This post is from the JMBzine Blog Vault, which means it is a very old blog post that I wrote at a very different time of my life. My views on religion, politics, and many other subjects have drastically changed over the years, so please bear this in mind when reading this post.
Monday, September 24, 2001
9:11 pm
US Attorney General John Ashcroft wants to take away your rights. Here’s the latest from a story in MSNBC.com
ASHCROFT ISSUED his warning in testifying before the House Judiciary Committee in favor of far-reaching measures to ramp up the war on terrorism, telling lawmakers, “Every day that passes with outdated statutes and the old rules of engagement is a day that terrorists have a competitive advantage.”
Ashcroft urged quick passage of new police powers sought by the Bush administration, including the authority to detain aliens suspected of ties to terrorists indefinitely and without the right to appeal. The administration also wants wiretap evidence obtained in other countries in violation of the Fourth Amendment to be admissible in court.
In addition, the administration is asking for secret court authorization for wiretaps, longer jail terms for terrorists, access to users’ Internet information without a court order and authority to review telephone voice-mail messages with only a search warrant.
Some of the measures raised red flags for Democrats and advocates of civil liberties. Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, the committee’s ranking Democrat, said he and others were “deeply troubled” by the constitutional implications.
“Past experience has taught us that today’s weapon against terrorism may be tomorrow’s law against law-abiding Americans,” Conyers said.
Ashcroft said he was sure the bill would pass constitutional muster. “We are conducting this effort with a total commitment to protect the rights and privacy of all Americans and the constitutional protections we hold dear,” he said.
John Ashcroft is full of ****. How can he say this effort is made with a “total commitment to hold the rights and privacy of all Americans and the constitutional protections we all hold dear,” when he is proposing suspending the fourth amendment with regards to overseas wiretaps?
OK, let me get this straight. Suspending the forth Amendment of the BILL OF RIGHTS is “respecting … the constitutional protections we all hold dear.” Yeah, if you think that’s true then I got some oceanfront property in Oklahoma that I’ll see you at a real cheap price.
(2022): Another broken MSNBC link. Very sad that there appears to be no archive of many of these stories.
3:34 am
Things keep sinking lower and lower. I just read at MSNBC.com that bin Laden has released a letter addressed to his “Muslim brothers in Pakistan” urging them to “deter with all their capabilities the American crusaders from invading Pakistan and Afghanistan.”
Why did Bush have to use the word “crusade” to describe his war of vengenace? Things were bad enough as it was, but now he has stirred up a millenium of old hurts over the evils done by the Crusaders when they “liberated” Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the “infidels.”
3:02 am
Download Issue #1 of Campus Peace Bulletin – PDF File
(2022): Sadly there is no archive of this file. I think this was something I created to distribute on the campus of then SWT (today Texas State university-San Marcos). This was one of my early baby steps in peace activism.
12:26 am
If you’re in the mood for a laugh, do a search with your favorite file sharing program for “The Ballad of Ronald Reagan” by The Austin Lounge Lizards
(2022): No filesharing service needed. Now you can find the song on youtube! And the Austin Loung Lizards are still going strong!
Also on a sidenote, I just discovered that one of the band members (Hank Card) is originally from Oklahoma City.