I have a cold again. What is this shit? So does #1 Son. At least we’re sick at the same time, instead of passing it back and forth like we usually do.

In other news, “terrorist chatter” is once again on the rise, we’re told. al-Qaida wants to attack the US, we’re told. They want to disrupt our elections, we’re told. We’re told these “facts” by the same people who said that Sadam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction; the same people who said that we would have terrorist attacks at Christmas, the Super Bowl, etc..; the same people who have raised and lowered the HS advisory terrorist warning level like a yoyo. (See the side blog for what it is today.)

Now DeForest B. Soaries, chairman of the new U.S. Election Assistance Commission, created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, writes in a letter to Democrat and Republican leaders in The House and Senate, “There does not appear to be a clear process in place to suspend or reschedule voting during an election if there is a major terrorist attack.” He wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge that no Federal agency has the statutory authority to cancel or reschedule elections, and maybe it should be Homeland Security.

Has it occurred to Mr. Soaries that there might be a reason for this?

And now our “friends” at Homeland Security have sent an inquiry to the Justice Department on the same topic.

Since it is not prohibited by The Constitution, the States retain the right to move a local election if necessary. And our Presidential election is local in the sense that we do not actually vote for the President, but for an elector to represent us. The Constitution gives Congress the right to decide when the Electors meet to cast their ballots. It can be any time, as long as it’s the same day in every state. So it seems to me that any kind of “disruption,” which is likely to be fairly localized, is already covered by our existing system. And this power is held by officials duly elected by the populace, so they are a just a bit more concerned with keeping their noses clean than appointed officials are.

Why would we ever want to invest in any appointed official the ability to postpone or reschedule Federal elections? That sounds more like the act of a banana republic dictator than of a US President.

Oh… yeah… I get confused sometimes, too.

Some in the Bush Administration complain that a terrorist attack in Spain disrupted their elections. But from what I saw, what happened was that subsequent to a terrorist attack the ruling party lost power. This may have been an unexpected outcome, but it was hardly a “disrupted” election.

The Help America Vote Act was enacted to provide funds to states to update outmoded voting machines and to provide for some minimum requirements that states must meet during Federal elections. I’m sure that the intent was to prevent another fiasco like Florida 2000. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission is supposed to receive reports from the states and dole out the funds. I think it’s a stretch to include suggesting potentially unconstitutional legislation under the Commission’s bailiwick.

I am reminded of two quotes from our Founding Fathers, the first from Benjamin Franklin:

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.

And the second from Thomas Jefferson:

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.

Our election system may not be perfect, but for the most part it limps along fairly well. Let’s stop being scared and take back our country from the elected and appointed idiots that keep trying to take it away.

I was going to write about Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911. But last night I watched Bowing for Columbine again, and I started thinking about Michael Moore and the message he presents.

I don’t always agree with Moore’s point of view. His films are certainly one-side and his delivery subject to hyperbole. But, hey, in America he’s intitled to openly state his opinion just as much and as often as he wants, and if he can get hundreds of theaters to present it too then more power to him. There’s almost nothing that makes me as angry as hearing that someone is “unpatriotic” because they choose to exercise the right to dissent that this country is founded on.

Regardless of how one feels about Moore, however, one part of his message shouldn’t get lost in the shuffle: We are creating a nation of fear. How many people know that the crime rate is actually falling? You won’t get this message listening to the nightly news or reading the local paper. How many people around us are really other than good, law-abiding citizens. I’m guessing damn few.

And then there’s the Department of Homeland Security Advisory System. Reading Citizen Guidance on the Homeland Security Advisory System is pretty scary in itself. (Click on the link to see the pdf.)

At level “Green” — low risk — we should be creating an emergency plan and practicing it, stocking an emergency kit, learning CPR and know how to turn off our utilities. OK. That’s not bad advice considering that most areas of the country are subject to one sort of natural disaster or another. But are Police Services, Neighborhood Watch and Citizen Corps really the only places we can find to volunteer? What about the local soup kitchen or youth hostel?

At level “Blue” — guarded risk — we should do make sure we’ve covered level green, and add being suspicious of our neighbors (I assume the ones that aren’t “just like us”), making sure we report them to authorities. Oh yeah, and replace those outdated emergency supplies.

At level “Yellow” — elevated risk — we should re-check that we’ve completed levels green and blue, update our emergency plans and develop alternate daily routes to school/home. This last is always a good idea anyway if one commutes in traffic. I know a dozen ways to get to work. Oh… and watch those neighbors!

At level “Orange” — high risk — we should complete levels green, blue and yellow. Review our emergency plans again. Be careful (i.e. afraid) when traveling. Expect delays, searches and restrictions. But instead of turning our neighbors in, we can check to see if they need help. I presume the “bad” ones are off doing terrorist things.

At level “Red” — severe risk — we should complete levels green, blue, yellow and orange. Stay tuned for instructions from officials. Excpect delays, searches and restrictions. Be prepared to either stay where we are or leave. (There’s another choice?) Contact school/business before going in to find out their status. And don’t voluteer unless someone in authority tells us to. (No mention of neighbors. By this time I guess the authorities have hauled them away under the “Patriot Act” and they will never be seen or heard from again.)

In reading these, I’m struck by which items get repeated over and over: Watch for suspicious activities, and expect delays, searches and restrictions. In other words: Be distrustful of eveyone around you and don’t get upset when your rights are violated because it’s for your own good.

