Welcome to the January 1, 2008 edition of this is not my country, but with elections coming I am hopeful, marginally, that I may be able to reclaim some of that pie in the sky affection I had for the country in my youth. It isn’t that I’ve lost my love of the principles in the Declaration and the government of the Constitution. If fact, if anything, that is my problem. I suppose a case can be made that we, as a nation, have been drifting away from those principles since the whole experiment began, but with 9/11 we ran like hell, trading principle for an illusion of safety.
Kind-of an impromptu award: Best Post Title.
Greg Laden presents The Bible-Thumping Grinch who Pissed on Christmas posted at Greg Laden’s Blog.
Most Subtly Poignant:
gary vasey presents Welcome to America! posted at Rant Here. Welcome, indeed.
presidential candidates
With elections coming this year, it seems that quite a few people are wondering just which buffoon will replace the one on the way out.
Suzanne presents if you watch just one Ron Paul video, let it be this one and Ron Paul Letter Writing Campaign both posted at :: adventures in daily living ::.
Ben Carver jumps in with “Fox is scared of me”-Ron Paul posted at PAULITICS, saying, “Cool article talking about Ron Paul’s latest exclusion from the Fox Forum Jan 6″
Sholom Anarchy presents Stumping for Ron Paul again, a long, long post in defense of Paul, posted at Anarcho-Judaism.
Roger Haeske presents Gifts For Tea Party Contributions To Ron Paul posted at Raw Food Diet, Bodyweight Fitness and Peak Performance Living.
I have to say that I can’t really jump on the Ron Paul bandwagon. I can grant him a fair number of good points but I can’t help the conviction that he’d cause more harm than good– all in the interest of doing the right thing– so his supporters are a mystery to me. Likewise with supporters of Hillary.
Doug Ragan presents The Two Faces Of Hillary posted at I’m A Pundit Too, saying, “Hillary Clinton has been on every side of every issue since she started her campaign in 2000. She is clearly Pro-abortion, but depending on which crowd she is talking to, she can switch to a candidate that is working towards the day when no abortions are performed.”
200motels presents Beam Me Up, Hillary! posted at 200motels.net, saying, “Hillary Panders to Anti-Alien Bigots!”
billspaced presents Top Ten Mitt Romney Lies posted at Rants ‘n Reviews: Observations from a real conservative OR Rubbing slightly more salt into the wound.
The man on his way out
Numerian presents What Will Be Bush's Legacy as President? posted at The Agonist. What will that legacy be? Well… when early in the post you find “the definitive biography of George W. Bush will be written not by an historian, but by a psychiatrist” you start to think that legacy might not be all that grand.
foreign policy
Scholars & Rogues presents Neocon hero comes to Bush’s aid, speculates wildly about Iran intel report posted at Scholars and Rogues.
Martin Lindeskog complains that that very same intel report is a “Propaganda Victory for Iran” and calls for some ‘”Chuck Norris action” in the Middle East’ in DELTA FORCE posted at EGO.
The war on Terror
Chris presents I am a Homegrown Terrorist posted at Gratuitous Common Sense.
It is dangerous to name your blog “Jon Swift”. It is a bit like naming yourself “I am the New Jesus”. But Jon Swift pulls it off.
Jon Swift presents Jamie Leigh Jones Undermines the War Effort posted at Jon Swift, saying, “If the terrorists wanted to undermine the war effort and destroy Western Civilization as we know it, this would be the perfect way to do it. Find an intelligent, attractive young woman to claim she was gang raped by contractors who work at the Vice President’s company, and then get a Republican congressman and the State Department to back up part of her story. It’s brilliantly evil and almost foolproof! There was just one thing these clever terrorists didn’t count on: bloggers like Shackleford, Curt and Ace who would see right through their fiendish plan.”
liberty and civil rights
It is unusual to see a self identified Christian argue against legislating morality but Shaun Connell does a good job of it with Stop Legislating Morality posted at Reason and Capitalism.
Michael Bass presents Do we have Private Property in the USA? posted at Debt Prison, saying, “What is private property and what rights come with it? I find it interesting that this subject is never discussed by politicians. From Democrats to Republicans, the issue of private property and the rights of ownership are seldom mentioned. However, the interpretation of private property is probably the single most important judgment a society administers in determining its destiny. All Laws revolve around a society’s perception of the rights to private property.”
Tiffany Washko presents Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal! posted at Natural Family Living Blog.
law and order
Charles H. Green presents How To Get Your Industry Regulated, in 6 Easy Lessons posted at Trust Matters, saying, “Be out of control and deny it! No one will notice!”
Climate Matters
Wenchypoo presents The Scam That is Global Warming and How it’s Making People Rich (L-O-N-G) posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.
Chris presents US feels the Heat at Bali Climate Conference - horrifying numbers! posted at nomad4ever.
kcawley presents two about the electric car– Who Killed the Electric Car? and Follow-Up to My Electric Car Post– posted at Life, the Universe, and Everything, saying, “The invention, production, then destruction of the cure to America’s oil problems” and “and what the Federal Government should do to redeem themselves”
Lucynda Riley presents Consumers take a stand when the governemnt doesn’t posted at The Frugal Tree Hugger.
The Political Process
DWSUWF presents Divided We Stand; United We Fall: Republican Like Me posted at Divided We Stand United We Fall, saying, “For a year the idea had haunted me, and Thursday night it returned more insistently than ever. If a Democrat became a Republican in San Francisco, what adjustments would he have to make? What is it like to experience discrimination based on political belief…”
Erich Engelbrecht presents The Art Of Political Goal Setting III: Two Examples « Innovation Politics posted at Innovation Politics.
Howard Ditkoff presents Instant Runoff Voting Excluded: An Unreasonable Omission from An Unreasonable ManSystemsThinker.com Blog, saying, “An Unreasonable Man is a great movie about Ralph Nader. But I was deeply disappointed by the fact that it focused deeply on how Ralph’s “spoiler” role in the 2000 election tarnished his legacy, while failing to mention the flaws in our election system that unnecessarily allow for “spoilers” to exist. Instant Runoff Voting, which I helped pass in Ferndale, Michigan in 2004, is a pivotal measure that can open up a fair playing field to more voices in our political system by eliminating the “spoiler” problem.
In this post, I call on Ralph Nader, the filmmakers of An Unreasonable Man, Nader’s supporters and detractors, and everyone interviewed in the film, to join together to promote such election reform and groups like Fairvote that advocate for them. By refocusing our discussion and energy away from the flaws of Ralph Nader or the Democratic Party and onto these reforms, we can still turn the shameful aftermath of the 2000 election into a success that brings constructive change and lasting justice to our election system.”
education
Carol Bentley presents Money to spend in the education sector posted at Carol Bentley.
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