Oct. 17th, 2002

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John Perry Barlow of the EFF on Matters of Concern to us all

My old pal Mitch Kapor said years ago that what I needed was a "hyperbolectomy." Were such a procedure to exist, this would probably be a good time to get one, since I suddenly find myself incapable of discussing the present state of the American Experiment without veering off into Very Large Statements.

With that admonition in mind, I hope that you will continue to read this rant, adjusting it to your own reality settings. This is just how bad it looks to me. From my perspective, this is not hyperbolic at all.

I believe that the American Republic died in the U.S. Senate last Thursday morning and was buried yesterday morning in the East Room of the White House.

Despite a deluge of calls, letters, and e-mails, which Capital Hill staffers admitted ran overwhelmingly against the ludicrously-named "Resolution Authorizing the President to Use Force, if Necessary, to End the Threat to World Peace from Saddam Hussein's Weapons of Mass Destruction," Congress extended to George II the authority to make unlimited and preemptive war against another nation that has neither attacked us nor shown the ability or inclination to do so.

(Thank you, by the way, for your own contributions to this flood of futile dissent. They may have ignored you, but you will sleep better for knowing that you were not one of the "silent Germans.")


There's more. And I know how he feels.

oh, dammit

Oct. 17th, 2002 02:15 pm
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Noelle Bush is going to jail. Her father wasn't in court, but he has a fundraiser with Uncle George today, so, oh well.

None of this has, that we know of, changed her father's position on drugs and addiction one whit: we can be grateful, however, that in the course of attempting to keep her from disrupting his political activities they've set a few precedents for the legal treatment of addicts in Florida.

In other Bush news, Uncle George shows his commitment to a new kind of politics by piling on Mr. Cleland in precisely the same terms as Mr. Chambliss did.

The president lashed out at the Democrat-controlled Senate for blocking his proposed Department of Homeland Security in a dispute over workers' rights. "There is no question in my mind that if Saxby Chambliss were in the Senate I would not have to worry about his leadership or his vote in this important matter," Bush said.
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Seeing the Forest has the good news about their fundraising drive for Wellstone and three House candidates who voted against the war in swing districts.

FWIW, I get their letters too, and it's well worth signing up with them.
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Apparently his campaign website hosts an article wherein a state senator (Seth Harp, R - Mud) is quoted as saying this:

"I think he's deteriorating physically and mentally," said State Senator Seth Harp, R-Columbus, who said he was alarmed by Cleland's wandering mind when Harp visited him two years ago.

"It was almost bizarre," he said, comparing Cleland's mental state to that of Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. "I empathize with his injuries, but we need a strong voice for Georgia."


My response to this is studded with a number of intemperate gerunds and genitive references and is most likely best left to the imagination.

via Green[e]house Effect
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TBogg is looking for a new state slogan for Massachusetts.

My list (yes of course I already emailed in fifteen entries, what'd you expect?) starts with

"For cod and country"

"You'll never get scrod like this anywhere else"

"Floundering for nearly four centuries now"


and goes rapidly downhill from there.

Enter immediately. I'm all excited about this.

Yikes

Oct. 17th, 2002 06:51 pm
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The Daily Kos has the story of a man with dual Syrian/Canadian citizenship who was detained at Kennedy Airport at a stopover on his way home to Canada and deported to Syria (without contacting Canadian officials) by the US Government.

He hasn't been heard from since.

sad news

Oct. 17th, 2002 08:38 pm
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Fans of my personal political pet, State Senator Espada (?-NY), will be tragically bummed to hear that he was beaten in his runoff.

State Senator Espada, as constant readers know, is a particular political pet of mine since he announced that he was going to jump to the Republican Party after the elections because, as he charmingly explained, you have to be a Democrat to win in his district, which is (or, as of now, was) the South Bronx, for those of you who may have heard of it.

He arrived at this decision after much prayerful thought when the republican controlled state senate slipped him a buttload of money under the table erm when he decided it might be best for his constituency.

Some background is here.

I myself will miss State Senator Espada. My fellow mourners can send flowers to the Herman Badillo Home for the Terminally Irrelevant (inside NY joke. sorry).
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ballistic fingerprinting? why didn't you say so?

The White House retreated yesterday from its criticism of a technology that helps authorities trace ammunition found at crime scenes. Now, the administration will study the possibility of a national database to record the unique markings made by guns when they are fired.

"The president wants this issue explored," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said. "There are reasons that people think that it could possibly move forward and other reasons that people think it may not be able to move forward."

The overnight change reflected the new complications that the elusive sniper in the Washington suburbs has introduced to the gun-control debate with an election three weeks away. Democrats had been playing down the issue because it hurt Vice President Al Gore in rural areas in the 2000 election. But political consultants said Bush risked alienating suburban swing voters by echoing the National Rifle Association's opposition to the technology at such a sensitive time.

The technology, known as ballistic fingerprinting or "gun DNA," is widely supported by law enforcement and is promoted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which is part of the Treasury Department. The ATF has a Web site devoted to encouraging local agencies to use the technology, including a "Hits of the Week" compendium of success stories.


I'm sure I must have said that these people were inutterable swine yesterday, right?

OK, just checking.

And yes, my foot still hurts.
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via Off the Kuff

Texas is returning money to the federal government. The money is supposed to be used to provide health insurance for children, but (somebody or other who used to be governor until recently) pushed through a honking tax cut and now there are no funds available to use to qualify for matching funds.

Because the money was not redeemed, next year's allotment will be reduced, not that they'll find a means to be eligible for that either.

Recap and summarize, as my french teacher used to, for some inexplicable reason, say: tax cuts, yes. Medical care for children, no.

Vote early and often.
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