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Thread: Evidence We're in a Third--or Fourth--Turning - Page 420







Post#10476 at 12-17-2005 01:47 AM by Linus [at joined Oct 2005 #posts 1,731]
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12-17-2005, 01:47 AM #10476
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Thoughts on an America in decline...

Quote Originally Posted by Harold Bloom
"Huey Long, known as "the Kingfish," dominated the state of Louisiana from 1928 until his assassination in 1935, at the age of 42. Simultaneously governor and a United States senator, the canny Kingfish uttered a prophecy that haunts me in this late summer of 2005, 70 years after his violent end: "Of course we will have fascism in America but we will call it democracy!"
Link.







Post#10477 at 12-21-2005 08:14 PM by Croakmore [at The hazardous reefs of Silentium joined Nov 2001 #posts 2,426]
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Say what you like about the NYC transit-worker's strlke, this is the first time in quite a while that a labor-union issue got ugly.







Post#10478 at 12-23-2005 07:03 PM by Mr. Reed [at Intersection of History joined Jun 2001 #posts 4,376]
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Wafah Dufour

This is a submission for 3T (but then again, we'll have to wait to see the reaction).

The neice of OBL is in a racy photoshoot in GQ magazine. A picture and the article is below.



Bin Laden niece in glamour shots

The niece of Osama Bin Laden has posed for provocative photographs for an American magazine.

Wafah Dufour, an aspiring musician and model, is the daughter of the al-Qaeda leader's half-brother Yeslam.

She appears stripped to ostrich feather lingerie, and in a bubble bath, in photos for American GQ magazine.

US-born, she says she is an American, and distances herself from her uncle. "Everyone relates me to that man, and I have nothing to do with him," she says.

Ms Dufour, 26, took her mother's maiden name after the events of 11 September 2001.

She lived in Saudi Arabia, where Bin Laden is from, until she was 10, before moving on to Geneva and back to the US.

'Like any New Yorker'

She says she never sees any of the extended Bin Laden clan, including her father.

"There are 400 other people related to him, but they are all in Saudi Arabia, so nobody's going to get tarred with it. I'm the only one here," she said.

Her father and Osama Bin Laden are among more than 50 children fathered by Mohammed Bin Laden, a Yemeni immigrant to Saudi Arabia, and construction magnate.

Ms Dufour was in Geneva when the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US, masterminded by her uncle, were launched.

She said: "I was freaking out, crying hysterically, watching this in horror. I was like 'Somebody's bombing my city, and I wanna go home!'"

"I was born in the States, and I want people to know I'm American, and I want people to understand that I'm like anyone in New York. For me, it's home," she said.
"The urge to dream, and the will to enable it is fundamental to being human and have coincided with what it is to be American." -- Neil deGrasse Tyson
intp '82er







Post#10479 at 12-24-2005 09:13 PM by The Wonkette [at Arlington, VA 1956 joined Jul 2002 #posts 9,209]
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12-24-2005, 09:13 PM #10479
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Re: Wafah Dufour

Quote Originally Posted by GuruOfReason
This is a submission for 3T (but then again, we'll have to wait to see the reaction).

The neice of OBL is in a racy photoshoot in GQ magazine. A picture and the article is below.



Bin Laden niece in glamour shots

The niece of Osama Bin Laden has posed for provocative photographs for an American magazine.

Wafah Dufour, an aspiring musician and model, is the daughter of the al-Qaeda leader's half-brother Yeslam.

She appears stripped to ostrich feather lingerie, and in a bubble bath, in photos for American GQ magazine.

US-born, she says she is an American, and distances herself from her uncle. "Everyone relates me to that man, and I have nothing to do with him," she says.

Ms Dufour, 26, took her mother's maiden name after the events of 11 September 2001.

She lived in Saudi Arabia, where Bin Laden is from, until she was 10, before moving on to Geneva and back to the US.

'Like any New Yorker'

She says she never sees any of the extended Bin Laden clan, including her father.

"There are 400 other people related to him, but they are all in Saudi Arabia, so nobody's going to get tarred with it. I'm the only one here," she said.

Her father and Osama Bin Laden are among more than 50 children fathered by Mohammed Bin Laden, a Yemeni immigrant to Saudi Arabia, and construction magnate.

Ms Dufour was in Geneva when the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US, masterminded by her uncle, were launched.

She said: "I was freaking out, crying hysterically, watching this in horror. I was like 'Somebody's bombing my city, and I wanna go home!'"

"I was born in the States, and I want people to know I'm American, and I want people to understand that I'm like anyone in New York. For me, it's home," she said.
I read the book by her mother. It was a fascinating read.
I want people to know that peace is possible even in this stupid day and age. Prem Rawat, June 8, 2008







Post#10480 at 12-25-2005 05:25 PM by Roadbldr '59 [at Vancouver, Washington joined Jul 2001 #posts 8,275]
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12-25-2005, 05:25 PM #10480
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Re: Wafah Dufour

Quote Originally Posted by The Wonkette
Quote Originally Posted by GuruOfReason
This is a submission for 3T (but then again, we'll have to wait to see the reaction).

The neice of OBL is in a racy photoshoot in GQ magazine. A picture and the article is below.



Bin Laden niece in glamour shots

The niece of Osama Bin Laden has posed for provocative photographs for an American magazine.

Wafah Dufour, an aspiring musician and model, is the daughter of the al-Qaeda leader's half-brother Yeslam.

She appears stripped to ostrich feather lingerie, and in a bubble bath, in photos for American GQ magazine.

US-born, she says she is an American, and distances herself from her uncle. "Everyone relates me to that man, and I have nothing to do with him," she says.

Ms Dufour, 26, took her mother's maiden name after the events of 11 September 2001.

She lived in Saudi Arabia, where Bin Laden is from, until she was 10, before moving on to Geneva and back to the US.

'Like any New Yorker'

She says she never sees any of the extended Bin Laden clan, including her father.

"There are 400 other people related to him, but they are all in Saudi Arabia, so nobody's going to get tarred with it. I'm the only one here," she said.

