Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Reuters has an article entitled "Bush thought Saddam was prepared to flee" in which this interesting passage can be found:

"The Egyptians are speaking to Saddam Hussein. It seems he's indicated he would be prepared to go into exile if he's allowed to take $1 billion and all the information he wants about weapons of mass destruction," Bush was quoted as saying at the meeting one month before the U.S.-led invasion.

And all the information he wants about weapons of mass destruction? Seriously? Hussein is going to bundle up a billion dollars in small bills, and the only thing else he wants in exile is unlimited information "about weapons of mass destruction"? What, as a friggin' hobby? He wants to study "weapons of mass destruction" in his spare time?

See, it's this kind of BS which just blows me away. I mean, what kind of sense does this make? How is he going to go into exile, and how could a condition of that possibly be "and all the information he wants about weapons of mass destruction," - I mean, are we really all this stupid?

I wonder where he would have went. Just him, his HUGE suitcase stuff with thousands of hundred dollar bills and reams and reams of all the "information he wants about weapons of mass destruction."

*sigh*

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Labels: idiocy, President Bush, Stupidity, Worst President Ever

Posted by The Deseret Spectacle at Thursday, September 27, 2007 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

The bold intensity of the Bush administration in their multitudinous, varied assaults of Constitutional principle can sometimes have a muting effect on the seriousness of their consequences. When inundated with stories that in the past, individually, would have each caused a national uproar, it's easy to just not think about it. Fully accepting and processing it can almost overwhelm one with outrage and grief. President Bush has truly brought new meaning to the term "outrage fatigue."

Today the Judicial branch affirmed what most of us already knew: That key provisions of the Patriot Act are unconstitutional. I've posted the decision on-line here (PDF) I would wager that other laws will be judged similarly, like the habeas-corpus-suspending Military Commissions Act of 2006 (wiki) (Whitehouse Spin) (.GOV pdf) Speaking of which, one of the statements the Whitehouse Spin page makes on the Military Commissions Act is this:

Were It Not For This Program, Our Intelligence Community Believes Al-Qaeda And Its Allies Would Have Succeeded In Attacking The American Homeland Again.

Sorry to say, but the Intelligence Community hasn't established a terrific track record, in either competency, integrity or honesty to the people it is employed by - American Citizens. It also doesn't help when your spy chief (Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell) is lying to congress, talking about how expanded spying powers have played significant rolls in preventing attacks when they have not. But really, just one more lie; one more betrayal.

Getting back to my original point, consider this: When looking for a couple of links for this post, I copied almost 4 pages of news clips, links and other references which could each form the basis of a post - or a Congressional inquiry. The "fatigue" can be very real and overwhelming.

In any event, in the courts decision, U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken put it quite beautifully:

"...the FISCR holds that the Constitution need not control the conduct of criminal surveillance in the United States. In place of the Fourth Amendment, the people are expected to defer to the Executive Branch and its representation that it will authorize such surveillance only when appropriate. The defendant here is asking this court to, in essence, amend the Bill of Rights, by giving it an interpretation that would deprive it of any real meaning. This court declines to do so.

...For over 200 years, this Nation has adhered to the rule of law -- with unparalleled success ... A shift to a Nation based on extra-constitutional authority is prohibited, as well as ill-advised."

"This court declines to do so."

I love that line.

It's kind of like saying "You want us to do what? Yeah, I don't think so, bitches."

And how will the President respond? I'm sorry to say, he will likely respond in an obscenely typical fashion, with swaggering disregard - or perhaps a tragic lack of understanding - of the Constitution of the United States of America. He will rattle of something ridiculous and completely removed from the issue at hand. He will say something like "Well, it seems to me, that the Patriot Act helps us stop Terrorists (or "islamo-fascists" perhaps), and stopping Terrorists from attacking America is a good thing."

Sigh. Yeah, Mr. President. Stopping terrorist attacks is a good thing. Giving you vast, unchecked surveillance powers while gutting the Constitution with no reason other than your vague scare tactics, demonstrably false contentions, and frightening lack of competence, is not.

The courts, for today at least, reminded us that the Constitution trumps the President, and principles should not be abandoned at the first sign of trouble. I believe that only tyrants will contend freedom must be abandoned to be be protected, and that only fools and cowards will agree. I believe our greatness comes from our ability to insist upon freedom in any light, whether in the warmth of relative peace or the shadow of terrorist threat. Americans insist on being free.

I'm glad that at least one Federal Judge agrees.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Labels: civil liberties, Constitutional Crisis, Director of National Intelligence, Judge Ann Aiken, judiciary, Mike McConnell, Military Commissions Act of 2006, Patriot Act, Worst President Ever

Posted by The Deseret Spectacle at Thursday, September 27, 2007 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Maybe I haven't lived in Utah long enough to understand how things work around here but I was absolutely blown away when I read this article today in the Davis County Clipper.

Here is my letter to the editor.
__________________________________________________________________________

Shame on the Clipper for running this despicable article. Our local newspaper is better than to be the mouth piece for a bunch of right wing “theories” on human sexuality.

Here is something for JoAnn to think about - Why did Jesus not preach once about homosexuality the whole time while He was here on earth? You would think if it was such a big issue for God that He would have had His only begotten Son speak about the issue while He was here on earth.

Don’t you think?

But Jesus did preach about how we treat others and tolerance and love…maybe JoAnn should try being a follower of Christ instead of pretending she is holier than thou.

