Three till Seven

I’m so disgusted about yesterday’s result on the FISA amendments. I’ve emailed Kentucky’s senators, complaining about how if our own President, ideally someone who breaks no laws himself and especially not someone who asks other entities to break the law, can commit felonies and not get in trouble for it, why on earth should any regular citizen obey the law? A government by and for the people should be held accountable to the same laws that govern those people.

I’m also disgusted with Obama voting to approve the amendments. Clinton voted against them, so remind me again why Obama is to be the democratic nominee in this year’s presidential election? He’s the one caving to the Bush administration while she’s the one trying to support the Fourth Amendment. I feel now like I have these options this November: 1) vote for Obama and maybe something will change but most likely things will stay the same (new absolved-from-all-crimes dictator, same slop), 2) vote for McCain and things will definitely stay the same, or 3) vote for some other candidate who has no chance of getting elected and things will stay the same.

Here’s some news:

1. The surveillance controversy:

   President Bush acknowledged the existence of the Terrorist Surveillance Program in December 2005, after it was first reported by the New York Times.

   The program — under which the National Security Agency monitors electronic communications, including e-mail and phone calls — was aimed at identifying potential terrorists who were communicating with people in the United States. As part of the program, U.S. telecommunications companies secretly granted government access to e-mails and phone calls on their networks. Bush said the program had thwarted a number of attacks.

   Critics have alleged that the program circumvented the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. That law created a secret, independent court to handle government requests for electronic surveillance in terrorism and espionage cases. The law was enacted as a check on executive power after the Watergate scandal.

2. Get FISA Right Campaign
3. Send an email to your senators
4. Congress votes to immunize lawbreaking telecoms, legalize warrantless eavesdropping by Glenn Greenwald:
   

   The Democratic-led Congress this afternoon voted to put an end to the NSA spying scandal, as the Senate approved a bill — approved last week by the House — to immunize lawbreaking telecoms, terminate all pending lawsuits against them, and vest whole new warrantless eavesdropping powers in the President.
   …
   Today, the Democratic-led Senate ignored those protests, acted to protect the single most flagrant act of Bush lawbreaking of the last seven years, eviscerated the core Fourth Amendment prohibition of surveillance without warrants, gave an extraordinary and extraordinarily corrupt gift to an extremely powerful corporate lobby, and cemented the proposition that the rule of law does not apply to the Washington Establishment.

5. Betrayed by Obama by Joan Walsh:
   

   The only thing Obama has going for him this week is that McCain is matching him misstep for misstep. While we’re railing about Obama’s craven vote on FISA — rightfully; Glenn Greenwald is a hero for his work on this topic — McCain was outdoing Dick Cheney with neocon crazy talk, warning that Iran’s test of nine old missiles we already knew they had increases the chances of a “second Holocaust.” Every time I wonder whether I can ultimately vote for Obama in November, given all of his political cave-ins, McCain does something new to make sure I have to.

6. Bloggers Slam Barack Obama on FISA Vote

Aaaand here’s a video that about sums up the stupidity of it all:

I’ve been asked before why I hate President Bush, and I never can back it up because I don’t remember specific events that have triggered my anger. Well, now I’m writing down a couple before they get buried in my memory:

White House says phone wiretaps back on “for now”

The Bush administration said on Saturday U.S. telecommunications companies have agreed to cooperate “for the time being” with spy agencies’ wiretaps, despite an ongoing battle between the White House and Congress over new terrorism surveillance legislation.
…
President George W. Bush has said he would not compromise with the Democratic-led Congress on his demand that phone companies be shielded from lawsuits for taking part in his warrantless domestic spying program.

Holes in the Wall

While the border wall will go through her backyard and effectively destroy her home, it will stop at the edge of the River Bend Resort and golf course, a popular Winter Texan retreat two miles down the road. The wall starts up again on the other side of the resort.
…
In the small town of Granjeno, population 313, Garza points to a field across the street where a segment of the proposed 18-foot high border wall would abruptly end after passing through his brick home and a small, yellow house he gave his son. “All that land over there is owned by the Hunts,” he says, waving a hand toward the horizon. “The wall doesn’t go there.”

