An Open Letter to John Tanner, Chief, Voting Section, U.S. Department of Justice
An Open Letter to John Tanner, Chief, Voting Section, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Section in response to his June 29, 2005 letter to Nick A. Soulas, Jr., Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, Civil Division,
Franklin County:
Dear Mr. Tanner:
I was curious to find that you had “conducted an investigation into the November 2, 2004 general election in Franklin County, prompted by allegations that Franklin County systematically assigned fewer voting machines in polling places serving predominantly black communities as compared to its assignment of machines in predominantly white communities.”
Let me begin by suggesting the word “contrasted” would be more appropriate than “compared.” Indeed, the difference is literally black and white.
Dear Mr. Tanner:
I was curious to find that you had “conducted an investigation into the November 2, 2004 general election in Franklin County, prompted by allegations that Franklin County systematically assigned fewer voting machines in polling places serving predominantly black communities as compared to its assignment of machines in predominantly white communities.”
Let me begin by suggesting the word “contrasted” would be more appropriate than “compared.” Indeed, the difference is literally black and white.
Energy adviser who solicited Enron to help write national energy policy to be named Chair of FERC
The audacity inside the Bush administration never ceases to amaze.
The latest example of chutzpah from Bush and co. is the announcement that Joseph Kelliher, a former policy adviser with the Department of Energy who currently serves as a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency that controls the country's natural gas industry, hydroelectric projects, electric utilities, and oil pipelines and has played a critical role in the deregulation of those industries, will be named by the White House Thursday to chair FERC.
President Bush had previously picked Rebecca Klein, the former Republican head of the Texas Public Utilities Commission and a close friend of the president, to chair FERC but red flags were raised recently during a routine FBI background check on Klein which forced the president to choose a new chairman at the last minute. The White House would not comment on the FBI's probe on Klein. Klein did not return numerous calls for comment.
The latest example of chutzpah from Bush and co. is the announcement that Joseph Kelliher, a former policy adviser with the Department of Energy who currently serves as a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency that controls the country's natural gas industry, hydroelectric projects, electric utilities, and oil pipelines and has played a critical role in the deregulation of those industries, will be named by the White House Thursday to chair FERC.
President Bush had previously picked Rebecca Klein, the former Republican head of the Texas Public Utilities Commission and a close friend of the president, to chair FERC but red flags were raised recently during a routine FBI background check on Klein which forced the president to choose a new chairman at the last minute. The White House would not comment on the FBI's probe on Klein. Klein did not return numerous calls for comment.
They Died for Their Country
"They died for their country," read the white granite memorial in the
Concord, Massachusetts town square, honoring local men who died in the
Civil War. Newer headstones mourned Concord men who gave their lives in
other wars -- practically every war America has fought -- belying the
recent baiting of quintessentially blue-state Massachusetts as a place
whose citizens lack patriotism. I was in town, on the first anniversary of
Sept 11, speaking at a local church that had lost one of its most active
members on a hijacked plane, a man named Al Filipov. It was clear then --
and clearer now -- that these honored dead would not be our nation's last.
I thought of Concord when George Bush urged us, this past Memorial Day, to
redeem the sacrifices of our soldiers in Iraq by "completing the mission
for which they gave their lives." But what if this mission (which will, of
course, claim more lives) itself is questionable, and founded on a basis
of lies?
Mourn on the Fourth of July
Am I the only U.S. citizen who finds the annual Fourth rituals to
be cloying and deceptive? Yeah -- just me and probably tens of millions of
other people.
Ever since the Vietnam War, the Fourth of July has seemed to be a celebration of the past in the midst of a distinctly un-glorious present. In 2005, as in 1965, lyrical appreciation of “bombs bursting in air” is chilling in the context of current realities.
Overall, my outlook on the yearly Independence Day spectacle remains what it was a decade ago:
Patriotic holidays come and go, but one theme is fairly constant in our country’s mass media: The founding fathers were a sterling bunch of guys.
Their press notices are usually raves when the Fourth of July rolls around -- superficial accolades for leaders of the struggle for independence.
