tagged w/ John McCain
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By Andrew Jones
Sunday, January 29, 2012 13:46 EST
Former presidential candidate and Mitt Romney supporter John McCain (R-AZ) expressed Sunday morning his fatigue over the number of debates in this Republican nomination cycle.
“We’ve got to stop the debates,” McCain told Meet The Press‘ David Gregory. “Enough with the debates, because they are driving up our candidates’, all of them, unfavorability. We have enough of that. They’ve turned into mud wrestling instead of an exposition of all our candidates views. And it’s time to recognize who the real adversary is, and it’s not each other.”
There have been a total of 19 GOP presidential debates this campaign season so far.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/29/mccain-stop-the-debates-enough-with-the-debates/
WATCH: Video from NBC, which was broadcast on January 29, 2012.
"Oh No!!! Is he saying we need to stop calling out his party members for the Worthless Losers that they are, it sure sounds that way to me, what do you think???"By Andrew Jones
Sunday, January 29, 2012 13:46 EST
Former presidential candidate... more
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PCW Politics is War on P-SPAN Report
Viking Hall
Bristol, TN
Thursday January 26th, 2012
Host: Johnny Suave
Suave begins but is interrupted by a commotion in the back.
Bernstein is in the back. In the background, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) is in the middle of an intense conversation with PCW CEO Barack Obama (D-IL).
MATCH #1
Charlie Blackwell (American Heartland) vs. ‘The Japanese SuperDestroyer’ Yamamoto Tanaka (D) w/Reika
Charlie Blackwell (American Heartland Coalition)
HT: 6′ 4″ WT: 215 HOME: New Braunfels, TX
FIN: Tazzmission (Katahajime)
MGR: Kenzie Blackwell
Yamamoto Tanaka (D)
HT: 6′ 9″ WT: 350, HOME: Nagano, Japan
FIN: Japanese Super Destroyer
MGR: Mrs. Miyagi
Tanaka is furious and storms into PCW Executive Committee Chief Harry Reid‘s (D-NV) office.
MATCH #2- Hostages on a Pole Match
Navy Seals 1 and 2 vs. Pirate Captain Jack Suarez and Pirate First Mate Jay
Steve Hunter’s Three Sentence Political Commentary- because three sentences is all you need to get your point across.
TOPIC: Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona v. President Obama- Dust Up in Arizona
Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post walks out and announces that Newt Gingrich can’t win.
Steve Hunter’s Three Sentence Political Commentary- because three sentences is all you need to get your point across.
TOPIC: Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Ill.) re: Keystone XL- “Twenty thousand jobs is really not that many jobs, and investing in green technologies will produce that and more…”
K-Roy is still in the ring. Finally, ‘American Citizen’ Kevin Scott runs out and it’s on again.PCW Politics is War on P-SPAN Report
Viking Hall
Bristol, TN
Thursday January 26th,... more
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By Agence France-Presse
Sunday, January 15, 2012
CHARLESTON, South Carolina — Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney hit a roadblock Sunday in South Carolina as Christian conservative leaders coalesced behind Rick Santorum in the race for the presidential nomination.
A group of 155 Christian evangelical leaders from around the country endorsed Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, Saturday after holding a vote on a Texas ranch to agree on a single candidate before the January 21 South Carolina primary.
“It’s a big hit, let’s be honest,” Senator John McCain, who recently endorsed Romney, said on CNN. “There’s a very strong evangelical movement in South Carolina, particularly inland.”
Read More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/15/romney-takes-a-hit-from-the-christian-right/
"I knew it was just a Matter of time before the Christian Right would Freak out that Mitt is Not Christian!!!"By Agence France-Presse
Sunday, January 15, 2012
CHARLESTON, South Carolina... more
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John McCain, I lost all respect I ever had for you. And all because of the blatant lies you told me on the phone this evening.
You didn’t get my vote in 2008, but that doesn’t mean I’ve never looked up to you. In fact, I’d always found you to be admirable, honest and foregoing.
Add in your valiant military service, Senator, and I’ve had nothing but the highest respect, if not esteem, for you.
But after all the completely false statements you directly told me tonight, even if you were a brave POW, I’m not calling you anything but a lying SOB from this point on.
http://www.rob-servations.com/1/post/2012/01/youre-a-liar-john-mccain.htmlJohn McCain, I lost all respect I ever had for you. And all because of the blatant... more
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By David Edwards
Friday, January 13, 2012
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum suggested on Friday that President Barack Obama wanted a constitutional amendment to force the redistribution of wealth.
