Photo Credit Franklin Einspruch While most of us, myself included, took a day to spend time with friends, fire up the grill, or go to the beach or fireworks, some others engaged in the good old American activity of standing up for the Bill of Rights and the 4th Amendment. Demonstrations like this occurred all over the country. This photo was taken of demonstrators standing in the heat, in front of Verizon, drawing attention to Verizon’s willingness to bow secretly to the National Security Administration (NSA) and hand over data – including yours and mine, no doubt. I agree that this domestic spying makes a mockery of the 4th Amendment to the Bill of Rights.
Neither of our two parties stands up for civil liberties or the Bill of Rights, these days. Justice is addressed as if all that matters is locking up scary people – whether or not convicted of a crime (how many years have folks never charged, some even cleared, rotted in Gitmo? Remind me. Just how is this possible? Answer – by weakening or ignoring the Bill of Rights to our own constitution).
I cannot find commitment to equal justice or access to justice, or the protections of the Bill of Rights in the platforms or actions of either party. I am not a “lunch bucket Democrat” – but rather an old fashioned believer in freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the rule of law. It has become a lonely place to be for a mainstream political activist. Admittedly, with the cancer death of my husband, the sudden death of my kid sister, and other family upheaval it has been a difficult year. But, frankly, the massive erosion in fundamental freedoms is depressing all on its own.
And then there is Edward Snowden declaring “The Empire has no clothes” and stripping the hypocritical window-dressing of democracy and civil liberties off the United States for the world to see. As if after the coordinated crackdown on the right of assembly and petition that occurred when the government facilitated a massive suppression of Occupy should not have been a widespread wake up call! Well, Iceland actually went after its banksters instead of lining the bankster-pockets as our lobbyist riddled congress did here – will Iceland turn out to be the last bastion of freedom of information and grant Edward Snowden citizenship despite the vindictive bullying of the USA? Time will tell.
As to having five full time politicians whom I know personally all running for Edward Markey’s seat, lets see some real political courage in addressing the decline of civil liberties in this country. It is hard to support one friend or acquaintance against another in a primary – but given that my “zest’ has not returned for reasons both philosophical and personal, it will take a lot for me to put my time and effort into this primary and the successful recruitment sell won’t be by criticizing other candidates, or side-stepping the fundamental erosion of civil liberties in this country.
http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/07/nsa_s_surveillance_program_blasted_by_hub_demonstrators
zest from the one of the best BMG commentators …
Is the government paying for this information or offering another form of incentive?
Has a judge already ordered these handovers?
If not why are the corporations not saying come back with a warrant rather than handing over the information?
Why are the corporations not using their legendary political muscle to lobby against this practice?
See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/05/snowden-asylum-venezuela_n_3552730.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
Calls those who diverted Evo Morales plane “colonies of the United States.”
However, the larger point here is I am absolutely embarrassed as an American that other countries now see the need to grant asylum to one of our citizens. WE are supposed to be the beacon of liberty. WE are supposed to be the shining example of political and human rights. WE are the ones who proclaimed to our king and the entire world that everyone is endowed with the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. WE drafted a Constitution designed to protect these rights that has served as a model for other nations, including a very narrow definition of treason made deliberately quite difficult to prove. WE should be the ones granting asylum to those politically persecuted in other countries. It is absolutely shameful that we have gotten to this point.
Wikipedia is a place you could start. Basically, the US govt. didn’t like Chavez, and the feeling was mutual. His renationalizing the oil industry rubbed our corporatist elite the wrong way, and his friendliness with leaders on our enemies list scared the warheads. Chavez, in turn, thought that we were conducting clandestine operations to undermine his government, including supporting a military coup that temporarily took over the government and put him in jail.
Not mysterious.
…help in a coup against Chavez may have been a factor.
Never figured out why so many progressives gave Chavez a pass either. Just because he disliked Bush to I suppose. I oppose the coup but I also think he was the prototypical caudillo and he has wiped out their economy and democracy.
Overwhelmingly popularly elected three times. His hand-picked successor was elected after Chavez’s death. You may have let yourself be persuaded to use the Wall St. definition of “democracy.” Here’s a Nation columnist saying “Yes, the Venezuelan president could be a strongman. But he leaves behind what might be called the most democratic country in the Western Hemisphere.” Or maybe not. My point is that there are definitely people stronly opposed to your “wiped out democracy” claim.
The Venezuelan economy is struggling, like many others, but is not “wiped out.”
According to the UN, he reduced poverty from 48% to 29%. Not a bad thing.
Yes, we overwhelmingly popularly elected based on state control of the media, intimidation of opposition leaders, and the use of government funds to force state workers to attend polls and rallies.
His is a somewhat democracy — and there’s no way he’d have beaten Capriles in a fair election. The military made that clear before the polls who would be allowed to take office. I disliked Chavez, his successor is a nothing (and will be lucky to be in office by the end of the year).
What’s funny though is despite all the bluster and foolishness, oil trade between the two countries is going gangbusters.
regarding Edward Snowden. The administration has successfully diverted the MSM’s attention from what Snowden informed us about (namely the NSA’s domestic spying program) to the hunt for Snowden himself.
The coverage of Snowden is now all about where he’s being detained and when and where he might get asylum. Sure, it’s embarrassing to the administration, but preferable, from their point of view, to any further reporting on the spying program itself.