AMERICA IS BETTER THAN THIS!

So, in the Senate today is a bill that, if passed, will be the final blow by the tyrranical administration before the shrub slithers back to Crawford and the rest of his me-too cabinet burst into flames.

Ignoring human rights, constutional freedoms, and the law itself in most cases, the bill is being pushed hard by right-wingers in order to have something to brag about on the campaign trail this weekend besides how many more Iraqis have been blown to bits to date. And what are the yellow-bellied Dems doing about it? Eh...not so much.

Atop the shit list of horrific editions are:

• the establishment of a court system to prosecute terror suspects, after the Supreme Court had ruled in June that Bush needed Congress' blessing to do so
  
• the allowance of some trial evidence not usually allowed in regular U.S. courts -- e.g., hearsay evidence would be permitted, as long as a judge finds it to be reliable. Coerced testimony would be allowed in narrow circumstances - generally if a judge finds it reliable and the statement was taken before a 2005 ban on cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
• extensive definitions of war crimes such as torture, rape and biological experiments -- provisions intended to protect CIA interrogators from being prosecuted for war crimes when handling terror suspects
• the addition of language that says the president can "interpret the meaning and application" of the Geneva Convention 1949 treaty, which means that although he would not be allowed to authorize interrogation techniques that would violate prohibited war crimes, he would be allowed to decide whether interrogation techniques are within bounds.

Me? I'm a little flabbergasted. Befuddled. And, quite frankly, becoming more incensed by the minute.

Balkinization sums it up perfectly with:

If the Democrats do not stand up to the President on this bill, if they refuse to filibuster it or even threaten to filibuster it, they do not deserve to win any additional seats in the House or in the Senate. They will have delivered a grievous blow to our system of checks and balances, stained America's reputation around the world, and allowed an obscenity to disfigure the American system of law and justice. Far worse than a misguided zealot is the moral coward who says nothing and allows that zealotry to do real harm.

Amen, brother!!

And here's a little video clip of John Aravosis of AmericaBlog trying to debate some wingnut on CNN over the fact that there's no such thing as allowable torture any more than you can be a little pregnant!!!

In the words of Aravosis, "AMERICA IS BETTER THAN THIS!!!!"

Editions courtesy of WaPo article.
Hat tip to Shakes for the update.

SHE WAS MESQUITE TREES, BARBED WIRE AND A PRICKLY PEAR IN THE MIDDLE OF A DUSTY TEXAS PASTURE

Called on the carpet this morning (and rightfully so) by my friend Lisa from San Antonio for not paying my proper respects to former Texas Governor Ann Richards, who passed away on Sept. 13th from esophageal cancer, I've decided to devote (better late than never) this post to her today.

Ann Richards on How to Be a Good Republican:

1. You have to believe that the nation's current 8-year prosperity was due to the work of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, but yesterday's gasoline prices are all Clinton's fault.
2. You have to believe that those privileged from birth achieve success all on their own.
3. You have to be against all government programs, but expect Social Security checks on time.
4. You have to believe that AIDS victims deserve their disease, but smokers with lung cancer and overweight individuals with heart disease don't deserve theirs.
5. You have to appreciate the power rush that comes with sporting a gun.
6. You have to believe...everything Rush Limbaugh says.
7. You have to believe that the agricultural, restaurant, housing and hotel industries can survive without immigrant labor.
8. You have to believe God hates homosexuality, but loves the death penalty.
9. You have to believe society is color-blind and growing up black in America doesn't diminish your opportunities, but you still won't vote for Alan Keyes.
10. You have to believe that pollution is OK as long as it makes a profit.
11. You have to believe in prayer in schools, as long as you don't pray to Allah or Buddha.
12. You have to believe Newt Gingrich and Henry Hyde were really faithful husbands.
13. You have to believe speaking a few Spanish phrases makes you instantly popular in the barrio.
14. You have to believe that only your own teenagers are still virgins.
15. You have to be against government interference in business, until your oil company, corporation or Savings and Loan is about to go broke and you beg for a government bail out.
16. You love Jesus and Jesus loves you and, by the way, Jesus shares your hatred for AIDS victims, homosexuals, and President Clinton.
17. You have to believe government has nothing to do with providing police protection, national defense, and building roads.
18. You have to believe a poor, minority student with a disciplinary history and failing grades will be admitted into an elite private school with a $1,000 voucher.

But I think she can best be summed up by her insightful analysis of the Republican Party, the Bush Empire, the Red States Majority, and the Bible Beaters (oh, I'm just repeating myself, aren't I?) when she said:

"You can put lipstick and earrings on a hog and call it Monique,
but it's still a pig."

We love you, Ann. The world was a better place with you in it, and it just breaks my heart to imagine how great this country could've been with you in the Oval Office.

Read more about Ann from the Texas State Library.
Title quote is paraphrased from Joe Holley's Washington Post piece.

DOY! WHICH WAY DID THEY GO? WHICH WAY DID THEY GO?

1,100 laptops missing from the Commerce Department. And many of those from the Census Bureau. You know, the guys that maintain ALL YOUR PERSONAL AND PRIVATE INFORMATION, INCLUDING YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER AND LAST KNOW ADDRESS!!!!!

ELEVEN HUNDRED, people!!!! Missing. Poof! Ala David Blaine.

"The amount of missing computers is high, but fortunately, the vulnerability for data misuse is low."

Oh, okay. I feel all better now, Sherlock.

Look, I'm by no means some high-tech geek or anything, but what the hell are these people doing storing this information on their laptops? Do we not have at least one secure government (try to ignore the oxymoron) server onto which all this highly privileged information can be loaded? Is there no policy, no auditing, no formal regulation against retention of these records on movable, easily lost, misplaced and stolen devices? And since this has been happening consistently since 2001 (for crissakes!!!), shouldn't the government perhaps consider, at a minimum, returning to...hmm...DESKTOP computers?

I GUESS SIZE DOES MATTER

Poor Pluto has been unceremoniously demoted to asteroid number 134340, and I'm just so completely bummed about this whole thing. I mean, I know it's a more accurate scientific reflection of its place in the universe and all, but I still remember the aluminum foil solar system I made in 5th grade with a light bulb in the middle for the sun. It was one of the few things my father and I actually did together. And no, the dissolution of Pluto as a planet doesn't erase those memories, but it's one less ball of aluminum I'll be crumbling and painting with my kids, I guess. It's just a little sad. I feel a very strange sense of loss. And a little more claustrophobic, I think. As if someone just rented out the attic of your childhood home to a complete stranger.