Wearing his infamous sweater vest, the candidate told a group of supporters in Rock Hill, South Carolina that Obama wanted to “manage the decline of America.”
“Remember the president of the United States saying when he was running for office earlier in his career, he was asked the question as a constitutional law professor, what change he would make, what deficiency there was in the Constitution?” Santorum explained. “His answer was there should be a provision for the redistribution of wealth.”
The former Pennsylvania senator may have been misremembering an often misinterpreted statement that Obama made to WBEZ-FM back in 2001.
“If you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movement, and its litigation strategy in the court, I think where it succeeded was to vest formal rights in previously dispossessed peoples,” the then-state senator said. “But the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society. And to that extent, as radical as I think people tried to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical.”
Expecting an attack from Republican nominee John McCain’s campaign in 2008, Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton preemptively responded.
“Obama was talking about the civil rights movement — and the kind of work that has to be done on the ground to make sure that everyone can live out the promise of equality,” Burton said. “In the interview, Obama went into extensive detail to explain why the courts should not get into that business of ‘redistributing’ wealth. Obama’s point — and what he called a tragedy — was that legal victories in the civil rights led too many people to rely on the courts to change society for the better.”
Santorum also highlighted remarks the president made at George Washington University last year, where he said that “we would not be a great country” without programs like Social Security and Medicare.
“You see, I don’t believe that,” Santorum continued. “I believe America was born great. … What makes the saying on the Great Seal — e pluribus unum — true? Out of many one, what is the one? It is that, that we are a people who are children of God.”
“We are seen as equal. I mean, the idea that all men are created equal, that was unheard of. Women created equal to men? No way! What society did that exist? Rights? Equal? No way. Why was that? Because we are children of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And we were all made in His image.”
Santorum’s assertion that the U.S. was “born great” with equality for all men and women does not exactly square with the history books.
African Americans were not considered full citizens until 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment rendered the three-fifths compromise moot. Women were not guaranteed the right to vote until the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920.
Many would say that the Constitution is still far from perfect. The Equal Rights Amendment was approved by Congress, but was never ratified by the states by the 1982 deadline. The Constitution also does not prevent discrimination against LGBT people.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/13/santorum-obama-wants-constitutional-amendment-to-redistribute-wealth/
Watch this video from CNN, broadcast Jan. 13, 2012.
"What do you folks Make of this????"By David Edwards
Friday, January 13, 2012
Republican presidential candidate Rick... more
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For Mitt Romney, it was the event from hell. Or from heck, since Mitt Romney does not use words like hell.
Or any of the other bad words that any other candidate might have used after this event on the day following his narrow victory in the Iowa caucuses.
Let’s start with the mic check, that part of an event when a staffer comes out, pings his finger against the microphone and says, “Testing. Testing. One, two, three.”
Except the Romney mic check is a little … elaborate. Far more elaborate than any mic check I have ever heard.
A voice booms out over the loudspeakers in the gym at Manchester Central High. “Checking the press riser. Please let us know if you are getting any hums or buzzes. Clean? Is it crispy good?”
If the audience is puzzled by this — crispy good? Is this KFC? — they must have been downright baffled when a Romney staffer takes the stage and says, “White balance. Get your white balance.”
White balance is something video cameras need, but some in the crowd look around to see if someone is doing a racial headcount. Which would have been easy. Out of an audience of a few hundred, I count four black people, three of whom — magically! — are in the camera shot. (New Hampshire is only 1.1 percent black.)
These detailed checks tell me something: They tell me Mitt Romney likes his campaign to run well. Very well. Extremely well. As in flawlessly well.
And on the flight from Des Moines, everything had gone well. Reporters had their names on pieces of paper on each seat (reporters hate confusion), Romney came to the back of the plane wearing one of his windowpane shirts (he has several) and a pair of faded jeans (he switches between Tommy Bahama and The Gap, though some reporters feel The Gap is more flattering to him) and “banters,” saying things like, “You guys got nothing better to do?”
So everything is fine. Everything is dandy. The candidate looks confident and happy. And then he has to ruin things by actually campaigning.
At the high school gym, the campaign plays a medley of oldies — “Eye of the Tiger,” “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet,” “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher” — and then the sound cuts out entirely as Ann Romney and political dignitaries enter not to uplifting music but to dead silence.
