NOW Will You Republicans PLEASE PAY ATTENTION!?

[filkertom]

I've been meaning to go off on this whole domestic spying thing, but, honestly, The Rude Pundit is way more viciously eloquent about it than I could be.

Comments

[solarbird]

Having just had another small fight with a Republican who is outraged over the Bush administration giving in on torture, I don't think they will.

Meanwhile, inter-library loan now triggers visits from the Department of Homeland Security.

Agents' visit chills UMass Dartmouth senior
By AARON NICODEMUS, Standard-Times staff writer

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-05/12-17-05/a09lo650.htm

NEW BEDFORD -- A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's tome on Communism called "The Little Red Book."

Two history professors at UMass Dartmouth, Brian Glyn Williams and Robert Pontbriand, said the student told them he requested the book through the UMass Dartmouth library's interlibrary loan program.

The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Professor Pontbriand's class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number. He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the professors said.

The professors said the student was told by the agents that the book is on a "watch list," and that his background, which included significant time abroad, triggered them to investigate the student further.

[...]

The eavesdropping was apparently done without warrants.

[...]

The student told Professor Pontbriand and Dr. Williams that the Homeland Security agents told him the book was on a "watch list." They brought the book with them, but did not leave it with the student, the professors said.

[...]

Dr. Williams said he had been planning to offer a course on terrorism next semester, but is reconsidering, because it might put his students at risk.

[More at URL]

[phillip2637.livejournal.com]

"...Professor Pontbriand's class on fascism and totalitarianism
[...]
He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents...."

You buried the needle on my irony detector.

[cktraveler.livejournal.com]

NOW Will You Republicans PLEASE PAY ATTENTION!?

Probably not. It's the Daktaklakpak Argument.

Dak: We are superior to you because of X, Y, Z.
Human: (immediately and easily refutes arguments X, Y, and Z)
Dak: You're inferior, therefore your thinking is flawed and I can ignore anything you say.

GOP: We are the good guys because of X, Y, Z.
Dem: (immediately and easily refutes arguments X, Y, and Z)
GOP: We're the good guys, therefore everything you say is evil and I can ignore it. Why do you hate America?

[infinitemorning.livejournal.com]

There are times when I think that the die-hard Republicans will only stand up and take notice when the government is hunting down Quakers, hanging dead gay men from fences, organizing Prayvaganzas and trading red-cloaked, fertile women as commodities. Sadly, thus far, none of these times have happened to coincide with a dental visit. I keep meaning to ask him about cyanide-filled false teeth...

Also puts me in mind of my Yeats, of course:

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

I look forward to the end of this administration and shudder at the thought of the rough beast stumbling its way out of this one.

[infinitemorning.livejournal.com]

...and forgive me, to anyone who might have made the connection: the "hanging dead gay men from fences" bit was not deliberately intended as a specific reference to Matthew Shepard. Though the anti-gay crowd, including our "representatives" in Congress, is certainly doing its part to promote the bigotry that leads to such incidents, as well.

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

I doubt it, they know they're the good guys and everyone else is evil. Ergo they're right, you're wrong.

[armb.livejournal.com]

They are paying attention. They want to make it illegal to challenge a presidential vote (http://www.alternet.org/rights/29292/), even when it relies on machines with known flaws (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/13410061.htm). (North Carolina has said that voting machine manufacturers must supply source code for checking (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/30/diebold_hides_source/), but apparently they didn't really mean it (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/16/echelon_in_your_backyard/).)
And meanwhile we are supposed to be pleased the US has agreed to take part in talks on climate change so long as they specifically rule out (http://www.newscientist.com/channel/earth/mg18825302.400.html) "negotiations leading to new commitments" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4519702.stm).