In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
Heck of an anniversary Bushie
Brown says White House wanted him to lieWASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The ousted head of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency says the White House wanted him to lie about the response to Hurricane Katrina.
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"The lie was that we were ready and that everything was working as a team. Behind the scenes, it wasn't working at all," Brown said. "There were political considerations going into all the discussions...."
- rob 4:52 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Good Question.
Why do we have to have a journalist in England ask it?
Is asking questions something the American press did last year?
Are we staying in Basra to help the Iraqis or the Republicans?
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This sums up the Bush administration - take money from the government and give it to private companies who do it for more.
Bush is not only King Midas in reverse, he is the reverse robin hood.
Private Tax Collection - Strange PrioritiesIn coming weeks, the Internal Revenue Service plans to start siccing private debt collectors on people with up to $25,000 in unpaid income taxes — and laying off nearly half of the auditors who examine estate tax returns of the wealthiest taxpayers.
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Concern for appearances should, on its own, impel the agency to scuttle its plans. A perception of unfairness is bad for the tax system, and this pair of policies virtually screams “only little people pay taxes.” But appearances are not the only reason to rethink these initiatives.
Private tax collection costs more than it would cost to give the I.R.S. the resources to pursue the debts. Federal budgeting oddities only make it seem less costly. Private collection also raises serious concerns about fraud and privacy.
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The rationale for laying off estate tax auditors is also unconvincing. To allay suspicions the cutbacks are a way to shield wealthy heirs from taxes, two Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee, John Lewis of Georgia and Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota, sent a letter recently to Mr. Everson, asking for facts and figures to justify the job cuts.
Mr. Everson [IRS Commissioner] responded with a “trust me” letter.
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John Kerry is the boy who comes up with a great comeback 2 days after being insulted.
So he uses it front of the mirror and feels better.
Kerry Revives 2004 Election AllegationsSen. John Kerry didn't contest the results at the time, but now that he's considering another run for the White House, he's alleging election improprieties by the Ohio Republican who oversaw the deciding vote in 2004.
An e-mail will be sent to 100,000 Democratic donors Tuesday asking them to support U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland for governor of Ohio. The bulk of the e-mail criticizes Strickland's opponent, GOP Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, for his dual role in 2004 as President Bush's honorary Ohio campaign co-chairman and the state's top election official.
"He used the power of his state office to try to intimidate Ohioans and suppress the Democratic vote," said Kerry's e-mail.
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from - Talking Points MemoReader M.E. reminds me that The Washington Post is part of the same business enterprise as the Kaplan test prep company and therefore has a large financial interest in spreading paranoia about SAT performance.I just lifted that whole post rather than quoted (my bad) - so why not visit Talking Points Memo, its a great site (we'll be here when you come back).
Normally, I don't like to fling these kind of "follow the money" accusations around without evidence, but it is true that I don't see the country's other major newspapers describing a 0.7 percent decline in scores as "dramatic."
Anyway this little Kaplan/Washington Post bit reminds me of a May, 2005 post here at TCS (which is still timely):
First you couldn't trust NBC, MSNBC, etc because they are owned by GE
(don't want to report anything that might harm our defense contracts you know)
And you couldn't trust CBS because they are owned by Westinghouse
(don't want to report anything that might harm our defense contracts you know)
And you couldn't trust Fox News and The NY Post because how could you?
(nothing more to say)
And you couldn't trust ABC because they are owned by Disney
(wouldn't want to report anything that might get the 'focus on the family' crowd to boycott DisneyWorld)
And you couldn't trust CNN, Time, etc because they are owned by AOL Time Warner
(because they are idiotic wimps... that and they'd really rather not offend, because they really need the new Batman flick to be a big hit)
And you couldn't trust Newsweek, The Washington Post, and all their other TV channels and newspapers, because The Washington Post also owns Kaplan Inc. which had a revenue of over a billion dollars and you just don't want to rock that boat when you have colleges all over the world that you make money from.
Oh and UPI and The Washington Times are Moonie outfits... and Moonie sells subs to the north koreans and calls America "Satan's harvest," citing its loose women and "dung-eating dogs," or gay people. - from Where in Washington, D.C. is Sun Myung Moon (a site that you should read)
Well to make it simple any newspaper, magazine, TV channel, heck probably any website for that matter; that accepts advertising can not be trusted.
