The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
Constitutional issues and questions are posted to this category.
What Bush is doing in the run-up to the midterm elections is a disgrace equal to any other scandal of his nasty, incipiently despotic, regime. Using the hallowed anniversary of 9/11, he has demanded Congress pass a law that enables the major terrorist suspects, until now held in CIA secret prisons all over the world, to be transferred and tried at Guantanamo.
Read moreWe hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Read moreBloomberg is reporting that evidence seems to indicate the NSA approached AT&T months prior to 9/11 seeking to intercept telephone calls.
Read moreI’ve let the dust settle some from the recent insistence of Congressional Republicans to throw their “base” a bone. I am referring to, of course, the recent attempt to ingrain discrimination against gay people into the Constitution.
Read moreIn even numbered years, Republicans attack the Constitution. Having failed to write homophobia into the Bill of Rights, Republicans are reduced to making their biennial appeal for a partial repeal of the First Amendment. When Democrats are dared to support the rights of (relatively rare) flag burners, they need to make clear that it is the Constitution they support.
Read moreHere are a few of the major events that happened in our world yesterday. Mass kidnappings in Iraq: Gunmen in
Read moreRemember when John Ashcroft assured us that the Patriot Act wouldn’t be used to access library records? Raw Story has a nice piece that explains how the government kept the truth quiet until the Patriot Act was reauthorized.
Read moreCitizens have been writing about the imperial aspirations of this White House since shortly after Bush’s first inauguration. Helen Thomas fired a tough broadside on the subject back in 2002. And just this week Gary Hart wrote a comprehensive summary of our current constitutional crisis.
Read moreUnbelievable, and yet true: The explicit goal of the police is to prevent law-abiding citizens from protesting. If this isn’t a totalitarian state, I don’t know what is.
Read moreRepublicans are packaging as “reform” a plan that would gut FISA, leaving the president free to spy on Americans without obtaining a warrant. A NY Times editorial expresses appropriate outrage at this cynical ploy to shield the president’s lawless behavior:
Read moreA couple in Rhode Island decided to pay off their J.C. Penney credit card, so they mailed in a $6,500 payment. They later learned their payment was being held until reviewed by Homeland Security because it was more than their usual monthly payment.
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