Her father and Osama Bin Laden are among more than 50 children fathered by Mohammed Bin Laden, a Yemeni immigrant to Saudi Arabia, and construction magnate.

Ms Dufour was in Geneva when the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US, masterminded by her uncle, were launched.

She said: "I was freaking out, crying hysterically, watching this in horror. I was like 'Somebody's bombing my city, and I wanna go home!'"

"I was born in the States, and I want people to know I'm American, and I want people to understand that I'm like anyone in New York. For me, it's home," she said.
I read the book by her mother. It was a fascinating read.
Somebody once posted a poll here: "Would you date OBL's niece?" From the male posters the consensus seemed to be "Yeah... for about fifteen minutes!". :lol:
"Better hurry. There's a storm coming. His storm!!!" :-O -Abigail Freemantle, "The Stand" by Stephen King







Post#10481 at 12-25-2005 06:45 PM by Virgil K. Saari [at '49er, north of the Mesabi Mountains joined Jun 2001 #posts 7,835]
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12-25-2005, 06:45 PM #10481
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OBL niece is Progressively costumed

and the Secretary of Defense, the poetic Mr. Donald Rumsfeld is presented as if he were one of the cafeteria ladies in St. Louis County School #70 circa 1959.



It fits to a T, but 1. 2. or 3? :?







Post#10482 at 12-27-2005 03:15 PM by jeffw [at Orange County, CA--dob 1961 joined Jul 2001 #posts 417]
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12-27-2005, 03:15 PM #10482
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Does this thread take as long to load on your browsers as it does mine? I think it's because it's so long, going on 390 pages of posts. Perhaps it's time to close it out and start a part II thread?
Jeff '61







Post#10483 at 12-28-2005 05:34 PM by Zarathustra [at Where the Northwest meets the Southwest joined Mar 2003 #posts 9,198]
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12-28-2005, 05:34 PM #10483
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Re: Equal Opportunity Undead

Quote Originally Posted by Bob Butler 54
Quote Originally Posted by The Dude
Quote Originally Posted by jeffw
Quote Originally Posted by The Dude
Groups Protest Cannibalism in Video Games

And I object to their protests.

Cannibals are people too.
I wouldn't have thought that a zombie eating human brains constitutes cannibalism. What are the various religious viewpoints on the humanity of zombies?
As long as they accept Jesus in their hearts they deserve our compassion.
Zombies would definitely accept Jesus. They will eat anyone.
And therefore no transubstantiation is necessary! Well, at least we know Zombies don't have to be Catholic.
Americans have had enough of glitz and roar . . Foreboding has deepened, and spiritual currents have darkened . . .
THE FOURTH TURNING IS AT HAND.
See T4T, p. 253.







Post#10484 at 01-01-2006 06:55 PM by Mr. Reed [at Intersection of History joined Jun 2001 #posts 4,376]
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01-01-2006, 06:55 PM #10484
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The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

I submit this article as 4T proof.

2005---It Was The Best of Times, It Was The Worst of Times

by June Maxam

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Those were the words of Charles Dickens in 1859 but in reflecting on those words a century and a half later, how accurately they portray the ambiguity of our world today and its social upheaval.

The social ideas of Charles Dickens in "A Tale of Two Cites" was that the French Revolution was inevitable because the aristocracy exploited and plundered the poor, driving them to revolt. It has been said that oppression on a large scale results in anarchy and anarchy produces a police state.

And so it is in 2005.

2005 was a tumultuous year, worldwide and nationwide, personally and professionally.

We watched in horror the news reports of the Asian tsunami, Katrina and Rita, the war casualties in Iraq, watched as the sex scandals multiplied in our schools and churches, watched the corruption in government was exposed and as our President admitted to spying on us.

We, like virtually everyone in the world watched in horror and helplessness as the most public execution ever was carried out in Florida and a probate court judge in Pinellas County created a horrendous precedent, firmly endorsing the throw-a-way society in the United States, the culture of death, sanctioning judicial homicide, glorifying and empowering the euthanasia movement.

We watched the same people who thought it was right to kill Terri Schiavo fight to save convicted murderer Tookie Williams.

The feelings of helplessness and horror grew day by day by day throughout the spring of 2005, into March and the world was transfixed on a hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida, where 41-year-old Terri Schiavo had been virtually imprisoned for five years by her husband in name only, Michael Schiavo, his attorneys and a lowly county court judge who defied the Vatican, the White House, Congress and virtually the entire world to kill a brain injured woman. She wasn't terminal, she wasn't in a coma, she wasn't brain dead. She wanted to live and struggled to say so. How could this have happened in our America? How can it continue to be happening?

How can state attorney Bernie McCabe, Attorney General Charlie Crist and the rest cove rup? How can the government stand by and undertake no investigation of how Terri Schiavo sustained the incapacitating brain injury. How can they expect the public to have confidence in government when there's such a blatant cover up of wrongdoing?

It's a bizarre situation where a county probate court judge believes he can find the Governor in contempt of court for exercising his constitutional powers, can prohibit a state agency from performing its statutorily mandated duties and the Pinellas Park police and Pinellas County Sheriff's Department have more power than the Florida Department of Law Enforcement by order of probate court judge George Greer, then claim that he's upholding the Constitution, following the rule of law. This is our Republic, OUR United States of America but yet one lowly judge reigned terror on the Schindler family and all of us and forever changed America.

Pat Anderson, one of the attorneys who fought so valiantly to save Terri's life says that in ending Terri's life, "it seems to me we have abandoned that great precept of equality under the law and have crossed a line, sorting people into two categories; those who we consider too injured or damaged, or too lacking in quality to live, and those who are not".

How true. It truly is the survival of the fittest.

As the co-publisher of The Empire Journal, I became intimately familiar with the Schiavo case, the people, the issues, the law, the emotions and became totally immersed in the case, abhorrent at the actions of the court and the attorneys in the case, thumbing their noses at the law that prohibits the withholding of food and water, of the ghastly cruel death order imposed upon Terri Schiavo on hearsay testimony fueled by the greed of Michael Schiavo and his hate for the Schinders. Like millions of people, I watched in horror as George Greer literally took the last breath from Terri Schiavo as the world stop by helplessly. Like so many people worldwide, I had believed that the truth and morality would prevail but it didn't and Terri died.