In this area everyone knows the Hunts. Dallas billionaire Ray L. Hunt and his relatives are one of the wealthiest oil and gas dynasties in the world. Hunt, a close friend of President George W. Bush…

Last Friday in the local student newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel, there was a comic that has sparked all kinds of protest. I didn’t even see the comic, but boy have I heard about it since. Here’s a description of the comic from yesterday’s Kernel:

The cartoon, which ran on Friday and was drawn by staff cartoonist Brad Fletcher, depicts a black man in chains on an auction block being bid on by three fraternities, “Aryan Omega,” “Alpha Caucasian,” and “Kappa Kappa Kappa.” The caption reads, “UK Greeks lead the way on integration with this year’s new bids.”

The opinions editor of the Kernel resigned, the president of the university sent out a campus-wide email saying that the comic didn’t reflect the university’s views, there were protests at the journalism building, etc. Everyone’s all in a tizzy, and I just can’t see why. Or rather, I could understand being upset, but I think they’re upset for the wrong reason.

When you look at sororities and fraternities on campus, I always see a group of white kids. I hear tell of historically black fraternities and sororities, but I never see their members, or at least I’m not aware of it; maybe they’re not required to carry around bags with Greek symbols on them like Chi Omega or Delta Delta Delta. *shrugs* These black Greek communities are kind of like the Easter bunny and Santa Claus to me. Nevertheless, the comic was poking fun at how everyone’s trying to become all tolerant of racial differences by allowing those of other races into their fraternities. Accepting those of a different race into your fraternity doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t racist, it just means you’re trying to cover up your prejudices.

If it were me getting all upset, I wouldn’t be angry at the messenger for pointing out that our Greek communities are very segregated, I would be angry about the Greek communities being very segregated—don’t shoot the messenger. Hell, I barely see sorority girls that don’t have blonde hair, let alone dark skin. *rolls eyes*

Here are some links to articles about the controversy:

• UK Freshman Caught In Cartoon Uproar - MSNBC
• Hundreds Of UK Students Protest Cartoon - WKYT
• UK newspaper apologizes for cartoon - Courier Journal

Something Jess just pointed out is that the cartoon was meant to be satirical. People are getting all worked up over the cartoon’s offensiveness. I think the cartoon is offensive, too, but because it shoves in our faces the truth of the segregation of Greek communities on UK’s campus. I take the comic in a sarcastic light: “ha, the fraternities all want to be seen as racially tolerant, so they’re trying to get this black guy to rush their particular frat house by bidding on him at an auction.” There have been all kinds of articles recently in the Kernel about how UK is trying to diversify, yadda yadda, and I believe that’s what sparked the comic.

The opinions pages of the past few Kernels since Friday have been filled with all kinds of reader comments, the majority along the lines of, “This was horrible, I was really offended, it should have never been published, you should be fired,” and blah blah blah. I just want to tell them all to suck it up, you pansies! Everyone’s going to get offended by something, and you can’t pander to it all or no one will be able to say anything! One idiot went so far as to say:

I have come to learn of the freedom the American press enjoys, but to see that freedom being violated to such an extent makes me wonder if freedom of press really is justifiable.

Honestly! Because someone makes a damn racist comic, we shouldn’t have freedom of press because, ooh, your delicate sensitivities got offended? Get over yourself. Now here’s an opinion article I can agree with:

As a member of the Class of 1968, I feel I am entitled to see the “offensive cartoon.” Where can I view it? I will make my own decision about whether it was right or wrong and whether or not it should have been published.
…
Also, I know I cannot do anything about it either way, but it seems every time someone’s “feelings” are hurt, everyone has a mental breakdown. The breakdown usually results in a further loss of free speech.

I am sick and tired of this fascist politically correct movement that is threatening free expression everywhere—especially on the college campus. I am not a liberal or a conservative; I simply believe that “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

Roy Lee Lawrence Jr., UK alumnus

Thank you, Mr. Lawrence! He brings up a great point in his first paragraph about viewing the comic. I tried looking on the Kernel’s web site but couldn’t find it. The Kentucky Herald Leader asked to republish it, but the Kernel turned them down, saying something about not allowing something that shouldn’t have been published in the first place to be republished. Not being able to find it on the Kernel’s site stinks of 1984 by George Orwell to me: rewrite the parts of the past that you dislike. We’ve always been at war with Eastasia!