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Category: Politics Page 60 of 73

Arlington Results

By

On November 6, 2007

In Politics, Virginia

Here’s my way way out on a limb prediction – Arlington’s offices will all be filled with Democrats tomorrow.

Shocker.

Actually, the results will answer a few interesting (to me, anyway) questions –

1) In Arlington, we’ve got a pretty solid and decent liberal government in place.  Which means that we can afford to experiment a bit.  Will that result in more votes for the Republican (Mike McMenamin) or the Green Party guy (Josh Ruebner)?

2) What will be the extent of the undervote, if any, for Frank O’Leary?

3) Will Paul Ferguson crush Mark Kelly by an “ouch” margin, or will it go all the way to “daayum”?

Credit to Romney

By

On November 2, 2007

In Distribution, Policy, Politics, Society

Looks like Mitt Romney is actually doing something useful.   I’ve long worried that copyright law would be used to control and shape not just creative expression, but public debate.  Fox is attempting to do just that, with its claims that none of the candidates can use footage from the GOP debate that it broadcast.  Romney doesn’t like it, and is fighting that, arguing that fair use rights prevents Fox from exercising full control over the footage.  What’s good for Romney also happens to be good for you and me.  These debates, as sad as they might be, are smack in the center of the ongoing public political conversation that the Constitution protects.  No one should be able to control the content of that public conversation by asserting a private copyright claim.

Opt-out (or: Recall^H^H^H)

By

On October 26, 2007

In Politics, Tech

Some instances of stupidity make me consider reconsidering my stance against the death penalty.

To be clear: if you should ever be brave enough to be a whistleblower, you should never count on the competence or decency of the people that you are contacting to protect you.

Dems Cave on Telecom Immunity?

By

On October 18, 2007

In Distribution, Law, Politics, Society

[Update: Let’s put the Senate hold to a better use than porkbarrel politics – call Sen. Chris Dodd and urge him to put a hold on the FISA bill.]

If this Washington Post story is right, the Democrats have just hit the bottom of the credibility and effectiveness barrel. Handing out a blank Get Out of Jail card to telecom providers on the basis of the say-so of the Bush Administration? On *any* basis? That makes them not only fools, but dangerous fools.

This country was founded and has thrived on the rule of law. That is, the law is publicly known, and applies equally and predictably to all. You may scoff, thinking of some recent criminal case of injustice, but the rule of law really has been at the foundation of America’s success. It has provided for the certainty and safety of its people, who were not subject to the secret (and not so secret) whims and graces of individual men.

And now both the Republicans and Democrats are throwing that out in favor of . . . of *what*? What can possibly be gained by this? They’re still going to get their telecom industry contributions if they don’t do this. They’re not losing any safety – remember, this is *retroactive* immunity. So what is it? The sheer pleasure of knowing that you’re playing an integral part in deconstructing America? Didn’t want to let Bush get all the credit for that? Fools.

(When this comes down to a vote, I look forward to matching up those who vote for telecom immunity against those who voted against “amnesty” for illegal immigrants. Should be some interesting contrasts in rhetoric coming from the same people . . .).

Friday Notes

By

On October 12, 2007

In DC, Distribution, Politics

Let’s Abolish the Electoral College! (Salon story – sub req’d or sit through a quick ad). This is the the kind of stuff I wish we were spending our time examining and debating, instead of Torture: Hot or Not?

Guide to Bypassing Internet Censorship – this is an issue near and dear to my heart. In addition to being a free speech absolutist, I’m fanatical about transparency. That combination results in a deep interest in permitting unfettered communications via the Internet (I’ve even taken to running a Tor server). Check it out.

US: Switchboard to the World. Not unrelated to the previous post, Ryan Singal examines the infrastructure that routes so much of the world’s communications through the US (much to the pleasure of the NSA). (This is the subject of a project I’m working on, and hope to serialize here.)

