Secure Your Rights

Liberal Pragamtic, with horrible spelling. Discussion and venting on the arts, politics, and the future of America.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Quit your bitch'n, Dick

Here he goes again, our un-beloved Vice-President gets out his wine list to try and critize Democrats for trying to protect the country realistically, instead of take over the entire world. Check out this post story. Let me guess whats next "... uh...there was and...uh hem...was not a direct link between Democrats and the Iraqi/911 conection.

Shut Up and accept your Lame Duck status.

He was a chuckles at the correspondent's dinner too. Oh yeah, I just can't get enough of that Bunker Hill humor - so current. And, wow, I bet that was the funniest Power Point Presentation since...well they really arn't that funny.

Just in case anyone is reading check this out if you can.

Peaches

Friday, March 24, 2006

They're Doing it, We should too

TIVO is my best friend. Since I have a full time job and rehearse or perform theatre at night, I don't get home until midnight most of the time. So my trust TIVO records the more important entertainment or information stuff on the tube. The point being, that after a long rehearsal last night I got home and watched the Daily Show from a couple of days ago. The Guest: Russ Feingold. The Subject: NSA spying, Yee Haw!

Anyway, the last thing John Stewert said was to go back to the courts and reverse Buckley vs. Valeo (money = free speech.) This is more important than Roe vs. Wade, and the Right is all over that. They are despirate to overturn it, so we need to push something into the system that will distract them, and do good. For all the wishy washiness of Liberals, at least we try and give people rights instead of taking them away.

That's right. I believe it could have two functions. The first being the obvious return to what the founders considered free speech (the economy was still to aggrarian to be that capitalist, plus we didn't have viable U.S. currency when the consitution was being written.) The second is to distract, annoy, and torment the Rights legal jockies with a potential case that is farmore dangerous to them than the overtureing of Roe is to us.

I haven't see any polling on this, but I bet that if it was conducted 70% of the country would think money does not = free speech. Why bother with court at that point, I think we could get a state supported consitutional ammendment. But I'm just a video editor and actor, what do I know.

The important thing is that the Left get behind it. Inculding DLC, New, and conservative Deomcrats. This country is tearing itself appart, and I expect leadership (real leadership.) So it's time to get excited about something other than the current adminstrations latest outrage or mistake, it's time to get excited about re-empowering the people that make this country what it is, all of them, not just the wealthy and not just the ones we aggree with.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Peeking


Some people have found me, and that is fine. Peek all you want. One of the points of this exercise is to get over my fear of writting. I have ADD and Dyslexia so my writting has always had bad form and, of couse, spelling. For years I have attempted to write plays, movies, and short stories with little sucess. Mostly because I don't want to show them to anyone.

A month or so ago I got into an email dissucsion with my mother, who had just gone to hear Collin Powell speak at a forum. She set forth the hypothesis that Collin Powell was a closet Democrat. I responded that I thought he was a Clinton Republican and we went back a forth for a few emails. In one of which she commented on how clear my ideas and points were in my writting.

Shocked I was. Then I thought back to the last thing I had written for anyone to see. A mission statement for my place of buisness. Again, the responce to that was, "this is so well written?!"

I guess the point is that if the ideas you read here, if you are actually reading and not just hunting for picutes, seem unclear - go ahead and say so. Agree, disagree, whatever. But don't worry about me, I'm content to be a tree in the woods.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Futureworld

So I put in the header to this blog that disscusion about the future of America was part of the point. I lied, it's the whole point. I will freely admit that my party stinks at this right now. Where are the "I have a Dreams," "the Apollo projects," the "New Deal's?" Are we really stuck with "the era of big government is over?"

It seems like we are begining to see the error of extreme conservatism. The biggest problem with it being that, well, it doesn't conserve very much. I propose that we enter the era of populism. It is an opening for Democrats and Republicans to redefine themselves. I mean, does anyone know a liberal Repulican? No, they are usually called conservative Democrats. But really neither is either liberal or conservative, they are populist.

Populism could be the key to breaking the partisan stranglehold on the tempers of the country. In fact, as loathed as I am to do it, here is some free advice for Senator McCain. Be a populist, it's what you good at. Stop corting the Neo-Bushies, they don't like you, and no one likes them anymore. Be the man you wanted to be in 2000, when the entire Left felt sorry for you.

