God Hates America

A close-up look at Fred Phelps and the hate-mongering whackos of the Westboro Baptist Church from an Australian point of view.

Video

Bad Strategies Gone Awry

Interesting read concerning the current strife in the middle east:

A Futile Little War- The Belgravia Dispatch

If adults had been at the helm, and people weren't chattering on about "root causes" and "birth pangs" like naive pimpled adolescents, we wouldn't be in this mess, having instead sought an immediate cease-fire in early days, and asked the Israelis to restrict their military retaliation solely to actual Hezbollah military targets in the south, and very select strategic targets elsewhere. But no, adults weren't at the helm, and the consequences have been rather devastating.

Roger Cohen:

This position has allowed Israel to do its own post-9/11 thing. "Everyone understands that a victory for Hezbollah is a victory for world terror," said Haim Ramon, the Israeli justice minister.

Not so: A victory for Hezbollah is a victory for Hezbollah, which is not Al Qaeda, which is not the Palestinian national movement, which is not the Iraqi insurgency, which is not homegrown European Muslim suicide bombers.

Trying to turn the problems of the world into a single undifferentiated issue - the war on Islamic terror - does nobody any good.

Witness the current mayhem, a reflection of a terrible American failure to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in any serious way over the past five years.

Why America is Number 1

Kids say the darndest things...
Especially when you prompt them to.

Video

George W. Bush's Speechwriter

A satirical look behind the scenes at Bush's handlers in action.

Video

Semantics

I was at the gas station last week, and offhandedly commented that the locality was now akin to a Corporate Ghetto.

Based on the reaction, you'da thought I had smacked-down Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Jessie Jackson with one fell blow.

While perhaps an unfortunate reference to use, ghettos are not exclusively black, but generally overcrowded, disagreeable places where citizens have no say in their daily life.

I consider the ravening, uncontrolled and unplanned foreign development of the area, coupled with the total elimination of most small business in favor of the Corporate BORG, to be a totally unwelcome change from the low population density small town that it has consumed - Therefore a Corporate Ghetto. I have moved numerous times over the past 20 years to avoid just such places, not because of racial makeup, but due to the overcrowding, traffic, and poor service rendered by BigBox stores and developers which pillage every square foot of land in the name of avarice.

That this ambiguity over semantics resulted in such a startling reaction, especially considering that I have no power or influence one way or the other, speaks volumes on the current state of racial mistrust.

Ah, well - give it another hundred years or so...

Scorched Earth Policy

One of my neighbors is an enthusiastic CCC Bush/Cheney supporter, as are most of the denizens of this particularly Red district in Georgia. I refer to him as Mr. Scorched Earth. Why? Because his approach to horticulture is just as insidiously juvenile and simplistic as the Bush/Cheney PNAC approach to Foreign Diplomacy. All summer I have watched in amusement as he persists in futile efforts at lawn weed removal - which is ironically reminiscent of the BushCo approach to spreading Democracy throughout the world. His methodology, similar to our policies in Iraq and now Lebanon, is to kill every living thing in his lawn and then replant in the fall. Each day he patrols his little expanse of barren earth, spraying every bit of emerging vegetation with chemical defoliant. The result, he believes, will be a fertile expanse of grass, free of those pesky weeds. Sound familiar?

Let us consider for a moment, that the weeds in his lawn are analogous to terrorists. And that his goal is to nurture a lush green lawn/democracy and an absence of weeds/terrorists. What my callow neighbor doesn't realize, however, is that the weeds will soon return with as much vim and vigor as before - as will the terrorists in Iraq and Lebanon. For just as his current actions fail to address the elemental cause of weed growth in his lawn, our defective policies in the Middle East are not addressing the substantive impetus behind the growth of terrorism.

The key to eliminating weed growth in a lawn is to nurture a strong stand of turf, thereby choking out the weeds due to competition for nutrients and growth-space. No solution other than this will result in a permanent abolishment of unwanted weeds. And as well, only nurturing the moderate civilians will result in abatement of terrorism in the Middle East. But instead, the US has chosen to promote the destruction of friendly citizens' lives in both Iraq and Lebanon, along with both countries infrastructures. It will take hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild what has been obliterated, and most survivors who were sympathetic to our goals now despise our existence.

We have, by our own hands, sown the seeds for a bumper crop of aggressive new terrorists with our Scorched Earth Policies - making the PNAC military industrial war profiteers quite jubilant.

Damned Idiots.

