President Gore's Speech

If you have a spare hour, watch the entire speech. It was fantastic.

Link to C-SPAN.

ePluribus Media's Fact-Checked Transcript

Irony Surrenders

Hypocrisy being spewed forth from the biggest reason the Dream is rapidly turning into a Nightmare.

President Bush hailed Martin Luther King Jr. Monday as one of the greatest Americans who ever lived, but said more must be done to ensure that his dream of equality becomes a reality.

"At the dawn of this new century, America can be proud of the progress we have made toward equality, but we all must recognize we have more to do," Bush said during a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday celebration at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. "The reason to honor Martin Luther King is to remember his strength of character and his leadership, but also to remember the remaining work."

[snip]

"We recommit ourselves to working for the dream that Martin Luther King gave his life for — an America where the dignity of every person is respected; where people are judged not by the color of their skin -- by the content of their character; and where the hope of a better tomorrow is in every neighborhood in this country," Bush said.

George later added that his speech didn't pertain to homosexuals, women, the poor, minorities or anyone else he felt irritated with that day.

Torture Camp to be Kept Open

How else will George be able to keep us safe? Remember, the hard hand of the law is being forced down the throat of the world. Nevermind the proof of widespread abuse. Nevermind the lack of judicial due process for the "caged animals" (they have long been stripped of their humanity or presumption of innocence). Nevermind the role it plays in the souring of international relations towards the United States; cuz the Boy President needs his fix.

President Bush rejected on Friday a suggestion by Germany's new chancellor that the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, be shut down.

The camp on the U.S. Navy base there is "a necessary part of protecting the American people," Bush said after meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House.

In a joint news conference, Merkel said she raised the issue with Bush, and she described it as one of the differences between the United States and Germany.

"There sometimes have been differences of opinion, I mentioned Guantanamo in this respect," Merkel said.

Good for the Chancellor. While it is obvious international pressure means squat to the Bush War Council, I am glad to hear them still voicing their opposition to its abhorrent practices.

Which One's The Joker?

It's been a while since there was a caption contest, have at it

Anatomy of a Collective Coma

I wrote that lengthy piece below and left to lunch. Now that I'm back, I realize that it's horribly worded and all over the place, but it is a reflection of my frustration today. I feel like George and his minions are getting ready to pull the ultimate fast one on the country, and no one is paying attention to it.

Over at firedoglake, Jane Hamsher pieced together a great summary of the Republican-led scAlito bait-and-switch trick.

Also, kid oakland gives the reason perfectly with this:

We Democrats may not be perfect, but we can answer those questions in a straightforward manner. The Republicans can't.

There's a reason for that. Put GOP values out in the light of day...like during Katrina, or with the torture memos, or Tom DeLay's backroom money laundering, or Grover Norquist's behind the scenes power brokering, or Jack Abramoff's swindels, or any time Pat Robertson opens his mouth...and they STINK.

Americans are about to get a big helping of Supreme Court "Surprise" courtesy of the GOP.

Don't complain if it tastes like tuna casserole and we have it for dinner every night...

for the next twenty five years.

I think I'll stick to enchiladas, rice and beans.

Equal Rights Under the Law

I am going to break a personal rule here and talk openly about my religion and how it affects (or doesn't affect) my views on abortion rights. There are some things I leave close to my heart, because they are difficult and complex issues for me; but the time has come to process the way I feel about all this, seeing as scAlito will likely usher in the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Alito edged closer to suggesting that he might be willing to reconsider Roe if he is confirmed to the high court, refusing, under persistent questioning by Democrats, to say that he regards the 1973 decision as "settled law" that "can't be reexamined." In this way, his answers departed notably from those that Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. gave when asked similar questions during his confirmation hearings four months ago.

[snip]

Alito told several senators that he felt constrained from saying whether he regards Roe as settled because abortion remains a live issue in the courts. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) reminded Alito that he has willingly said other areas of the law were settled even though they remain in play and that, in a 1985 application for a promotion in the Reagan administration's Justice Department, he had written he did not believe the Constitution protects the right to an abortion.

I am a practicing Roman Catholic. Very practicing. And proud of it. My faith is something so engrained in my identity that I can't imagine my life without it. It's what fuels my passion for social justice issues and fostering fellowship. I read about the vigilance of some of the Saints in their tireless work for the poor and downtrodden, and it revs me up to seek the same devotion to make this world better.

The past several years have been just-short of unbearable as I hear the uniting of platforms between conservative Catholic prelates and groups with the Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons of the world. It utterly disgusts me when I hear more decrees coming out of the Vatican regarding homosexuality or abortion rather than economic relief for the poorest of the poorest or the spread of war.

The truth is, the notion of "abortion rights" is a smoke-screen for the real issue: equal rights under the law.

Roe v Wade is not the bogeyman reason for the destruction of human life that the pro-life movement claims, it is the law of the land that provides women the exact same rights as men to have control over their bodies. By stripping this precedent, our society will revert back to a time when a husband or significant other lorded authority over their mate.

Are conservative wignuts like Senator Coburn of Oklahoma so distrusful of women that he would rather rule their medical decisions with a heavy hand than allow them equal rights in our country? The answer is a big neon-light flashing YES, and since he's representative of the freakish of the freakish, the Republican Party gave the freshman Senator a powerful voice on the Senate Judicial Committee overseeing the confirmation hearings of the Supreme Court.

