Wake Up America

Why America? Why?

What are we fighting for in Iraq?

What are we trying to win?

What are we trying to accomplish?

What are we winning?

Where is the honor in fighting in Iraq when we invaded on false pretenses?

What is the mission we are trying to accomplish?

We used the names and the lives who were lost on 9/11 in vain to validate a dishonorable war in

Iraq.

What are We doing America?

Why have we lost sight of our true American Ways?

When will America act like America and have the unity that makes us the “United” States?

We all must be able to compromise on our views,feelings, and opinions in order to do good for the Whole.

“He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it. “- Confucius

We as a Nation must grow together as one. Since the days of our founding fathers we have been

the light of the world’s horizon and to ensure that our light shines into the future collectively as

one we must resound the voices of liberty across the world.

Wake Up America.

- William Gilbert, Jr.

Two Thirds of Americans Live in Constitution Free Zone

If you live in a metro area close to an international border like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, or Miami you now live in a constitution free zone. That’s at least what the ACLU says in a new map released which hopes to raise awareness of a little known law passed by congress after 9/11 that allows the Department of Homeland Security to set up immigration checkpoints within 100 miles of a border, and that includes the oceans.

In the meantime Homeland Security has set up at least 33 checkpoints deep inside the United States. They have at least two cited two incidents in which a San Diego music professor with an all American name, Craig Johnson, and a San Diego retiree who with his wife, were stopped by the authorities on a road east of San Diego, at least 15 miles from the U.S. border. In other instances people using purely domestic ferries in Oregon were searched by border patrol agents.

This is clearly a violation of the fourth amendment because the border exception was meant to only protect borders, it never was meant to allow two thirds of Americans to be covered in a zone where at any moment federal border agents could demand to search your vehicle and see your passport.

69 People I Will Not Have Dinner With

The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 has passed the Senate. For those who did not read my post yesterday, this bill grants the telecom companies immunity for helping the NSA spy on phone conversations so that we may never know the extent of the NSA’s warrentless wiretapping program, and grants the president even more warrentless wiretapping powers. What follows is a list of all the senators that voted in favor of the FISA bill. Hopefully, I never have to meet any of these people (again), because I do not want to shake their slimy hands. Read more

Obama Is The Detox The Government Needs

In the past, I’ve called Obama a steaming pile of charisma, but now I’m convinced that he is MY steaming pile of charisma. First, the man’s wife can admit that sometimes there are reasons not to be proud of America. Then I read about that he is a civil libertarian. Now he has officially stated that he will review all of President Bush’s executive orders and throw out any that are unconstitutional. The clinches it. Obama is the candidate who will best serve America, and he will do it by reversing at least some of the damage done by Bush.

I was afraid that Obama would become president and just sit there for 4-8 years, but clearly he is would actually do some good as president.

The most important topics for the next president have to be Iraq, the national debt, and reversing the damage that Bush has done. Oh wait, both those first two things are very related to what Bush has done as president. With that in mind, it is even more important that the next president pledge to turn the country around and go in the opposite direction of President Bush.

Obama’s pledge to review and discard illegal and unconstitutional executive orders is the first step towards completely removing any remnants of Bush administration policy from America. He has even gone so far is to say that warrantless wiretaps are not just outrageous and undemocratic, they are also unrepublican. An overhaul of the federal government will have to be done once President Bush leaves office, and Obama has the backbone to do it.

Wear Orange On January 11th

Tomorrow, I will be wearing orange to protest the detention center at Guantánamo Bay. The ACLU is asking conscious Americans to wear orange on January 11th to protest 6 years of detentions at Guantánamo Bay. I urge every person who cares one tiny bit about human rights to wear orange as well.

Maybe this is just another one of those pointless protests that won’t cause any change, but I know that I hadn’t really done the math. Guantánamo Bay has been open for 6 years! How can it take 6 years to close something like that down? Maybe wearing my orange t-shirt will just make me feel a bit cold tomorrow, or maybe it will help bring an end to indefinite detentions.

Join the ACLU tomorrow and wear something orange. Get the word out. We have a democrat controlled congress. They may be lazy, but closing Guantánamo Bay is no brainer. The American people just need to demand it. Wear orange January 11th.