So, OK, stuff happens. There are some introductory remarks for which the sound is “crispy good,” and then Romney and John McCain walk out. McCain had endorsed Romney the night before, the value of which is problematical, but what the heck, he was the last Republican nominee (to lose).
Then Romney announces this is going to be a two-person town hall and that McCain is going to stay on the stage and take questions, too.
This is odd enough — the crowd has probably come to see and hear Romney — but doubly odd since McCain hates public speaking and is no good at it, which he immediately proceeds to demonstrate....
Continued at:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71096.htmlFor Mitt Romney, it was the event from hell. Or from heck, since Mitt Romney does not... more
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By David Edwards
Friday, January 6, 2012
Failed Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s endorsement of current candidate Mitt Romney may being doing more harm than good.
At an event in South Carolina Thursday, the Arizona senator managed to confuse the candidate he was supporting with Democratic President Barack Obama.
“I am confident with the leadership and backing of the American people, President Obama will turn this country around,” McCain told the Charleston crowd before Romney and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley both stepped in to remind him who he was campaigning for.
“Excuse me. President Romney. President Romney,” McCain said, correcting himself. “President Romney will turn this around.”
Following his narrow win in the Iowa caucuses this week, McCain had endorsed Romney at an event that went badly for the candidate.
After enduring McCain’s corny jokes about the less-than-impressive Iowa win, Romney was forced to listen to hecklers and a woman who implied he was insulting Asians.
“I hope I haven’t put any Asians down,” Romney replied.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/06/mccain-goofs-at-romney-event-obama-will-turn-this-country-around/
Watch this video from CNN, uploaded Jan. 5, 2012.
"Perhaps it's time to put the Old Man out to Pasture???" =)By David Edwards
Friday, January 6, 2012
Failed Republican presidential candidate... more
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Oops, he did it again.
For the second time in as many days, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has confused President Barack Obama with another person during a campaign event for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
On Thursday, the Arizona senator had declared that “President Obama will turn this country around,” and was quickly corrected by both Romney and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
Less than 24 hours later, McCain was on the stump in Conway when he goofed again.
“He will rebuild the moral of American and he will restore America,” McCain said of Romney. “I guarantee you he will not lead from behind like Ronald Reagan. He will lead from in front.”
Both Romney’s wife, Ann, and Haley turned to look at the candidate, but he simply applauded this time instead of correcting the 2008 GOP nominee.
McCain most likely mangled a line that he had used several days before in New Hampshire.
“I guarantee one thing,” McCain declared. “No one will ever say that Mitt Romney will lead from behind. He will lead from the front like Ronald Reagan did.”
Republicans have long mocked President Barack Obama over the assertion that he was “leading from behind.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/06/mccain-romney-wont-lead-from-behind-like-ronald-reagan/
Watch this video from CNN, uploaded Jan. 6, 2012.
"I Loved the Look on his Face, it was one of those, Ooops I thought it was just a Fart, somebody, anybody, pass me some Napkins!!!!" =)Oops, he did it again.
For the second time in as many days, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)... more
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Mitt Romney's recent Charleston, SC campaign event was supposed to be special.
He had Gov. Nikki Haley, a recent endorser of the Republican presidential candidate, on hand to greet the crowd. He even had the last Republican candidate there at Charles Towne Landing to offer his endorsement.
But that's not exactly what Sen. John McCain said on Thursday afternoon:
http://www.rob-servations.com/1/post/2012/01/at-romney-event-mccain-endorses-obama.htmlMitt Romney's recent Charleston, SC campaign event was supposed to be special.... more
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By David Edwards
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s newest high-profile supporter says it’s time for Republicans to “fix our problems with the Hispanics.”
MSNBC’s Chuck Todd on Wednesday asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) if Arizona would be a swing state during the 2012 presidential election.
“I think that if not this election cycle, the demographics are that Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, even Texas will all be in play,” the senator said with a sigh.
“And if Republicans don’t fix their problem?” Todd wondered.
“Yes, we have to fix our problems with the Hispanics,” McCain agreed. “It starts with a way to address the issue of immigration in a humane and caring fashion, at the same time emphasizing the need to secure our borders because of the drug cartels and the people who transport people across our border and treat them terribly.”
