Occupy DC: A New DC Think Tank? Part II

Has Tom Toles of the Washington Post editorial comic section read my previous blog post? So what I’ve said is true. These protestors are the new lobbyists for the 99% who aren’t rich and powerful.

Occupy DC: A New DC Think Tank?

One may ask how are a bunch of protesters camping in a park is a think tank as compared to the Heritage Foundation, which promotes conservative principles, and the Center for American Progress on the progressive front, are more partisan in purpose. Others, such as the Cato Institute, promote libertarian social and economic theories based on Friedrich von Hayek’s idea of free markets and individual liberty.

Occupy DC serves as a “New Congress” of sorts to those who feel that they are the “99%” who are not represented by the current political system. How is it that the police in other cities can confront and disperse these “occupiers” but not here in Washington, D.C.? This is because these protesters are the new lobbyists/representatives for the issues of the total “Wall Street Occupation” movement. Is this so different from the Continental Congress that came together in Philadelphia in the 1700’s? If the Founders of the United States of America can pull it off why not these folks?

According the the definition given by Wikipedia:

A think tank (or policy institute) is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military or technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax exempt status. Other think tanks are funded by governments, advocacy groups, or businesses, or derive revenue from consulting or research work related to their projects.

Occupy DC surely fits this definition in that these people are organized and engage in advocacy in the areas of social policy, economics and political strategy. They are non-profit, relying on donations from other advocacy groups, local businesses and individuals. No revenue is derived from consulting or research work, even though they do publish a free newsletter, “The Occupied Wall Street Journal” and have websites such as truthout.com.

Yes, a bunch a protesters camping in a park can be considered a think tank and with just a little more structure a force to be reckoned with has much as a Heritage, Cato, Brookings Institute or other more established organization.

The ‘Gang of Six’

The Gunfight at the OK Corral Gang of Six is a bipartisan group of three Democrats and three Republican senators tasked with drafting a realistic proposal to reduce the nation’s debt and rein in the deficit that can pass the Congress and avoid President Obama’s veto pen. Here’s a breakdown of the gang members. 

Democrats: • North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. • Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, Senate Majority Whip • Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, member of the Senate Budget Committee. 

Republicans: • Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. • Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, member of the Senate Budget Committee. • Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, member of the Senate Finance Committee.

This is the group that is going to pass a plan to cut spending by $3.7 trillion over the next decade that includes a major overhaul of the tax code and alterations to the way the federal government pays for Social Security and Medicare. By eliminating loopholes and write-offs in the tax code, the proposal would beef up the Treasury’s coffers by more than $1 trillion, gang members say.

Also, the plan would immediately reduce the marginal income tax rate, abolish the alternative minimum tax, create an entirely new set of tax brackets and slash $80 billion from defense.

I hope this plan passes.


Or, we are all f—–.

Back to the Future: GOP in Da House!

Yeah, man.

It’s really scary. The Democrats lost the House. The American people foreclosed on the property yesterday. They just couldn’t pay the mortgage.

At least they still get to crash at the Senate. I hope they pay their rent on time.

Oh, and…

Christine O’Donnell is a LOSER! Maybe she’ll melt if you throw some water on her!

The Last Unemployment Bender

This is the Anacostia Diaries of Washington, D.C. This is not in the New York Times. Ask your girl, I’m the one who makes her pussy hairs uncurled, Leave Obama alone!.

This is some information type shit, slap your girl and tell her to put on some makeup, if you don’t understand get a kit or take a hit. Of this this crucial weed. Expand your mind, succeed. Make a retard a genius, no race card. No wonder a black man’s got scars. I’m not not Blackula I  don’t eat read meat I make beats that make you stop your feet. Look at Jesus hanging on a tree. He looks like some guy that got lynched for stealing palm trees. Wake up, Buddha. Look at all these fools! These cops don’t know the rules. Don’t turn off the radio. You ain’t got no stereo sound. I had enough bullshit outta you son of a bitch. Don’t get hurt cause you ain’t got no Obama healthcare.

Please, Republicans. Stop acting like assholes. People need their money to survive. Pass the Unemployment Insurance Extension. Now! Or, we will just vote for more Democrats. I’m sure you don’t want that.

D.C. Gets Medical Marijuana

The U.S. Senate passed a bill Sunday that clears the way for the District government to allow medical marijuana use.

“This is the biggest win for home rule in decades,” said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).
President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law this week.

The District would join Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington in allowing medical marijuana.

D.C. Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large), chairman of the Health Committee, supports medical marijuana but said city leaders will proceed with caution.
Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, said he thinks medical marijuana could be available in the District by the end of 2010.

