The Senate voted today on bill S 2248 - whether to strike telecom immunity for warentless wiretaps. I find it very interesting that Senator Obama took time to vote while Senator Clinton couldn’t be bothered bother to vote.

Worse, she was in town for the primaries today - so she could have very easily stopped by the Hill to cast her vote.

Why do we let our congress-critters get away with not doing their job? And the fact she’s running for President just doesn’t hold water since somehow Barack was able to cast his vote.

Comon’ America - let’s start demanding our elected officials actually DO the job we pay them for!

Apparently MSNBC anchor David Shuster has earned a place on Hillary’s shit-list with his comments about Chelsea:

In a conference call with reporters, Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson Friday excoriated MSNBC’s David Shuster for suggesting the Clinton campaign had “pimped out” 27-year old Chelsea by having her place phone calls to Democratic Party superdelegates on her mother’s behalf. Wolfson called the comment “beneath contempt” and disgusting.

Clinton’s communications director followed with:

“I, at this point, can’t envision a scenario where we would continue to engage in debates on that network,” he added.

However Clinton has been pushing hard for debate-after-debate with Obama. So, wouldn’t the network hold the cards here? Apparently not in the mind of a la-la-liberal!

Why do we have to apologize for every opinion we have these days? Oh - that’s right - we only have to apologize for opinions that offend la-la-liberals!

Wolfson pointed to what he called a pattern of tasteless comments by MSNBC anchors about the Clinton campaign. Weeks ago, “Hardball” host Chris Matthews apologized to the former first lady after suggesting her political career had been made possible her husband’s philandering.

You know what? I don’t think it’s unreasonable to questions how the Clintons have amassed a personal net worth of approximately $41 million on public-servant salaries. And maybe the $5 “loan” the Clintons made to Hillary’s campaign is because Bill is…a philanderer - payback for Monica and all that?

At any rate, we now know how much it costs to clean a blue dress; $5,000,000.

Regardless - the mock outrage on part of the offended and the required apology on the part of the offender these days pisses me off to no end. And we’re talking about really mild opinions here!

La-la-liberals need to learn to ignore the opinions of those with which they do not agree. The world isn’t a perfect place in happy harmony, and not everyone has to have (or should) have the same opinion. If I offend you - I don’t care - and I won’t offer a phony apology.

Learn to deal with it liberal, touchy-feely America!

Like everyone else, I’m completely unqualified to write this, so I’m going to ramble on mindlessly about how I see the president race shaping up for 2008. Here’s my prediction:

1) Mitt Romney stepped out of the race because he made his own back-room deal with McCain. He’ll get the veep nod and the official GOP ticket will be McCain/Romney.

2) It should have been Paul/Huckabee

3) Obama will win the DNC nomination - just barely - and he’ll name Edwards as his running mate despite the fact that Edwards said he wouldn’t be a running mate a second time

4) Once the McCain/Romney machine has a comfortable lead in polls, or they’re losing - you know…whichever - Bush will Invade Iran

5) No American would dare elect a namby-pamby democrat as president while the nation was embroiled in two wars in the middle-east. McCain/Romney will win in November.

6) McCain will die 2 years into his first term - he’s old as hell after all - and Romney will be president anyway.

And, like always, Americans will do what we do best…piss and moan about the sorry state of our political system instead of going out and voting for someone who might actually shake things up in Washington.

No one is fair game to be poked fun of anymore - not even the gyspies. A human rights group - the European Center for Antiziganism Research - has filed formal complaints in Germany against British comic Sacha Baron Cohen over his “Borat” film. I didn’t know the gyspies were organized enough to have their own center for antiziganism research. Hell, until a few minutes ago I didn’t even know “antiziganism” was a word!

This isn’t the only controversy I’ve heard over “Borat”. The Kazakh government is upset, the White House has turned him away, Mahir Cagri is suing him, and now the gypsies are pissed.

Why can’t we all just calm down about what other people have to say about “us” as a group, whether being grouped by ethnic, socioeconomic, or any other factor?

Here’s a newsflash for you (gypsies, I’m talkin’ to you); People have prejudices. Period. We all have some internal prejudice towards “others.” This is part of the human condition. Get over it.

An article in USA Today broke the news that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth.

USA Today reports: “It’s the largest database ever assembled in the world,” said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA’s activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency’s goal is “to create a database of every call ever made” within the nation’s borders, this person added.

As a technologist I cannot begin to imagine what kind of computing and human resources it would take to collect the data required to fulfill such a mission. I find it fascinating from a “how-to-do-it” standpoint, but I find it loathsome from a “invading-my-privacy” standpoint.

And I find it all the more distasteful that it’s coming from an “executive order” and not at the ruling and direction of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court which was specifically established to provide rules, processes, and guidelines on how, when, and why wiretaps should be allowed.

It seems that President Bush is doing all he can to grind his poll numbers into the ground. He’s presently at a new low with a 45% job approval rating. I’ve even begun hearing whispers of possible impeachment trials if the democrats win back the house this November.

The last thing I want to see is a liberal president in charge (and God help us all if Hillary every wins a bid at the White House), but I believe that Bush has had a chance to change things and he keep pushing us towards an Orwellian future! He’s also never met a spending bill he didn’t want to sign. I thought that the republicans were supposed to be the party of fiscal responsibility?