The Pew Research Center predicts that Latinos will increase from 14 percent of the U.S. population to 29 percent by 2050.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/05/mccain-republicans-have-to-fix-our-problems-with-the-hispanics/
Watch this video from MSNBC’s The Daily Rundown, uploaded Jan. 5, 2012.
"I say enforce current laws and make it easier for Folks to gain Citizenship.... Isn't this the Fella that was gonna: Complete the Danged Fence???"By David Edwards
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt... more
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The results from last night’s PCW Drama in Des Moines show- the kickoff of PCW’s Road Show Across America Tour.
PCW Drama in Des Moines
Wells Fargo Arena
Des Moines, IA
Monday, January 3rd
MATCH #1- Queen of the Trailer Park Lani Harlot (R) vs. Soccer Mom (D) w/New Age Sensitive Guy
BACKSTAGE
Former PCW Champion Yamamoto Tanaka (I) and his valet/translator Reika make their surprise return to PCW
MATCH #2-
The Green World Order (GreenPete and Vegan Brock Cole Lee) with Peta from PETA and PeaceNick (D) vs. Ron Paul’s New Libertarian Army (Jack and Joe Schmidt) with Ron Paul (R-TX) and Daisy Cutter-Bomb
BACKSTAGE
Harry Reid (D-NV), leader of the PCW Executive Committee, and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) lead a Democrat Super-PAC carrying briefcases of cash, into Yamamoto Tanaka’s dressing room.
VIDEO RECAP FROM JESUSLAND VS. PROGRESSIVEVILLE PPV
‘American Girl’ Sarah Mae Smith (R) reemerged as a legitimate contender to the Women’s title as she defeated Kathryn Randall Collins (D) in a return match for the Women’s #1 contender spot.
MATCH #3
‘American Girl’ Sarah Mae Smith (R) vs. Kathryn Randall Collins (D)
MATCH #4- Iowa Caucus Match
‘American Citizen’ Kevin Scott (R) w/Mitt Romney (R-MA)
K-Roy (R) w/Newt Gingrich (R-GA)
Texas Jack (R) w/Rick Perry (R-TX)
Farmer John (R) w/Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
Jim Schmidt (R) w/Ron Paul (R-TX)
The Right Rev. Randy Richardson (R) w/Rick Santorum (R-PA)The results from last night’s PCW Drama in Des Moines show- the kickoff of... more
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By David Edwards
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Why does Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) hate Christmas?
The Arizona senator slammed President Barack Obama on Thursday for buying Christmas gifts for his daughters instead of meeting with the House Republicans who are refusing to pass a payroll tax cut extension.
“The four previous presidents I served under, including President Clinton, would be calling them over to the White House and sitting down with them and looking them in the eye and saying, ‘Look, we need to fix this,’” McCain told CNN’s Ali Velshi.
“The Republicans are losing this fight. We need to get back on track. There is no doubt about that,” the senator admitted. “But I think it requires some presidential leadership as well as a little bit of bipartisanship.”
“In times like the past, in the past, four presidents that I served under, they have exerted a lot more leadership than going shopping.”
A two-month extension of the payroll tax cut was passed with the bipartisan approval of 89 senators — something that is almost unheard of on serious legislation — but House Republicans are demanding that cut be extended for a year. Americans’ taxes will automatically go up if a bill is not signed in the next week.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/22/mccain-gets-mad-at-obama-for-christmas-shopping/
Watch this video from CNN’s American Morning, broadcast Dec. 22, 2011.
"I think the Old Kermudgeon is still Pissed that he Lost!!!!"By David Edwards
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Why does Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) hate... more
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Everyone is talking about the protester; winner of the man of the year in Time Magazine. But few people acknowledge the home protester. That older person, who sits on their sofa, reads the paper and talks out loud about what bothers them in the US of A. The Last Newspaper Reader is back and this time, he reads and talks. A perfectly wonderful freedom we all can enjoy.Everyone is talking about the protester; winner of the man of the year in Time... more
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So, you'd vote for Ron Paul if it weren't for his wacky foreign policy?
U.S. military veterans and active duty soldiers overwhelmingly support Ron Paul for President in 2012. Find out why.
This video explains why they support Ron Paul so overwhelmingly, including a discussion of "blowback" resulting from U.S. interventionist foreign policy.So, you'd vote for Ron Paul if it weren't for his wacky foreign policy?... more
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By David Edwards
Thursday, December 15, 2011
For Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the end of one of the most costly wars in U.S. history is not a reason to celebrate.
