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December 29, 2005
Monday, March 28, 2005
Monday's Links
Activism
Military Free Zone. Look, our military serves an important purpose. The men and women who make up our Armed Forces are brave patriots and deserve our gratitude. Furthermore, their contributions should never be taken for granted. That said, as long as we have an all-volunteer military, citizens should have the right to choose not to participate. Furthermore, they should have the right to attend public high school without being actively recruited by the military. With recruitment numbers quickly dropping, military recruiters have had to resort to increasingly aggressive tactics to meet their quotas. But you should know that you children have a right to opt-out of having their private information given to the military. Go to the site and take action: Opt-out if you like, and sign the petition protecting the private records of students. Maybe the military wouldn't have to take such extreme measures if they were used properly.
News
Past Arguments Don't Square With Current Iran Policy. Can you hear that? It's the sound of war drums, off in the distance. This time, the war's going to be with Iran, and it's going to be based on the assertion that they're building nuclear weapons. Of course, just like in Iraq, we don't have any concrete proof of that, and Iran claims that they're interested in nuclear capabilities in order to create energy. We certainly should be skeptical about this, but there's a minor problem: 30 years ago, the Ford administration wasn't nearly so skeptical. In fact, key players in the Ford administration worked to give Iran access to nuclear technologies. Who are those key players? Well, there's Kissinger, and our old friends Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Wolfowitz. This article makes for quite the interesting read: Donnie, Dick, and Paul may have forgotten their old policies, but Iran sure hasn't, and neither should you.
Movement in the Pews Tries to Jolt Ohio. Trying to build off of their narrow victory in 2004, Christian Conservative leaders are pushing full-force to take control of more local government posts in Ohio. The "Ohio Restoration Project," as it's known, has made grand plans to register half a million new voters, enlist activists, train candidates and endorse conservative causes in the next year. The initial primary objective? Get J. Kenneth Blackwell elected governor. You remember Blackwell - he's the Secretary of State who maintained that Ohio wouldn't turn into another Florida in 2004, and then proceeded to ignore requests for recounts and investigations. Although there are two other Republican candidates vying for the governorship, only Blackwell has the "solid support of religious conservatives." One of the remaining two candidates was against last year's same-sex marriage ban, and the other favors abortion rights. Can't have that, can we? Phil Burress, who led the push for last year's ban, said, "We're very confused that you have a Republican Party platform, and yet people running for higher office pay no attention to it. Why don't they just become Democrats?" Well, we think it's partly because there is no black and white in politics, though many people will tell you so. It's the same reason we like Bob Casey Jr. for Pennsylvania's Senate seat - it's too much to expect every candidate in every election to agree with all of the party's core values. The result of that expectation is people like Blackwell, who served his state and country poorly in 2004, and we wouldn't expect it to get any better.
Editorials
'Balance' and the Tipping Point. Orcinus has written an extremely insightful editorial on the new "Balance." If real balance is striving for the truth, the new balance is a result of the right-wing media response to the idea of a "liberal bias" in the media. It's why we see "Fight for Terri" plastered on every network, showing "experts" who argue Terri is not in a vegetative state. It's why we see the Fact of Evolution being held up side-by-side with the Myth of Intelligent Design. It's why nutcases who don't believe that the Holocaust really happened get equal airtime with authors who have written about it. The media's definition of "balance" has become so far removed from Webster's definition of the word that it does nothing but polarize this country further.
A Blow to the Rule of Law. In a brief editorial, the New York Times easily shows why Congressional intervention into the Schiavo case is a horrendous misuse of government. Republicans insist that the emergency bill is not a blanket, but was created solely for Terri. But why? Each year, hundreds of families experience the same thing that the Schiavos are going through. Yet Schiavo caught Congress's eye. Why? You might call it a Target of Opportunism, as Harold Meyerson does. You might wonder, after reading Rick Santorum's ridiculous comments, what Congress's ulterior motive was: A judge finding truth, or a judge overturning the verdict? You may even be curious why Congress didn't intervene directly and alter the ruling, when people like DeLay are up in arms over the court's most recent decision. Republicans may finally be realizing that this was a battle they should not have started. With recent polls showing the President's approval rating down, and 4 out of 5 Americans against the Congressional intervention, only one question remains. Where are the Democrats?
Humor
Monday Morning Humor. Tom DeLay recently compared himself to Christ, saying, "people hate the messenger. That's why they killed Christ," in response to Congress's intervention into the Schiavo case. With that in mind, we present the similarities between Tom DeLay and Jesus Christ.
