Peace Takes Courage
A 15 year old girl is receiving death threats for an anti-war video she made. It is available at Peace Takes Courage. I caution you in advance…the images are disturbing, but you should watch it.
Read moreWar
I use this category when posting about the military or military actions.
The Advantages of Heaven and Hell
We started our series on Smart Thoughts with Mark Twain, so it shouldn’t surprise you that I love many of his writings, and have lots of his sayings on this site. On of my favorite writings by Twain is his “The War Prayer.” It’s a short essay, and if you have never read it, you should.
Read moreThe Library Tower Plot And We Still Don't Need to Cancel The Constitution
Well, it is interesting that after Little Al Gonzales got ripped a new one during the Senate Hearings on King George’s domestic warrantless spying, the King suddenly decided it was OK to declassify some bogus “threat” so he could tell us about it (you know 9/11, airplanes into buildings, be afraid, be very afraid). Bush says he will not talk about specific security threats to America. Unless, of course, he needs to talk about a specific threat to Los Angeles to confuse the public and gain some cheap political advantage.
Read moreSenate Denies Returning Vets Badly-Needed Support
The New York Daily News reports on an internal Veterans Health Administration (VHA) study showing 120,000 U.S. soldiers — “more than one of every four who served in Iraq and Afghanistan” — have already sought VHA treatment.
Read moreHere's How Republicans Support The Troops
Army demanded $700 from city man who was wounded. The last time 1st Lt. William ?Eddie? Rebrook IV saw his body armor, he was lying on a stretcher in Iraq, his arm shattered and covered in blood. But last week, Rebrook was forced to pay $700 for that body armor, blown up by a roadside bomb more than a year ago.
Read moreMore Money for War-Less for Poor Americans
“The White House said Thursday that it planned to ask Congress for an additional $70 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, driving the cost of military operations in the two countries to $120 billion this year, the highest since the Sept. 11 attacks.” The new spending will add to the cost of an Iraq war that is currently estimated at $250 billion. Total war spending since 9/11 would rise to $440 billion.
Read moreMidterm Elections About Fear…ahh Security
Karl Rove says that this year’s midterm elections will be about security. Were but that true.
Read moreDeconstructing the Various Domestic Spying Lies
Just over a week ago, the White House promised to provide the legal, constitutional and moral justifications for the sort of warrantless spying on Americans that has been illegal for nearly 30 years. Instead, we got the familiar mix of political spin, clumsy historical misinformation, contemptuous dismissals of civil liberties concerns, cynical attempts to paint dissents as anti-American and pro-terrorist, and a couple of big, dangerous lies.
Read moreThe Republic In It's Last Throes
The confirmation of Samuel Alito to the US Supreme Court is all but completed. The addition of the Big-Brother-government-and-corporate-friendly Alito to replace a relatively moderate O’Connor is going to result in a more authoritarian society in which a few dictate to the majority what the rules will be. The American Republic is in its final days. Bin Laden won…or was it just the Bush Cabal taking over for good?
Read moreBush Was Against Expanding FISA Before He Was For It
The Bush Administration opposed legislation that would have given them the very power they now claim they needed, power they now claim they didn’t have under FISA. It’s because they didn’t have this power, they now claim, that they had to break the law and spy without a warrant. But this law would have given them much of the legal power they wanted. Yet they said they didn’t need it, and worse yet, that the proposed legislation was likely unconstitutional.
Read moreWhy Are Conservatives So Afraid
When our nation was founded, we had men of real character and courage fighting for their nascent America, one in which liberty and freedom trumped the authoritative tendencies of the monarchy. Patrick Henry gave words to those efforts: Give me liberty or give me death!
Read more