Liberal Agit-Prop

Fri - March 19, 2004

Lie number 131


From the Iraq On The Record database:

Question: Do you believe, because this is continually a subject of debate, that there was a link between al Qaeda and the regime of Saddam Hussein before the war?

Condoleeza Rice: Absolutely. . . . But we know that there was training of al Qaeda in chemical and perhaps biological warfare. We know that the Zarqawi was network out of there, this poisons network that was trying to spread poisons throughout . . . . And there was an Ansar al-Islam, which appears also to try to be operating in Iraq. So yes, the al Qaeda link was there.

Source: Fox News Sunday, Fox News (9/7/2003)

Explanation: This statement was misleading because it asserted that Iraq was providing support to al Qaeda. In fact, the U.S. intelligence community had conflicting evidence on this issue and was divided regarding whether there was an operational relationship. This statement also failed to mention that Ansar al-Islam was based in the Kurdish area of Iraq beyond Saddam Hussein's control.

Posted at 10:05 PM     Link     |

Thu - March 18, 2004

Weakening The judiciary


There are a number of bills currently in the House which reflect the Christian Reconstructionist agenda. These include bills to weaken the judicial branch and protect "religious freedoms":

H.R.3920 - Congressional Accountability for Judicial Activism Act of 2004 - To allow Congress to reverse the judgments of the United States Supreme Court.

H.R.3190 - Safeguarding Our Religious Liberties Act - Declares that among those powers reserved to the States and their political subdivisions are the powers to display the Ten Commandments, to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and to recite the national motto on or within property owned or administered by them.

Declares that: (1) the Pledge of Allegiance shall be, "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and justice for all."; and (2) the national motto shall be, "In God we trust."

Excepts from the jurisdiction of Federal courts inferior to the Supreme Court the display of the Ten Commandments and the use of the word "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

H.R.3799 - Constitution Restoration Act of 2004 - Amends the Federal judicial code to prohibit the U.S. Supreme Court and the Federal district courts from exercising jurisdiction over any matter in which relief is sought against an element of Federal, State, or local government or officer of such government by reason of that element's or officer's acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government.

Prohibits a court of the United States from relying upon any law, policy, or other action of a foreign state or international organization in interpreting and applying the Constitution, other than the constitutional law and English common law.

Provides that any Federal court decision relating to an issue removed from Federal jurisdiction by this Act is not binding precedent on State courts.

Provides that any Supreme Court justice or Federal court judge who exceeds the jurisdictional limitations of this Act shall be deemed to have committed an offense for which the justice or judge may be removed, and to have violated the standard of good behavior required of Article III judges by the Constitution.

H.RES.446 - Constitutional Preservation Resolution - Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Supreme Court should base its decisions on the Constitution and the laws of the United States, and not on the law of any foreign country or international law or agreement not made under the authority of the United States.

H.RES.468 - Expresses disapproval of the Supreme Court's consideration of foreign laws and opinions in its decisions. Advises the Justices not to incorporate foreign laws or opinions in future decisions and not to incorporate public opinion when performing their duty to uphold the Constitution. Urges all Justices to base their opinions solely on the merits under the Constitution.

H.RES.568 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Judicial determinations regarding the meaning of the laws of the United States should not be based on judgments, laws, or pronouncements of foreign institutions unless such foreign judgments, laws, or pronouncements inform an understanding of the original meaning of the laws of the United States.

H.R.2028 - Pledge Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal judicial code to deny jurisdiction to any court established by Act of Congress to hear or determine any claim that the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance violates the first amendment of the Constitution.

H.R.3313 - Marriage Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal judicial code to deny Federal courts jurisdiction to hear or determine any question pertaining to the interpretation of the Defense of Marriage Act or the Federal statute defining marriage.

H.R. 3893 - We the People Act - To limit the jurisdiction of the Federal courts, and for other purposes.

Posted at 09:42 PM     Link     |

Wed - March 17, 2004

Bush lied and people died


This website is a searchable database of lies made by the Bush administration leading up to the war in Iraq. It features a report (in pdf format) commissioned by Representative Henry Waxman listing the 237 lies, who said them, when they were said and why they were misleading:

"The Iraq on the Record database contains 237 misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq that were made by President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Powell, and National Security Advisor Rice. These statements were made in 125 separate appearances, consisting of 40 speeches, 26 press conferences and briefings, 53 interviews, 4 written statements, and 2 congressional testimonies. Most of the statements in the database were misleading because they expressed certainty where none existed or failed to acknowledge the doubts of intelligence officials. Ten of the statements were simply false."

