Seven Generational Ruminations

It is July 4, 2007, 231 years since the original was declared.  In that time the U.S. was declaring independence from a tyrant, King George III of England.  I heard the declaration read by newscasters associated with National Public Radio .. and was moved to think of the tyrant President George W. Bush, and the parallels between the contents of the Declaration of Independence and todays situation.  The core of the Declaration is a listing of grievances, statements and assertions of crimes committed by King George III.

"It is very difficult and arduous to create and sustain a democracy - but history shows that closing one down is much simpler. You simply have to be willing to take the 10 steps." The article details 10 steps to turn a free society into a dictatorship. These steps have been taken over and over in countries around the world and have been demonstrated to work. Most recently they were taken following the Coup in Thailand that overthrew the Democracy there.

It's still 2006 but the 2008 national elections have already begun. It seems silly that we're already sizing up the Presidential candidates when we're still 2 years from the election. But here we are. Maybe it's a reflection of the revulsion we have for the Bush years that we just want to get them over, but time ticks at it's own pace and we're left with over 2 years until the inauguration.

Waycool! Senator Dodd of Connecticut has found some cajones, and has introduced a bill that would, among other things, restore Habeas Corpus. However the bill has a bunch of other aspects, so maybe we should carefully look at the rest of it to make sure he's not bringing in some nefarious other stuff under the guise of restoring something we all want restored.

Dodd Introduces Effective Terrorists Prosecution Act; Brings Terrorists to Justice, Honors America's Good Name

Maybe I'm too much of a geek but the name "Bob Gates" brings to mind another Gates who runs a certain evil software company who I do my best to avoid. Anyway, before one spends all their energy cheering the departure of Rumsfeld from power one ought to think about Bob Gates, his anointed replacement. It's been long enough since last hearing his name that I'd forgotten what he'd been involved with in the past. It seems he is another in the string of Bush appointments that veer to the dark side of the Force.

The Democrats have won the 2006 elections. Yay? In 2004 I made an interesting posting, The energy of "anybody but X" that seems even more appropriate today.

Okay, the Bush administration has done abysmally especially in the last two years. They go from one unconstitutional act to another. When will someone wake up and get the nerve to impeach these traitors to America? Finally with the Democrats taking control of Congress we could possibly see that happen, if they get up the courage to do so.

Hacking Democracy is an HBO documentary showing the work of Black Box Voting to investigate the reliability of elections in the U.S.A. The special has been posted, in its entirety, on video.google.com which you can get to on the above link or view below. The special shows several astonishing things about electioneering in the U.S.A. and shows that the vote can be changed (hacked) surreptitiously.

Okaaaay... we have recently had a revelation of a Congressman trying to have sex with the Pages who come to the Capital as youngsters to work in Politics. But this Congressman was hooked on having sex, and being a homosexual Congressman wanted sex with young men. This scandal has been grabbing a whole lotta attention in Washington DC and in the news media. As creepy a story this is, should we be distracted by it from other stories of more importance such as nuclear proliferation?

GOP Accused Of Covering Up Rep. Foley Scandal It was recently revealed that former Congressman Mark Foley (Republican of Florida) has been engaging in sexually explicit messaging with former pages. These Pages are generally high school juniors, hence around 16 years old, who come to Washington to serve as assistants to politicians. Since these messages have been revealed he has resigned, and reportadly entered into some kind of treatment program, hence he is now a former Congressman.

In the U.S. candidates for office are routinely bought and paid for. For years and years U.S. Presidential campaigns, and especially news media coverage, have been more about who raised the most money, and not about issues and reaching voters. In the 2000 election cycle on the Republican side the candidates were clearly chosen based on their money raising, with George W. Bush having a home-grown advantage in that regard. This is dirty, and it leads to politicians who owe favors to the lobbyists who've brought them their money.