Hi, I just took the next step towards owning a piece of the political process; I made a donation to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. But it’s going to take more than just me and the others who’ve acted so far. It’s going to take a movement. It’s going to take millions of people to beat back the avalanche of dollars from Washington lobbyists and special interests, who are planning to spend more money than ever to try to own our political process and dictate our policies in Washington. We’re not going to play that game. Barack Obama is not taking any contributions from Washington lobbyists or political action committees. We’re going to transform the political process by bringing together hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans in a campaign that’s owned by no one but the people. Will you join us by making a donation? |
Month: April 2007
The Secret and Kosmic Narcissism: Stuart Davis on Steve Pavlina on the Virginia Tech Massacre
A blog entry by Stuart Davis that I enjoyed.
Who Says There’s No Free Lunch?
My First Earthquake
My first earthquake was really short, like 3 seconds. By the time I realized what it was, it was over. Fun.
Japan 1-Click Awards
Moral Depravity in the Moral Majority
If there was any doubt before, it’s been removed: McCain is worthless.
Google Maps fun
- Go to maps.google.com
- Click on “get directions”
- Type “New York” in the first box (the “from” box)
- Type ” Paris ” in the second box (the “to” box)
- Click on “get directions”
- Scroll down to step #24 and see what it says.
Letter to the Editor
My response:
In Thursday’s letter, R. Stan Marsh misrepresented socialism. He claimed that socialists are “essentially advocates of centralized control over people’s lives under the guise of democracy”. Our right-wing President throws the term democracy around when it suits his purpose. Wasn’t the spread of democracy our reason for destroying Iraq?
Mr. Marsh is right that our Constitution doesn’t mention democracy. It also doesn’t mention a republic. Our government is a constitutional republic. Our “republic” is a representative democracy. The “constitutional” part refers to the fact that we are neither governed by the people, nor by the representatives of the people. We are governed by laws that must fit into the framework of our Constitution. Our Constitution provides safeguards against “centralized control over people’s lives.” Our conservative President commented on 18 April that, “…the Constitution does not stand in the way of the people’s representatives…” Our President puts the will of our legislators ahead of our Constitution, except when our legislators do not share his views.
The real issue is that he calls our legislators “the people’s representatives”. Perhaps true at one time, corporate capitalism has usurped this founding democratic principle. Unlike our President, socialism does not seek to toss out the cornerstone of our constitutional republic, the Constitution. Socialism seeks to restore democracy to the legislative process by counteracting the imbalanced representation caused by gross disproportions in the distribution of capital. While socialism seeks to legislate fair business practices, right-wing legislation consistently protects big money and tramples individual rights.
The Way of Life Our Soldiers Fight to Protect
“According to the Economic Policy Institute, at the current federal minimum wage of $5.15 per hour, it takes a full fifty-two-week year of work to earn what the average CEO earns before lunch on Monday.”
from The Nation.