I will use every means at my disposal, fair and unfair... Louis Gossett Jr., An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
Texas State Senator Wendy Davis stood and filibustered the Right-Wing attempt to outlaw abortion and shackle women under the power of the Patriarchy in Texas. For nearly 13 hours she alone stymied the plans of the Texas Teahadists led by Rick Perry, he who hath declared There is No Freedom From Religion in His State.
Texas Lt Gov Dewhurst as acting Senate President decided he had had enough of Davis' Filibuster, so he ruled that her speaking about Roe v.Wade or the 2011 Sonogram Conservative Rape Wand Law, was not germane to the Texas SB5 anti-abortion law.
The Texas Senate Democrats wisely introduced Parliamentary Procedure to combat this dictatorial move by Dewhurst, but as is Republicans wont they merely ignored Rules which they found inconvenient.
Despite his ruling not conforming to Texas Senate Rules and despite the "infraction", as he called it, actually being germane, Dewhurst moved to call for a tabling of all motions and vote on the Punishment of Women / Restoration of the Patriarchy.
Texas State Senator Leticia Van De Putte repeatedly asked Lt Gov Dewhurst, "Did the President hear me or did the President hear me and refuse to recognize me?" Dewhurst mansplained to Van De Putte the Chair did not recognize her, Van De Putte then struck, "At what point must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over her male colleagues?”
With that line the People in the Chamber and Rotunda erupted. The Voice of the People would not be extinguished by Dewhurst's few pitiful gavel bangs and his impotent pleas. The People would not be reduced to brood mares for Texas. Nonetheless, Dewhurst called for the Roll and declared the Ayes to be 19, the Nays to be 10 and the bill passed as he walked off.
The Crowd began to shout Shame! Shame! Shame! but, little do they know that Republicans have no shame.
However, it appears despite the Undemocratic, immoral, underhanded tactics of the Texas Teahadist Republicans the final Roll Call came in at 12:03 am, past the midnight deadline for the Special Session.
There's mass confusion about this but make no mistake when it comes to Republican Bill Passing, they will stop at nothing; rules, laws, morals, to pass their Agenda. An Agenda designed to Punish Women, Punish the Poor, Punish Minorities and Create a Neo-Feudalist Utopia.
Update:
Whiny Punk Ass David Dewhurst declared around 4 this morning that the Bill had failed and then pouted, "An unruly mob, using Occupy Wall Street tactics, disrupted the Senate from protecting unborn babies.” Dewhurst mansplained that he would request Ayatollah Perry to call another Special Session so he and his fellow Right-Wing Rapists could ram through more slut shaming bills.
“We had terrorist in the Texas State Senate opposing SB 5,” Republican Bill Zedler tweeted last night.
"But I had somebody last week in Washington from either Georgia or Alabama that was saying, ‘Look, this goes back to we have got to have at least 50 rounds in our magazines because on average that’s about how many it takes to bring down a drone.’ I hope he was kidding, I don’t know for sure." - Representative Louie Gohmert, Confederate States of America on Drones.
Glenn Greenwald has declared that President Obama is worse than Dick Cheney. Because Obama, unlike Cheney, never infringed on an American's Constitutional Rights the way Obama did by authroizing a Drone Strike on Anwar al-Awaki (and his son).
What is this? Did the backlash against executive power take this long to foment in Greenwald? Does Glenn Greenwald feel frightened that Obama, who is worse than Cheney, is going to send a Drone Strike against him for speaking out?
What's actually happening is Glenn Greenwald is like John Wayne. Wayne chicken hawked his way out of World War II and in response became a jingoistic warmonger and arch-conservative. Greenwald supported the Phony GWoT and Iraq War Crime and now to make up for it he's become a lunatic anarcho-libertarian declaring all Government Action to be the illegal Use of Force.
Here is the text of what Greenwald, himself, relies upon to excuse his tacit support of the Phony GWoT and the Iraq War.
I did support the war in Afghanistan and, living in New York, believed the rhetoric about the threat of Islamic extremism.
At worst, I was guilty of apathy and passivity. I did nothing for or against it because I assumed that those in positions to exercise adversarial scrutiny – in journalism and politics – were doing that.
I had not abandoned my trust in the Bush administration. Between the president’s performance in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the swift removal of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the fact that I wanted the president to succeed, because my loyalty is to my country and he was the leader of my country, I still gave the administration the benefit of the doubt.
I believed then that the president was entitled to have his national security judgment deferred to, and to the extent that I was able to develop a definitive view, I accepted his judgment that American security really would be enhanced by the invasion of this sovereign country.
The swift removal of the Taliban? He assumed others were scrutinizing the Rush to War. Loyalty to My Country! I deferred to Bush's Judgement.
As the 10 year mark of that bloody debacle hits home, it's amazing to watch those who participated in bilking the American People whitewash themselves of their guilt. I think that in order to prove himself, Greenwald will equate Obama's policies with Hitler at every opportunity. It's a powerful display. Hundreds of Thousands of Sunnis, Shias, Afghans, Pastuns, and others killed during the a Multi-Trillion Dollar Theft of Generations and Glenn will spare no effort over Drones?
Drones are tools and weapons. All the hand-wringing over their use in the Phony GWoT* is a mistake. Drones are a valuable tool which allows infiltration deep into hostile territory for targeted killings. Why send in a SEAL Team or conventional forces when a Drone can accomplish the task?