Freedom of the Press is no longer limited to just those that can buy a press, it is now limited to those who can buy a press and continue to operate without any income from advertising.
BP INSTITUTES 'AD-PULL' POLICY FOR PRINT PUBLICATIONSNEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Days after financial services giant Morgan Stanley informed print publications that its ads must be automatically pulled from any edition containing "objectionable editorial coverage," global energy giant BP has adopted a similar press strategy.Does mentioning that the Iraqi war was just about oil count?.... just asking
Zero tolerance
According to a copy of a memo on the letterhead of BP's media-buying agency, WPP Group's MindShare, the global marketer has adopted a zero-tolerance policy toward negative editorial coverage. The memo cites a new BP policy document entitled "2005 BP Corporate-RFP" that demands that ad-accepting publications inform BP in advance of any news text or visuals they plan to publish that directly mention the company, a competitor or the oil-and-energy industry.Another magazine executive who had not heard about BP?s policy or of Morgan Stanley?s said his company has unwritten guidelines with advertisers from several industries, including auto, airlines and tobacco, to pull their ads if related negative stories are in the issue. These cases, the executive said, occur more with news magazines than lifestyle ones.You make money with your advertisers... you were always conscious of that when editing your paper - you don't want to hurt your advertising... so to make it easier - BP now edits your paper for you.
The time has come for a Consumer Reports of News. No advertising. No connection to the government and to any corporation. Just reporters, editors, and articles. Supported only by the price of admission.
- rob 3:19 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Please read the whole thing:
Keith Olbermann: Bloggermann: Feeling morally, intellectually confused?The man who sees absolutes, where all other men see nuances and shades of meaning, is either a prophet, or a quack.Again please do read the whole thing
Donald H. Rumsfeld is not a prophet.
Mr. Rumsfeld’s remarkable speech to the American Legion yesterday demands the deep analysis—and the sober contemplation—of every American.
For it did not merely serve to impugn the morality or intelligence -- indeed, the loyalty -- of the majority of Americans who oppose the transient occupants of the highest offices in the land. Worse, still, it credits those same transient occupants -- our employees -- with a total omniscience; a total omniscience which neither common sense, nor this administration’s track record at home or abroad, suggests they deserve.
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That, about which Mr. Rumsfeld is confused is simply this: This is a Democracy. Still. Sometimes just barely.
And, as such, all voices count -- not just his.
Had he or his president perhaps proven any of their prior claims of omniscience — about Osama Bin Laden’s plans five years ago, about Saddam Hussein’s weapons four years ago, about Hurricane Katrina’s impact one year ago — we all might be able to swallow hard, and accept their “omniscience” as a bearable, even useful recipe, of fact, plus ego.
But, to date, this government has proved little besides its own arrogance, and its own hubris.
Mr. Rumsfeld is also personally confused, morally or intellectually, about his own standing in this matter. From Iraq to Katrina, to the entire “Fog of Fear” which continues to envelop this nation, he, Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, and their cronies have — inadvertently or intentionally — profited and benefited, both personally, and politically.
And yet he can stand up, in public, and question the morality and the intellect of those of us who dare ask just for the receipt for the Emporer’s New Clothes?
In what country was Mr. Rumsfeld raised? As a child, of whose heroism did he read? On what side of the battle for freedom did he dream one day to fight? With what country has he confused the United States of America?
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Although I presumptuously use his sign-off each night, in feeble tribute, I have utterly no claim to the words of the exemplary journalist Edward R. Murrow.
But never in the trial of a thousand years of writing could I come close to matching how he phrased a warning to an earlier generation of us, at a time when other politicians thought they (and they alone) knew everything, and branded those who disagreed: “confused” or “immoral.”
Thus, forgive me, for reading Murrow, in full:
“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty,” he said, in 1954. “We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law.
“We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were for the moment unpopular.”
And so good night, and good luck.
