Silence is Consent

If you don't speak up you accept what is happening. This site was born out of the mainstream media's inability to cover the news. I am just an American cititzen trying to spread the word in the era of FCC consolidation, post 9/11 Patriot Act hysteria, hackable voting machines and war without end. I rant and post news items I perceive to be relevant to our current situation.

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
- Thomas Jefferson

Social Security is not broken and therefore does not need to be fixed

So Called Social Security Crisis (SCSSC)

Comments, questions, corrections, rebuttals are always welcome.

Monday, May 23, 2005
 
The End Of The Filibuster? (PBU21)
The Democrats main problem in this fight is the same problem they have with most things. The American public by and large are ignorant of how their government has worked over the past 225 years. The Republicans take every issue and dumb-it-down to a sound bite, i.e., "No judge that has ever had majority support on the Senate floor has ever been denied an up or down vote." First of all there is no way to know that for sure. Second, most Americans, let's assume that statement is true, don't know why that's the case. Like most things in life it can't be reduced to a sound bite or a catchy one word phrase. To steal from the '04 campaign, it's nuanced.

Why has a court nominee that has majority support never been denied a vote on the floor? A little thing call ADVISE and consent. Now the consent part we all know about, they vote for the nominee giving their consent. But the advise part is the other half of this and these previous committee checks were a major part of the advise. The president used to actually go talk to the senators and see if not only could the nominee make it through the committee but also could he pass the vote on the floor, avoid a filibuster. If the answer to those questions were no the president didn't nominate that person. In the Clinton and H. W. Bush administrations the nominees were held up in committee and never allowed to proceed to the floor. Now with one party rule and the changes to committee rules the only check left on the Republicans is the filibuster. The Republicans say that they are only going to remove the filibuster for judges. Well, once it's removed for this how hard will it be for them to remove on legislation as well? Not very, and then you can kiss your Social Security goodbye!

Here are two more items to read on this subject:

Apparently, You Can't Filibuster Incompetence

NUCLEAR CHICKEN

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Wednesday, May 18, 2005
 
Poor Charlie Rose
Last night as I passed by two shows while George Galloway were on TV I thought I had entered the twilight zone. First it was Hardball and then it was The Charlie Rose Show.

When I flipped on Hardball Chris Matthews was already interviewing Sen. Norm Coleman about what he has accused Mr. Galloway of doing. He would never answer the question if Mr. Galloway had ever profited personally from the Oil For Food program. Then having Mr. Galloway on right after and to answer all questions directly to refute everything the Senator said was incredible. Just because the MSM will never, in this day and age, allow many people like that on TV. It ended like this and it was beautiful:
MATTHEWS: So you didn't make a thin dime, to repeat your defense.

GALLOWAY: Not one thin dime.

MATTHEWS: Then why is Coleman going after you?

GALLOWAY: Because he is the most pro-war, pro-Israel, neocon hawk on the Hill.

MATTHEWS: But why is he going after you, because you're antiwar?

GALLOWAY: Well, I'm coming to that. And by the way, there's a lot of competition for that title, a lot of competition for that title. And he is smearing in a smokescreen: Kofi Annan, whose dismissal he demanded; me;

President Chirac; anybody that stood against the United States policy on the war, partly for revenge and partly because it is a useful diversion.

That you and I are talking now about this instead of talking about the big

disaster that people like Norman Coleman has taken the whole world into

MATTHEWS: Iraq.

GALLOWAY: Iraq.

MATTHEWS: Thank you very much. George Galloway of the British Parliament. Back with more HARDBALL in a moment.
Hopefully this will go a long way to end Sen. Coleman's career.

Charlie Rose does not post transcripts of his show and last nights show is probably the reason. Mr. Galloway put him to shame. My most memorable part was during the discussion of whether we should just leave Iraq. Mr. Galloway said yes. Charlie started in about what will happen if we just leave. Mr. Galloway said something to the effect of the same thing that happened in other countries when their governments fall, he gave examples, they will work it out. He said why should we think that Iraqis won't do the same things we did, they're just as good as us. Then Charlie rambled about how all the guests he has on say well we may have made a mistake going to Iraq but we can't leave until we rebuild and secure Iraq. I can't remember what Mr. Galloway said in response but all I could think was, Charlie, you need to get a wider variety of guests. There is a little more on this here.

All this shows is just how pathetic the media in this country has become.

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Friday, May 13, 2005
 
A Few For The Weekend
I've been cracking jokes with my family for a couple of years about how things will be in Jeb's second term. Chris Floyd makes that not look so funny anymore, Miami Vice.

This is very funny, McClellan Spars With Press, Says No Need to Notify Bush. See if you can count how many times Scottie says protocol.

Demise of a Hard-Fighting Squad

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Wednesday, May 11, 2005
 
US courts reveal the future of Social Security.

As Congress approves more spending for the War on Terror (WOT), Congress Approves $82 Billion for Wars, Halliburton gets a bonus, Halliburton Is Awarded $72 Million in Bonuses:
"It is outrageous that the Bush administration would give Halliburton a bonus after we have seen its overcharges, sloppy accounting and kickback schemes in Iraq," Lautenberg said. "Giving Halliburton a bonus is like giving your worst employee a raise."
Personally I consider it to be corruption. This is the Vice President's former company.

