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The Bill of No Rights

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that many people are confused by the Bill of Rights and apparently require a Bill of No Rights.

ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country was based upon freedom, and that means freedom for everyone-not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc., but the world is full of dolts, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free of harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful; do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who will achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes.

ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free healthcare, regardless of what Hillary thinks. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public heath care.

ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you won't have the right to big screen color TV or life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII: You don't have the right to demand that our children risk their lives in foreign wars to soothe your aching conscience. We hate oppressive governments and won't lift a finger to stop you from going to fight if you'd like. However, we do not enjoy parenting the entire world and do not want to spend so much of our time battling each and every little tyrant with a military uniform and a funny hat.

ARTICLE IX: You don't have the right to a job. All of us want all of you to have one, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.

Bill Clinton
• When asked what's wrong with letting local school districts decide how best to spend federal education dollars, President Clinton replied, "because it's not their money"

• "You know the one thing that's wrong with this country? Everyone gets a chance to have their fair say."

• "I can tell you that the decisions we made, we made because we thought they were in the interests of the American people,"--Bill Clinton, on being asked why he signed waivers, against the Pentagon's protest, to sell Loral missile guidance systems technology to Communist China, enabling China for the first time to launch nuclear weapons. (May 18, 1998 edition of the Washington Times, front page)

  Hillary Clinton

• Speaking to the troops - "Americans are wholeheartedly proud of what you are doing, but there are many questions at home about the administration's policies."

• "We have to exert all of our efforts militarily, but the outcome is not assured." demoralizing the troops on a radio station in Kuwait after her Thanksgiving trip to the middle east.

• Referring to the President's trip to Iraq for Thanksgiving - "It sends a message of support. But it isn't a substitute for a plan to increase security or to eventually create more independence for Iraqis."

• "We need to get the U.N. back in as quickly as possible to internationalize this war. We need the legitimacy of the United Nations in order to move forward. Once the U.N. comes back in (to Iraq), we can begin to be more successful." "

• "Would you tell your parents something for me? Ask them, if they have a gun in their house, please lock it or take it out of their house. Will you do that as good citizens?" [to a group of schoolchildren]

• "I have met thousands and thousands of pro-choice men and women. I have never met anyone who is pro-abortion."

• "I think my underlying values have remained pretty constant; individual responsibility and community. I do not see those as being mutually inconsistent."

  Al Gore

• ''I decided I just had to call because you've printed a picture of the Earth upside down on the front page of the paper,'' Gore said. (Source: Florida Times Union 4/3/98 )

• "My first pledge will be to restore integrity to the White House. And I'll fire anyone who has lied to the American people or the United States Congress." (in a February 2, 1988 presidential debate What about Clinton?)

  Senator Dick Durbin

• "I fully support President Clinton and our national security team's decision to take swift action against Saddam Hussein. The attack against this dictator should come as no surprise. The record clearly shows that he has harassed American and United Nations inspectors, ordered the destruction of important documents in anticipation of inspections and hampered the ability of inspectors to carry out their mission. His defiant protection of his weapons of mass destruction cannot go unanswered. I call on those who question the motives of the president and his national security advisors to join with the rest of America in presenting a united front to our enemies abroad. The men and women who are risking their lives in defense of our national and global security deserve nothing less." (1998)

• "efforts by White House officials to intimidate those who questioned the intelligence on Iraq could be illegal and must be investigated." (2002)

• "On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold. ..... On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor. If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime--Pol Pot or others--that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners. (2005; Supporting the Troops) "

  Ted Rall

• "Supporting our troops while they're fighting an immoral and illegal war is misguided and wrong." - Ted Rall
• "Democratic leaders ought to select their nominee in a smoke-filled room, call off the expensive and divisive primary process and order all other comers to stand down. Forget the union rallies, the badges and the buttons--whoever wins the nomination should invest every dime he can raise on the cruelest TV attack ads this country has ever seen. - Ted Rall
• "In an ideal world, American consumers could be convinced to do the right thing through an appeal to logic with public service messages like the "What Would Jesus Drive?" TV campaign, but the kind of people who would buy a car that increases the risk to other motorists in an accident can't be reasoned with. They're selfish and stupid. It's unfortunate that drivers must worry that their SUVs are being targeted by insulting stickers and Molotov cocktails, but one thing's for sure: It couldn't be happening to a more deserving group of people." - Ted Rall

