Owner: 3rd URL:http://3rd.netharm.net/ Join Date: Sun, 01 Jul 2007 09:36:05 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: US politics from an anti-politician perspective Site statistics:Click here
20-Something All Around 2007-06-30 12:11:35 All of Washington, D.C. seems to have approval ratings in the 20s. Congress, according to a CBS News poll, is at 27%. Both parties blame each for Congress’ lack of approval: the Democrats say it’s because of the Iraq War, the Republicans say it’s because of the immigration issue. They’re both right, and both ignore the other’s point, which is probably the root of the problem.
George Bush is also at 27%, meaning Dick Cheney, despite his both-branches-and-yet-no-branch issues, comes out doing relatively well with his 28%.
The parties themselves are doing somewhat better: according to CNN, the Democratic Party is at 51%, but the Republican Party is at 36% (their lowest since impeaching Clinton in 1998). What does this all mean for the 2008 elections? That, unless something major changes, voters will again be forced to choose between two parties they don’t particularly like.
What the iPhone is Really Replacing 2007-06-29 17:00:28 The Paris Hilton story, along with a lot of help from Mika Brzezinski, has finally started to die. There are now some major media outlets without a story about her on their homepage. A Google News search for “Paris Hilton” with results sorted by date took only 38 pages to reach a story older than 24 hours when I tried it. Finally, the mass media can return to actual information.
Except not, it would seem that she has a replacement. MSNBC, Fox News, the Los Angeles Times, CBS News, CNN, USA Today, the New York Times, NPR, and ABC all had a story about the iPhone
on their homepage this morning. Regardless of whether Mika Brzezinski was sick of Paris Hilton or with all worthless leads she reported on, it was quickly turned into an issue with Paris Hilton (when she did an interview with Willie Geist, another MSNBC reporter who was there when she shredded the script, the first question was “What do you have against Paris Hilton?”).
The Paris Hilton story is not the i
Preaching to the Choir and People Who Won’t Care 2007-06-28 08:37:29 The ACLU, along with a number of other organizations, held a rally in Washington, D.C. Tuesday to protest against torture and for the restoration of habeas corpus. There were 17 speakers, and many people visited their representatives’ offices after. For Dennis Kucinich and Chris Dodd, two of the speakers, maybe it was a chance to give a two-minute speech and get a little more support (actually, Kucinich already seemed to have the support of a lot of people there, preaching to his own choir; Dodd was met with less enthusiasm, speaking to people who didn’t seem real likely to vote for him anyway). For those of us who got up around two in the morning to get on a bus and go down there, it was in many ways more pointless.
First, the choir. Everyone but the two bicycle cops apparently assigned to the rally was certain to already oppose torture and support habeas. An hour and a half of speeches might reinforce that a little bit, but for 99.9% of the people there it would be like w Read more:Choir
Good Luck, Senate Judiciary Committee 2007-06-27 20:04:18 The Senate
’s JudiciaryCommittee
, which is responsible for overseeing the Executive Branch in regards to civil liberties, and is therefore investigating the domestic wiretapping, has subpoenaed the White House. In times past, subpoenas have been more or less ignored, and I see no particular reason to think this time will be any different. The subpoena is for the executive branch’s (plus Cheney’s) legal justification for warrantless wiretapping, which has been formally requested nine times in the past from the White House and Justice Department.
White House spokesperson Tony Fratto said that the program was “lawful, limited, safeguarded and — most importantly — effective in protecting American citizens from terrorist attacks.” Power needs to be separated, knowledge should not, otherwise there’s no way to know if power is. Unless you want to take Fratto’s word for it, there’s no way to know if the wiretaps are any of the things he says Read more:Good Luck
You Must Choose, Cheney 2007-06-25 18:32:58 You cannot weave in and out of the legislative branch depending on what is convenient for you. As is noted in a press conference posted on the Think Progress website though, that is what he does. Either he can be part of the executive branch or part of the legislative branch, and while I have a preference, either way it needs to be decided.
