Category Archives: Civil Liberties
Starting? It’s Already Here.
This, says Kos diarist Maccabee, is how it starts. However, looking at how many of these stories I’ve blogged already — enough that I’d start a category for them if the McCarthyism Watch wasn’t already doing the work of compiling … Continue reading
Finding Moses on the Freeway
Now, here’s a 10 commandments display I have no problem with at all; erected by a private individual, on his own property, and at his own expense. With all the farmland along the highway, and churches along the roads, self-described … Continue reading
Wal-Mart of Mass Destruction
So, half a dozen middle eastern men walk into a Wal-Mart. It sounds like the beginning of a joke doesn’t it? I wish it was, rather than the start of a story of petrified patriots with hair-trigger panic buttons. These … Continue reading
Egg Meet Face Meet Mao
OK. So, I’d planned on a bit of “blog silence” over the next couple of days, but I’d be a bit remiss if I didn’t post an update on the story I blogged about so passionately just recently. That is, … Continue reading
Queer Kiss-In = Credible Threat
I know, I know. I said I wouldn’t be blogging much, but I can’t help it. There are some things that make me sicker than food poisoning, and the story I just read is one of them. You’ve heard about … Continue reading
Conservative Contortionists
In a response to one of my previous posts, from a member of the Pajamas Media posse (whose blog bears a name I ain’t gonna touch: “Protein Wisdom”) comes this fine example of the seemingly limitless possibilities of conservative to … Continue reading
Civil Liberties on Slow Boil
I’ve been away from the blog most of the day, as holiday socializing ratchets up for us this week. (Today it was annual Rainbow Families/DC holiday party.) Sitting down to the computer this evening, it’s interesting to see the reaction … Continue reading
Feds Come Knockin’ Over Mao Book
Just in case you think they’re kidding about wanting to know what you read, be careful what you request from the library. A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy … Continue reading
I Repeat
The former secretary of state defends outsourcing torture. The president justifies secretly spying on citizens. Let’s review. The object of terrorism is to try to force us to change our way of life, is to force us to retreat, is … Continue reading
Final Score in the “War on Terror”
The object of terrorism is to try to force us to change our way of life, is to force us to retreat, is to force us to be what we’re not. And that’s — they’re going to fail. They’re simply … Continue reading
You Sure You Wanna Read That?
Just a reminder that the Patriot Act, which some in Congress only just got around to reading, gives the government to keep tabs on what you’re reading. So, what on your bookshelves, Citizen? Via The People’s Republic of Seabrook.
A Nation of Sleepwalkers Awakens
According to all I’ve heard, it’s dangerous to wake sleepwalkers. There’s no telling what they might do. They might be startled and respond violently. The same is true of sleepers who suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome, like I Vietnam vet … Continue reading
Bush Laughing Last on the Patriot Act?
I recently saw a video that included Arianna Huffington saying that while president Bush comes across as irredeemably stupid, it’s also easy to miss the genius behind the stupidity. I think she may be on to something. It’s so easy … Continue reading
Still More Dispatches from Dubya’s America
It’s been a while since red-state America slapped us upside the head with a reminder about just whose country we’re living in. A North Carolina teenager found out real quick when he dared take his dissent against Dubya to the … Continue reading
Still Reading Over Your Shoulder
It’s been a while since I written anything about the Patriot Act and its provision allowing the FBI and other law enforcement agents to demand sales records from libraries and booksellers — in other words, the government wants to know … Continue reading