Extreme Justin

By Extreme Justin at http://extremejustin.com/

The System Has Failed: Prologue

The System Has Failed

It has now been one year since the mid-term elections and now the Presidential elections are about a year away. A year ago the Democrats gained a bare majority of Congress but still the war goes on. Even worse a new war is on the horizon—a war that we cannot and will not win. We might as well all start learning Farsi now…

For a while politicians denied that they wanted war with Iran. These same denials were made before going to war with Iraq. Recently a non-binding resolution was passed to declare a part of the Iranian government a terrorist organization. We have thrown the proverbial spear into the foreign soil. The first step toward the coming war with Iran was taken.

We can’t even handle the current war. We have hired mercenaries to help us. We are allowing private armies to be amassed in our wars and even worse we are allowing these private armies to be on our own soil. How many of you know that Blackwater was in New Orleans after Katrina? We are allowing torture so long as we can call it something else. We have suspended constitutional rights suspended at one point with the Military Commissions Act. Our President and our Congress have approval ratings so low it is almost unbelievable. Turkey, one of our most important allies in the war on terror recalled the ambassador to the US because of a recent non-binding resolution in congress.

At this very moment the United States of America has no universal health care system. Approximately 50% of those filing bankruptcy were because of health care expenses. Approximately 75% of those HAD HEALTH INSURANCE. Why is that? It’s because we allow corporations to dictate our health care and NOT doctors or patients. We need a system where doctors and patients are not the ones in charge and NOT insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and hospital boards.

We have sold our country to corporations. Our politicians are bought and sold by lobbyists.

I’m tired. This is only a first draft—a prologue if you will. But I will leave with a quote from Dave Mustaine: “If theres a new way, Ill be the first in line. But, it better work this time.”

Justin

By Extreme Justin at http://extremejustin.com/

In 1776 the American Revolutionary War began, in part because of the denial of what was considered the inalienable right to trial. That right was finally codified in 1789 in the American Constitution as part of the Bill of Rights. Those rights persisted for the most part for over 200 years. On September 11th, when the World Trade Center was attacked, my second thought was that the Constitution would soon be suspended and the more militant people in the right (or possible the left) would use it as an excuse to declare war on anyone they wished in a never-ending struggle. My first thought of course had been the complete sadness at what had happened to my fellow Americans on our own soil. Even though I did see the September 11th attacks being used to justify the Iraq war, the constitution was for the most part intact for American citizens. Foreigners were getting imprisoned and this was not good, but the Constitution was still functioning. Believe me; I was happy to be wrong about this. I was glad that my paranoia had not come to fruition.

That was true until 3 weeks ago. On October 17th the Military Commission’s Act of 2006 was officially enacted. I wondered if maybe George Lucas had foreseen this possibility when one of his characters in the final Star Wars movie looked upon the move from Republic to Empire and exclaimed something to the effect of, “This is how liberty dies—with thunderous applause.” Yes my friends, a part of our great nation died on that day. And it died amidst thunderous applause. You may feel that this act doesn’t affect you because you didn’t notice its passing or you haven’t heard of it. This act provides for the suspension of habeas corpus. We can now officially be detained tortured up to a certain point (yes there is a limit to the torture in act), and cannot even force a trial. The potential for this act to be used by those in power is far too great to ignore. One commentator, Keith Olberman, even went so far as to suggest that this could be used against George W. Bush by his successors to detain him. Is this far-fetched? It could be.

Sadly, the effects of this act could be disastrous to our troops as well. While supposedly defining the area left untouched by the Geneva Convention, this act completely supercedes it. Experts have agreed that information obtained through torture is mostly useless. Why do you think that we have frequent terror scares and nothing happens? That is because people gave “confessions” of “terror plots” under torture. The United States of America is no longer considered a follower of the Geneva Convention. The end result is that the torture of American troops by other countries is now allowed under international law. I will repeat that so that it sinks in. The torture of American troops is now allowed under international law. By removing the Geneva Convention from ourselves, we have removed any need for any other country to follow it toward us. We have been the enemy we seek to fight. We have lost not only our freedom, but our humanity. The Bush administration has now accomplished the one thing that the terrorists could not on September 11^th, 2001. The American Constitution has been attacked and this time the enemy has won. The most horrifying thing is that this enemy came from within. Bin Laden destroyed 2 landmark buildings, damaged the Pentagon, and killed thousands. But he could not defeat us.