Connecting the FairTax Dots

I was asked last week about my views on the FairTax initiative. While I believed support for this scheme had run its course many years ago, I discovered that Neil Boortz, that annoying, hubristic, loud-mouthed scab on the face of Atlanta radio, had written a book shilling for the FairTax. While most of the country has long since forgotten, Atlanta is reminded daily of Boortz's book - and the FairTax.

So I did a minor bit of research among the economic academe, and came to the conclusion that I'd rather stick with the devil I know, than the devil I don't know. Concocted by several Houston, Texas businessmen, the FairTax was specifically engineered to exempt the wealthy from paying a proportionate share of taxes and dump the majority of the burden on the failing middle class - it's that simple. Do the math. You think there are loopholes in the tax code now? Ha!

Disregarding deficits and loans, the Government must take in x dollars for x dollars spent. It's not hard arithmetic to follow. Every cent the Government spends has to come from somewhere, and manipulating the sources/victims of funding is not addressing the root problem. Don't want to pay more taxes?

STOP SPENDING MONEY LIKE A DRUNKEN SAILOR!
It's that simple.

Almost a trillion in Iraq, 30 billion in "aid" for Lebanon, and ongoing fraudulent no-bid contracts with special interest contractors who defraud taxpayers out of billions more. Staggering, record setting national debt and trade deficits which steadily encroach on our GNP due to the 60,000 factories moved to China since 2000. Ridiculous subsidies to huge oil, gas, and power monopolies while at the same time deregulating their operation - resulting in power outages across the US which are directly attributable to poorly maintained and failing infrastrutures. Ludicrous, publicly funded, red-herring "switch grass" alternative fuel strategies which have long been proven to be negative net energy balance ponzi-schemes. Every time one of these lobbyist elected morons jumps up to make some ideological stand, it costs US taxpayers billions more. These idiots are incapable of making realistic decisions pertaining to science, finance, national security, or much of anything else. Where does it end?

A more interesting initiative would be for conservatives to actually be... well... conservative. For all the whining I hear about tax and spend liberals, it appears that neo-cons are even more fond of tax and spend - as long as it goes in to their special-interest constituencies' pockets. At least liberals traditionally put the money into social services and, yes, the dreaded welfare state.

So while we spend hundreds of billions on pointless, endless ideological wars in the middle east, obsess over flag burning, abortion, and gay marriage amendments, the country is hurdling down the tracks of class warfare and Casey Jones is out cold at the controls.

Perhaps sitting in traffic sucking up carbon monoxide for 4 hours a day numbs your brain. Or maybe it's the constant chime of cell-phone ringtones and the endless chit-chat that consumes every waking moment of most Americans, or the embarrassingly infantile press and media, or the mediocre schools that fail to teach anything of lasting merit - short of greed, fear, and competition. More likely, it's all of the above. But whatever it is, damnit people, Wake Up!

The current cabal of neo-cons and just about every financial scheme they regurgitate exists but for one purpose - to profit at the expense of the working class. How soon the populace has forgotten the mining towns and company stores of yesteryear, and how quickly we are racing towards reinstituting these abominations. The Barons of Wall Street are not working for this country's best interests, they are feverishly working for their own. And their incessant pandering to religious and xenophobic interests is purely selfish in nature. But like a young bride dumped at the alter, left to ponder how she could have been so gullible, these misguided zealots have been duped - for avarice knows no moral bounds.

Update July 26, 2006
March of the 'Fair Tax' Sheep - John F. Sugg

My Extremely Foolish Neighbor

The Scourge of the South is at it again. Endeavoring to prop up the defective neo-con American World Dominance PNAC philosophy which he boldly ushered into influence, Newt Gingrich proclaims that we are now engaged in World War III. Read this link, consider the psychology involved, and come to your own informed conclusion. Reed has been exposed as a hollow sham, and Newt is next in the queue of flash-in-the-pan social oddities to be relegated to the political dustbin - both taking their just places alongside the largely forgotten Zig Zag Zell. What thinking civilization would embrace isolated, xenophobic career politicians of this caliber? Those who would sell-out the livelihood of America in support of these dysfunctional, hubristic ideals should be removed from influence over any US policy.

Gingrich Says it's World War III - The Seattle Times

The WWIII (or IV...) Hyperbole - The Belgravia Dispatch

Additionally, while extolling the virtues of scientific research, he then backpedals by proclaiming that religious ideology should trump scientific advancement. AAAS attendee comically observes that Gingrich comes off as having "nuggets of wisdom interspersed in pure baloney." More likely a flailing, desperate effort towards career damage control by a crippled, insular academic.

