And Even Cindy Sheehan Has a Right to Speak (and Run)

... even though her HQ keep getting attacked.

That's just not cool. We should shut down the savages, not the candidates.

More Free Speech Issues

1. Obama boots opposition reporters from plane
   Hmm... yeah, that shows a willingness to "reach across the aisle"... not to mention a receptive attitude to different ideas from our "open-minded" candidate. Previous, SECOND shut-down effort on radio station hosting opposition here. And then there are his "truth squads."
   
2. Fairness Doctrine explained at Mormanity (and parallel drawn to religious freedom)
   Shows that - like most fascist schemes - it's not about "fairness" so much as shutting down opposition. From the article quoted in the article (in the house that Jack built):

   As Bill Ruder, an assistant secretary of commerce under President Kennedy, noted, "Our massive strategy was to use the Fairness Doctrine to challenge and harass right-wing broadcasters in the hope that the challenges would be so costly to them that they would be inhibited and decide it was too expensive to continue."

We're going to need to fight loud and hard if Obama gains the presidency, especially if Congress has a liberal supermajority. Political correctness eroded the foundation of free speech, and now this "outlaw speech" idea is being extended to attack and quash simple dissent.

Dissent - free political discourse - is what "free speech" in the First Amendment is really about; and if we lose our First Amendment rights, all others will follow.

Do They Know?

That's the way Cassandra closes her latest brilliant post. (Seriously, go check it out - it's a great read!)

The question regards whether Obama supporters realize what he's doing and what his policies actually mean.

And I'm guessing the answer is, largely, a big "NO."

And for the ones who do know, they agree with him that people should have Constitutional rights to, say, other people's money and property, if it means "stuff" for them.

But do they realize what the Constitution means?

Another big "NO."

The real meaning of the Constitution isn't taught in schools anymore. Even Constitutional law courses focus on case law - with precedent actually taking precedence over the text of the Constitution.

Instead, we learn in school that, whereas the Founding Fathers were really bigoted/licentious men, FDR was a great guy - that he helped us out of the Great Depression.

*BZZZZZ*

FDR was evil. Even Wikipedia reads like a list of "accomplishments" that - from a Constitutional perspective - are travesties. (Yes, Our Public School Hero instituted internment camps.) He was so horrid that he was the REASON for the then-customary two-term limit being enshrined in the Constitution - after he was safely dead and gone, of course.

FDR's New Deal not only deepened and extended the Depression in the US, but stole the soul of America, broadly introducing the concept of dependence on the government for our daily bread.

But even he couldn't get the country to accept his "Second Bill of Rights." From VC:

This new Bill of Rights would guarantee the following government benefits by statute:

• A job with a living wage
• Freedom from unfair competition and monopolies
• Homeownership
• Medical care
• Education
• Recreation

In other words, not only are those things natural rights (which I could still argue against), but it's the US Government's constitutional obligation to provide them.

I call FOUL. Very, stinky, FOUL.

But as I said - even FDR couldn't get the people to swallow that. So now Obama's trying.

And since all we know now is the quasi-socialist result of FDR's programs, combined with absolute information overload, it's going to be a lot harder to fight.

So "Go! Confront the problem! Fight! Win! And call me when you get back, darling; I enjoy our visits." (Edna Mode, The Incredibles)

A Taste of One Future

[Update 28Oct2008/12:43]: Here's an article that lists the questions the anchor asked both McCain and Biden. She's not throwing anyone softballs.
---

Hey, look! It's a whole new "don't ask, don't tell" policy!

"Frank"ly, My Not-so-dear Congressman...

Are you sitting down? Because this is just really rich.

BARNEY FRANK is proposing some fun new changes to congressional spending.

Yep, because his "supervision" worked so well for Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac.

More money for Food Stamps. Which the government has been advertising. Which is it? Can they not drum up enough business, or enough tax dollars?

And oh - he wants to cut the military budget by 25%.

To borrow a phrase from SNL Weekend Update, "REALLY?"

This guy should be in JAIL - alternately in the stocks - for his role in the financial crisis, and we've got him doling out financial ADVICE?