Of if you want - Watch it at: Crooks and Liars (windows media and quicktime)
- rob 2:46 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Bush is Fredo: "I'm smart"
President Bush talks to Brian WilliamsWILLIAMS: We always talk about what you're reading. As you know, there was a report that you just read the works of a French philosopher. (Bush laughs)I read three of them shakespeare's, a couple of them poe's, and one or two of them Chekov's - damn those starfleet guys can write.
BUSH: The Stranger.
WILLIAMS: Tell us the back story of Camus.
BUSH: The back story of the the book?
WILLIAMS: What led you to...
BUSH: I was in Crawford and I said I was looking for a book to read and Laura said you oughtta try Camus, I also read three Shakespeare's.
- rob 2:25 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Today's GOP act like hookers who cross the street from DC to Maryland and laugh at the cops who no longer have "juristiction"- Wednesday, August 30, 2006 -
Suit seeking recount of Bilbray election is dismissedSAN DIEGO – Saying he lacked jurisdiction, a judge Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking a recount in the special election that Republican Brian Bilbray won in June to replace disgraced ex-Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham.It should be noted that the House swore Bilbray into office before he was officially elected. So the House has the exclusive right to swear in new Representatives - I buy that - but aren't they only allowed to swear in new representatives that have been officially elected? (i.e. certified?). (and yes Bilbray was officially elected, but days after he was already sworn in).
Superior Court Judge Yuri Hoffman said that once the House of Representatives asserted its exclusive right to swear Bilbray into office, it left the court without jurisdiction in the election contest.
- rob 1:28 PM - [PermaLink] -
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This needs to be yelled from the roof tops:
Thoe GOP Doesn't Suppot Our Troops!
Over and over again that is proven. Support isn't a magnet. It is respecting their service even though you wish they didn't have to go to war. It is taking care of them after they fought a fight they really shouldn't have had to fight.
Support is not a handshake and a goodbye.
Brain injury budget faces cutBrain injuries are so common among U.S. troops that they're called the signature injury of the Iraq war, but Congress is poised to cut military spending on researching and treating them.
House and Senate versions of the defense appropriation bill would chop funding for the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center from $14 million to $7 million. The center runs 10 facilities across the country, including one at Fort Bragg that has performed research and treated soldiers' injuries since 1998.
"It's just ridiculous," said Sgt. Maj. Colin Rich, a Fort Bragg soldier who has been legally blind since he was shot in the head while serving in Afghanistan in 2002. "Whoever is cutting the budget must have a head injury themselves."
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The repressive Victorian era gave birth to Jack the Ripper.
Humans are humans and sometimes inhuman traits need safe outlets - but if the right gets its way and represses all that is human that causes them discomfort - inhuman things will increase (but they'll make sure they aren't covered in the family newspapers - some news shouldn't be read at the breakfast table - or ever I guess)
SSRN-Porn Up, Rape Down by Anthony D'AmatoAbstract:It more likely is that for some porn led to violence, and for many others porn stopped violence from occuring.
The incidence of rape in the United States has declined 85% in the past 25 years while access to pornography has become freely available to teenagers and adults. The Nixon and Reagan Commissions tried to show that exposure to pornographic materials produced social violence. The reverse may be true: that pornography has reduced social violence.
But who knows who'll actually continue the research. Its kind of an akward subject, don't cha know?
- rob 5:58 PM - [PermaLink] -
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In the Bush administration if you get ousted from a government job for violating rules - you get another job where you can violate more rules!
Damn Bush is the dream boss for a corrupt frat boy - the more you screw up the bigger the check. If you end up getting people killed you'll get a medal. Rock on!
Inquiry Criticizes U.S. Broadcasting Official Over HiringWASHINGTON, Aug. 29 — State Department investigators have concluded that Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, the head of the federal agency that oversees most government broadcasts to foreign countries, improperly hired a friend on the public payroll for nearly $250,000 over two and a half years, according to a summary of their report made public this afternoon by Democratic Congressional staff members.Bush has turned the government of the world's largest superpower into a personal slush fund for greedy little pricks - I mean - a slush fund for his friends. Same dif.