Drones for Domestic Use are also not a concern. Drones simply fall under the Use of Force and the 4th Amendment.
It makes no difference if a person is killed by bullets, blood chokes, burning or drone strike. Dead is Dead.
And under US Law (reviewed by multiple SCOTUS rulings and written into State Laws) Killing someone is considered the Ultimate Seizure under the 4th Amendment.
For Reference the applicable reviews of the 4th Amendment are:
Graham v. Conner (1989)
Tennessee v. Garner (1985)
Drones and their use gained massive blog-o-sphere attention after the Filibuster of the Director of the CIA by Senator Rand Paul. Couch-Borne Commandos and Self-Styled Champions of Liberty,as long as Liberty isn't Black people getting equal rights, like Senator Paul may have a problem with Drones but that's only because they've never been shot at or had to go hands on with a criminal.
Now, there may be arguments to be made against the Use of Drones. But, if you're mad that President Obama is using Drones in and of themselves you are wrong.
If there had been a Drone available to use against Christopher Dorner (Or against the Newest Second Amendment Hero Kurt Myers) then it should have been authorized and used.
Remember Dorner had already killed 4 people. He published a manifesto in which he stated he was going to kill as many people as possible. Some only tangentially connected. On the day of his death he shot two more Deputies, killing one, carjacked a couple and holed up in house firing numerous rounds at the surrounding officers.
Against a person, such as Dorner, does Glenn Greenwald or Senator Paul demand we send in single officers one at a time to face them man-o y man-o?
But, while Greenwald believed it to be a good thought experiment about "Due Process" and his belief that Drones represent a massive violation of civil liberties, it highlighted the misunderstanding of seizures under the 4th Amendment (again killing someone being the ultimate seizure) and the Use of Force.
Apparently, Greenwald believes "Due Process" entitles a person to this level of warning:
If you believe that a Government should not be killing it's citizens, ever, that's a legitimate debatable position. But, Drones aren't used for the killing of incarcerated persons.
If you're concerned about Drones being used for surveillance, well unless you are complaining about Cameras in high-crime areas, wire-taps, and police officers with binoculars then it seems an arbitrary concern.
If you believe the President does not have the authority to use Drones for targeted killings overseas then your complaint is with Congress. Force Congress to exert their constitutionally-mandated War Powers Role and have them vote to seize back that power by removing authorization.
There might be legitimate concerns about the Use of Drones and there should be oversight and legal guidelines but they are nothing more than a tool. Every tool can be misused.
*- The War on Terror has a War Crime of Epic Proportions and has lead to thousands of unnecessary deaths and criminal theft of Trillions. As such it should be ended. But, the Drone Strikes aren't the worst thing about it.
The Golden Freedom, which the magnates defended with every bit of chicanery and power they commanded, was the freedom of the few to oppress the many... ~ James A. Michener's, Poland
In the novel Poland, Michener describes how the "incredible liberum veto, by which one man in a Seym (parliament) of hundreds could negate and prorogue the entire work of the Seym by merely crying 'I oppose!' was a major cause of Poland's disappearance from the map of Europe". The Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom was "partitioned" out of existence by Prussia, Austria, and Russia during the 18th century by subverting the Polish Parliament. Polish Magnates (Representatives) were bought off by the foreign nations to obstruct and Filibuster any and all reforms in the Parliament. Then having stymied and brought the Nation to a standstill they simply moved in and did as they pleased.
Filibuster Reform in the US Senate has apparently being undermined. The current Unconstitutional rules adopted by the Senate allow for secret holds, opposition and obstruction by singular Senators who cry 'I Oppose!' The Republican Senators abusing this Unconstitutional rule are doing so for the Plutocracy and Powerful Interest Groups who own them. The Agreement reached this Thursday morning would permit a Senate majority to bypass the filibuster on a motion to proceed to debate with the condition that either a group of senators on each side of the aisle agrees, or the minority is guaranteed the chance to offer amendments. The new rules limit debate time for sub-cabinet and district court nominations and reduces the number of required hours between cloture and final confirmation from 30 to two. It also lowers the number of cloture motions required to go to conference with the House. “This does very little to change how the Senate as a body functions,” said a pro-reform Democratic aide. “After these small changes the Senate will operate much the same way as it did yesterday.”
Like the Polish people of the 18th century We, the People are being held hostage to the whims of Rapacious Moneyed Predators. And the Plutocracy's Senators will stand up and oppose any efforts which hamper the efforts of the Rich to sink their talons deep into Us and drain the American populace of their Money and Lives. Addendum:
Of course, the Partitioning of Poland did have a positive impact on American History as numerous Polish Officers came to the US and provided The Continental Congress and George Washington with an experienced Officer Core. Including, Chicago's favorite Polish Count Casimir Pulaski, the "Father of American Cavalry".
Here in Chicago we celebrate Casimir Pulaksi Day. All across Cook County government offices are closed, Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Public Library, Springfield Public Schools, and Illinois state-wide public and private schools are closed as well. Wisconsin (the whole state) also closes on Pulaski Day. According to Arizona Bigot Tom Horne, Illinois school districts are inconsistent with American Values for honoring a foreigner.