My Evening with Newt - Discussion with AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellows

E-Voting Machines - Again

With a new round of critical elections upon us, the accuracy of electronic voting machines should again be carefully scrutinized. The crumbling neo-con machine has its vested partners grappling for damage control. Be very afraid of these people - they will not stand idly by and watch their fortunes abate. The recent shut-down of Ralph Reed in Georgia has many players on the far-right shaking in their boots.

The links listed below are not entirely new, but many have not read this information and have been convinced by tainted representatives and industry shills of the new voting machine's infallibility. While the newer machines are purportedly improved in behavior, this is an issue which should be scrutinized with extreme diligence lest we sacrifice our ability to reign in these insulated plutocrats.

THE MACHINERY OF DEMOCRACY
Protecting Elections in An Electronic World - Brennan Center

Georgia Election Malfunction - BlackBoxVoting.org

Did E-Vote Firm Patch Election? - Wired News

Time to Recall E-Vote Machines? - Wired News

Weekend Roundup - July 22, 2006

Even more strange stuff out there than I have time to write about...

Protecting Your Vote - Brennan Center
THE MACHINERY OF DEMOCRACY: Protecting Elections in An Electronic World

Too funny - Palm Beach Post
DIRTY HAROLD?
A strip club's anatomically correct gargoyle flusters Palm Beach County officials.

Too Stupid - Washington News
Man once convicted for child molestation could go free because judge accepted a doughnut

Deadly Stupid - CBS-3 Philadelphia
Delaware Woman Drives With Body On Roof After Accident

Lost Dreams of Optimism

Once upon a time, I believed in the honorable intentions of our government and its many representatives. One might dismiss this optimism as dewy-eyed callowness, or perhaps blame it on ignorance brought about by the more pressing demands of eking out a meager living while possessing no formal education and residing in a Southern State where independent, enlightened thought was the exception rather than the rule.

Growing up during the Cold War, while the eminent threat of total and chaotic destruction loomed overhead, I realized even as a child that the ridiculous ritual of hiding under a desk would do little to save anyone from an all out nuclear exchange. But for whatever reason, I assumed that wiser and cooler heads prevailed over the daily decisions which affected the lives of millions of citizens, if not those of the entire world.

Surely these elected officials were chosen based upon their ability to represent our needs, work towards realistic solutions, and take our best interests to heart. Each individually selected, polished, and sent off to Capitols around the country to negotiate our concerns and endeavor to make the world a better place for all. Undoubtedly, they possessed the wisdom to discard those ideas which were merely distractions, and adopt as their cause those which were not. The petty drudgery of life that detracts from one's ability to think clearly and insightfully was removed from their sphere of influence - mundane worries such as sufficient income to live reasonably, health care, retirement, and safety - so that these chosen voices could work unfettered at the business of making this country the best it could possibly be.

But then I awakened...
And discovered the darkest nightmare one could imagine.

• A Judicial system fraught with improprieties, bribe-taking, incompetence, laziness, and personal favoritism.


• A Governing body whose spineless, tainted efforts are primarily devoted to self-preservation and the perverted agendas of the highest bidder.


• A Foreign policy that promotes exploitation, fear, anger, and resentment towards this country - not only from other nations, but from its own citizens.


• A Scholastic system so dysfunctional that many graduates cannot read, spell, comprehend basic texts, or properly count change.


• A Military which is subverted by special-interest contractors yearning for ever more profits derived from no-bid contracts with their sole customer.


• A Populace so shallow, so engulfed by a self-indulgent bubble of consumption and denial, that they remain oblivious to the inequities that surround them.


• A Medical guild which places personal profit well above the basic health care needs of the population.


• A Religious community which extrapolates erroneous, hateful meaning from the Bible and publicly exhibits absolutely no empathy or compassion whatsoever.


• A Media Circus which has abandoned all conviction in journalistic integrity - instead relying on cheap sensationalism, pop-culture, and pure politicized propaganda to boost their deservedly flaccid ratings. Even the old-school sits sheepishly on its laurels, not daring to report news of any substance until the scent of blood is detected in the waters.

The axiom declares, The more things change, the more they stay the same - and this is likely correct. For while many of our technological advances have resulted in astounding benefits for most civilizations, the age old quest for power and gold remains a core factor contributing to the aforementioned ills of our society - and yet we take no steps towards correcting these flaws.

