300 million nations, under gods, divisible, with liberty and justice for none

What does it say about this country that only 34 of our country's 100 Senators have a clue what the purpose of the Constitution is? Bayh's and Feinstein's yay votes are shocking and utterly disappointing. McConnell from Kentucky, Chaffee from Rhode Island, and Bennett from Utah were the only Republicans with the balls to stand up for the Constitution.

The United States Constitution has only been amended 17 times (after the Bill of Rights was added) in 217 years. One of those times a petty moral issue was added, later subtracted when people finally realized that the Constitution exists to explain our system of government and to protect citizens' rights, not to dictate virtues and vices. Seventeen times in 217 years - because people have respected what that Constitution stands for, its meaning, and its purpose. Prohibition was an idiotic abuse of the Constitution made possible only because women had just recently been given the right to vote and women's education levels were vastly beneath those of their male counterparts, probably contributing to a lack of full understanding of the Constitution's purpose. Now it seems most of the populace doesn't understand. This is a country where more and more frequently I am finding that people have a total disrespect for facts, where people misspell words and say "That's how I spell it," or people say "Dinosaurs didn't exist" while staring at the skeletal remains of one, or people are actually proud of their ignorance, laughing about not being able to point to Iraq on a map or not knowing what countries fought in WWI. The thing is we have a nation full of half-educated or poorly educated people who can read words but don't understand their meaning. Abstract concepts, nuances, tone, figurative language - none of this can be understood by these people. A literate society is a fundamental part of a developed country, but we keep falling further and further down the literacy scale, and people don't care. Americans don't seem to care much about anything anymore outside their person and property. Why do they hate America?

The fact is the Constitution and its Bill of Rights exist to give us a form of government that protects the rights of its citizens, you know, the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness stuff that Jefferson outlined in the Declaration of Independence? The Constitution does not exist to ban things we don't like or that offend us, to tell us what we can and cannot do, and it certainly does not exist to prevent people from protesting their government for its wrongdoings - quite the opposite, in fact. Protest is what keeps us from falling into dictatorship and tyranny. Silence is acceptance. You don't love America if you don't support the right of people to protest against the government, for that flag stands for the right to protest, among other things. You are desecrating the flag by supporting this amendment. Why do you hate America?

You know what's worse than burning the flag, I mean as far as the flag goes? Flag pizza boxes. Flag bikinis. Flag underwear. Flag toilet paper. Flag shirts. Flag socks. Flag napkins. Flag plates. These things are all a desecration of the stars and stripes. And think about it - all of that money that the flagwavers spend on flag products could be used to truly make America a better place, perhaps by lowering the national debt, or helping the poor get out of poverty, or cleaning up run down neighborhoods, or helping senior citizens get the prescriptions they need, or researching cures for cancer and other terrible diseases, or improving our pathetic schools. If you truly loved your country, you would be involved in this instead of sitting at home and watching television every night in your flag t-shirt. But no. People have to tell their politicians to ban flag burning, because all of America's problems are solved! There are no poor people, no sick, and the streets are paved with gold! Right. While our nation has some serious and deep-rooted problems, you worry about such petty things as someone burning a flag or gays getting married, neither of which affect your life or the lives of others. (You want to protect marriage? How about doing something to decrease the 50% hetero divorce rate in this country?) Burning a flag does not make a person sick. It does not take badly needed funds away from schools. Why do you hate America, flagwavers? You'll gladly stand up and sing God Bless America (why not God bless the whole world?), put your ribbons and stickers on your SUVs, and wave those tiny flags at parades, but when was the last time you went to a city council meeting, or wrote to your Congressman, or read the Constitution, the document that gives you the America you claim to love?

On the one hand, I am proud that this stupid waste of time and taxpayers' money bill was defeated and that there is still some sense among our nation's politicians. On the other hand, I am ashamed that this bill was only defeated by ONE vote. Surely 3/4 of the states would not have ratified this amendment...I am glad I don't have to find out.

