(Cross-posted from The Paragraph.) “[I]t’s quite extraordinary to grant government agents the statutory authority to secretly break into Americans homes,” said Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) last month at a Judiciary Committee hearing on the PATRIOT Act.⁸⁰ A month after 9-11, with half its members shut out of their offices due to anthrax-powdered letters, the Senate passed the PATRIOT Act by a vote of 98-1 — the lone “nay” vote cast by Feingold.⁸¹ The stated purpose of the PATRIOT Act was to help stop terror attacks, but there is little to show it has done that.⁸²⁸³ However, the PATRIOT Act has boosted federal snooping.⁸⁴ For instance, sneak-and-peak — the “authority to secretly break into Americans’ homes.” that Feingold mentioned — went from a seldom-used tactic to 760 warrants issued in 2008, but with only three warrants sought for terrorism cases.⁸⁵ Now, Feingold and nine other senators are sponsoring a bill — the JUSTICE Act — to rein in the PATRIOT Act’s broad and easy search and seizure powers.⁸⁶

           Read more... 

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama liked to say that one voice can change a room, and if one voice can change a room, it can change a city, and if it can change a city, it can change a state, and if it can change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world.

Progressive bloggers already knew that. We spoke out against the criminal administration of Bush and Cheney when no one else would, because we’ve known all along how important one voice can be. That’s why we started blogging. We knew an entire nation had lost its way, we knew the corporate media was a wasteland of lies, but we knew one voice can make a difference, we knew that the voice of justice must be heard, so we became the voice of justice. We would not be silent while a war was unleashed for oil and profit, while war crimes were committed and elections were stolen and justice was crucified on a cross of gold.

           Read more... 

It should be no surprise to any even minimally politically aware citizen that if you have the audacity to aspire to, let alone, eventually accept the job as president of the United States, antagonists will come at you from all sides, taking shots at your ability, integrity, and performance. It is a part of the rights and privleges we have living in a society that is protected by our Constitution. Unlike life in a totalitarian regime, the act of challenging the leadership becomes a frequent and unremarkably normal part of a robust, free democracy. Criticism, given freely and openly, whether in an honest constructive manner or even with some other agenda never hurts an honest person operating with honorable intentions. Strong criticism today may or may not affect the future actions of an honorable person, may cause an honorable person to firm his or her resolve, or may result in that honorable person reconsidering past decisions and factoring those experiences when formulating new decisions.

           Read more...