  Michael Moore

• "There is no terrorist threat in this country. This is a lie. This is the biggest lie we've been told."
• "The Patriot Act is the first step. "Mein Kampf" -- "Mein Kampf" was written long before Hitler came to power. And if the people of Germany had done something early on to stop these early signs, when the right-wing, when the extremists such as yourself, decide that this is the way to go, if people don't speak up against this, you end up with something like they had in Germany. I don't want to get to that point."
• "I think the United States, I think our government knows where (Bin Laden) is and I don't think we're going to be capturing him or killing him any time soon."
• "I want him [Bush] paraded in handcuffs outside a police house as a common criminal because I don't know if there's a greater crime than taking people to war based on a lie. I've never seen anything like Bush and his people. They truly hate our constitution, our rights and liberties. They have no shame in fighting for their corporate sponsors."
• "(Americans) are possibly the dumbest people on the planet ... in thrall to conniving, thieving, smug pr*cks. We Americans suffer from an enforced ignorance. We don’t know about anything that’s happening outside our country. Our stupidity is embarrassing.”

  Howard Dean

• "I think in general the ends do not justify the means." -- Howard Dean after we blew away Uday & Qusay Hussein.
• "I still want to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks" & then a few days later "I think the Confederate flag is a racist symbol." ("Vote for me, I'm 2-faced and I'll screw you over later")
• "I think most people... would be glad to pay the same taxes they paid when Bill Clinton was president, if only they could have the same economy they had when Bill Clinton was president." (I've never met a person who is "glad to pay taxes")
• "I've waffled before. I'll waffle again." (Whatever gets the vote, right?)
• "I sometimes say things that get me in trouble." (Yep)
• "People have said I'm the candidate of anger. Well, we have a right to be angry... We lost our place as the moral leader of the world." (And he supports the gay sex and abortion, snicker, snicker, what a schmuck)
• "The Democratic Party, all the candidates from Washington, they all know each other, they all move in the same circles, and what I'm doing is breaking into the country club." (So the Democrat Party is a country club?)
• "Someone earlier made a remark about losing 500 soldiers and 2,200 wounded in Iraq. Those soldiers were sent there by the vote of Sen. Lieberman, Sen. Edwards and Sen. Kerry. I think that is a serious matter." (It's not a serious matter anymore, right Dean?)
• "The fact is that we wouldn't be in Iraq if it weren't for Democrats like Senator Kerry." (Uh, didn't Dean just say that Kerry and others sent those troops there? So I guess it's not a "serious matter" anymore.)
• "The issue is not abortion. The issue is whether women can make up their own mind instead of some right-wing pastor, some right-wing politician telling them what to do." (Insert 'rape' where 'abortion' is and insert 'liberal men' where 'women' is. Reread. So from Dean's perspective it's not about the crime being committed but whether a majority of the people can prevent that person from committing that crime.)
• "The way we're going to win elections in this country is to stand up for what we believe in." (It's kind of hard to tell what that belief is when he supports anyone as long as they vote Democrat.)
• "This is a struggle of good and evil. And we're the good." (So if you don't vote Democrat then you are evil?)
• "Tom DeLay ought to go back to Houston where he can serve his jail sentence." (He's quick to procecute an American who disagrees with him regardless if he is guilty or not but then he's quick to defend terrorists in Guantanamo Bay who were caught red handed trying to kill Americans. Synopsis: Terrorists have rights, Republicans don't)
• "I've resisted pronouncing a sentence before guilt is found. I still have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials." (What about Tom Delay?)
• "We won't always have the strongest military." (Is that a threat?)
• "We've not had one Republican president in 34 years balance the budget."(Since when do presidents balance the budget? I thought the House of Representatives did that?)
• "You know, to listen to Senator Lieberman, Senator Kerry, Representative Gephardt, I'm anti-Israel, I'm anti-trade, I'm anti-Medicare and I'm anti-Social Security. I wonder how I ended up in the Democratic Party."
• "If Bill Clinton can be the first black president, I can be the first gay president."
• "As an American, I want to make sure [Osama] gets the death penalty he deserves" (But that's predujing a jury trial isn't it?)
• "From a religious point of view, if God had thought homosexuality is a sin, he would not have created gay people."(Created gay people? Doesn't he mean 'created free will'?)

  Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur

• "One could say that Osama bin Laden and these non-nation-state fighters with religious purpose are very similar to those kind of atypical revolutionaries that helped to cast off the British crown."

  Senator Patty Murray

• "We've got to ask, why is this man (Osama bin Laden) so popular around the world? Why are people so supportive of him in many countries ... that are riddled with poverty? He's been out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day care facilities, building health care facilities, and the people are extremely grateful. We haven't done that. How would they look at us today if we had been there helping them with some of that rather than just being the people who are going to bomb in Iraq and go to Afghanistan?"

  Congressman James Moran

• "If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq we would not be doing this."

  Tim Robbins

• "A message is being sent through the White House and its allies in talk radio...[that] if you oppose this administration, there can and will be ramifications. Every day, the airwaves are filled with warnings, veiled and unveiled threats, spewed invective and hatred directed at any voice of dissent."

• "While the journalists' outrage at the cancellation of our appearance in Cooperstown is not about my views, it is about my right to express these views," Robbins said. "I am extremely grateful that there are those of you out there still with a fierce belief in constitutionally guaranteed rights."
  According to the Washington Post, Susan Sarandon's mother claimed in an interview that Tim Robbins and her daughter [Susan Surandon] had "brainwashed" her grandson about the war. After the interview, Robbins threatened the Washington Post reporter [Lloyd Grove] saying "if you ever write about my family again, I will (bleeping) find you and I will (bleeping) hurt you" So much for free speech.

  Wesley Clark

• "I mean Desert Storm was wonderful; we whipped Saddam Hussein and all that sort of thing."

• "We live in a liberal democracy. That's what we created in this country. It's in our constitution!

• "we are going to be running in 2004 in an election in which a President is going to unscrupulously use national security, patriotism, and the American flag to try to crush the Democratic Party. I'm running because that must not happen to our country."

• "Pragmatically, we’re the lone superpower, but we have to be careful: Power creates its own adversaries. We need to use our power in the most generous, constructive way, because our security depends on everyone else."

  Al Franken

• "...How big an [bleep] Brit Hume is. And how shameless, how [bleep] shameless these people are. These people are so [bleep] shameless. They are shameless." - Al Franken comment of Fox News

  Ramsey Clark

• "The Christian Church overwhelmingly -- there are exceptions -- who choose to call Mohammed a terrorist. They could call Jesus a terrorist too. I mean, he was pretty tough on money lenders a time or two."

  Dixie Chicks (Natalie Maines)

• "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."

  Gloria Steinem

• A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.

  
  

  Message Boards

• "If we had the courage to love, we would not so value these acts of war" - Lee Hall

• "Stop believing the bull the corporate-run media and Bush,along with his Mafia,are feeding us. Look at these signs of the times; Christ is coming sooner than we think" - Porsche

• "War is no longer appropriate as an instument of national policy" - Michael Toms

• "Bush is a madman, and an idiot who stole the elections and shouldn't even be leading the country, let alone driving us towards this bloody oil seeking war...I wonder why isnt satisfied with his daddy's oil rigs in texas...he's just going to drive the poverty stricken minorities to their deaths, which noone seems to care about in the white house.." - Gioconda p. Rodriguez

• "War is costly. . . Peace is Priceless!" - Bruce M. Sanderson "NO BLOOD FOR OIL!! We have a right to assemble!!" - Lynda Fugitt

• "A foolish, unwarranted attack against Iraq would invite reprisal against American civilians... this foreign policy stunt by the Bush administration is obviously an attemattention from domestic issues pt to divert (the economy)." - Jerry Fan

• "There's nothing i really have to say about this (war) other than that i'm sick of all these wars and part of the reason they're happening is because of our retared present and just about everything else that's ever happend in history. i mean think about it - it if it weren't for the jews maybe this wouldn't be happening. " - Jenny

• "I think war is for people who have run out of options.....and we have not yet run out of options." - Dy

• "attacking without provocation makes us no better than terrorists." - Aaron Olson

