Help Karl Rove Learn To Drop The Soap

Let's help put this man where he belongs.

AL GORE: Green Energy by 2018 (7/17 Speech)

Gotta give a man props for keeping up the good fight.

I Met The Walrus

Topical short from John Lennon's Toronto "Give Peace a Chance" period.

The Race Card: Confronting The New "Big Lies"

Excerpted From:
GOEBBELS' PRINCIPLES OF PROPAGANDA

Based upon Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda by Leonard W. Doob, published in Public Opinion and Propaganda; A Book of Readings edited for The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.

13. Propaganda must be carefully timed.

a. The communication must reach the audience ahead of competing propaganda.

b. A propaganda campaign must begin at the optimum moment

c. A propaganda theme must be repeated, but not beyond some point of diminishing effectiveness

14. Propaganda must label events and people with distinctive phrases or slogans.

a. They must evoke desired responses which the audience previously possesses

b. They must be capable of being easily learned

c. They must be utilized again and again, but only in appropriate situations

d. They must be boomerang-proof

Throwing Our Freedoms Out the Window??

This great opinion piece from a man with a unique perspective on America. He's a Brit who's been in the US for many years and who three years ago took a solemn oath and was proclaimed a citizen of this country. He has a cool blog, too.
-Maltok 5

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it." - Mark Twain

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

The Eagle Has Landed (maybe for good)

Today the Senate passed Bush's bill extending the government's power to eavesdrop on it's citizens & granting immunity to the telco companies who assisted in illegal surveillance. Obviously the news & blogs are all over this with what appears to be pretty consistent condemnation of the bill & the 69 Senators who voted for it, including a certain Presumptive Candidate for President, Barack Obama.

The democrats are running on a platform of Change. But we already have a majority of Democrats in BOTH houses and yet the war continues and the trampling of the 4th Amendment alongside it. Perhaps I'm worrying needlessly, in fact Sen. Bond (R-Mo) claimed that "unless I have al Queda on speed dial I have nothing to fear" This from a government that can't even implement a functional no-fly list.

Three years ago this fall, I stood in a room with 842 others & swore an oath of allegiance to a country that I truly believed represented the highest ideals of freedom & liberty on our planet. It breaks my heart to see small minded, self-serving politicians, their lobbyists & the corporations that support them, trample on the very ideals I stood up for. To wit: “I will from this point forward grant my allegiance to the Constitution of the United States, and to its Laws, defending the Constitution and the Laws from all enemies that attack them.” Seemingly in 2008, defending the Constitution from enemies will serve only to get me wiretapped?

Harry Buttle, Meet Harry Tuttle...

Remember the movie Brazil, the Orwellian dark comedy by Terry Gilliam, where the plot evolved around a mistake in a government machine that ended the life of one man, "Harry Buttle," while leaving the real "terrorist," "Harry Tuttle," (played by Robert DeNiro) free to perform his nefarious deeds of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning repairs. Well, now we have more evidence that truth is stranger than fiction. Not surprising with this administration. I just hope when they're surveying you, they don't mistake a "T" for a "B."

Sleep well tonight America...
-Maltok 5

Bush Signs Expanded Wiretap Law
By Paula Wolfson White House 10 July 2008

Wolfson report - Download (MP3)
Wolfson report - Listen (MP3)

U.S. President George Bush has signed legislation expanding the government's surveillance powers. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports from the White House the measure also protects telecommunication companies from lawsuits stemming from assistance they provide to help track potential terror suspects.

President Bush (right) speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, 10 July 2008, prior to signing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)

One day after the bill cleared Congress, the president signed it into law.

"Today I am pleased to sign landmark legislation that is vital to the security of our people," he said.

The measure is the most extensive revision of U.S. surveillance law in 30 years. It is designed to enable intelligence agencies to move quickly to monitor communications involving terror suspects, in some cases without a special court warrant.

Karl Rove Flips Off America... Again and Again and...

So, Karl the skating skater, skates by yet another time, while flipping the bird (see picture below) to you and me, and most importantly our future rights and freedoms. Does anyone know where I can order a few hundred spines online to be shipped to the congressional democrats? -Maltok 5 Former Bush Aide Rove Defies Congressional Subpoena
By Dan Robinson Washington 10 July 2008

Karl Rove, the former close political aide to President Bush, failed to appear at a congressional hearing Thursday to testify about allegations he was involved in politicizing the Department of Justice. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill.

The empty chair in front of the House judiciary subcommittee was a reminder of the difficulty Democrats have had in obtaining testimony from Rove, and two other former and current White House officials.

Last year, former White House counsel Harriet Miers, and President Bush's current chief of staff Joshua Bolten, defied subpoenas from the House Judiciary Committee, triggering a House vote to hold both in contempt of Congress.

Former White House Advisor Karl Rove gestures towards the press at the White House in Washington, D.C. (file photo)

Rove was subpoenaed earlier this year in connection with Democratic attempts to determine if he exerted improper political influence in the firing of nine U.S. federal prosecutors, and to answer questions about a government corruption case against a former Democratic governor of Alabama.

He offered to speak with lawmakers only about the second of these, and only behind closed doors without a transcript and not under oath, all conditions Democrats rejected. He has denied ever trying to influence Justice Department decisions. [more]

Obama's Second Chance to Make a First Impression...

Now that the FISA vote is postponed a bit, Obama has some time to recalibrate his communications regarding the current pending legislation. As usual, Keith Olberman has a great take on this.
-Maltok 5