Posted at 08:17 PM     Link     |

Sun - March 14, 2004

Orwell on H.G. Wells


From an essay by George Orwell on H.G. Wells and Hitler:

"When (H.G.)Wells was young, society was ruled by narrow-minded, profoundly incurious people, predatory business men, dull squires, bishops, politicians who could quote Horace but had never heard of algebra. Science was faintly disreputable and religious belief obligatory. Traditionalism, stupidity, snobbishness, patriotism, superstition and love of war seemed to be all on the same side; there was need of someone who could state the opposite point of view."

(Sound familiar?)

"Up to 1914 Wells was in the main a true prophet. In physical details his vision of the new world has been fulfilled to a surprising extent. But because he belonged to the nineteenth century and to a non-military nation and class, he could not grasp the tremendous strength of the old world which was symbolised in his mind by fox-hunting Tories. He was, and still is, quite incapable of understanding that nationalism, religious bigotry and feudal loyalty are far more powerful forces than what he himself would describe as sanity.

Creatures out of the Dark Ages have come marching into the present, and if they are ghosts they are at any rate ghosts which need a strong magic to lay them."

Posted at 09:34 PM     Link     |

Black Box Voting


There is a free downloadable version of the book Black Box Voting (in pdf format) on this website. It outlines all the problems with electronic voting machines and how easily they are hacked. The author lists 100 instances where votes were counted incorrectly due to "glitches" in software.

"Diebold machines, and ones like them from other vendors, represent a major threat to our democracy. We have put our trust in the outcome of our elections into the hands of a few companies.

They are in a position to control the outcomes of our elections, and there's no way anyone can know if they, or someone working for them, did something underhanded. And meaningful recounts are impossible with these machines." -- Avi Rubin, a computer science professor at the Johns Hopkins University


There is an activist version of this website at www.blackboxvoting.org . It outlines how you can get involved to ensure your vote counts come November.


Posted at 08:26 PM     Link     |

Sat - March 13, 2004

Medicare Fraud


According to news accounts in the last couple days, the White House worked furiously to suppress numbers that showed that the Medicare bill would cost much more than the $395 billion they estimated.
 
This was done because some conservative Republicans (remember them?) were going to vote against the bill if it cost any more than $400 billion. It passed 216-215. As we know now, it could cost more than $550 billion- possibly much more. The people who come up with the numbers knew this too, but were heavily pressured into not releasing these figures.
 
From the Knight Ridder article:
 
Scully's note, according to Foster, "was a direct order not to respond to certain requests and instead to provide the responses to him and (to) warn about the consequences of insubordination."
 
The note was Scully's first threat in writing, Foster said, and came after at least three less formal threats. They "came in different forms," he said. "Sometimes he would make a comment that `I think I need another chief actuary,' or `If you want to work for the Ways and Means Committee (which was drafting the bill) I can arrange it.' It was that sort of thing."
 
There were rumblings about this when the bill was being passed, but it didn't become a big meme. A lot of you political junkies will remember that this bill was passed under many unusual circumstances- a Republican claimed that he was offered a bribe (backing from the RNC for his son's election if he voted yes) and Tommy Thompson walking the floors of congress selling the package for hours- long after the vote was scheduled to take place. All are against house rules.
 
Wow these guys really brought integrity back to Washington!

Posted at 03:30 PM     Link     |

Thu - March 11, 2004

Godless PAC


Atheists have their own PAC:

"GAMPAC endorses candidates for public office who support the First Amendment separation of church and state; defend equal rights and protections for our nation's godless Americans; inform our community of the voting records of their elected representatives on issues of concern; and support our goal of having "a place at the table" in formulating public policy.

In addition, GAMPAC will facilitate the training and development of those godless Americans seeking to bring their organizations talents to the field of electoral politics."

Posted at 09:04 PM     Link     |

Doublethink


From 1984 by George Orwell:

"...The names of the four Ministries by which we are governed exhibit a sort of impudence in their deliberate reversal of the facts. The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation. These contradictions are not accidental, nor do they result from ordinary hypocrisy; they are deliberate exercises in doublethink. For it is only by reconciling contradictions that power can be retained indefinitely."

Brings to mind the Clean Air Act and The Patriot Act.

Posted at 08:24 PM     Link     |

Tue - March 9, 2004

Republican Play Book


From the Repug's playbook, "The Prince" by Machiavelli:

"A Prince should therefore have no other aim or thought, nor take up any other thing for his study, but war and its organization and discipline...."

Posted at 08:32 PM     Link     |

Sun - February 29, 2004

Reconstructionists among us


This article describes the advances the radical Christian Reconstructionists have made into the U.S. Government, including the influence of Marvin Olasky , the man who popularized the phrase "compassionate conservative":

"Reconstructionists -- also called 'theonomists' or advocates of 'dominion theology' -- want to impose 'biblical law' (or, more accurately, their interpretation of biblical law) on the United States. Under their view, democracy should be scrapped and replaced with a theocratic state based on a literal reading of the Old Testament’s legal code."