• "I believe that a war on Iraq will not only severely damage this country's economy, but it'll kill thousands of innocent people and will not decrease our risk of getting attacked by terrorists. In short it will be a useless but very costly war." - Cesar Del Solar

• "sadam may be insane, but he hasn't done anything recently to start a war." - Kelda Wahlstrom

• "Make love, not war." - Karyn Washington

• "Strong sanctions for disarmament should be stressed but there is no reason for countless innocent lives to be lost in a war proliferated for imperialistic views." - Garrhet Noda

• "Our whole lives we are taught to handle bullies and fights and other arrogant situations with maturity. We are taught to use our heads and think about it. We are taught NOT to use violence, so I ask why is Bush throwing all of our teachings out the window?" - Sandra Shepherd

• "We don't need to go to war on Iraq. Other countries also have weapons of mass destruction. Heck, WE have weapons of mass destruction. This is just about oil. " - Lorraine Eastham

• "Jobs, not war!!!!!" - Polla Milligan

• "Please don't start a war that will kill innocent women and children because you don't share their leaders views" - Karen Bee

• "NO WAR NO WAY" - NOOR HASSAN

• "Impeach Bush" - Ron Carnes

• "war is definately not the answer- bush, u need to think about the whole of ur country, not just urself and ur ideas- u need to listen andobey the citizens!" - Jessica

• "War sucks and this war is way too personal for George Bush." -

• "Texas has oil, let's bomb them!" - Spiffy McPerson

• "There are many other ways to stop Sadaam. We were show this when we ran the Taliban out of Afghanistan. Please consider your actions, especially when up to 1 million innocent lives will be taken in the name of war. A war that does not have to happen. Sadaam and his goonies do need to be taken care of, but killing innocent civilians, children is not the answer." -

• "it makes me ashamed to be an american when we turn to the most ignorant solution to fix a problem; but then again i'd have to say the US is ignorant" -

• "He's a pathetic idiot who was handed everything in life, he's not a real president." - Romina

• "Recall Bush" - Balu Sajeevan

• "Its nice he takes so many vacations at his ranch instead of doing his job, though that seems to be making the rich richer and the poor poorer and expanding his empire" - Charles Gundacker

• "485 Billion Vs. 38 billion, Lets recall George like Davis, let's be a uniter not a divider, GW has divided all the WORLD... good job George..." - Robert Atkins

• "It's time for the Supreme Court to admit its mistake and DeSelect George "dumbya" Bush" - Evan D.

• "He (Bush) cheated on the election. Simple." - Melanie

• "He (Bush) is the cause of this whole war and the deaths of so many lives." - Ashley Ordecki

• "Does he understand that there is an economy in this country? He is so concerned about the rest of the world, I think he forgot about the United States!" - Unknown

• "Bush is an outlet for rednecks......" - Nick LaQuet

• "Bush is the most ignorant, arrogant, racist, biggotted president America, and the world, has ever seen. His decisions about Iraq and other world affairs are totally wrong. He lies continuously to the american public who seem to lap it all up. The amount of propaganda and BS that comes out of the white house is incredible. Bush should be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The reasons he gave for the invasion of Iraq were proved to be false. There were no WMD found and so the invasion was Illegal, therefore Bush is guilty of war crimes." - Shivalik

• "America was founded in its preconditions by liberals-and we demand ligitmate governance. You are byfar the worst the president since Nixon. " - Shawn Koester

• "The idiot ran our country into the ground." - Jon Thomas

• "wow george bush is awful...killem" - john boi

• "He has ruined our economy and put us in an even worse light with the rest of the world." - Fidel Andrade

• "unless they are removed, BushCo will polarize this nation into civil war" - Jonnie Gilman

• "He's led us into a war for fictious reasons, let Bin Ladden go, Al-queda reform, given tax cuts to the rich, condoned coporate scandals, destroyed the enviorment, created high unemployment, wants research for small nukes, and has caused us to be hated by the world. George .W Bush you are not my president!!!!! VOTE DEAN 2004" - Alex Ross

• "The Clintion Gore administration got the economy to a world high in the 8 great years of the time he was in office...it took GW Bush less than 2 years to RUIN ALL OF THAT and bring the USA into its WORST decline since the great deppression." - Alexander Anthony Morollo