But she didn't die in vain.

Her death literally changed the world. People tried to politicize the issue. It wasn't political. It was and is a moral, ethical and social issue. It raised public awareness about the judicial tyranny that exists in this country. The issue of judicial tyranny is alive on Capitol Hill and will become one of the most pressing issues of the nation's agenda in the days ahead. The runaway judiciary must be reigned in.

People's emotions went up and down like a roller coaster the last two weeks of March, from March 18 when Terri's feeding tube was removed at the order of Greer until she died March 31. And after her death, the whole nation---no, the world, mourned and many are still in mourning, in a state of disbelief that such a thing could have happened in our America. Michael Schiavo foolishly maintained that he was protecting her right to privacy. He unmercifully exploited her for his own personal gain and vendetta and is still doing so and George Felos and his culture of death capitalized on it.

The loss of the Schindler family became the loss of the world and dramatically and drastically affected families, friendships and professional relationships---people angry with ourselves and each other that we couldn't prevent Terri's death, that she wasn't allowed to go home with her family so they could take care of her, give her the love, care and attention that she deserved.

Soon after Terri died, undoubtedly impacted by the Schiavo case, the co-publishers of The Empire Journal agreed to disagree and went separate ways for a short time, each emotionally drained by the Schiavo saga and the affects it had had on our own lives and families.

And it had such a very personal effect on my own family as before the year was out, my father became a victim of the killing frenzy of the elderly and disabled in this country too. I was forced to stand by helplessly, my father's living will revoked and my guardianship removed by a conflicted court because I am "a controversial person in the geographical area" because I dare to challenge the system and fight the wrongs.

My father was a good man. He was a hard worker, a good provider, his family came first. He fought adversity all his life with a speech disability. My father was my best friend, my greatest supporter, my biggest fan. He saved every newspaper, every magazine article, every published word that I ever wrote. He stood by me in everything, shared my victories as well as my defeats. I was my father's little girl, I shared a very special relationship with him. He fought my battles, I fought his and it was his choice that when he could no longer make his own decisions, that I would make them for him because he knew I would do what he wanted done. But that was taken from me….and him by that horrendous culture of rampant judicial tyranny, because I opposed what Glens Falls Hospital and Warren County did to him, the rape of the Medicaid and Medicare system and even Blue Cross, his own health care provider. Every attorney, every agency that I have spoken with says Glens Falls Hospital and Eden Park Nursing Home violated my rights and those of my father's by removing me from decision making without cause, because I fought for him and my mother. They said they were going to put him in a hospice, stop all nutrition and hydration…. let him die with dignity and that there was nothing I could do about it because I wasn't the legal guardian any more. Well, Dad, I did do something about it and I'm not through yet. There's no dignity in death by dehydration. They didn't succeed in removing him to a hospice, in starving and dehydrating him like they did Terri. You did die with dignity, Dad. You are with me every day. I will always love you. They revoked his wishes but they couldn't remove me as his daughter.

The ugly head of judicial tyranny arose with my mother too. I nearly lost her twice in 2005 and each time, Eden Park Nursing Home refused to call me, refused to apprise me of my mother's said to be imminent death. In October, 2004, the state ordered that she be returned to her home, Warren County refused to comply for over a year, violated Administrative Law even when the state told them they were required to provide answers to me. Instead, the county and Eden Park teamed up to forcibly remove me as my mother's health care proxy so I couldn't fight for her any more. Such retaliation is illegal.

In July, my beloved dog, Pupper became ill and the vet couldn't diagnose the problem. She struggled throughout the summer and was improving until mid September when she began having convulsions the same night I was called to the hospital to say good-bye to my mother. That same night Ginger Berlin, my business associate at The Empire Journal, shut me out of the business.

My mother survived. She fooled them. She told them she wasn't ready to go.

Within the week, I had to make the difficult decision of putting my Pupper to sleep, apparently the victim of a brain tumor. That dog was the world to me. She had been by my side since 1997. It was an extremely difficult time for me.

Since that time, Ginger has refused to communicate with me and has rebuffed all efforts to try and resolve the business relationship and friendship.

I've known Ginger about 2 ˝ years. It was in August, 2003 when my telephone jangled in mid-afternoon and a soft spoken maternal voice introduced herself as Ginger Berlin, a social and political columnist interested in the NYS Oaths Project of which I was and am the coordinator. She wanted to interview me for a column she was writing. I agreed.

I was immediately impressed by her manner, her knowledge, her invigorating spirit and drive, her wit, and the devotion, the love and values she displayed when talking about her family.

Ginger and I became fast friends and within a few months, The Empire Journal evolved, at first a print edition. The Empire Journal was dedicated to educate the public about our government, our courts, our political leaders. TEJ evolved from our common interests, common politics, common goals and a common love and respect for liberty and the Constitution.

Ginger has a deep commitment to our Constitution and her dedication to restoring legitimacy, integrity and accountability to our legal and justice system--- her political idealism, impeccable integrity, her values, unwavering principles and faith in God. She is intent on leaving a legacy for her children, committed to try to effect the needed changes in our Republic in the spirit of liberty and the legacy of our forefathers.

We combined our talents to create TEJ and when it went online in 2004, it quickly became a prominent voice in the judicial and legal reform effort. By the fall of 2004, The Empire Journal had become a nationally recognized voice in the Terri Schiavo case, reporting the issues and facts that the mainstream media was ignoring. TEJ became one of the most dominant voices on the Internet, reporting the news of government and courts and apparently became such a threat to the powers that be, that it was hacked and shut down at the height of its reporting the Schiavo case in March. But we persevered and came back stronger than ever.

