What a Guy!

We see only the oppressive side of authority. Maybe it comes out of our history and our background. What we don't see is that freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.

- Mayor Rudy Giuliani on crime in 1994

I hate Orwellian comparisons as much as the next guy but did the GOP front runner actually say 'Freedom is Slavery' as Mayor of New York City?

"Our drivers speak english."

I listen to the live stream that KSTP AM 1500 provides during the workday because I have to have my T.D. Mischke during his 12-2 spot. Yesterday I heard an ad for a Minneapolis limo company that, at first, sounded pretty standard. They provide excellent and timely service in their fleet of black Lincoln limos. Their drivers are courteous, discrete and know Minneapolis like no one else.

They also speak english.

It's been a cliche for as long as I can remember that cab drivers are inevitably foreign and can barely speak english. Even around downtown Minneapolis, I feel as if I'm more likely to see a line of parked cabs with less than fluent english speakers behind the wheel than not.

Naturally, there's nothing wrong with this (unless you don't like repeating yourself) but I think it says something is deeply flawed with our ability as a nation to integrate immigrants if the ability to speak english gives you a marketable advantage over your competitors.

Federalizing the National Guard

In a stealth maneuver, President Bush has signed into law a provision which, according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), will actually encourage the President to declare federal martial law (1). It does so by revising the Insurrection Act, a set of laws that limits the President's ability to deploy troops within the United States. The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) has historically, along with the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.1385), helped to enforce strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic law enforcement. With one cloaked swipe of his pen, Bush is seeking to undo those prohibitions.

They usually call this 'Martial Law'.

There's a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people.

- Commander Adama, Battlestar Galactica

On a Related Note

Al Gore remembers that Jazz Hands are Happy Hands. Do you?

Gore in 2008?

Al Gore hasn't ruled out a second run at the Presidency.

I will laugh my ass off if Al Gore loses a potential 2008 bid for the Presidency if he wins California but California's electoral votes go to his opponent after California passed that ridiculous electoral college bill. I will further laugh my ass off when, in 2012, Gore repeats his angry-bearded-Al-Gore-is-a-Tyrannosaur-routine that he tried to pull off in August of '04.

9/11 was an inside job?

Professor James Fetzer, 65, a retired philosopher of science at the University of Minnesota, said: "The evidence is so overwhelming, but most Americans don't have time to take a look at this."

Oh good, a philospher of science. Glad he could take the time away from his meditations on alchemy to teach us laypeople about structural engineering.