Should the Patriot Act be Renewed?

The House of Representatives voted yesterday to renew and make permanent almost all provisions of the Patriot Act. At the same time the Senate Judiciary Committee is acting to reign in some of the powers the government took under the Patriot Act. Is the Patriot Act making us safer and protecting us from terrorists or is it a dangerous limitation on our liberties as individuals? It is a good debate. While I tend toward the second view on the more controversial provisions of the bill, not everyone agrees. If you want to talk about the U.S. Constitution in this day and age, you can't avoid this issue.

National Public Radio has an excellent page on the Patriot Act. Check it out. Listen to or read some of the stories and become more knowledgable about this important issue.

Rove in Trouble

Karl Rove, the mastermind of Bush's political successes has been a demon to those on the political left for a long time. We have seen him as a smart, shrewd, but devious political operative whose calling card is impugning the character of those who present a challenge to Bush.

Many of us suspected that Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame was unmasked as an undercover CIA operative in retaliation for Wilson's harsh remarks about Bush's handling of WMD intelligence. At the time, Bush said he would fire any aide that leaked Plame's name to reporters.

This week, as Rove has been fingered as having a hand in talking to reporters about Plame's undercover status, Bush has changed his tune. Now he will only fire an aide who broke the law in revealing the name of an undercover CIA agent.

This is convenient for Bush, but he shouldn't get away with it, and Rove should have to pay a high price for his misdeeds, criminal or not. He should resign, because is method of operating can no longer be denied. He is a back-stabbing, cut-throat, political operative that has no business prowling about the highest office in the land. He should resign because of the disgrace he has brought to the White House, a place 2000 candidate Bush said he would restore to its dignity.
The lies and manipulations of evidence that have gone on in this administration are appalling. We deserve better, and we ought to demand it.

Confused about all of this? Check out the CS Monitor's Q & A.

Oh yeah, and all of this seems to be hurting Bush's popularity.

Terrorists took much more than 37+ lives in London

The bombings in London on July 7th were tragic. I sat, watching the footage on CNN in horror like everyone else in the world. What made it more sad for me though, is that the whoever was responsible for the terror bombing did a lot more damage than just what we saw on TV. It changed the focus of the G8 Summit and diverted the world’s attention from the issues of poverty and climate change. Consider for a moment two facts:

37 people were killed in the bombings in London
1 child dies every 5 seconds of hunger somewhere in the world (according the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, as reported by the BBC).

Which is more horrible? Do the math.

The G8 summit can be considered a success though, because the world’s wealthiest nations agreed to double the amount of aid to Africa and cancel the debt of the 18 poorest nations in Africa. The world leaders need praise and encouragement for this positive step toward ending a more serious and deadly threat than world terrorism.

As reported by the BBC:

In the words of Tony Blair: "It isn't the end of poverty in Africa, but it is
the hope that it can be ended. It isn't all everyone wanted but it is progress -
real and achievable progress."

And Bob Geldof, the former rock star
and Live 8 organiser, paraphrased words first uttered by Winston Churchill.

"I wouldn't say this is the end of extreme poverty, but it is the
beginning of the end," he said. Of course, the various deals fall far short of
what many campaigners wanted.

There was more disappointment in the area of climate change. The United States of America is still refusing to join other nations in taking concrete actions to lower emissions standards although Bush did agree to language that stated that human activity is playing a role in global climate change.

With the publicity from Live 8, there was tremendous focus on this summit. Looking at the news now, it has taken a back seat to concerns and fears over the terrorist attacks. This means we have more work to do in keeping these issues on the agenda of news providers and world leaders.

O'Connor Resigns High Court

July 1st

Sandra Day O'Connor left an incredible mark on the Court and an even greater on on American history. (Read the story from the New York Times.) She was a pivotal "swing" vote in the ideological battles between the Court's conservatives and it's liberals. Her vote was the deciding factor in many of the Court's 5-4 decisions. She was pragmatic and had a sense for finding the pulse of the American people in striking compromise language on a number of issues. Read some excerpts from her opinions.

July 5th update
O'Connor's influence on Court decisions is discussed in the CS Monitor.

ONE Campaign

JOIN THE ONE CAMPAIGN!

If you haven't already visited http://www.one.org/, than you ought to immediately. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not get a snack from the fridge. Just check it out and if like what the campaign is about, sign the letter to President Bush urging him to do more to help the poorest of the poor nations by getting serious about debt relief for these nations.
Lots of pop/rock/rap/etc. stars are participating in concerts around the world this weekend to bring publicity to the cause. (Bono and Bob Geldof are the driving musical forces behind the event.) It is well timed as the big summit of the G8 powers is happening this coming week. What the little old people like you and I can do is make sure that our leaders know we are concerned and take this problem seriously.
If you haven't heard about the ONE campaign, here is a brief description from the web site:

"ONE is a new effort by Americans to rally Americans – ONE by ONE – to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. The ONE Campaign is engaging Americans through a diverse coalition of faith-based and anti-poverty organizers to show the steps people can take, ONE by ONE, to fight global AIDS and poverty."

REMEMBER - While many of us our enjoying our summer vacations:

38 million people around the world are infected with HIV/AIDS
1 in 5 people around the world live on an income of less than $1 per day
104 million children around the world do not attend grade school
1 person in 7 has no access to clean water for drinking, cooking or washing.
1 person in 7 suffers from hunger
Millions of the world's children have become orphans because of AIDS, war, or other causes
Instead of spending money on these problems, many governments around the world are spending money paying back debt to the world's wealthy nations and international institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Every year Sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest region of the world, spends $14.5 billion dollars repaying debts.
Many of the poorest nations have governments that are rife with corruption.

Bottom Line - There is a lot of work to do. One concert isn't going to change everything. One petition isn't going to change everything. But one small step at a time, we can change things if we work together.