Ginger juggled many tasks while maintaining her role with TEJ---her family and God came first, her friends close behind and her everlasting devotion to our Republic. Ginger personifies an American patriot. She becomes indignant over injustices witnessed, determined to make a difference and has made a difference, to bring important issues to the forefront and attention of the American public, issues that the mainstream media ignores or falsely reports such as the Schiavo case. She is a dedicated individual who utilized her talents to educate others to expose the truth about government, crime and corruption, often times toiling long hours and making sacrifices to do so as I did. She stood toe to toe with me to tackle head-on the unethical, corrupt judicial system, the black wall of shame and black code of protection.

The Empire Journal accomplished a great deal in its quest to educate, achievements and accomplishments which could not have been realized without the commitment, sacrifice and dedication of Ginger Berlin.

It saddens me that Ginger and I have not been able to resolve our differences and that The Empire Journal has become stagnant. Over the last several months, forced by Ginger to publish my work elsewhere, I have done so at The North Country Gazette which has risen quickly and firmly established its voice in the judicial and legal reform movement. However, as many friends know, my heart is with The Empire Journal which I did not leave voluntarily and I continue to try to reestablish a working relationship with Ginger.

I have looked backwards here and not with all good memories. Now it's time to move forward, to try to put my life back together about fighting 7 ˝ years of judicial tyranny---police, judicial and prosecutorial misconduct, finally achieving reversal of convictions and complete dismissal of the charges. I know how very fortunate I am to have achieved this victory as it truly was against all odds but thankfully there are still honorable and dedicated people in the legal profession who believe in the Constitution and the laws.

2005 was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

We move forward into 2006 with hope and determination. 12-29-05
"The urge to dream, and the will to enable it is fundamental to being human and have coincided with what it is to be American." -- Neil deGrasse Tyson
intp '82er







Post#10485 at 01-01-2006 09:50 PM by HopefulCynic68 [at joined Sep 2001 #posts 9,412]
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Re: The Death of Identity Politics

Quote Originally Posted by GuruOfReason
According to this article, identity politics is dying a slow death and the racial schism is also slowly melting away.

Rise of the New Black Leaders
By Chris Thompson
Salon.com

Monday 12 December 2005

A new generation of black politicians are striving to put racial patronage and civic corruption behind them, and unite an increasingly diverse nation.




This was interesting. I've been waiting for a long time to see if the stagnant civil rights movement had any future left, or if it was a permanent fossil of another time, frozen in amber.

But Dellums is an odd sort of savior. For one thing, he made it clear he didn't want the job and had agreed to run only because hundreds of his old comrades begged him. For another, he's so, well, old. At age 69, Ron Dellums put politics behind him long ago and rarely set foot in Oakland over the years. An entire generation has grown up with no idea who he is. But in this election he's the last real chance for a black mayor to lead Oakland, once one of the country's epicenters of urban black life.
There's an entire generation of political activists, mostly Democratic, who came of age in the 60s and literally have never known any politics except identity/grievance politics. They simply don't know how to do it any other way.


While at first glance this may seem like an unsettling development, it is also showing signs of producing a more responsive, transparent and sophisticated generation of African-American leaders.
They could hardly get much more out of touch than they've become of late. Especially on education issues, the divide between the 'black leadership' and the general views of minority constituents keeps getting wider. Like the organized labor movement, the civil rights movement became so locked into a single political alliance that it came to define them, rather than their official mission.


Clearly, African-American empowerment was a critical step in American democracy, and the promise of opportunity for millions of black citizens is hard to overstate. But black power also gave rise to the modern gerrymandering era in which incumbent politicians use computer demographic research to rig the drawing of legislative districts. In the West, gerrymandering coincided with a racial patronage system that allowed bureaucratic incompetence and corruption to fester, sometimes on a vast scale. In the South, the process squeezed out white Democratic leaders, ultimately helping the Republican Party retake Congress in 1994.
There was a lot sheer, cynical calculation on both sides in that gerrymandering, on all sides.

Nowhere is this more evident than in last month's reelection of New York's Republican mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who received half the black vote and 30 percent of the Latino vote, despite challenger Fernando Ferrer's deliberate campaign as a Latino candidate. In the election's aftermath, reported the New York Times, national Democratic Party leaders said they "needed to shun the racial and ethnic politicking of the past."
Their more perceptive players have known that, and been saying it, for several years now. But as I noted above, a lot of their personnel, people who are key to their activities, just don't know any other way. They live and breathe it, it's as natural to them as eating or sleeping, and they resort to it almost by instinct.


But whenever the county health department suggests the kind of drastic reform needed to turn the institution around, an army of community activists rally behind claims that a racist conspiracy is out to destroy a symbol of black pride. For the last year, their undisputed leader has been Rep. Maxine Waters, the exemplar of urban machine politics and racially charged rhetoric.

Waters is perhaps best known for leading the calls to investigate the CIA's supposed conspiracy to smuggle crack into black neighborhoods in the 1980s. But that kind of rhetoric was much less likely to resonate with Latinos, her fastest-growing constituency.
<snip>

Waters did not respond to requests for comment. But she was brutally frank in an interview on redistricting in the Los Angeles Times in 2001. "It is a foregone conclusion that the African-American seats are going to be retained," she said.
Isn't that the truth. Waters in some ways could be a symbol of everything that's gone cynically wrong in the civil right's movement and the Democratic Party. She's smart, connected, and plays the game like a maestro, but it's based on racial resentment and a spoils system mindset.


Just as a black middle class is turning its back on such politics locally, so the American middle class is wondering how long the country can tolerate such ineptitude, arrogance and fiscal irresponsibility. If leaders like Lee can link middle-class desires for good government with the basic aspirations of the urban poor, the great gulf between Reagan Democrats and the identity politics of the civil rights era may finally be resolved.
This makes a common mistake about the Reagan Democrats: that their discontent was basically over racial issues. That misconception has hamstrung the Democrats efforts to win them back for decades now.