The Bush Administration wants us to be afraid. They want us to be very afraid. Why? hmmm… maybe it has something to do with those “delays, searches and restrictions.” Do you think a fearful populace is more likely to be compliant? Or maybe so we’ll learn not to trust our neighbors. After all, one is not likely to form a cohesive unit with those that one does not trust. And it does keep our attention focused on terrorists, rather than on picky little details like the economy and the abject failure of the Bush Administration to do anything constructive.

Hey… my neighbors on the left are a young couple with a small child. Yesterday they asked my advice about building a fence on our mutual property line. They want to preserve the wisteria I have growing on a trellis between us, so we discussed how that might be accomplished. Today they had a garage sale. He offered to sell his really cool classic car to my son for what is a very fair price. They invited us over for barbeque soon. Oh yeah, they’re about as untrustworthy as they come!

And the guy on the right side isn’t all that friendly. In the several years they’ve lived there, I’ve rarely spoken to him and never to her. And he wears his hair in an afro. I guess I’d better watch out for that guy, eh?

Sheesh. How stupid. My whole neighborhood is full of nothing but quiet, normal, “just folks” types. And I get annoyed as hell at stupid, unconstitutional searches and restrictions. (Try flying at level “orange” with a kid who sports a mohawk and full punk regalia.) And I think the Patriot Act is one of the worst atrocities ever foisted on the American public.

It’s damn hard to be afraid of anything except the Department of Homeland Security and the Bush Administration.

But, just so that I remember how afraid the “emergency management officials” want me to be, I’m including the HSA threat level on Persistent Illusion. Thank you to realThreat for the PHP script. They provided some pretty cool images too, but they were a little large for my space. So I made my own. I used Lucky Charms. They’re magically delicious.

From Terence Hunt, AP White House Correspondent in an AP article published in Yahoo:

Bush had agreed in February 2002 that al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo Bay were not protected by the Geneva Conventions on prisoners of war because they violated the laws of war themselves.

Say WHAT ?????

Thus spake Dubya (this is from the documents themselves):

Our nation recognises that this new paradigm – ushered in not by us, but by terrorists – requires new thinking in the law of war.

I accept the legal conclusion of the attorney general and the Department of Justice that I have the authority under the Constitution to suspend Geneva as between the United States and Afghanistan, but I decline to exercise that authority at this time.

This is scary stuff! Very scary. Right down there with the “Patriot” Act. Since when does a President have the legal ability to rescind basic human rights? I don’t care whether it’s war or not. I don’t care how barbarian our “enemy.” We still can be civilized.

Bush and Rumsfeld have both said that the Geneva Conventions do apply in Iraq. And yet Rumsfeld admits to have approving an unspecified number of secret detentions where the International Red Cross was not notified. That’s a Geneva Convention no-no.

From a Justice Department memo dated 01/22/02, written by Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee to White House Chief Legal Advisor Alberto Gonzales:

We conclude that neither the federal War Crimes Act nor the Geneva Conventions would apply to the detention conditions of al-Qaeda prisoners.

We also conclude that the president has the plenary constitutional power to suspend our treaty obligations toward Afghanistan during the period of the conflict.

He may exercise that discretion on the basis that Afghanistan was a failed state.

I wonder how we would feel if someone else decided we were a failed state and they could come in, run us over, and ignore the Geneva Conventions as they lock us all up and torture us. Bybee has since become a Federal judge. Isn’t that grand?

Are you scared yet?

The man is dead. Let’s get him in the ground and have done with it.

Ugh. Did anyone else watch the Bush interview last night? I think it was on 20/20, or maybe 60 Minutes.

The man had obviously been coached. And just as obviously he kept forgetting his lines. Maybe it’s tougher without a teleprompter? He didn’t really answer any questions. He talked around a lot of issues. He downplayed the fact that most of the rest of the world hates our guts. He said we have a lot of allies, but after much pondering could only come up with three. He said that our economy is back on track and strong. Well… I guess you would think that if you were an oil man. The oil companies are in the midst of record profits. Which is, no doubt, why Shrub refuses to release some of the national reserve in order to bring the price down at the pumps.

What was painfully clear was that he has no plan and no policy, and that he thinks it’s way cool that he’s President, and that we’re all going to pay and pay and keep right on paying so that Georgie boy can keep having fun.

I found myself wanting to sing along, “If I only had a brain!”

And he has the audacity — the audacity — to question Kerry’s patriotism. When he, all by himself, has gotten embroiled in a stupid war that we can’t win in a country where we shouldn’t be (can you spell “Vietnam”?), and from which our soldiers are not not being allowed to return. Not to mention attrocities like the “Patriot” act. What, I ask you, is at all “patriotic” about denying basic constitutional liberties to US citizens?

I want my country back!

I’m also really tired.

On the other hand, the weather picture in the corner of the site is showing lightening. That’s my favorite one. It looks cool. I’ve got to get those little gifs redone. And now that I’ve got WordPress up and running, I don’t have much of an excuse not to.

Ronald Reagan, the great communicator, died yesterday.

I didn’t vote for him. And I still believe that supply-side Reaganomics is probably one of the worst things that every hit this country’s economy.

But I believe him to be a warm, generous and funny man who loved life, his wife, his family and his country. My heart goes out to his family.