Feinstein & Durbin to Bloggers: No Shield For YOU!

A bill pending in the U.S. Senate to provide shield protection to journalists who choose to protect their sources leaves out one very important part of journalism. I don't usually go to Daily Kos for my information, but a tweet pointed me here:

But those two troublemaking Dems, now identified as Sens. Feinstein (CA) and Durbin (IL), are back again, introducing an amendment to be debated tomorrow that would essentially strike the language above:

AMENDMENT NO.__ Calendar No.__

Purpose: To appropriately limit the protection from compelled disclosure.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES—111th Cong., 1st Sess.

S. 448

To maintain the free flow of information to the public by providing conditions for the federally compelled disclo-sure of information by certain persons connected with the news media.

Referred to the Committee on ___ and ordered to be printed Ordered to lie on the table and to be printed

AMENDMENTS intended to be proposed by Mrs. F EINSTEIN (for herself and Mr. D URBIN )

Viz:

In section 10(2)(A), strike clause (iii) and insert the following:

(iii) obtains the information sought while working as a salaried employee of, or independent contractor for, an entity—

(I) that disseminates information by print, broadcast, cable, satellite, mechanical, photographic, electronic, 1or other means; and

(II) that—

(aa) publishes a newspaper, book, magazine, or other periodical;

(bb) operates a radio or television broadcast station, network, cable system, or satellite carrier, or a channel or programming service for any such station, network, system, or carrier;

(cc) operates a programming service; or

(dd) operates a news agency or wire service;

In section 10(2)(B), strike ‘‘and’’ at the end.

In section 10(2)(C), strike the period at the end and insert ‘‘; and’’.

In section 10(2), add at the end the following:

(D) does not include an individual who gathers or disseminates the protected information sought to be compelled anonymously or under a pseudonym.

Basically, Feinstein and Durbin want to restrict shield law protections for those who are either salaried employees or contractors of big media. If not, it's basically fuck you.

Mind you, this is KOS, going after two huge liberals in the Senate.

The First Amendment, of course, reads as follows (emphases added):

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

So.. just who is the press?

When James Madison penned the First Amendment, did he intend to extend and relegate freedom of the press to only the few newspapers that were around at the time? Or did also he mean to include the independent pamphleteers, which were by far more ubiquitous than the established newspapers of the day? Since freedom of the press and freedom of speech are inextricably intertwined, it would be my contention that the original intent of the First Amendment as penned by Madison and approved by the Constitutional Congress meant the inclusion of both under its protections. Bloggers, by extension, are certainly the modern-day counterparts of the pamphleteers who thrived at the time of the Revolution.

There is no doubt in my mind that this amounts to a protectionist measure by the established dead-tree and dinosaur media, along with their willing accomplices in Congress, against its competition in the new media.

As Markos stated,

This isn't a partisan issue, it's one between those who are so stuck in the past, that they can't fathom a more diverse and expansive media environment -- one that is no longer dominated by the NY Times and the TV networks.

If you are represented by one of the senators on the committee, please give them a call and ask them to oppose this measure. Again, this shouldn't be a partisan issue, so calling your Republican senator (for once) might actually make a difference. Committee members are:

Patrick Leahy (Vermont)
Herb Kohl (Wisconsin)
Dianne Feinstein (California)
Russ Feingold (Wisconsin)
Chuck Schumer (New York -- he's kosher on this)
Dick Durbin (Illinois)
Ben Cardin (Maryland)
Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island)
Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota)
Ted Kaufman (Delaware)
Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania -- also kosher)
Al Franken (Minnesota)
Jeff Sessions (Alabama)
Orrin Hatch (Utah)
Chuck Grassley (Iowa)
Jon Kyl (Arizona)
Lindsey Graham (South Carolina)
John Cornyn (Texas)
Tom Coburn (Oklahoma)

Note -- this isn't about me. I'm a salaried writer. This amendment wouldn't exclude me. This is about most of you, and countless bloggers and writers who do their own brand of journalism because they believe in their cause, not just because it's a gig.

I'm glad that Markos has seen the light; hopefully this will serve as a wakeup call to Markos and others on the left to the fact that statist-inspired intrusion is a bane to everyone's freedoms, and touches every aspect of everyone's lives.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 12-2-09

Spc. Michael P. Garton & Spc. Rolando R. Flores


Spc. Michael P. Garton, a gunner with the Personal Security Detachment, with the 36th Sustainment Brigade out of Temple, Texas, and a Texarkana, Texas, native, relaxes on a Humvee and shares a laugh with Spc. Rolando R. Flores, a gunner with the PSD and a San Antonio native, during a break in preparations for a mission Nov. 23 in the maintenance yard at Contingency Operating Location Adder, Iraq.

