GEORGE W. BUSH & YOUR CIVIL LIBERTIES - - - > > >

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[Keepontruking]

1. Wella

Charm School for starters, then we try for a literacy program
for the GOP that are left and anybody who votes for
them........Circus Girl

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2. re literacy program

teach them how to read the Constitution!

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3. President Bush's Assault on Our Civil Liberties

Our Plan to Restore The Constitution

The Bush administration has brought the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis with its disregard for the people's elected representatives and the laws they enact. To make matters worse, some members of Congress appear willing to help President Bush take away their oversight power.

If Congress is leery of doing its duty and the courts are hesitant to check abuses of executive power, the burden of protecting our Constitution falls on us. People For the American Way's plan to help you and fellow citizens fight to restore our constitutional democracy is built on four pillars:

1. Accountability: There must be an independent investigation of lawbreaking by Bush administration officials—it is time for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor. Isolated from political pressure, a Special Prosecutor can bring charges against lawbreakers and hold them accountable even if Congress won't.

2. Transparency: We must restore transparency to the federal government--you have the right to know what your government is doing. People For the American Way Foundation's legal team has already filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the National Security Agency to learn about the scope of the President's illegal spying program and other forms of domestic surveillance, and challenging government secrecy on other fronts.

3. Oversight: Our system of checks and balances charges Congress and the courts with oversight of the executive branch. In the coming weeks, months, and years, PFAW and PFAW Foundation will redouble our organizing work in the field, lobbying efforts in Congress, and legal advocacy in the courts to ensure that the other branches of government fulfill their oversight obligations. We will help you encourage lawmakers to take powerful stands against abuse of power, and shine a spotlight on those who are complicit with the Bush administration's power-grab.

4. Public Vigilance: Finally, we can only succeed if you get involved. Shocking as it may be, many Americans are unaware of the scope of the Bush administration's disregard for the rule of law, nor do they understand how serious a threat it poses to our democracy and way of life. You can educate your friends, family, and neighbors so they can join us in this fight.

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=20467

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4. DUMB and DUMBER

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5. America's Nuremberg Laws

October 10, 2006

The End of the U.S. as a Civilized Nation

Between 2001 and 2006, George W. Bush worked tirelessly to eliminate freedoms and liberties Americans have long taken for granted. ... Now, thanks to a gullible passel of Republican senators and an unhinged leader who is banking that Americans are just as passive as the Germans of the mid-1930s, we have our own Nuremberg Laws.

Under the terrifying terms of the radical new Military Commissions Act, Bush can declare anyone--including you--an "unlawful enemy combatant," a term that doesn't exist in U.S. or international law. All he has to do is sign a piece of paper claiming that you "purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States." The law's language is brilliantly vague, allowing the president to imprison--for the rest of his or her life--anyone, including a U.S. citizen, from someone who makes a contribution to a group he disapproves of to a journalist who criticizes the government.

Although Bush and his top officials ordered and endorsed torture, the courts had found that it was illegal under U.S. law and treaty obligations. Now torture is, for the first time, legal.

more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucru/20061010/cm_ucru/americasnuremberglaws

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6. Olbermann: “Why does habeas corpus hate America”

One bit of trivia that caught our eye was the elimination of habeas corpus. which apparently used to be the right of anyone who's tossed in prison, to appear in court and say, "Hey, why am I in prison?"

Why does habeas corpus hate America…and how is it so bad for us?

Mr. Bush says it gets in the way of him doing his job.

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7. Kick

:kick:

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8. actual Bush quote

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9. Civil liberties behind bars

Bush detainee plan abridges freedoms

By Bruce Ackerman
Los Angeles Times

This is no time to play politics with our fundamental freedoms. Even without this massive congressional expansion of the class of enemy combatants, it is by no means clear that the present Supreme Court will protect the Bill of Rights.

The Korematsu case - upholding the military detention of tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans during World War II - has never been explicitly overruled.

It will be tough for the high court to condemn this notorious decision, especially if passions are inflamed by another terrorist incident. But congressional support of presidential power will make it much easier to extend the Korematsu decision to future mass seizures. Although it may not feel that way, we are living at a moment of relative calm. It would be tragic if the Republican leadership rammed through an election-year measure that would haunt all of us the morning after the next terrorist attack.

http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060929/REPOSITORY/609290340/1028/OPINION02

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10. Is Bush Signing Away the Constitution?

by William Fisher

... more than 100 signing statements containing over 500 constitutional challenges President Bush has added to new laws passed by the Congress – many times more than any of his predecessors.

While he has never vetoed a law, many constitutional scholars say the president is, in effect, exercising a "line-item veto" by giving himself authority to waive parts of laws he doesn't like.

Bush claims that the constitution gives the executive branch of government "inherent power" to do "whatever it takes" to protect the people of the United States.

http://www.antiwar.com/ips/fisher.php?articleid=9222

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11. America will end on October 17 at 9:35 a.m.

I'm talking about the America that I had come to know and love -- the America that stands for human rights, moral values, goodness and decency.

On Tuesday, October 17, at 9:35 a.m., George W. Bush will sign the Military Commissions Act and abolish some important rights that our founding fathers had placed at the heart of our democracy.

Thereafter, Bush and his agents will have the power to arbitrarily decide that you may be a threat to this nation. They can then lock you up and throw away the key. They don't have to tell you why you're being detained. They can torture you, as long as they don't call it that. They don't have to reveal whatever evidence they might have against you, so there is no way that you'll ever be able to dispute that secret evidence or prove your innocence. You're at their mercy.

This sounds like the kind of thing that goes on in brutal third-world dictatorships. But soon it will be the new American way.

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=1986


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