From Steve Gilliard, I see the Bush administration would like a “permanent uniformed police force” provision added to the PATRIOT Act. They would be answerable to the Dept. of Homeland Security, and known as the “United States Secret Service Uniformed Division.” The proposed language says they could

make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony

Goodness, couldn’t they at least find a name that doesn’t include SS?

Attention wackos: I’m not comparing the GOP to Nazis yet. I think they’re closer to Franco or South American-style kleptocracy/fascism. I know none of them (except perhaps Dr. Rice) know any history, but really! What a terrible name!

Voltaire (age 41) by Maurice Quentin de La Tour [source]

Voltaire was 250 years ahead of me.

I’m currently reading a new biography of Voltaire, titled Voltaire Almighty, by Roger Pearson. In the discussion of his writing Candide, he says something that I have said about dealing with our appalling government. Quoting from Voltaire Almighty, p. 261:

The French — and not only the French — were much more likely to condemn the horrors of war and religious intolerance if these were made to seem absurd. Don’t rant and rail: just show people what’s dumb. Horrors and injustices are always someone else’s problem, but none of us wants to look foolish. As he told Damilaville, a fellow-philosophe, ten years later: “I have only ever addressed one prayer to God, and it is very short: ‘My God, please make all our enemies ridiculous.’ God has granted my wish.”

I wish we had the option of engaging in electoral politics to fix the mess we’re in, but I don’t see that happening.

We live in a country where a senator named Rockefeller kept quiet when he learned of secret, warrantless wiretaps of American citizens. If he can’t oppose this President, who can?

We live in a country where the Senate continues its normal business as we learn of how this administration lied about Iraq, about Abu Ghraib, and about wiretaps without a warrant.

We live in an era when the Democratic party has “leaders” such as Hillary Clinton who thinks the solution to Iraq is more troops, or Joe Lieberman who hasn’t announced how he’ll vote on Alito.

I’m not lifting a finger to help the Democrats take back Congress if a “victory” means those people, who voted for the Patriot Act and the Iraq War, are in charge.

If pro-torture Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General, or a Supreme Court Justice Alito aren’t a good enough reason to filibuster, then the Democrats are almost as guilty as the GOP. They have failed us.

Ridicule them all.