Photo Courtesy U.S. Army

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Steve Gottwalt on Minnesota's $5.4 Billion Shortfall

In an email to his constituents, SD 15-A representative Steve Gottwalt had this to say:

We received the latest budget forecast information today and it indicates Minnesota faces a projected $1.2 billion shortfall for the current two-year state budget, and a $5.4 billion deficit for the next biennium.

This is tough news, and underscores the need for even greater state fiscal restraint. Minnesotans want state government to live within its means instead of raising taxes on families and businesses. Small businesses create the vast majority of new jobs, and they have told us loud and clear they cannot afford more government. We must rein-in state government spending and focus on sustainable reforms that boost our economy. That is the "goose" that lays Minnesota's "golden eggs."

In the 2010 Legislative Session, we need to confront reality and adopt meaningful structural reforms to solidify our economic future. State spending must be brought in line with revenue received, as families and businesses must do. Hard-working taxpayers cannot continue to pay for backward thinking where the state spends money before it knows what’s in the checkbook. Minnesotans expect state government to live within its means.

We cannot tax our way out of this deficit! Tax increases will kill the jobs we need to turn around our economy and state revenues. We have a spending problem; not a revenue problem: Government spending in Minnesota has grown by 140 percent since 1992, and we have seen numerous proposals in the last few years for billions of dollars in new tax increases. We must set good priorities, and live within our means
instead of raising taxes on struggling families and businesses.

Liberals propose “tax increases only on the wealthy.” However, most of the so-called “wealthy” are small businesses filing through individual tax returns - the same small businesses we need to help grow more jobs for a sustainable economic recovery. The top 10 percent wage earners in Minnesota already pay 57 percent of all personal income taxes, and 38 percent of all taxes in our state. Even if we raised their
tax rate a full 10 percent, it would generate only $381 million toward our persistent deficit.

We cannot tax our way to prosperity while families and businesses are battling to make ends meet with less in these tough economic times. Increasing the tax burden would drive out the jobs and revenue we need to turnaround Minnesota’s economy.

The Legislature’s top priority in 2010 must be creating sustainable jobs in the private sector by reducing tax and regulatory burdens. I will continue working to kick-start Minnesota's job market by promoting an environment that supports business growth!

Of course, Mr. Gottwalt speaks nothing but sense here. To tax the bejesus out of the job creators will not create any more taxpayers than depriving a garden of its water will grow more produce.

The crappy part about it is that Margaret Kelliher, Tarryl Clark, Larry Haws, Larry Hosch, and the rest of the tax-n-spend DFL'ers will wail, moan and gnash their teeth, saying the "evil rich" aren't paying their fair share;, when it is the "evil rich" (as Gottwalt stated, the Mom & Pop concerns) that create the very jobs that render a vibrant economy that sustains both economic prosperity and, of course, tax revenue for governmental functions.

And look for Tim Pawlenty, in one of his last acts in office, along with the Minnesota House Republicans to once again play the adult.

Look for yet another infantile show down by the DFL this coming budgetary cycle.

Amazing What They'll Admit When They're Among Friends...

Howard Dean, in France

As I've always said, if it walks, talks and quacks like a duck...

Just When You Thought Common Sense Had a Chance.

Just when you thought one might be able to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The 60 votes aren't there any more.

With the Senate set to begin debate Monday on health care overhaul, the all-hands-on-deck Democratic coalition that allowed the bill to advance is fracturing already. Yet majority Democrats will need 60 votes again to finish.

Some Democratic senators say they'll jump ship from the bill without tighter restrictions on abortion coverage. Others say they'll go unless a government plan to compete with private insurance companies gets tossed overboard. Such concessions would enrage liberals, the heart and soul of the party.

Yep... Just when you can see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Just when you thought that there may be an end to the madness...

In come the RINOs to really muck things up. You see, it seems that instead of killing the bill at the onset, the GOP brainiacs in the Senate, like the proverbial dog showing a thief where the best silverware is, are trying to "improve" the bill so as to leave it less palatable to invoke a filibuster!

Erick Erickson at Red State has the gory details:

Having started from the presupposition that the health care legislation is going to pass, the GOP seems to be signaling it will work to “improve” the legislation just enough to overcome a filibuster.

The legislation has 57 votes already. The GOP does not need to offer amendments to improve the bill — they need to bring it to a vote and kill it. Preening for cameras and favorable press coverage is going to get the bill to 60 votes and a signing ceremony.

What a bunch of numb-nuts. Could the Senate GOP get any more of a tin ear? One commenter on RedState said it best, when he invoked Sam Adams:

“If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams

Indeed.

