The American Congress has not declared war since the creation of the Pentagon and CIA.

Think about it.

N

Yeah, how would we feel if the French had interfered in the American Revolution?!

Oh, wait.

the American ppl must have a voice in our government's foreign policy. as the late Senator Wayne Morse said if the American People are given the truth they can formulate foreign policy. this is why i strongly support Wikileaks and look at Bradley Manning And Daniel Ellsberg as true American heros.

Justice Lewis Black? That would be interesting, Thom, but did you mean Hugo Black?

Let Trump have a Social Security check, we'll make up the difference when the Estate Tax is applied to his Estate after he dies.

Works for me.

N

Decentralize Energy/Decentralize Profits

If all the money we put into propping up the outrageous profits of dangerous energy sources, plus all the money we spend dealing with the hidden costs to our health and our precious environment that dangerous energy sources demand we sacrifice -- if we put all that money toward the immediate implementation of real green energy, we would win. The reason truly green technologies have been suppressed is that they function best when decentralized... you cannot make a monopoly of the sun or the wind. That fact is a threat to those who seek to amass great personal wealth. We are paying for their greed. We are paying too high a price to be patient. To contaminate the entire planet for electricity is insanity. Don't believe those who say nuclear is "clean" energy. Absolutely nothing could be farther from the truth. Ask anyone in Japan if it is clean. The mere idea that we are creating tons of hazardous waste that NO ONE KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH, and that remains deadly to all life on earth for literally thousands of years is insane. Don't believe those who say we cannot do without nuclear. What they mean is that THEY cannot do without those profits. Decentralize solar and wind and we all become more secure.

Scott Walker, governor, Wisconsin, union busting (tags)

This was just passed on to me, wanted to share it. I don't know who authored it, but kudos to them! It would be nice to come up with versions for Ohio, Michigan, and Maine, too, for starters.

The Grinch Who Tried to Steal Democracy"

Every person in Madison loved democracy a lot,

But the Grinch who was the governor, certainly did not.

The Grinch hated democracy across the whole nation,

Please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason.

It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right,

It could be that his morals were way out of sight.

But I think the most likely reason of all,

Is that his heart was at least 10 sizes too small.

Whatever his reason his head or his heart,

He stood there hating unions wanting to tear them apart.

Starring down from the capitol with his sour grinchy frown,

At the thousands of protestors, planning to bring them all down.

But the protestors kept coming, in fact even more,

And they stayed day and night and they slept on the floor.

And they chanted, played drums, and they held lots of signs,

It was a peaceful protest, never getting out of line.

And then they'd do something he liked least of all,

Every person in Madison, the tall and the small,

They'd stand close together and with all of their might,

They'd scream, "This is what democracy looks like".

And the more the Grinch thought of them doing just this,

The more the Grinch thought he must stop all of this.

Why for three full weeks he'd put up with it now,

He must put an end to it all, but HOW?

Then the Grinch got an idea, an awful idea,

The Grinch got a wonderful, awful idea.

I know just what to do, he let out an evil laugh,

I'll hold a secret meeting and I'll get that bill passed.

So he called in his senators, the republicans, of course,

It took 30 minutes, they showed no remorse.

Then the Grinch said, "There, that will make them all go away."

But the people of Wisconsin were yet here to stay.

They fled to the capitol and now even more,

They wanted in so bad that they pounded on the door.

The police were told to keep them all out,

But they were on the people's side, there was never a doubt.

So the people came in and they started to yell,

There's no way we're leaving, there's no way in hell.

Every person in Wisconsin, the tall and the small,

Were chanting and marching with no unions at all.

He hadn't stopped democracy from coming, it came.

Somehow or another it came just the same.

And the Grinch was recalled because the people had their say,

And that pathetic little Grinch had to be on his way.

The people thanked the Fabulous Wisconsin Fourteen,

For all they had done, it had felt like a dream.

The Grinch who stole Christmas, learned a lesson indeed,

But the Grinch from Wisconsin, just left full of greed.

Look up "Directive 51" in wikipedia - it is a Bush executive order that essentially gives the president the power to rule by decree in a national emergency - which specifically included "economic emergency" as well as a major terrorist attack or natural disaster.

It could very easily be triggered by a government shutdown - or failure to raise the debt limit - especially if that interfered with payment on the debt (redemption of Treasury bills as they mature) - because of the disastrous effect either action could have on the national and international economy.

The Bush Administration used the threat of this with some congressmen in order to get TARP passed.