The 34 clued in are in bold, the clueless Democrats are in red:

Akaka (D-HI), Nay
Alexander (R-TN), Yea
Allard (R-CO), Yea
Allen (R-VA), Yea
Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Yea
Bennett (R-UT), Nay
Biden (D-DE), Nay
Bingaman (D-NM), Nay
Bond (R-MO), Yea
Boxer (D-CA), Nay
Brownback (R-KS), Yea
Bunning (R-KY), Yea
Burns (R-MT), Yea
Burr (R-NC), Yea
Byrd (D-WV), Nay
Cantwell (D-WA), Nay
Carper (D-DE), Nay
Chafee (R-RI), Nay
Chambliss (R-GA), Yea
Clinton (D-NY), Nay
Coburn (R-OK), Yea
Cochran (R-MS), Yea
Coleman (R-MN), Yea
Collins (R-ME), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Nay
Cornyn (R-TX), Yea
Craig (R-ID), Yea
Crapo (R-ID), Yea
Dayton (D-MN), Yea
DeMint (R-SC), Yea
DeWine (R-OH), Yea
Dodd (D-CT), Nay
Dole (R-NC), Yea
Domenici (R-NM), Yea
Dorgan (D-ND), Nay
Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Ensign (R-NV), Yea
Enzi (R-WY), Yea
Feingold (D-WI), Nay
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Frist (R-TN), Yea
Graham (R-SC), Yea
Grassley (R-IA), Yea
Gregg (R-NH), Yea
Hagel (R-NE), Yea
Harkin (D-IA), Nay
Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Hutchison (R-TX), Yea
Inhofe (R-OK), Yea
Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Isakson (R-GA), Yea
Jeffords (I-VT), Nay
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kennedy (D-MA), Nay
Kerry (D-MA), Nay
Kohl (D-WI), Nay
Kyl (R-AZ), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay
Leahy (D-VT), Nay
Levin (D-MI), Nay
Lieberman (D-CT), Nay
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Lott (R-MS), Yea
Lugar (R-IN), Yea
Martinez (R-FL), Yea
McCain (R-AZ), Yea
McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
Mikulski (D-MD), Nay
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
Murray (D-WA), Nay
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Obama (D-IL), Nay
Pryor (D-AR), Nay
Reed (D-RI), Nay
Reid (D-NV), Yea
Roberts (R-KS), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Santorum (R-PA), Yea
Sarbanes (D-MD), Nay
Schumer (D-NY), Nay
Sessions (R-AL), Yea
Shelby (R-AL), Yea
Smith (R-OR), Yea
Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Specter (R-PA), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
Stevens (R-AK), Yea
Sununu (R-NH), Yea
Talent (R-MO), Yea
Thomas (R-WY), Yea
Thune (R-SD), Yea
Vitter (R-LA), Yea
Voinovich (R-OH), Yea
Warner (R-VA), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Nay

Roll call here. May each and every one of the Yeas lose their next elections. Why do they hate America?

URGENT: From Google

A Note to Google Users on Net Neutrality:

The Internet as we know it is facing a serious threat. There's a debate heating up in Washington, DC on something called "net neutrality" – and it's a debate that's so important Google is asking you to get involved. We're asking you to take action to protect Internet freedom.

In the next few days, the House of Representatives is going to vote on a bill that would fundamentally alter the Internet. That bill, and one that may come up for a key vote in the Senate in the next few weeks, would give the big phone and cable companies the power to pick and choose what you will be able to see and do on the Internet.

Today the Internet is an information highway where anybody – no matter how large or small, how traditional or unconventional – has equal access. But the phone and cable monopolies, who control almost all Internet access, want the power to choose who gets access to high-speed lanes and whose content gets seen first and fastest. They want to build a two-tiered system and block the on-ramps for those who can't pay.

Creativity, innovation and a free and open marketplace are all at stake in this fight. Please call your representative (202-224-3121) and let your voice be heard.

Thanks for your time, your concern and your support.

Eric Schmidt

Take action now

Call Congress at 202-224-3121 or click here to enter your zip code to find your representative

Sign the Save the Internet petition to Congress for Internet freedom, and write a letter to your congressperson.It's Our Net

Sign up to receive occasional updates about this and other important public policy issues [?]

Go here for the links.

Why does Charmucks hate America?

...and want to destroy history?