Politicians are going to have to get used to losing. Right now they have the system rigged, but a populist revolution could break that system. We could see the right republicians and democrats back in Washington. The kind that are willing to provide meaningful oversite over their own party (Truman, Mondale.)

The key is probably the public financing of elections. If that becomes a reality it could start the ball rolling toward a bright new future for America, instead of this retreading of the late 19th century.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Who's a Flip Flopper Now, Sean?


I got up this morning and what do I see on the front page of the Washington Post, but that the President is going to set a time table for the withdrawl of troops from Iraq(notice the Post has changed the headline of this article since this morning.) Wait a minute, this sounds familiar. Like an idea someone else had...hmmm...let me think...Senator Frist? No. Senator Santorum? No. Congressman Delay? No... Oh right, Jack Murtha, John Kerry, Harry Reid and the Democratic Party.

Do I think this is the right idea? Yeah. Do I think it is too late? Yeah. Our precious media is still asking the question when will Iraq fall into civil war, as if it hasn't happened yet. Folks, it's on. I have been thinking this for two months, but now that the Great Generalizer has gone back on his word and changed his position on the occupation, I know it for sure.

So lets hear the appologies starting with Fox News - all of you, that's right you too Alan Colmes. Then the Swift Boat Veterans, Zell Miller, the GOP, Chris Mathews (you slimey traitor,) Brian Williams, Joe Scarbourough...you get the point. Appologies to the American People whom you have betrayed. Stand up and be adults, if you can't, get of my damn TV!

Secure Your Rights gets Published

Just linking for my own satisfaction.

A Senate Panels Duty

Peaches

Monday, March 13, 2006

Compromise, and West Wing be damned

Senator Feingold is proposing censure over the NSA spying affair today. Censure, not Impeachment, and not formal charges by the Justic Department. I was kind of suprised when I saw this on MSNBC this moring, but the more I thought about it, it seemed like not enough.

First off, the first piece of "reporting" the MSNBC "head" spouted was a fact any viewer of the West Wing could spout off. Andrew Jackson was the last US President to be censured. Well, who cares. I mean, he also put a big block of cheese in the lobby of the White House, are we going to do that too?

Second, it's not going to pass. Republicans are brain washed, they understand loyalty though. They won't end Bush's Presidencey, because that is essentially what this censure would do. Bush is already as lame a duck as you can get, this would be a nail in the coffin.

Third, it's a half measure. This stuff is serious. Far more serious than President Clinton engaging in extramarrital activity. As unseemly as that was, it had no effect on the rights of Americans, this does, very serious effects.

I will support censure, because it's the best shot at drilling it into the Presidents head that he is a President, not a king. But he should be in jail, or at least fined. The name of the is blog is secure your rights for a reason. I'm doing a play right now called Bright Room Called Day, it's about the rise of Hitler in Weimar Germany, and how those who opposed him bickered and fought amongst themselves instead of putting up a united front in opposition. This, whether it is polite to say so or not, is the same situation. Our rights are being compromised, it must stop now before it goes any further.

I will also submit to the Republicans in Congress, that they should be prepared to choose whether they perfer censure now, or impeachment in a year.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

"The missile Has Not Been Invented...

...that can kill and ideal." Omar Torrijos. I have had a lot of trouble keeping faith over the past 6 years, but this simple slogan from Torrijos keeps me going. Torrijos was a man of the people, killed by the CIA in 1981 (though most documentation will say it was a helecopter crash,) who spent his life trying to help the poor of his country (Panama - so everybody.) Liberals just have to remember that we have an ideal for America and it will speak through the Conservative smoke screen. Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. If those last 4 seem familiar, it's because they were the ralling call to fight Fascism, and are as necessary today as they were when Franklin Roosevelt first spole them.

I would add fair trade to that collection of ideals. It is time to end the era of fabrication and doublespeak. Clear Skies needs to mean clean air. Clean Water needs to mean that. And the only way to get teh changes that are necessary to bring America - indeed the world - back to speaking the truth is for Democrats to embrace their ideals and draw a line between themselves and the fascist republican party.

Not all republicans are fascists, the ones that arn't are called libertarians - and they have some merit, but will ruin the econimy too. The republican party on the cutting edge of 1920's economics, and if we keep down that regressive path, then we should all get familir with "bread line protocal." And once that happens, given the control over the voting process corperations have, there will be no Torrijos to come and save us. Time to stand up ourselves.