Finally ... some good news ... though a bit dated (this ruling happened back in January ... I don't follow the courts that closely anymore) ..... in their ruling on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission the Supreme Court ruled contrary to the standing law of the McCain Feingold legislation of 2002 (aka - the biggest attack on Free Speech to date)..... ...

... so in a nutshell .... Citizens United is a small non-profit that wanted to distribute a political documentary around the time of the primaries that would have painted Hillary in a non-favorable light ... which .... of course ... is automatically sexist because she is a woman (and not Sarah Palin) ...... anyways ... the FEC has an issue and takes Citizens United through the courts up to the Supreme Court where the Justices are soured to the FEC's position because it was brought to light that should the ruling go in favor of the FEC that would set a precedent that the federal government could censor any type of political speech, whether it be a documentary film or a book ... when the lawyer arguing for the FEC could do nothing but say that Fed had never banned a book .... yet .... the ruling went in favor of Citizens United .... and the First Amendment ....

Here's an excerpt from the majority opinion by Justice Kennedy:

"When the government seeks to use its full power, including the criminal law, to command where a person may get his or her information or what distrusted source he or she may not hear, it uses censorship to control thought. This is unlawful. The First Amendment confirms the freedom to think for ourselves."

... sadly ... the freedom to think for ourselves is a freedom so seldom used .... and the desire to seek out quality information regarding both sides of an issue is so seldom pursued that most folks wait to hear the talking head on the news tell you what your opinion of an issue should be .... and political correctness has so impoverished our speech that one could argue our thought is already restricted through government (or at least social forces) ...

... this ruling does not seem to be shocking to me ... it seems simple ... straightforward ... and constitutionally sound .... what is shocking to me is how much this ruling seems to have irritated the President ... causing frequent rebukes of the court, including a rebuke in the State of the Union Address, and prompting him to nominate the lawyer who argued for the FEC to the vacant Supreme Court position .... the President has stated his apparent outrage at the Court is because this ruling would allow powerful interests to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens .... First Amendment be damned ...

.... well ... Citizens United isn't exactly a powerful interest .... its a bunch of "ordinary citizens" (I totally do not like that term ... it creates a ruling class dichotomy ... which is besides the point so I won't pursue that rant at this time) who decided to band together to amplify their voices and release a documentary that presented facts supporting an opinion that others may agree with or disagree with... I doubt there was anything in the video forcing those who watched it to agree with the opinion presented ..... I doubt the narrator came on and said "Agree with us or we'll kill a puppy" .... the documentary in question was probably along the lines of all the other political documentaries which people could watch and say "Hey this guy's on to something" or "What a spin job, I totally disagree."

... the beauty of this country is that when there is something going on that you don't like ... be it social or political .... and you think your individual voice is being drowned out ... you can get together with like-minded individuals form a non profit and be LOUDER over a plethora of mediums .... books, documentaries, tv spots, talk show appearances (if you're loud enough), protests, leaflets, fund raisers .... so on and so forth .... and laws based on McCain Feingold have too often gone after these groups ... who embody the essence of free speech in this country .... while ignoring the real problem of bribes in the form of campaign donations to corrupt politicians .....campaign reform should be restricted to campaigns only ..... to preserve free political speech as it is meant to be INDEPENDENT political broadcasts must be left alone ...

So not too long ago an anti- TEA Party reactionary website came out ... Crash The Tea Party ... (the original website seems to be down so this is a link to their facebook page) .... basically its whole premise is to make the TEA Party movement look bad by going to events or posting on TEA Party online forums and acting like a racist fool. What I found interesting is that after looking through some of the comments most of the folks who do this promote it as being "fun" because they could say something really stupid or racist and get a couple dozen people to agree with them ..... oooook .... sure ... that seems like "fun" .... but how do you know that the people responding to you are actual TEA Partiers or your own fellow Crashers ... the fact that you may be getting a the response you are obviously seeking from another Crasher really doesn't make this anything close to "fun" .... maybe more along the lines of "pointless" ... and I hesitate to call anything "childish" ... but maybe that is a fitting adjective in this case.

You know what would be really "fun" if you happen to disagree with the TEA Party movement? .... go out and start your own counter-movement .... come on people ... this is America ... that's what happens here ... seriously ... when you don't like something you go out and protest it ... you don't sneak around doing stupid pointless shit on the down low ... no ... you make a stand for what you believe in .... and if you happen to not like what the TEA Party (or the Taxed Enough Already) movement stands for go out and start your own counter-movement ..... You could call yourselves the Tax Me More Already movement  .... and rally at TEA Party protests protesting the TEA Party and spreading your Gospel of bigger government and less economic and personal freedom .... because people are essentially evil ... and should be MADE to do what is "Right" and what is "Right" should be determined by Big Brother Government who only has your best interests at heart ... honestly ......

I happen to think that the TEA Party is one of the most positive things to happen to this country in awhile .... and I agree with approximately 90% of what they stand for (which is probably a record for me supporting anything) ... Americans have accepted an excessively oppressive tax rate for too long .... a tax rate that is looking to increase to 45% of your income with the legislation recently passed by President Obama ... you know what that means? it means that you are 45% less free than you should be ... it means you are a SLAVE to the government 45% of the tax year ... what most people don't understand is that the more money the government usurps from you the more control they now have over you .... the more they can determine what causes are "worthy" enough for funding .... the more they can determine what is "right" and pass legislation to ensure that you all behave and follow what is "right" .... and what if you happen to disagree? what if you happen to think that cause "worthy" but the government does not? what if you happen to believe something is "right" but the government does not? .... trust me ... the government does not have your best interest at heart ... the only interests a government has at heart is usurping more money and more power to gain greater control ... the TEA Party movement seems to be the first movement in a while to acknowledge this fact.

So what makes me only agree with the TEA Party movement only 90%? Well its simply the fact their listed core values state that Traditional Family Values are Encouraged .... I happen to think that the encouragement of certain values over others has no place in politics ... and the only values that should be encouraged are those that are part of the Constitution .... you remember ... the values that hold above all you should have the personal liberty to decide for yourself what you and your family will value whether it be "traditional" or not ....

If you think this is a trifling minor disagreement ... I call your attention to President Obama's State of the Union Address and the remarks towards the end of the speech that sent a cold shiver down my spine and motivated me to actually look up the text of the speech in a "He did not just say that" moment:

if you abide by the law you should be protected by it; if you adhere to our common values you should be treated no different than anyone else.

Seems so innocent, right? well it always starts that way. Here are the issues with this statement:

1) Who defines "our common values"? If the answer is anything but the Constitution or the People then there is a problem .....

2) The law protects EVERYONE ... those who abide by it and those who break it alike ... the law protects those who break it by guaranteeing a fair trial to make sure they actually broke the law beyond a reasonable doubt and allows legal review of the law to make sure that the law was in fact a just law that does not infringe on any Constitutional rights ... in fact the only way to challenge an unconstitutional law is to break it ... should you then be denied a fair trial and legal review of the law?

3) If you do not adhere to "our common values" what should you be treated like? The real promise "enshrined in the Constitution" is aside from the truths held to be self-evident .... you are promised to be free to choose what you value and free to live your life as you would like .... as soon as the government begins deciding what "common values" are then all is lost ... and we are no longer a free people ...

If this doesn't seem sinister enough to you ... just remember ... in Nazi Germany, protection of the law and equal treatment was given only to those who adhered to the "common values" of the State ... and we all know where that went ...

*** ps ... I do know that I usually change the pic and colors and quote every month .... but I only got one post out of April's colors .... so they're staying on for May as well ....