Our Founders formed this nation under the assumption that a large federal system was a danger to liberty and a hindrance to progress.  They had a suspicion of a large centralised government, and rightly so.

If we really want to be liberals in the classic sense, we should advocate smaller government, less centralised control and more liberty for individuals.  Progressive means to make progress; a large, centralised federal bureaucracy is not progress, but a regression.

With this in mind, libertarians and progressives should rightly, philosophically find themselves more in agreement.

Let's wake up!  Any politician that advocates more government, more taxes and more control is against progress!

Politics in Washington become more troublesome as the decades go by.  Politicians all tell a good ‘story’ but the truth is rarely do they ever effect change to benefit hardworking, middle and lower class Americans.  Americans, who work hard every day, pay their taxes, raise their children and expect a government that will ‘work for them’.   It has become more evident under the Bush Administration and Republican party during the past 7 and a half years, that lying has become the accepted norm.  Fear mongering has become the political tactic of the decade and the disintegration of the constitution has become a process in which Republicans use to create a dictatorship in Washington.  

In 1995 Republicans promised to eliminate spending on over 100 of the largest governmental programs, but under Bush and the 6 year Republican controlled Congress, these programs actually grew over 27% and the government has grown over a whopping 40%.  Bush has been the biggest spending President in the last 30 years.  Under the Republican Administration the surplus left in the coffers of the American public has been eliminated.  Consider the following Republican financial state-of-affairs bestowed upon U.S. Citizens.

"Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson is an essay about how one should "to thy ownself be true," as Shakespeare advised.

He talks about how one shouldn't let others "misunderstand" you or pressure you to do what the group has decided to be the best course of action, because they often choose "bread," or in this case, their perceived "electability," over liberty.

This is just what is happening with this new FISA amendment before the Senate that they try to tell you isn't all that bad, but pardons Bush for warrantless wiretapping, breaking the law, and attacking the Constitution, and it allows them not to account for how this happened, which companies were involved (foreigh & domestic), & what do they have recorded in these databanks about ordinary citizens, nor does it investigate whether foreign countries may have access to information which could allow them to blackmail our leaders: a threat to our national security.

and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

ALL MEN.

That should have included Brandon Mayfield, but the FBI lied about his fingerprint. For those lies, and more, it cost us $2 milion.

That should have included Steve Hatfield, but Attorney General Ashcroft called him a person of interest. For those words and more, it cost us $4.6 million.

That should have included John Walker Lindh, but we denied his repeated requests for a lawyer, and we stripped him, blindfolded him, bound him, and held him  in a shipping container.  For that treatment he got 20 years, but it cost us our honesty

That should have included Jose Padila and Yaser Esam Hamdi.  Hell, it should have included Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

we hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. . .

Words, only words . . .

I'm an old radical who raised her kids on the following meme (long ago, when the drug war began), "If you want to see people give away freedom, make them scared.  Make them feel threatened."

We're about to get a helluva scare.  Are you doing your bit to minimize it?  Or are you just waiting for the government to deal with it?  Because if you're waiting, you can probably flush the Constitution.

There's an elephant in the room, and we're busy picking at its toes.

Just over 150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln warned us that "a house divided against itself cannot stand". While the image of national disunion, prophetic as it was, was what captured the national imagination, his actual message was not that the house would fall, not that the Union would crumble, but that

It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it... or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States...

His speech was a call to action, a warning that the Union was on a path that would lead to that which the North felt was inconceivable, the full legalization of slavery. It was a warning of the course the Republic was on, unless direct and strong action was taken to avert it. Sadly his speech was not strong enough to rally him the support needed to attain the Senate, let alone achieve his goal. Rather, it wasn't until the house actually began to fall, that states seceded, that a war was fought, that he achieved his goal and then paid its price.

I can easily imagine the horror he felt...

Yesterday my stepson, Justus, started a conversation here on Daily Kos and since I’m the candidate he referenced, I thought I’d chime in.

This morning at 6:30, my phone rang.