As is frequently noted, he has roles in both, why isn’t he responsible for following laws applied to each? Were he two people, he would follow both sets of laws, but instead, he uses each as cover when he doesn’t like some aspect of the other role. If he takes actions in each role, he has to be responsible for the actions taken in each.
Read more:Cheney
Should Nader Run? 2007-06-24 17:40:27 Ralph Nader says he might run in 2008, depending on whether he can get on the ballot in all 50 states. Should he? Yes and no.
Firstly, Nader did not “spoil” the election for Gore in 2000. He didn’t “take” any votes, voters gave them to him because they decided he was the better candidate. If the election was spoiled, it was by the voters and the electoral college. That aside, if Nader ran in 2008, (some) people would vote for him, and in swing states it would be a vote that could be better used since Nader won’t win. While it’s certainly the voters’ choice, Nader doesn’t have to encourage it.
More importantly, his effort in swing states could be better used in non-swing states. There, thanks to weird twists of voting power through the electoral college, a vote for Nader can’t cost the Democratic Party anything. People know that they’re not throwing their vote away though, because if you’re not in a swing state a fe
Either Make Up Your Mind… 2007-06-22 19:28:34 Or make it clear that you haven’t.
When people vote, they’re not entirely voting for the person, they’re voting for the set of ideas that the candidate says they represent. A lot of people don’t vote based on how well they think a candidate can make a choice; they vote because the candidate has decided to believe in the same viewpoint as the voter’s. When a citizen changes their mind on an issue, they might choose to vote for someone else as a result, but when an official changes their mind in between being elected and being inaugurated, where does that leave the voters? All of a sudden they might have a leader who doesn’t believe in one or more of the reasons they were voted in.
Regardless of what my views or your views are on abortion, I’d like to at least know what a candidate’s are before I vote for him/her, and, more importantly, I’d like to know what they’ll be during his/her term.
With Mitt Romney, for instance, apparen
Air Force Wants F-Bombs 2007-06-21 17:52:55 Literally.
According to ABC News, about $10 billion of the Pentagon’s budget this year will go to nontraditional spending. Not interesting until you know some of the things they might spend it on.
Three years ago, for instance, the military funded a study of psychic teleportation, which resulted in a 88-page result concluding that moving through mind powers is “quite real and can be controlled.” Sorry, Air Force
Research Lab, it’s been done already, with a sequel. Other possibilities include armor that makes you invisible and armed sharks that spy on the enemy. No doubt there’ll be a few invisible shark-heroes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Perhaps the best is the request from an Ohio Air Force labaratory for $7.5 million of our tax money for the purpose of creating a “gay bomb.” Theoretically, it will use strong aphrodisiacs to make enemies so attracted to each other that they’d have no time to fight.
“We spend a lot of time talking to t Read more:Bombs
Bloomberg Now an Independent 2007-06-20 09:48:56 According to the New York Times, NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg
announced yesterday that he is no longer affiliated with the GOP or any other party. Though he contributes to Republican campaigns and last year told a group of Republicans in Manhattan “I couldn’t be prouder to run on the Republican ticket and be a Republican,” I’m not sure I’d take that statement too seriously coming from a former Democrat who still supports gay marriage, abortion rights, stem cell research, and gun control.
This obviously yet again raises the question of whether he’ll be running in 2008. He’s put more focus on national issues lately, and made the announcement in California. Additionally, there has been a great deal of speculation about a Bloomberg/Hagel ticket.
And what would happen if he won? He’d be the first non-Republicrat president in about a century and a half. It would be a huge blow to the two-party system, but not necessarily a permanent one: after h
More on Hillary’s Song: by Canada, for Canada 2007-06-19 13:52:39 Original Post
The campaign song Clinton has chosen (source: TPMCafe) is not only by a Canadian, it’s for a Canadian company. It was used by an Air Canada
commercial, apparently several years ago. Nothing’s wrong with Canada of course, but she’s not running for office there, she’s running here, at least use a song from a US Airways ad or something.
