HR 550 - The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2005

http://www.rushholt.com/petition.html
No time to post; have so much to catch up on and am not feeling well, but this is IMPORTANT. If our votes do not count, our entire system falls. We must have a voice. I urge you strongly to go read the resolution, sign the petition and write your representative.

EVERYONE should be in favor of fair elections. This is not a partisan issue. DO IT. NOW.

"But I Misunderstood"

But I misunderstood, but I misunderstood, but I misunderstood
I thought she was saying good luck, but she was saying good bye.

Richard Thompson, from You, Me, Us.

There are so many men and women who have gone before us, who have left their words and thoughts, their struggles, the lessons of their lives for us to read. Sometimes instructive, sometimes cautionary tales, the legacy of lives lived can reach through time and help us understand the history that so often repeats itself. Here are a few of my favorites for the current political climate.

"Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose - and you allow him to make war at pleasure... The provision of the Constitution giving the war-making power to Congress, was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons: Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This, our Convention understood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions; and they resolved to frame the Constitution so that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us. But your view destroys the whole matter, and places our President where kings have always stood."
- Abraham Lincoln, US Representative

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else."
- Theodore Roosevelt, Republican President

"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs."
- Albert Einstein, professor

"You're not to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it."
- Malcom X, minister

"...it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship... voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?"
- Mohandas K. Gandhi, lawyer

"What good fortune for those in power that people do not think."
- Adolf Hitler, politician

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."
- Jesus of Nazareth, carpenter

All of these words have been "misunderstood" by the current administration, with the notable exception of the quotes of Goering and Hitler. Bush & Co. seem to have gotten those correct. Please understand that I am not calling Bush and Cheney Nazis. I am comparing their tactics to those of fascists. They think "If we keep them afraid enough they won't question us, so raise the alert level. If we shame them into patriotism maybe they won't notice that their freedoms are eroding, so call dissenters unamerican and strengthen that Patriot Act. If we keep them scrabbling just to keep their bellies full and a roof over their heads, we can do whatever we want, so cut those service programs and get with the tax cuts." And they conspire in back rooms and hide behind National Security.

It's our job, yours and mine, to make sure that they are wrong. We DO think. We need to make sure they don't misunderstand the lessons of much greater men then they. We need to challenge them at every turn. This is not limited to the Bush Administration. It is our DUTY as citizens of these United States to call our leaders to account for themselves at all times, and on all levels of government. Democrat or Republican makes no difference, this is our call to citizenship.

Rant over. I'm going home to read "Civil Disobedience" again.

Big Surprise... To No One Who Knows Me

You scored as Hedonism. Your life is guided by the principles of Hedonism: You believe that pleasure is a great, or the greatest, good; and you try to enjoy life's pleasures as much as you can. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die! More info at Arocoun's Wikipedia User Page... Hedonism 95% Existentialism 85% Utilitarianism 60% Justice (Fairness) 40% Divine Command 40% Strong Egoism 25% Kantianism 15% Nihilism 15% Apathy 10% What philosophy do you follow? (v1.03) created with QuizFarm.com

Cute kid stuff

Number two child has been exploring the nature of humor lately. Being five years old, it tends towards the scatological, and the phrase "butt sauce" has somehow entered our daily vernacular, as have numerous repetions of the two jokes he knows. "Knock Knock." "Who's there?" "Boo." "Boo who?" "What are you crying for? It's just a joke!" and "Pete and Repete went on a boat. Pete fell out. Who was left?" "Repete!" "Okay, Pete and Repete went on a boat..."

However, while brushing our teeth the other night, he came out with this:

"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
He had a popsicle.
He had a great fall.
And everyone had eggs and sausage."

Now, the reason for the popsicle, I have not been able to discern. But the eggs and sausage line had me rolling on the floor.

More later, if I'm able.

My mind has wandered...

I haven't posted in a while. I've been lost in cyberspace with information overload. Perhaps I'm having a mid life crisis. I have suddenly become obsessed with my hippy-dippy roots. I'm shopping green, spending blue and have started thinking tie-dye again. I'm questioning my values, my beliefs, and my faith. These are not necessarily bad things to do, of course.

I guess I have the criminal element in the White House to thank for my epiphany. Without their lies and obscene behavior, I might have just kept plodding through my life without a care. They have forced me to care. They've forced me to wake up, become an activist again.

I no longer trust the media to tell me the truth. I suppose I never should have. That's the problem with a Capitalist system; the one with the most money gets to determine what truth is. Not that any other system would be better; whatever the currency is - power, sex, money, religion - the ones that control the major portion write the histories.

What that means for me is that I can no longer support those companies that have agendas I disagree with. And that's hard. I can't just breeze into Wal-Mart or Target anymore and get everything I need cheaply and run. I have to find places that carry the goods I want and pay more money for them. I have to research companies and see how they spend my money and treat their employees. I have to research products to determine which are less harmful to our planet. It's time consuming, and inconvenient, and expensive.

It is, however, the only voice I have, other than the letters I write to my representatives in government. I'm not even sure my vote has a voice anymore, because of the evidence of election tampering.

So I guess I should thank The Bush and The Dick in the White House. They're quite possibly helping me to improve my karma. It's something they might want to consider in their own lives, because I don't think theirs is very good.