Why we need the dream team of Elizabeth Warren and Alan Grayson to lead our nation?

We need a new direction for these times!! I suggest the dream team of Elizabeth Warren and Alan Grayson to lead our nation What are the times? Endless war, Surveillance State, Global warming and Climate catastrophe, more inequality, more unemployment, Drones and Human Rights abuses, we can't afford the status quo! Far right politics and compromising centrism has gotten us close to disaster. Time to step away from tht dangerous precipice. Karita Hummer

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/11/12

I  couldn't agree more!! from a feature-length article in the New Republic on Monday, titled "Hillary's Nightmare? A Democratic Party That Realizes Its Soul Lies With Elizabeth Warren"  My dream team, Elzabeth Warren for president and Alan Grayson for Vice President!  Karita Hummer

Uncle Sam has lost the moral high ground!!

Two amendments recently failed in Congress, one that would have curtailed the massive collection of telephonic and digital communications of American citizens by NSA and the other, that would have curtailed the authorization of endless wars and unseemly covert military actions around the world in the name of fighting terrorism.

It seems to me that I have lost the country I have known, of Constitutional Law, that respects my privacy and freedom as a citizen and one that shows respect for International law, where the killings of innocent children are not dismissed and rationalized as "necessary" for self defense. 

Deeply disappointed, bereft and aggrieved at the loss of a country that purported to live by the highest standards of ethics and moral integrity!  Uncle Sam, you have given up the high ground on which we were founded.  I want my country back!

Ralph Nader is right; Only Congress has the legitimate power to declare war

President Obama,  with the power vested in us, through our Congressional representatives, we implore you to follow Ralph Nader's thoughtful admonition to you against any attempt on your part to exercise unconstitutional war powers in your apparent rush to war against Syria!!  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/31  We implore you to defer to Congress in questions of declaring war!  Your most solemn oath is to uphold our Constitution, and as Nader so directly points out, the power to declare War resides with Congress.

Clause 11. To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

When there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, it was of the utmost folly for Bush and Cheney, (your recent immunity afforded them, notwithstanding) to so blithely ignore the work of UN Inspectors there and rush instead to war.  They acted with impunity, and now it appears that you want to act in just such an imperial manner as well. Step back a minute and consider your obligations under the Constitution and, indeed, under International Law, as well. Unmanned war weapons may be part of the problem, here; their use may seem too easy. Try waging peace, instead of war!!   It is the better moral option, and a better legal one at that!! Impunity is unbecoming in any branch of government!!    http://thepeoplesguidetotheusconstitution.com/blog/articles/congressional-power-to-declare-war/

As Early as 1778, the Continental Congress enacted protections for whistleblowers!

Edward Snowden deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, because "the truth will set us free"  

Did you know that the Continental Congress created the first Whistleblower Protection Law in 1778. Amazing! and it is all the more hurtful to realize this.   Benjamin Franklin warned us ages ago that if we give up freedom for security, we end up with neither.  Sure does seem like Al Quaida destroyed our nation, as we knew it and had it!! But we didn't have to let it happen!

See http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/05-3

Are we in a Police State yet?

A "Police State" during my youth was the worst place in the world one could live in!  But,WE were free, and we relished it!!!!!  So long ago, it seems.

but wait!  What news from Reuters do we have this morning?

"(Reuters) - A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans.

Although these cases rarely involve national security issues, documents reviewed by Reuters show that law enforcement agents have been directed to conceal how such investigations truly begin - not only from defense lawyers but also sometimes from prosecutors and judges."

 http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-dea-sod-idUSBRE97409R20130805

 THIS is audacious, Uncle Sam, but not "hopeful", and decidely "Un-American".  I want my country back!!!

Uncle Sam, with all due respect, you have lost your way!!

Two amendments recently failed in Congress, one that would have curtailed the massive collection of telephonic and digital communications of American citizens by NSA and the other, that would have curtailed the authorization of endless wars and unseemly covert military actions around the world in the name of fighting terrorism.

It seems to me that I have lost the country I have known, of Constitutional Law, that respects my privacy and freedom as a citizen and one that shows respect for International law, where the killings of innocent children are not dismissed and rationalized as "necessary" for self defense. 

Deeply disappointed, bereft and aggrieved at the loss of a country that purported to live by the highest standards of ethics and moral integrity!  Uncle Sam, you have given up the high ground on which we were founded.  I want my country back!