Commercial on YouTube
Read more:Hillary
Circles 2007-07-04 16:25:28 As of some point today, an independent United States will have gone in 84,372 circles (including leap days). It is quite exciting. Everyone from John Edwards to the Weather Channel has pictures of fireworks on their homepage to celebrate our freedom from the British, who is now a great ally and helps protect our freedom.
Since I can’t think of anything better, below is a list of random things from around the web that are semi-connected to the Fourth of July:
Yesterday, Obama’s blog asked readers how they celebrated the Fourth of July. The first reader response was the text of a news article titled “Clinton Pollster Sued Over E-Mails.”
Laura Bush was a bit independent this week in an interview about AIDS relief on CNN. How dare she.
At the end of the year, Minnesota will add itself to the list of places that restrict the purchase of US flags not made in the US. Purchasing other things from China will be fine, but everyone knows that Chinese flags fall apart th
Excessive Punishment 2007-07-03 16:51:33 George Bush announced that he was commuting the part of Libby’s sentence that would require a 30-month prison sentence, saying it was “excessive,” according to the New York Times. He said that “I respect the jury’s verdict, but I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive.”
Why did we bother having a jury in the first place then? The jury should have been the law, the President’s friends should not be above it. Ironically, this comes at a time when the White House is otherwise leaning on a twisted idea of separation of powers.
While Patrick Leahy acknowledged that Bush was acting legally, he had this to say about it: “Accountability has been in short supply in the Bush administration, and this commutation fits that pattern. It is emblematic of a White House that sees itself as being above the law.”
If Libby’s sentence was excessive, what about mandatory eight to 20 years for possessing eight ounces of Read more:Punishment
Executive Privilege? 2007-07-02 20:05:55 Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says that he will try to cite the White House for criminal contempt of Congress if necessary, according to the Washington Post. The Congressional investigators want e-mails, testimonies, and other documents related to the firing of nine federal prosecutors. So far, the White House has refused by saying they have executive privilege, as though the idea of separation of powers means each branch should operate without the supervision of others under all circumstances.
Which is lunacy. There are things that no branch of government should do, such as firing federal prosecutors for political reasons. Unless it’s a national security issue and should be kept secret to stop evil-doers from killing us (seems rather unlikely), there’s no reason the public shouldn’t know; and the only way government-wrongdoing can be prevented is if people know about it.
If Congress fired a few important government official Read more:Executive
If Funding Meant Everything (Democrats June ‘07) 2007-07-01 17:49:56 The second quarter ended yesterday, and candidates have to file reports with the FEC by the 15th. Few of them have made a major effort to get the word out about how much they’ve raised, Obama being the major exception.
Hillary Clinton’s blog has a somewhat interesting post on the subject though. First, while the site currently does not seem to have the exact amount of money raised, it said they “expect” to raise about the same amount as in the first quarter ($27 million), and goes on to note that “it is more than any Democrat has ever raised in the second quarter of the ‘off’ year.”
It also says that “While that figure is record setting, we do expect Senator Obama to significantly outraise us this quarter.” Which he did: his campaign raised $32.5 million.
The next paragraph of the the Clinton post starts: “Bottom line is that both campaigns will raise a great deal of money and that we will have all the resources we need Read more:Funding
, Everything
, Democrats
20-Something All Around 2007-06-30 12:11:35 All of Washington, D.C. seems to have approval ratings in the 20s. Congress, according to a CBS News poll, is at 27%. Both parties blame each for Congress’ lack of approval: the Democrats say it’s because of the Iraq War, the Republicans say it’s because of the immigration issue. They’re both right, and both ignore the other’s point, which is probably the root of the problem.
George Bush is also at 27%, meaning Dick Cheney, despite his both-branches-and-yet-no-branch issues, comes out doing relatively well with his 28%.
The parties themselves are doing somewhat better: according to CNN, the Democratic Party is at 51%, but the Republican Party is at 36% (their lowest since impeaching Clinton in 1998). What does this all mean for the 2008 elections? That, unless something major changes, voters will again be forced to choose between two parties they don’t particularly like.
