Or how about not.

Our genius Commander-in-Chief has, in all his infinite wisdom, decided to support the extension of several provisions of the USA PATRIOT ACT, including illegal wiretapping and the infamous “national security letters” that compel businesses to hand over records to the feds, and then impose a blanket gag order on the very mention of said letters.

The PATRIOT ACT has been a giant shit stain on the Constitution from day one.  It has always been unconstitutional, bad law at best, and insidious police state machinery at worst.  It was enacted by manipulative politicians who capitalized on the politics of fear in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, in order to extend federal power into whole new areas of our lives.

What I find most striking is how the Great Leader’s repeated campaign promises to break with old school politics and bring “change” to Washington were dropped and forgotten as soon as he finished reciting the oath of office.  The Bush administration did plenty of damage to our nation’s civil liberties and international image, and much change is needed.  Instead of implementing that change and moving forward in a positive direction, President Obama has slipped comfortably into the culture of slimy deal-making and political fear-mongering that dominate the post-9/11 debate on national security.  This is not only a wasted opportunity, but an epic failure of a politician who once embodied the promise of a new direction.

You know what I love?  The same wacko Commie liberals who wave signs about Bush being a war criminal (not that he isn’t) are going positively apeshit over the Obama/Joker Socialism posters popping up around LA.  Just goes to show who really hates free speech, doesn’t it?

Frankly, I think the posters are a brilliant and accurate satire of a man who preaches fiscal responsibility while his hand is groping for our wallets.  This dickhead got elected by swearing up and down that he would cut taxes for the middle class and - wait for it - just pulled a complete 180 on that like a typical politician.

That’s not change, that’s more of the same.

Of course he attempted to play it down today, but he’s delusional if he thinks he can pay for Obamacare without raising effective tax rates on the middle class to 50% or more.

Because now - with record deficits and existing entitlements gobbling up a growing percentage of the federal budget - now is clearly the time to commit the nation to another $1 trillion project.

Excuse me Mr. China?  Would you like to buy some more Treasury bonds, please?

This lovely piece of news comes to us from Michigan (hat tip Jeremy) via the Chicago Tribune:

“Wisconsin police can attach GPS to cars to secretly track anybody’s movements without obtaining search warrants, an appeals court ruled Thursday.

…

As the law currently stands, the court said police can mount GPS on cars to track people without violating their constitutional rights — even if the drivers aren’t suspects.”

The nightmare gets worse by the day.  A panel of judges actually ruled that because nothing is physically searched or seized, police don’t need a warrant to spy on you.  So why not take it to the next step?  Allow police to put clandestine tracking devices on our clothing.  Or allow them full-time access to cellular network data, which can pinpoint even non GPS-enabled phones with a high degree of accuracy?

I’m a little spent on outrage today, so all I’m going to say is: ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?  They are allowed to track people who are not even suspects.

I’m outraged by bullshit like this so often it’s starting to wear even me out.  If the slow slide toward authoritarian government continues to be supported by courts like this, what chance do we really have of preserving our civil liberties?

Thank god for SpyZone.

Surely most of you have heard the old story about putting a frog in a pot of tepid water and slowly turning the heat up until he boils to death without noticing.  The point is that if you drop the frog into a pot of already boiling water, he’ll jump out to save himself.  But with the gradual increase in temperature he won’t notice and will get cooked alive before he realizes what’s happening to him.

This story is often used when discussing issues of liberty and personal freedom relative to changes in our society and laws.  I think it’s an appropriate and accurate analogy to make; we don’t easily notice gradual changes in our lives.  Look no further than the ageing process.  Show a 15-year old version of yourself a picture of what you look like today and he’d be shocked by the changes.  But seeing ourselves in the mirror every day hardly produces any reaction at all.

My friends, the total lack of real change from our new leaders in Washington means the temperature in our national pot continues to rise.  Today we have a story out of North Carolina about 16-year old Ashton Lundeby getting bitch-slapped by the most mis-named piece of legislation to date: the USA PATRIOT Act.  Some gems from the article, emphases are mine:

[A]ccording to the United States government, the tenth-grade home-schooler is being held on a criminal complaint that he made a bomb threat from his home on the night of Feb. 15.Around 10 p.m. on March 5, Lundeby said, armed FBI agents along with three local law enforcement officers stormed her home looking for her son. They handcuffed him and presented her with a search warrant.

Ashton now sits in a juvenile facility in South Bend, Ind. His mother has had little access to him since his arrest. She has gone to her state representatives as well as attorneys, seeking assistance, but, she said, there is nothing she can do.

