DEMOCRATS 4 FREEDOM OFFICIAL BLOG
Death of Habeas Corpus
Video: Olbermann laments 'death of habeas corpus'
Raw Story
David Edwards
Published: Wednesday October 11, 2006
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 eliminates habeas corpus from traditional rights of prisoners.
In this Countdown special report, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann explains why habeas corpus is "a cornerstone of freedom" for the United States.
"In fact, Countdown has obtained a partially redacted copy of a colonial 'declaration' indicating that back then, 'depriving us of trial by jury' was actually considered sufficient cause to start a war of independence, based on the then-fashionable idea that 'liberty' was an unalienable right," said Olbermann.
More on what led to this bill..
Feingold hails October 17th a dark day for America
Here's two articles concerning Senator Feingold's reaction the passage & signing of the Military Commission Act.
Feingold slams anti-terrorism bill as a dark day for America
10/18/2006
An anti-terrorism bill signed into law by President Bush Tuesday is a blow to civil liberties and a victory for terrorists.That from U.S. Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. Mike Simonson reports.
On his way to county listening sessions in Barron and Burnett Counties, Feingold says the Military Commission Act makes it legal to suspend habeus corpus for the first time in U.S. history. "This is more than a step backwards. This is a shocking failure of the Congress to step up to an executive power grab. If somebody is detained they have a right to say 'Hey, it isn't me. I'm not the guy.' This is a frightening departure from our history, our traditions, and our rule of law that needs to be overturned. It's a very dark hour." The democratic senator says personal security and liberty can work together...but this law can mean anyone, including American citizens...can be imprisoned and tortured if they are classified as an "enemy combatant". "This law now allows forced confessions to be used in a case where somebody could be put to death, a forced confession. That is against American law, that is against international law, that's against every tradition of our legal system that I believe in. I don't believe we should give the terrorists that kind of victory by compromising that way." Feingold says the Military Commission Act puts U.S. troops in danger of similar treatment if they are captured. He says if the United States can suspend these rights, then other nations will too.
Read Article Editorial: Listen to Feingold
A Cap Times editorial, OCt. 18, 2006
President Bush and his Republican allies intend to make an election issue of their support for the Military Commissions Act, a measure that is all but certain to be overturned by the Supreme Court. Though there is no question that the act violates basic constitutional protections, the president and White House political czar Karl Rove hope to use the fact that most Democrats opposed the legislation to try to portray the GOP as tough on terror while the opposition is weak.
Will Democrats fall into the trap? Not if they counter the spin as aggressively as did U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., after Bush signed the measure into law.
"The legislation signed by the president today violates basic principles and values of our constitutional system of government. It allows the government to seize individuals on American soil and detain them indefinitely with no opportunity to challenge their detention in court. And the new law would permit an individual to be convicted on the basis of coerced testimony and even allow someone convicted under these rules to be put to death," said Feingold.
"The checks and balances of our system of government and the fundamental fairness of the American people and legal system are among our greatest strengths in the fight against terrorism. I am deeply disappointed that Congress enacted this law. We will look back on this day as a stain on our nation's history."
Published: October 18, 2006
Read ArticleBush signs torture bill
Category: News and Politics
Randy Rhodes Fans
My Space
Waterboarding is the new patient justice: Bush signs torture bill
George W. Bush signed the torture/habeas corpus bill today:
"It is a rare occasion when a president can sign a bill that he knows will save American lives," Bush said. "I have that privilege this morning."
Bush signed the bill in the White House East Room, at a table with a sign positioned on the front that said "Protecting America." He said he signed it in memory of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.
"We will answer brutal murder with patient justice," Bush said. "Those who kill the innocent will be held to account." [AP]
Patient justice?
The president also praised Donald Rumsfeld for his hard work in rolling back civil liberties. To be fair, Rummy is a lot better at taking rights away from Americans than he is at giving rights to Iraqis and Afghanis.
Even more disturbingly, the president explicitly stated that he considers torture to be a form of extra-judicial punishment:
"With the bill I'm about to sign, the men our intelligence officials believe orchestrated the murder of nearly 3,000 innocent people will face justice," Bush said. [AP]
And so, the truth comes out. The president values torture as retribution for its own sake. Never mind that suspects are tortured before they've been tried, let alone found guilty of anything.
And of course, the president reserved the right to decide for himself what constitutes torture, in secret:
The legislation also says the president can "interpret the meaning and application" of international standards for prisoner treatment, a provision intended to allow him to authorize aggressive interrogation methods that might otherwise be seen as illegal by international courts. White House press secretary Tony Snow said Bush would probably eventually issue an executive order that would describe his interpretation, but those documents are not usually made public and Snow did not reveal when it might be issued. [AP]
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Democrats.org: Spead the Word: 1-888-DEM-VOTE
To protect the right to vote this November, the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute has set up a 1-888-DEMVOTE hotline to provide assistance to voters in all 50 states. Through this hotline, voters will be able to identify their polling location and, most importantly, report Election Day problems as they happen so they can be fixed as soon as possible.
1-888-DEM-VOTE launched yesterday. Make sure your friends and family all over the country know that if they have a problem voting on Election Day, they can call 1-888-DEMVOTE for help.
Don't forget:
1. If you are a registered voter, do not leave your polling location without voting. Every registered voter is entitled to cast a provisional ballot.
2. If you are in line before the poll's closing time, you are entitled to vote.
3. You are entitled to view a sample ballot at the polling place before voting.
http://www.100actions.com/a/2006/10/action31.html
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100Actions.com: Spread Our Positive Message
Give your friends and family a reason to vote for the Democrats.