They also said that Mr. Tomlinson, whose job puts him in charge of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, used his government office for personal business, including running a “horse racing operation” in which he supervised a stable of thoroughbreds he named after leaders from Afghanistan, including President Hamid Karzai and the late Ahmed Shah Massoud, that have raced at tracks across the United States. They also said that Mr. Tomlinson repeatedly used government employees to do his personal errands and that he billed the government for more days of work than the rules permit.
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Mr. Tomlinson was ousted from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting last year following a separate inquiry that found evidence that he had violated rules meant to insulate public television and radio from political influence. His renomination by President Bush to another term as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors is pending before the Senate.
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I have no idea who these folks are - but the idea is great - and it is important that people understand that oil money does feed terrorism.
Directly.
Gas for the Hummer - Oil from Iran - money goes to Iranian government - money goes to Hezbollah - Hezbollah aims rockets at civilian targets in Isreal.
Terror-Free Oil Initiative
Brands that do not contain Middle Easter Oil: Sinclair Oil, Flying J, Inc and Yokos.
Brands that do not contail oil from Persian Gulf: Hess and Sunoco
Companies that finance terrorism by buying oil from the Middle East - everyone else. Its pretty much Cheney's Christmas card list there.
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Wha Whaaaa (you know - the loser sound effect)
Frist did not meet medical license rulesWASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist did not meet all the requirements needed to keep his medical license active, even though he gave paperwork to Tennessee officials indicating he had, his office acknowledged Tuesday.Of course this will blow over.
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Dan Warlick, a Nashville lawyer who represents doctors before the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners, said a case like Frist's probably would be taken seriously.
"They have been routinely revoking licenses for physicians who have misrepresented to the board what they have done. Medicine changes. If you're telling them you're keeping up, and you're not, that would be a very significant problem for the board to have to deal with."
You see Frist if a good person begatted by a good person - so good people are looked after, ya know?
Kind of like Bush leaving blank the question about arrests in his Jury Duty form back when he was Gov. A regular person might have encountered a problem - but you know, not these people who have been correctly begatted.
(yes even with my limited knowledge of grammar (or as I like to say 'grammer') I know the word is begtten, but lets face it begatted gets the point accross better).
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Thanks to a "series of tubes" it looks like we know who the Senator is that believes Americans should not know where their money is going:
TPMmuckraker - Coburn: Stevens Blocked My BillOne of the senators most criticized for his personal projects, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, has a hold of his own on Coburn’s bill to make public the spending patterns of the government. Called the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, the legislation calls for the creation of a database open to the public where citizens can track government spending.Stevens has been the odds-on favorite since the hunt for the Holder Who Dare Not Speak His Name began.
“He’s the only senator blocking it,” Coburn said of Stevens.
But did he really do it? Well, he had a motive: As the paper and others have noted, Stevens and Coburn have clashed before -- in particular over Stevens' now-legendary "bridge to nowhere." Coburn attempted (and failed) to block the $233 million boondoggle. And revenge certainly fits the senior Alaskan's m.o. "Stevens can play rough," the Seattle Times noted in June. "Despite denials from his staff, he retaliates - and doesn't mind waiting years to do so."
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It was the loveliest party- Tuesday, August 29, 2006 -
That I've ever attended
If anything got broken
I'm sure it could be mended
My head can't stand this bobbin', sittin' and pretendin'
Tolerate some bullethead and the bullshit that he's sayin'
This is where the party ends
I can't stand here listening to your
Your racist friend
This is where the party ends
I'll just sit here wondering how you
Can stand by your racist friend
- Racist Friend by They Might Be Giants
Daily Kos: VA-Sen: More on Allen's good racist friends
More detail: Beyond Macaca: The Photograph That Haunts George Allen
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America has completely forgotten how to look long term.
The CEO President is like the modern corporate CEO's in that he sees only short term. Get what you can while you can, meanwhile the country is in disrepair. But George doesn't worry, he'll probably get out of office before it all crashes down around him. Probably.
Experts warn U.S. is coming apart at the seamsWASHINGTON — A pipeline shuts down in Alaska. Equipment failures disrupt air travel in Los Angeles. Electricity runs short at a spy agency in Maryland.and that from the Civil Engineers - the uncivil ones just cursed and spat.
None of these recent events resulted from a natural disaster or terrorist attack, but they may as well have, some homeland security experts say. They worry that too little attention is paid to how fast the country's basic operating systems are deteriorating.