How’s this for an early Christmas present? I didn’t see this coming.

Amazing!

I wonder if I’ll be able to open up a marijuana shop next year. 

Rep. Joe Wilson shouts to Obama during speech: "You lie"

A Republican House member, Rep. Joe Wilson shouted “You lie” during President Obama’s health care speech to Congress on Wednesday (Sep 9), and members of both parties condemned the heckling.

Is this what this debate on Universal Healthcare gotten to? A bunch of immature heckling? This is so bad, “Dennis the Menace” would have looked at Mr. Wilson like he lost his mind.

“Mr. Wilson, why are you yelling at the president like that?”

“I was wrong, Dennis.”

“Mommy makes me apologize to the class when I yell at the teacher.”

After the speech, South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson issued a statement apologizing for his outburst.

“This evening, I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the president’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill,” the statement said. “While I disagree with the president’s statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the president for this lack of civility.”

Wilson also called the White House to apologize and spoke with Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who accepted the apology on the president’s behalf, according to a senior administration official.

“We can disagree without being disagreeable,” Emanuel said to Wilson, according to the official. “That was the point of the president’s speech.”

The outburst came when Obama denied that proposed health care legislation would provide free health coverage for illegal immigrants. Immediately, Wilson shouted, “You lie!”

The outburst caused Obama to stop and look toward the heckler. “That’s not true,” the president responded.

This man should step down. He has proven that he is not in the proper mental condition to represent his state of South Carolina. That state been through enough already, right?

South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Carol Fowler stated, “Once again a South Carolina Republican has embarrassed our state,” Fowler’s office said in a statement that referred to S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford’s extramarital affair.

“Never has any member of Congress shown such disrespect for the president during a speech,” Fowler wrote. “One would think that as a member of the military, Joe Wilson would have more respect and patriotism than he displayed tonight. When Congressman Wilson insulted President Obama, he also insulted the American public. Joe Wilson is a poor example of a statesman and an American. He owes an apology to the president and the American people.”

The Democrat hoping to unseat Wilson in next year’s midterm elections also quickly seized on the Republican’s outburst.

“Rep. Wilson’s behavior tonight exemplifies everything that is wrong in Washington,” Democrat Rob Miller said in a statement provided to CNN. “Instead of engaging in childish name-calling and disrespecting our commander-in-chief, Joe Wilson should be working towards a bipartisan solution that makes quality, affordable health care available to each and every South Carolinian.”

I’ll try not to go to South Carolina anytime soon. I heard about how they like to fly those Confederate flags.

“Why is anyone surprised that a congressional representative from South Carolina would publicly heckle the country’s first African-American President? Especially the guy who comes out of the shadow of the segregationist Strom Thurmond! The outburst was significant because it demonstrated how bothered and angered some people are about having a Black president. The disdain people have for Obama has little to do with his political ideas; the hatred is about who he is.

It is so obvious folks. They are doing everything except calling him the N Word (in public).” chicozen — a commenter on The Huffington Post

Links:
Joe Wilson shouts to Obama during speech: ‘You lie’ – CNN.com

Joe Wilson Apologizes For Shouting “You Lie!” At Obama – Huffington Post

Burris to swear in this week as Senator-elect

Yes, it’s official. Rodney Burris will be sworn in as the junior senator from Illinois by Senate Democrats this week as President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate successor.

“He is now the senator-designate from Illinois and, as such, will be accorded all the rights and privileges of a senator-elect,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said in a joint statement after Senate lawyers determined that Burris’ paperwork met Senate requirements to be seated.

The two senators said they expect Burris, a former Illinois attorney general, to be sworn in and seated this week, barring objections from Republicans.

Does this mean that Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has won? Or is it the U.S. Constitution reigns supreme?

Who knows? Stay tuned.

Roland Burris Barred From the Senate

The successor to President-elect Barack Obama, Roland Burris, was turned away from the Senate by Capitol Police earlier today as he tried to take his place as the junior senator from Illinois.

He was “greeted like a celebrity”, even though he remains a private citizen, at least for the moment.

Capitol police officers tried to clear a path for Mr. Burris. “You can’t keep a regular citizen from walking into the Capitol,” one officer shouted.

Somehow, Citizen Burris made his way to the office of Nancy Erickson, the secretary of the Senate, to whom he presented his credentials, only to have her reject them. Afterward, the aspiring legislator stood in the rain outside and declared, “Members of the media, my name is Roland Burris, the junior senator from the State of Illinois.”

He continued: “I presented my credentials to the secretary of the Senate, and, advised that my credentials were not in order and I would not be accepted and I would not be seated and I will not be permitted on the floor. And therefore, I am not seeking to have any type of confrontation. I will now consult with my attorneys, and we will determine what our next step will be.”

