



I. Due Process?  Not Always, Argues Supreme Court


[Image Source: Djibnet]


II. Yet Another Lawsuit Fails to Halt Warrantless Police State



This Phone is tapped







Bush and Obama
[Image Source:]



IV. Original FISA Aimed to Stop What Current Bill Does



Nixon Watchmen




Sources: SCOTUS, CNN

Comments     Threshold


RE: More Info
By tng on 2/26/2013 6:17:13 PM , Rating: 2
And for all the "two party" haters out there. Uhh if Romney's form of pseudo-Conservatism didn't get it done, how do you think the people are going to react to full-blown Libertarianism?
I don't really hate the 2 party system, it is just that nowdays, it is hard to tell them apart without looking at the little R or D at the end of their names.

I do have great respect for Liberman who told the Dems to shove it and went independent and won.

Full blown Libertarianism is a little crazy, even for me.

RE: More Info
By Reclaimer77 on 2/26/2013 6:24:12 PM , Rating: 2
Agree. But if your parties message can't win any elections, you're only faced with a few options.

Now don't get me wrong. I feel the Republican party leadership has done a horrible job under Obama. Free thinking is great, but there appears to be NO unified voice at all. Half the party is throwing the other half under the bus to keep their jobs, and the other half looks like complete dumbasses when they make themselves Obama's personal punching bag.

Full blown Libertarianism is a little crazy, even for me.

Considering the alternatives, I'll take it. But you'll just NEVER sell it to these voters today. We've lost the battle.

RE: More Info
By maugrimtr on 2/27/2013 9:20:30 AM , Rating: 1
Let's stereotype Republicans:

1. They don't like poor people.
2. They don't like gay people.
3. They don't like immigrants.
4. They don't like sick people.
5. They don't like non-Christians.
6. They don't like liberals.
7. They don't like scientists.
8. They don't like women.

Basically, all of those groups don't like Republicans in turn...

The problem with conservatism is that it has invested so much time and energy into demonizing people and basic realities we take for granted in order to preserve their existing votes. The democrats, on the other hand, just have to offer "reforms" that show they want to help all of these groups.

If I were gay, I'd be a democrat. I wouldn't associate with a bunch of hypocritical bigoted assholes unless I found a conservative representative with a brain. Many on the above list have a similar attitude.

It not that conservatism is losing, it's always going to be an appealing political view, it's that the people being elected are idiots in a race for the The Most Extreme Republican title which leaves moderates facing nuclear winter (i.e. having to elect a Democrat as the lesser of two evils). How can you then compete against a party willing to swing from left to near-right when it suits them? Reworking your "messaging" and pandering to groups you were demonizing just a few months ago won't cut it. Finding intelligent people might.

RE: More Info
By Reclaimer77 on 2/27/2013 11:19:10 AM , Rating: 1
That's another problem with the party. They've allowed those stereotypes, invented up by smear campaigns, to go unchallenged for the most part.

RE: More Info
By Florinator on 2/27/2013 11:45:58 AM , Rating: 1
Invented by smear up campaigns??? So people like Mourdock, Akin and even Marco Rubio (the Earth is 6,000 years old) didn't put their foot in their mouth because they are catering to the "base"?

RE: More Info
By Reclaimer77 on 2/27/13, Rating: 0
RE: More Info
By RufusM on 2/27/2013 2:10:49 PM , Rating: 3
Yes, they are stereotypes, but they are perpetuated by the Republican leadership and spokespeople who has long-since been co-opted by the Religious Right and their intolerance of social changes.

It doesn't help when people like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are spreading the message through their self-absorbed personalities.

When a Republican gets into power they spend money like drunken sailors on crack, just slightly less then a Democrat.

The US has two parties: The party of Spend and the party of Spend More. The really sad thing is they both have the public addicted to government handouts through direct or indirect means.

Given that, the American public has no appetite for a message of fiscal restraint of any kind. Just look at the average American household's credit card debt. In 2012, that number was $15,257. They would rather go broke than go without.

RE: More Info
By MrBlastman on 2/26/2013 11:32:20 PM , Rating: 2
I'm what you call a true moderate. I've come to find that neither mainstream party, be it Republican or Democrat, satisfactorily align with my beliefs. Believe it or not, I used to vote mainly Republican (okay, it probably isn't hard to believe) but even they have moved way off target from where I feel comfortable. They don't represent the majority of my beliefs.

It all changed back in the 90's when I voted Ross Perot. Yeah, I'm one of THOSE people that caused Dole to lose. Whatever. Something about him stunk and I couldn't allow myself to vote for the guy. Since then, I've come to realization that voting straight ticket, be it one party or the other... is a BAD thing. I voted Zell Miller for Congress once... yeah, a Democrat. Zell was the only good one left and is a damn fine patriot.

But, I draw the line at calling myself a Libertarian, either. Yes, I've voted for several including for Governor in our last State election but, even myself, a moderate, realize that the Libertarian Party also embraces some extreme points of view that I'm once again... not comfortable with.

So, what to do? Give up voting? Hardly. That's the worst thing anyone can do. How about reviewing my choices and speaking out for what I believe in and voting with my mind instead of my ears?

Yeah. That's a good start. So that's what I've done.

And I've discovered something too along this experimental journey I've embarked upon to improve my patriotism: Just because I vote for one of these independents doesn't mean I'm turning my back on America, nor embracing and condoning all their extreme viewpoints. In actuality, if my vote were to succeed and they get elected... it would soften up entrenched politics in Washington (or even my State) and add variety and process back to the system.

This variety... this process, these are precisely what we need to prescribe to our politicians in Washington. Hard line views have gotten us nowhere. It has lead to gridlock and complacency--both dangerous enemies of our Constitution.

So, give it a chance. Stand up and be a true patriot as I have done. Everyone in America will be better off if we do it.

RE: More Info
By DrApop on 2/27/2013 8:25:28 AM , Rating: 2
No disrespect intended, but we are NOT a two party system like you claim.

The two parties in power have propagandized this concept by pushing the idea that multiparty participation in government doesn't work and that the only viable ideologies are either republican or democrat. Plus they both will do their darndest to beat down any attempt from a third part to gain any type of power....even to the point to having them join their party (ala the teaparty).

Are government was meant to be a government of idea. Instead we have two near identical ideologies that fight against each other just to remain in power.

OK, off my soapbox now.

RE: More Info
By JediJeb on 2/27/2013 11:13:21 PM , Rating: 2
George Washington had it right when he said there should never be any political parties in the government.

Somehow politicians back then managed to respect his belief right up until he left office, then right away they began forming the parties.

If we had not political parties, then politicians would be more free to band together temporarily on certain subjects when needed but then to change affiliations when the time came to do so without worry of reprisals.

When I registered to vote I had to register as a member of the Independent Party because I had to choose a party, why could I not just register to vote with no party affiliation? Why should I be forced to declare a party? So maybe with our closed primary system here I could not vote in a primary election but having no party should not preclude me from voting in the main fall election. What is funny is that judges here who are elected have to run with no party affiliation by law.

I also wish they would outlaw the little D and R beside politicians names when they are displayed on TV and in print. Make them stand or fall in their own merits not on how viewers feel about a political party. Seeing a party affiliation there makes most people tune then out if they are not from their preferred party even if they are saying something that person would like to hear. Predefining someones perception on a topic removes logical public debate on issues that really need to be honestly debated among all constituents.