Such analysis is exactly why so many Democratic leaders have pinned their hopes for resurgence on Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. In the last two years, the senator has emerged from the South Side of Chicago as an old-fashioned Truman Democrat, a foreign-policy hawk whose liberal domestic politics are focused on protecting and rebuilding the middle class. When he speaks of his vision for America, he doesn't dwell on the country's history of racism or exploitation, and he doesn't flog his personal journey as an African-American. Instead, he speaks of possibility and American exceptionalism.

Standing at the crossroads of history, Obama said during his stirring speech at last year's Democratic National Convention, "I believe we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity. I believe we can provide jobs to the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and despair."

As the Republican leadership mortgages the country's future on debt, cronyism and religious divisiveness, Barack Obama may well become America's first truly national black politician.
Barak Obama is something of a false hope for the Democrats, not because he's bad but because he doesn't generate the kind of unifying force they wish he did. He was their big success story in 2004, but he's not a 'Truman Democrat'. There are no modern Truman Democrats on the national stage, which is part of the problem.







Post#10486 at 01-03-2006 01:17 AM by Linus [at joined Oct 2005 #posts 1,731]
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Bush as Polk? Regardless, it is a fascinating comparison.

Quote Originally Posted by Ronald Brownstein
"The president whom George W. Bush may resemble most is not his biological father, George H.W. Bush, or even Ronald Reagan, who often seems his ideological father, but James K. Polk, a dynamic and willful leader few discuss anymore.

Polk, when elected president as a Democrat in 1844, had more political experience than Bush (Polk had spent 20 years in elective office, compared with Bush's six). But like Bush (who was 54 in 2000), Polk was young (49) and extremely self-confident when he took office.

Polk may be the only predecessor who matched Bush's determination to drive massive change on a minute margin of victory. Polk won by fewer than 38,000 votes of 2.7 million cast. Over four tumultuous years, he pursued an ambitious, highly partisan agenda that offered little to those who had voted against him. Sound familiar?

Strong on vision but weak on building consensus, Polk advanced his goals more than seemed possible in a closely divided country. But Polk's tactics deepened the nation's divisions and fanned the flames that later exploded into the Civil War."
"Jan, cut the crap."

"It's just a donut."







Post#10487 at 01-03-2006 01:26 PM by The Wonkette [at Arlington, VA 1956 joined Jul 2002 #posts 9,209]
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Quote Originally Posted by Linus
Bush as Polk? Regardless, it is a fascinating comparison.

Quote Originally Posted by Ronald Brownstein
"The president whom George W. Bush may resemble most is not his biological father, George H.W. Bush, or even Ronald Reagan, who often seems his ideological father, but James K. Polk, a dynamic and willful leader few discuss anymore.

Polk, when elected president as a Democrat in 1844, had more political experience than Bush (Polk had spent 20 years in elective office, compared with Bush's six). But like Bush (who was 54 in 2000), Polk was young (49) and extremely self-confident when he took office.

Polk may be the only predecessor who matched Bush's determination to drive massive change on a minute margin of victory. Polk won by fewer than 38,000 votes of 2.7 million cast. Over four tumultuous years, he pursued an ambitious, highly partisan agenda that offered little to those who had voted against him. Sound familiar?

Strong on vision but weak on building consensus, Polk advanced his goals more than seemed possible in a closely divided country. But Polk's tactics deepened the nation's divisions and fanned the flames that later exploded into the Civil War."
Also like Bush, it seems as if Polk was an early Prophet.
I want people to know that peace is possible even in this stupid day and age. Prem Rawat, June 8, 2008







Post#10488 at 01-03-2006 02:46 PM by [at joined #posts ]
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Re: The Death of Identity Politics

Quote Originally Posted by HopefulCynic68
Rise of the New Black Leaders
A new generation of black politicians are striving to put racial patronage and civic corruption behind them, and unite an increasingly diverse nation.
This was interesting. I've been waiting for a long time to see if the stagnant civil rights movement had any future left, or if it was a permanent fossil of another time, frozen in amber.
I guess the presence and position of Colin Powell, Clarence Thomas, Karen Hughes, Condi Rice, Gale Norton, Alberto Gonzales, Elaine Chao, Carlos Gutierrez, Margaret Spelling, Alphonso Jackson or Norman Mineta doesn't say all that much about the "civil rights movement," does it?

And to think, some folks posting here actually suspect that DA nd HC are the same person.







Post#10489 at 01-03-2006 05:48 PM by Mr. Reed [at Intersection of History joined Jun 2001 #posts 4,376]
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Re: The Death of Identity Politics

Quote Originally Posted by Devil's Advocate
Quote Originally Posted by HopefulCynic68
Rise of the New Black Leaders
A new generation of black politicians are striving to put racial patronage and civic corruption behind them, and unite an increasingly diverse nation.
This was interesting. I've been waiting for a long time to see if the stagnant civil rights movement had any future left, or if it was a permanent fossil of another time, frozen in amber.
I guess the presence and position of Colin Powell, Clarence Thomas, Karen Hughes, Condi Rice, Gale Norton, Alberto Gonzales, Elaine Chao, Carlos Gutierrez, Margaret Spelling, Alphonso Jackson or Norman Mineta doesn't say all that much about the "civil rights movement," does it?

And to think, some folks posting here actually suspect that DA nd HC are the same person.
Are those leaders just a form of tokenism, is does it tell about the whole state of race in the US? My opinion is some of both. Activists today will tell you that the fact that Condolezza Rice is Secretary of State says nothing about the condition of the black masses. And that is true. This in itself may not tell much about race, but rather speaks of class. It is true, however, that in the US, race and class are often inseparable, or at least how we perceive it.

Many people are disappointed that we are not yet living in the post-racist era yet. That will take time and work, however. One cannot deny that we are living in different times when it comes to race. Those who say that things have not changed must've not experienced Jim Crow.

Even with the improvements, the races are as segregated as they were in the 1950s. I see signs that even as the races became more segregated during the 1990s, we are likely to experience a tipping point that will decrease segregation. St. Louis, for one, is becoming more integrated. I don't think that the suburbs are becoming more integrated, but now St. Louis City is one of the most integrated cities in the US. I live in a very beautiful, well integrated neighborhood, filled with both wealthy and poor whites and blacks.

