Tag Archives: asinine

Same Old Song and Dance

‘Twould seem the RIAA, record companies, and their pack of snarling, salivating
hyenas…er…lawyers, haven’t noticed that pay-to-download is a workable business
model that has people’s attention – and money. If record companies produced CDs
with 15 or so good songs, none of this would be an issue. Music piracy was a case
of necessity inventing. You want just one song from an otherwise putrid CD? Download
it. Now, some of those songs can be downloaded legally, for a small fee. The average
Joe is quite happy to stay legal when the customer is satisfied.

Sink
the PIRATE Act

“The PIRATE Act (S.2237) is yet another attempt to make taxpayers fund the misguided
war on file sharing, and it’s moving fast. The bill would allow the government to
file civil copyright lawsuits in addition to criminal prosecutions, dramatically
lowering the burden of proof and adding to the thousands of suits already filed
by record companies. It would also force the American public to pay the legal bills
of foreign record companies like Bertelsmann, Vivendi Universal, EMI, and Sony.
Meanwhile, not a penny from the lawsuits goes to the artists.”

“Don’t let the record industry use your hard-earned dollars to pursue this fruitless
war; tell Congress to sink the PIRATE Act!”

TIA Go Away

Congress really needs to pay closer attention to what our taxes pay for. Ring bells?
How about ringing some necks?

Govt
Computer Surveillance Rings Alarm Bells

Thu May 27,12:10 AM ET
By Andy Sullivan

“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nine months after Congress shut down a controversial Pentagon
computer-surveillance program, the U.S. government continues
to comb private records to sniff out suspicious activity, according to a congressional
report obtained by Reuters.”

FB-Eye

What’s next? Another House Un-American Activities Committee? McCarthy-ism, Take
2?

F.B.I.
Scrutinizes Antiwar Rallies

By ERIC LICHTBLAU

“WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 � The Federal Bureau of Investigation has collected extensive
information on the tactics, training and organization of antiwar demonstrators and
has advised local law enforcement officials to report any suspicious activity at
protests to its counterterrorism squads, according to interviews and a confidential
bureau memorandum.”

Congress
Expands FBI Spying Power

By Ryan Singel

“Congress approved a bill on Friday that expands the reach of the Patriot Act,
reduces oversight of the FBI and intelligence agencies and, according to critics,
shifts the balance of power away from the legislature and the courts.”

Oppose
Government Surveillance of Peaceful Protesters

“The ability to speak freely and peacefully protest government policies is
a cherished right, as enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
A confidential FBI memo leaked to the New York Times confirms however that the federal
government is targeting innocent Americans engaged in nothing more than lawful protest
and dissent.”

“In the memo the FBI advocates spying on peaceful protesters and indicates that protesters
who engage in civil disobedience or other disruptive acts should be treated like
potential terrorists. It confirms that the government has monitored the actions
of peaceful protesters and wants intelligence about protesters to be reported to
the nearest FBI field office or terrorism task force.”

“Peaceful protesters should not be treated as potential terrorists nor spied upon
by federal government agents. Not only is this a misuse of public funds that could
be used to find real terrorists, it chills free speech activities and inhibits the
public debate on important issues.”

Hate Speech

I’ve read/heard mudslinging before, but I think this takes the cake. I’m kinda surprised to find this on an official government website.

Fear and Loathing in the Mother Ship

"Good afternoon, or, as John Kerry might say: ‘Bonjour! I’m sure you’ve already heard a good many speakers today and will hear a bunch more after I’m done. So you’ll probably judge my speech more on its brevity than its persuasiveness. But that’s okay, because as you may have heard, we Republicans from Texas aren’t known for our el-o-qua-city. But we are known for being clear. So in the interests of clarity, I have a simple message to pass along: the national Democrat party seems to have lost its marbles."

I just can’t resist responding so here goes….

"the national Democrat party seems to have lost its marbles"

Did the Good Ol’ Boys…er…GOP ever have any marbles?

"Though they remain a potent electoral machine, armed with battalions of trial lawyers and entertainers, and their Grand Coalition of the Perpetually Partisan, they are no longer a serious force in the national debate."

