I Can See Russia From My HOUSE!

Tina Fey should run for office as Gov. Palin.

I am so stunned by McAlzhiemer’s choice for VP, that I don’t even know what to say.

If you have looked at Silly Monkey before, you can probably guess that I am campaigning for Obama/Biden. (Even though I am not Joe Biden’s biggest fan (he is as in the pocket of big money as McCain) , I think he is a better choice for Obama than Palin ever could be for McAlzhiemer’s)

Quick update since my last post, I have moved back to the Northeast and have taken a good opportunity with a Social Security Disability firm in Massachusetts.

Peace

Silly

Blog? I don’t need no stinking Blog!

I have been working and studying and uninterested in writing for a number of reasons. My sincere apologies.

I was thrilled with the election results. I am no longer engaged but I am in love. Awwww. I am interviewing for jobs with Thomson that will put me back home in Massachusetts or in Seattle which would be cool too. Why? OCEANS.

As a result, I am looking at ships and boats again in a way that I haven’t in a long time…because I have lived too long in states where there are many lakes but no BIG sail boats/ships.

I am puzzled by the Democratic party leadership in the Senate. I am more impressed by the leadership in the House. I am left a bit disappointed by the leading candidates for prez. They are playing it safe-which makes me sick.

Vilsack Vilsack Vilsack! ARRRGGGGHHH! Not cool. We MUST get public finding for elections for federal offices.

Senators that need to go in 2006 because they voted to suspend habeas in S.3930 or HR.6166.

Here is a list of the Senators who are up for re-election who voted to suspend Habeas Corpus and give the President the authority to interpret the Geneva Convention. I put a question mark by the dems because I am puzzled by their votes.

Allen (R-VA) (Racist?)
Dem Opponent Jim Webb http://www.webbforsenate.com/ (may not like women)
Burns (R-MT)

Dem Opponent Jon Tester http://www.testerforsenate.com/

Carper (D-DE)

Write-in?

DeWine (R-OH)

Dem Opponent Brown http://www.sherrodbrown.com/ (voted yes on HR 6166)
Ensign (R-NV)

Dem Opponent Carter http://www.carterfornevada.com/

Frist (R-TN)

Dem Opponent Ford http://fordfortennessee.com/ (voted yes on HR6166)
Hatch (R-UT)

Green opponent ?HATCH? http://www.hatchforsenate.org/

Dem opponent Pashdown http://www.pashdown.org/

Hutchison (R-TX)

Dem opponent Radnofsky http://www.radnofsky.com/

Kyl (R-AZ)

Dem opponent Jim Pederson http://www.pederson2006.com/

Lieberman (D/R-CT)

Lamont http://nedlamont.com/

Lott (R-MS)

Erik Fleming http://www.fleming2006.org/

Lugar (R-IN)

NO DEM OPPONENT?

Menendez (D-NJ)

?
Nelson (D-fl)

?

Nelson (D-NE)

?

Santorum (R-PA)

Pro-life Bob Casey? http://www.bobcasey.com/

Stabenow (D-MI)

?

Talent (R-MO)

Claire McCaskill http://www.claireonline.com/

Thomas (R-WY)

Dale Groutage http://www.dalegroutageforsenate.com/

12 Vichy Dems…

Here is the vote summary for s3930. What a bunch of stumblefucks.  

Vote Summary

Question: On Passage of the Bill (S. 3930 As Amended )
Vote Number:	259	Vote Date:	September 28, 2006, 06:37 PM
Required For Majority:	1/2	Vote Result:	Bill Passed
Measure Number:	S. 3930
Measure Title:	A bill to authorize trial by military commission for violations of the law of war, and for other purposes.

Vote Counts:	YEAs	65
	NAYs	34
	Not Voting	1

Vote Summary

By Senator Name

By Vote Position

By Home State

S.3930/HR6166 (or Torturing the Constitution)

Alot has happened since my last entry.

AND the House and Senate are helping dubya undermine a little document I like to call the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

I have spent the last little while sending and posting the following to all the D and I and to some of the Rs in the Senate. The House was a loss ab initio.

Like to hear it? Here it go!

Dear Senator:
I am writing you to ask you to vote against or at least delay the vote on S.3930 until the end of the current session. While I am moved to write by many aspects of the bill, my primary motivation for writing is contained in Sec. 6(e)(1) of the bill which states in relevant part:
No court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the United States…
I noticed while sending my notes regarding s.3930 to various Senators, that the Senate home page shows that the Senate is, “Celebrating the Constitution”, while omitting the fact that you are planning a vote to undermine it in a fundamental manner. Specifically, the bit of the U.S. Constitution which states:
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