May God have mercy on our nation, for miserably squandering the gift of freedom He so graciously bestowed, giving away our children's birthright with the nonchalance of a Hennepin Avenue streetwalker.

As Ronald Reagan famously stated, freedom is only a generation away from extinction. And it appears that our generation is hellbent on making Ronald Reagan's maxim a reality.

A request for prayer...

I just received this from one of my Patriot Guard brethren:

We are new to the patriot guard sa of last summer. We bought our bike for the tribute to the troops ride.
We went on that ride and the flag line ride. Then Tim started not feeling well after that. We found out last saturday that he har prostate cancer spread to the bones and the lymph nodes. Please send out our request for Prayer. The patriot guard means so very much to us and we need him to recover so we can participate more. Please pray for us

Tim and Vickie Johnson

Any prayers you can offer will be greatly appreciated...

Bambi & Thumper... in reality.

Once in awhile, it's good to lighten things up a bit.

Reportedly taken in a back yard in Alberta, Canada, I received these photos in an email, and thought it too neat to pass up:

Global Warming: Will the last believer in the room please turn off the lights?

Every global warming bromide, put to rest by the application of real science-- A long video, but definitely worth watching if you want to really be informed:

Hide the Decline

This is great!



Via Minnesotans for Global Warming (h/t Gary Gross)

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 11-25-09

Rear Adm. Ned Deets


Rear Adm. Ned Deets speaks with Frank Chebatar, president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, at the conclusion of the base consolidation ceremony. The two bases consolidated to form Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Fort Story.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Jack Webb Schools "The One"

This is nothing less than classic:

Indoctrinate U-You Will Be Assimilated!

So say the Stalinists at the University of Minnesota, according to Katherine Kersten:

In a report compiled last summer, the Race, Culture, Class and Gender Task Group at the U's College of Education and Human Development recommended that aspiring teachers there must repudiate the notion of "the American Dream" in order to obtain the recommendation for licensure required by the Minnesota Board of Teaching. Instead, teacher candidates must embrace -- and be prepared to teach our state's kids -- the task force's own vision of America as an oppressive hellhole: racist, sexist and homophobic.

Read the whole thing. And while you're at it, if your insides can take it, read the document upon which Kersten's article is based.

While matriculating at the School of Arts & Sciences back at UW-Eau Claire in 1988, there was a mandatory prerequisite for graduation called, "Human Relations." True to liberal doublespeak form, rather than being a class that centered on how relationships are formed, it was a wall-to-wall, semester-long diatribe about how whitey was oppressing everyone else. Every week, a guest speaker from the "victim group" du jour would walk into class, grab the podium, and bash every white male student in the room as to how they were oppressing the victim class, simply by breathing.

The only saving grace regarding the "Human Relations" course was that when you were done with all the nonsense you could go about your life and leave the hoop behind. Back then, they didn't actually demand an oath of loyalty to that rubbish as a prerequisite to earn a livelihood.

To wit:

The first step toward "cultural competence," says the task group, is for future teachers to recognize -- and confess -- their own bigotry. Anyone familiar with the reeducation camps of China's Cultural Revolution will recognize the modus operandi.

The task group recommends, for example, that prospective teachers be required to prepare an "autoethnography" report. They must describe their own prejudices and stereotypes, question their "cultural" motives for wishing to become teachers, and take a "cultural intelligence" assessment designed to ferret out their latent racism, classism and other "isms." They "earn points" for "demonstrating the ability to be self-critical."

The task group opens its report with a model for officially approved confessional statements: "As an Anglo teacher, I struggle to quiet voices from my own farm family, echoing as always from some unstated standard. ... How can we untangle our own deeply entrenched assumptions?"

And what of those who resist? Well, as they, as they say, "Haff ways..."

The task group has Orwellian plans for such rebels: The U, it says, must "develop clear steps and procedures for working with non-performing students, including a remediation plan."

I wonder if the "remediation" plan includes being sent to a 're-education' camp.

And what of the great unwashed who managed to escape the ivory tower all-seeing eye of the diversity police at U of M in past years without the benefit of their all-knowing indoctrination?

"Requir[e] training/workshop for all supervisors. Perhaps a training session disguised as a thank you/recognition ceremony/reception at the beginning of the year?"

Well Komrades, nothing left to do now but cue the music!!

In the Belly of the Beast...

It has been said, "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." In that spirit, I attended an Education Minnesota political action workshop in St. Paul this weekend. To say that I felt like a fish out of water would be a gross understatement. To be fair, a number of my colleagues were there, whom I consider to count as friends and good people. But (not surprisingly) despite claims of nonpartisanship, the proceedings were anything but. The keynote speaker of the event was none other than Congressman Tim Walz. (click here for the entire speech)
Basically, it was a boilerplate stump speech, but since Mr. Walz considered himself among friends, he probably said a few things he many not have otherwise said.