• "In a nation where the poor and old cannot afford health care, in a nation where the economy is falling apart, in a nation where 15 percent of people live below the poverty line, in a nation where hundreds of thousands are homeless, in a nation where the entire media system is owned by only six media mega conglomerates, in a nation with one of the world's highest crime rates, in a nation with the world's largest prison population, in a nation where half of all marriages end in divorce, in a nation where 25 percent of kids under 12 live in poverty, in a nation where the gulf between the rich and poor is growing every day, in a nation that supports dictatorships in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, in a nation where the government is full of hypocrisy, in a nation where 40 percent of the homeless are veterans, in a nation with one of the world's highest teen suicide and stress rates, and you're telling me our biggest problems are terrorism and drugs? When are Americans going to wake up to the truth?" - Corey Cananza

• "Bring back Clinton! He may have been a perv, but he got the job done" - Jennifer Hamby

• "Im soooo sick of george Bush putting us into War!!!!! and being an idiot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he is the worst presadent ever!!! He is a retarded rich redneck" - Elizabeth Kidd

• "mouth-breathin' lip-biting hicks shouldn't play with lasers (especially in space). Get the murderous traitor who swindled himself into office out of it and if the Star Wars program is gonna have any real utility, build a cosy little satellite just for him to wile away his vegetative existance. Yeeee Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" - lee

• "He scares me with all his wanting to disarm other countries weapons, it is going to end up destroying the world." - Mary

• "Bush is a miserable failure. Let's take back our country in 2004." - Allen Smith

• "He gave us our first and only preemptive war." - Gregory B. Van Tuyle

• "What Dubya & Co. fails to understand is that this is not 1933 nor is it Germany and the American public does not need or wand his abusive politics, policies and practices." - George Rosquist

• "I am sick of his policies his agendas his speaking.He is a gangster.IS this moral for the children of the nation to see?No I am sick.Plus if you are not up to par with admistration.You are not a Patriot?" - John M. rodems

• "George W. Bush is a complete idiot devoid of ANY signs of intelligence and has single handedly destroyed this country and caused the world to hate us!" - Erin Weiss

• "The election of Arnold Schwarzenegger in California proves that you cannot underestimate the stupidity of the American voters. I tremble in fear at the thought of the ignorant voters puting Bush back in office for a second term." - Sam Colbin

• "Bush likes to eat at my cracker barrel restuarant, cause its the restauarnt only for CRACKERS like him" - John White

• "that cracker Bush has no SOUL, just like me" - Don Simmons

• "I wish someone would assasinate him!!" - Maria

• "Eight years of President Clinton equalled eight years of peace and prosperity. Eight years of Bush I & Bush II has equalled eight years of war, terror, and economic hardship. " - Olga Trollpants

• "Democrats are the only party that really represents the average hard working patriotic voter instead of fat cat special interests that own and fund the Republicans from the top on down. " - Jason S.

• "He needs to go. He's ruining the economy and making us suffer with those stupid tax cut that only benefit the wealthy. " - Patty MacNaughton

• "I think George Bush is a prick. He should not be running America, much else trying to set up a government for the Iraqi people. Why would US rules be so good? They don't have gun control for Christ's sake." - Haley Arzab

• "why is he president? why does he act so stupid in so many ways? Is he capable of logic thought? Why does he want to cause the death and injuries of thousands of people for no good reason? Why is it that only half our country seems to recogize that he is one of the evilest people alive and is heading our country and the world into doom? I just don't get it. " - Charity Meakes

• "Bush has murdered thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan more than any terrorist group. To truly oppose him become a marxist." - Conor

• "AMEN! I hated him since the day he was ILLEGALLY elected! IMPEACH or make him RESIGN!!" - Jon Harrington

• "Bush is just plain stupid. Who goes to war to find one person and then decides to declare war on an entire country?He thought they had weapons of mass destruction but they dont, which means that Saddam was telling the truth! I hate bush, he deserves to die. over 400 people have died because of his stupidity. " - Daniel

• "He is a clown who became US President by design of powerful business groups and he is working for them" - Anupam