Marshall Collins
Layton, UT
_________________________________________________________________________

I figure if questioning other people’s sexuality is now fair game then so is questioning JoAnn’s faith.

Give the editor and admin a ring and let them know this is not acceptable content for our local newspaper (or any newspaper for that matter).

-----------------------------------------
Main telephone: 295-2251

ADMINISTRATION
R. Gail Stahle: Publisher/ext 114
gstahle@davisclipper.com

EDITORS
Rolf Koecher: Executive Editor/ext. 126
rkoecher@davisclipper.com
-----------------------------------------

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Labels: Davis County Clipper, JoAnn Hamilton

Posted by Marshall at Wednesday, September 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Finally something the Bush administration and the Christian "right" can get in bed with Iran on. (So to speak)

CNN Video: "Gay sex can bring execution in Iran"

You can hear the crowd laughing as Ahmadinejad asserts there are no gay people in Iran in response to a question about gays being murdered.

From the article:

Iran's leader denies there's homosexuality in his nation. CNN's Brian Todd looks at attitudes about homosexuality there.

Also, here's a headline you just don't see very often:

• Ahmadinejad speaks; outrage and controversy follow - CNN.com

I keep waiting for an article to be entitled,

"Ahmadinejad speaks; foreign applause and placidity follow."

Anyway, I've always thought that if there was really one way to bridge the gap between radical religion and sharply contrasting ideologies, it's the hatred of gay people. President Bush may not be able to understand the subtle intricacies of an foreign politics and influence, but he's quite comfortable with the unabashed hatred of gay people.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Labels: Gay Rights, homophobia, Homosexuality, iran, Persecution, President Bush, Worst President Ever

Posted by The Deseret Spectacle at Wednesday, September 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

I totally missed it, but at the end of August we quietly snuck across the NINE TRILLION DOLLARS OF DEBT mark. Then we briefly dipped back under it before shooting past once again. In the 17 days since, we've gone further into the hole by about 17/24 billion dollars, by differing accounts.

Spend a few minutes thinking about where that money is going. Then spend a few minutes thinking about where it could be going.

Thanks Mr. President! Huckuva job!

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Labels: Financial Institutions, Hypocrisy, money interests, National Debt, President Bush, Worst President Ever

Posted by The Deseret Spectacle at Monday, September 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle





Yeah, I'm sure Gen. Petraeus is in constant, mortal danger. Give me a break. Petraeus is in about as much danger of bodily harm in Iraq as Mitt Romney is.

When was the last time you "repudiated" one of the extremist nut-jobs from the religious right when they said or did something stupid, eh Mitt? Have they "purchased" the Republican party?

No, but you certainly have compromised every single one of your values to pander to them, you flip-flopping sell-out.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Labels: flip-flopper, General Petraeus, Hillary Clinton, Hypocrisy, hypocrite, Mitt Romney, MoveOn

Posted by The Deseret Spectacle at Monday, September 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Did Demos fall down on job?
Published: Sept. 10, 2007 12:08 a.m. MDT

Richard Stauffer makes an excellent point in his letter (Forum, Sept. 7) asking what happened to the Utah Democratic Party between the time he left Utah in the late 1950s and now. All this time I've been assuming that it was the people of Utah just blindly following one party, but I think Mr. Stauffer has a point.

I lived in Utah and a neighboring state up until the late 1980s. In my life, Utah had a Democratic governor for five consecutive terms (Cal Rampton and Scott Matheson), a well-respected Democratic senator (Frank Moss) and an excellent Democratic congressman (Wayne Owens) recognized as a leader in Utah, the United States and other parts of the world.

So what has changed? What has the Utah Democratic Party done (or not done) to allow Utah to become recognized as one of the most Republican states in the nation? My apologies to Congressman Jim Matheson in that statement.

Lamonte John
Burke, Va.

Looks like you've been away for a while. I understand, and you pose a good question.. What has happened is the ultimate manifestation of a plan which began roughly 20, 25 years ago, when Jerry Falwell and suite of assorted, conservative "true believers" determined that to establish a long-lasting Republican majority, they would need to galvanize and politicize the religious right into a reliable voting block.

Strategically, this was genius. Mobilizing this voting block didn't cost anything except a few "noble lies" and the characterization of the Democrats as evil and the Republicans as good. You rarely see a contested voting region which doesn't have some sort of "moral" issue like gay marriage, abortion, (flag-burning to a lesser extent) whatever on the ballot.

*Poof* A formerly non-political set of religious groups, who occupied themselves with doing the will of God, suddenly became rabidly partisan Republicans, certain that "Democrats bore the stamp of Satan," as one frequent letter-writer put it.

So why is Utah such a bastion of Republicanism? Because it is concentrated Mormonism; the population tends to be ideologically amendable to authoritarian polarization (being the only true church gives you a sort of besieged mentality, even when you're the majority.) It is also hip to snarky Republican dismissals of silly "environmental" issues, 'cause after all, the rapture is just around the corner anyway. Why worry about the environment? I could go on.

It's the greatest ruse in American history - the fusing of politics with Christianity into an unholy monster where Jesus is pro-war, scoffs at the poor, and is wholly concerned with whether gay people marry each other or not. Quite the triumph. Quite the tragedy.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Labels: Christian Hate, evil, Lamonte John, militant christianity, Republichristians, utah, Utah Republicans

Posted by The Deseret Spectacle at Monday, September 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post