Democracy

Felon Disenfranchisement

This entry was posted in Constitution Democracy Election 2004 Libertarianism on by

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals takes a step in the right direction:

“We conclude that an original discriminatory purpose behind Florida’s felon disenfranchisement provision establishes an equal protection violation that persists with the provision unless it is subsequently reenacted on the basis of an independent, nondiscriminatory purpose,” Judge Rosemary Barkett wrote for the majority.

This likely will not be resolved soon enough to make things right in Florida in November 2004.
I am still looking for good reasons why someone, once they have completed their sentence, should be barred from voting or, for that matter, from any other activity.
Via Law.com.

Is the draft back?

This entry was posted in bush Constitution Democracy Libertarianism US Foreign Policy on by

Not exactly what we might think of as the draft but the US is does not have an all volunteer army:

To many of the soldiers whose retirements and departures are on ice, however, stop-loss is an inconvenience, a hardship and, in some cases, a personal disaster. Some are resigned to fulfilling what they consider their patriotic duty. Others are livid, insisting they have fallen victim to a policy that amounts to an unannounced, unheralded draft.

Congress should immediately repeal their mistake:

Congress approved the authority for what became known as stop-loss orders after the Vietnam War, responding to concerns that the military had been hamstrung by the out-rotations of seasoned combat soldiers in Indochina.

In a country based on freedom, on the concepts of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness slavery must not be allowed to exist.
Via Talkleft.
Update (12/29): Craig Cheslog has a good post on this. I disagree, though, with one point he makes: While the government has the right to treat our soldiers this way,… Nope, we should not grant the government any such right. The government is our servant not our master.

Transparency

This entry was posted in bush Constitution Democracy Election 2004 Federal Government Patriot Act War on Terrorism on by

The bush administration could go a long ways in blunting its opposition by at minimum maintaining even the woefully poor previous levels of transparency. They, as the champions of freedom, would do even better if they broadened public access to government records and activities.
According to the Washington Post this does not appear to be the direction they have chosen:

…the Bush administration seems to be going in the other direction. The administration has been unusually successful keeping its policy deliberations out of public view, and millions of government documents — including many historical records previously available — have been removed from the public domain.

That the bush administration appears to feel an increasing need to hide the details of its activities from the public, even after the fact, seems to confirm that there is indeed something to hide.
Via Secrecy News.

Voting Machines

This entry was posted in Constitution Democracy Election 2004 Technology on by

Please do not forget that there are issues with electronic voting machines that must be resolved before these machines can be trusted.
John Williams of Thudfactor has posts here and at OSPolitics (which includes a neat simulator) that discuss some of the issues.
Ask for audited open source software and clear paper trails now.
Via Notes on the Atrocities.
Update: Talkleft notes that Florida will not require paper trails (surely no one is surprized by this) and Jeralyn provides several links to good reference material.

Questions to be Answered

This entry was posted in bush Constitution Democracy Domestic Terrorism Drug Laws Law US Foreign Policy War on Terrorism on by

Mark Kleiman asks a couple questions that I’d also like to see some good answers to. First:

I don’t really want to see Rush Limbaugh spend the next twenty-five years of his life in prison, which is what would happen if the laws of the State of Florida were enforced. But I really do want to see the politicians and pundits who support both Limbaugh and the drug war explain why that particular law shouldn’t be enforced in this case, and why it shouldn’t be repealed.

Second:

Now that George W. Bush has expressed his support for democracy in the Middle East, can we expect some indication of concern on his part about the evident intention of his friend Pooty-Poot to put an end to it in Russia?

There is more context for both questions in Mark’s posts.