As the final American troops were pulling out of Iraq Thursday, the failed Republican presidential candidate insisted that “everything that we gained” in the war could be lost.
“It was a noble cause,” McCain told NBC’s Matt Lauer. “I really think we risk losing — great risk — losing everything that we gained, and that is the opinion of every military leader that I’ve talked to.”
“So was this purely in your opinion, an idea of meeting a campaign promise?” Lauer asked.
“The president made a campaign promise that he would bring all the troops out,” McCain explained. “It’s very obvious — I know for a fact because I was involved that there was very little real discussion with the Iraqis about a residual force being left behind, and it is what it is. And so we risk losing everything that we gained.”
“As I say, we risk losing everything that we gained,” the Arizona senator repeated for third time. “I think it’s a great risk. And I think it was unnecessary. We always envisioned some residual force, and this administration, they were never really serious at all.”
While McCain may be right that the U.S. is losing part of its footprint in the Middle East, there are some things that Americans accumulated during the war that they wish they could lose: like over $800 billion in debt and 4,484 dead American troops.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/15/mccain-on-iraq-withdrawal-we-risk-losing-everything-that-we-gained/
Watch this video from NBC’s The Today Show, broadcast Dec. 15, 2011.
"What a Douche!!!"By David Edwards
Thursday, December 15, 2011
For Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the end... more
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PCW Extreme Political TV Recap
Gallagher-Iba Arena
Stillwater, OK
Monday December 5th, 2011
Host: Johnny Suave
MATCH #1
American Airlines Flight Attendent defeated Alec Baldwin @ 7:22
-it all began with a flight attendant scolded Baldwin for playing ‘Word with Friends’ on his iPad while the airplane was at the gate. Baldwin then got up and demanded to know what her name was and it escalated from there.
BCS Chief Bill Hancock walks out and is roundly booed by the Stillwater crowd. Hancock crows that ‘once again, the BCS has delivered.’ He says the best two teams, Alabama and LSU, are in this game and ‘obviously, the media who votes in the AP poll, agrees with it.’
Charlie Blackwell and his Les Miserables walk out and calls the BCS a fraud.
Hancock: “In the BCS, every game counts.”
Blackwell: “Tell that to Boise State. The Mountain West. The Mid-American Conference.”
Then Oklahoma State Coach Mike Gundy comes out and let’s the BCS have it in his own inimitable style…
Suave: “Isn’t Mike Gundy 43 now?”
Hancock is tackled from behind by Boise State football coach Chris Peterson. Then the University of Alabama field goal kicker runs out. He tries to kick Peterson…but he misses. The kicker tries again…he misses a second time. The kicker keeps trying…but he keeps missing the mark.
PCW CEO Barack Obama at Osawatomie, Kansas
Obama: “Good to be back in Texas.”
Suave: “Huh? You know if Rick Perry or Sarah Palin or any other conservative candidate would said that, it’d be all over the news. Kansas. Texas. Pre-law. Pre-med.”
MATCH #2 PCW Women’s Title Match
(c) Valora Salinas (I) retains the title over Union Maid (D) @ 9:02
Post match, PCW Men’s Champion ‘The One Man Hollywood A-List’ Stone Chism (D) and Skanky Rich Bimbo Kim Kardashian come out to confront Valora. From behind, six foot two, two hundred pound Cassidy McConnell (D) jumps Valora and choke slams her. Kim gets in a few cheap shots and then the trio split when The Mercenaries: former Army Ranger Dawn McGill and Svetlana Kovelevski (I) make the save.
MAIN EVENT:
Corporate Might: Big Oil and Kirk Walstreit (R) w/Texas Tex def. Charlie Blackwell and Average Joe (I) @ 11:47
Big Oil and Walstreit get the win when BCS chief Bill Hancock comes out again and distracts Blackwell.
Post match, rich, fat cat representatives of the Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Fiesta Bowl attack Blackwell and Average Joe, for good measure.
Big Oil gets on the mic and demands a title shot against Tag Team champions Big Union: ‘The Self Proclaimed Savior of the Middle Class’ Big Labor and James the Jeep Worker (D)PCW Extreme Political TV Recap
Gallagher-Iba Arena
Stillwater, OK
Monday December... more
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The fake war on terror continues, and now that Senator of Tel Aviv Joe Liberman is not seeking re-election, John McCain has a new puppeteer, Sen. Carl Levin who is just as hell bent on taking away all of American's civil liberties.