GOP Anti Immigration Stance Harming Party

One day white people will be a minority. And just like blacks remember the advances for civil rights made under the Kennedy/LBJ administration, Hispanics will remember Republicans vilified them in the ‘06, ‘07 and ‘08 elections. With a new poll from Pew Research showing Latinos prefer Democrats to Republicans by 2:1 spells bad news for the GOP. Read more

Bush Stacks Civil Rights Commision with Anti Civil Rights Repuplicans

The Republicans continue their same tricks of racial discrimination, last month with John Tanner, the top ranking voting rights official at the Justice Department, was caught saying photo ID requirements do not disproportionately disenfranchise minority voters because: “Our society is such that minorities don’t become elderly the way white people do; they die first.”

In November comes a story about how Bush stacked the Civil Rights Commission, which is basically a government run watchdog group. As reported in The Carpetbagger Report, the commission should have no political majority. And technically they didn’t, because two Republicans suddenly changed their party to independent. Thus they have four Republicans and two Republican leaning independents.

Of course I don’t have a problem with the GOP being on the board, except that GOP continually legislates against minorities. And just like many other agencies in the government now perform the opposite roles (USDA relaxes food rules, Homeland Security violates peoples security…) the Civil Rights Commission has released statements and reports that oppose their very name. As reported by the Boston Globe:

[T]he commission has put out a series of reports concluding that there is little educational benefit to integrating elementary and secondary schools, calling for closer scrutiny of programs that help minorities gain admission to top law schools, and urging the government to look for ways to replace policies that help minority-owned businesses win contracts with race-neutral alternatives.

The conservative bloc has also pushed through retroactive term limits for several of its state advisory committees. As a result, some longtime traditional civil rights activists have had to leave the advisory panels, and the commission replaced several of them with conservative activists.

How can the GOP expect to win if they continue alienating the black and Latino vote? Newt Gingrich has even admitted the Republicans are alienating the already small conservative-minority voting bloc. In a country with rapidly changing demographics it looks like the Republican party is headed down a path of self destruction. Which explains why the right is so fearful of abortion.

Low Congress Ratings due to Republican Control

Two inter sting things happened relating to congress today. First an immigration bill granting children citizenship in the US after meeting certain criteria was struck down. Second a controversial judge, who overwhelming sides with corporations, was elected to the 5th Circuit Federal Court.

But last November Americans voted out the current leadership in congress. But some politicians haven’t realized Americans want change from twelve years of Republican mismanagement. But they’re still voting for (the Iraq war, uncontrolled spending) and blocking (children’s health care, immigration reform), the same policies that Americans are disgusted with. Unless the Republicans can let the Americans have a voice, more can look to loose their seats in 2008.

And it’s time for Democrats to be Democrats. I want to see Lyndon Baines Johnson type strategies. Not Democrats defecting, and siding with the Republicans. Many of the issues that have failed to be solved are just as important, if not more than the Civil Rights Movement.

Racism is making a resurgence in America (not that it was ever gone), for instance the State Department wants to shut down a Muslim school, because curriculum doesn’t “Meet their standards.” The head of the voting rights protection agency feels “The white vote is the most important to protect.” And there is a tremendous government/Republican started backlash against legal and “illegal” immigrants.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid need to become true leaders, willing at any cost to pass important legislation. But blame cannot be entirely placed on the leadership, Democrats need to stop being bullied by Republican tactics. And Americans need to stop being intimated by Republican fear mongering (ever noticed how a new Osama tape appears when Bush needs more money?). Lets live by the motto “Give me freedom or give me death.”

Patriotism: An Idea, Not a Doctrine

The Pledge of Allegiance is a lie, and so I no longer repeat it’s word, forgetting what it says. But even though I no longer utter those thirty words. But I still do love my country, and am willing to die for the freedoms it promises. Here is what the allegiance says, and why I believe I can’t truthfully repeat it’s words:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America

If I’m a Christian American, which a later part assumes, shouldn’t I only be pledging allegiance to God, much less a inanimate object? That part is starting to sound like idol worship.

and to the Republic for which it stands,

I Can’t align myself with the Republic part, because Americans are smart enough to pick their own candidates in a Democratic form of government. But for the country it stands behind, I’ll ally myself with it.

one Nation under God,

Really, we’re one nation under God? I suppose that’s why most Americans don’t even try to live by the Ten Commandments.

