Fresh Coffee

Alien and Sedition acts 1798(pre 9/11)

The Alien and Sedition Acts, created by the Federalist party, generated the nation's first major crisis over civil liberties. The uproar that was induced by such blatantly unconstitutional laws was so severe, that it, too, was extreme and radical. Since the Alien and Sedition Acts greatly threatened the authority of the Bill of Rights and therefore the fundamental government, it is surprising to consider that some of the opposition's responses proposed similar threats to central government.

Whew, worked that one out.

Time Insists On The Truth

Encouragement for Feingold et al supporters. Just because something doesn't appear popular doesn't mean you're not right. Remember "Mission Accomplished"? What leaders should we be following?


"We're all neo-cons now." (MSNBC's Chris Matthews, 4/9/03)

"The war was the hard part. The hard part was putting together a coalition, getting 300,000 troops over there and all their equipment and winning. And it gets easier. I mean, setting up a democracy is hard, but it is not as hard as winning a war." (Fox News Channel's Fred Barnes, 4/10/03) -Gives you a lot of trust in his judgement huh? Beltway boy apparently has the belt a little to tight.

"I'm waiting to hear the words 'I was wrong' from some of the world's most elite journalists, politicians and Hollywood types.... I just wonder, who's going to be the first elitist to show the character to say: 'Hey, America, guess what? I was wrong'? Maybe the White House will get an apology, first, from the New York Times' Maureen Dowd. Now, Ms. Dowd mocked the morality of this war.... "Do you all remember Scott Ritter, you know, the former chief U.N. weapons inspector who played chief stooge for Saddam Hussein? Well, Mr. Ritter actually told a French radio network that -- quote, 'The United States is going to leave Baghdad with its tail between its legs, defeated.' Sorry, Scott. I think you've been chasing the wrong tail, again."Maybe disgraced commentators and politicians alike, like Daschle, Jimmy Carter, Dennis Kucinich, and all those others, will step forward tonight and show the content of their character by simply admitting what we know already: that their wartime predictions were arrogant, they were misguided and they were dead wrong. Maybe, just maybe, these self-anointed critics will learn from their mistakes. But I doubt it. After all, we don't call them 'elitists' for nothing." (MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, 4/10/03) -Elitist?..who's the elitist?

"Well, the hot story of the week is victory.... The Tommy Franks-Don Rumsfeld battle plan, war plan, worked brilliantly, a three-week war with mercifully few American deaths or Iraqi civilian deaths.... There is a lot of work yet to do, but all the naysayers have been humiliated so far.... The final word on this is, hooray." (Fox News Channel's Morton Kondracke, 4/12/03) -Hey, we're the military guys. We don't plan beyond that.

"This will be no war -- there will be a fairly brief and ruthless military intervention.... The president will give an order. [The attack] will be rapid, accurate and dazzling.... It will be greeted by the majority of the Iraqi people as an emancipation. And I say, bring it on."(Christopher Hitchens, in a 1/28/03 debate-- cited in the Observer, 3/30/03) -Hey Chris, we have a uniform in just your size.

"Speaking to the U.N. Security Council last week, Secretary of State Colin Powell made so strong a case that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is in material breach of U.N. resolutions that only the duped, the dumb and the desperate could ignore it." (Cal Thomas, syndicated column, 2/12/03)- I know you are but what am I?

Around the same time as Hume's speech, syndicated columnist Cal Thomas declared (4/16/03): "All of the printed and voiced prophecies should be saved in an archive. When these false prophets again appear, they can be reminded of the error of their previous ways and at least be offered an opportunity to recant and repent. Otherwise, they will return to us in another situation where their expertise will be acknowledged, or taken for granted, but their credibility will be lacking." I agree.

A Vote For The American People

Tom Harkin


My native state senator stands up for the Constitution. I'm proud to say thank you Tom!

In brazen violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), he ordered the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless wiretaps of American citizens. And, despite getting caught red-handed, he refuses to stop.
Let's be clear: No American – and that must include the President – is above the law. And if we fail to hold Bush to account, then he will be confirmed in his conviction that he can pick and choose among the laws he wants to obey. This is profoundly dangerous to our democracy........... He rejects the idea that he should have to obtain a warrant before or after wiretapping. .....I hope that Senator Feingold's measure will be brought to the floor. And when it is, I will proudly vote yes.

