US Politics

Not on My Car and Hopefully Not on Yours

This entry was posted in bush Religion US Politics on by

Mithras spoiled my night. No, whoever came up with this spoiled my night.
NB: I do not object at all to christians putting the fish symbol where ever it pleases them; I would have preferred that the folks who embedded Darwin’s name into the fish symbol had chosen some other creature; this, though, is disrespectful of just about everything; it is, well, unAmerican.
Oh, also check out these posts and their comment threads. Warning: language and humor may be offensive to some.

al-qaeda # 3 Captured?

This entry was posted in al Qaeda bush Journalism US Foreign Policy US Politics War on Terrorism on by

Maybe not!
For a day or so last week it nearly impossilbe to escape from the headlines in the papers, at the top of every hourly newscast, on talk radio, NPR, etc., the story that the #3 dude in al-qaeda had been captured. Great news, right?
The sad part is that equal play will is not being given to the follow up story that this guy was simply part of the flotsam and jetsam of al-qaeda. Nothing number 3 about him.
Spin, Spin, Spin!

Gerrymandering

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Texas could use a dose of arnold:

Mr. Schwarzenegger proposed turning over the drawing of the state’s political map to a panel of retired judges, taking it out of the hands of lawmakers who for decades have used the redistricting process in a cozy bipartisan deal to choose their voters and cement their incumbency. He threatened to take the issue directly to the voters if the Legislature does not act on the plan in a special session he called for.
Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, noted that of the 153 seats in the California Congressional delegation and Legislature that were on the ballot in November, not one changed party hands.
“What kind of a democracy is that?” he asked in his address….
Well, the answer to the ending question seems to be as varied as the number of politicos who play the democracy card. Nevertheless, the proposal is certainly an improvement over redistricting practices in most if not all states.
Via Daniel Drezner.
Update (1/7): Kevin Drum is dead set against this unless Texas (see first sentence above)does it first. While he makes a strong point the dems may need to accept a brief setback to get this ball rolling. And, without a proposal in hand, it is not clear just how many seats the dems might lose in California. Perhaps strong candidates would be able to hold the line.

The Threat to Freedom

This entry was posted in Capitalism Constitution Economics Government Libertarianism US Politics on by

Lew Rockwell gets it close to right:

What is the most pressing and urgent threat to freedom that we face in our time? It is not from the left. If anything, the left has been solid on civil liberties and has been crucial in drawing attention to the lies and abuses of the Bush administration. No, today, the clear and present danger to freedom comes from the right side of the ideological spectrum, those people who are pleased to preserve most of free enterprise but favor top-down management of society, culture, family, and school, and seek to use a messianic and belligerent nationalism to impose their vision of politics on the world.
The bit he misses is that these folks are not interested in free enterprise and like much of the rest of their rhetoric think doublespeak. When they say free enterprise or free market you should interpret it as we have found another way to protect our corporate sponsers from the market.
Via Stephen Horowitz at Power and Liberty.

Incarcerating the People

This entry was posted in Constitution Domestic Terrorism Drug Laws Law Enforcement Libertarianism US Politics on by

Undeterred by the success of the war on drugs which led to the arrest of 951,027 people in 2003 with no apparent reduction in drug use or availibility congress and the executive branch stay the course:

President Bush signed a law on Friday banning certain steroid-like drugs, used by some athletes as performance enhancers.
The new law adds 18 substances to the list of banned anabolic steroids,
Ignoring reality senator biden exclaims:
“This new law sends a strong message about andro and other steroid precursors. We are calling them what they really are: drugs, performance enhancing drugs,” the Democrat from Delaware said.
I suspect folks who want to use this stuff will pay just about as much attention to these federal laws as any other drug user.
As Doctor Recommended notes:
It is one thing for a league, competition, team, venue, etc. to ban a set of drugs (such as the Olympics or MLB), as these are organizations that you voluntarily join and can leave if so desired, but the State is an entity which you are required to submit to (i.e., you are not given the opportunity to leave or say �no� � you must comply or else�).
If you want people to respect the law then you must write into law only what is just, necessary, and proper.