On my last deployment to the Persian Gulf, a pair of TAD (temporary assigned duty) guys joined my ship for the countless doughnuts we did there (the Persian Gulf, in spite of its fearsome reputation, is unbearably dull 99.9% of the time). One of these guys was Chuck, a wet-behind-the-ears E-4 who thought he knew it all. We delighted in proving him wrong with the typical “new guy” pranks.
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Politics
Politics
There are 1,053 posts filed in Politics (this is page 99 of 106).
Rodger Koopman
I was delighted to find out today that Raleigh’s District B has some real choice for next month’s election: Rodger Koopman. I think Koopman will bring a breath of fresh air to the Raleigh City Council, something it desperately needs. He gets bonus points for being a veteran and an IT geek like me.
Koopman is also steadfast against paving our nature parks, like Horseshoe Farm Park and my beloved neighborhood park, Durant Nature Park. In other words, Koopman will actually listen to his constituents. Imagine!
Koopman is attending some meet-and-greets tonight. I might show up to see what he has to say. For those who can’t make it, you can watch the Youtube campaign video from his run for Wake County Commissioner last year.
Going, Going, Gonzo!
There’s a Southern saying that applies to outgoing U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: “if his mouth’s moving, he’s lying.” Gonzales finally got the point and tendered his resignation today, ending one of the most contentious terms as attorney general in recent memory.
What gets me is Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) statement after Gonzales’s resignation:
“It is my hope that whomever President Bush selects as the next attorney general, he or she is not subjected to the same poisonous partisanship that we’ve sadly grown accustomed to over the past eight months.”
Uh, you been under a rock for the past seven years, Mitch?
Independence Hall – The Birthplace of Freedom
I finally got a chance to tour Independence Hall today. I arrived this rainy day after the regular tours were over, leaving me with just the “open house” tour that began at five. I bided my time by viewing the Liberty Bell, then progressing to Congress Hall, where the U.S. Congress met while Washington, DC was being built.
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Independence National Historical Park
The client site overlooks the Independence National Historical Park. The Liberty Bell is literally right across the street. While we were working I was drawn to the conference room window, overlooking the spot where President George Washington lived in the original President’s House (the pre-White House).
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Protect America Act of 2007
Any member of Congress – whether Democratic, Republican, or Connecticut Weasel – who voted for the Protect America Act of 2007 deserves to be voted out of office. Especially the Democratic ones, who ought to know better. Cowards! Apparently no one learned anything from the last election, so its time for a refresher.
I wonder why we even bother pretending to have a Constitution anymore. Or separation of powers.
Here’s the Hall of Shame from the Senate:
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The Bear Is Awakening
ExxonMobil and its shareholders aren’t the only beneficiaries of today’s high oil prices. It seems Russia is starting to flex its military muscle again with its forays to the North Pole, dropping (unexploding) bombs on neighboring Georgia, and overflying our military bases with its Tu-95 bombers – the first since the end of the Cold War.
I tell ya, if the world wasn’t a safer place than it was seven years ago, I’d be a little concerned.
Text of Substitute HB 1587 Bill
Brian Bowman’s Wilson Fiber site has the text of the substitute HB 1587 that came out of the House finance committee today. Check out the PDF here and here is the text:
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N.C. Bill Limiting Municipal Internet Effectively Killed!
Mark Kleinschmidt reports (and Wilson’s Brian Bowman confirms) that N.C. House Bill 1587, the so-called Local Government Fair Competition Act, has been moved to committee. This effectively kills it, thanks to the many citizens who let their opposition be heard!
Says, Kleinschmidt:
Reports from the committee meetings tell me that after the committee’s action, Chairman Luebke publicly thanked those who took part in the “tremendous grass roots effort, ” that “brought this bill to a halt.”
Money And Politics
Having just read how North Carolina’s “Bottle Bill” that would put a refundable deposit on canned or bottled drinks was shelved due to intense corporate lobbying in spite of its popularity with the public, I’m brought back to my idea of making some political television and radio advertising free.
Corporate interests are calling the shots in today’s political landscape. Legislators fear the stink that corporations might raise should these corporations not get their way.
Who can blame them? When it comes to politics, money talks. Money means speech. If a bill’s opponent has a large bank account, that opponent is formidable. Joe Public doesn’t stand a chance of receiving the same attention from his representative in the face of such resources. Ergo, Joe Public’s interests do not matter in the politician’s mind.
Somehow, money needs to be removed from the equation if our governments are ever going to serve the needs of their citizens and not just their corporate “citizens.” How can this playing field be effectively leveled? Is the dubious Santa Clara vs. The Southern Pacific Railroad case to blame for this mess?