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 mythical connection. As for what they "intended", the built-in paradox of that notion is, in order to do what the framers intended, we must be free to do what we intend on our own. They created the proces...

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 everything to fail, collapse, and descend into utter chaos - human toll be damned. These people want to be right no matter the cost, and regardless of the facts. The obverse side of the same coin that the teabaggers represent. For better or i...

...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 criminalized. This study is an accurate indicator of where the anti-choice position would lead if enacted where abortion is now safe and legal. The anti-choice position isn't "pro-life" at all. It's rel...

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' descendants organization, and officially apolitical. Their rules specifically prohibit racism, religious discrimination, political activism, or using it to recruit for supremacist organizations. But a...

(Link) 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 the economic record of George W. Bush. It's not a record many Republicans are likely to point to with pride. On every major measurement, the Census Bureau report shows that the country lost ground during Bush's two terms. While Bush was in office, the median household inc...

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 born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate." A wealth of military metaphors follows from this nam...

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 narcissism. Not to mention the endless parade of shouting pundits and the boot-licking toadies from the Russert School of Brown Lipstick. Print, radio, and TV were the only 3 mediums which delivered the new...

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 of the federal government--as well as the public at large--debated a fundamental constitutional question: Does the Constitution's prohibition of denying equal protection always ban the use of racial, eth...

(Image) "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 not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely....The free men of the world are marching together to victory. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory." ...

(Image) "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 with opportunity."

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 have attached a transcript below of Mr. Wiesel's remarks from earlier today. (Link) Mr. President, Chancellor Merkel, Bertrand, ladies and gentlemen. As I came here today it was actually a way of...

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 I do for no rational or humane reason. We are supposed to always be moving in the direction of a "more perfect union". But today, it feels less perfect. Much less perfect. I won't sit still. None o...

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 protection for all. Let us pause today to reflect upon this milestone of liberty and justice for all... and to consider just how far we have left to go. This struggle continues. :patriot:

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 reasons concerning environmental health, and very importantly, the humane aspect of animal treatment and so forth. Having expressed my respect for these choices, that begs the question on why I haven...

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 -- country legend Merle Haggard will help elect the 12th president in his lifetime to lead the nation. His choice may come as a surprise to some, especially those who take his classic song "Okie From Muskog...

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 just for the sake of unifying the country again? What a disappointment! I wish Howard Ralph Deanader ran!!" Lincoln was a coldly calculating and shrewd political genius. We can only hope Obama has ...

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?" You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community wh...

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 (to set up the eventual form of government they have now - akin to the UK and other parliamentary democracies), and curtailing the influence of the Catholic church (a powerful arm of Franco's rule), ...

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 Jefferson resoundingly. 2. James Monroe (1817-1825): Sec'y of State (and presidential successor) John Quincy Adams' "Monroe Doctrine" was an effective response to the breaking of Spain's New World colonies...

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 could be used as arguments against the reversal. One of the major legal arguments that has been presented against Prop 8 is that it calls for such a major revision of the constitution, that the voter-approved initiative alone is insufficient to carry...

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 mostly rural, agrarian economy was subservient to the north's mainly urban, industrial economy. The tariff alone nearly caused South Carolina to secede (under the guise of "nullification") during Presi...

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 value. The intensity, breadth, and depth of this piece are unsurpassed on just about any performance on a live album. Why the Grateful Dead had a bigger cult following, I'll never understand. 3. "Fal...

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 head is full of air Smart folk said, "How'd she get elected up there?" McCain said, "Vice Presidency is the place you ought to be" So they loaded up the plane and went on a spendin' spree. Donor money, tha...

I have been reading Senator Biden's memoir Promises To Keep 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 by an audience member, about the Genocide Treaty, which was under consideration by the senate. The treaty was important in the Jewish community, and was put together as a response to the Holocaust. Naturally...

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The right-wing produces more of these cretins than China makes lead toys. Like those toys, both are toxic, abundant, and bad for the American economy. I await the punditocracy and biased wire 'reporters' to anoint her soon as the 'All-American apple pie mom'. CNN got the ball rolling by promoting her bogus 'hockey mom' line of shit. It's not that far of a trip from "is she qualified?" to "she's an awesome, bold choice!" She's a dangerous tool of the far right. I would like to think MOST pe...

Up until tonight, I always ranked - among the ones I have witnessed on live television - Barbara Jordan's 1992 keynote address, and Mario Cuomo's 1984 keynote address, as the very best of the Democratic Convention speeches in my lifetime. The next tier down, Bill Clinton's acceptance speech in 1992, and Barack Obama's 2004 keynote address, both excellent in their own right. But tonight? Tonight. August 28, 2008, Senator Barack Obama brought it all back home and then some. I went between tea...

"The 12th and 22nd Amendments be damned.", McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said today in a statement released as an exclusive to AP wire reporter Ron Fournier. "We're going to show America John McCain is serious about his conservative credentials! We're having none other than the stiff support of the Gipper himself!" The Formaldehyde Lobby, firmly in the McCain camp, was said to be "very encouraged" by this news, which by all accounts, is bound to push coverage of the Democratic Convention this...

"I could not vote for an atheist because an atheist says, 'I don't need God,' " Warren said. "They're saying, 'I'm totally self-sufficient by .' And nobody is self-sufficient to be president by themselves. It's too big a job." (Source: LA Times, August 18, 2008) Hey Reverend pRick, no president ever claimed to go it alone. That's why George Washington created a Cabinet. Advisors. You know, actual people you can see and hear. You can speak to them without clasping your hands and kneeling dow...

The south saw the north betraying the ideals of self-government (especially via the 10th Amendment) and the Constitution. It was a war for independence. Of course, the Tories in the American Revolution saw the rebelling colonists as the "traitors", all things being relative. One nation's traitor is another nation's defender. The prevailing view on secession was, if the states could vote to ratify the Constitution and be admitted to the union, then they could damn sure withdraw when that same...