Air America

Saturday, May 20, 2006

I have recently started listening to Air america broadcasts on my computer. The Al Franken and Randi Rhodes segments have been primarily what I have heard to date. Of course...we are cut from the same cloth so it is no surprise that many of their viewpoints jive with mine. I will note that much of what I hear there I have already alluded to here in this BLOG. I say this to dispel the prevailing attitude amongst some conservatives that these talk show hosts mold or influence my attitudes and beliefs. Unlike those "ditto-heads", who, apparently base their entire political philosophy on the likes of the Limbaugh's, O'Reilly's, Gibson's, et al...those whose political beliefs tend toward the left end of the spectrum generally have mature enough intellects that they do not need to be coddled or directed, nor do they require that their belief system be scripted by someone else. In other words...they, for the most part, have learned the art of critical thinking.

Just to make the point that I am not "bought and paid for" by Air America...I will mention that most of their advertising buys into the very corporatization of America I so despise. I will grant that, however, refusing to carry one or another particular company's advertising is exclusionary and elitist and I will also grant that Air America obviously needs funds to be able to continue broadcasting. I will appeal to them, nonetheless, that it would be wonderful to listen to advertising that did not tell me how much better I would be if I had untold amounts of money, or how I can make so much money by doing nothing. Yes...money is important...but...some wise person once said that money cannot buy happiness nor peace of mind and I have always subscribed to this philosophy. So...if any of you at Air America read this BLOG...please keep this in mind next time you are courting advertisers.

One item that I had just learned of on C-Span and had later heard about on Air America broadcasts was the comment by Michael Hayden that the 4th amendment does not contain "probable cause" language. He was not uncertain or unclear...he was adamant that there was no such critter...that the 4th amendment only addressed the "reasonable" element. I must admit to being stunned by this comment. Former head of the NSA...soon to be head of the CIA...and...he does not, evidently, know what the 4th amendment protects us from. Are we seriously considering his confirmation? This is ludicrous. How are we to keep any of our civil liberties when Congress, the Bush administration, and a huge segment of the American population is either ignorant or does not care?


Was it Randi Rhodes...or...perhaps it was Senator Feinstein...(probably both) who stated that this country is headed for a consitutional crisis. Truer words were never uttered. The predilection for trotting out the "war in terror" spiel anytime civil liberties are described as being in jeopardy... along with the reconstructionists who want to replace the Bill of rights with the Ten commandments...well...our civil liberties are being dissipated at a historic and unprecedented rate.

And we want to ratify the nomination of a CIA director who does not even know what the Bill of rights stipulates. It absolutely boggles the imagination. And, we think it's okay to sell telephone records to the government.

Ben Franklin was right on the mark regarding a little security and liberty...

As a person of Jewish descent...I can never forget and find my self often paraphrasing that Nazi era quote...

"When they came for the Jews...I was not Jewish so I did not stand up. And, when they came for the homosexuals, I was not a homosexual, so I did not stand up. Again, when they came for the trade unionists, I was not a trade unionist, so I did not stand up. When they came for me...why...there was no one LEFT to stand up."

This statement is more appropriate and relevant now than it has been since the Second World War era...we can only hope that it does not fall upon deaf ears beccause, again, there will be no one left standing after all our rights have been dismantled.

So...this summer...when Congress tries to abridge the rights of the GLBT community, when the NSA continues to spy on American citizens, when we continue to torture prisoners in Gitmo and abroad...recall those words and remember to STAND UP!!!!!

trickster108