Up until recently, I followed Senator John Cornyn on Facebook, but his obsession with Attorny General Holder got to be a little much, and as his constituent, I expressed my opinion there. Well, it seems that Senator Cornyn can’t take the heat. I’ve had my Facebook account banned from posting comments on his page, and also had my Twitter account blocked by the Senator’s Twitter account.
The Senator questioned the constitutionality of the Obama administration’s change in deportation policy, and seemed to be saying it was the responsibility of Congress:
Art 1, sec. 8 US Const: Congress shall have the power to “establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization… .”
But the Senator appears far too obsessed and busy pursuing his witch-hunt against Attorney General Holder to spend any time on the Dream Act (or any other worthwhile legislation). He’s posted (some might call it spamming) over 25 links to articles this week calling for the resignation of Attorney General Holder on his Facebook page. Meanwhile, it appears that the charges Cornyn has leveled against Attorney General Holder are unfounded: Five Things To Know About The Republican Witchhunt Against Attorney General Holder.
This comment from Facebook sums it up pretty well:
Lori Ratcliff: I LOVE our president and am so happy that he is doing the right thing in spite of all the corporate shills in the Republican party. I am SO SICK of hearing all the hatred and racism spewing from the mouths (and computers) of Republicans. Never forget, Mr. Cornyn, that it is your job to represent ALL of us, not just your personal supporters. The president is doing the right thing in spite of the congress and I say, it’s about damn time.
sure, why not? They both feed the military-industrial complex, making weapons systems manufacturers rich, and the sheeple scared.
Yahoo News
Here’s a picture to keep in mind for when McCain announces he’s gonna run for president in 2008.
Texas arresting people in bars for being drunk
Wed Mar 22, 6:05 PM ET
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) – Texas has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said on Wednesday.
Yahoo News
Democrat wants Bush censured on eavesdropping – Yahoo! News
Mon Mar 13, 2:21 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congress should censure President George W. Bush for ordering domestic eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without a warrant, a Democratic senator said on Sunday.
Sen. Russ Feingold (news, bio, voting record) of Wisconsin told ABC’s “This Week” that he intends to push for a resolution that would censure the president for what he considers an unlawful wiretapping program authorized by the White House after the September 11 attacks.
“It’s an unusual step,” Feingold said of the measure he plans to introduce in the Senate on Monday. “It’s a big step. But what the president did by consciously and intentionally violating the Constitution and laws of this country with this illegal wiretapping, has to be answered.”
Coulter Jokes Justice Should Be Poisoned
Fri Jan 27, 12:10 PM ET
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Conservative commentator Ann Coulter, speaking at a traditionally black college, joked that Justice John Paul Stevens should be poisoned.
Coulter had told the Philander Smith College audience Thursday that more conservative justices were needed on the Supreme Court to change the current law on abortion. Stevens is one of the court’s most liberal members.
“We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens’ creme brulee,” Coulter said.
Yahoo News
Statement by Former Vice President Al Gore
2 hours, 46 minutes ago
WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 /U.S. Newswire/ — Following is a statement by former Vice President
Al Gore:
“The Administration’s response to my speech illustrates perfectly the need for a special counsel to review the legality of the NSA wiretapping program. The Attorney General is making a political defense of the President without even addressing the substantive legal questions that have so troubled millions of Americans in both political parties.
“There are two problems with the Attorney General’s effort to focus attention on the past instead of the present Administration’s behavior. First, as others have thoroughly documented, his charges are factually wrong. Both before and after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was amended in 1995, the Clinton/Gore Administration complied fully and completely with the terms of the law.
“Second, the Attorney General’s attempt to cite a previous administration’s activity as precedent for theirs — even though factually wrong — ironically demonstrates another reason why we must be so vigilant about their brazen disregard for the law. If unchecked, their behavior would serve as a precedent to encourage future presidents to claim these same powers, which many legal experts in both parties believe are clearly illegal.
“The issue, simply put, is that for more than four years, the executive branch has been wiretapping many thousands of American citizens without warrants in direct contradiction of American law. It is clearly wrong and disrespectful to the American people to allow a close political associate of the president to be in charge of reviewing serious charges against him.
“The country needs a full and independent investigation into the facts and legality of the present Administration’s program.”
Yahoo News
Washington Post
Poll: Americans Want Warrants for Spying
By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 24 minutes ago
WASHINGTON – A majority of Americans want the Bush administration to get court approval before eavesdropping on people inside the United States, even if those calls might involve suspected terrorists, an AP-Ipsos poll shows.
Over the past three weeks, President Bush and top aides have defended the electronic monitoring program they secretly launched shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, as a vital tool to protect the nation from al-Qaida and its affiliates.
Yet 56 percent of respondents in an AP-Ipsos poll said the government should be required to first get a court warrant to eavesdrop on the overseas calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens when those communications are believed to be tied to terrorism.
Yahoo News
Alito Confirmation Hearings Begin
By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 9, 2006; 1:12 PM
The Senate Judiciary Committee today opened confirmation hearings on the nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court, a choice that senators of both parties said brings into focus major questions on presidential power.
In an opening statement, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the chairman of the committee, said the hearing “comes at a time of great national concern” about balancing the civil rights of Americans and the president’s national security authority. He cautioned against jumping to any conclusions about Alito, a nominee widely seen as likely to shift the court to the right.
Washington Post
Man, the rhetoric has been turned up on this confirmation hearing, from both sides. Should be interesting…
Homeland Security opening private mail
Retired professor confused, angered when letter from abroad is opened
By Brock N. Meeks
Chief Washington correspondent MSNBC
Updated: 5:17 p.m. ET Jan. 6, 2006
Brock N. Meeks
Chief Washington correspondent
WASHINGTON – In the 50 years that Grant Goodman has known and corresponded with a colleague in the Philippines he never had any reason to suspect that their friendship was anything but spectacularly ordinary.
But now he believes that the relationship has somehow sparked the interest of the Homeland Security Department and led the agency to place him under surveillance.
Last month Goodman, an 81-year-old retired University of Kansas history professor, received a letter from his friend in the Philippines that had been opened and resealed with a strip of dark green tape bearing the words “by Border Protection” and carrying the official seal of the Department of Homeland Security.
MSNBC