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The Occupy Lansing movement shows no signs of winding-down. Monday they marched to the Lansing office of U.S. Senator Carl Levin to protest the National Defense Authorization Act bill.
The Senate will be voting to allow Congress to give the president the power to order the military to pick up and imprison civilians anywhere in the world without charge or trial.
"This bill has a provision in it that would allow the U.S. government to detain on U.S. soil U.S. citizens for an indefinite amount of time without trial or cause. This is really frightening to us, it directly contradicts our constitutional rights and Occupy Lansing is stepping out to say this is not ok," said Edge Brussel, Occupy Lansing.
The protestors delivered a petition signed by occupiers in opposition to the billThe fake war on terror continues, and now that Senator of Tel Aviv Joe Liberman is not... more
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...the conservative hate monger was discussing her support for Mitt Romney and political consistency when it appeared that the network cut off her microphone as she supposedly called John McCain a "douchebag." She then continued with her Romney support by insulting the memory of the late Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.
http://veracitystew.com/2011/11/29/ann-coulter-calls-late-sen-ted-kennedy-pestilence-video/...the conservative hate monger was discussing her support for Mitt Romney and... more
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While nearly all Americans head to family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving, the Senate is gearing up for a vote on Monday or Tuesday that goes to the very heart of who we are as Americans. The Senate will be voting on a bill that will direct American military resources not at an enemy shooting at our military in a war zone, but at American citizens and other civilians far from any battlefield — even people in the United States itself.
Senators need to hear from you, on whether you think your front yard is part of a “battlefield” and if any president can send the military anywhere in the world to imprison civilians without charge or trial.
The Senate is going to vote on whether Congress will give this president—and every future president — the power to order the military to pick up and imprison without charge or trial civilians anywhere in the world. Even Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) raised his concerns about the NDAA detention provisions during last night’s Republican debate. The power is so broad that even U.S. citizens could be swept up by the military and the military could be used far from any battlefield, even within the United States itself.
The worldwide indefinite detention without charge or trial provision is in S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act bill, which will be on the Senate floor on Monday. The bill was drafted in secret by Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) and passed in a closed-door committee meeting, without even a single hearing.
I know it sounds incredible. New powers to use the military worldwide, even within the United States? Hasn’t anyone told the Senate that Osama bin Laden is dead, that the president is pulling all of the combat troops out of Iraq and trying to figure out how to get combat troops out of Afghanistan too? And American citizens and people picked up on American or Canadian or British streets being sent to military prisons indefinitely without even being charged with a crime. Really? Does anyone think this is a good idea? And why now?
The answer on why now is nothing more than election season politics. The White House, the Secretary of Defense, and the Attorney General have all said that the indefinite detention provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act are harmful and counterproductive. The White House has even threatened a veto. But Senate politics has propelled this bad legislation to the Senate floor.
But there is a way to stop this dangerous legislation. Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) is offering the Udall Amendment that will delete the harmful provisions and replace them with a requirement for an orderly Congressional review of detention power. The Udall Amendment will make sure that the bill matches up with American values.
In support of this harmful bill, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) explained that the bill will “basically say in law for the first time that the homeland is part of the battlefield” and people can be imprisoned without charge or trial “American citizen or not.” Another supporter, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) also declared that the bill is needed because “America is part of the battlefield.”
The solution is the Udall Amendment; a way for the Senate to say no to indefinite detention without charge or trial anywhere in the world where any president decides to use the military. Instead of simply going along with a bill that was drafted in secret and is being jammed through the Senate, the Udall Amendment deletes the provisions and sets up an orderly review of detention power. It tries to take the politics out and put American values back in.
In response to proponents of the indefinite detention legislation who contend that the bill “applies to American citizens and designates the world as the battlefield,” and that the “heart of the issue is whether or not the United States is part of the battlefield,” Sen. Udall disagrees, and says that we can win this fight without worldwide war and worldwide indefinite detention.
The senators pushing the indefinite detention proposal have made their goals very clear that they want an okay for a worldwide military battlefield, that even extends to your hometown. That is an extreme position that will forever change our country.
Now is the time to stop this bad idea. Please urge your senators to vote YES on the Udall Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.
http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/senators-demand-military-lock-american-citizens-battlefield-they-define-beingWhile nearly all Americans head to family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving, the... more
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