editorial from the Fort Wayne Sentinel:
"Both Republicans and Democrats in the past few days have revealed, with great fanfare, reform proposals that include new ethics rules and tougher restrictions on how much lobbyists can spend and how much access to members of Congress they get in return.
"It is in a way a silly exercise. Do members of Congress need new rules telling them to obey the existing rules? They are under no obligation to accept gifts from lobbyists and it already is against the law to accept a gift to vote yea or nay on a particular piece of legislation. Think about it. Congressional members who have been accepting questionable gifts from lobbyists are proposing new ethics rules to stop the practice. It's kind of like a serial killer writing a "stop me before I kill again" note.
William Blum's Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower was ranked 209,000 on Amazon.com's sales list before bin Laden mentioned it in an audiotape released on Thursday. By yesterday, the book was number 30 on the Amazon.com list.
There's a literary term from the Ancient Greeks (although why the words are LATIN is a mystery, I guess...)
Deus ex Machina
I've been giving this whole FISA snafu a lot of thought, and I've finally been convinced. My neocon, liberty-hating friends are absolutely correct!
So where the heck did the billions go? You know, the billions that we spent to rebuild Iraq. Lots of people are wondering now. According to Buzzflash, the Iraqis themselves have some questions. The Washington Post has some questions.
Remember the old Pepsodent jingle?
"You'll wonder where the yellow went,
when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent."
Time for a 21st century update:
"You'll wonder where the billions went,
when you elect George Bush your president."
