Answer The Call

Fellow citizens, there is a crisis in America today. Our generation has found its task. Like our brave forefathers who enlisted out of love of country and a sense of duty after Pearl Harbor, we also must answer the urgent siren call sounding around the nation. This crisis was made apparent during the recent major party conventions in Denver and St. Paul, during which innocent journalists and peaceful protesters were detained and imprisoned without cause, and with extreme prejudice. While our brave men and women fight in Afghanistan to free a people enslaved by an abhorrent abomination of the peaceful faith of Islam, while our nation's finest soldiers, no, the World's finest soldiers struggle against an enemy indistinguishable from a crowd of civilans in Iraq, while our sons and daughters are deceived by silver-tongued recruiters who talk of “seeing the world” and “defending our freedom” and sent to the streets of Baghdad to continue an illegal occupation that was perpetrated on the premise of securing stores of “weapons of mass destruction”, there is a crisis in America. We need our troops here, as civic-minded citizens of conscience and discipline, whose skills we are in desperate need of.

This crisis is an urgent one, in need of immediate and passionate attention. Unemployment, unacceptable wealth disparity, lazy or incompetent public servants, an unjust war draining the youth and talent of the nation, out-of-control spending, private profit and public debts, and the endless encroachment of the liberties and freedoms we as Americans and as Human Beings hold dear... All of these issues require our action. YOU can help save America. The United States was born out of the blood and treasonous action of brave, fearless men who valued freedom above all else. We too, the residents and citizens of America, are in desperate need of another American Revolution. We too must place our freedom and liberty above

Our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor

Proposed Legislative Measures

1.Read the Bills Act: Every bill be read in both Houses of Congress in its entirety before Congress can vote on it. Every bill to be voted on must be published online for at least 7 days before a vote is taken. Every member of Congress must sign a sworn affidavit, under penalty of perjury, that they have read, or heard read, the full bill to be voted on.

2.Earmarks: Earmarks and other additions or changes to bills that have been read according to the RTBA shall be guilty of public deception, a crime which carries with it a minimum penalty of one year in prison and a fine equivalent to that legislator's net income for the last two years.

3.Legislator salary: All legislators shall be paid a salary equivalent to the median income in the United States from the last Census. No aide, assistant, secretary, or any employee or contractor under employment with the Legislative branch of the United States Government shall be paid more than that amount.

4.Legislator benefits: All legislators shall be part of the Social Security system, or whatever like system is in place. No funded retirement or benefits program exclusive to Legislators or elected officials shall be allowed.

5.Lobbyists: No legislator shall be allowed to accept gifts from anyone except family members if that gift exceeds $1000. No legislator's family members shall be allowed to accept gifts from any party affiliated with any political party, advocacy group, or lobbying firm or lobbyist. No legislator shall be allowed to accept any gifts of greater value than $5000 annually(excluding gifts from family members). If a legislator is guilty of such behavior, than he/she shall be guilty of undue compensation, a crime that carries with it a minimum penalty of two years in prison and a fine equivalent to the amount that the legislator received in gifts exceeding the amount allowed, multiplied by number of times such behavior has been perpetrated by the individual in his or her lifetime.

6.Term limits: No elected official shall be allowed to serve more than two consecutive terms.

7.Proceedings: All legislators must attend Congressional proceedings in their entirety at least 80% of the time.

8.Naming of legislation: No legislation shall be referred to by legislators or lobbyists or in any ads connected to any such groups, by any name other than the file number of that particular bill.

9.Periodic Investigations: All departments of government shall be subject to thorough investigation to determine illegal activity every five years. All legislators shall be subject to thorough investigation to determine illegal activity within the first year of their term and again within the last year of their term. All Presidents shall launch investigations looking into actions taken by the previous administration. Investigations shall be subject to the oversight of the GAO.