"In a 'reconstructed' society, government would be dramatically scaled back. Most government institutions, including public schools and various welfare/social service programs, would be abolished and replaced with church-run efforts. Political leaders would look to the Bible, not the Constitution, as the nation’s governing document."

"Not content to be assigned to the lunatic fringe of American politics, Reconstructionists are now making a serious play for the big time. Through their "Operation Potomac " project, group leaders have made three forays into Washington, D.C., since July 2000, meeting with members of Congress and their staffs. With the help of powerful House Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas), they hope next year to host a "biblical worldview" conference for congressional staff on Capitol Hill."

Posted at 09:35 PM     Link     |

Amendment Happy


Always nice to see a President trying hard to play to his base. In doing so, he gets to take aim at two things the GOP loathes- queers and "activist judges". Who cares about states' rights? That is SO ten years ago!

Apparently he supports the language of Marilyn Musgrave's (R- Oklahoma) proposed amendment which would also ban civil unions- contradicting Bush's current stance on the issue.

This is the fifth constitutional amendment Bush has supported.  As Kevin Drum at Calpundit points out, Bush must think the Constitution is a rough draft.

I think Bush really 'misunderestimated' the backlash from supporting a constituional amendment. While many Americans don't like the idea of gay marriage, they also don't like the idea of amending the Constitution to make sure a group of people never have the right to do something.

The Log Cabin Republicans  say "inclusion wins". I guess they'll be voting Democratic this year.

Poika

Posted at 07:59 PM     Link     |

Fri - February 27, 2004

The Constitution Restoration Act of 2004


This bill currently in committee in the house is the first step in a right-wing religious take over of the government according to this article :

"...the law is drawn broadly and expressly includes the acknowledgement of God as the sovereign source of the law.... (The Constitution Restoration Act) may allow any judge to institute biblical punishments without being subject to review by the Supreme Court or the federal court system"

More about the religious movement behind this legislation:

"Dominionism is a natural if unintended extension of Social Darwinism and is frequently called 'Christian Reconstructionism.' It is a political scheme to take over the government of the United States and then turn that government into an aggressor nation that will forcibly establish the United States as the ruling empire of the twenty-first century. It is subversive, seditious, secretive, and dangerous."

Another author's description of Christian Reconstructionism :

"Reconstructionists believe that there are three main areas of governance: family government, church government, and civil government. Under God's covenant, the nuclear family is the basic unit. The husband is the head of the family, and wife and children are "in submission" to him. The church has its own ecclesiastical structure and governance. Civil government exists to implement God's laws. All three institutions are under Biblical Law, the implementation of which is called 'theonomy.' "

"Doctrinal leaders call for the death penalty for a wide range of crimes...(including) apostasy (abandonment of the faith), heresy, blasphemy, witchcraft, astrology, adultery, "sodomy or homosexuality", incest, striking a parent, incorrigible juvenile delinquency, and, in the case of women, 'unchastity before marriage'."


It looks like the crazies have taken over the asylum.

Posted at 08:55 PM     Link     |

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Tue - February 24, 2004

Barack Obama


I'm endorsing Barack Obama for the Senate. I like his name, he has a great website, and he sounded intelligent in the one debate I heard on NPR. I know my endorsement will jump-start his campaign and allow him to ultimately beat the ice cream man.

Posted at 09:11 PM     Link     |

Sun - February 22, 2004

Tue - February 24, 2004

Barack Obama


I'm endorsing Barack Obama for the Senate. I like his name, he has a great website, and he sounded intelligent in the one debate I heard on NPR. I know my endorsement will jump-start his campaign and allow him to ultimately beat the ice cream man.

Posted at 09:11 PM     Link     |

Sun - February 22, 2004

Out of touch


Last week, the chairman of Bush's Council of Economic Advisors stated that
jobs moving overseas is a great thing. This is not a real radical position
for anyone who promotes free trade, but one must question the wisdom of
making statements like this while people are losing their manufacturing (and
now, white collar) jobs and are forced to go work at McDonalds.

When manufacturing jobs are disappearing, why not pad the numbers by
considering jobs at McDonalds to be manufacturing positions? After all,
you're manufacturing a tasty hamburger!

This comes on the heels of the administration backing away from projecting
2.6 million jobs being created this year.

This couldn't be happening at a better time. If Jr. appears as out of touch
with the economy as his dad, he's finished.

Poika

Posted at 08:40 PM     Link     |
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