I guess these are offered in contrast to the Republican party’s cohorts of thugs in expensive suits, oil barons, and corporate executives.

"Their single organizing philosophy is an irrational, all-encompassing, broiling hatred of George W. Bush."

Hate him? I think it’s hardly fair to hate a man so utterly vacuous. On the other hand, if he’s not as dumb as he seems, he borders on the frightening evil of Orwell’s Big Brother.

"But most of all, Democrats hate the president because on every political issue of significance since he came into office, he has beaten them like rented mules."

No, I think it’s because his foreign policies are imperialistic and his domestic policies border on fascist.

"They want to tax like Mondale and spend like Carter."

And Republicans want to borrow like Reagan and deceive like Nixon.

"While everyone else got the memo that big-government, blame-America-first liberalism died with disco, the Howard Dean Democrats still want to party like it’s 1979!"

And the George Bush Republicans (and Democrats) want to make war like it’s 1079.

"It’s not a war of our choosing, nor of our instigation."

Ummm…If you’re speaking for the American people, you’re right. Many thousands protested war, but Bush went ahead. Did we instigates it? Well, our goverment backed Osama when we needed his muscle. We backed Afghanistan to fight Russia. We backed Saddam to fight Iran. Might we be just the tiniest bit responsible?

"They were a premeditated assault on the freedom of every human being on this planet"

Whereas the Patriot Act is just an assault on American freedom.

"To try to gauge just how out of touch the Democrat leadership is on the war on terror, just close your eyes and try to imagine Ted Kennedy landing that Navy jet on the deck of that aircraft carrier."

The Soviet Union put chimps in space suits. What’s your point?

"I don’t know about you, I certainly don’t want to see Teddy Kennedy in a Navy flight suit anytime soon."

Isn’t this the same kind of ad hominem crap you accused Democrats of espousing?

"Saddam Hussein – it is universally accepted by the international intelligence community – had weapons of mass destruction. "

I’d like to believe that, but where’s the proof?

"If you take their comments to their logical conclusion, they’re essentially calling our Commander in Chief, Benedict Arnold."

I’d prefer Bonzo.

"We’re in the middle of a global conflict between good and evil and they’re in the middle of a Michael Dukakis look-alike contest."

1) I think the lines are hardly that well drawn considering we made a lot of the monsters loose today. Furthermore, I’m very tempted to lump Sharon in with other dangerous extremists. How liberal is that?

2) You’re resorting to ad hominem attacks again.

"Bob Graham – a respected former governor and chairman of the intelligence committee – is calling for the president’s impeachment."

Is this any worse than the farcical attempt to impeach Clinton?

"John Edwards – a so-called moderate – compares the president to a dangerous socialist."

Mr. Edwards is wrong. Socialism is left-wing. He meant fascist.

"It makes you wonder if at their next presidential debate, the Democrats are all going to show up wearing aluminum-foil helmets to protect their brain waves from the mother ship!"

Ad hominem…

"STOMP – Strategic Task force for the Organization and Mobilization of People – is a powerful manpower organization I started a few years back."

I’m surprised it’s not called JACKBOOT.

"We have an agenda – a real agenda – to make America safe, strong, and prosperous."

Hitler had an agenda, too – and a scapegoat.

P.S. I apologize for any ad hominem remarks I may have made. I’m just a lowly college student who blogs in his spare time. Senator Delay* ought to have the time and resources to write something a little more intelligent.

[* I had originally written Daschle. How embarrassing would that have been if left unchanged?]

Flag Schmag

I’m far from being a stickler about flag desecration. In fact, I’m very much against the Flag Desecration Amendment. However, this just seems wrong to me.

“President Bush signs American flags for workers at Beaver Aerospace and Defense after speaking about jobs and economic growth in Livonia, Michigan, Thursday, July 23, 2003. President Bush, in campaign-style speeches in states vital to his re-election, sought Thursday to make sure voters give him credit for rebates heading to millions of taxpayers this week. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)”