• "He is the REAL TERRORIST behind sept. 11 attacks!!!!!" - Robert Groderic

• "I hope Bush suffers the most painful death possible!" - Monica Cross

• "He should be impeached, with all the secrets he's hiding" - Kani Chen

• "The 2nd amendment was designed only to cover police, the nat'l guard, and so forth. When the Bill of Rights were written, individuals typically owned rifles which were necessary tools for hunting. There was no need to regulate rifles or guarantee their protection at that time (it would be like protecting plows in the Bill of Rights). The 2nd amendment does not provide for individual protection of handguns." - mpickett81

• Tenpercent He is there because:
  (1)he wants to spread right wing religious dogma into the middle-east
  (2)he wants a good military base/position in the middle east
  (3)he wants to try to make himself look like a war hero and savior of the American people.
  (4)giving government grants to his fat cat corp. buddies to "rebuild" Iraq puts money in their pockets and they will then in turn support his candidacy for re-election and contribute to his campagin.
  (5)he dreams of becoming President for life
  (6 )he also dreams of world domination by America. In other words, he is dangerously delusional.

• NomdePlum (You're going to love this one)
  "predsident idiot violated the constitution of the United States by starting a war. He did so on the pretext that there was imminent danger coming from terrorists in Iraq via their weapons of mass destruction. We know he lied. " "We have an absolute MORON in the White House who is doing NOTHING but damage to our country, our people, our international reputation, and innocent lives around the world. " "By the way, the terrorists are from Afghanistan, and were supported, directly, by daddy bush when it was convenient to do so. " "Bush invented and forced on the world this war." "Congress by constitution and Supreme Court decision CANNOT grant powers given to THEM by the constitution to ANY president (which is why the "line item veto was struck down). " "The Iraqis did NOT welcome us invaders with open arms. " "The war was NOT over when bush said it was over. " The purpose bush imposed the war on us is in HIS head -- perhaps for big OIL companies like the ones his entire administration comes from and still maintains ties to. " "But it's irrelevant what his motivations are/were to the fact that he started a war illegally -- WE AREN'T SUPPOSED TO START WARS ... his EXCUSE was "weapons of mass destruction" -- which, ARE NOT THERE. " "As for the Iraqis welcoming us -- I hardly think daily scenes of murder, terror, and what appears for all the world to look like a CIVIL WAR (which WE started) is "welcoming us." " "CLINTON did not start a war in IRAQ based on claims that there are "WMD" ready to be used at a moment's notice against US. " "There are no "WMD" and there was NO legitimate reason to START a war, and it's unconstitutional which makes bush a traitor and a dictator and extremely UN-American. "

"The [Bush] administration's stubborn refusal to accept the obvious [global warming] is a ploy to help friends in the energy industry who don't want to pay for pollution controls."(Bush's 'friends' in the energy industry include power plant workers who do not want to see a cut in their pay/benefits and/or citizens who do not want to see their electric and gas rates go up any more.)

Political Terminology used in the Media

• Earmark - Money spent for a specific program; act as a proressive tax or a regressive tax i.e. gas tax for road construction
  
• Fast Track - Give the president power to set up trade agreements
  
• Pie in the Sky - Big promises from a running candidate
  
• Plum - Good job, not much work, great pay
  
• Waffle - Members of government who can not decide on a vote
  
• Bread and Butter - Important issue usually involving income to the government
  
• Patronage - Appointed jobs in government
  
• Nepotism - Appointed jobs in government for relatives
  
• Trial Baloon - Idea proposed to get government reaction
  
• Old Guard - Oldest and most experinced members of congress
  
• Young Turks - Newest and least experinced members of congress
  
• Banana Republic - Agricultural based economy of a Central American nation
  
• Summit - Meeting between leaders of nations
  
• Pacific Rim - All countries touching the Pacific Ocean
  
• Coup d'etate - Overthrow of a state
  
• Ugly American - Book written in1960's describing how Americans treat foreigners overseas
  
• 4th Estate or 4th Column - Media
  
• Yellow Journalism / Spin - Halftruths and misinformation
  
• Eastern Establishment - Financial and communication headquarters based on the east coast (8pm/7pm central braodcasts for example)
  
• Off the Record - Not to be reported
  
• On the Record - Will be reported
  
• Executive Session - Closed meeting
  
• Concession Speech - Congrats to the rival after losing election
  
• Sherman Statement - "If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve"
  
