Author: Gareth

So yeah—Bush defended his warrantless wiretaps at the K-State speech today. You can see the tactic the Junta is going to now use….It’s not “warrantless wiretapping”….no, no….it’s “the Terrorist Surveillance Program.”

And it’s not “suicide bomber”, it’s “homicide bomber.” And it’s not “insurgent” it’s “terrorist.”

And it’s not “invading a country that didn’t attack us, using lies about non-existent Weapons of Mass Destruction,” it’s “Freedom on the March.”

Depressing.

Gotta love how CNN frames the story, too: “President Bush and other officials Monday intensified their defense of a domestic surveillance program that supporters say protects against terrorism and critics say threatens civil liberties.”

There it is again: Security vs. Civil Liberties. The absolutely false dichotomy. Because it’s not about the program threatening civil liberties….it’s about the fact that it is AGAINST THE FUCKING LAW.

Don’t let the goalposts move, people. Publicly correct those who promulgate the Big Lie. That sentence should read: “…that supporters say protects against terrorism, and critics know is a violation of our laws.”

Don’t let them forget it. Shout it in the street if you have to.

They say that this is unhappiest day of the year.

Not too sure about that, but I’m definitely ill-at-ease.

I’ve been busy as hell today…tons of stuff is piling up, work-wise, and it’s all leading to a mental logjam. Which is bad, because I really need to get more done on the novel, since Thursday is the deadline for sending pages out to the writing group. *sigh*

Seems like every time I get a moment to work on it, something pops up that I need to deal with, either Adamant-related, or as part of my consultancy gig with RPGNow. Today, all of a sudden, negotiations between Adamant and another company resumed, when I had already written off their lack of communication as disinterest. Could be very….Shiny. (dead giveaway, that).

I need Mexican food. Right the hell now.

The 45th anniversary of Eisenhower’s farewell speech to the American people passed earlier this week (on the 17th), and I forgot to post about it.

This is an excerpt from that speech:

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

Shame that we failed, eh?

Sorry, Ike.