The Senate has just passed two bills that collectively remove two of the most integral rights of being an American. The pageantry of nationalistic pride can no longer reliably feel genuine when it's mandatory. The NDAA bills allow the US government to detain American citizens on US soil for suspicion of acts or links to "terrorist" parties without warrant, trial, or jury. SOPA allows that same government to censor and blacklist any site it remotely deems necessary due to accusations of piracy or fundamentalism also without warrant. I feel like China at least had the balls to be honest about what it's doing with its internet censorship. The mouthpieces of tyranny known as the network news media have bullied us into being so afraid of terrorism that we'll attack our own god damn freedoms.
I wanted to take a moment to honor the 7 Senators who stood up to NDAA and cast their Nays among 93 puppets:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=s2011-218
Thomas Harkin IA
Rand Paul KY
Thomas Coburn OK
Jeff Merkley OR
Ron Wyden OR
Mike Lee UT
Bernard Sanders VT
They were there when we needed them the most, but they were not enough.
For those who are not intimately familiar, the following amendments of the Bill of Rights for only "more equal" US citizens are those under threat.
1st Amendment- Freedom of Speech
"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."
6th Amendment- Right to trial by jury
"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence."
Obama is not the same man who was elected in 2008, or he just lied to us all. Still, it's hard to feel like your vote would have mattered with McCain pushing the same bullshit. That's a discussion for another blog/flame-war.
I wanted to take a moment to honor the 7 Senators who stood up to NDAA and cast their Nays among 93 puppets:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=s2011-218
Thomas Harkin IA
Rand Paul KY
Thomas Coburn OK
Jeff Merkley OR
Ron Wyden OR
Mike Lee UT
Bernard Sanders VT
They were there when we needed them the most, but they were not enough.
For those who are not intimately familiar, the following amendments of the Bill of Rights for only "more equal" US citizens are those under threat.
1st Amendment- Freedom of Speech
"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."
6th Amendment- Right to trial by jury
"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence."
Obama is not the same man who was elected in 2008, or he just lied to us all. Still, it's hard to feel like your vote would have mattered with McCain pushing the same bullshit. That's a discussion for another blog/flame-war.