• K Street - Row of lobbyists groups
  
• Madison Ave. - Row of big advertisement companies
  
• Revisionist - New interpretation of history
  
• Fire Side Chat - Presidential speech over the radio
  
• Drop Off - Voting only for most important positions
  
• Safe Election - Candidate is sure of winning
  
• Running for Exercise - No chance to win
  
• Protest Vote - Voting for a candidate that you really don't support but only because you don't want the latter to win. (voting for the lesser of two evils)
  
• EMILY's List (Earning Money Is Like Yeast)- Women's oganiztions who support anortion and gather money from supporters to make more money
  
• Bleeding Heart - Some liberal who wants to help the poor, criminals, minorites, or foreigners
  
• Attila the Hun - A consrvative with opposing views to a Bleeding Heart
  
• Don't Waste Your Vote - Voting for a 3rd party
  
• Silk Stalking District - Wealthy voting area
  
• Off Year Election - Election year that does not involve the President
  
• Bully Pulpit - President uses the power of office to convince the people (Teddy Roosevelt)
  
• Think Tank - Oranization used to promote a program or idea (Hoover Institute, Heritage Foundation, CATO)
  
• Boodle - Taking bribe money
  
• Walking Around Money - paying voters to vote for a candidate
  
• Shoebox - Accepting a bribe in Illinois
  
• Tin Box - Accepting a bribe in New Nork
  
• Big Brother - book titled "1984" refered to the government as Big Brother
  
• War Chest - Politician's money to spend on campaign, usually speaking of the President
  
• Grass Roots - The public
  
• Civil Disobedience - Breaking the law to prove a point
  
• Right to Work - Free from requirement to join a union in order to get the job
  
• Unfunded Mandates - One level of government orders another level of government to perform an action but doesn't supply the money for the costs
  
• Bed Sheet Ballot - Long list of candidates (1964 set the example)
  
• Meagan's Law - Registering sex offenders
  
• Brady Bill - Registering firearms because of the assasination attempt on President Reagan
  
• Power Behind the Thrown - Presidential Advisors/Secretaries
  
• Foggy Bottom - State Department near Potomac River
  
• Beltway - Expressway around D.C.
  
• FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Act
  
• OSHA - Occupational Safety and Heath Administration
  
• ANWAR - Alaskan oil reserves
  
• Bible Belt - Southern States from Texas to Florida
  
• Border States - Kansas to Virginia
  
• Maverick - Supports opposing party (John McCain, Zell Miller)
  
• Super Tuesday - When southern states have their primary
  

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  The following story is about my ship I served on in the navy and I witnessed this event with my own eyes.

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  THE RETURN OF THE PIRATES

  By Brian Becker and Sarah Sloan

  Tue, 8 Feb

  Just imagine this scenario fifteen years ago: Masked U.S. commandos, armed with machine guns, descending down rope ladders from attack helicopters and seizing control of a Soviet vessel on the high seas. Such a scene was the thing for movie buffs, James Bond techno-spy flicks and Tom Clancy novels.

  Fifteen years ago, the Pentagon would be well aware that boarding and seizing a Soviet vessel on the high seas could lead to a major world confrontation. The Soviet Union, under the leadership of the Communist Party, would likely have put the country onto a military alert, even possibly a nuclear alert, in response to such a U.S. provocation.

  But the Soviet Union has now collapsed. The socialist government has been replaced by a U.S.-supported regime of bankers and emerging capitalists. Today, Russia has been reduced to a semi- colonial status and the images once relegated to fantasy spy movies have become the reality.

  On Wednesday, February 2, U.S. SEAL commandos seized control of a Russian oil tanker in the Persian/Arabian Gulf. These commandos came from the guided missile cruiser USS Monterey. The machine gun toting masked U.S. commandos did indeed drop from rope ladders onto the deck of the Volga-Neft-147.

  The U.S. Navy commandeered the vessel to a port in Oman and under instructions from the United States are draining the tanker of its 4,000 tons of oil and other refined petroleum products. This now pirated oil will be sold and the revenues will be used, according to U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen, to pay for the costs of U.S. Navy and air force surveillance in the Persian/Arabian Gulf.

  What possible legal justification does the United States inveigh to seize Russian ships? The U.S. asserts that the Russian tanker was being used to transport oil from Iraq.