Wow. Just wow. And my, how the corrupt are self-perpetuating...

Follow the Breadcrumb Trail

...all the way to a great article. Trying to Grok has a link and commentary about the class warfare (aka: idiocy) going on in this election season.

Can't hear it often enough.

All Hail Lord Bloomberg

Because, seemingly, he's the only person who could possibly save New York.

Why else would you grant him the REQUESTED exception to the term limits he thought were such a great idea when Giuliani was mayor?

*snort*

Seriously, New Yorkers, flee The Mini-Empire while you're still allowed. Because running on the "rule of law" it ain't.

The Hostiles

Yep. Hostiles. I could call them "The Others," but I believe that term is pretty well-taken by the Lost series.

Why don't I put a bumper sticker on my car once I've made up my mind? (Well, aside from not wanting to deface my form of transportation?) (And no, these stories do not mean I'm supporting McCain; I'm just illustrating how the Rabid Ones tend to work...)

(h/t Drudge)

• Example 1: McCain signs get a guy's home shot up. In a traditionally Republican (pro-McCain) area
• Example 2: Female McCain supporter gets a "B" carved into her face during mugging. Yes, the guy actually did it because she supported McCain.
  [Update 24Oct2008/11:51 - This story is starting to look like it might fall apart - if she's lying, BAAAAD woman. But there's a picture now, too.]
  [Update 24Oct2008/15:33 - SHE MADE IT UP. Any volunteers to cart her away to exile??? LIARS STINK.]
• Example 2: Guy gets assaulted at restaurant over political argument.
• ... and Example 3: I was physically "contacted" over a political discussion at work a few years ago.

So...

Free speech vs. the Savages. Hostiles. Rabid Ones. I'm trying to come up with a good nickname to use for this particular faction of society.

This is a natural outgrowth of what I call, "PC overload." Political correctness is becoming the highest law of the land - and only the officially-endorsed, politically-correct opinion. People view legitimate political opinions - not "fighting words" - as personal attacks now, and they're evolving into physical attacks. Not that the attacks are sanctioned, of course, but good luck reining it in.

Sure hope that Free Speech survives the election.

MEDIA FRAUD. [Updated]

Update 17Oct2008/09.47: Apparently someone did yell "Kill him!" But not about Obama - about Bill Ayers. Hence the Secret Service's initial bewilderment. And the point - that media deliberately twists stories (if they have any truth at all) to fit their narrative - is still completely valid.

For another example (yes, from FOX NEWS), check this out: a girl was called "racist" for wearing a McCain/Palin t-shirt to school. Headline and constant references? "Girl called racist for wearing Palin t-shirt." "Palin t-shirt." "pro-Sarah Palin t-shirt." See what they're doing? Ignoring the *campaign* in favor of painting Palin as the real racist. AMAZING. [Incidentally, this would be why I get my news online instead of TV or the newspaper - it's easier to work through the truth, since you can search out more sides of the issue at hand.]

--
Okay - as much as I dislike using this computer while I wait for the kitchen PC to be fixed, this REALLY needs attention.

Remember that Obama line from the debate (and circulated beforehand), that "people" at McCain rallies are yelling, "kill him?"

My reaction was, 'dang - McCain's nutjobs get more attention than Obama's... but open death threats are slightly worse than calling Sarah Palin the foulest word in the book...'

The media harped on how horrible that was, although McCain dealt well with it.

And then, today, what do I find out?

It's most likely a TOTAL FABRICATION.

Complete fraud on the part of the reporter, as far as the Secret Service can tell. Not another SOUL heard it. And they hear all sorts of things.

You want to talk about baseless smears, Obama, Socialist Some-time Associate of Terrorists? THAT'S one for the books.

(And don't worry - Bush is now a socialist, as well, at the direction of Emperor Palpatine Secretary Paulson... I'm an equal-opportunity socialist-caller!)

PC Problems

Main household PC is down... (with everything blog-worthy that's going on, maybe it's divine intervention to let me get something done besides blogging...)