What the iPhone is Really Replacing 2007-06-29 17:00:28 The Paris Hilton story, along with a lot of help from Mika Brzezinski, has finally started to die. There are now some major media outlets without a story about her on their homepage. A Google News search for “Paris Hilton” with results sorted by date took only 38 pages to reach a story older than 24 hours when I tried it. Finally, the mass media can return to actual information.
Except not, it would seem that she has a replacement. MSNBC, Fox News, the Los Angeles Times, CBS News, CNN, USA Today, the New York Times, NPR, and ABC all had a story about the iPhone
on their homepage this morning. Regardless of whether Mika Brzezinski was sick of Paris Hilton or with all worthless leads she reported on, it was quickly turned into an issue with Paris Hilton (when she did an interview with Willie Geist, another MSNBC reporter who was there when she shredded the script, the first question was “What do you have against Paris Hilton?”).
The Paris Hilton story is not the i
Preaching to the Choir and People Who Won’t Care 2007-06-28 08:37:29 The ACLU, along with a number of other organizations, held a rally in Washington, D.C. Tuesday to protest against torture and for the restoration of habeas corpus. There were 17 speakers, and many people visited their representatives’ offices after. For Dennis Kucinich and Chris Dodd, two of the speakers, maybe it was a chance to give a two-minute speech and get a little more support (actually, Kucinich already seemed to have the support of a lot of people there, preaching to his own choir; Dodd was met with less enthusiasm, speaking to people who didn’t seem real likely to vote for him anyway). For those of us who got up around two in the morning to get on a bus and go down there, it was in many ways more pointless.
First, the choir. Everyone but the two bicycle cops apparently assigned to the rally was certain to already oppose torture and support habeas. An hour and a half of speeches might reinforce that a little bit, but for 99.9% of the people there it would be like w Read more:Choir
Good Luck, Senate Judiciary Committee 2007-06-27 20:04:18 The Senate
’s JudiciaryCommittee
, which is responsible for overseeing the Executive Branch in regards to civil liberties, and is therefore investigating the domestic wiretapping, has subpoenaed the White House. In times past, subpoenas have been more or less ignored, and I see no particular reason to think this time will be any different. The subpoena is for the executive branch’s (plus Cheney’s) legal justification for warrantless wiretapping, which has been formally requested nine times in the past from the White House and Justice Department.
White House spokesperson Tony Fratto said that the program was “lawful, limited, safeguarded and — most importantly — effective in protecting American citizens from terrorist attacks.” Power needs to be separated, knowledge should not, otherwise there’s no way to know if power is. Unless you want to take Fratto’s word for it, there’s no way to know if the wiretaps are any of the things he says Read more:Good Luck
You Must Choose, Cheney 2007-06-25 18:32:58 You cannot weave in and out of the legislative branch depending on what is convenient for you. As is noted in a press conference posted on the Think Progress website though, that is what he does. Either he can be part of the executive branch or part of the legislative branch, and while I have a preference, either way it needs to be decided.
As is frequently noted, he has roles in both, why isn’t he responsible for following laws applied to each? Were he two people, he would follow both sets of laws, but instead, he uses each as cover when he doesn’t like some aspect of the other role. If he takes actions in each role, he has to be responsible for the actions taken in each.
Read more:Cheney
Should Nader Run? 2007-06-24 17:40:27 Ralph Nader says he might run in 2008, depending on whether he can get on the ballot in all 50 states. Should he? Yes and no.
Firstly, Nader did not “spoil” the election for Gore in 2000. He didn’t “take” any votes, voters gave them to him because they decided he was the better candidate. If the election was spoiled, it was by the voters and the electoral college. That aside, if Nader ran in 2008, (some) people would vote for him, and in swing states it would be a vote that could be better used since Nader won’t win. While it’s certainly the voters’ choice, Nader doesn’t have to encourage it.
More importantly, his effort in swing states could be better used in non-swing states. There, thanks to weird twists of voting power through the electoral college, a vote for Nader can’t cost the Democratic Party anything. People know that they’re not throwing their vote away though, because if you’re not in a swing state a fe
A Few of the Lesser-Known Candidates 2007-07-06 19:35:00 Many third parties, much as I hate to say it, could probably benefit from being a little bit more conservative. Not with their political views, but with their hopes: they’re not often very realistic.