Once the sapling is bent, will it forever be misshapen? Have we lost the will to address these wrongs, or have we simply tired of the vigilance necessary to control the evils which lurk within the heart of mankind? Have modern technologies undermined the election process so as to totally circumvent our individual voices? Has our power to effect change been minimized by the inability to control the foul monster we have created?

I yearn for these implications to be proven falsehoods, but this desire demands diligence if we are to sway this heaving, dysfunctional beast from its current course and lead it towards a more proper path.

Wickedness is unlikely to relent, hence good men may ill afford the luxury. Could it be that there are simply no good men left?

War Profiteers

Too Little, Too Late? Or The Neo-Con Tenet

Army to End Expansive, Exclusive Halliburton Deal

...Halliburton had exclusive rights to provide the military with a wide range of work that included keeping soldiers around the world fed, sheltered and in communication with friends and family back home. Government audits turned up more than $1 billion in questionable costs. Whistle-blowers told how the company charged $45 per case of soda, double-billed on meals and allowed troops to bathe in contaminated water.

Now that we have reduced Iraq to civil and theological war, killed tens of thousands of its civilians in the name of "democracy, freedom and human rights", allowed tainted contractors to loot 90% of the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund - we declare the reconstruction effort to be "winding down", and that "the Iraqi government will have to find its own contractors to do the work, which includes tackling a large number of projects left undone by the United States."

France predicted exactly this scenario in 2001, and they have been utterly vindicated - while the US administration continues to display an amazing degree of dimwittedness; apparently still gleefully envisioning the entire region devolving into war and chaos while contributing to that end.

And explain to me again how killing tens of thousands of people in the name of deposing an impotent ruler who killed 1240 people 18 years ago has been moral or justified?

While I remain steadfast in my belief that we had no business invading Iraq AT ALL, shouldn't any reconstruction been handled by the Iraqis from day one? Who has more of an interest in providing an appropriate and efficient infrastructure - crony fat-cat US corporations or Iraqi citizens?

Now that there remains a pittance of profit to be had, we open the doors to competitive bidding and declare the reconstruction effort complete.

Gee, what are friends for. Stupid, greedy friends at that.

Watch the Magician's Other Hand

Watching the mainstream media would lead one to believe that the overwhelming concerns of the American public are Gay, Flag-burning, Immigrant Terrorists. But that conclusion would be incorrect.

These red-hearing issues are about avarice, control, and power. They are emotional hot-buttons that the current crop of media-master, think-tank, neo-con fascists know will strike a chord with uneducated, unsophisticated voters. This country has degenerated into an embarrassing crop of mass-think, knee-jerk xenophobes who have been agitated by this and other non-issues into surrendering their rights and their children's futures to the ever expanding threat of the fear-mongering, military-industrial complex and power-brokers. They have lost the ability to glean any real truths from history, psychology, or even genuine religious teachings. They ignore the corruption and misdeeds of these "leaders" partly because the Churches have sold out to equally corrupt, centralized religious voices that have no interest in peace, justice, or even moral rectitude, and who have no goal other than personal profit and the quest for more media attention.

The Bible states that He is wherever man quietly seeks guidance - mass organized religion, the preacher's desire for a new Cadillac or an estate, huge tax exempt organizations and churches are mentioned only as a warning of who and what to avoid by those seeking true penance.

Accordingly, avarice is the modern neo-con God, and while this remains a problem as old as man himself, I fear that we have not only sold out this country to the highest bidder, we have additionally spread the seeds of a whole new crop of America hating terrorists with our insolent behaviour in the world arena.

For what it's worth...

National Party Politics

For 26 years, I have endeavored to read not one, but a variety of newspapers. Likewise, the recent phenomenon of Blogs has unleashed a myriad of additional voices. Surely, somewhere in this mess lies a modicum of truth.

One definite trend I have noticed, however, is an increasing number of "Blog Sites" which are merely sockpuppets for a particular partisan view; as many of these sites are operated by campaign workers and their families. The current vitriol being slung towards Joe Lieberman from both Right and Left being one example. While I'll not defend his poorly thought out stand on the Iraq Invasion, his thrust into the national spotlight as a party traitor - and the resultant effect on campaign funding - is an interesting event. All of this brings to mind how out of step with reality strict partisan politics are.