Lundeby said the USA Patriot Act stripped her son of his due process rights.

“We have no rights under the Patriot Act to even defend them, because the Patriot Act basically supersedes the Constitution,” she said. “It wasn’t intended to drag your barely 16-year-old, 120-pound son out in the middle of the night on a charge that we can’t even defend.”

“Never in my worst nightmare did I ever think that it would be my own government that I would have to protect my children from,” Lundeby said. “This is the United States, and I feel like I live in a third world country now.”

___

Is this really where we are?  Sixteen year-olds getting hauled off to jail with minimal evidence of wrongdoing?  Have they declared this kid an enemy combatant yet?  He may get to go to Cuba before Obama lifts the travel ban.

As I’ve said before, various federal agencies have been indoctrinated to see terrorists on every street corner and do their utmost to stop them.  As these terrorists are largely imaginary outside of Af-Pak, the net effect is a federal law-enforcement culture that encourages its personnel to wield enormous (and unconstitutional) power over law-abiding US citizens in their own country.

It’s easy to look at a single incident like this and dismiss it as the work of a rogue agent or bad tip.  But this is far from the only time something like this has happened since late 2001.  From NSA spying on US citizens to data mining to border checkpoints up to 100 miles inland, we are allowing the machinery of a police state to be constructed right under our noses.  That may not have been the intention of those who authorized these laws and procedures, but it’s the reality of what continues to go on in this country day after day.  And one day, we’ll have a terror event so big, or a government so inclined toward authoritarianism, that this liberty-destroying machine will be turned on us with full force.  And we’ll be so acclimated we won’t even notice.

Apparently being governor of a border state makes you qualified to oversee the Homeland Security behemoth?  Isn’t that like saying you have foreign policy experience because your state is geographically proximate to Russia?

(We’ve been down that road and know how that story ends.)

Meanwhile back in the assylum, the inmates are making a hash of things, as usual.  Motherland Security Secretary Napolitano alleged that dem terrists on 9/11 came from Canadia!  Did they really?  No.  And when she was called out on the fact that all 19 arrived directly to the United States, she choked like Jenna Jameson on an oversized, well… you know.

Here’s the exact bluster:  “I can’t talk to that. I can talk about the future. And here’s the future. The future is we have borders.”

Not so, Madame Secretary.  In addition to being an incredibly stupid statement, the future as I see it is full of increasing powers for police and security forces at the expense of liberty.  What happened to the Obama administration coming to Washington to promote change?  I’d love some change from eight years of people taking a piss on the Constitution whenever it’s politically expedient.  Instead of giving Gestapo-powers to the border police and strip searching innocent travelers, why don’t you focus your energies on things like… well, nothing.  Your useless department should be disbanded!

Now that would be change.

So apparently our Texan friends have the temerity that the rest of this country lacks, at least when it comes to standing up to an oversized, control-freak, socialist government.  Some absolute gems, courtesy of Governor Rick Perry:

In an appearance at the Texas Capitol last week, Perry joined state lawmakers in pushing a resolution that supports states’ rights protected in the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He said the federal government has become oppressive in its size and interference with states.  Austin American Statesman

“I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state.  That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union.”  Drudge Report

I’m glad to see that not everyone has forgotten that we’re a union of states, governed by a constitution that specifically limits the powers of the federal government.  That might seem a quaint, antiquated idea to some (it’s not) but it’s also the reality of our highest law.  And frankly, it’s about time someone held those in Washington to the fine print.

Oh, and Governor Perry also slipped in a gentle reminder that Texas claims the right to secede as part of its original agreement to join our union.  Be careful, Barack- otherwise Governor Perry will teabag you.

I used to be a Republican.  But like Ronald Reagan once said, I didn’t leave the party; the party left me.

This weekend our former Vice-President-cum-dominar Dick Cheney made the following assertion about the Obama administration:

“I worry a lot that they’re using the current set of economic difficulties to try to justify a massive expansion in the government…”

EXCUSE ME?  Considering the source, this is easily one of the most ludicrous statements I’ve ever heard.  He’s not actually wrong, just a giant, fat hypocrite.  The Bush administration did this exact same thing - expanding government’s size and power at the expense of liberty - in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.  They, Mr. Cheney in particular, capitalized on the rampant fear in those delicate moments in late 2001 to create monstrosities like the DHS and TSA, and to expand the power of existing federal agencies to spy on innocent Americans without cause or legal justification.