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December 29, 2005
Monday, March 28, 2005
Monday's Links
Activism
Military Free Zone. Look, our military serves an important purpose. The men and women who make up our Armed Forces are brave patriots and deserve our gratitude. Furthermore, their contributions should never be taken for granted. That said, as long as we have an all-volunteer military, citizens should have the right to choose not to participate. Furthermore, they should have the right to attend public high school without being actively recruited by the military. With recruitment numbers quickly dropping, military recruiters have had to resort to increasingly aggressive tactics to meet their quotas. But you should know that you children have a right to opt-out of having their private information given to the military. Go to the site and take action: Opt-out if you like, and sign the petition protecting the private records of students. Maybe the military wouldn't have to take such extreme measures if they were used properly.
News
Past Arguments Don't Square With Current Iran Policy. Can you hear that? It's the sound of war drums, off in the distance. This time, the war's going to be with Iran, and it's going to be based on the assertion that they're building nuclear weapons. Of course, just like in Iraq, we don't have any concrete proof of that, and Iran claims that they're interested in nuclear capabilities in order to create energy. We certainly should be skeptical about this, but there's a minor problem: 30 years ago, the Ford administration wasn't nearly so skeptical. In fact, key players in the Ford administration worked to give Iran access to nuclear technologies. Who are those key players? Well, there's Kissinger, and our old friends Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Wolfowitz. This article makes for quite the interesting read: Donnie, Dick, and Paul may have forgotten their old policies, but Iran sure hasn't, and neither should you.
Movement in the Pews Tries to Jolt Ohio. Trying to build off of their narrow victory in 2004, Christian Conservative leaders are pushing full-force to take control of more local government posts in Ohio. The "Ohio Restoration Project," as it's known, has made grand plans to register half a million new voters, enlist activists, train candidates and endorse conservative causes in the next year. The initial primary objective? Get J. Kenneth Blackwell elected governor. You remember Blackwell - he's the Secretary of State who maintained that Ohio wouldn't turn into another Florida in 2004, and then proceeded to ignore requests for recounts and investigations. Although there are two other Republican candidates vying for the governorship, only Blackwell has the "solid support of religious conservatives." One of the remaining two candidates was against last year's same-sex marriage ban, and the other favors abortion rights. Can't have that, can we? Phil Burress, who led the push for last year's ban, said, "We're very confused that you have a Republican Party platform, and yet people running for higher office pay no attention to it. Why don't they just become Democrats?" Well, we think it's partly because there is no black and white in politics, though many people will tell you so. It's the same reason we like Bob Casey Jr. for Pennsylvania's Senate seat - it's too much to expect every candidate in every election to agree with all of the party's core values. The result of that expectation is people like Blackwell, who served his state and country poorly in 2004, and we wouldn't expect it to get any better.
Editorials
'Balance' and the Tipping Point. Orcinus has written an extremely insightful editorial on the new "Balance." If real balance is striving for the truth, the new balance is a result of the right-wing media response to the idea of a "liberal bias" in the media. It's why we see "Fight for Terri" plastered on every network, showing "experts" who argue Terri is not in a vegetative state. It's why we see the Fact of Evolution being held up side-by-side with the Myth of Intelligent Design. It's why nutcases who don't believe that the Holocaust really happened get equal airtime with authors who have written about it. The media's definition of "balance" has become so far removed from Webster's definition of the word that it does nothing but polarize this country further.
A Blow to the Rule of Law. In a brief editorial, the New York Times easily shows why Congressional intervention into the Schiavo case is a horrendous misuse of government. Republicans insist that the emergency bill is not a blanket, but was created solely for Terri. But why? Each year, hundreds of families experience the same thing that the Schiavos are going through. Yet Schiavo caught Congress's eye. Why? You might call it a Target of Opportunism, as Harold Meyerson does. You might wonder, after reading Rick Santorum's ridiculous comments, what Congress's ulterior motive was: A judge finding truth, or a judge overturning the verdict? You may even be curious why Congress didn't intervene directly and alter the ruling, when people like DeLay are up in arms over the court's most recent decision. Republicans may finally be realizing that this was a battle they should not have started. With recent polls showing the President's approval rating down, and 4 out of 5 Americans against the Congressional intervention, only one question remains. Where are the Democrats?