Michael Jingozian, for instance, says in his five-year plan (PDF file, and yes, “five-year plan” is exactly what this potential Green Party candidate calls it) that:
We believe we can squeak-out a win in 2008. But, if this doesn’t occur, then we expect to see an overwhelming mandate in 2012.
I’d love to believe that the two-party system could be completely abolished in five years, but it’s incredibly unlikely.
Read more:Lesser
, Candidates
Bush Suggests that You Car Pool 2007-07-05 13:33:02 But it wasn’t an energy independence speech. It was how he suggests we help the troops.
This ironically coming so close to the Australian Defence Minister’s admission that oil was a key factor in Iraq, Bush said this in a Fourth of July speech:
There are many ways for our fellow citizens to say thanks to the men and women who wear the uniform and their families. You can send a care package. You can reach out to a military family in your neighborhood with a mom or dad on the front lines; you can ask somebody, “What can I do to help you? What do you need?” You can car pool. You can be on bended knee and pray for a soldier and their families.
He also suggests visiting AmericaSupportsYou.mil, which, in addition to letting you send messages, has a lot of pictures of Tiger Woods.
I don’t know if that was what he actually said or if someone added it as a joke thinking no one would notice, but if you’re interested, here’s the WhiteHouse.gov transcript
Australian Defence Minister Admits Oil Interest in Iraq 2007-07-05 06:25:08 The Australian
Defence Minister
, Brendan Nelson, has said that securing oil is an important factor in Iraq
, according to the BBC. He says that maintaining what he calls “resource security” is important and that:
Obviously the Middle East itself, not only Iraq but the entire region, is an important supplier of energy, oil in particular, to the rest of the world… Australians and all of us need to think what would happen if there were a premature withdrawal from Iraq. It’s in our interests, our security interests, to make sure that we leave the Middle East, and leave Iraq in particular, in a position of sustainable security.
Prime Minister John Howard responded by saying that “We didn’t go there because of oil and we don’t remain there because of oil,” and that “A lot of oil comes from the Middle East - we all know that - but the reason we remain there is that we want to give the people of Iraq a possibility of embracing democracy.&rd Read more:Interest
Circles 2007-07-04 16:25:28 As of some point today, an independent United States will have gone in 84,372 circles (including leap days). It is quite exciting. Everyone from John Edwards to the Weather Channel has pictures of fireworks on their homepage to celebrate our freedom from the British, who is now a great ally and helps protect our freedom.
Since I can’t think of anything better, below is a list of random things from around the web that are semi-connected to the Fourth of July:
Yesterday, Obama’s blog asked readers how they celebrated the Fourth of July. The first reader response was the text of a news article titled “Clinton Pollster Sued Over E-Mails.”
Laura Bush was a bit independent this week in an interview about AIDS relief on CNN. How dare she.
At the end of the year, Minnesota will add itself to the list of places that restrict the purchase of US flags not made in the US. Purchasing other things from China will be fine, but everyone knows that Chinese flags fall apart th
Excessive Punishment 2007-07-03 16:51:33 George Bush announced that he was commuting the part of Libby’s sentence that would require a 30-month prison sentence, saying it was “excessive,” according to the New York Times. He said that “I respect the jury’s verdict, but I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive.”
Why did we bother having a jury in the first place then? The jury should have been the law, the President’s friends should not be above it. Ironically, this comes at a time when the White House is otherwise leaning on a twisted idea of separation of powers.
While Patrick Leahy acknowledged that Bush was acting legally, he had this to say about it: “Accountability has been in short supply in the Bush administration, and this commutation fits that pattern. It is emblematic of a White House that sees itself as being above the law.”
If Libby’s sentence was excessive, what about mandatory eight to 20 years for possessing eight ounces of Read more:Punishment
Executive Privilege? 2007-07-02 20:05:55 Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says that he will try to cite the White House for criminal contempt of Congress if necessary, according to the Washington Post. The Congressional investigators want e-mails, testimonies, and other documents related to the firing of nine federal prosecutors. So far, the White House has refused by saying they have executive privilege, as though the idea of separation of powers means each branch should operate without the supervision of others under all circumstances.