The question of the U.S. Supreme Court rulings, or lack thereof, on the meaning of the Second Amendment has left supporters on all sides of the debate open to interpret the actions of the court as they see fit. Until recently, United States federal courts generally interpreted the Second Amendment to protect a "collective right" to keep and bear arms.[94]

http://en.wikipedia.org/...

So the Democratically controlled Congress has capitulated to the Republican minority and agreed to support a bill that makes a mockery of the Constitution, forgives the sins of the current administration, and lets the telecommunication industry get off scott-free for spying on American citizens FOR MONEY.

In short: The Bush Administration ignored FISA, broke the law, and Congress is making it OK. But that's not the worst part. What's the worst part, you ask? The worst part is that FISA sucked to begin with.

Today is a sad day.

Thomas Jefferson said:

I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.

What coat does America wear today? Pelosi, Hoyer, and the rest of the Democrats in Congress who voted for this, tell us: Who does your tailoring?

Thus warns Justice Antonin Scalia in his scathing dissent in yesterday's decision, Boumediene v. Bush.  Regardless of Scalia's other arguments, and his dissent was an exhaustive display of obeisance, the core flaw in his argument is right here:

[This decision] will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.

Join me after the jump for a critique explaining why Scalia's argument is fundamentally, inarguably un-American.

Last night on late night talk radio, I heard perhaps the most chilling statement I've ever heard uttered in public.  

After having had a chance to digest that statement, reflect on it, and consider its implications, I have come to a sobering realization:  No matter which candidate you support, no matter who runs in November and no matter who wins, every American who believes at all in the reasons our nation was founded owes an immense, almost incalculable debt of gratitude to Sen. Barack Obama.

Let's take a break from wind and roar of the campaign to consider yet another step toward authoritariansim in this once free land.

The Great State of Maine is now considering a piece of legislation that would make it a felony to commit Visual Sexual Aggression against Children.

What constitutes 'Visual Sexual Aggression' is vague, but - like the Supreme Court - the legislators of Maine will know it when they see it.

There are several issues here that strike at the very heart of our constitutional framework, and I invite you to take a momet to ponder the signifigance of vaguley written laws and the politics of 'Child Abuse'.

For the longest time, I've tried to take the high road. I've tried to listen to both sides of the debate, and even attempted to substantiate the views of those that believe other than myself.

 The sad truth is, that I can no longer stand by and allow the pundits of Neo-Conservatism to dishonor this great nation of ours.

Progressive Values Stories; Dotty LeMieux on Personal Liberties and Collective Responsibility

I am working on a documentary to answer the question, What are Progressive Values? So far, I have interviewed over 100 progressives and have placed over 350 video clips on YouTube with the various replies.

I  will begin to post some of the transcribed interviews along with direct links to the video taped interviews here.

I interviewed Dotty LeMieux of Marin County, California.  She was one of the founding members of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party.

Progressive Values Stories; Dotty LeMieux on Personal Liberties and Collective Responsibility

As probably one of the few libertarians here on DailyKos, I feel compelled to finally make a post.

I realize I may not agree with most of you on a variety of points, but in this instance I'd like to pose a question: why the inconsistency from both the left and the right on the role of government?

Liberty, the saying goes, dies by inches. It seems we've been a lucky bunch in the distant past when sayings like this were still true.

Today they're going at her with nukes rather than knives. The secret disservices do what they want to do, and we're mostly afraid to raise our voices against it. Afraid of being called unpatriotic, or find ourselves Fox-hunted as dangers to National Security on CNNBCBS...

Liberty dies by miles these days.

The Constitution is just a goddamn piece of paper.  Were you shocked to hear that a man who has supposedly sworn to uphold the Supreme Law of the Land would dismiss its importance with such disdain?  That the freedoms this document "guaranteed" could be so easily trampled?  I was, until I began to give it serious consideration.  It has caused me to realize that from the mouth of a liar, sometimes a profound truth can emerge.  Allow me to explain...