Have the terrorists won?

For America, Democracy Is Always More Important Than Security
by Chris Bowers, Thu Aug 31, 2006 at 02:02:42 AM EST
I should not be blogging this late, but I have to make a quick post before bed on a subject that has been irritating me for a while. Ever since 9/11, politicians of both parties, as we can see in Harold Ford's commercial below, have been saying lines that are a variation on "nothing is more important than our security." Well, you know what? That is bullshit. There is something more important to America and Americans than security: democracy.

Protecting American democracy should be the first priority of anyone seeking office. Protecting our nation comes second. America actually was founded in order to protect our democracy, rather than our nation. The civil war was fought to protect and further our democracy. There is no such thing as American identity without democracy. If, as a nation, protecting our nation has become more important than protecting our democracy, then we have lost our way as a nation both at home and abroad.

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Expose those RW talking points

Unfortunately, too many in this country want so badly to believe things because it fits in with their world views, despite the facts. For instance:

The Truth About Clinton and Bin Laden: Another Right-Wing Talking Point Exposed

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But one Clinton-bashing RNC talking point is not funny or comedic in the slightest. It’s a lie meant to disguise the miserable job that Republicans have done at avenging 9/11, and it’s being promoted with increasing desperation as we approach the mid-term elections.

The lie is that Bill Clinton had an easy opportunity to capture Osama Bin Ladin, but let him get away.

It’s one thing to hear this on Fox News; America’s Propaganda Network predictably allows this contention to go unrefuted by discoverable facts. It’s quite another thing when the lie has become so pervasive that ABC feels entitled to air a “docu-drama” which supports that lie.

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Guess the quote

"We have always had our covert enemies, but their numbers were few until the 1960s. But then the elite young men who declined to serve in the military during the Vietnam War set out to write a narrative in which they, rather than those who obeyed the call to duty, were the heroes."

Michael Moore? ROTFLMAO!!! Here's some more:

"They have propagated their ideas through the universities, the schools and mainstream media to the point that they are the default assumptions of millions."

Nope - not David Horowitz. But close. This would be Michael Barone. Can you say "projection"?

I've always wondered about this

Why do knuckles crack? There's more to it, but here's the core reason:

A protective fluid cushions most of the joints in our bodies.

Inside a capsule that safeguards bones connected at a joint, synovial fluid keeps the cartilage, tissues, and muscles lubricated and well nourished. Nutrients float inside the fluid, along with gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

As you bend your fingers, the joint capsule stretches. To make more room for the stretch, gases release out of the fluid. The pop of your knuckles is the sound of gas as it bubbles out of the fluid, scientists say. Before your knuckle can crack again, the fluid must reabsorb the gas.

Microsoft marketing

Microsoft redesigns the iPod packaging...