U.S.C.A. Const. Art. I § 9, cl. 2.
And the Supreme Court which has held repeatedly on the matter:
[the writ] has been accepted as the specific instrument to obtain release from [unlawful] confinement.”
Wilkinson v. Dotson 544 U.S. 74, *79 (U.S. 2005), Citing:
It is clear, not only from the language of ss 2241(c)(3) and 2254(a), but also from the common-law history of the writ, that the essence of habeas corpus is an attack by a person in custody upon the legality of that custody, and that the traditional function of the writ is to secure release from illegal custody.
Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, *484 (U.S.N.Y. 1973)
I submit that no one in our government has even attempted to make a case that we are either in rebellion or under threat of an invasion sufficient to justify the invocation of the suspension clause. Because of this, I predict that if you pass this bill and it becomes a law, it will be found to be unconstitutional or in the alternative it will be repealed after you lose your seat.
Furthermore, I believe that a significant reason people outside of the U.S. respected our country in the past or people from other countries have chosen to emigrate to the U.S, is that this country actually practices the idea that government action against the individual is limited by law and can be redressed at all, let alone in a speedy fashion. I further submit that fear of our influence, military power, or our ability to hold an individual illegally for several years without a hearing is not why people abroad like us or choose to come here.
As a body, both legislative branches’ apparent willingness to directly subvert the Constitution is stupefying.
So what about the non-citizen enemy-combatants? Why don’t you want them tried and convicted in a U.S. Federal Court? Are the architects of the first World Trade Center bombing not in Federal prison? I am at a loss which, frankly, does not happen often.
Regarding the application of law and the power of government against non-citizens:
Is the US a signatory to the Geneva Convention? WL cite 6 U.S.T. 3316. Noting in particular Articles 3, 4, and 5. Was that treaty ratified by the Senate? If so, is it not the law of the land? If so, isn’t the President supposed to support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States?
:–”I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
U.S.C.A. Const. Art. II § 1, cl. 7
Isn’t he, with his current attempt to get you to pass this law allowing the use of torture and the never ending detention of people who may fall under the above referenced articles, undermining the Constitution and laws of the United States?
To be simplistic, aren’t we better than the bad guys because we afford the protection of law to everyone?
Finally, Senator, I exhort you! Stand up for one of the most basic principles of our society! Vote for the rule of law.
James D. Skelton

Attorney at Law
P.S. What should a voter do, if the letters they send to their Senators regarding legislation that impacts foundational elements of this society seem to be ignored?

Long time no post!

So much has happened. Hmmmm…..Where to begin……

Scooter fingers BUSH! (Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!) Nice one on Firedoglake Linked through the KOS

DELAY resigns pre-federal indictment! (Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!)

Feingold moves the Senate to censure Bush! (Snoring on this one, maybe this will pick up steam now?) I signed his email petition and forwarded it to 10 friends. What the hell is up with these Vichy Dems? 

I have read A LOT!

Since my last post I have started my LLM in Taxation and read the following:

Three chapters of: The Federal Income Taxation of Individuals

And for fun?

By Andreas Eschbach:

The Carpet Makers 

By Janet Evanovich

One for the Money

Two for the Dough

Three to get Deadly

Four to Score

By William Dietz:

Deathday

Earthrise

Legion of the Damned (which has me wanting to run away and join the FFL)

Final Battle

By Blood Alone

Re-read:

By John Allen Paulos

Innumeracy

By Terry Pratchett

The Color of Magic

The Light Fantastic (Yes, I am going to re-read all of Discworld.)

From The Federalist Papers:

Nos. 1-10

I am linking to Act Blue…

I have linked to Act Blue because I am interested in seeing a democrat (DFL in MN) candidate in every race, and this is the only place where I have seen them listed sensibly. I will continue to update as I learn more about the candidates!

I think that the best reason to look at act blue is to see how many state seats are uncontested in Minnesota. Scary.
Any other simple lists of open seats, races and candidates?

http://www.actblue.com/list/sillymoney

www.actblue.com

Ports? VP Shootings? Horrific Mudslides?

Where have I been?

Port security is failing to secure us from the importation of scary stuff because the Bush administration has not asked for funding to provide the needed improvements.

While I would obviously prefer that a US company manage the ports, the foreign ownership of the port management company is not NECESSARILY a problem. The problem, in my view, arises when the company retained has ties to the shipment of nuclear material/infrastructure North Korea and Iran. Moreover, this administration continues to harp on Iraq while the real sources of terrorists and the support for terrorists; i.e., Egypt, Saudi, Yemen, Iran and UAE provided the personnel, money, shelter, and travel to the terrorists responsible for 911.

Hey check out the Redcross page on the mudslides. Terrible.

http://www.9-11commission.gov/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-smerconish/the-uae-read-pg-138_b_16217.html

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364×495756
http://www.redcross.org/news/in/profiles/philippines_mudslide.html

If you agree pass it on…if you don’t delete it!

Please read to the end, including the email at the end of this post.