Mr. Cheney, the (allegedly conservative) administration in which you served saw the most growth of government since at least LBJ, and possibly as far back as FDR.  Castigating the Obama administration for growing government is a fine conservative policy attack, and I agree on the substance of that point.  But where the fuck were your conservative principles while you were playing alphabet soup with the federal government and pushing our national debt to unsustainable levels?  As if we needed any more proof that both parties share the same agenda: perpetuation of their own power, usually at the expense of the republic’s citizens.

You’re a liar and a hypocrite, Dick.  End. of. story.

Three thoughts to start off the-day-of-the-week-that-rides-bitch:

1.  Yesterday someone came to this blog via the following search: “ca state taxes delay is bull shit” (in reference to this post).  Priceless.

2. President Obama put the smack down on bailed-out banks last night: “If taxpayers are helping you, then you’ve got certain responsibilities to not be living high on the hog.”  Fucking right.  And I’d like to add that if you’re on the state dole, you shouldn’t be slashing the credit lines of worthy borrowers.

3. Standard & Poors recently reaffirmed Britain’s AAA credit rating for its sovereign debt, so for now a national default is looking less likely.  As The Economist says, “for all the market jitters, the government retains the capacity to finance more bail-outs”.  The problem is that - unlike the United States - Britain does not print a global reserve currency and therefore can’t continue to print money and borrow like the US can.  Britain has bought itself some time, but its structural problems remain.

There’s a tendency for over-reach when laws are hastily written in response to major events.  We’ve already covered some angles on this, from flimsy search warrants to outright spying on US citizens.  As the LA Times recently reported, the Patriot Act’s remit now apparently extends to sassing flight attendants.

Here’s the Reader’s Digest version:

“Tamera Jo Freeman was on a Frontier Airlines flight to Denver in 2007 when her two children began to quarrel over the window shade and then spilled a Bloody Mary into her lap.

She spanked each of them on the thigh with three swats. It was a small incident, but one that in the heightened anxiety after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks would eventually have enormous ramifications for Freeman and her children.

A flight attendant confronted Freeman, who responded by hurling a few profanities and throwing what remained of a can of tomato juice on the floor.

The incident aboard the Frontier flight ultimately led to Freeman’s arrest and conviction for a federal felony defined as an act of terrorism under the Patriot Act, the controversial federal law enacted after the 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.”

_____

This is another shining example of over-reaction to a very specific problem.  There’s no doubt that air passengers should be held to a high standard of civility.  They are, after all, in very close proximity to hundreds of other people in an aluminium tube for hours at a stretch.  But some flight attendants - not unlike TSA employees - see their authority as ultimate and will brook no challenge.  Even on matters entirely unrelated to security, your blogger has witnessed power-heady FAs threaten passengers by summoning the coppers.

Flight attendants should enforce security rules.  No conga lines next to the cockpit door, for example.  But for authorities to categorize as terrorists in-flight drunks and reprimanding mothers is complete lunacy.  Save the one-way tickets to Guantanamo for people who actually pose a danger to others.

I went to see a movie the other day at one of LA’s best theaters, The Bridge.  I’ve always loved previews, but I’m firmly opposed to the trend of putting ever-longer blocks of commercials before them.  I timed it, and the commercials took a full 15 minutes before the trailers even started.  Totally absurd.

What really caught my attention was this advert by the US National Guard, set to a song by 3 Doors Down called Citizen Soldier.  Courtesy of the U-tubes this is worth 3 and 1/2 minutes of your time:

Isn’t that oddly compelling?  It’s almost scary how good a piece of propaganda this is.  I’ve always been relatively pro-military (different than pro-war) so it’s probably tugging extra hard on my nationalist heartstrings, but I think it’s objectively pretty brilliant.  Highlights:

* The Revolutionary War (”I fired the shot that started a nation”) and World War II (”I stormed the beach at Normandy”) cross cuts are powerful stuff.  Seems like they’re trying to convince us that those wars and the ones we are fighting today are morally equivalent.  Highly debatable.

* The on-screen slogans do a great job of glorifying service.  “I’ll be there to help”, “I am an expert” and “I comfort my neighbors” all seek to portray the military as what?  Nation builders?  Disaster relief?  While those can be important uses for our troops, the military is meant to be a killing machine.  And when the shit hits the fan, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

* They also strike a chord when it comes to camaraderie and community: they never leave fallen comrades behind.  A job is just a job, but a brotherhood is something you belong to for life.

All in, it’s a pretty damn good piece of recruiting material.  Very manipulative, but that’s what makes it good propaganda.