Looks like my 'cowards for wiretapping' LTTE will be printed

[ProfessorPlum]

America has been called the home of the brave. Recent letters to the editor suggest, however, that cowardice has gripped the country. Patrick Henry's famous quote, "Give me liberty or give me death!"� has been replaced by "Please take away my liberties, because I'm scared to death!" If our enemies "hate us for our freedoms", then they must be smiling as they read our citizens' offers to allow the federal executive to spy on them, even illegally, if it will make us "safer"�. It's not at all clear that even with good intelligence, this administration is competent to protect its citizens from harm, as both 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina made tragically clear.

I urge all citizens of this country to be brave and defend your liberties, even if you weren't using them anyway. Loyalty to your President can be a good thing, but you dishonor all of the brave people who have struggled and died for our freedoms when you throw them away. If we offer up our liberty in return for safety, we will be neither the home of the brave nor the land of free. We will become instead a country of cowards, rushing into the arms of Big Brother.

They called me back to confirm it was really me who submitted it, which they usually do before accepting it.

[rpgamerd00d]

1. A+ for the Professor! :)

[NanceGreggs]

2. Great article!

Congratulations!

:applause:

[BR_Parkway]

3. K&R - nice letter!

[rkc3]

4. Wahoo! Good for you.

It's been said several times here - Americans are more interested in comfort than having freedoms. Unfortunately, we get our daily dose of death and fear on the news and it's hard for a majority of the people to get past that.

[Spazito]

5. Great letter! Congrats on getting it printed n/t

[PleadTheFirst]

6. Excellent LTTE

Short, sweet and direct. Nicely done!

[barbtries]

7. terrific letter

it's persuasive and brief and just about perfect, i'd say.

[converted_democrat]

8. K&R Great article....n/t

[quisp]

9. Good one, very similar to the one I just sent...

in responding Kathlenn Parker's (R-Fembot) editorial in the Orlando Sentinal

Here's mine
Kathleen Parker's snarky cowardice on display in her columntoday (Spies like us) is disgusting. She needs to remember that an awful lot of people have already died protecting her liberty and she should not be so casual about giving it up. It is clear that she has no argument for the President's domestic spying program if all she can say to justify it is "give up you liberty or die!" Unfortunately it is necessary to remind her that the Founders thought seriously about life and death and liberty. That is why Patrick Henry is remembered for saying "I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" Also New Hampshire has an excellent motto by which to live, "Live Free or Die!" And since I take wisdom from where I find it, I am inspired by the words of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata who said "It is better to die on your feet, than live on your knees."
Our essential liberties are to precious to give up because once given up we will never get them back. The President
has means to conduct surveillance on Americans by going through the Courts. He must or else he is operating above the law. That is the definition of a tyrant. And we should remember Virginia's motto: Thus always to Tyrants!"

Keep those letters coming!

[ProfessorPlum]

18. Nicely done

Great collection of quotes. Parker's idiot column really got some people's ire up.

It's just amazing to me that people think that if they give up their freedoms to a king that they like (sorry, President), they aren't just as enslaved as if they don't him. WTF?

[progressoid]

10. coolio!

[mzmolly]

11. I mentioned something similar the other day. Pointed train of thought.

Excellent Professor, as usual :yourock:

Here are my "similar" rambles from the "frame the debate" area yesterday.

Democrats must pick up this type of "frame" and run with it! Though yours is more eloquent, we're on the same page.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=252&topic_id=1527&mesg_id=1527

Bush is either a liar or a coward. Or, perhaps a bit a' both!

[info being]

12. Wow. I wish our leaders could issue statements like that!

Well done.

[papau]

13. IRS spying by party label needed a Vendor Contract -Civil rights ended via

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2023959&mesg_id=2023959

IRS spying by party label needed a Vendor Contract -Civil rights ended via
a for-profit contract?

Voter registration is state level info, IRS is Federal level and someone paid a vendor to put that info together, it's not like they just had all the info sitting on the same computer and accidentally merged it. Contractors don't work for free so their must be a RFP or contract asking for the mixed data.

Any way to FOIA the actual RFP or contract to see who was asked to do what and who asked them to do it?

Please do not let GOP/Media get away with "ooops, sorry, too much info there, we just deleted what we didn't need."

Earlier story on the IRS was tracking political affiliation in connection with audits:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2023959&mesg_id=2023959

National Treasury Employees Union told tax officials last month that, in some cases, political affiliation appeared in data that the IRS uses for tax collection. A private contractor provided the data.

NTEU NATIONAL OFFICE
1750 H Street N.W.
Washington D.C. 20006

Main Phone: [phone]

Faxes:

Executive: [phone]
Legislation: [phone]
Public Relations: [phone]
Office of the General Counsel: [phone]
Field Operations: [phone]
Negotiations: [phone]
Conference Center: [phone]
Information Systems,
Accounting,
Membership Records,
Membership Benefits,
Office Operations [phone]



NTEU DC FIELD OFFICE
Suite 600
1750 H Street N.W.
Washington D.C. 20006
Main Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]



The union's president, Colleen Kelley mailto:[e-mail]

http://www.nteu.org/MemberBenefits/Apply.aspx

[w8liftinglady]

14. Great Letter-way to go!

[cyberpj]

15. Good for you! I'll be watching The News Journal to see it.

It seems I'm on hold for a while. I've had several letters published but ever since writing about PNAC, I can't seem to get another one printed.

Not that that's stopping me, of course.

KUDOS.

[ProfessorPlum]

16. That is, indeed, where I submitted it

I guess the avatar gave it away?

And PNAC is the way to get banned, huh? It's funny, since it is all right up there on their website, for all of the world to see.

WNJ has been a weird mix of editorial slants lately. Usually pretty humanitarian, but every once in a while some real neanderthal writes an editorial. Wonder who the caveman is?

[yowzayowzayowza]

17. Cowards indeed!!!!

Good ltte.

:kick:

[Marleyb]

19. Nice LTTE!

Beautifully written. Thank you!

[zbdent]

20. I have yet to be called to be confirmed

yet, as I found out at 5am one one Sunday morning, my letters occasionally were printed.

Must have been the moment the paper hit the box. Or, quite possibly, someone who worked at the paper, trying to cover his tracks.

Surprisingly, on a non-political note, I did get a call . . . from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (I'm in Cleveland, Ohio) . . . I had done a little "mischief" and sent the PGH paper a note of what to watch out for.

Unfortunately, my letter never saw the light of day, and my "mischief" didn't occur as intended. Let's just say, the elements were some lawn fertilizer, some (good) words said about Cleveland's rivals (the Steelers), and a public park near the stadium. That year, there was little rain, and the grass dried up before my "message" would be enhanced . . .

[Spirochete]

21. Good one

That should get a few people thinking, at least.

[mom cat]

22. Be sure to keep us posted... nice job.

[greiner3]

23. WTG!

:applause:

[cyberpj]

24. WHOOP! There it is! As usual, they edited it

but I'm glad to see they kept your powerful last line.

Congrats.