It’s true that the famed men of the American Revolution were brave, eloquent and visionary as they challenged the British despot, King George III. But present-day news media usually avoid acknowledging an uncomfortable fact: Many of those heroes didn’t seem to mind very much when they benefitted from injustice.
Ever since the Vietnam War, the Fourth of July has seemed to be a celebration of the past in the midst of a distinctly un-glorious present. In 2005, as in 1965, lyrical appreciation of “bombs bursting in air” is chilling in the context of current realities.
Overall, my outlook on the yearly Independence Day spectacle remains what it was a decade ago:
Patriotic holidays come and go, but one theme is fairly constant in our country’s mass media: The founding fathers were a sterling bunch of guys.
Their press notices are usually raves when the Fourth of July rolls around -- superficial accolades for leaders of the struggle for independence.
It’s true that the famed men of the American Revolution were brave, eloquent and visionary as they challenged the British despot, King George III. But present-day news media usually avoid acknowledging an uncomfortable fact: Many of those heroes didn’t seem to mind very much when they benefitted from injustice.
The Supreme Court's jackboot liberals
So much for the right to die in your own home, smoking a joint to take your mind off the pain. Thanks to the liberals on the U.S. Supreme Court, the feds can haul you to prison from your death bed for smoking medical marijuana, and any local authority can raze your house and give the land to Walmart for a parking lot.
On June 6, by a vote of 6-3, the Court ruled that federal authorities may prosecute sick people who smoke pot on doctors' orders. The court's apex liberal, John Paul Stevens, wrote the majority decision. The conservative Sandra Day O'Connor wrote the dissent, saying that the court was overreaching to endorse "making it a federal crime to grow small amounts of marijuana in one's own home for one's own medicinal use."
On June 6, by a vote of 6-3, the Court ruled that federal authorities may prosecute sick people who smoke pot on doctors' orders. The court's apex liberal, John Paul Stevens, wrote the majority decision. The conservative Sandra Day O'Connor wrote the dissent, saying that the court was overreaching to endorse "making it a federal crime to grow small amounts of marijuana in one's own home for one's own medicinal use."
With a limp election theft report, Dems prove why they're unworthy
In an astonishingly limp report on the stolen 2004 election, the Democratic Party has once again proven why it is unworthy to lead this country and incapable of mounting significant resistance to the far-right GOP juggernaut.
The Democrats much-vaunted "investigation" entitled “Democracy at Risk: The 2004 Election in Ohio” could well have been conducted by a high school class in elementary polling. It consists almost entirely of post-election phone interviews. It says nothing about the devastating discrepancies between exit polls and the highly improbable and virtually impossible vote total that gave George W. Bush a second term. It makes no case about precinct-by-precinct illegalities including unguarded ballots, election machine tampering, an unexplained bogus Homeland Security alert, the firing of whistle-blowing election board officials, and much more.
The Democrats much-vaunted "investigation" entitled “Democracy at Risk: The 2004 Election in Ohio” could well have been conducted by a high school class in elementary polling. It consists almost entirely of post-election phone interviews. It says nothing about the devastating discrepancies between exit polls and the highly improbable and virtually impossible vote total that gave George W. Bush a second term. It makes no case about precinct-by-precinct illegalities including unguarded ballots, election machine tampering, an unexplained bogus Homeland Security alert, the firing of whistle-blowing election board officials, and much more.
This July 4, let's enshrine the Ten Amendments, not the Ten Commandments, as America's true Patriot Act
The Supreme Court's mixed rulings on displaying the Ten Commandments on public buildings and property offer us the perfect patriotic step forward for this coming July 4: let's post the first Ten Amendments, i.e. the Bill of Rights, instead.
As we approach our nation's birthday, its core values are under attack. Religious fanatics, who are profoundly unAmerican, are trying to impose their particular theology on us all.
A cult of Christian Ayatollahs and their jihad GOP are using the Ten Commandments as a wedge to force mandatory, tax-sponsored religion into every corner of American life (not to mention the rest of the world).
But it is the Bill of Rights, not the Ten Commandments, that embodies the true core of our national existence.
