Author: TL

The End of America – Possible, Says Naomi Wolf

Posted on by TL

Don Hazen has an interview with Naomi Wolf on AlterNet regarding her new book, The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot.  In it, she warns that history may indeed repeat itself.

When discussing the Bush Administration, it’s easy to glibly toss around names like “Hitler” and “Mussolini”, and throw in a word like “fascism”, but Wolf raises some alarming concerns about the future of our democracy.

What exactly was going on when Hitler and Mussolini were coming to power?  Are there any comparisons with what is happening in America today, and has been for the past several years?

Wolf does not see much hope for a transparency in the next Presidential election:

We would be naive given the historical patterns to have hope that there’s going to be a transparent, accountable election in 2008. There are various ways the blueprint indicates how events are much more likely to play out. Historically, the months leading up to the national election are likely to be unstable.

What classically happens is either there will be a period of provocation, and we have a history of this in the United States — agitators who are dressed as or act like activist voter registration workers, anti-war marchers … but who engage in actual violence, torch property, assault police officers. And that scares people. People are much less likely to vote for change when they’re scared, and it gives them the excuse to crack down.

In addition, I’m concerned about the 2007 Defense Authorization Act, which makes it much easier for the president to declare martial law.

What are the plans for 2008?  Lower gas prices, and heightened terrorist threat alerts?  Martial Law in the United States?

Is Facebook violating the law?

Posted on by TL

Interesting question arising in the state of New York.  A new add-on to Facebook allows users to send ads to other users with pictures attached.  The legal question is, are these so-called “Social Ads” illegal, or violations of privacy?

That seems like a funny question to ask on a Social Networking site, but it is worthy of consideration.  Facebook users do agree to certain terms and conditions.  However, does that translate to a loss of all privacy?  And what if the user is a minor?

The New York Times quotes William McGeveran, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, who quotes the law in a blog post:

One who appropriates to his own use or benefit the name or likeness of another is subject to liability to the other for an invasion of his privacy.

The NYTimes post says Chris Kelly, chief privacy officer for Facebook, called and said McGeveran’s interpretation is too broad.  But McGeveran writes:

I don’t see how broad general consent to share one’s information translates into the specific written consent necessary for advertisers to use one’s name (and often picture) under this law. And the introduction of Facebook’s sales pitch about the program to advertisers leaves little doubt that individual users’ identities will be appropriated for the benefit of Facebook and advertisers alike.

I have a suspicion that Facebook will win this bout in the short term, but there will be a backlash as people begin to realize how precious privacy is.  Some Facebook users put much personal information online.  How long until we realize we’ve given up too much?

And rest assured that Facebook users are taking notice.  One user already created a group to protest: “Facebook’s Social Ads Are Illegal.”

At this writing, the group had one member.

Everyone else was probably busy updating their status.

Genarlow Wilson Free

Posted on by TL

Genarlow Wilson was finally freed from prison today.  He spent two years in prison.  The incredible injustice this young man endured notwithstanding, he actually sounded gracious and grateful to finally be released from prison.  Reporters attempted to bait him into saying that he was bitter, but he would have none of it.  He was grinning from ear to ear.

I find it incredible that anyone would lose two years of his life because of consensual sex — especially when the partners are only two years apart.

There was more to the story, of course.  These kids made the incredible mistake of videotaping their encounter at the party.

I wish Mr. Wilson the best.  Prison is no place to grow up.  But Wilson looked like he succeeded in doing just that.

The Many Problems with Congress

Posted on by TL

I don’t think there ever was a golden age when “the Constitution meant something.” Instead, I think there was a time when the system of checks and balances work more efficiently. We know, for example, that there have always been greedy selfish individuals in government and out. However, we have had periods where these greedy and selfish individuals have been exposed, particularly on the federal level.

I could cite individual examples.  Yes, we all remember Nixon.  Well, let’s assume we all at least heard of Nixon even if we’re too young to remember him — which I’m not.  We can’t be satisfied with the current occupant of the White House.  We’re not.  This man has been a miserable, horrible failure.  But we also cannot be satisfied when the United States Congress sits back and permits abuses to go on, unchallenged, and collectively loses its balls.

It seems like half of Congress wants to be president.  Perhaps that’s always been the case, but in this instance, they’re all running.

The most disappointing thing about this crowd in Congress is not that the Constitution has ceased to work. Rather, it’s that Congress has ceased working the Constitution.

Jon Stewart Did It Again

Posted on by TL

I’m completely floored and astounded.  Jon Stewart just interviewed Evo Morales,  President of Bolivia on his program.  I have no comment at this time on what was said, or indeed any of the actual content of the interview.  I was simply completely floored and impressed that this man on Comedy Central is once again interviewing a world leader.  Jon Stewart has done it again.

