I Got Nuthin'

Image credit: U.S. Air Force via Wikipedia.

I started to write something for Independence Day, but then I took a look around the Internet, and that was such a downer that I just couldn't continue. This guy, who ought to know better, decided that Obama's failure to even show up for the FISA vote that mattered was some sort of master plan. Not that Mr. Dean should have any recollection of secret master plans, or anything. Thankfully, both Glenn Greenwald and Dana Hunter have delivered smackdowns of this piece, in what I must say are very contrasting styles.

Then this clown suggested that if we all stop picking on Obama-wan, maybe people would respect all us FISA "reform" opponents more. Yes, we'll just keep quiet about it. That's the sure way to get attention, isn't it? The guy who wrote this, John Cole, is treated by lots of folks as if he's some sort of genius. If that's genius, I'm an Einstein. And just to make that some folks know what I mean by that, I'll add that I can't remember which one is Special Relativity or General Relativity. I'll leave it to a real Einstein, Glenn Greenwald, to set this fool straight:

What all of this is really about -- the reason why political elites ... are so eager to defend it -- is because they really do believe that lawbreaking isn't wrong, that it doesn't deserve punishment, when engaged in by them rather than by commoners. People who defend telecom immunity or who say that it's not a big deal are, by logical necessity, adopting this view: "Our highest political officials and largest corporations shouldn't face consequences when they break our laws as long as they claim it was for our own good." That's the destructive premise that lies at the heart of this deeply corrupt measure, the reason it matters so much. Just like the pardon of Nixon, the protection of Iran-contra criminals, and the commutation of Lewis Libby's sentence, this bill is yet another step in cementing a two-tiered system of justice in America where our highest political officials and connected elite can break our laws with impunity.

The political establishment and telecom immunity -- why it matters

Let's see, John, where have we seen mention of lawless, corrupt government that claims to have to do illegal things to protect us?

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Something Some Bunch Of Dirty Hippies Wrote A Long Time Ago

Now, if those guys had just shut the hell up, who knows how much better off we'd be? And just when was that thing signed?

The only thing more depressing than watching what makes my country special dying in a spasm of stupid rhetoric and shameless opportunism is to have to read or listen to the excuses people offer as to why it's not so bad, and why we should all just get with the program.

I hope your Independence Day was a good one.