It seems logical to conclude that the point of electing local representatives to voice concerns near and dear to the denizens of numerous districts precludes nationally partisan stances which cannot adequately address local needs. Otherwise, we may as well choose from two candidates and cut out a lot of overpaid middlemen. And yet, we have national party committees that enforce ridged stances on issues at a nation level. Don't tow the party line? Lose financial support. Yet another outstanding argument for election/campaign monetary reform.
When the overriding goal of a career politico is to remain incumbent - forever, and funding for this goal is dependent on answering not to local, but national voices, in my opinion we have subverted the intent of the planned and installed hierarchy.

The Fleecing of America

As opined on my pre-blog web site in 2000:

Imported Goods and Your Economy

This house of cards will not last, and we are trading our hard-fought gains in becoming one of the richest per-capita countries in the world for beads and trinkets and landfills full of garbage. We are putting our neighbors out of work in exchange for bigger commissions, and then buying their homes off the courthouse steps when they can't pay the bills. And the Barons continue to profit, laughing all the while at the rubes who allow it to happen.

It now appears that the VP is betting on a failing American economy to bolster his personal portfolio. And you can bet all his best buds are as well.

Is Cheney Betting On Economic Collapse? - Counterpunch

Explain to me, again, why these 'tards are in office?
Traitorous Maggots indeed!

Iran and Our Imperialist Leaders

With the Iraq War on Terror so wildly successful, the Administration is intent on disrupting the remaining precarious relationships which exist in the Middle East (and the world) by actively preempting diplomatic solutions in favor of military action in Iran.

The New Yorker
Last Stand - The military’s problem with the President’s Iran policy
by Seymour M. Hersh

Would someone please buy these nut jobs a bag of plastic army men, a box of firecrackers, and send them into the back lot to play with themselves. But first lock up the neighborhood pets to protect them from being tortured by these solipsists.

Million Dollar Blogs

Fear of accountability and lack of control over an emerging media force, the Blog, has warmakers and administration propagandists in a tizzy. $450,000 has been allocated by the Air Force to study Blogs; concluding that: "They are typically short and are about something external to the blog posting itself, such as a news event."

Brilliant! And, I might add, well worth the money.

Idiots.

United States Department of Defense
Blogs Study May Provide Credible Information

Incongruent Internet Interpretation Implicates Incumbent Imbecile

Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) demonstrated a masterful understanding of not only the technical construct of the Internet, but of the English language as well; delivering this paragon of insightful logic:

There's one company now you can sign up and you can get a movie delivered to your house daily by delivery service. Okay. And currently it comes to your house, it gets put in the mail box when you get home and you change your order but you pay for that, right.

But this service isn't going to go through the internet and what you do is you just go to a place on the internet and you order your movie and guess what you can order ten of them delivered to you and the delivery charge is free.

Ten of them streaming across that internet and what happens to your own personal internet?

I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?

Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially.

So you want to talk about the consumer? Let's talk about you and me. We use this internet to communicate and we aren't using it for commercial purposes.

We aren't earning anything by going on that internet. Now I'm not saying you have to or you want to discriminate against those people [...]

The regulatory approach is wrong. Your approach is regulatory in the sense that it says "No one can charge anyone for massively invading this world of the internet". No, I'm not finished. I want people to understand my position, I'm not going to take a lot of time.

They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a truck.

It's a series of tubes.

And if you don't understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.

Now we have a separate Department of Defense internet now, did you know that?

Do you know why?

Because they have to have theirs delivered immediately. They can't afford getting delayed by other people.

[...]

Now I think these people are arguing whether they should be able to dump all that stuff on the internet ought to consider if they should develop a system themselves.

Maybe there is a place for a commercial net but it's not using what consumers use every day.

It's not using the messaging service that is essential to small businesses, to our operation of families.

The whole concept is that we should not go into this until someone shows that there is something that has been done that really is a violation of net neutrality that hits you and me.

Where do we come up with these people? And why do we keep electing them to public office? Placing stewards such as this into positions of influence over laws pertaining the Internet and NetNeutrality is a frightening prospect. Almost as horrifying as it has been to have them in control of all other aspects of life. We are doomed if something doesn't change soon...

MP3 Audio Here

Hat tip to 27B Stroke 6

Spreading Democracy

This is no way to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis, Muslims, or anyone else. What a fracking mess.

BEIJI, Iraq -- A group of American soldiers in an insurgent-riddled town allegedly noticed a young Iraqi woman when on patrol and later returned to rape her, according to U.S. officials. In an apparent cover-up attempt, she and three members of her family then were killed and her body was set on fire.

