The Day We Lost Our Constitutional Liberty

Today a most momentus vote took place in the US Senate that all but insures the passage of the Trans Pacific trade agreement.  Remember this date of Thursday May 21st because this will do down in history as the day we as Americans lost our Constitutional liberties.  This is because today’s filibuster vote had to be sixty percent to pass while the house vote only has to be a simple majority.  Think of all the times good bills weren’t able to meet the sixty percent bar in the US Senate even before the 2010 elections and failed.  Today the Republicans made a remarkable statement of solidarity with President Obama.  The vote on fast-tracking the Trans Pacific Trade agreement wasn’t even noted on the Hannity show though it was the most significant loss of constitutional liberty in our lifetimes.  The vote was taken with only one day set aside for debate, which is absurd.  There were two hundred pending amendments to the bill offered by 45 Senators.  There were six amendments up for immediate vote that were postponed, so that this fast track vote this morning could take place.  More than three Republican senators voted against fast track, not that it mattered.  Since this was a filibuster vote it took over sixty for the thing to pass and they got 62 to 38 against, which was just over what was needed.  Jeff Sessions spoke of how it shouldn’t be called “free trade” but “unilateral trade disarmlement” because we give access to our markets to foreign nations, yet they erect barriers to keep us out.  The trade deficit with South Korea got worse after we signed an agreement with them.  Maybe Bill Clinton could be forgiven for NAFTA and CAFTA (Central America) because these trade deals were a bit of an unknown back them.  But we are well aware of their results now.   Mike Lee and Rand Paul also voted against this agreement.  Lindsey Graham had threatened to but voted for it as did Marco Rubio.   Sixty percent of our global trading economy would be impacted by this treaty.  It’s forty percent by the Pacific rim nations, and another twenty percent by the T-TIP or whatever Trans Atlantic treaty that impacts our European trade.  I wish I had more influence than I do as a blogger because no matter how passionately I write about it - - I’m only one small person.

PNAC stands for “Project for a new century” and it was organized by Jeb Bush, “the smart one” as kind of a pro Iraqi War organization as far as I can figure.  It was Jeb Bush even more than his brother George, who was pushing for a war with Iraq and Jeb was the one who sent that memo in the nineties about “having a new Pearl Harbor event people could rally around”.   So it’s no wonder that Jeb stumbled all over himself trying to answer questions about the origins of the Iraq War.  We know that Jeb Bush is deemed “acceptable” to Sean Hannity, who give Bush a big build up on stage, and we also know that Bush is perfectly acceptable to the Wall Street Moneyed crowd.   Regardless of what the media says - - I’m convinced that Jeb Bush’s numbers will explode upward the day he announces for President because many on the far right, regardless of what they’ve said before, now regard the Bush era as “the good old days”.   The next President will appoint up to four new Supreme Court Justices, and the likelihood is that it will indeed be four as we see a wave of mass resignations.  This is the blackmail “stick” that Hillary Clinton holds over wayward progressives who even THINK about not voting for her.  And as we said before “Hillary is a woman who already assumes she’s been elected president and there has to answer no questions.  Capish?  She’s a creature of Wall Street and she wants that fact mentioned as little as possible.   If Jeb won’t answer questions about the Iraq War- - then Hillary Clinton will answer no questions about the Trans Pacific Agreement.  Whatever her true feelings are on the subject you know she’ll lie about it.  And by the way Hillary is not pro feminist or pro women when it counted.  She was the one who launched personal attacks against the many women her husband Bill had sex with.  You would do well not to forget that little detail.   Apparently Eric Holder has gone back to working for his Wall Street associates, happy to have escaped prosecution, when a different But now Marco Rubio has been found guilty of stealing or at least “borrowing” from the Republican Party for a lot of lavish personal expenditures while they’re telling us all to “cut back”.  In other news Don Siegalman was turned down in an appeal to have his charges overturned.  He was unjustly imprisoned for something that two Republicans did right before him.   Judges are so much more political than I ever dared to believe twenty years ago.   This whole imprisonment in Alabama is completely political.

Rights, such as the right to Privacy cannot be negotiated away.  It doesn't matter whether you say it's a right you "don't need" or aren't using- - the government can't by vote of a comittee or fiat of one, decree to eliminate the rights of even the apathetic.   Some Churches such as Scientology insist that you surrender your basic "right to privacy".  Doing so gives others power over you they wouldn't have otherwise.   You may not even REALIZE the full consequences of surrendering the right to privacy because "You have nothing to hide" or for that matter of free speech because "I don't have oppinions on anything".  Someone spoke of "being able to deduct the cost of various fines they incur".  This should not be legal.  Likewise- - any retribution paid to you for any injury is NOT "income" but your Right to collect as a judgement.

 The big news in soap land is that somehow Page found out that JJ and her mother were having an affair because when people thought she was sleeping, she heard the whole argument between Jack Junior and Eve.  And she kind of played dumb about it for a while.  She kind of sprung the knowledge of the affair on her mother.  This means that another party will end up in utter disaster.  Daniel Jonas feared something like this might happen.  In "The Last Judgement" there are two schools of thought.  One says your sins will be forgotten so not even God can remember what they were, and nobody else will either.  The other view is when Jesus says that "Every secret and dark intent will be revealed".  So - which is it?  I guess it could depend on whether you are "under the blood" or not, so if you're not saved - "have never given your heart to Jesus" then you leave yourself open.

Bill is back.  While I was smoking at two a car drove up and Bill got out of the car and he had a big thing which turned out to be a big red Valentine’s Day bear saying “I heart You”.  He was supposed to meet with Mary Jane before going to his room.  He looked vaguely healthier and hair appeared sun bleached.  Bill had the stomach surgery at West Anaheim and his convalescence at Harbor Villa.   He didn’t get to smoke and he didn’t get to watch TV but he could spend time outside.  I was unable to grant his request for a cigarette.  I went down to talk to Federico at the office about a loan and after an extended delay, Federico agreed to give me three dollars.  I ran into Dr Messina and “almost” shook his hand.   I went right out to the liquor store and bought a pack.  I have a dollar in reserve I can buy coffee with tomorrow morning.  I paid Paul Evans back five and Larry Barton back one, so far.  I haven’t paid Luan back yet.  He says there is no rush.  I had the Merideth Vierra show on and after that was Millionaire and Jeopardy, however I was spending a lot of time out of the room.