A former social studies teacher himself, Walz stated that he began his teaching career teaching in the People's Republic of China (for reasons I'll explain later, I'm not surprised). Walz spoke of the impetus for his running for Congress. Specifically, he told of a time when he took two of his students to meet President Bush in Washington. Walz stated that his two students were not allowed to see the President because one of them had a John Kerry for President sticker. He related that he immediately called his wife and told her that he wanted to run for congress.

With respect to Obamacare, Walz first proclaimed "There are no death panels." Walz then went on to explain how his vote for Obamacare was a "proud vote" and an "easy vote" to cast. He went on to rail against the Tea Party movement, saying he was relieved to finally speak in front of a group "that wasn't swearing at (him)" He described the Tea Party movement as motivated and organized, but motivated "for the wrong reasons." He stated, dripping with condescension, that he was "amazed" at how many people had become "Constitutional scholars" during the month of August. Walz proclaimed that the Tea Party folks were "motivated to use the Constitution as a wall." (well, Congressman, that's exactly what the Constitution is, is a wall of protection of the people and limits the powers of government). With regard to the "Read the Bill" signs, Walz stated he read the bill," and that a Tea Party attendee then stated, "It's over 2000 pages," to which Walz reportedly retorted, "So I guess the Berenstain Bears are superior to The Grapes of Wrath, because it has fewer pages."

To me, it was amazing that a guy who served over 20 years in the National Guard could so cavalierly speak of the document which he swore an oath to protect. Walz also didn't miss the chance to take gratuitous swipes at Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, as well as at his predecessor, Congressman Jim Ramstad. Walz did state that he felt that the governor's race was the most important race in Minnesota, and that he would release his entire campaign staff to work to have the endorsed DFL candidate elected governor.

After Walz spoke, it was off to congressional-district breakout sessions, where attendees were shown the DFL caucus process, and how attendees could get themselves elected as delegates. They stated that although they were cough non-partisan, they chose the DFL process because there were reportedly no Republican candidates who bothered to fill out the Ed MN candidate screening form.

I must say, however, that all was not lost. The next morning there was an outreach session held to accommodate the few Republican attendees at the convention. During that session (which was attended by some democrats, as well) an Education Minnesota Republican Caucus was formed, with around 30 signatories, including myself (there were between 300 and 400 total attendees to the convention proper). The stated aim of the caucus is to bring education issues to the Republican party. But again, one of the session organizers, who I believe was himself a fairly liberal democrat, brought up the issue of getting rid of Charter Schools and Home Schools (which I happen to be for; as I believe competition to be an important factor in increasing the quality of education), and exhorted us to bring the issue to the Republican platform.

Yes, I'm a public school educator. But I'm first and foremost an American, and I realize that not everything that is in the self-serving interest of public school educators is compatible with what is in the interest of America as a nation. I just wish the union and educators in general would recognize that, as well.

Well, Rome wasn't built in a day. The educational agency for which I work didn't organize into a union until just over a year ago. While I was against joining a union, as long as it was going to be thrust upon me, I decided that if I was for all intents and purposes going to join a union, I would have a say in how it's run. I therefore became our local's vice president last year, and I am secretary this year.

As I always say, the future belongs to those who show up. One could sit and whine and complain until the cows come home. But it is the one that becomes involved that can ultimately actually make a difference. Since we ultimately have a stake in the outcomes in terms of how traditionally liberal leaning organizations operate, it is our duty as conservatives to take a seat at the table once in a while and say, "Not so fast, here!"

I hope that more conservatives will consider getting involved, as well.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 11-18-09

Staff Sgt. Dennisur Thompson


Staff Sgt. Dennisur Thompson, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, overcompensates a left turn while on a driving simulator as a part of the Save a Life Tour in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

And You Trust These Buffoons With Your Health Care?

If you go to Recovery.gov. you will see the wonderful contributions you as a taxpayer have made to the betterment of our economy. Like all the wonderful contributions, for example, made to the 57 congressional districts here in the great State of Minnesota:

(click on pic for full size)

So, how's that "57th" Congressional District in Minnesota doing? Or for that matter, the "00th" district?

That's a pretty neat trick by the Obama administration tallying up all those jobs saved.

Given, of course, that Minnesota is home to only 8 congressional districts. Unless, of course, the Obama administration was actually referring to the fabled 57th state.

And you want to trust these incompetent boobs to handle your healthcare?