meta-roj

a brief, lucid comment from professor lessig:

Ok, so NBC produces a show about Private Lynch. She says the story is not true. But nonetheless, NBC runs the show. CBS produces a show about Ronald Reagan. The man who Would Save Reagan from TV and others say it is biased against Reagan. CBS cancels the show.

Apparently it is ok to bend the truth, but only in one way.

bend toward the flag, please. and try to relax. this will go a lot easier if you relax.

i should’ve said something earlier, but… the united states senate passed the $87 billion supplemental spending request on a voice vote. this bill spends $300 out of every pocket in america.

what this means is that no senator is “on the record” voting for or against this measure. so, if you want to know how your senator voted, you need to call them up and ask. and they don’t have to tell you.

stupid. cowards.

if you ever needed an excuse to fire your senator, now you have it. tell your senators that they are always accountable. you don’t have to agree with every vote they make on your behalf, but they do have to be transparent. that’s how this country is supposed to work.

the [american] media is supposed to counter-spin the official spin

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in my america, the truth [registration may be required] includes the cost of war.

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no crusades

in my america, the justice system is always ready to consider innocence

this is not my america.

a couple days ago, i ran across yet another story of this country gone wrong. i hesitated to post on it – i dropped myself a “draft” with the link, and sat on it. honestly, i wasn’t sure what i might add.

after some thought (and a nap), i’ve decided what to do.

beate will inaugurate a new category here on the meta-roj blog – “not my america”

i don’t think i’ll be adding much in the way of commentary to posts in this category (after this one, obviously). i have no business getting into or commenting on the lives of people who fall into the traps of the new america, but i can help draw attention to them.

i think a stark, simple statement of dissent is most appropriate. you make up your own mind.

sometimes, it takes too long for me to get the news that really matters. i live near dc, well within “sniper country,” so i bring a certain perspective on this issue.

one of the dc sniper suspects refused to participate in a medical test that was not court-ordered without discussing the test with his attorney. as a result, he was given a 50,000-volt electric shock.

in the united states (so long as you have not been declared an “enemy combatant” and removed from our legal system), defendants have the right to an attorney. this is a principle defined in the sixth amendment to the united states constitution.

also enshrined in the constitution, in the eighth amendment, is the prohibition of “cruel and unusual punishment.”

most of the rest of the world has recognized the use of a stun belt as inappropriate. amnesty international has prepared several reports here, here, here, and here) on this issue. they make very disturbing reading.

jonathan turley has written a piece in the washington post (full text contained in the long version of this entry), and says it better than i probably would. i’ll say it very briefly:

this is wrong. this is not my america.
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