This is an interesting tactic. My sister has forwarded a couple of these to me during our election time email exchanges and such. She and her husband are Bushies. I have noticed that some of the conservative messages end with the tag line: IF YOU AGREE….. Pass this on to all your proud American friends: You know the other choice you have …

Sorry! Not gonna do it! There are a whole bunch of reasons why this email is completely bogus. Note that the email is intended for PROUD AMERICANS.

1) It assumes that we went into Iraq to “straighten out a mess.”

2) We did not invade Iraq to free the Iraqi people or straighten out a mess. We invaded Iraq to stop the Iraqi’s from attacking us or facilitating terrorist attacks with WMD.

Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq, PL 107-243, October 16, 2002, 116 Stat 1498

3) Iraqi women don’t generally wear the burka. Afghani women are STILL wearing the head to toe burka because of the resdiual impact of Taliban rule. Iraqi women (until now) wear the abaya and/or a head covering and (until now) have been significantly more liberated than other arab women. I grant that the person who wrote this story may not know the difference.

4) Ironically, I actually agree with the part of the message that suggests the Iraqi people are not worth helping because they never helped themselves. Why didn’t we help them before? Because we didn’t give a hoot about the Iraqi people during 20 plus years of oppression. That the Iraqis were being oppressed, however, is not a valid justification for sending Americans to die in Iraq and, of course, it was not the legal reason cited above.

5) MOST IMPORTANTLY AND THE CORE OF MY DISAGREEMENT WITH THIS MESSAGE:

NO PROUD AMERICAN HAS EVER FOUGHT OR DIED FOR THE FREEDOM TO PERSONALLY ATTACK ANOTHER PERSON VERBALLY OR OTHERWISE. The “Iraqi” woman in this message was exposing herself to a probably unwanted introduction to the criminal and civil justice systems.

It is well established that there is no right under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution for a person to engage in free speech or other political activity on private property without the property owner’s permission. Lloyd Corp. v. Tanner, 407 U.S. 551, 569, 92 S.Ct. 2219, 33 L.Ed.2d 131 (1972); United Food & Commercial Workers’ Union Local 919 v. Crystal Mall Assocs., 270 Conn. 261, 852 A.2d 659, 666 (Conn.2004) (emphasis added)

Publix Super Markets, Inc. v. Tallahasseans for Practical Law Enforcement (2005)

If you accept the rediculous premise that the current wars are being fought to protect our freedom, rather than our political/economic interests, then at the very least you should know that the right that people HAVE fought and died for: Your freedom of speech is protected from STATE or GOVERNMENT ACTION, not from the action of a customer in a store or store owner/employee or any other private citizen. It is the government that cannot restrict speech. The Constitution limits government action. That is what our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines have fought and died for.

SORRY. Anyone in the following email story could have told the “iraqi woman” to mind her mouth and/or leave the premises. Private citizens can restrict free speech all day long. Don’t believe me? Give it a try. Go down to Walmart and try to stage the protest of your chosing at the checkout line. Call me from jail and tell me how it turned out.

Here is the email:

From a Mother…..

I Love This ComebackOne of my sons serves in the military. He is still stateside, here in California. He called me yesterday to let me know how warm and welcoming people were to him, and his troops, everywhere he goes, telling how people shake their hands, and thank them for being willing to serve, and fight, for not only our own freedoms but so that others may have them also.But he also told me about an incident in the grocery store he stopped at yesterday, on his way home from the base. He said that ahead of several people in front of him stood a woman dressed in a burkha.

He said when she got to the cashier she loudly remarked about the U.S. flag lapel pin the cashier wore on her smock.The cashier reached up and touched the pin, and said proudly,” Yes, I always wear it and probably always will.”The woman in the burkha then asked the cashier when she was going to stop bombing country men, explaining that she was Iraqi.

A gentleman standing behind my son stepped forward, putting his arm around my son’s shoulders, and nodding towards my son, said in a calm and gentle voice to the Iraqi woman:

Lady, hundreds of thousands of men and women like this young man have fought and died so that YOU could stand here, in MY country and accuse a check-out cashier of bombing YOUR countrymen.

It is my belief if you had been this outspoken in YOUR own country, we wouldn’t need to be there today.

But, hey, if you have now learned how to speak out so loudly and clearly, I’ll gladly buy you a ticket and pay your way back to Iraq so you can straighten out the mess in YOUR country that you are obviously here in MY country to avoid.”

Everyone within hearing distance cheered!

IF YOU AGREE….. Pass this on to all your proud American friends: You know the other choice you have …

My Congressman:

Martin Sabo (D, MN), I checked him out on progressive punch. He seems to have good progressive “scores” but during the Roberts confirmation and the various crony appointments I wrote him too (in addition to the Senators). He sent back a condescending letter that pissed me off a bit. So, unless I start to hear more about him and his heroic efforts in the house, I will start to look for opposition to this guy too.
http://www.progressivepunch.org/
http://sabo.house.gov/