There are books that both praise and condemn the gains and lingering problems since the Civil Rights Movement. The book Shame of the Nation condemns the state of race relations, citing the increasing segregation of public schools in the US. The book The Failures of Integration also talks about the sad state affairs of resident and educational segregation, but blames the social politicies put in place during the prior Crisis for funnelling whites to suburbs and blacks into hypersegregated ghettoes. The book America Behind the Color Line tells a mixed story, but is mostly positive. It tells of the many gains of blacks since the Civil Rights Era, but also of some of the remaining challenges. There are many books tha are optimistic and hopeful too.

But does the Civil Right Movement have any steam left? One problem is that the racial conversation is dominated by the Civil Rights and Black Power Generations. The racial regime of the conversation is the same one that prevailed during the 1970s, which means that it needs to be updated. Gen Xer leaders such as Bakari Kitwana and Farai Chideya agree that the conversation is very outdated as the reality and perceptions of Xers and Millies are radically different. Another problem is that very few people are aware of the origins of the Civil Rights Movement, its leaders, and its aims. Only then can we think about the future of what's left of the Civil Rights Movement.

Most people think of the Civil Rights Movement as having lasted from 1955 - 1968. However, the true beginning of the movement was around the year 1930. This was a time when the fight for racial justice was part of the larger fight for social justice, and when the fight for racial equality became one of the main aims of the Popular Front radicalism of the 1930s. Activists during the 1930s and 1940s understood that the fight for black freedom was part of a larger struggle for the transformation of American democracy. Many of the social critics noted that to bring justice to blacks would require a total makeover of American society. Besides, it would be useless to be integrated, and then to use your newfound powers to oppress others. This is how the Civil Rights Movement could reemerge during the Crisis. The movement must be a front against all oppression, bigotry, and social/economic injustice. MLK understood this much, and during the mid to late 1960s, widened his crusade to fight against all bigotry, and to fight against the lingering social and economic inequalities, and also for the redistribution of wealth in American society. Today, we are in a better position to build a society dreamt of by the leftists of the 1930s today than we had back during that decade, to provide everyone with the basic material necessities of life, to create abundance for everyone, to end oppression and bigotry, provide liberty for all (and not just a few), and to create a world much better than the one we enjoy today.
"The urge to dream, and the will to enable it is fundamental to being human and have coincided with what it is to be American." -- Neil deGrasse Tyson
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Post#10490 at 01-03-2006 06:23 PM by Mr. Reed [at Intersection of History joined Jun 2001 #posts 4,376]
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Is 2005 a watershed? For discussion purposes only.

The best - and worst - of '05

This might be the year that audiences turned their backs on remakes of old TV sitcoms and other junk from Hollywood, and embraced serious films.

Robert Horton
Herald Movie Critic

The end of movie year 2005 saw Hollywood wringing its collective hands and asking some hard, hard questions. Why did "Cinderella Man" flop so badly? Will anybody get their money back on "King Kong"? Why was the summer box office so bleak when the movies looked like the exact same movies that had performed well in years past? (The answer to that one is contained in the question.)

There were certain unanswerable mysteries, of course, like the Renee Zellweger marriage, "Bewitched," and the epic Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes romance. But 2005 might have been a watershed year. Not only did the tried-and-true not perform to expectations at the box office, but the year-end awards have gone to little independent movies - serious stuff that audiences actually seem to like. The big studios may need to rethink their system or perish.

Still, at any given time, there were good movies at the theaters. And what about DVDs? Sometimes film reviewers get so locked in on new movies at theaters they forget that a huge percentage of people (especially over the age of, oh, 25 or so) watch most of their movies on TV. And the DVDs this year, especially the retrieval of golden-age gems (Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, the "Thin Man" pictures, the 1940s horror series produced by Val Lewton), were spectacular.

Speaking of which, some of the best movies were revivals: Jack Nicholson's great performance in the 1975 Antonioni picture, "The Passenger," and the exciting reconstruction of Sam Peckinpah's 1965 western "Major Dundee" among them.

What were the year's big winners? The R-rated comedy, for one - "The 40 Year-Old Virgin" and "Wedding Crashers" proved there could be profitable exceptions to the PG-13 rule. Penguins were winners: witness the universally beloved documentary, "March of the Penguins," as well as the comic cut-ups from "Madagascar." South Korea's film industry produced a startling run of arthouse fare, such as the mind-frying revenge film "Oldboy" and the lyrical "3-Iron." And it was nice to have Batman back, in respectable form (see below).

Losers? Nicolas Cage's face dominated the ad campaigns for two late-year films that came and went quickly, "Lord of War" and "The Weather Man." Jamie Foxx bounced from winning the Oscar for "Ray" to appearing in disposable duty in "Stealth." And director Michael Bay, whose lucrative career ("Pearl Harbor" "Armageddon") was trashed in song in 2004's "Team America," crashed with the expensive flop "The Island," the film that embodied the summer box-office fizzle.

In compiling my list of the best films that opened locally in 2005, I went for the titles that most provoked and excited me, but that also had some kind of staying power. These are the movies that stuck in my craw the longest. A spin in the Batmobile to the following:

"Million Dollar Baby." This 2004-vintage movie didn't open locally until the first week of January this year, so I get to count it. Clint Eastwood's movie was about boxing, but it was really about estrangement and guilt and redemption, and a beautifully made film on all counts.

"Kings and Queen." A French film that played at the Seattle International Film Festival and then only briefly in a regular run, Arnaud Desplechin's wild look at the parallel lives of two unusual people was perhaps the most unpredictable film of the year, a quality I cherish.

"Hustle & Flow." Musical, literate, and viscerally exciting, this is the story of a Memphis pimp (Oscar-worthy Terrence Howard) who imagines himself a hip-hop artist. It shouldn't work, but it does.

"Nobody Knows." Japanese film about children - the eldest 12 years old - abandoned in a Tokyo apartment to fend for themselves. Not entirely the grim experience it sounds, as the kids create their own unique world in secret.

