http://www.democraticunderground.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:53:43 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:53:43 Digging around in the archives, I came across this piece I wrote for DU back on Veterans Day 2003. I have resisted the urge to edit and update it, and for the first time in 6 long years, I am pleased to present it to DU once again:

[b]"Veterans and Peace - A Tribute"[/b]


As of this writing,... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/100 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:17:13 The "Founding Fathers" are the secular gods of the republic, gathered at Mt. Olympus, er, Independence Hall, plotting and scheming while watching over us. We even have the appropriate Greek and Roman architecture in our national and state capital buildings and courthouses to demonstrate this mythic... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/98 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:59:46 I understand, and sympathize with, the populist impulse against Wall Street, but I suspect that cheering for the market to implode isn't really about well-founded hostility towards "The Man", but rather, part of an overall drive that pathologically wants [i]everything[/i] to fail, collapse, and desc... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/97 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:23:23 ...and to its logical extreme, pro-death.

The anti-choice zealots want to outlaw abortion. In the name of protecting zygotes and embryos (which have no rights, asswrenches), untold increasing numbers of women (who do, or should - in places they don't - have rights) would die everywhere it is cri... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/96 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:36:22 Members of the military and employees of the federal government can donate to them from their paychecks through the Combined Federal Campaign. Anyone can donate to them and deduct it as a charitable contribution on their 1040 Schedule A. Technically, they are an historical/educational veterans' de... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/95 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:55:33 http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/09/closing_the_book_on_the_bush_legacy.php

Closing The Book On The Bush Legacy

Thursday's annual Census Bureau report on income, poverty and access to health care-the Bureau's principal report card on the well-being of average Americans-closes the books on ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/94 Tue, 15 Sep 2009 02:00:10 A good introduction to the ideological framework of the Quiverfull movement, from an op-ed in Newsweek. I have provided an excerpt and link below.

Often, children of the movement are also called "arrows." Quiverfull takes its name from Psalm 127: "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons b... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/93 Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:29:54 Back when there were only 3 networks, and the news coverage was limited to 30 to 60 minutes a day, in 1 or 2 broadcasts, a mere "anchorman" (which Cronkite helped create as a position) had a lot of influence, compared to today's infotainment-saturated, TMI culture of Tweet-induced soundbite narcissi... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/92 Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:30:23 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

In the 1960s, Americans who knew only the potential of "equal protection of the laws" expected the president, the Congress, and the courts to fulfill the promise of the 14th Amendment. In response, all three branches ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/91 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:30:56 [center]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Normandy_Invasion,_June_1944.jpg[/center]

"You will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world. Your task will no... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/90 Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:46:48 [center]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Robert_F._Kennedy_1964.jpeg/225px-Robert_F._Kennedy_1964.jpeg

"All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don't. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled wit... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/89 Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:23:44 If you were not moved to tears by this deeply moving speech, then please check yourself for a pulse, or check for the presence of your soul. It is a somber reminder of the enormous responsibility we all share as human beings: We must always conquer inhumanity wherever and whenever it appears. I ha... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/88 Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:58:27 I have no grand pronouncements to make, no words which can adequately capture my disgust, outrage, or sadness concerning today's decision by the California Supreme Court.

But what I do have is a direct message of unqualified support and empathy for my fellow citizens who have one less right than ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/87 Tue, 26 May 2009 13:48:10 55 years ago today, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson with a 9-0 vote, and etablished once and for all, that separate educational facilities are NOT equal, and thus, ruling that apartheid in our public schools is unconstitutional. The 14th Amendment cites equal p... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/86 Sun, 17 May 2009 13:16:19 I do not understand the need for some omnivores (no one is exclusively a carnivore - although I know a few people who come close) to undermine or criticize destructively the vegetarian or vegan dietary choice. It is a sound choice not only for personal health reasons, but for increasingly apparent ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/85 Fri, 01 May 2009 20:19:38 The political wisdom of Merle Haggard: 'It's time for a change'
By Steve Wildsmith
of The Daily Times Staff
Originally published: August 01. 2008 3:01AM
Last modified: August 01. 2008 10:55AM

If he makes to November -- and, given the fact that he says he cheated death once again last May -... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/84 Sat, 21 Feb 2009 01:26:17 And I bet not one DUer in 1,000 could tell us in which ways he is modeling himself after Lincoln.

Could you imagine DU in March of 1861 after Lincoln's first inaugural? "He must free the slaves NOW!! He's just a centrist corporatist sell-out!! Did you hear in his speech how he may keep slavery... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/83 Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:15:37 In honor of the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, and the cause for which he and thousands upon thousands fought long and hard, I present this excerpt from his 'Letter from a Birmingham Jail':

You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/82 Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:32:30 During the three years between Franco's death (November 20, 1975) and the voters' ratification of the constitution (December 7, 1978), Juan Carlos liberalized Spain, including reinstituting the legal status of the Communist and Socialist parties, opening up the press, creating an intermim parliament... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/81 Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:14:55 1. James K. Polk (1845-1849): Purposely served one term, and did everything he set out to do, from annexing Texas, to peacefully settling the border of the Oregon Territory with Britain, and oh yeah, that forced unpleasantness with Mexico which capped the westward expansion started by Thomas Jeffer... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/80 Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:04:33 Put on your constitutional scholar caps, because this requires some deft mental maneuvering. The gist is that California AG Jerry Brown's legal brief filed recently requesting that the state Supreme Court overturn Prop 8, contains some points that [i]could[/i] be used as arguments [i]against[/i] th... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/79 Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:32:07 From the birth of the republic, and onward until the ascension of President Lincoln, the south was a de facto economic colony of the north, separated by a vast divide in wealth and resources, with slaveholders representing a narrow but influential minority of the southern population. The south's mo... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/78 Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:43:11 1. "Was I Right Or Wrong?" - Lynyrd Skynyrd ('Skynyrd's First And... Last' - 1978); Ronnie Van Zant's semi-autobiography, about the pyrrhic victory of success.

2. "Whippin' Post" - Allman Brothers Band ('Live At The Fillmore East' - 1971); Never have 24 minutes of jamming ever had such redeeming ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/77 Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:24:35 Come and listen to a story about a woman named Sarah
An ex-beauty queen, her screechy voice I really dread,
Then one day she was shootin' at some moose,
And up through her mouth burblin' somethin' really rude.

Oil that is. Drill, baby, drill. You betcha!

Well, as you all know, Sarah's h... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/76 Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:24:56 I have been reading Senator Biden's memoir [b]Promises To Keep[/b] as of late, and one of the more telling anecdotes involves his Cinderella senate campaign in 1972, against popular entrenched incumbent Cale Boggs.

In their first debate together, the venerable Boggs stumbled on a question, posed ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/ZombyWoof/74 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 22:43:29