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The last part can only be called bullshit. Considering this thing was written during slavery, I don’t know how anyone could recite those lies back then. And even with the end of slavery, and the end of wide spread segregation, liberty and justice are only for some. For example, victims of the Jena 6 case appear to be getting justice, but in a country with liberty and justice for all, why did it have to become a national headline, with protests all around America, for the so called “justice system” to do right?

What prompted me writing this, is the flap that Obama is getting for not wearing his flag pin. There are many ways to show your patriotism. From reforming America to make the pledge less a lie, to serving your country in times of war. In fact John McCain says he doesn’t always where a flag pin “Because his record shows his patriotism.”

Proof The GOP Fails the Black Vote

If you go to gop.com, the official website of the Republican party you’ll find they have multiple categories for various issues. Immigration reform, woman, economy… They also have one for African-Americans, but when you visit that category they have only one blog post.

It goes on to talk about how African America education scores have increased on the Republican white house and congress. I guess that’s why lower SAT scores where blamed on more African Americans and Latinos taking the test. Anyways I’m not here to critique their lone post.

Today the Senate will be holding a vote on weather Washington DC (62% black) will have proper representation in the House of Representatives. The vote today is only a procedural one, if they get 60 or more votes to avoid a filibuster, then they’ll move on to the real “vote” later this session. But house minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) says “The right to vote is fundamental, and I will fight any attempt to dilute or impede that right, my opposition to this bill rests instead on a single all-important fact: It is clearly and unambiguously unconstitutional.” Most other Senate Republicans hold this view.

Not to vilify all Republicans on this issue, because Tom Davis (R-Va) cosponsored this legislation. But if this vote fails due to Republican opposition it will be the first voting rights filibuster since segregation was ended.

Update

The vote had 57 yes votes, and 42 no votes, with a Democrat from West Virginia, missing the vote, because he believes it is unconstitutional. Either ways they would have still been 2 votes short.

End Poverty, End Most of America’s Problems

Conservatives look at the moral issues of our time as the following: making abortions illegal, outlawing gay marriage, keeping capital punishment, and passing stricter laws that would forbid consensual underage sex. They don’t understand that there is a deeper root of the problem causing these issues. You have to look at the source of the problem, not just the problem itself. Read more

Texas Murders 400th Criminal

On Wednesday August 22 at 6:20 PM Johnny Connor was pronounced dead. But this man was not ill, he had no diseases, Johnny was murdered. Not by a private citizen, or by a gang, but by the State of Texas. This is the 400th such murder that Texas has carried out. Read more

CALL THE ARKANSAS ACLU

After a incident which involved a dirty cop named Joey Williams. The Arkansas American Civil Liberties Union has not made a press release about this incident. Call 501-374-2660 there will be an answering machine saying you have reached the ACLU please leave a message then complain why they have not acted. Send them an e-mail address and phone # too.

–koko

Cops attack teen skateboarders

Earlier this week some 50 high school students expressed their right to freedom of speech by bravely confronting Bush on the use of torture and demanding an end to it

But, on June 21st in the town of Hot Springs, some teens rights were brutally put to a stop. Arkansas Officer Joey Williams took the law literally into his own hands. He assaulted kids riding on skateboards.

Hot Springs, Arkansas (KTHV) - Hot Springs police are looking into an officer’s actions after an Internet video appeared to show him choking three teens who were skateboarding near the city’s famed Bathhouse Row.

We’re living in a country where innocent kids, who want to go out and just have some fun, are instead are getting beaten and harrassed by the police. I’m not anti police, and no one should be, but when police use excessive force to end a problem, because they are too stupid to fix the situation the right way, there is a problem.

The tape of the beating was posted Monday on YouTube:

There is still no official word on exactly why the teens were assaulted. Think Youth is keeping in touch with the both sides involved, an update will come shortly.

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