At any rate, will be away from the blog for a few days. *sigh* Back when the kitchen PC boots again...

In the meantime:

• Faith
• Food storage
• Firearms

And On a Lighter Note, Politics

A couple candidates challenging the incumbent to an Indiana congressional seat have agreed to wear lie detectors during debate...

... to which, the Democratic chairman (whom I quote only because he's got the best line in the article), responds:

"Polygraphs have their use in law enforcement, but I don't see them fitting in a political debate." (emphasis obviously mine...)

L O L

Indeed!

One World WHAT?!?!

Surprise! Recent headlines suggest that the US-led, worldwide economic ... *cough* unpleasantries *cough* are spurring a global movement for "coordinated control." I mean, "order." Or at least something undoubtedly BAD.

Glenn Beck is on it.
Straight YouTube video (h/t Daily Liberty Research):


And here are a few stories:

• Only the First (sound familiar?)
• Happening All Over the World : ("perhaps it's time for a more coordinated approach globally")
• Rewriting Global Rules : Berlusconi says we're "talking about a new Bretton Woods.'' The Bretton Woods Agreements were adopted to rebuild the international economic system after World War II in a hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire." (hmm... socialist FDR "rebuilt" something international - and hasn't that worked out well?) Sarko "l'américain" is totally on-board, too...

And to all of this, the White House says, "of COURSE not..." Best quote of the article: "There are absolutely no plans or discussions to interfere with the functioning of markets in the United States" - well, aside from what we've already done to completely DESTROY them... but no, why would you be concerned about international meddling? *jaw dropping in disbelief*

Oh, and here's a clearer assessment than I would have expected out of a main news service...

The government is authorized under the law to buy "troubled assets."

Those assets include mortgages, but according to the law, they may also include "any other financial instrument" that is "necessary to promote financial market stability ..."

It is the government's position that this authority extends to bank stocks.

"The plan we are executing is aggressive. It is the right plan. It will take time to have its full impact. It is flexible enough to adapt as the situation changes. And it is big enough to work," Bush said.

EEK! The only thing scarier than, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help," is "I'm from the government, and I'll do WHATEVER IT TAKES to help!"

If you can't laugh, you'll cry.

Here's a link to a great comedy skit about the current economic situation.

Sometimes the English see us soooo clearly...

In the Interest of Free Speech

[Update 08Oct2008:] Here's the edited skit. I guess they were concerned that someone might take the "people who should be shot" line seriously. You know, because no one uses that line in real life... (although I must admit that since becoming a life member of the NRA, I've changed my saying to, "people who need to be horsewhipped," just in case someone does take me seriously; I suppose that will work until horsewhips are common tools again. I had a teacher who used to say, "whipped with a wet noodle" - is that peaceful enough?) [h/t: Drudge; language alert on above link from "take"]

Here's a link to screenshots and the transcript of the SNL bailout skit that's been pulled... [update: here's the actual video... high traffic alert ;-)]

... and here's an article about Google checking your sobriety, more or less, at certain times of day (if you want them to) - ideally to prevent you from sending something stupid while impaired, LOL. Since it's self-imposed, it seems like a good idea. Starts the imagination going, though... wonder how it could work in, say, CHINA... [*awareness of nipping at the hand that hosts me...*]

Today's Threat from Speaker Pelosi

"This is only the beginning..."

(heard on radio news just after the House passed the Bailout... good-bye, tax refund... good-bye, businesses... good-bye free enterprise...)

ARGH. They Did It Anyway.

The Senate passed the Bailout. ('Cept my decent senator didn't!)

Now, that's interesting.

The Senate is supposed to be the ... er... "cooling saucer" to the House's "voice of the people-ness." In other words, they're supposed to be the brakes on the fast track to governmental action.

Instead, trusting our short memories for their 6-year terms, it's turned into the voice of the established powers who want to instantly ram through a massive emergency power grab that they know is contrary to the will of the people.

Bunch of arrogant people. "We're going to screw the taxpayers (whom we like to ignore) in order to take complete control of the economy, anyway!!!"

ARGH. Just ARGH.