  "The president made very clear we're going to vigorously enforce the sanctions [on Iraq]," said David Leavy, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council. "It is a top priority to us to continue to deny smuggling opportunities to the Iraqi regime."

  According to U.S. officials, the U.S. Navy prevented at least five ships from other countries carrying cargo to Iraq. Since the U.S. and Britain forced the United Nations to impose economic sanctions on Iraq a decade ago, the Pentagon and British naval forces have boarded over 12,000 ships from other countries that were passing through the Persian/Arabian Gulf.

  IMPACT OF THE COLLAPSE OF USSR

  The United States has reverted to the use of economic sanctions, as a weapon of choice, against developing countries that do not follow the political and economic dictates of the Washington and Wall Street establishment. Iraq is just one of many countries that have been subjected to this form of economic warfare.

  The human consequences of sanctions are staggering. According to the United Nations own statistics, more than a million Iraqis have perished from disease, malnutrition and hunger-related illnesses since sanctions were imposed in 1990.

  Sanctions could not be maintained without the presence of U.S. and British military forces. United States taxpayers cough up $50 billion per year to finance the military operations in the Persian/Arabian Gulf alone. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops, war ships, carrier groups and military aircraft are stationed in the Gulf to enforce sanctions.

  The strategy of economic sanctions has existed for many years. Cuba, for instance, has been sanctioned since 1961 with an economic blockade.

  But as long as the Soviet Union and the socialist governments existed as a global economic and military bloc, the impact of sanctions were significantly mitigated. If imperialism cut off trade and commerce, there was another economic system with which to trade and from which aid and assistance could be received.

  Cuba, again, is a good example of how the impact of imperialist economic sanctions were offset. In spite of the U.S. blockade, Cuba's socialist government was able to provide the working class with a relatively affluent (by Latin American standards) quality of life. Workers were guaranteed a job. Housing was affordable. Health care and child care were universal and free. Cuba was isolated from the United States but integrated into the global socialist economic bloc.

  NEW EFFECTIVENESS OF SANCTIONS IN 1990s

  During the years between World War II and 1990, more than two- fifths of the world's population lived in countries that had socialist governments. These countries were admittedly poorer than the handful of imperialist countries like the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. In fact, they were using the methods of socialist planning to try to catch up with the advanced capitalist countries.

  In spite of its economic backwardness, not to mention its political problems, the existence of a socialist camp provided breathing space for all the developing countries. Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Iran, Syria and other countries in the Middle East had extensive diplomatic, economic and military relationships with the USSR and the other socialist governments.

  Today, each of these countries--not only in the Middle East, but throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe--can be isolated by imperialism and subjected to economic strangulation coupled with CIA subversion and military attacks.

  It was the existence of the socialist camp, led by the USSR, that provided a global shield under which colonized peoples could more successfully struggle for national independence and begin the process of economic development.

  How ironic it is that the pro-capitalist Russian government of Vladimir Putin, that wants to demonstrate its "toughness" against Chechen guerillas, has allowed the seizure of the Russian oil tanker with only the issuance of a verbal protest.

  Having embarked on its campaign to be integrated into the world capitalist economy, with its attendant IMF and World Bank loans, the new Russian government is prostrate before the piracy of U.S. imperialism.

  People in the United States must build a movement against U.S. colonial-style domination over much of the earth. When the U.S. government seizes the vessels of other countries on the high seas, when it routinely bombs the Iraqi people and murders their children with economic sanctions, it acts only on behalf of U.S. oil monopolies and banks. People in the United States must counter this new colonialism by building a militant movement against imperialism.

  International Action Center
  39 West 14th Street,
  Room 206 New York, NY 10011
  email: iacenter@iacenter.org
  http://www.iacenter.org
  phone: 212 633-6646
  fax: 212 633-2889

  The International Action Center: "Peace Activists" With A Secret Agenda?

  PORTRAITS OF THE PEACE PARTY: THE INTERNATIONAL ACTION CENTER

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  The organization that wrote this article was slamming the United States and Bill Clinton. This same organization is calling for impeachment of President Bush. This is the reason so many liberals are getting the Anti-American label slapped on them. It's hard to differentiate between the liberals and the communists. I supported President Clinton's decision to follow the UN sanctions just as I support President Bush to follow the UN resolutions to take action.

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