Random Thoughts

Well, todays show was a prime example of why I hope for more conservatives to call in. For those of you that missed it Mr. Feelgood called in with a story of someone who had been there that said Iraq wasn't that bad and why don't we talk about the "good things" that are happening. I'm not going to write a transcript here but let's just say the same old arguments are pretty readly disputed these days.
He also made a statement to the effect that Lady Bird Johnson once owned Halliburton and was among the largest of share holders. I have no idea what this had to do with anything and when I asked him neither did he. I did do some research though and I could find little connection to Mrs. Johnson and Halliburton. It seems LBJ sent lots of contracts Brown and Roots' way. They were a company in his district at the time.
As far as big money holders Halliburton is over 85% owned by institutional investors(mutual funds et al). The top ten holders are all of this type. I think the best way to own lots of Halliburton is to own lots of those big mutal funds. Which apparently is a part of Dick Cheneys plan.
What is really interesting here is this Lady Bird stuff which it turns out is at the very best marginally true is really popping up a lot just recently on rightie blogs. What's up with that?

Judas Priest, He's Breakin The Law, Breakin The Law

I'm happy to say Senator Russ has again stood tall for the US Constitution.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold has announced that he will introduce a resolution in the U.S. Senate on Monday to censure the President of the United States. Feingold's resolution condemns the President's actions in authorizing the illegal wiretapping program and then misleading the country about the existence and legality of the program. Feingold calls the resolution an appropriate and responsible step for Congress to take in response to the President's undermining of the separation of powers and ignoring the rule of law.
"The President must be held accountable for authorizing a program that clearly violates the law and then misleading the country about its existence and its legality," Feingold said. "The President's actions, as well as his misleading statements to both Congress and the public about the program, demand a serious response. If Congress does not censure the President, we will be tacitly condoning his actions, and undermining both the separation of powers and the rule of law."
The President's illegal wiretapping program is in direct violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The FISA law makes it a crime to wiretap Americans in the United States without a warrant or a court order. The Bush Administration has obtained thousands of FISA warrants since September 11th and has almost never been rejected by the FISA court. FISA even allows wiretaps to be executed immediately in an emergency as long as the government obtains a warrant within 72 hours.
"This issue is not about whether the government should be wiretapping terrorists – of course it should, and it can under current law" Feingold said. "But this President and this administration decided to break the law and they have yet to give a convincing explanation of why their actions were necessary, appropriate, or legal. Passing more laws will not change the fact that the President broke the ones already in place and for that, Congress must hold him accountable."

When we decide that the President can make up his own laws and have whatever he wants secret we are about to loose what has made us survivors for 225 years. We the people need to know what is happening in government if we are going to make good decisions on the issues.
Senator Feingold will risk the rath of the "liberal media", the mighty wurlitzer and every confused flag waver in the country. He is however keeping the issue on the front burner after the right has tried so hard to cover it up. This is the demonstration of backbone that we need. Proudly stand up for what you believe in and don't let them intimidate you.

Molly Ivins said this.

Take “unpatriotic” and shove it. How dare they do this to our country? “Unpatriotic”? These people have ruined the American military! Not to mention the economy, the middle class, and our reputation in the world. Everything they touch turns to dirt, including Medicare prescription drugs and hurricane relief.
This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one; it is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.

UPDATE :

Glenn Greenwald

Of all the dishonest and corrupt steps taken by this Administration, the worst, in my view, is that they have flamboyantly masqueraded as defenders of America while they have simultaneously sought to dismantle every political attribute and core principle that has defined who we are as a country for the last 225 years. Bush followers will undoubtedly seek to depict Feingold's effort as quixotic, radical, and even treasonous. And it faces obvious uphill battles, beginning with the frightened posture of Feingold's Democratic colleagues............Taking a strong and principled stand in defense of the rule of law and our country's principles is what we have been urging Democrats to do from the very beginning of this scandal, and it's what Sen. Feingold just did. I think the blogosphere as a whole ought to find the most effective ways for harnessing whatever influence and power we can muster in order to pressure as many Democrats as possible to support this resolution and to make it as clear as possible to the country why it is so warranted and urgently needed.