10.Proposed amendment: Congress shall not pass any legislation that violates the Constitutional Rights of any citizen. The President shall veto any legislation that violates the Constitutional Rights of any citizen. Any legislator or executive that approves, fails to hinder to the fullest of his/her ability, or votes for any measure that is determined to violate any Constitutionally protected right shall be guilty of Constitutional treason, a charge that carries with it a minimum penalty of death.

11.Banishment From Public Office: Any legislator that votes yes or abstains from voting on legislation that is concluded to be in violation of the Constitution by the Supreme Court of the United States of America shall be barred from holding any elected or appointed office in perpetuity. They shall also be imprisoned for at least two years.

12.Mandated Congressional Subpoenas: Any person who does not appear before Congress when mandated to do so shall be taken into custody by any law enforcement official and imprisoned immediately until they submit to the subpoena.
13.Campaign Honesty: Any elected official that is determined by a court of law to have lied in campaign ads shall be barred from holding any elected or appointed office in perpetuity.

14.Honest Public Servants: Any elected or appointed official that is determined by a court of law to have lied to any citizen of the United States concerning any public or secret matter shall be barred from holding any elected or appointed office in perpetuity.

15.Ballot Options: An additional entry shall be placed on every ballot for every public office. That entry shall read, “None of the Above.” If that option is voted for by the simple majority of the voters, then another election shall take place six weeks from the date of that election. All people who were on the first election's ballots shall not be allowed to run or be voted for in the replacement election. All write-in votes for such individuals shall be discarded.

16.Enforcing Enforcement: Any agent of a state, municipal, county, or federal government that fails to enforce the law shall be barred from holding public office in perpetuity.

17.Nepotism: No family member within three degrees of separation to any elected or formerly elected official shall be allowed to serve in any elected or appointed position.

18.Signing Statements: No President or Governor shall be allowed to use any form of signing statement.

19.Declarations of War or Armed Conflict: Any conflict between the United States and any organized or disorganized internal or international group besides that conflict which is a direct result of defensive actions taken by US military personnel shall first be voted on in an Official Declaration of War. Such a declaration shall include the exact parties or groups to be targeted.

20.Wartime Suspension or Modification of Laws: All modifications to domestic or international law made in order to facilitate the waging of war or armed conflict against any party or parties, shall be prescribed in a limited fashion for a limited time, after which there shall be a nationwide ballot initiative to mandate an extension, suspension or termination of such modifications.

21.Presidential Election Debates: All Presidential or Vice-Presidential candidates who can submit a petition of inclusion for the Presidential or Vice-Presidential debates with at least two million signatures by March 15 of the election year shall be included in every private and public debate between presidential or vice-presidential candidates.

Any input is welcome, let me know what you think.

Ted Stevens INDICTED

One of the first stories I posted about is finally coming to the fore of the public consciousness. Throw this man in prison!! He has defrauded the United States Government, and should be treated like the corrupt, treasonous scum that he is.

AP Story
Another AP Story

Change the change with some changalicious changedy CHANGE!

Change is the order of the day. Barack Obama has ridden the wave of dissatisfaction to the forefront of the Democratic party, and John McCain is the least Republican of the Republicans. The last 8 years of the American Presidency have torn the country's parties further apart, with party discipline demanding conformity and cooperation from the nation's conservatives. All the while, people who remember the sixth article of our Constitution are either shaking their heads or their fists, trying to determine the proper course of action to bring our Nation back on track. The US has lost its former place of honor as the nation that respects the rights mankind.

But what are we going to do about it?

I will outline in the next few posts several legislative and executive acts that I believe would improve our international standing and our domestic circumstances.
It is more a thought experiment in public policy than anything else.

The Pickens Plan

You might have seen his advertisements on television recently. T. Boone Pickens , a former oil-man from Texas is touting a cocktail of solar and wind power, supplemented by natural gas as a stop-gap replacement for gasoline, as the future of energy in America. His ads are powerful and make obvious good points. He is supporting proven technologies in greater abundance than they are utilized today. He is financing a public movement towards greener and more independent energy that could influence the next administration or the impotent Congress. All this seems too good to be true, doesn't it? All of this progress, all of this to create public awareness of an issue that is at odds with the numerous accomplishments of his entire personal and professional life?