"Brokeback Mountain." The indie winning all the year-end awards is Ang Lee's melancholy study of two cowboys who become more than, er, saddle pals. A finely wrought film that really feels like a traditional Western, despite the twist.

"Munich." Steven Spielberg's account of the Israeli secret police tracking down the Palestinian assassins from the 1972 Olympics is both a discomfiting moral inquiry and a heckuva spy movie. Does this director get taken for granted because he's been so successful?

"Grizzly Man." Director Werner Herzog takes the footage of bear lover Timothy Treadwell (who was eaten by his Alaskan charges in 2003) and makes it into an unnerving, fascinating documentary portrait of one of the world's holy fools - and a cautionary tale about being casual about nature.

"The Squid and the Whale." An intimate and extremely funny portrait of a Brooklyn academic family coming apart. Director Noah Baumbach is both razor-sharp in his observations but generous in his attitude (that's tough to do), and Jeff Daniels is great as the self-centered dad.

"Breakfast on Pluto." Whimsy and Irish magic from director Neil Jordan, about a plucky transvestite (the agile Cillian Murphy) whose good cheer remains unsullied by life's harsher realities.

"Batman Begins." Just about the only big summer movie worth donning a cape for, this origin story of the comic-book hero got an awful lot of things right. Bring on the sequels.

The runners-up would have to include "2046," the droll German comedy "Schultze Gets the Blues," the overlooked POW rescue film "The Great Raid," the unlikely Turkish-German romance "Head-On," "3-Iron," David Cronenberg's stately "A History of Violence," "The Beat That My Heart Skipped," George Romero's politically minded zombie movie "Land of the Dead," "Capote," and George Clooney's 1950s chamber piece "Good Night and Good Luck."

Some good popcorn movies, too: Spielberg's "War of the Worlds," "Red Eye," the last "Star Wars" picture, "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang," and the belly-laugh-crammed "40-Year-Old Virgin."

Now fasten your seat belts for the bumpy ride of infamy. I had to sit through a lot of stinkers this year, and the following 10 films deserve to be zapped by the Martian tripods. Cheers, and see you next year.

"Into the Blue." Sunken treasure off the Bahamas can mean only one thing: lots of nubile bodies photographed underwater. Amazingly dumb, but probably more fun than the other movies on this list of shame.

"The Honeymooners." One of many bad TV adaptations this year, this one with Cedric the Entertainer in the Jackie Gleason role.

"Bewitched." Nicole Kidman in another TV-related misfire, an excruciatingly example of not thinking something through all the way.

"The Dukes of Hazzard." Old TV shows really have a lot to answer for, don't they?

"The Longest Yard." But let's not forget bad remakes - this one with Adam Sandler in the old Burt Reynolds football role.

"The Bridge at San Luis Rey." This one had a literary pedigree and a top-drawer cast, which made its dead-in-the-water feeling all the more painful.

"The House of D." Personal project for writer-director-star David Duchovny, and just one of those scripts that should have stayed in the drawer.

"Be Cool." The delayed sequel is always a risky business, and this follow-up to 1995's "Get Shorty" exposed the problems; everybody looked like they'd lost interest years ago.

"Mindhunters." Illogic to a fine degree, although the underwater gunfight was pretty cool.

"Yours, Mine & Ours." Or do I mean "Cheaper by the Dozen 2"? What difference does it make?
"The urge to dream, and the will to enable it is fundamental to being human and have coincided with what it is to be American." -- Neil deGrasse Tyson
intp '82er







Post#10491 at 01-03-2006 06:57 PM by The Pervert [at A D&D Character sheet joined Jan 2002 #posts 1,169]
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Re: The Death of Identity Politics

Quote Originally Posted by GuruOfReason
Gen Xer leaders such as Bakari Kitwana and Farai Chideya agree that the conversation is very outdated as the reality and perceptions of Xers and Millies are radically different.
I listen to Ms. Chideya on NPR regularly. I'm favorably impressed with her reporting.
Your local general nuisance
"I am not an alter ego. I am an unaltered id!"







Post#10492 at 01-04-2006 09:48 PM by [at joined #posts ]
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Bush is Polk? How about 45 percent slave, 55 percent free?

Micheal Barone writes on the Roaring 40s (1840s, that is).







Post#10493 at 01-04-2006 09:56 PM by Linus [at joined Oct 2005 #posts 1,731]
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Re: Bush is Polk? How about 45 percent slave, 55 percent fre

Quote Originally Posted by Devil's Advocate
Micheal Barone writes on the Roaring 40s (1840s, that is).
An interesting piece. The 1840s were also the golden age of cannibalism in America.
"Jan, cut the crap."

"It's just a donut."







Post#10494 at 01-05-2006 11:06 PM by Virgil K. Saari [at '49er, north of the Mesabi Mountains joined Jun 2001 #posts 7,835]
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All the SecDefs and SecStates together

Mr. Lehrer on the PBS Newshour had report of and an interview with Madame Secretary Madeleine Albright and Mr. Secretary James Schlesinger after their meeting with the POTUS on the matter of Irak.


All I could think of was the addicted La Condesa played by Ms. Simone Signoret and her ship's doctor Shumann acted by Mr. Oskar Werner in Ship of Fools from the the end of the High/ start of the Awakening. Mesopotamia and not morphine is the monkey on their backs. :cry: :cry: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: 's laying tracks in Progressive Vein.







Post#10495 at 01-05-2006 11:38 PM by Ricercar71 [at joined Jul 2001 #posts 1,038]
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Barak

Barak Obama speaks his own mind in his own voice. And unlike others, the words he speaks carry a universal appeal, not only passionate but articulate, revealing quite a bit of refinement and a mind borne of great self discipline and grounded in lots of inate intelligence.

I respect Barak, but I'm afraid I agree with very little of what he says, as well as he says it. A pity.

We need him though to remain in prominently in the national dialogue, though, to raise the level above yahoos like Hannity and O Reilly.







