The Dem Diatribe Project

He's unable to travel because he refuses to present a government-approved ID SAN FRANCISCO -- John Gilmore's splendid isolation began July 4, 2002, when, with defiance aforethought, he strolled to the Southwest Airlines counter at Oakland Airport and presented his ticket. The gate agent asked for his ID. Gilmore asked her why. It is the law, she said. Gilmore asked to see the law. Nobody could produce a copy. To date, nobody has. The regulation that mandates ID at airports is "Sensitive Security Information." The law, as it turns out, is unavailable for inspection. In post 9/11 America, asking "Why?" when someone from an airline asks for identification can start some interesting arguments. Gilmore, who learned to argue on the debate team in his hometown of Bradford, McKean County, has started an argument that, should it reach its intended target, the U.S. Supreme Court, would turn the rules of national security on end, reach deep into the ...

WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today unveiled comprehensive voting reform legislation to make sure that every American is able to vote and every vote is counted. This bill (The Count Every Vote Act of 2005) corrects many of the problems in the last election. Notably, it requires paper receipts, and that the source and object code of all electronic voting machines to be open and readable by the public.

By Sam Apple at Slate.com William Faulkner February 23, 2005 Down the hall, under the chandelier, I could see them talking. They were walking toward me and Dick's face was white, and he stopped and gave a piece of paper to Rummy, and Rummy looked at the piece of paper and shook his head. He gave the paper back to Dick and Dick shook his head. They disappeared and then they were standing right next to me. "Georgie's going to walk down to the Oval Office with me," Dick said. "I just hope you got him all good and ready this time," Rummy said. "Hush now," Dick said. "This aint no laughing matter. He know lot more than folks think." Dick patted me on the back good and hard. "Come on now, Georgie," Dick said. "Never mind you, Rummy." More from Slate.com ...

I seriously doubt that anyone believes that Bush's "Town Hall" meetings are anything but scripted propaganda where the participants are screened and selected and the fawning questions chosen in advance. So it should come as no surprise that Bush would avoid (like the plague) any forum where he might be asked a question that is not in the script or one that is not on the message that he is pushing. During his trip to Germany on Wednesday, the main highlight of George W. Bush's trip was meant to be a "town hall"-style meeting with average Germans. But with the German government unwilling to permit a scripted event with questions approved in advance, the White House has quietly put the event on ice. Was Bush afraid the event might focus on prickly questions about Iraq and Iran rather than the rosy future he's been touting in Europe this week? The much-touted American-style "town hall" meeting the White House has been planning with "no...

–47 percent believe that Saddam Hussein helped plan and support the hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11, 2001 (up six percentage points from November). –44 percent actually believe that several of the hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11 were Iraqis (up significantly from 37% in November). –36 percent believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the U.S. invaded (down slightly from 38% in November). Do you find this hard to believe? Do you have a hard time understanding how so many people could be so misinformed? All you have to do is turn on the radio and listen, and you’ll understand what is going on in this country. It’s hard to listen to, but try it. It is important to understand what is going on. Millions and millions of people listen to Rush Limbaugh every day. In my opinion his radio show is the biggest single factor in American politics, yet so much of “the left” largely ignores him. It’s understandable — who wants to listen to that vile,m insul...

From The Democratic Underground. Posted by MrScorpio. Welcome to the National Security State, the global arbiter of perpetual war, police state tactics and the militarization of society on all levels. It's a place where the state religion hawks Jesus wearing an Uncle Sam hat, driving a gas guzzling Humvee with little plastic flags attached to the door and a gay couple, recently married in the People's Republic Taxechusettes, dragged behind in chains that are attached to the rear bumper. The National Meal is a fat laden, high calorie, low nutrition blob of dead, imported cow flesh, made possible courtesy of the patent protected products of Big Pharma and the destruction of the Amazon River Basin. Just the thing to feed the teaming masses of bloated and lethargic teenagers who have not yet found their proper place in the ranks of cannon fodder slated to fight future "preemptive" wars for their Neocon masters. The National Anthem is an overblown ode to teenage ...

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