Although I am generally inclined to point towards the current administration for the grievous errors in Iraq, principally due to our presence there at all, this falls far outside the realm of military control - or does it? That these seemingly demented personalities ever made it into active military service at all is an astoundingly bitter indictment against current recruiting and deployment policies.

By our own hands, we have potentially molded three wholly new American hating terrorists - the three surviving sons and brothers of the slain family. How would you feel if this had been your family? This alleged War on Terror has resulted in a war on our moral standing in the world, and has planted the seeds of yet another generation of anti-US terrorists.

So what is our next move? Pay them off? Cover it up? Condemn the press for bringing the story to light? Money cannot supplant misery and heartache, nor can Truth be concealed for very long; with one possible exception being from the bulk of the American public. And although I am certain that some will attempt to blame the messenger - again, it is the solemn Duty of the press to report facts; thereby revealing the hubris of this administration's actions so that the American people may one day finally open their eyes and toss these sorry bums out on their collective asses. With great power comes a greater responsibility.

Liberators indeed.

Post-Gazette - AP
American soldiers under investigation for alleged rape, killing of family in Iraq

Update July 3, 2006
Houston Chronicle - AP
GIs May Have Planned Iraq Rape, Slayings

New York Times - Registration Wall
Ex-G.I. Held in 4 Slayings and Rape in Iraq

Weekend Roundup - July 1, 2006

More strange stuff out there than I have time to write about...

Another one bites the dust - Roll Call
Three Top Ney Aides Departing; District Aide Subpoenaed

Too funny - One Good Move
Earth to America - Will Ferrell

Be careful who you piss off - The Sun.uk
Digger Nut Flattens House

Faster than a speeding... Ferrari? - CNN.com
Silicon Valley Racing Ahead with Electric Cars

As if having a Comcast tech sleeping on your couch wasn't bad enough, now they're setting houses on fire.
Cable Box Started Fire in Home - CBS 47 - Jacksonville, FL
A Comcast Technician Sleeping on my Couch - YouTube

Shoot First, Ask Questions Never

While I am a proponent of the right to bear arms and protect oneself against violence, this is more than a bit scary:

Macon Telegraph - AP
Georgia's "shoot first" Law

The self-defense law has come to be known in Georgia as the "stand your ground" law. It spells out that a victim "has no duty to retreat" if threatened with attack, a matter on which the law had been silent. It also provides a shooter who defends himself with deadly force immunity from civil liability.

Jurist - University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Georgia 'shoot first' law takes effect

Accountability for one's actions should never be removed from this deadly equation. I predict this will be abused by some xenophobic personalities to the point that there will be deaths and injuries resulting from a "perceived" threat which never truly existed - fear based solely on a difference in appearance, dress, or attitude. Or religion. Or skin color. Or political bent. Which is amply demonstrated by this striking little tidbit:
Jury: Passenger did not threaten to strangle baby - CNN.com

Pulling the trigger of any weapon is an absolute last resort - and I've owned a gun for 18 years. Additionally, innocent bystanders are about as likely to be hit by the stray lead of an amateur's gun as is the intended target. While I've never actually had to brandish a gun when being threatened by a stranger, I've had my hand on it a time or two. I find words are far preferable to weapons - to a point.

Many of this country's ills stem from a total lack of accountability - particularly in the political arena. I could even accept formally declared duels between two consenting parties as legally sanctioned activities. But are we now to allow random shootings on the street which are devoid of oversight? Accountability has been a major deterrent to violent chaos in the streets. This law, which reeks of political pandering, seems tantamount to unleashing a Pandora's box of violence upon society.

The law already allows an individual to defend himself when threatened with deadly force. It has typically fallen upon the judiciary to separate legitimate civil and criminal complaints against a shooter from those that are not. But as with the legal system in general, it has failed. Common sense, isn't.

Our Fading American Ideals

On this 4th of July weekend it is comforting to see someone who, at his own peril, is defending the ideals that this country was founded upon. Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift, a lawyer in US Navy, has stood against the oppressive winds of neo-con Fascism to deliver, at least temporarily, a refreshing whiff of true democracy and morality.

If they're guilty, let 'em hang, but we can ill afford to persecute innocents to satisfy the rabid blood-thirst of a defective, power-mad administration. I have experienced first-hand the extents to which this type of mentality will go to achieve any and all goals they deem personally profitable - and this cannot be allowed.

Digby at Hullabaloo
American Hero

LA Times - Registration Wall
Lonely Victory for U.S. Navy Lawyer