Check out the opening line to this article on reconstruction in Iraq:
Major reconstruction has not yet got off the ground in Iraq...
They're not saying that it's going slow, or that it's not proceeding as planned, no they're saying it "hasn't got off the ground"! This is truly an amazing article and if you're not against the war on moral grounds you certainly will because War is a Racket. They also point to the fact that security has cost so much that's why the reconstruction is "behind". What security?

As if the MIC (Military Industrial Complex) wasn't stealing enough taxpayer money in Iraq. Now the PIC (Prison Industrial Complex) is getting in on the act, U.S. to Expand Prison Facilities in Iraq.

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Monday, May 09, 2005
 
No Child Left Behind? (PBU19)
This administration has brought forth many dishonest, shall we say "Orwellian", propositions but none more so than No Child Left Behind (NCLB). NCLB is nothing more than the planned destruction of national public education. Looking for information on this I found this site, NoChilldLeft.com, and it's list of NCLB Problems. As I look at the problems and statistics related to NCLB and where my state, Texas, stands. I can't help but believe that George W. Bush is trying to do to the National schools what he did to schools in Texas.

I think the biggest problem my wife and I have with NCLB is it's reliance on standardized tests, which are ineffective. A standardized test is an attempt to get everyone to attain a minimum standard, not an attempt to have every child reach their full potential. Standardized tests cause teacher's to teach to the test - they have to build the curriculum around the test - instead of teaching what needs to learned. This is one reason that we are seriously thinking of home schooling our children. I was educated in public schools and always thought my children would be too. That was before the Republicans got control of them.

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1603, Lies and Idiocy
1603 (or at least it was when I posted this)

Memo disputes Bush Iraq claims
A highly classified British memo, leaked during Britain's just-concluded election campaign, claims President Bush decided by summer 2002 to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and was determined to ensure that U.S. intelligence data supported his policy.
You say Al-Libbi, I say al-Liby
Captured Al-Qaeda kingpin is case of ‘mistaken identity’
THE capture of a supposed Al-Qaeda kingpin by Pakistani agents last week was hailed by President George W Bush as “a critical victory in the war on terror”. According to European intelligence experts, however, Abu Faraj al-Libbi was not the terrorists’ third in command, as claimed, but a middle-ranker derided by one source as “among the flotsam and jetsam” of the organisation.

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Thursday, May 05, 2005
 
Doomed To Repeat It?
We can learn quite a bit from history, What the American Civil War can inform us about Iraq
What lessons does this dismal history convey for American forces in Iraq? First, what you do immediately after the end of hostilities is crucial, and mistakes made then may be impossible to undo. Don't attempt a wholesale transformation of another society unless you have the troops and political will to impose it. Above all, don't let racial or religious hatred destroy democratic political institutions as in the post-bellum South. Giving up on Reconstruction spawned a social and economic disaster that lasted nearly a century. That's a history nobody should want to repeat, least of all the Iraqi insurgents.

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Hmmmm?
Impeachment Time: "Facts Were Fixed."

Proof Bush Fixed The Facts

Pentagon Analyst Charged With Disclosing Military Secrets

Senate Probes Bolton's Pro-Israel Efforts

U.S. Can't Account for $100M Spent in Iraq

Moore says God 'basis' of GOP's philosophy

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Wednesday, May 04, 2005
 
What's Really Going On, The Filibuster Debate
I've been thinking now for several weeks that this whole filibuster debate is not only a setup for Supreme Court nominations down the line but for every type of action in the Senate. Especially Social Security. Then today while I was reading this, These Five Senators Know Better Than to Go Nuclear. Don't They?, it became crystal clear that's what the plan is:
The precedent set--a majority ignoring its own rules to override longstanding practice in one area--would almost inexorably make the Senate a mirror image of the House, moving the American system several steps closer to a plebiscitary model of government, and the Senate closer to the unfortunate House model of a cesspool of partisan rancor.
They can pass ANYTHING they want if all they need is 50 Senators. This is an excellent read because it tells exactly how wrong it is.

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Social Security, A Fundamental Question?
Over the last seventy years many things have occurred in the country. We have shifted our society in many ways. Black people can now vote, mostly, without being harassed. Segregation is over. And major attempts were made to help those that need it the most, i.e., Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, Head Start. Some have worked and some haven't. I understand people's complaints about wasting their money on social programs that do not work. But Social Security is different. Ask anybody and they will tell you that it one of, if no the most, successful social program ever created, EVER!

The vast majority of people in America, no matter what party they are from, do not have a problem paying for, or even paying more money for, a program that works. So my question is:
Why is this administration so opposed to asking Americans, particularly
wealthier Americans, to give back their needless tax cuts of the last four years
to help insure the solvency of such a vital and well run social program?



Maybe it's because they never liked it. They don't believe in people working together for the common good. Why else would they be working so hard to dismantle something that has worked so well?

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Tuesday, May 03, 2005
 
Everbody Knows Your Name
Their worst nightmare is coming true:
And one national poll, by Democrat Stan Greenberg, shows DeLay's name recognition at 77% - making him more famous than any other House member in modern history, except Newt Gingrich.
And you know what happened to him. See ya on Fox Snooze Tom.

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Monday, May 02, 2005
 
Wing Nuts
Everyday these people are front and center for the Republican Party is a good day for the Democrats.

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Blair and Iraq (PBU18)
I guess the only thing to say about the upcoming election in Britain is are they as stupid as we Americans or not? We allowed our head of state that lied us into a horrible and tragic war to be reelected, will you?

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