Clinton Wants Change in Presidential Term Limits

Bad timing, Bill!

 

I would have been for it were you were still Big-Dog-in-Chief, Bill -- but I am not in favor of it until Georgie Boy and his PNAC playground pals are gone, gone, gone.

 

Bill, my man, I didn't think you were a premature proposal-maker!  Or (God forbid) did Rove pay you to say this?

 

Former President Bill Clinton said on Wednesday Congress should change the rule that barred him from seeking a third term in the White House, but stopped short of saying he wants to return as commander-in-chief.

 

Speaking at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum here, Clinton questioned certain aspects of the 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prevents a person from being elected president more than twice.

 

Clinton said the amendment, passed after Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to a record fourth term, should be changed simply to keep a person from being elected to more than two consecutive terms as president. ...

 

Clinton Wants Change in Presidential Term Limits

Reuters

May 28, 2003

 

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Political Strikes - May 27, 2003

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Are state quarters cursed?

A strange series of coincidences befalls the 50 State Quarters.

Did the Old Man of the Mountain die of natural causes, or was a curse the culprit?

The distinctive rock formation had been famous since native Americans roamed the White Mountains. More recently, New Hampshire selected it for engraving as the state's contribution to the U.S. Mint's "50 State Quarters" program. When the rock's face crumbled to dust in early May, it was a blow for naturalists and numismatics alike.

Age was cited as the official cause of the Old Man's demise. But conspiracy theorists take note: since the Mint inaugurated the coin series, a string of unfortunate events has befallen many of its subjects.

Call it the Curse of the Quarter. ...

Are state quarters cursed?

CNN/Money
May 27, 2003

Cool & eerie -- especially if you live in Maryland, New Jersey, Kentucky, Rhode Island, Alabama, or North Carolina.

Since California has taken the title of Most Encononically Screwed State in the Nation (and since Ahhhh-nold is probably oging to make a gubernatorial run), I'm almost tempted to say I'm not worried about the consequences once we get our own quarter.

On the other hand, I know all too well how things can always get worse.  So once the Gov decides which design he likes, maybe we'll finally get that one, last, big earthquake that'll snap us off at the Nevada stateline and send us adrift into the Pacific.  (Which, I know, would please far too many Americans!)

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Giggle-Making Headline of the Day

President Rewards Like-Minded World Leaders With State Visits

"Like-minded"?  You mean John Howard, Junichiro Koizumi, and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo can't pronounce the word subliminal, either -- and they make up words like misunderestimated and Hispanically?

Speaking of which, Dubyaspeak offers Junior's latest mangling of the English language:

Al Qaeda is a group of people that they don't care about taking innocent life.

-- GWB
May 13, 2003

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Amnesty International Says...

Warning over war on terror. The US-led campaign against terrorism has made the world a more dangerous place, Amnesty International says. [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

I couldn't agree more...  although, frankly, I'm still working on trying to figure out exactly how attacking Iraq has made us "safer" right here in the good old U. S. of A.  That's what they told us, isn't it?

If blasting a few thousand civilians to smithereens and turning a relatively civilized Middle Eastern nation into a hell of unchecked choas was supposed to make us "safer" and "protect our freedoms," then why did we get ramped back up to an Orange Alert last week?

Beats me.

 

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49 & 50 = Smarter Than the Continental 48

Northern Revolt

Alaska Passes Anti-Patriot Act Resolution; Second State to Oppose Feds

 

Alaska has joined a growing national rebellion against the USA Patriot Act, voting to oppose the massive federal anti-terrorism law passed by Congress soon after Sept. 11, 2001.

 

The state Legislature used some of the strongest language yet in passing a resolution condemning USA Patriot, following the lead of Hawaii and 112 cities, towns and counties around the country that have passed similar resolutions against the law.

 

But Alaska's measure goes further than most, advising police and other state agencies not to "initiate, participate in, or assist or cooperate with an inquiry, investigation, surveillance or detention" if there is not "reasonable suspicion of criminal activity under Alaska State law."

 

"We have a concern that [the Patriot Act] could be abused. The potential for abuse is too great," said Rep. David Guttenberg, a Democrat who co-sponsored the resolution. "America is an open state. There's a cost to that. Where are we willing to sacrifice for that? Guys are dying on the battlefield to protect our freedoms. It's up to us to protect those freedoms here at home."

 

"We hope that a resolution like this, with the bipartisan support that it has, will urge Congress to re-examine the provisions of the USA Patriot Act that challenge the individual freedoms that make this country great," said Rep. John Coghill, a Republican from North Pole who co-sponsored the resolution. "If we sacrifice our freedom, we let terrorism win." ...

 

Northern Revolt

ABC News

May 23, 2003

 

Read on, and you'll see the expected rebuttal from "federal law enforcement sources," who insist that that the civil-rights-gutting Patriot Act is essential for fighting the "war on terror," yada, yada, yawn.

 

For some real doublethink, check out the last line of the last paragraph in the article:

 

Defending the Patriot Act, officials said the "hysteria" over reports that the FBI was watching libraries was stunning. The act does not specifically mention libraries, but library records would be considered business records, which are covered in the law. One senior official said surveilling libraries would be an "enormous waste of time and … would be an asinine use of FBI resources."