Tom Friedman: The Clueless American? – For a couple of years, I shared a downtown parking garage with him, and often found myself standing next to him as we waited for our cars. This came well after the shine of The Lexus and the Olive Tree had worn off, but a bit before the full-blown ridiculousness of the past few years. So I never did bring myself to say anything to him. Now, though . . .

And with the usual disclaimer about DCist.com (a sad product, but the only game in town), and specific disclaimer about the actual author (he disturbs me in so many ways, his name not least among them), I present my favorite comment of the week, from Monkeyrotica:

Instead of giving DC back to MD, give it back to the Powhatan Tribe. That way, DC gets tax exempt status, casino gambling, and Sen. Brownback’s scalp.

Leave Them Kids Alone

By

On October 9, 2007

In Politics

I’m not much a fan of kids in politics.  Sure, I was calling Reagan “dogface” during his debates against Jimmy Carter (much to my father’s chagrin), but I had no clue what I was talking about.  And just as our decisions of today will absolutely affect the world we leave our children, they have no real ability to comprehend the matters behind those decisions.

So I wish we really would just leave them the hell alone.

Maryland’s Steny Hoyer: Please, Sir, May I Have Some More?

By

On October 9, 2007

In Distribution, Politics

Democrats like Steny Hoyer are the sort that make people vote for Ralph Nader (you’re still an idiot if you do, of course).  It seems that old Steny has decided to sell out the Rule of Law for . . . well, hell, I have no goddamn idea what he thinks he’s going to get out of it.

A top Democratic leader opened the door Tuesday to granting U.S. telecommunications companies retroactive legal immunity for helping the government conduct electronic surveillance without court orders, but said the Bush administration must first detail what those companies did.

What a pathetic joke.  Kneejerk partisan Democrats ought to remember actions like this the next time they start make excuses for a favored candidate’s failures.  I’m particularly interested in how the RK folks are going to respond to the position Sen. Jim Webb takes on the new FISA legislation . . .

Hillary, my vote’s not for sale. Try leadership and ideas, instead.

By

On October 9, 2007

In Politics

So, first we’ve got $5,000 “baby bonds” from the Clinton campaign.  And now we’ve got $1,000 “matching funds” to help shore up retirement savings.  At least, that’s what I think this latest scheme is about.   I’m not entirely clear on the details, but I suspect that a generous reading of it would find that it’s a redundant effort (don’t we already have IRAs?  401(k)s or SEPAs?) with an extra bit of money kicked in.  A less generous analyst might wonder where and when this ties into privatization of Social Security.

Obama on Nuclear Weapons

By

On October 2, 2007

In Politics, Society

I hope he’s serious:

If elected, Mr. Obama said, he would lead a global effort to secure nuclear weapons and material at vulnerable sites within four years. He also will pledge to end production of fissile material for weapons, agree not to build new weapons and take remove any remaining nuclear weapons from hair-trigger alert.

It’s not just Iran that has no business wielding nuclear weapons.  No one on this planet should have the power to ruin the entire planet for the rest of us.

Arguing on the Internet is like . . .

By

On September 28, 2007

In Politics

well, I won’t finish that, because even I’m a little ashamed of how amusing I find the punchline.  But the punchline has everything to do with this:

Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO) will be introducing a resolution in the House of Representatives on Monday condemning Rush Limbaugh for his “phony soldiers” remark.

On one hand, I’m quite happy to see this – I am tired of Democrats (both elected and rank and file) with their milquetoast reluctance to forcefully condemn the asinine statements that come out of the GOP and its surrogates.   So it’s nice to see some of the GOP’s own medicine being flung back at them.

But that’s exactly what turns me around on the issue – this is a total GOP move.  Seriously, who gives a shit what Rush Limbaugh’s ignorant ass said?  Really, does anyone think that there’s a segment of the population out there that will say “Yeah, go Rush!” and then rethink that position once this resolution is passed?  No.  There are those people fundamentally stupid enough to sign on it, and no resolution is going to change that.  And the only other group of people paying attention to it are those who are fundamentally immoral enough to not really give a damn about the implication of the statement, and will stand by it no matter what.  So why sink down to the GOP’s level when it will do no good?

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