US House passes bill to use chemical weapons on Columbia. Seriously.

I hate our government. These Congressmen need to be tortured:

On April 16, the New York Times ran a full-page ad from contact lens producer Bausch and Lomb, announcing the recall of its “ReNu with MoistureLoc” rewetting solution, and warning the 30 million American wearers of soft contact lenses about Fusarium keratitis. This infection, first detected in Asia, has rapidly spread across the United States. It is caused by a mold-like fungus that can penetrate the cornea of soft contact lens wearers, causing redness and pain that can lead to blindness—requiring a corneal replacement.

That same week, the House of Representatives passed a provision to a bill requiring that the very same fungus be sprayed in “a major drug-producing country,” such as Colombia. The bill’s sponsor was Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) and its most vocal supporter was his colleague Dan Burton (R-Ind.), who has been promoting the fungus for almost a decade as key to winning the drug war.

The Colombian government has come out against it. And those entities of the U.S. government that have studied the use of Fusarium for more than 30 years don’t recommend it either: The Office of National Drug Control Policy, also known as the Drug Czar’s office, CIA, DEA, the State Department and the USDA have all concluded that the fungus is unsafe for humans and the environment.

“Fusarium species are capable of evolving rapidly. … Mutagenicity is by far the most disturbing factor in attempting to use a Fusarium species as a bioherbicide,” wrote David Struhs, then secretary of Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection, in a 1999 letter rejecting the use of the fungus against Florida’s outdoor marijuana crop. “It is difficult, if not impossible, to control the spread of Fusarium species.”

Mutation of the fungus allows it to attack other “hosts.” The eye-eating Fusarium seems to be a result of such a mutation. After all, the soft-contact lenses that it grows behind are a recent development—having only been commercially available since 1971.

The DEA stopped funding Fusarium research in the United States during the early ’90s after it learned that Fusarium infections can be deadly in “immunocompromised” people—not only AIDS patients and those with other illnesses, but also those who are severely malnourished. The University of the Andes in Bogotá has recently reported that 12 percent of Colombian children suffer from chronic malnutrition. Spraying this fungus on a vulnerable population could be perceived as using a biological weapon.

The CIA has been against the use of Fusarium to kill drug crops since at least 2000. At that time, one official told the Times, “I don’t support using a product on a bunch of Colombian peasants that you wouldn’t use against a bunch of rednecks growing marijuana in Kentucky.”

A top scientist from the USDA, which has studied the fungus the longest, said that his agency “cannot support” its use. And the State Department, whose Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement carries out drug crop eradication all over the world, does not support it, either.

In 2000, when Congress first passed “Plan Colombia,” the Colombian aid package that ordered the use of the fungus in Colombia, President Clinton waived the part of the bill that dealt with the fungus because he thought its use would be perceived as biological warfare. At the same time, the Andean Community of Nations, an organization comprising Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, banned it within their territories.

So, who does support the spraying of the eye-eating fungus over other countries? Only a few adamant drug war jihadists in the House, led by Burton, who are frustrated by the lack of progress in the drug war.

The fungus provision has already passed the House, but the Senate version of the bill contains no similar language. Responsibility for a final decision rests on the conference committee where the House and Senate bills will be reconciled—scheduled to happen before this summer.

Indiana Republicans. If this were to ever happen, I hope Columbia shoots our planes down. This is an act of war and a gross violation of human rights, and I am ashamed that the US Congress would even consider something this vile. All Americans should be ashamed, too. But I'm sure the hicks in Indiana will continue to elect these conscienceless creatures. Liberty weeps.

Another example of how Evangelicals are NOT Christians

Can you imagine the backlash if a video game's purpose was to kill all of the Christians you saw? What about a lion feeding game? Why not? The Christian crackheads have released a game where you kill Muslims, Jews, and gays.

Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian theocracy, and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission - both a religious mission and a military mission -- to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state - especially moderate, mainstream Christians. Your mission is "to conduct physical and spiritual warfare"; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice. You have never felt so powerful, so driven by a purpose: you are 13 years old. You are playing a real-time strategy video game whose creators are linked to the empire of mega-church pastor Rick Warren, best selling author of The Purpose Driven Life. full article