There were no Twinkies served this time.  Nothing of the sort occurred.  In fact, by Comedy Central standards, this interview was rather sublime and serious.  I don’t know the president’s politics.  I simply know what I heard: this man made promises, and he kept them after his election. 

Consider this: when we watch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, we are essentially getting our news one day late.  He tapes around five o’clock in the afternoon, and generally doesn’t use any of the material from the current news day.  Instead, he and his team spend that evening I’m sure, after taping, parsing the news from the previous day and deciding what they’re going to use on air the next day.

But the genius of this man and his team is incredible. World leaders to come on his show, appear on Comedy Central, and reach a demographic they would never otherwise reach. 

We all know now that the current occupant of the White House has learned nothing in six years.  In fact, if the man ever knew anything about governing, and we must presume from some success in Texas that he did, he’s forgotten everything.  If the man ever knew anything about bipartisanship, he’s long ago rejected that as well.

How refreshing to see someone appear on Comedy Central looking more “presidential” than the current President of the United States ever did.

I’m having a Twinkie tomorrow in Jon Stewart’s honor.

The First Amendment Tasered

Posted on by TL

I’ve been considering the Tasering of student Andrew Meyer during an appearance by Sen. John Kerry at the University of Florida since I first heard about it.  Some of the first accounts sought to discredit Meyer right away, asserting that based on videos he had posted previously on You Tube, this may have been a stunt.

Nevertheless, here was a man Tasered in the United States of America.  As a refresher, here’s the Amendment placed First in the Bill of Rights:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Now, freedom of speech does not mean that we get to say what we want to say where we want to say it all the time.   If I started shouting the the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, as did this “Christian” person when a Hindu chaplain was invited to pray, I would be removed.  And, no, this is not a violation of my right to free speech.

But tasering someone asking a question?   This is troubling.

The weird right has sought to criticize Senator Kerry, and that’s just wrong.  He was completely innocent in this case.  This was a choice of the police.

Joe Conason comments on the tasering in Salon.com, making reference to the recently unearthed “how to stop free speech” manual from the White House:

As Matthews noted on Tuesday evening, the Bush White House standardized those methods for squelching speech in a manual for presidential advance teams. “By the way, 80 percent of the country disagrees with him,” Matthews quipped, “so you’ve got to have this manual handy.” Then he quoted a telling section: “If demonstrators appear likely to cause only a political disruption, it is the advance person’s responsibility to take appropriate action. Rally squads should be dispatched to surround and drown out demonstrators immediately.”

That October 2002 manual — obtained in heavily redacted form last June by the American Civil Liberties Union in the course of litigation against the Bush administration — includes copious instructions for ensuring that dissension need never be seen nor heard. Its repetitive themes include “the best method for preventing demonstrators,” “deterring potential protestors from attending events,” and “designat[ing] a protest area … preferably not in view of the event site or motorcade route.” Potential protesters are to be ignored only “if it is determined that the media will not see or hear” them.

Unfortunately for the White House, such strategies are patently unconstitutional and violate several provisions of the Bill of Rights. It is unlawful to bar individuals from public events because they have the wrong bumper stickers on their cars, or wear the wrong T-shirts, or belong to the wrong organizations, or have written the wrong letters to the editor of their local newspaper, as the president’s advance agents have repeatedly done over the past six years.

This will be a country in recover for some time after these Bush Republicans are gone from the White House.  They’ve done more damage than trash the economy, the dollar, and raise the national debt to an obscene $9 Trillion and counting.

Randy Pausch Sets the Tone for Living

Posted on by TL

In a matter completely unrelated to politics, I call your attention to the last lesson taught by Dr. Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.  Mark Roth at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote an excellent piece on Dr. Pausch’s lecture.  Among the highlights:

“If I don’t seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you,” said Dr. Pausch, a 46-year-old computer science professor who has incurable pancreatic cancer.

It’s not that he’s in denial about the fact that he only has months to live, he told the 400 listeners packed into McConomy Auditorium on the campus, and the hundreds more listening to a live Web cast.

Dr. Pausch was not there to talk about cancer:

What he was there to discuss was how to fulfill your childhood dreams, and the lessons he had learned on his life’s journey.

When he was a boy, Dr. Pausch said, he had a concrete set of dreams: He wanted to experience the weightlessness of zero gravity; he wanted to play football in the NFL; he wanted to write an article for the World Book Encyclopedia (“You can tell the nerds early on,” he joked); he wanted to be Captain Kirk from “Star Trek”; and he wanted to work for the Disney Co.

In the end, he got to tackle all of them, he said — even if his football accomplishments fell somewhere short of the NFL.

Read the entire article.