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The American Society of Civil Engineers last year graded the nation "D" for its overall infrastructure conditions, estimating that it would take $1.6 trillion over five years to fix the problem.
"I thought [Hurricane] Katrina was a hell of a wake-up call, but people are missing the alarm," said Casey Dinges, the society's managing director of external affairs.
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Speculation - but wouldn't it be interesting if someone followed up on this?
Bush 'Slush Fund,' Courtesy of Canada
Softwood deal pours $450 million straight into White House, says U.S. lawyer.
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They just wanted the money to keep flowing - rock the boat and you don't get your: raise /lobbying job when you leave office /private sector job when you leave the pentagon
Because Lockheed Martin doesn't care.
Because the Pentagon doesn't care.
Because Congressmen don't care.
a Lockheed Martin engineer has to go to the web to protect the security of our country.
On YouTube, Charges of Security FlawsThe 41-year-old Lockheed Martin engineer had complained to his bosses. He had told his story to government investigators. He had called congressmen.
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"What I am going to tell you is going to seem preposterous," De Kort solemnly tells viewers near the outset of the 10-minute clip. Posted three weeks ago, the video describes what De Kort says are blind spots in the ship's security cameras, equipment that malfunctions in cold weather and other problems. "It may be very hard for you to believe that our government and the largest defense contractor in the world [are] capable of such alarming incompetence and can make ethical compromises as glaring as what I am going to describe."
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Ahh - we have to go all the way to New Zealand to note that House Speaker Dennis Hastert swore in a new representative (Republican) even though that representative wasn't even officially elected yet.- Monday, August 28, 2006 -
Scoop: Congressional Election Nullified - Nobody Noticed
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Number 1 Sign that Our Government doesn't want you to know what they're doing with Our Money.
Senator puts 'secret hold' on bill to open federal recordsWASHINGTON — In an ironic twist, legislation that would open up the murky world of government contracting to public scrutiny has been derailed by a secret parliamentary maneuver."secret hold order?"
An unidentified senator placed a "secret hold" on legislation introduced by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., that would create a searchable database of government contracts, grants, insurance, loans and financial assistance, worth $2.5 trillion last year. The database would bring transparency to federal spending and be as simple to use as conducting a Google search.
The measure had been unanimously passed in a voice vote last month by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. It was on the fast track for floor action before Congress recessed Aug. 4 when someone put a hold on the measure.
What the hell an anonymous senator can order a "secret hold order" and poof that's it? Is there a secret Hand shake? Is this done in the parking garage with bad lighting?
Is our government ready for life out of elementary school?
"I see your hold order, but I have a special double dog secret hold order."
I don't care if the Senator against honest government is Democrat or Republican - they need to be outed. Seriously you can't have an accountable electorate if they can kill legislation behind a curtain.
Someone is on it: Who is the secret holder?Who is the secret holder? We want to know, and we want your help finding out. Call your Senator, and ask them to go on the record denying that they placed the hold. Then e-mail Porkbusters and let us know what they said! Senators who issue denials will be removed from the suspect list --- and those who do not, won't!
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Because we're not really interested in Americans who are actually planning to do damage to life and limb - we're worried about political damage don't cha know.
Activist's Remark Starts FBI ProbeST. LOUIS -- Jim Bensman thought his suggestion during a public hearing was harmless enough: Instead of building a channel so migratory fish could go around a dam on the Mississippi River, just get rid of the dam.
Instead, the environmental activist found himself in hot water, drawing FBI scrutiny to see whether he had any terrorist intentions.
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During the 90-minute hearing that included on the agenda whether to build a fish channel, Bensman says, he reiterated he's no fan of dams, contending they're environmentally destructive and amount to billions of dollars in corporate welfare for boating interests.
He urged that the dam be torn out. He said he never mentioned blowing the dam up, though the corps' presentation of possible options included a picture of a dam being dynamited.
