Well, after taking a brief hiatus to drive to Jamestown, Indiana (yes, on purpose), I'm back in Tulsa, OK and ready to resume blogging about....? What topic will I tackle on my first post 4th of July entry? It seems enough has already been written about Dubya's sorry decision to commute Scooter Libby's sentence (and along with the president's virtual pardon, we all must sadly bid adieu to the wildly-popular Scooter Libby jingle that debuted on the Stephanie Miller Show about a month ago (June 7th, I believe). No longer will we hear the rousing refrain of "Scooter Libby, Libby, Libby's, Going to Jail, Jail, Jail..." come blaring out of our radio or our computers and that, my friends, is as sad a commentary on the state of our injustice system as Thursday's Sixth Circuit Court decision that puts the NSA wiretapping scheme safely beyond the reach of any challenge by the very people who are being spied on. Thereby leaving open only one possible scenario in which plaintiffs could challenge the legality of this highly suspect program. It is a rare case in which the Treasury Department screwed-up (ha, tongue firmly planted in cheek) and let loose a secret memo that detailed the eavesdropping that the NSA was perpetrating in regard to a Muslim charity in Ashland, OR. I hope that the court that hears that case allows the secret memo into the proceedings, otherwise plaintiffs are caught in a "Catch 22" the likes of which even Joseph Heller could not imagine. The argument goes something like this: you do not have standing to bring a claim against the NSA because you do not know for sure that you have been a victim of their wiretapping tactics, however the information that you need to demonstrate that you have indeed been a victim of illegal wiretapping is top-secret, highly-classified information, so there is essentially no way of showing the court that you have standing and without standing, you have no case - oy vey! Here's a nice summary of the cases that are currently winding their way through the courts that are challenging the legality of the NSA's wiretapping program.So the justice system in America is officially FUBAR. And a few days ago we learned that net-neutrality was slaughtered on the altar of free-enterprise, thanks to the Federal Trade Commission. This is what passes for news in the "Liberal Media." I am so sick and tired of hearing about the liberal bent of the media in this country. I see no evidence of a progressive perspective in the media, save for a handful of progressive blogs and radio talkers. Meanwhile, Stephanie Miller went behind our backs and made a stealth appearance on Hannity and Colmes to discuss not the "Fairness Doctrine" but the fact that theoretically the airwaves belong to no one. In other words, our brave and selfless Stephanie gave up an evening of her valuable (and, may I add, much needed) vacation to go toe to toe with Karen Hanretty and Dennis Prager in order to point out what should be evident to everyone - that: A) progressive radio is not failing, and B) there is a decided tilt in the ownership of radio stations that tends to favor right-wing talkers over equally competent, if not more successful, progressive talkers. Read the transcript here. In spite of Ms. Miller's math-challenged comment that the airwaves are skewed 95% right to 10% left, there is definitely a lack of balance and basic fairness, and we applaud our favorite radio talk show host for pointing this out, even though none of us watched her marvelous appearance because we trust that when Momma is on vacation, nothing of note happens on the Fox opinion channel, so pay it no mind. Way to keep you fans out of the loop, Steph. We've already apologized profusely for our criticism of your appearance on Dan Abrams, white ghost grrrl!
Back to more breaking news - Al Gore's Live Earth 24 hour, seven continent concerts that will highlight the growing problem of global warming has found a home in the nation's capitol thanks to the National Museum of the American Indian. Thanks and kudos go out our Native brothers and sisters for allowing Mr. Gore a forum for his important and necessary message delivered by a plethora of musicians, activists and public figures who will testify to the reality that global warming is here, it's real, and humans are causing it, and humans must figure out how to stop it. Tonight I am joining with 30,000 other MoveOn.org supporters who are meeting at various venues across the country to watch and show our support for Al and his message that global warming must be addressed. A friend and I will join others in Tulsa at a local theater (Circle Cinema) to watch the eight Democratic presidential candidates present their plans to combat global warming and will stick around to view a couple hours of the Live Earth shows on a big screen. I hope that everybody reading this blog (all three of you ;-) will make a commitment to help stop global warming. Click here to check out Al Gore's seven steps to help combat global climate change and DO SOMETHING - even if it is nothing more than replacing a few of your standard light bulbs with florescent bulbs.