Which is lunacy. There are things that no branch of government should do, such as firing federal prosecutors for political reasons. Unless it’s a national security issue and should be kept secret to stop evil-doers from killing us (seems rather unlikely), there’s no reason the public shouldn’t know; and the only way government-wrongdoing can be prevented is if people know about it.
If Congress fired a few important government official Read more:Executive
If Funding Meant Everything (Democrats June ‘07) 2007-07-01 17:49:56 The second quarter ended yesterday, and candidates have to file reports with the FEC by the 15th. Few of them have made a major effort to get the word out about how much they’ve raised, Obama being the major exception.
Hillary Clinton’s blog has a somewhat interesting post on the subject though. First, while the site currently does not seem to have the exact amount of money raised, it said they “expect” to raise about the same amount as in the first quarter ($27 million), and goes on to note that “it is more than any Democrat has ever raised in the second quarter of the ‘off’ year.”
It also says that “While that figure is record setting, we do expect Senator Obama to significantly outraise us this quarter.” Which he did: his campaign raised $32.5 million.
The next paragraph of the the Clinton post starts: “Bottom line is that both campaigns will raise a great deal of money and that we will have all the resources we need Read more:Funding
, Everything
, Democrats
20-Something All Around 2007-06-30 12:11:35 All of Washington, D.C. seems to have approval ratings in the 20s. Congress, according to a CBS News poll, is at 27%. Both parties blame each for Congress’ lack of approval: the Democrats say it’s because of the Iraq War, the Republicans say it’s because of the immigration issue. They’re both right, and both ignore the other’s point, which is probably the root of the problem.
George Bush is also at 27%, meaning Dick Cheney, despite his both-branches-and-yet-no-branch issues, comes out doing relatively well with his 28%.
The parties themselves are doing somewhat better: according to CNN, the Democratic Party is at 51%, but the Republican Party is at 36% (their lowest since impeaching Clinton in 1998). What does this all mean for the 2008 elections? That, unless something major changes, voters will again be forced to choose between two parties they don’t particularly like.
What the iPhone is Really Replacing 2007-06-29 17:00:28 The Paris Hilton story, along with a lot of help from Mika Brzezinski, has finally started to die. There are now some major media outlets without a story about her on their homepage. A Google News search for “Paris Hilton” with results sorted by date took only 38 pages to reach a story older than 24 hours when I tried it. Finally, the mass media can return to actual information.
Except not, it would seem that she has a replacement. MSNBC, Fox News, the Los Angeles Times, CBS News, CNN, USA Today, the New York Times, NPR, and ABC all had a story about the iPhone
on their homepage this morning. Regardless of whether Mika Brzezinski was sick of Paris Hilton or with all worthless leads she reported on, it was quickly turned into an issue with Paris Hilton (when she did an interview with Willie Geist, another MSNBC reporter who was there when she shredded the script, the first question was “What do you have against Paris Hilton?”).
The Paris Hilton story is not the i
Preaching to the Choir and People Who Won’t Care 2007-06-28 08:37:29 The ACLU, along with a number of other organizations, held a rally in Washington, D.C. Tuesday to protest against torture and for the restoration of habeas corpus. There were 17 speakers, and many people visited their representatives’ offices after. For Dennis Kucinich and Chris Dodd, two of the speakers, maybe it was a chance to give a two-minute speech and get a little more support (actually, Kucinich already seemed to have the support of a lot of people there, preaching to his own choir; Dodd was met with less enthusiasm, speaking to people who didn’t seem real likely to vote for him anyway). For those of us who got up around two in the morning to get on a bus and go down there, it was in many ways more pointless.
First, the choir. Everyone but the two bicycle cops apparently assigned to the rally was certain to already oppose torture and support habeas. An hour and a half of speeches might reinforce that a little bit, but for 99.9% of the people there it would be like w Read more:Choir
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