Defiant Optimism

"They do not seek conformity. They do not surrender. Out of their differences comes symmetry. Their unique capacity to fight against impossible odds. Hurt them, they only come back stronger. The passions we deplore have taken them to their place in the stars, and will propel them to a great destiny. Their only weakness is that they do not recognize their own greatness." -- Delenn

This DailyKOS diary reminded me of this, one of my favorite quotes from the show Babylon 5. Delenn, the alien Minbari embassador, says this when another member of her race scoffs at her fascination with humans.

Babylon 5 expresses a defiant optimism that shines brightest in the face of defeatism. None said it better than G'Kar, a Narn, whose planet had just been conquered an occupied by the Centauri:

"No dictator... no invader... can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand. The Centauri learned this lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free."

Bush Justice Department opposed changing FISA standard to "Reasonable Suspicion"

In 2002, Sen. DeWine proposed lowering the FISA standard from "Probable Cause" to "Reasonable Suspicion". The Bush Justice Department opposed the proposal after Bush had already authorized the NSA to adopt the new standard.

Glen Greenwald has the scoop:

So as of June, 2002 -- many months after the FISA bypass program was ordered -- the DoJ official who was responsible for overseeing the FISA warrant program was not aware (at least when he submitted this Statement) of any difficulties in obtaining warrants under the FISA "probable cause" standard, and for that reason, the Administration would not even support DeWine's amendment. If - as the Administration is now claiming - they had such significant difficulties obtaining the warrants they wanted for eavesdropping that they had to go outside of FISA, surely Baker - who was in charge of obtaining those warrants - would have been aware of them. And, if the Administration was really having the problems under FISA, they would have supported DeWine's Amendment. But they didn't.

War to Nowhere

I'd like to pass on another framing suggestion. It comes from Ned Lamont, the erstwhile primary opponent to Joe Lieberman who, in a recent event (described in this MyDD diary), described two things that led him to consider entering the race: The Alaska "Bridge to Nowhere" and Bush's "War to Nowhere", Iraq.

I think the "Road to Nowhere" frame is an excellent way of describing the failings of the Republican agenda, both domestically and internationally. It creates a single image that ties both failures together and presents a concrete image of a bridge (a huge engineering feat) that serves no purpose other than to line the pockets of Republican supporters with taxpayer dollars.

"Health Segregation Accounts"

"War to Nowhere"

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

Bush's next plan to help us

Let's call them what they really are: Health Segregation Accounts.

After all, that's what will happen. The sick and old will be segregated from the young and healthy. The latter will consider themselves lucky that they don't have to be pooled together with those sick people. Until they themselves become sick. Then they will come crawling back to Uncle Sam demanding that he do something to help them out.

And who profits from all this?