'Building the Black Iron Future'

[wolven7]

More reasons to be reading Grinding:

'Well, today the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 passed. This act, for those of you playing along at home or abroad, first of all offers up immunity to Verizon, AT&T, and several other telecom companies for their part in assisting the National Security Agency with warrentless wiretaps before and after the 9/11 attacks. The act then proceeds to arguably weaken oversight of domestic wiretaps and information collection. The Bill passed with overwhelming support, granting retroactive protections for invasions of privacy by a collection of telecom companies.'

We talk of "content." Here you are.

Important.

Comments

[mendori.livejournal.com]

last days of the roman empire....

How soon until we have a horse in congress?

[wolven.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of surprised no one's appointed a family dog or cat, yet, honestly.

[mendori.livejournal.com]

I wonder if we could get a house plant voted into office?

[wolven.livejournal.com]

... Local, state, or federal?

[mendori.livejournal.com]

Yes?

[mendori.livejournal.com]

... We could run Ian Saint Paul - Saintpaulia ionantha, an African Violet!

[amazingmrparker.livejournal.com]

In case anyone was curious...

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00168

Couldn't find the roll call of Representatives and how they voted on it on the House of Reps site, but here's how some of the currently relevant Senators cast their ballots on the matter:

Saxby Chambliss voted YEA
Johnny Isakson voted YEA
Barack Obama voted YEA
Hilary Clinton voted NAY
John McCain - no vote

[wolven.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Very disappointed.

Argh!

[raidingparty.livejournal.com]

This is the kind of thing that makes me burn with anger. But, as per my resolution, a gentle anger.

Revision Complete rewrite:
"My name is Zachary Anderson and I live in Decatur, Georgia. To the representatives and senators of this nation, many of you have voted for a bill, nicknamed FISA, that included security provisions important to the safety of our people.

Unfortunately, it also included language that sought to protect institutions from the consequences of doing the wrong thing, and it attempted to undermine the fourth amendment of the Constitution of these United States.

For the negligent who did not notice this fact, you have failed a simple test about whether you can hold the responsibilities inherent in your oath to defend the constitution and do your duties in the best interest of the people you represent.

For those who have intentionally supported such action, not only have you failed to pay attention, you have attempted to undermine the ideals of this nation, and sown the seeds of dissension that work against the very Americans for whom you claim to speak. Understand that your follies are not strong enough to destroy the Constitution. While you might have created a roadblock, people will have their grievances addressed in the fullness of time, and this hindrance will be overturned.

To all those whose elected officials supported the aforementioned measure, you know what you need to do. It's never pretty letting someone go, but when they just aren't doing their job, let alone making it worse, it's just not smart to keep them around.

Thank you for your time."

... so, who wants to help me record this puppy?

[wolven.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and very few people seem to question this fact.

"Freedom" has become a meaningless buzzword, almost entirely associated with "Americanness." Better that it were the other way around :\

[amazingmrparker.livejournal.com]

Both political parties seem to have the idea of Freedom confused with something else. Republicans are selling it as Security, Democrats are selling it as Equality, but both are really sacrificing and perverting it in the name of promoting their version of it.

Even the idea of "Americanness" is somewhat distorted. Really, at its core, culturally, America is a center-right country - America is SUPPOSED to be about personal freedom, rugged individualism, greater economic opportunity, limited government, and non-interventionist foreign policy - it's supposed to fucking be about FREEDOM. (Disclaimer: this is not at all an endorsement for what currently passes for the Republican/conservative party in this country). If we're going to take a more center-left approach - like the socialist democracies in Europe - to governing ourselves, let's at least call it what it is, right?

Fucking hell, even the idea of Democracy gets confused with Freedom. Democracy does not mean "the majority is right and everyone should conform."

Democracy = Majority Rules
Freedom = Minority Doesn't Get Fucked Because Of Democracy

[wolven.livejournal.com]

Very well-put.