All I know is that it’s likely only a matter of time before Qwest bows to the government’s wishes and turns over their calling records too.

Calling America “the land of the free” used to mean something. Now it’s just one hell of a good propaganda slogan!

I was listening to the radio on my drive to work and there was a story on about the increasing violence and protest surrounding the publication of the cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in unflattering and negative ways. The protesting and rioting has led to death and now unofficial economic sanctions against Denmark by Arabic countries (Saudi Arabia and Kuwait so far).

Throughout history predominate religious figures have been the base of ridicule and insult - it still happens today. Look at the work of people like Andres Serrano who created “artwork” called “Piss Christ” which features Jesus on a crucifix submerged in the artist’s urine; it’s caused outrage among Christian groups, but to my knowledge (and research) no riots or death.

Every day there are examples of such reaction by extremist Islamic groups - which (I imagine) paints a very negative picture of Muslims in the minds of non-Muslims. I think this must especially be the case in the world’s mind with this example because Denmark has traditionally been such an open and “anything goes” society.

When I contrast such world-events and outcry of “Muslims” against my own experience with yourself, I see a different side of Islam. But it seems that the side of Islam that is promoted by Muslims such as yourself (peace, tolerance, the free pursuit of religion) is drowned out in the world at large.

I’m curious what your thoughts are on the extreme level of violence in the protests over this cartoon? Why do you think it’s turned from a public outcry by the Muslim world into economic sanctions and rioting? I was curious what your opinion was of this row over the cartoon and how Islam is perceived in general in the world? What do you see is the end-result of Islamic countries seeming working hard to polarize themselves from all of the rest of the world?

I hope none of the above is offensive; I’m just curious about your perspective. It seems that everything has become polarized in the last few years - republican vs. democrat, gay vs. straight, theism vs. secularism, etc.

This last Thursday wasn’t just Cinco De Mayo, it was also the day we as a nation moved a little closer toward a complete totalitarian state. The US House passed an “emergency spending” bill which included a rider for the Real ID Act.

Incase you’re not familiar with it, the Real ID Act is designed to force states to design their driver’s licenses to comply with federal antiterrorist standards. This could curb Americans’ access to everything from airplanes to national parks and some courthouses.

Starting three years from now, if you live or work in the United States, you’ll need a federally approved ID card to travel on an airplane, open a bank account, collect Social Security payments, or take advantage of nearly any government service.

This bill passed through the US House by a vote of 368-58, only three republicans voted against it.

This Real ID Act has been attached to an “emergency” military spending bill because it’s difficult for politicians to vote against money that will go to the troops in Iraq and tsunami relief.

This bill absolutely has my blood boiling. It tramples all over the concept of States’ Rights and it’s a major step toward the restriction of free travel by innocent Americans. Today the Real ID - tomorrow you’ll have to “show papers” to cross a state border. You can laugh all you want, that day is coming.

The thing that bothers me the most is all the goddamn “sheeple” who tremble at the mention of the word “terrorist” and believe measures like the Real ID Act are designed to keep them safe.

It will do little to stop criminals, because criminals have never cared about the rules, but decent citizens will have to jump through hoops and come to accept presenting papers to travel in-country just like the Soviets we looked down on.

I have always been a conservative, I’ve always leaned towards the Republican way of thinking. However I cannot cotton to the fact that this measure has been steamrolled through the House by the Republicans, lauded by Bush and likely to face no opposition in the Senate because of Republican control.

Why, I’m starting to feel more liberal every day. I still think John Kerry is a dingus, but I seriously doubt he could fuck things up as badly as Bush is managing.

Shame on all of us. This is happening and we’re doing nothing to stop it! We need to get out and scream at our politicians to STOP! Stop the nonsense in the name of security. It doesn’t provide any and it just insults everyone’s’ intelligence.

Canada looks more inviting every single day.

This weekend Congress held an emergency session to argue Terry Schiavo’s case. The House passed the bill on a 203-58 vote in an emergency Sunday session.

The Senate approved the bill Sunday by voice vote and President Bush is ready to sign the measure which permits a federal review of Terry’s case.

Terry’s situation is one that’s emotionally charged no doubt, and no matter which side of the issue you fall on you’re likely to have strong feelings. But what happened to states’ rights?

In our PC world we seem to place a higher emphasis on what makes everyone “feel good” more than what’s right or wrong. There is no more black or white - everything is a mind numbing shade of grey and we have to make grand gestures to ensure we don’t offend anyone. So much so that we’ve escalated an issue that is unarguably a states’ right issue to the floor of our federal government where it has no business being discussed!

Regardless of whether I or anyone else believes Terry should live or die, the decision should be escalated to the Florida supreme court and no higher. This is an issue where no matter the outcome a large number of people will be unhappy. So let’s put political correctness aside and put the power back where it belongs, with the state.

Yes, it’s a sad story; yes, I feel terrible for Terry and her family, but this is not an issue for the domain of our federal government. It’s a slippery slope, folks. Today they’re taking states’ rights for Terry regardless of the merit. What rights will they take tomorrow in your name?