Embrace Freedom and Restore the 4th Amendment

Unbridled audacity by the Administsation, yes, but " hope", not!  When I voted for Obama, it was the audacity of hope for which I voted, not for the audacity of collecting private information on citizens, without a warrant!  If not for Snowden's revelations, we would never have known how extensively our 4th Amendment was being violated.  I am outraged by such audacity, and I feel betrayed and in great grief.  While Bush foolishly started this progrm under the Patriot Act, it is particularly ironic that the President, who studied Constitutional Law at Harvard, would disregard our 4th amendment so blithely.  It is uttelry saddening!   

I urge my fellow citizens to demand the full restoration of protections under the 4th Amendment!

The Network for Spiritual Progressives condemns as immoral, the prosecution of Bradley Manning and attempt to prosecute Edward Snowden

The callous disregard of our privileges under the Bill of Rights is demoralizing to a nation raised in the belief  that ours is a land of freedom and liberty.  Paraphrasing Alan Paton, "Cry, my beloved Country!"  I ask, Uncle Sam, do you know what you are doing?!

The Network for Spiritual Progressives (NSP) has written a letter to Presdient Obama decrying the immorality of prosecuting Edward Snowden and US Army soldier, Bradly Manning.

In unequivocal terms, the NSP stated,

"President Obama,please come back to your highest self. Stop being a puppet of the national security state and become a champion of our privacy, our human rights, and human decency. If you want to look “tough” on crime, prosecute those who tortured detainees at Guantanamo and other US prisons, those bankers and investment firms who caused millions to lose their homes and their jobs in the continuing Great Recession, those who run corporations that are destroying the earth’s environment for future generations, and those who exploit the poor and the powerless. If instead your legacy is to prosecute the whistle blowers who call attention to the misdeeds of government, the military, the national security apparatus and the corporate elites, you will rightly be scorned by future generations of Americans."   http://org.salsalabs.com/o/525/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=13856

I signed the NSP letter, and you can, too!  

I signed the NSP letter to President Obama, because I think it is utterly reprehensible that our civil liberties are being so easily undermined and because International Law is being so disregarded by the Obama Administration. I say these things are not being done, in my name, and I utterly disapprove. I feel as though I have lost my Country, and I am bereft. Karita Miraglia Hummer

Moreover, I thoroughly agree with The Guardian's assessment of the Administration's actions, printed two days ago:

"Indeed, the very model of democracy that the heirs of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin are responsible for upholding has been robbed of its essence.

By what right is the United States exempt from principles that it demands be applied elsewhere?", 

America's whistleblower persecution sullies the US constitution,   Christophe Deloire and Julian Assange,  The Guardian, Wednesday 3 July 2013 11.56 EDT,   http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/03/america-persecution-whistleblowers-constitution

Our government is forgetting and dismantling our most cherished ideals!   "Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one."  Benjamin Franklin 

Voting Rights Act must be Fully Restored!

Everyone's vote should count, and, be counted!

“Hubris is a fit word for today’s demolition of the Voting Rights Act,” wrote Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in her dissenting opinion on the Supreme Court's demolition of important parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act on June 25, 2013.

With the news of the Supreme Court decision, my first thought was, "Oh No!!  Say it isn't so!!"

Demos, an advocacy group for the protection of democracy in theUSA, stated:

"...the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, upending a law that has been central to our nation’s commitment to eradicating the shameful legacy of racial discrimination in voting, especially in the deep South. The Court declared that the so-called “coverage formula” used to determine which states should be required to obtain preclearance for changes in voting laws was unconstitutional, but that Congress retains the authority to update the coverage formula. Demos, along with other members of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, filed an amicus brief in the case, Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, urging the Court to uphold the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.", June 25, 2013,  http://www.demos.org/press-release/high-courts-decision-striking-down-key-provision-voting-rights-act-1965-cannot-stand

The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law reported:

"On June 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, removing a critical tool to combat racial discrimination in voting. Under Section 5 of the landmark civil rights law, jurisdictions with a history of discrimination must seek pre-approval of changes in voting rules that could affect minorities. This process, known as “preclearance,” blocks discrimination before it occurs.