The problem for Mr. Burris, is that he was named to the seat by the crooked Illinois governor, Rod R. Blagojevich. Ms. Erickson had already concluded the Burris did not have the credentials for being in the Senate.

The Illinois secretary of state, Jesse White, has refused to sign, saying the appointment is invalid because of a federal corruption investigation surrounding the governor and what prosecutors describe as his efforts to sell the Senate seat, vacated by Mr. Obama.

Mr. Burris and his lawyers held a brief news conference. One lawyer, Timothy W. Wright III, complained that it was “against the law of the land” to block Mr. Burris from taking his seat.

Mr. Wright vowed to do whatever necessary to “resolve this impasse and move forward on behalf of the people.” The lawyer said Mr. Burris would continue to confer with the Senate leadership and might go to court if the talks are unsuccessful.

As Mr. Wright continued talking, his client walked away, again surrounded by a throng of cameras and microphones. With the collar of his overcoat half upturned, he stopped to speak briefly at the intersection on Constitution Avenue across the street from the Capitol Building, but then was whisked away in an SUV with Massachusetts plates.

What right does the U.S. Senate leadership have to deny someone chosen by a governor to a seat in the U.S. Senate?

The Constitution gives each chamber of Congress the power to judge the qualifications of its members. On the other hand, the Supreme Court has ruled that the lawmakers cannot arbitrarily add membership requirements that are not spelled out in the Constitution.

And if the appointment of Mr. Burris is tainted by Mr. Blagojevich’s situation, as some have argued, it must be noted that the governor has only been accused of crimes, but neither indicted nor convicted.

(After Mr. Burris was turned away, Mr. Blagojevich issued a statement in Chicago in which he called Mr. Burris “a good and decent man with a long history of public service” and declaring that “any allegations against me should not be held against him and especially not the people of Illinois.”)

And, what about this mysterious SUV with Massachusetts license plates that wisked him away?

It sounds like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is a racist and that something fishy is going on here.

This is a sad day in the history of this country when those who are appointed to defend the Constitution of the United States act like they don’t have to abide by it.

We have a Black President, but no Black Senators. A sad day indeed.

U.S. Congress 0wned by Chinese Hackers

It seems that Chinese hackers have hit U.S. congressman, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., and another congressman’s office computers over the past two years. Rep. Wolf said he was told by House investigators and the FBI that the computers of four of his staffers were hacked into in August 2006. Wolf was told that similar hacks took place at other members’ offices and committees.

The FBI and White House are keeping quiet on the issue.

The computers contain sensitive information on dissidents and human rights activists across the world.

The House Foreign Affairs committee disclosed one of its computers was also struck from a hacker working from China in 2006.

Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., said his computers for a human rights subcommittee were infected in December 2006 and March 2007 with a virus “intended to take control of the computers,” which authorities traced back to a Chinese IP address.

During U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez’s visit to China, the Chinese government may have copied information from his laptop and then sought to hack the Commerce Department’s computers.

The Chinese Embassy has denied any involvement. An embassy spokesman disputed the allegations, which he called “unwarranted and irresponsible.”

“On the subject of computer network attack or hacking activities, we have made it clear repeatedly that China has never engaged in such activities,” said spokesman Wang Bao Dong. “China itself is the victim of international hacking activities.”

When I tell people that there is a secret, online war going on, they give me that, “Yeah, he’s crazy,” look. When stories like this come out in the mainstream, no one has anything to say.

The question is, How did I know about all this? I’m afraid that I can’t reveal the answers to that. All that I can say is that Cyberspace is the new battlefield. Those who control it, control the world. This is similar to the scenario in the book, NetForce, that was created by Tom Clancy, Steve Pieczenik and written by Steve Perry. It is set in 2010 and charts the actions of Net Force: a special division of the FBI set up to combat increasing crime on the Internet.

In real life, NetForce would be a lot like Fox Network show “24”, a joint operations of the CIA, Homeland Security, the FBI, NSA and the DoD. The main focus would not just be crime, but terrorism. Speaking of the DoD…

The Air Force has jurisdiction over Cyberspace:

“The aim is to develop a major command that stands alongside Air Force Space Command and Air Combat Command as the provider of forces that the President, combatant commanders and the American people can rely on for preserving the freedom of access and commerce, in air, space and now cyberspace.”

So there is doubt that there is going to be a retaliation of some type. There are also several Congressional hearings planned on the subject of Cyber-Security.

If this was “24”, Jack Bauer would have handled those Chinese hackers a long time ago.