McCain à la King

(Thanks, Julie!)

Msg to Institutional Dems:

Thanks, babylonsister! (Click on the image to enlarge.)

Senate Dems Agree: the Constitution Really Is "Just a Goddamned Piece of Paper"

-- as Bush put it.

A number of Senate Dems, including Senator Clinton, have voted in favor of granting telecoms immunity for abetting the Bush administration's wholesale, warrantless spying on U.S. citizens, in gross violation of our Constitutional rights. Senator Obama voted against granting the immunity. You can check the roster here.

Remember, this isn't just about the telecoms, or even just deterring illegal spying. It's also about (1) whether the telecoms have any reason to reveal who in the Bush administration pushed for the illegal spying and (2) whether anyone in the future has any incentive to say "no" to the next violation by our government of our fundamental rights.

P.S. Re- The Senate's P.J. Party:

As usual, they're the last to get their party on.

I too am mystified and frustrated that, despite their strong mandate, Congressional Dems have still done almost nothing on ending the war, election reform, media reform, or the impeachment of Cheney et al. (cf. my previous post, Demtoids: The Curiously Weak Dem Leaders). Still, a symbolic gesture is better than no gesture at all; and at least the Senate finally had the debate they should have had five years ago.

Demtoids: The Curiously Weak Dem Leaders

UPDATE: If you want something more to make you go, hmm . . . go here: [per Representative Dennis Kucinich,] "Democrats in Congress . . . made some secret concessions to the Republicans in [a version of the] Bill to continue funding the Iraq War . . . . They include:

"Privatization of Iraq’s Oil – . . . . A rule was created that said this clause could not be removed during debate on House floor. [" . . . Iraqis would not own their own oil, but instead International oil companies, primarily US oil companies, would divide ownership of the oil." (For more recent details,go here.)]

"Bush could invade Iran without approval of Congress. A clause that would require him to get approval from Congress first was removed. . . .

AND here: "[Dem-led Congress] left town early yesterday after caving in to administration demands that it allow warrantless surveillance of the phone calls and e-mails of American citizens, with scant judicial supervision and no reporting to Congress about how many communications are being intercepted. [This legislation] was strong-armed through both chambers by an administration that seized the opportunity to write its warrantless wiretapping program into law . . . . Instead of having the [FISA] court ensure that surveillance is being done properly . . . that job would be up to the attorney general and the director of national intelligence."

Original post below.
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Please contact your U.S. Congressional representatives TODAY to protest the pending bi-partisan compromise that would fund the Iraq War without imposing any meaningful timeline or benchmarks. You can identify and contact your reps through the "Contact your U.S. Congressional reps" link in the left-hand side-bar on this page under "Sites I Like." For more info, see Keith Olbermann's comments. K.O. agrees: Bush is holding our kids hostage, demanding more money though he's demonstrated he won't spend it on them anyway.

Then watch this video about the problems with pending election reform bill, H.R. 811, and you'll understand more than Dem leaders seem to care to know about what it takes to ensure fair elections.

One starts to wonder whether it's merely the Dems' near-equal dependence on monied interests that accounts for their apparent weakness . . . does Rove have dirt on them or something? The revelation could hardly bring more shame on them than they've already brought on themselves.

I'm giving you the links instead of embedding the videos so you can go to YouTube and rate these videos up.

Please help spread the word.