In Shelby County v. Holder, the Court invalidated Section 4 — which determines the states and localities covered by Section 5 — arguing that current conditions require a new coverage formula. As a practical matter this means Section 5 is inoperable until Congress enacts a new coverage formula, which the decision invited lawmakers to do. Without Section 5, state legislators may try to launch a new wave of discriminatory voting measures, some of which were previously blocked or deterred by the law, according to a Brennan Center report released just weeks before the decision. It is now on Congress to act in a bipartisan and swift manner to devise a formula that will enable the Voting Rights Act to effectively protect voters once again."  http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/voting-rights-act-resource-page

The ACLU contends,

"Voting rights are under attack in this country as state legislatures nationwide pass voter suppression laws under the pretext of preventing voter fraud and safeguarding election integrity. These voter suppression laws take many forms, and collectively lead to significant burdens for eligible voters trying to exercise their most fundamental constitutional right."  http://www.aclu.org/voter-suppression-america

From 2000 on, the Supreme Court has intervened on the side of voter suppression, disenfranchisement by folks undemocratic in every sense of the word!!  And this, after widely reported instances of voter disenfranchisement, not only in 2000 but 2004, as well.  Without such voter disenfranchisement and vote suppression, it can be contended that neither 2000 or 2004 presidential elections were fair recflections of the voters' will.

The Voting Rights Act must be restored in its entirety!

Restore the 4th!! Sign "Stop watching us" letter to Congress led by Mozilla!!

Mozilla takes the lead:  by Mozilla, on their Firefox launch page:   "Security and privacy are not optional. Stand with a broad coalition to demand that the NSA stop watching us."  http://www.multichannel.com/technology/mozilla-nsa-stop-watching-us/144083

I signed this letter and I share it here in hopes that others will sign as well.  It is up to us ensure protection and enforcement of our Constitution and respect for International Law, in this land of ours!!  No disrespect allowed in our name!!!!

Go here to sign the letter to Congress:  https://optin.stopwatching.us/

Groups signed on to "Stop Watching Us Letter"     http://www.publicknowledge.org/stop-watching-us-letter-congress-june-2013                                                                                                                      Thank you fellow patriots!  Karita Miraglia Hummer

On "CompassionAte Patriotism" Jeremy Adam Smith

Heed Jeremy Adam Smith, below for his sage advice, for his profound words of wisdom this 4th of July!!!
I take them to my heart!!!

"I know people, I know towns, farms, hills and rivers and rocks, I know how the sun at sunset in autumn falls on the side of a certain plowland in the hills; but what is the sense of giving a boundary to all that, of giving a name and ceasing to love where the name ceases to apply? --Ursula K. Le Guin", 
from Daily Good, an introduction to Jeremy Adam Smith's article,   

"Can Patriotism Be Compassionate?", by Jeremy Adam Smith.

http://www.dailygood.org/story/475/can-patriotism-be-compassionate-jeremy-adam-smith/

Restore the 4th!!!!!!!

A Movement is born, this 4th of July!!!!  Mark my words, We the People!!  We will preserve our Constitution and respect for International Law in our Land!!


Passionate Progressive Patriot!

Karita Miraaglia Hummer

Daniel J. Solove, Law Professor at George Washington University, debunks the "five Myths about Privacy".

Professor Solove's analysis of the myths surrounding the recent revelations  that NSA has been mining telephone and internet usage  brings a very sensible and reasoned  approach to the supposed conflict between security and constitutional protections.

His analysis is really must reading for citizens who want to understand the fullest implications of the NSA Surveillance program.

See the article in the SJ Mercury News, reprinted from the Washington Post:  http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_23456028/daniel-j-solove-five-myths-about-privacy

In my own opinion, the loss of privacy should be of utmost concern to every citizen, and I quite agree with the sage advice of Benjamin Franklin of many years ago.

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 - 1790)

Al Gore unequivocal on NSA surveillance, that it violates the American way and our Constitution.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/al-gore-nsa-surveillance-violates-the-constitution-20130614

Former Vice President Al Gore, and probable winner of the 2000 presidential election, the supreme Court notwithstanding, speaks truth here on revelations of NSA surveillance, and recommends that President Obama and Congress amend the laws that permitted such surveillance, calling it a violation of our Constitution. 

What is there not to understand about our Constitution?

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 - 1790)

Hark, a passionate progressive patriot, takes Americans and President Obama to task over the trade of constitutional freedoms "safety"!!  We must take heed.  Magnify Pitts voice by sharing it.  You have nothing to lose but your freedom.  http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_23452354/leonard-pitts-jr-surrendering-our-civil-liberties?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com

I cry for the beloved country I once had and long to have it back!!  Nay, nothing less will do!!

Let us get our priorities right!!

Passionate Progressive Patriot!!

Karita Hummer