Wassup?????

Jon Stewart Interviews Obama 10/29

ACLU calls for Government to Release Info on Troop Deployment within the US

ACLU Demands Information On Military Deployment Within U.S. Borders (10/21/2008)

Deployment Erodes Longstanding Separation Between Civilian And Military Government

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today demanded information from the government about reports that an active military unit has been deployed inside the U.S. to help with "civil unrest" and "crowd control" – matters traditionally handled by civilian authorities. This deployment jeopardizes the longstanding separation between civilian and military government, and the public has a right to know where and why the unit has been deployed, according to an ACLU Freedom of Information request filed today.

"The military's deployment within U.S. borders raises critical questions that must be answered," said Jonathan Hafetz, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. "What is the unit's mission? What functions will it perform? And why was it necessary to deploy the unit rather than rely on civilian agencies and personnel and the National Guard? Given the magnitude of the issues at stake, it is imperative that the American people know the truth about this new and unprecedented intrusion of the military in domestic affairs."

According to a report in the Army Times, the Army recently deployed an active military unit inside the United States under Northern Command, which was established in 2002 to assist federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities. This deployment marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command.
Civilian authorities, not the military, have historically controlled and directed the internal affairs of the United States. This rule traces its origins to the nation's founding and has been reaffirmed in landmark statutes including the Posse Comitatus Act, which helps preserve the foundational principles of our Constitution and democracy.

"This is a radical departure from separation of civilian law enforcement and military authority, and could, quite possibly, represent a violation of law," said Mike German, ACLU national security policy counsel and former FBI Agent. "Our Founding Fathers understood the threat that a standing army could pose to American liberty. While future generations recognized the need for a strong military to defend against increasingly capable foreign threats, they also passed statutory protections to ensure that the Army could not be turned against the American people. The erosion of these protections should concern every American."

In order to assess the implications of the recent deployment, the ACLU requested the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Defense today to immediately make public all legal opinions, executive orders, presidential directives, memos, policy guidance, and other documents that authorize the deployment of military troops for domestic purposes.
Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Department of Defense has dramatically expanded its role in domestic law enforcement and intelligence operations, including the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping programs, the Department of Homeland Security's use of military spy satellites, and the participation of military personnel in state and local intelligence fusion centers. The ACLU has repeatedly expressed concern about these incremental encroachments of the military into domestic affairs, and the assignment of active duty troops to Northern Command only heightens these concerns.
A copy of the ACLU's information request is available online at: www.aclu.org/safefree/general/37272lgl20081021.html

Mecca Lecca High Mecca Hiney Ho....Mecca Lecca Chi Mecca Chiney Ho...

I am calling on all gods and goddesses of things, large and small, faeries, gnomes, elven folk, space aliens, Jambi the Genie; ANYONE who can pull strings for this beautiful blue/green planet, to DO so, to get Barack Obama elected.

I want to experience the collective psychic joy of the globe, when he is pronounced the winner for Leader of the Free World.

Amen

Gotta LOVE Jon Stewart

More West Virginia Machine Flipping Votes From Dem to Repub

Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.

From Pleterh on Digg: "Republicans are on their way to stealing a 3rd election by manipulating the voting machines. The oldest trick in the book. Solution: take in your video camera and record your vote on video. If it flips, you have the evidence. Use technology to fight abuse of technology!"


I was going to take my camera phone in the voting booth anyway to take a pic of my ballot. We have paper ballots where I live, but if YOU live where they have electronic machines, video your vote! Everyone who can, should be doing this! I don't care what your party affiliation is, it is important for all votes to truly COUNT!
read more | digg story

CBS News: New Study Details Massive Voter Roll Purges Underway in At Least 19 States

This is the only way McCain can win. People around the world have asked Americans, "How could you people have voted for George W. Bush TWICE?!" The correct answer is "We didn't!" It was decided by Diebold hackers, hanging chads, the Supreme Court GOP appointed Justices, the lack of sufficient voting machines in poor neighborhoods, and an average of a 15 minute wait for voters in wealthy, white neighboroods and an average of a 4 hour wait in poor, black neighborhoods. It was due to fliers tacked up in poor, black neighborhoods stating "Republicans vote on Tuesday, Democrats vote on Wednesday." It was due to Republican operatives jamming phone lines at Voter Information Hotlines and on and on....

All of this is documented in "How To Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative: Allen Raymond, Ian Spiegelman (In stock at Amazon btw, I checked!)

A Nation Held Hostage by Nitwits

Journalist discusses the intellectual qualities of a person who cannot decide between say, a Prius and a fully loaded Humvee with Ozone depleting afterburners.......a tofu salad or a 32oz. steak and a side or ribs......or Obama and McCain.....Who ARE these people??