Yep.

I've signed up to support this public campaign. I encourage you to do so as well.

Update

Again, personal affairs have prevented me from updating this blog. Regular entries are coming.

In the meantime, follow me on twitter @ https://twitter.com/blututh

UF Student Tasered at John Kerry Speech; Blackwater USA Banned from Iraq

After a long hiatus due to school, work, and personal affairs, I have finally set aside some time to post another post.

UF Student Tasered in Kerry Forum

An interesting development played out Monday night at the University of Florida. Former presidential candidate John Kerry was holding a "town hall" meeting and during the question and answer session, a student questioned Kerry about his connections with George W. Bush and the Skull and Bones Society.
The long-winded young man ran over his allotted time, and police restrained the man and began to escort him away from the microphone. He resisted, and was tased.
Here is MSNBC's article about the event: Student Tasered at Kerry Forum

Here are some youtube videos of the incident: Student Tasered at Kerry Forum

I'll spare you any further synopsis of the aforementioned event, although I do have a few concerns. What was he doing that prompted police to forcibly remove him from the microphone and escort him out? I doubt it was the simple fact that he was running over his allotted time. I think it's pretty obvious to anyone who reads the article and watches the video that if he had been singing Kerry's praises, then they would have been happy to allow him more time. However, he was asking Kerry pointed questions that he was not prepared, nor wanted, to answer. Precautions are routinely made to screen people entering these "open forums" so that this type of thing doesn't happen. When it does, there are always personnel ready to apprehend and silence those who wish to ask candidates questions they don't want to answer, or are unable to answer. It is common knowledge today that politics is largely image-based, your substance doesn't matter too much, as long as you can make enough promises and choose the right language to express them.

In short, the police involved used excessive force. They had roughly six officers involved in the scuffle, and when they tased him they had him on the ground. He even said that he was willing to walk out if they let him up.

This illustrates a larger trend in law enforcement. When tasers were introduced to law enforcement, officers were pleased. Many police officers claimed that it would allow another step in the escalation of force before a firearm is used. In other words, it would allow an officer to force compliance without shooting the suspect.

This didn't happen. It simply created another group of people that are tased instead of being taken into custody with non-lethal force. Instead of using dialogue to stabilize a situation, officers are too ready to whip out the taser and shock a person into submission and cuff 'em.

They shouldn't have apprehended him in the first place. He was doing nothing wrong, except for arguing against the speaker.


Blackwater USA Banned from Iraq

Blackwater USA, a private security firm (read as, "mercenary company"), had their license revoked Monday, as the Iraqi government cited an incident that resulted in the deaths of 8 civilians and wounded 13.

Here is the article on CNN's website: Blackwater USA Banned From Iraq

This war is by far the most privatized conflict in modern history. Some claimed that in the past America resembled ancient Rome, citing Pax Americana as a parallel to Pax Romana. Now, it seems as though America is taking after Carthage's example: hiring mercenaries to fight it's wars. Recruitment numbers are very low for most of the branches, and absolutely unacceptable for the Army and Marines, the branches who need more personnel than any others. In order to keep forces up, the DoD hires private military companies to patrol neighborhoods, protect objectives, and escort convoys. Some of these companies are not held to the same legal or disciplinary standards as the US armed forces are. This sets a dangerous scenario, where these soldiers-for-hire shoot indiscriminately and wound and kill civilians with reckless abandon. This might seem like an exaggeration, except for the important fact that this is not the first time Blackwater USA has has problems with the Iraqi government, or rather vice-versa.

It's hard to recruit soldiers for the armed forces, when there is all certainty that they will be deployed to Iraq to fight a war that has almost no popular support, and which was begun under false pretenses.