phoenix nest

In the media, all we read about is “Clinton attacks Obama”, “Bill takes shot at Obama”, “Clinton is spawn of satan”. As an Obama supporter and a self-proclaimed political junkie, I’m starting to get tired of the extreme media bias against Clinton and for Obama. The media has an obligation to be unbiased, and give a fair shot to all the candidates, but I’m starting to see something very troubling. That is, I’m finally starting to see what Republicans mean by the liberal media. It seems like they’ve already chosen the candidate they like, and look for any opportunity to increase his advantage. Continue Reading »

I’ve always thought how interesting it was that Dennis Kucinich was constantly ignored by the media and under valued by voting Americans. He was my first choice in this election, but after he dropped out I chose Obama, whom I consider to be the next closest to my particular ideology. Steve Cobble from The Nation does a good job breaking down why all liberals should give Kucinich some respect:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080303/cobble

I while ago I wrote a letter about the FISA bill passing through congress. I wrote up the following letter to Senators. I just received a response from my Democratic Senator (who I happened to vote for in the last election). Below is the letter I sent and much to my dismay, his response below that:

Senator Casey,

As you already know, there is currently debate on the Senate floor regarding the renewal of the FISA bill. In that bill is a provision giving previous telecom companies who violated current FISA law, immunity for their previous actions.

It is imperative that this bill be voted down, and a bill with no such provision be passed. These companies knowingly violated the law for a full 6 years after 9/11. They did so knowing the procedures that had to be performed to protect the civil liberties of Americans.

We would not know what happened if it were not for a whistle blower, and now we threaten everything he risked his professional integrity for in order to appease these conglomerates. Furthermore, we will never know the extent of the spying occurring on Americans if there are no investigations and/or court proceedings. All I am asking for is that the truth be allowed to come out, instead of allowing the interest of businesses to dominate our political system once again.

I understand the objections in favor of national security, but we have to draw the line at some point. When are the so called Freedoms we are trying to protect in fact become nothing more than an illusion. We are giving our enemies what they want by beginning to dissolve the good freedoms in our society. I implore you to vote with Senator Dodd on this issue, and if possible, join him in his filibuster effort. Doing so will give me a tremendous respect for your work, and help to secure my future support. Thank you.

A concerned citizen,
Daniel De Sousa.

His Response:

Dear Mr. DE Sousa:

Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding the Protect America Act. I appreciate hearing from all Pennsylvanians about this important issue.

After careful deliberation, I voted in favor of legislation to revise and update the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance (FISA) Act of 1978 to provide our intelligence community with the tools they need to target terrorists. This bill is not perfect, but it does improve on the legislation hurried into law last summer by the White House when it comes to strengthening civil liberties protections for Americans and enhancing judicial oversight.

In updating the FISA legislation, however, we did not need to extend retroactive immunity for those telecommunications firms that may have cooperated with the administration in warrantless surveillance programs. I proudly voted for the Dodd-Feingold amendment that would strip immunity from the bill, and I am disappointed the Senate did not agree to this important change. I believe that the retroactive immunity provision is inconsistent with the protections afforded every American by our Constitution. It is my hope that, when the House and Senate conference meet to reconcile the two different bills, they will agree to narrow and limit the immunity provisions for telecommunications firms.

I have been gratified to hear from so many of my constituents on this issue. Please be assured that I kept your concerns in mind as I deliberated and casted my vote. Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or any other matter of importance to you.

If you have access to the Internet, I encourage you to visit my new web site, http://casey.senate.gov. I invite you to use this new online office as a comprehensive resource to stay up-to-date on my work in Washington, request assistance from my office or share with me your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you and to Pennsylvania.

Sincerely,
Bob Casey
United States Senator

I recently wrote the following letter regarding the FISA bill coming up for a vote (which contains telco immunity). I’ve provided it here so anyone who sees it can copy it and change the names for their Senators. Please help to protect our civil liberties by urging your Senator to vote down the bill

Senator Casey,

As you already know, there is currently debate on the Senate floor regarding the renewal of the FISA bill. In that bill is a provision giving previous telecom companies who violated current FISA law, immunity for their previous actions.

It is imperative that this bill be voted down, and a bill with no such provision be passed. These companies knowingly violated the law for a full 6 years after 9/11. They did so knowing the procedures that had to be performed to protect the civil liberties of Americans.

We would not know what happened if it were not for a whistle blower, and now we threaten everything he risked his professional integrity for in order to appease these conglomerates. Furthermore, we will never know the extent of the spying occurring on Americans if there are no investigations and/or court proceedings. All I am asking for is that the truth be allowed to come out, instead of allowing the interest of businesses to dominate our political system once again.

I understand the objections in favor of national security, but we have to draw the line at some point. When are the so called Freedoms we are trying to protect in fact become nothing more than an illusion. We are giving our enemies what they want by beginning to dissolve the good freedoms in our society. I implore you to vote with Senator Dodd on this issue, and if possible, join him in his filibuster effort. Doing so will give me a tremendous respect for your work, and help to secure my future support. Thank you.

A concerned citizen,
Daniel De Sousa.

So we happened to also stop by a pro-choice rally of some kind. Pretty awesome that there was so much going on that day. Anyway nothing really exciting but check out the rally and some chanting in these two videos. First one is short but in the second we actually approached the rally and chilled for a bit.