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Sarah Palin Booed Loud, seat view. Flyers game.

Crowds getting Uglier at Palin/McCain rallies

True to Republican values, McCain and Palin are using tactics to get crowds "mad as hell" and are scapegoating the media. Nothing new for Republicans, when the news is reported on things they've said and done and it is not couched in fawning and favorable terms, they decry the media as "liberal! left wing! biased!" Only this time, their tactics of whipping up the crowd into a literal "mob" (in this case think 'lynch mob') is unprecedented. Gee, do you think it could having anything at all to do with the fact that Barack Obama is.....shh..............(black?)

Story on Talking Points Memo:

Dana Milbank -- the Washington Post reporter who wrote this morning's piece about the Palin crowd's disgusting abuse of reporters at a rally yesterday -- tells me that the McCain camp's repeated attacks on the media have spawned crowd hostility towards the press that's running at a "degree of intensity" he's never experienced in covering presidential politics.

As Milbank wrote, one Palin supporter hurled an unspecified racial epithet at an African American sound man, and told him: "Sit down, boy."

I checked in with Milbank to get a bit more on what happened yesterday, because the ugliness unleashed by McCain-Palin's nasty crowd-riling tactics are becoming a story in this campaign.

"None of this is new, but the degree of intensity is different," Milbank says. "It's taken an uglier turn. I've been doing this for years, and there's never been anything quite like this."

Milbank says that after the Palin attacked the New York Times and Katie Couric in her stump speech yesterday in Florida, he and other reporters were pelted with boos, with some saying things like "screw you" and "fucking liberal media."

"McCain has so overtly taken on the media -- they're doing it to rile the base," he continued. "And lo and behold, the base is good and riled."

Tina Fey on SNL The "Debate"

Fey nails it once again! Watch:

Union President Defends Obama Against Racism (VIDEO)

AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka offers this moving defense of Obama against racial attacks. (h/t Sullivan)Richard Trumka serves as the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, , he was elected in 1995. He previously was president of the United Mine Workers from 1982 to December 22, 1995. Trumka was born in Nemacolin, PA, a third-generation coal miner who went to work in the mines at age 19. He attended Penn State U and his law degree from Villanova. While president of the UMWA, Mr. Trumka led the successful nine-month strike against the Pittston Coal Company. It became a rallying symbol for the entire labor movement. A major issue in the dispute was Pittston's refusal to pay into the industry wide health and retirement fund created in 1950. Trumka encouraged non-violent civil disobedience to confront the company in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and relied on a sophisticated corporate campaign involving Wall Street investors. Besides his fighting aggressively against employers on behalf of his members, then-President Trumka established an office that raised U.S. mine worker solidarity with the mineworkers of South Africa while they were fighting racial apartheid.] He further served as the U.S. Shell boycott chairman, which challenged the multinational Royal Dutch/Shell Group for its continued business dealings in South Africa. Upon being elevated to the AFL-CIO, Secretary-Treasurer Trumka has focused on creating investment programs for the pension and benefits funds of the labor movement, fighting Wall Street greed, and challenging politicians to create an equitable economy for working people.

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Hey Sarah, Sarah...

Quote

President Franklin Roosevelt once told a group of activists lobbying him, "I agree with everything you said. Now go out and make me do it."

We the People only have power if we use it.

Sometimes the Blogs' commenters are even better

than the bloggers! At least as interesting. In response to Bob Cesca's column about Sarah Palin being a "hooplehead" and in her own words a "Joe Six Pack" candidate, a commenter named Spartanmom had this to say:

"

Hey, Can I be in McCain's cabinet?

I could probably handle a couple of positions.

Interior-I garden, can use a shovel, have one each, Native American and African American neighbor. So that covers agriculture, mining, Indian Affairs

Defense-My father was a Marine in WW2, My son was in the army in Afghanistan (and I had to buy stuff to send to him so I know about procurement), I own two guns (one of them is from WW1 so I have knowledge of the history of conflict)

Treasury-I pay my bills, can use Quicken (and I'm a quick study so QuickBooks should be no problem) Subscribe to the Economist (but I wouldn't play that up for fear of looking elitist)

Attorney General-my sister and her two daughters are lawyers

Commerce-I buy stuff in several states, Europe and Japan.

State-I've had a passport since 1975, I've been to three Canadian provinces, England and San Francisco. My husband has been to Taiwan and India. My daughters have been to Ireland. I've had trouble with my neighbors so I know about conflict.

Wait, never mind a cabinet post, I'm running for President."

Hawwwww!