While Republicans have made news all week with their gross incompetence and unbelievably unethical behavior, we don't need to focus on it. It's not enough to just repeat bad things about Repubicans. If we want to win over voters, we need to give them reasons to vote for Democrats. Fortunately, there are plenty of those.
Check out our Democratic Agenda and make sure that when you're making your argument for Democrats, you are arguing for us, not just against Repubicans.
Below are seven of the planned positive changes Democrats plan to make:
1. Double the size of Special Forces to destroy Osama Bin Laden and terrorist networks like al Qaeda.
2. Implement the bipartisan 9/11 Commission proposal to secure America's borders and ports and screen 100% of containers.
3. Prohibit the Congressional pay raise until the nation's minimum wage is raised.
4. Make college tuition deductible from taxes, permanently. Cut student loan interest rates. Expand Pell Grants.
5. Pass initiatives for energy-efficient technologies and domestic alternatives such as biofuels.
6. Fix the Medicare prescription drug program, putting seniors first by negotiating lower drug prices and ending wasteful giveaways to drug companies and HMOs.
7. Promote stem cell research that offers real hope to millions of American families who suffer from devastating diseases.
http://www.100actions.com/a/2006/10/action34.html
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Music Row Democrats
musicrowdemocrats
click link or pic above to visit their myspace page.
My favorite songs are I'm Taking My Country Back by The Honky Tonkers for the Truth, Republican Blues by Tim O'Brien and We Can't Make it Here by JamesMcMurty. Also Check out Goodle USA by Darrell Scott which Faith Hill remade on her latest album(titled we've got nothing but love to prove), yes she's a DEM.Other top picks, Don't Be Afraid of the Neocons by Norman and Nancy Blake and Al Gore by Monkey Bowl(especially for us Floridians).
There are more songs by Todd Snider, Nacy Griffith, Beth Nielsen Chapman and The Mavericks and others.
You can listen to all the songs in full for free, call your local radio station, and tell them to play these songs. Especially the country stations.
Music Row Democrats Return with New Music and a Blog
NASHVILLE – Just in time for the upcoming midterm elections, MUSIC ROW DEMOCRATS (MRD) have returned to the political arena with a new campaign, new music, and the launch of two new websites.
The political organization was formed in 2004 by Nashville music industry leaders to counter the stereotype of country music as a Republican stronghold. "We wanted to make sure that whenever Nashville music was brought up in a political discussion, all voices in our community were part of the conversation," says producer/songwriter and MRD co-founder, Don Cook.
Since the 2004 election, MRD have been laying low and regrouping their efforts. "We really shot out of a cannon in 2004," says co-founder and artist manager Bob Titley. "We hadn't expected to accomplish so much, so fast. After the 2004 presidential election, we all needed to take some time off to really plot out MRD's future direction."
The result is a collection of new music and a focus on the use of the internet for political organization. "I attended YearlyKos," adds Titley, "the first national convention for the political blogging community. I believe the internet is in the early stages of transforming the political world in the same way it has transformed the world of the music business. So we have launched two new websites, a revamp of our home site, musicrowdemocrats.com, and a new community blog, mrdtalk.com."
THE MUSIC
Musicrowdemocrats.com now offers streaming music by some of Nashville's top songwriters and artists - including Nanci Griffith, Raul Malo and The Mavericks, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Bobby Braddock, Tim O'Brien, Darrell Scott and others. "Over the last couple of years it became apparent to us that some of the world's finest songwriters were putting their politics down in the studio, but had no outlet for it," says Titley. "So we are providing a platform for that unique political voice." Collectively, these artists have won multiple Grammy and CMA Awards, enjoyed over 20 #1 hits, and more than 50 Top 10 hits. This collection of songs is available for download to anyone donating $20 or more to the MRD PAC.
THE BLOG
In 2005, the group's 1,500-plus members were surveyed. Overwhelmingly, MRD membership asked for more interactivity on the website, and MRDTalk was born. "Our community is concerned about issues that affect the working American families who are the audience for country music," adds Cook. "MRDtalk.com is a platform to discuss those issues."
THE MISSION
The Music Row Democrats' core mission remains the same: To spread the message that Democrats are the true party of hard-working Americans. And with the organization's vast experience producing music for those same working Americans, MRD is positioned to spread that message like no other group.
Accomplished artist/songwriter Rodney Crowell articulates: "I believe wholeheartedly that if any group in the South has a shot at impacting the lives of working class families in a positive way, it may well be Music Row Democrats."
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About MUSIC ROW DEMOCRATS:
MUSIC ROW DEMOCRATS (MRD) was formed in December 2003 by a group of Nashville music industry leaders who were fed up with feeling as if they had to apologize for being Democrats, particularly when they knew that Republican policies were negatively affecting the lives of the working class people who make up much of the audience for their music. The group rapidly grew to include more than 1,500 members who are collectively working to create an effective vehicle for the Democratic voice.
MRD is comprised of volunteers who are the producers, songwriters, musicians, managers, agents, promoters, publicists, video directors and producers, editors, journalists, and countless others that built and maintained the careers of some of Americas biggest stars including Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Brooks & Dunn, Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, The Dixie Chicks, and basically the entire country music industry.
MRD made national and international news in 2004 when it launched "Kerry-oke," a unique series of fundraising events involving such prominent Nashville artists as Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith, Rodney Crowell and Kim Carnes. Prominent Democrats such as Vice President Al Gore and former Attorney General Janet Reno spoke to MRD membership. The group also produced and broadcast a series of television commercials promoting Democratic values that aired across Middle Tennessee, while MRD volunteers registered voters and went door-to-door around Nashville canvassing for Democratic candidates.
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