Post#10496 at 01-06-2006 10:50 AM by Virgil K. Saari [at '49er, north of the Mesabi Mountains joined Jun 2001 #posts 7,835]
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For the suburban yeoperson

They lieth in small pastures


Quote Originally Posted by MSNBC
“Women can raise these steers just as well as men can,” Bryan said.
:arrow: :arrow: :arrow:







Post#10497 at 01-07-2006 03:03 PM by Zarathustra [at Where the Northwest meets the Southwest joined Mar 2003 #posts 9,198]
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Re: Bush is Polk? How about 45 percent slave, 55 percent fre

Quote Originally Posted by Linus
Quote Originally Posted by Devil's Advocate
Micheal Barone writes on the Roaring 40s (1840s, that is).
An interesting piece. The 1840s were also the golden age of cannibalism in America.
Marc would have felt at home there.
Americans have had enough of glitz and roar . . Foreboding has deepened, and spiritual currents have darkened . . .
THE FOURTH TURNING IS AT HAND.
See T4T, p. 253.







Post#10498 at 01-07-2006 04:18 PM by Brian Beecher [at Downers Grove, IL joined Sep 2001 #posts 2,937]
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I have pointed out many times on this forum that today we have another golden age of cannibalism, this time of the corporate variety. See my threads Corporate Cannibalism and Are We Headed Towards Oligopoly for more on this issue.







Post#10499 at 01-07-2006 04:38 PM by Zarathustra [at Where the Northwest meets the Southwest joined Mar 2003 #posts 9,198]
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Quote Originally Posted by Brian Beecher
I have pointed out many times on this forum that today we have another golden age of cannibalism, this time of the corporate variety. See my threads Corporate Cannibalism and Are We Headed Towards Oligopoly for more on this issue.
We're certainly eating our seed corn.
Americans have had enough of glitz and roar . . Foreboding has deepened, and spiritual currents have darkened . . .
THE FOURTH TURNING IS AT HAND.
See T4T, p. 253.







Post#10500 at 01-10-2006 05:17 AM by The Pervert [at A D&D Character sheet joined Jan 2002 #posts 1,169]
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Create an e-annoyance, go to jail

Folks, after this post, I'm going to have to go back to my regular account, the one with my real name on it. Phooey. If this isn't a sign of what the 4T will do to the Internet, I don't know what is.

BTW, my first donation of the year will go to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

From CNET.com. For non-profit educational and discussion purposes only.

PERSPECTIVE: Create an e-annoyance, go to jail

By Declan McCullagh
http://news.com.com/Create+an+e-anno...3-6022491.html

Story last modified Mon Jan 09 04:00:00 PST 2006






Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.
It's no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity.

In other words, it's OK to flame someone on a mailing list or in a blog as long as you do it under your real name. Thank Congress for small favors, I guess.

This ridiculous prohibition, which would likely imperil much of Usenet, is buried in the so-called Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act. Criminal penalties include stiff fines and two years in prison.

"The use of the word 'annoy' is particularly problematic," says Marv Johnson, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. "What's annoying to one person may not be annoying to someone else."

Buried deep in the new law is Sec. 113, an innocuously titled bit called "Preventing Cyberstalking." It rewrites existing telephone harassment law to prohibit anyone from using the Internet "without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy."

To grease the rails for this idea, Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, and the section's other sponsors slipped it into an unrelated, must-pass bill to fund the Department of Justice. The plan: to make it politically infeasible for politicians to oppose the measure.

The tactic worked. The bill cleared the House of Representatives by voice vote, and the Senate unanimously approved it Dec. 16.

There's an interesting side note. An earlier version that the House approved in September had radically different wording. It was reasonable by comparison, and criminalized only using an "interactive computer service" to cause someone "substantial emotional harm."

That kind of prohibition might make sense. But why should merely annoying someone be illegal?

There are perfectly legitimate reasons to set up a Web site or write something incendiary without telling everyone exactly who you are.

Think about it: A woman fired by a manager who demanded sexual favors wants to blog about it without divulging her full name. An aspiring pundit hopes to set up the next Suck.com. A frustrated citizen wants to send e-mail describing corruption in local government without worrying about reprisals.

In each of those three cases, someone's probably going to be annoyed. That's enough to make the action a crime. (The Justice Department won't file charges in every case, of course, but trusting prosecutorial discretion is hardly reassuring.)

Clinton Fein, a San Francisco resident who runs the Annoy.com site, says a feature permitting visitors to send obnoxious and profane postcards through e-mail could be imperiled.

"Who decides what's annoying? That's the ultimate question," Fein said. He added: "If you send an annoying message via the United States Post Office, do you have to reveal your identity?"

Fein once sued to overturn part of the Communications Decency Act that outlawed transmitting indecent material "with intent to annoy." But the courts ruled the law applied only to obscene material, so Annoy.com didn't have to worry.

"I'm certainly not going to close the site down," Fein said on Friday. "I would fight it on First Amendment grounds."

He's right. Our esteemed politicians can't seem to grasp this simple point, but the First Amendment protects our right to write something that annoys someone else.

It even shields our right to do it anonymously. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas defended this principle magnificently in a 1995 case involving an Ohio woman who was punished for distributing anonymous political pamphlets.

If President Bush truly believed in the principle of limited government (it is in his official bio), he'd realize that the law he signed cannot be squared with the Constitution he swore to uphold.

And then he'd repeat what President Clinton did a decade ago when he felt compelled to sign a massive telecommunications law. Clinton realized that the section of the law punishing abortion-related material on the Internet was unconstitutional, and he directed the Justice Department not to enforce it.

Bush has the chance to show his respect for what he calls Americans' personal freedoms. Now we'll see if the president rises to the occasion.
And here's the relevant section of the law.

It's illegal to annoy
A new federal law states that when you annoy someone on the Internet, you must disclose your identity. Here's the relevant language.

"Whoever...utilizes any device or software that can be used to originate telecommunications or other types of communications that are transmitted, in whole or in part, by the Internet... without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person...who receives the communications...shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."
Your local general nuisance
"I am not an alter ego. I am an unaltered id!"
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