 

Then why do you reserve the right to do just that -- "surveilling" (which isn't even a bloody word!) libraries -- not to mention the plethora of ways the Act tramples the Bill of Rights?

 

Yeah, yeah, just another case of "Move along, nothing to see here."

 

Well, hail, Alaska!  I normally don't dig on the Frozen State's conservative politics, but the Patriot Act may turn out to be the one thing that really does unite liberals and traditional conservatives in the U.S. -- at least temporarily.  It goes completely against one of the most solid tenets of traditional conservatism and liberalism: keeping government small, and out of your private life.

 

The neocons running the country right now seem to know nothing of traditional conservatism.  They're so far off the scale that they're actually pushing your average American lib and your average American con closer together, ideologically, than Joe American realizes.

 

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Oh, the... er, What Humanity?

Okay, okay, so Lucky Larry wants rent that was due before September 11, 2001.  It's legal and all, but...  comeonfortheloveofmike!  Have a freakin' heart, Silverstein!  Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 employees in the destruction of the World Trade Center -- and you were insured up the ying-yang anyway, fercrimenysakes!

 

Damn, some people are coldhearted -- and cheap -- bastards:

 

Cantor Fitzgerald, the United States brokerage house that lost more people than any other company in the destruction of the World Trade Centre, has been sued by its former landlord for failing to pay rent for the six weeks that preceded the September 11, 2001, attacks.

 

According to a civil complaint filed on Friday and made public on Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court, Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Cantor Fitzgerald L.P. and Cantor Fitzgerald Inc owe rent of US$1,027,658.96 ($1,789,411.39).

 

The figure covers the rent from August 1 through September 10, 2001, the day before two hijacked planes commandeered by suicide pilots crashed into the towers, killing nearly 3000 people. ...

 

Cantor lost 658 of its 1000 employees when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into 1 World Trade Centre, the first building to be hit, where Cantor occupied four of the highest floors.

 

The lawsuit was filed by Larry Silverstein, who held a 99-year lease on the twin towers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owned the buildings. In essence, Silverstein collected rent from the tenants and paid lease fees to the Port Authority. ...

 

The suit seeks interest and attorney fees in addition to back rent.

 

Cantor Fitzgerald sued over World Trade Centre rent bill

New Zealand Herald

May 28, 2003

 

Just let it go, man.  I would -- especially with your money in my pocket.

 

So I'd make a lousy billionaire -- so what?  At least I could sleep at night.

 

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Your Must-Read of the Day

Recently, I was the guest on a radio talk-show hosted by a thoroughly decent far-right Republician. I got verbally battered, but returned fire and, I think, held my own. Toward the end of the hour, I mentioned that the National Security Strategy - promulgated by the Bush Administration in September 2002 - now included attacking possible future competitors first, assuming regional hegemony by force of arms, controlling energy resources around the globe, maintaining a permanent-war strategy, etc.

 

"I'm not making up this stuff," I said. "It's all talked about openly by the neoconservatives of the Project for the New American Century - who now are in charge of America's military and foreign policy - and published as official U.S. doctrine in the National Security Strategy of the United States of America."

 

The talk-show host seemed to gulp, and then replied: "If you really can demonstrate all that, you probably can deny George Bush a second term in 2004."

 

Two things became apparent in that exchange: 1) Even a well-educated, intelligent radio commentator was unaware of some of this information; and, 2) Once presented with it, this conservative icon understood immediately the implications of what would happen if the American voting public found out about these policies.

 

So, a large part of our job in the run-up to 2004 is to get this information out to those able to hear it and understand the implications of an imperial foreign/military policy on our economy, on our young people in uniform, on our moral sense of ourselves as a nation, on our constitutional freedoms, on our constitutional freedoms, and on our treaty obligations - which is to say, our respect for the rule of law.

 

Nearly 40% of Bush's support is fairly solid, but there is a block of about 20% in between that 40% and the 40% who can be counted upon to vote for a reasonable Democratic candidate - and that 20% is where the election will be decided. We need to reach a goodly number of those moderate (and even some traditionally conservative) Republicans and independents with the facts inherent in the dangerous, reckless, and expensive policies carried out by the Bush Administration. ...

 

When it's your kids' schools being short-changed, and your state's and city's services to citizens being chopped, your bridges and parks and roadways and libraries and public hospitals being neglected, your IRAs and pensions losing their value, and your job not being as secure as in years past - in short, when you can see the connection between Bush&Co.'s expensive military policies and your thinner wallet and reduced social amenities, true voter-education becomes possible. It's still the economy, stupid. ...

 

Bernard Weiner, Ph.D., has taught government & international relations at various universities, and was a writer/editor with the San Francisco Chronicle for nearly 20 years. He now co-edits the progressive website The Crisis Papers.

 

Bernard Weiner, The Crisis Papers

How We Got Into This Imperial Pickle: A PNAC Primer

Democratic Underground

May 27, 2003

 

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