false security, real threats, felons are people too, and more failings in iraq...

the cons like to tell you there is nothing to worry about with their most recent assault on your rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness by repealing rights enshrined in the constitution and centuries before if you aren't an alien terrorist. i officially declare shenanigans. in fact, it no longer matters if you are a citizen, a foreigner, a terrorist or anything else. those in the know recognize that the beauty (horrific beauty mind you...as in the beauty of a mushroom cloud) of the newest laws is that without the writ of habeas corpus (many of us know it simply as "THE WRIT") none of the rest of the laws matter. you could be just like me, a middle class, professional white kid raised catholic in the chicago suburbs by conservative parents and be thrown in jail for all time without any way to question it.

you may be saying "but paul, you are obviously an american citizen and not a terrorist seeking the end to 'our' way of life the law says it doesn't apply to you." and that is where the horrific "beauty" of the law comes in. without the writ of habeas corpus there is no way to ask a court to make the government show that the law actually applies to me, or you, or anyone else for that matter. there is a reason freedom as we know it in the anglo tradition never arose until after the writ of habeas corpus came about...take that away, and the rest is meaningless. welcome to the weimar people.

bush is having some trouble explaining his bonehead foreign policy these days. see, he went to war in iraq because we could not allow "the world's most dangerous regimes to acquire the world's most dangerous weapons" and so military might had to be the solution. only now we find that iraq didn't have shit (which anyone in the know knew then...including your president and his team) and north korea has been busy making nukes. suddenly bush isn't such a brazen gung ho go-getter anymore and he wants multilateral diplomacy to step in. it is like the 6'5, 250 pound bully on the playground picking on the 4'7", 90 pound weakling because the little kid didn't kiss his hand and talking about how tough he is...then the 5'8", 175 pound kid with big hair pulls out a big knife and says "let's dance asshole" and the bully starts saying "wait, can't we talk about this" and then turns to gather up all his friends to talk it out with the kid with the knife...only to find out nobody wants to stand by him now. thanks george, for turning my country into that cowardly asshole bully.

states are beginning to recognize that a felony conviction does not take away your humanity (perhaps because they are making everything a felony these days). i will make a prediction right here and now...in the states that allow felons the vote the crime rate will drastically decrease over the years. perhaps now politicians and the people will have to recognize that the american penal system is designed to keep it out of sight and out of mind while doing absolutely nothing to give those within it a shot at becoming productive and intergrated members of society. maybe now we will get serious about rehabilitation instead of draconian vengence when it comes to criminal sanctions. maybe now society's response to drug addiction can be help in overcoming that addiction rather than shackles.

your tax dollars sent about $75 million over to iraq to build a new police college, you know, to help with reconstruction and get serious about security over there. well, a few weeks ago even the government admitted that the college was a piece of shit and built in an incredibly unworkmanlike manner. well, big surprise here now, the Mosul police station, a million dollar project, is also a piece of shit. turns out your government didn't take the time to make sure that million of your tax dollars was spent decently and it took the police in Mosul to come up to US inspectors and complain before the government realized it was shoddy workmanship (like building it around a tree) without the facilities that were paid for. good thing this administration doesn't like government oversight...look how well the "free" market works with your money.