First and foremost, these amendments guarantee separation of church and state. Remembering the witch trials of the 1690s, a ban on theocracy was very first freedom this nation's founders enshrined.
As we approach our nation's birthday, its core values are under attack. Religious fanatics, who are profoundly unAmerican, are trying to impose their particular theology on us all.
A cult of Christian Ayatollahs and their jihad GOP are using the Ten Commandments as a wedge to force mandatory, tax-sponsored religion into every corner of American life (not to mention the rest of the world).
But it is the Bill of Rights, not the Ten Commandments, that embodies the true core of our national existence.
First and foremost, these amendments guarantee separation of church and state. Remembering the witch trials of the 1690s, a ban on theocracy was very first freedom this nation's founders enshrined.
The liberal straw man
AUSTIN, Texas -- The first thing I ever learned about politics was never to let anyone else define what you believe, or what you are for or against. I think for myself.
I am not "you liberals" or "you people on the left who always ..." My name is Molly Ivins, and I can speak for myself, thank you. I don't need Rush Limbaugh or Karl Rove to tell me what I believe.
Setting up a straw man, calling it liberal and then knocking it down has become a favorite form of "argument" for those on the right. Make some ridiculous claim about what "liberals" think, and then demonstrate how silly it is. Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and many other right-wing ravers never seem to get tired of this old game. If I had a nickel for every idiotic thing I've ever heard those on the right claim "liberals" believe, I'd be richer than Bill Gates.
I am not "you liberals" or "you people on the left who always ..." My name is Molly Ivins, and I can speak for myself, thank you. I don't need Rush Limbaugh or Karl Rove to tell me what I believe.
Setting up a straw man, calling it liberal and then knocking it down has become a favorite form of "argument" for those on the right. Make some ridiculous claim about what "liberals" think, and then demonstrate how silly it is. Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and many other right-wing ravers never seem to get tired of this old game. If I had a nickel for every idiotic thing I've ever heard those on the right claim "liberals" believe, I'd be richer than Bill Gates.
Big Food Strikes Back; Ag industry aims to strip local control of food supplies
Legislation aiming to prevent counties, towns and cities from making local decisions about our food supply is being introduced in states across the nation. Fifteen states recently have introduced legislation removing local control of plants and seeds. Eleven of these states have already passed the provisions into law.
These highly orchestrated industry actions are in response to recent local decisions to safeguard sustainable food systems. To date, initiatives in three California counties have restricted the cultivation of genetically modified crops, livestock, and other organisms and nearly 100 New England towns have passed various resolutions in support of limits on genetically engineered crops.
These highly orchestrated industry actions are in response to recent local decisions to safeguard sustainable food systems. To date, initiatives in three California counties have restricted the cultivation of genetically modified crops, livestock, and other organisms and nearly 100 New England towns have passed various resolutions in support of limits on genetically engineered crops.
Counter-Recruitment: Preventing the Military from Getting More Youth for their Wars: An Interview with Counter-Recruitment Activist Clint Coppernoll
The Army and National Guard have been failing to meet their recruiting goals for the last four months. Summer is typically the time they have their greatest success in recruiting and they are counting on this summer to make up for their shortcomings in the previous months. They are increasing their efforts and making more promises to get America's youth to sign up for war. As a result those of us who oppose the war need to step up our efforts in counter-recruitment as well. Below is an interview with a counter-recruitment activist from Washington State that provides directions on how to get started and documents to assist in your efforts.
Clint Coppernoll is the father of two, a son who is a lawyer and a daughter who is an activist and student in San Francisco. He is the husband of an activist organizer and midwife, Belinda Coppernoll. He has been a peace activist and organizer since 1969 and has worked with many organizations on a range of issues including immigrant and farm workers rights, prison reform, and open access to the political system for all Americans.
Clint Coppernoll is the father of two, a son who is a lawyer and a daughter who is an activist and student in San Francisco. He is the husband of an activist organizer and midwife, Belinda Coppernoll. He has been a peace activist and organizer since 1969 and has worked with many organizations on a range of issues including immigrant and farm workers rights, prison reform, and open access to the political system for all Americans.