If you think my words on this are harsh perhaps they are. If you think this act gives the government the right to take me away without any Constitutional right, you are correct. I could simply disappear and there is nothing you could do about it. This is my stand — right here and right now about right and wrong. I will do what cowards who have lost my respect like McCain and other Republicans who initially spoke out against this and then gave in to this could not: I will speak out against it and hold my ground. We have lost too much in this country already.

It seems strange that we fought the Revolutionary War to get this right that we have so casually thrown away.

Justin

The following links are to blogs by peope that I know well and who detest this Act as much as I do:

The following is by a historian and contains an analysis of both habeaus corpus and the redefining of the Geneva Convention:
The death of liberty? by Quadius

The following sums it up quite well and contains a youtube video of Keith Olberman’s commentary:
The Beginning of Our End by Mike

Here is a link to MSNBC for a commentary from Keith Olberman on this: Olberman’s Commentary from countdown.msnbc.com

By Extreme Justin at http://extremejustin.com/

If you have not seen the ad, you can probably find it on youtube. There are several arguments about whether or not this ad is racist. It most definately is. It depicts Harold Ford as a womanizer hanging out at Playboy parties to hook up with white women. Next thing we will probably see from the Republican National Committee is some clips from Birth Of A Nation showing black congressmen eating fried chicken and watermelon during a congressional session. That is what is most disturbing is that the Republican National Committee, came up with this ad. Was this ad intended to be racist? I really don’t know. They are the representatives of one of the 2 major US parties. They should know better. They could have done their ad without the racism.

The second issue that I want to attack here is the portrayal of the Playmate stereotype. The ad never actually comes out and says that the girl is a Playmate, only that she “met Harold Ford at a Playboy party at the mansion.” She is blonde and does not seem very intelligent. I am personally offended by this because most of the Playmates I have met seem to be very intelligent and not all are blonde. This kind of bigotry is just hateful, set forth by men and women who hate anything like Playboy. I can name two Playmates offhand that were USF students: Alesha Oreskovich and my friend Carlotta Champagne. Neither are the embodiment of the blonde, stupid playmate that the ad tries to establish. I’m sick of Playmates being stereotyped.

The Republican National Committee agreed to pull the ad finally, but it could be that was always their intention, much like a lawyer bringing up an objectionable point and then shouting “withdrawn.” It is quite possible that this ad will backfire on them. That remains to be seen. There are negative ads put out by both parties. It is not the only negative ad out there, just one of the worst ones.

Extreme Justin

By Extreme Justin at http://extremejustin.com/

I have attempted not to be political and I will keep to that for now because the following is NOT political. If free thought is political than it is our DUTY and RESPONSIBLITY to remove the force that opposes it. This is not politics but something essential to the security and future of our great nation and to the world.

The President of the United States recently started a sentence (or at least a part of a sentence) with the words “it is unacceptable to think…” It is not only acceptable to think, it is neccessary. Believe me I have not taken these words out of context. When the supposed leader of the free world utters these words it is a move from democracy to tyrrany. I always supposed that Thought Crime was a fictional part of the book 1984 and that I would never see such a thing applied to the United States.

It is acceptable to think. We have to live with this President for two more years but we do not have to live with his Congress. The system of checks and balances is suppossed to ensure that the executive branch does not wield ultimate power and become a source of tyrrany. We cannot choose who is in the Supreme Court, but we can ensure who is in Congress.

I cannot believe that I am having to defend free thought. Due to recent events like Haliburton deciding who gets government medals, I thought it was time to speak up. We must save our country. This administration has already released official statements that anyone that speaks out against the war is akin to a Nazi sympathizer. Now they want our thoughts as well.

Justin