Big Love???

I'm writing regarding Rhonda Lokeman's article, assumingly about Mitt Romney, titled "Big Love's Big Problem".  Although, I'm somewhat confused.  Governor Romney's name is mentioned a total of six times in the article, while the name of "Big Love" is mentioned eleven times.  Is Big Love a nickname for Romney? 

Will George Bush cancel the 2008 election

Dear Harvey:  You flight of imagination is only matched by those who said that the price of gasoline would be manipulated downwards to re-elect George Bush in the last election or that Osama Bin Laden would be “captured” just before the last election.  Good try, but you are just flapping your pen and lips.

Free speech

Dear All,

As a resident of Kent and citizen of Ohio I find this whole incident troubling.

A ticket for advertising on public property? How many tickets have been issued for people advertising yard/garage sales? signs posted for the monthly PWP Dance? signs for the Car Show? The Kent Harvest Festival? Art in the Park?

Just today I "witnessed" two grown males (yes, it took two of them- one to pound the stake and the other to attach the sign) place a sign at the corner of Stow and West Main Street that says "Car Show". Of course, they parked their vehicle at Logo's Bookstore so I was unable to get a license plate and contact the police to arrest these criminals. I feel bad for the city of Kent that these two men are at large, possibly posting more signs elsewhere.

I hope that I am not viewed as an accomplice to the crime since I merely witnessed it. In any event, I wanted to bring it to someones attention.

Tancredo's remarks promote anti-Americanism

Ahmad Al-Akhras is the Vice Chair of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.  He resides in Columbus, Ohio and can be reached at ahmad@alakhras.org

It was shocking to hear presidential candidate Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) call for the bombing of Muslim holy sites as a deterrent to terrorist attacks on our nation and that is part of his “presidential anti-terror package.”  When reported overseas, such bigoted words can contribute to anti-Americanism, endangering American’s and providing Al-Qaeda and its ilk with a tool to recruit support and raise funds.

Last week Tancredo told an audience, "If it is up to me, we are going to explain that an attack on this homeland of that nature would be followed by an attack on the holy sites in Mecca and Medina."  The Congressman, two years ago, engaged in similar rhetoric during a radio interview in Florida. 

DaFazio, Homeland Secuirty Committee leaders again refused access to continuity of government information

WASHINGTON, DC-Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-Springfield) today issued the following statement in response to the White House's official denial of access to classified annexes to National Security Presidential Directive-20 (NSPD-20).  NSPD-20 lays out the government's plan for continuity of the Federal government in the aftermath of a catastrophic national emergency. 

"If the Administration has a plan for the continuity of government, they should share it with the Congress.  We are a co-equal branch of the government charged with oversight responsibilities for the execution of laws and expenditure of federal funds.  Lacking any other information, I can only assume that this denial means one of three things:

1) There is no plan.  There are other instances where the Administration failed to meet deadlines for developing emergency plans;

2)  They have a plan but it over-reaches and is either extra-constitutional or unconstitutional;

3)  This is another example of the obsessively secretive Administration that refuses to share information with a co-equal branch of the government. 

Thailand constitution

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's coup-installed military regime has told citizens to vote "yes" for a new constitution, written while half the country is muzzled under martial law, or accept a mysterious back-up constitution which is being kept secret from the public.

In a bizarre political game of constitutional hide-and-seek, the junta refused to reveal which of Thailand's 17 previous constitutions it might use, or what amendments might be added, if a majority "no" vote on Aug. 19 thwarts their draft.

"This is ridiculous. It is a matter of national interest and concern," said Somchai Preechasilpakul, dean of Chiang Mai University's law faculty.

The coup leaders "should not be hiding anything," Mr. Somchai said on Aug. 4.

Many Thai and foreign analysts predicted a victory for the regime's "yes" campaign, after the junta mailed copies of the new, thick constitution to millions of households in this Southeast Asian Buddhist nation.

"I received one, and I started to read it, but I didn't finish," one middle-aged businesswoman, who asked not to be identified, said in an interview.

It really is a Democratic Congress

Should it go without saying that the current Congress is Democratic?  The Democrats have the majority, control the agenda, and chair and hold a majority on every committee.  But does that make the Congress Democratic?

Liberal commentators averse to criticizing Speaker Nancy Pelosi have begun flailing around for a reasonable explanation for the behavior of her Congress.  Matt Stoller has latched onto the idea that, even though there are more Democrats in the House than Republicans, the Republicans secretly have a majority.  This is an appealing proposition, since all of us on the left view the Republicans as worse than the Democrats.  We'd like to be able to blame them for everything, not just most things.  And, as an added bonus, this theory transports us into the enjoyable realm so often inhabited by those on the right, the realm of thoughtless belief in utter nonsense.

Stoller's argument is basically that the conservative, or "blue dog" Democrats insist on voting with the Republicans.  True enough.  But that's not the whole story.  Stoller also acknowledges in passing a couple of other problems:

GENERAL STRIKE IN USA on Sept. 11, 2007 – 9/11 “No School * No Work * No Shopping. Hit the Streets”

This is our country. And our world. We just have to stand up. A general strike is proposed for the United States on September 11, 2007, the sixth anniversary of the 9/11/2001 attacks on New York City and Arlington, Virginia. The general strike movement has no clearly named leadership. It’s described as an Internet viral effort. Wikipedia defines viral efforts on the Internet as:
An object (or an idea) is viral when it has the ability to spread copies of itself or change other similar objects to become more like (it) when those objects are simply exposed to the viral object. General strikes, more common in Europe, are events that shut down the normal operations of a city, state, or nation for a period of time. These strikes aim to force awareness and action on a single issue or broader set of concerns. The 9/11/07 General Strike has a central location - Strike 911 - on the Internet, which is linked to and reproduced on a variety of other internet sites. The site states the rationale for the effort:

Bush's Library/Legacy

When W builds his library,
I have a plan,
an old-fashioned 3-holer,
an outhouse set in quicksand.
A throne for Bush,one for Cheney,
one hole left for friend or dignitary.
Could be Powell,Bolton or Scooter,
letting Rice sit in would be a hooter.
Ashcroft,Rumsfeld,Brown and Blair,
all could visit,leave input there.

Wolfowitz,Perle,Kristol,Neocons
of "Progress For a New American
Century",
could send their bloodsoaked
regards from Hell or world
penitentiary.
Perle introduced Bush to Chalabi,
felon and presidential wannabe.
They planned a "new world order",
plagiarized from works by Hitler,
which destroyed America's image,
made us all look littler.
Guantanamo could send barbed wire.
Guards are from Abu Graub's lasting fire.

Matalin,Hughes,Gonzales,DeLay
remember Enron and "Kenny Boy" Lay.
Karl Rove,Scalia,and James Baker
share the hole as the royal king maker.
Big oil dug it deep.
Haliburton spread it wide.
Bush built his legacy
cronies and criminals by his side.

Big love's big problem

Big Love can't have it both ways.

            Mitt Romney can't claim to be the new darling of the Religious Right while claiming it's wrong to bring up religion in discussions about his presidential aspirations. Of course religion matters.

            Even though the Founding Fathers intended for there to be a separation of church and state -- and I agree -- there is no separating religion from a presidential candidate's background. It is part of who he or she is. Mitt Romney isn't just a casual practitioner of his faith; he has held church positions. I know good Catholics who never were part of their parish councils. I know Baptists who never taught Sunday school. When you take the step to ascend your church's hierarchy, it does suggest some passion, to say nothing about ambition.

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