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Eyebrow Raised Over First Blackwater ContractThe company's reputation has been further tarnished for taking $100 million more from the State Department than Foggy Bottom can justify. Oh -- and for clearing over $30 million more in taxpayer monies to "protect" FEMA rebuilding operations in New Orleans.The government always has to be wary of illegitmate contracts, over charging contractors. Now, however, such watchfulness is disguraged, and beyond the capability of a highly disfunctional Congress.
So how did the controversial company get its start? The old-fashioned way, a new book reports: by finagling a secret "no-bid" contract from a close friend in the CIA.
Meanwhile the Bush Administration is leaving the doors of the treasury open for friends and family, leaving our children to say, not only "where'd the money go" but also "and what the hell was it spent on."
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via First Draft:
Protector of Iraq's antiquities resigns in face of massive lootingBAGHDAD, Iraq - Before he quit as head of Iraq's antiquities board, Donny George made a final desperate attempt this summer to safeguard the relics of 5,000 years of history: He ordered the doors of the National Museum plugged with concrete against the near-unbridled looting of ancient artifacts.Is this as important as the thousands dying in Iraq from poor planning, misplaced funs, etc.
George, the longtime guardian of Iraqi antiquities under Saddam Hussein and later under a government led by Shiite Muslim religious parties, then left the country and sent in notice of his resignation in early August, Culture Ministry officials confirmed Saturday.
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George also complained of a lack of funding to protect archaeological sites around Iraq. Funding runs out in September for 1,400 specially trained patrolmen who guard archaeological sites, he told the art publication, and no more money has been budgeted to protect places that date back to the Sumerian civilization in 3000 B.C.
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''There was a lot of attention paid to the looting of the museum the very same days the war started,'' Gibson said. ''It hasn't stopped. There has been looting of sites on an industrial scale. Some of the greatest Sumerian sites have gone.''
No.
But this is a no brainer. Stopping the downward spiral of violence and civil unrest in Iraq requires a lot of planning, diligence, thought, and money.
This is just so damn easy and is so damn important.
This isn't Iraq's history - this is the world's history. It is lost - what time hasn't stamped into dust - boots now are.
The world decried the Taliban's destruction of the ancient Buddha statutes (well okay the US was silent but that was in the spring of 2001 when Bush was trying to court them with cash and good words so he could get a pipeline for his friends), can the world stand by while this happens?
So much is lost - for instance were the Baghdad Batteries lost (yep - 2,000 year old batteries)?
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In this Century - some things get big
Giant nests perplex expertsAnd some things get small
MOBILE -- To the bafflement of insect experts, gigantic yellow jacket nests have started turning up in old barns, unoccupied houses, cars and underground cavities across the southern two-thirds of Alabama.
Specialists say it could be the result of a mild winter and drought conditions, or multiple queens forcing worker yellow jackets to enlarge their quarters so the queens will be in separate areas. But experts haven't determined exactly what's behind the surprisingly large nests.
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In previous years, a yellow jacket nest was no larger than a basketball, Ray said. It would contain about 3,000 workers and one queen. These gigantic nests may have as many as 100,000 workers and multiple queens.
Without a cold winter to kill them this year, the yellow jackets continued feeding in January and February -- and layering their nests made of paper, not wax. They typically are built in shallow underground cavities.
Study: Polar Bear Genitals are ShrinkingThe icecap may not be the only thing shrinking in the Arctic. The genitals of polar bears in east Greenland are apparently dwindling in size due to industrial pollutants.[har har... 'peter' out]
Scientists report this shrinkage could, in the worst case scenario, endanger polar bears there and elsewhere by spoiling their love lives and causing their numbers to peter out.
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"To announce that there must be no criticism of the
president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is
not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the
American people."
- Teddy Roosevelt
"Government has a final responsibility for the well-being of
its citizenship. If private cooperative endeavor fails to provide work
for willing hands and relief for the unfortunate, those suffering
hardship from no fault of their own have a right to call upon the
Government for aid; and a government worthy of its name must make
fitting response."
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and Constitutions, but laws must and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."
- Thomas Jefferson
"The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home."
"All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain
degree."
- James Madison
"I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, in the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas. It is, I believe, the faith in our fellow citizens as individuals and as people that lies at the heart of the liberal faith. For liberalism is not so much a party creed or set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man's ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves."
- John F. Kennedy
"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are [a] few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
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