Humor
Monday Morning Humor. Tom DeLay recently compared himself to Christ, saying, "people hate the messenger. That's why they killed Christ," in response to Congress's intervention into the Schiavo case. With that in mind, we present the similarities between Tom DeLay and Jesus Christ.
|
December 29, 2005
Military Free Zone. Look, our military serves an important purpose. The men and women who make up our Armed Forces are brave patriots and deserve our gratitude. Furthermore, their contributions should never be taken for granted. That said, as long as we have an all-volunteer military, citizens should have the right to choose not to participate. Furthermore, they should have the right to attend public high school without being actively recruited by the military. With recruitment numbers quickly dropping, military recruiters have had to resort to increasingly aggressive tactics to meet their quotas. But you should know that you children have a right to opt-out of having their private information given to the military. Go to the site and take action: Opt-out if you like, and sign the petition protecting the private records of students. Maybe the military wouldn't have to take such extreme measures if they were used properly.
News
Past Arguments Don't Square With Current Iran Policy. Can you hear that? It's the sound of war drums, off in the distance. This time, the war's going to be with Iran, and it's going to be based on the assertion that they're building nuclear weapons. Of course, just like in Iraq, we don't have any concrete proof of that, and Iran claims that they're interested in nuclear capabilities in order to create energy. We certainly should be skeptical about this, but there's a minor problem: 30 years ago, the Ford administration wasn't nearly so skeptical. In fact, key players in the Ford administration worked to give Iran access to nuclear technologies. Who are those key players? Well, there's Kissinger, and our old friends Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Wolfowitz. This article makes for quite the interesting read: Donnie, Dick, and Paul may have forgotten their old policies, but Iran sure hasn't, and neither should you.
Movement in the Pews Tries to Jolt Ohio. Trying to build off of their narrow victory in 2004, Christian Conservative leaders are pushing full-force to take control of more local government posts in Ohio. The "Ohio Restoration Project," as it's known, has made grand plans to register half a million new voters, enlist activists, train candidates and endorse conservative causes in the next year. The initial primary objective? Get J. Kenneth Blackwell elected governor. You remember Blackwell - he's the Secretary of State who maintained that Ohio wouldn't turn into another Florida in 2004, and then proceeded to ignore requests for recounts and investigations. Although there are two other Republican candidates vying for the governorship, only Blackwell has the "solid support of religious conservatives." One of the remaining two candidates was against last year's same-sex marriage ban, and the other favors abortion rights. Can't have that, can we? Phil Burress, who led the push for last year's ban, said, "We're very confused that you have a Republican Party platform, and yet people running for higher office pay no attention to it. Why don't they just become Democrats?" Well, we think it's partly because there is no black and white in politics, though many people will tell you so. It's the same reason we like Bob Casey Jr. for Pennsylvania's Senate seat - it's too much to expect every candidate in every election to agree with all of the party's core values. The result of that expectation is people like Blackwell, who served his state and country poorly in 2004, and we wouldn't expect it to get any better.
Editorials
'Balance' and the Tipping Point. Orcinus has written an extremely insightful editorial on the new "Balance." If real balance is striving for the truth, the new balance is a result of the right-wing media response to the idea of a "liberal bias" in the media. It's why we see "Fight for Terri" plastered on every network, showing "experts" who argue Terri is not in a vegetative state. It's why we see the Fact of Evolution being held up side-by-side with the Myth of Intelligent Design. It's why nutcases who don't believe that the Holocaust really happened get equal airtime with authors who have written about it. The media's definition of "balance" has become so far removed from Webster's definition of the word that it does nothing but polarize this country further.
A Blow to the Rule of Law. In a brief editorial, the New York Times easily shows why Congressional intervention into the Schiavo case is a horrendous misuse of government. Republicans insist that the emergency bill is not a blanket, but was created solely for Terri. But why? Each year, hundreds of families experience the same thing that the Schiavos are going through. Yet Schiavo caught Congress's eye. Why? You might call it a Target of Opportunism, as Harold Meyerson does. You might wonder, after reading Rick Santorum's ridiculous comments, what Congress's ulterior motive was: A judge finding truth, or a judge overturning the verdict? You may even be curious why Congress didn't intervene directly and alter the ruling, when people like DeLay are up in arms over the court's most recent decision. Republicans may finally be realizing that this was a battle they should not have started. With recent polls showing the President's approval rating down, and 4 out of 5 Americans against the Congressional intervention, only one question remains. Where are the Democrats?
Humor
Monday Morning Humor. Tom DeLay recently compared himself to Christ, saying, "people hate the messenger. That's why they killed Christ," in response to Congress's intervention into the Schiavo case. With that in mind, we present the similarities between Tom DeLay and Jesus Christ.
