Corporate America Run Amock and a Stupid Congress

This story is just another example, albiet a small one of the creeping changes that are happening in the realm of copyright, technlogy and patent law. I attribute these unhealthy changes to a Congress that is at best clueless and at worst are corporate shills, not to mention, a corporate world that sees their customers as something to be controlled.

The DMCA was the first salvo... The problem here is that these laws stifle innovation and destroy the spirit that has made America a leader in technology. If I buy an X-Box and decided to take it apart to see how it works and discover how to load my own software that is not a crime, it is tinkering.

All of this ties in with another idea that I have had for sometime, freedom is always under attack. It is not that today is any worse than any other time. We need to change the way we think of freedom. We should shift the paradigm from complacency to being vigiliant about the forces that are always ready to erode our freedoms.

Change in the blog...

Not that I think anyone is really reading this, but I am going to make a concerted effort to begin covering local issues more. What is going on in the political world of Phoenix, AZ and the rest of the South West.

Currently, there is are city election in Phoenix and Tucson on the Sept. 13th. In Phoenix, I think there will be a non-partisan primary, where a canidate must win a majority of ballots cast to avoid the runoff. In Tucson, there will be a partisan primary by ward in Sept and at-large general election in November.

Coming up in 2006, we have a gubernatorial race, AG, etc. I also hear that Congressman J.D. Hayworth has accepted a job with Fox news and will be vacating his seat. Who will fill it? Rick Romley, perhaps. That would explain his by passing the gov race.

Email me if with any rumors that you may have heard...

Voter Suppression

Voter suppression has been a long-term strategy among Republicans. It is not the reason we are losing, but it can decide close races. In Ohio, I think voter suppression gave Bush a big part of his margin. I am not ignoring the completely lack luster campaign of John Kerry, but voter suppression is insidious. READ THIS

This is not an isolated incidence... There have been numerous criminal and civil cases related to these activities. So, what is the solution? I have a couple ideas... We should push for laws outlawing voter suppression. Not whinny laws complaining about Republicans. We should push for wide-ranging voter protection legislation. It should become central to the Democratic platform. Every legally registered voter has the right to vote, period. Everyone has the right to a provisional ballot. States should be sanctioned for incorrectly purging voter rolls. The burden of proof for removal should be on the state, not the individual. Also, lets get rid of the electoral college. This is not going to happen in the short-term. We should be constantly pushing policies that are part of long-term strategy that is cohesive. We are for individual rights, right to privacy, protecting workers from unfair outsourcing, balancing the budget and catching Bin Laden. We should make the Republicans take stands against people voting and we should publicize their voter suppression strategies.

Cindy Sheehan

I am going to take a different approach on the Sheehan story than most liberal bloggers. Check out this story from the DAILY KOS today. I have a problem with the whole approach of Republicans and some Democrats towards Cindy Sheehan. She is being churned through the Republican attack machine and now Dems are leaping to her defense about whether she changed her story or changed her mind about Bush.

Here is what I have to say, it doesn't matter whether she is inconsistent or whether changed her mind. She is the grieving mother of a dead son. I am sure than she changes her mind 50 times a day about how she feels. I am sure she is beside herself with the senselessness of his death, regardless of the politics involved. I think everyone needs to backoff this poor woman and let her have her say. Everyone needs to forget about the politics and give her the sympathy and understanding she deserves. Shame on the Republicans for attacking her.

How do we communicate their corruption?

Jack Abramoff was indicted today. We have the Downing Street memo and the Republicans coin scandal in Ohio. Repubican corruption is rapant, but how do Democrats make voters see the graft and dishonesty? There are very good reasons for voters to tell Rs to take a walk in 2006, but will they? We went down this road in 2004, but voters decided to keep Bush in spite of his problems.

Once again, we must as a party be more than the anti-Republicans. Don't get me wrong, that does not mean we cannot make the Rs pay for their huge errors in judgement. We have a responsibility to make them pay! But being against the Rs will not be enough...

We must have a unified party message that means something. It has to be a message beyond protecting Social Security and Medicare. It needs to be specific, not just "Hey we are for healthcare." Many voters don't trust us because we don't stand up for our beliefs. If you want to know why many rural and blue collar voters don't like us, it is because we don't stand up for them either. Just look at CAFTA or the Bankrupcty Bill. All else being equal, people will vote values...