My friends, we are truly on the brink of sending our democracy in a backwards slide rather than moving forward. We are experiencing a time of governance that seeks to restrict rights rather than expand them. It is appalling to me and I feel utterly helpless because even my so-called representatives in Congress won't ask the tough questions that I demand.

My faith has given me a powerful tool: my conscience; but it's an empty tool if I don't listen to it. That is why I try to spent more time using my ears rather than my mouth.

I firmly believe that if our elected officials spend more time listening rather than pontificating, then Samuel Alito will not be confirmed to the SCOTUS. I have very little hope though, given the past couple of days of questioning.

"Of the people, by the people, for the people" - what a joke.

The Price of Humanity

The case against the two volunteers for No More Deaths is starting to wrap up. The ruling will be a temperature test on the political climate heading into this year's congressional election season.

As I read the article, what jumped out at me was not that these people broke the law, but rather that they were being punished for trying to save lives. I guess it's all a matter of interpretation and that small difference of perspective is what is fueling the fires of the immigration battle.

Shanti A. Sellz, 23, and Strauss, 24, face charges that they knowingly and intentionally conspired to transport an illegal entrants while volunteering for the local faith-based No More Deaths movement, which during the summer provides food, water and medical aid to people entering the United States illegally on foot. The pair say they were taking three entrants to get emergency medical care when they were arrested July 9 en route from the Arivaca area to Tucson.

Prosecutors say the illegal entrants were not seriously ill. But Sellz and Strauss say they contacted a nurse and a doctor before transporting the men and that they were following No More Deaths protocol, which calls for medically evacuating illegal entrants to Tucson if they are seriously ill. Prosecutors say the protocol was never approved by federal officials and that Border Patrol officials had warned religious leaders in April that they'd risk arrest if they transported migrants. (emphasis mine)

Welcome to America, the land of opportunity, where anyone giving you basic humanitarian needs is a criminal.

The Wrong Bridge

This has to be one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read.

Cuban-American community activists and politicians lambasted the U.S. government's decision to repatriate 15 Cubans picked up from the base of an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys.

An attorney for the families of the migrants said he planned to file a suit Tuesday asking a federal judge to allow the group to return.

The migrants were sent back to Cuba Monday after U.S. officials concluded that the section of the partially collapsed bridge where they landed did not count as dry land under the government's policy because it was no longer connected to any of the Keys.

Under the U.S. government's "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, Cubans who reach dry land in the United States are usually allowed to remain in this country, while those caught at sea are sent back.

The Republican administration is already beginning their sell-out of the diverse cultural block of Hispanic Americans. They have spent alot of money to woo Cuban Americans based on economic advantages for entrepreneurs, but incidents like this show their true colors. To the Bush Gestapo, these human beings are nothing but ocean creatures that they seek to net up before they reach the shore. Semantics, Semantics.

Let's see if this will be the beginning of an awakening for the puppet Senator in Florida

U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., called the government's decision an example of "the complete and utter failure" of the wet-foot, dry-foot policy.

"Because they reached an old bridge and not a new bridge there's a judgment they didn't reach American soil? The semantics used to return these men and women — who have risked so much to reach freedom and are now returned to an uncertain future — are an embarrassment," Martinez said in a statement.

The entire George W. Bush Presidency is an embarrassment. Abras sus ojos, Señor Martinez.

SCOTUS Hearings

Since I'm stuck in cubicle hell, I'm unable to live-blog the scAlito hearings before the Senate Judiciary Commitee. Not to fear, you can check out threads here, here, here, or check out videos from yesterday's hearings here.

Only Five?

Thanks to Mountain Cerridwen, I've been tagged to divulge five weird habits of mine. With the arrival of 2006, I bring you some insider knowledge from my quirky life.

• I love pumpkin seeds. I can't get enough of them. That's not so bad, except for the fact that I eat the shell and the seed together. I think they taste better that way instead of cracking each one. A bit of a warning though, don't try this with sunflower seeds. You'll feel like a porcupine is coming out of your rear-end when nature runs its course, at least that's what a friend of mine told me. heh.
  
• Seeing indentions from furniture or chairs in my new apartment's carpet drives me insane. I have to get a broom and whisk it away or else I have one eyeball staring in that direction as I blog or watch tv.
• When I get nervous or anxious, I twitch my nostrils from side-to-side. I'm sort of the male version of Samantha on Bewitched. An old girlfriend of mine nicknamed me Mowgli from the Jungle Book.
• If I'm on a road trip, I often look at the milepost markers and work out mathematically how long I have before arrival at the next city/landmark. Sometimes I will cross-reference with my odometer just for kicks. My damn analytical brain never stops working!
• I have a cupboard full of coffee mugs, but I only use one. Prior to 2005 it was a UA Alumni Mug, now it's my Booman Tribune mug. I'll wash it everyday and use it rather than get a clean one out of the cupboard. Wish I could say the same thing for the rest of my dirty dishes...

Alright, those are just a few of my irregularities. Now it's your turn.

I tag: Dean at the Art Crit, olivia at Parvum Opus, spiderleaf at Jaded Reality, Duke1676 at Migra Matters, and James Benjamin at Left End of the Dial. Have fun!