DAILY REMINDER OF WHAT IS AT STAKE IN THE 2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS.....

 

This is "christian" sharia brought to you by the apostasy of "christian" nationalism, dominionist, theobros, new apostolic reformationist, communion of reformed evangelical churches (crec), fascist heritage foundation & the gop / guardians of pedophiles & sexual predators-republican party. We can save our democratic republic by voting for Democratic candidates in the 2026 Midterm elections on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3RD, 2026. DEMOCRACY IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT, PLEASE VOTE!!!

Here is Trump’s blueprint to rig the 2026 midterms 8SEP26

2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS, we've got to finish the job!!! 3SEP26

The ACLU's most ambitious election protection program EVER & Judge Once Again Bars Postal Service From Restricting Mail-In Vote & Texas Has Suspended More Than 1 Million Voters Ahead of Senate Race 1SEP&27AUG26

FREEDOM IS

Conservatives Seek to Celebrate the Constitution by Undermining It 12SEP12

repiglican and tea-bagger right wing extremist have been waging a war against the US Constitution, the very document they claim to love and cherish, for years. It has been part of their propaganda campaign, deceiving people into believing only by restricting the very civil liberties, civil rights and universal freedoms enshrined in the Constitution that it, and the American nation, can be saved. They use fear, voluntary ignorance, greed and racism to further their agenda, and portray themselves as the victims, persecuted and prosecuted for their love of God, America and the Constitution. This from HuffPost, Progressives take heed!!!!!
For more than two years, the tea party and its allies have lectured the American people about the need to return to our Founding principles, peddling, among other things, a series of constitutional fairy tales about the radical limits allegedly imposed by the Founders on the ability of the federal government to solve national problems. Most recently, in their 2012 party platform, Republicans declare themselves "the party of the Constitution," and, on Sunday, Governor Mitt Romney asserted he was "as conservative as the Constitution." But no amount of Constitution-waving or tricorn-hat-wearing can change one basic fact: this election season, conservative Governors, election officials, and state legislators nationwide are working hard to deny Americans one of their most cherished constitutional rights -- the right to vote.
There's no better moment to highlight this conservative assault on constitutional voting rights than in the coming weeks, as the Nation celebrates the Constitution's 225th Anniversary. Officially, Constitution Day is September 17th, but over the next several weeks celebrations and related events will occur in D.C., Philadelphia and around the country, including an important hearing convened by Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy titled "The Citizens United Court and the Continuing Importance of the Voting Rights Act." Every one of these events is a perfect opportunity for progressives to speak powerfully against the ongoing efforts by conservatives to suppress the vote.
Perhaps more so than any other constitutional guarantee, the right to vote is deeply embedded in the Constitution's text and history. And yet conservatives are trying to change election rules to disenfranchise eligible voters -- passing restrictive voter I.D. laws, shortening early voting hours, and making it more difficult to register to vote. Some tea party candidates are even advocating repeal of the 17th Amendment, which would strip Americans of their right to vote for U.S. Senators. At the same time, conservatives have embraced rulings by the Supreme Court that allow corporations and the rich to drown out the voices of ordinary Americans in the electoral process.
That's some 225th Anniversary gift for the tea party's beloved Constitution. But it does give progressives the opportunity on Constitution Day 2012 to recapture the constitutional high ground and put the tea party and its allies on the defensive.
We must begin by embracing our constitutional heritage, rather than effectively ceding it to conservatives. Don't believe this is happening? Then spend some time comparing the relative treatment of the Constitution in the Republican and Democratic Party Platforms. The Republican Platform has an entire chapter entitled "Restoration of Constitutional Principles," and the document is infused throughout with claims about our Nation's charter. The Democratic Platform is entirely devoid of anything resembling a constitutional vision. It's no wonder, then, that many Americans assume that conservatives are right about the Constitution. They're the only ones routinely talking about it.
Progressives need to turn this around, and we should start on Constitution Day by reminding the American people of the story of constitutional voting rights. This story begins with our democratic Founding. Never before in world history had a government charter been ratified by the people themselves. Furthermore, rather than keep voters from the polls -- as conservatives are trying to do in 2012 -- the Founding generation took important steps to increase the number of eligible voters in the ratification process, with many states waiving voting restrictions (such as property requirements) and some allowing African Americans to vote for convention delegates.
Although wildly restrictive through a modern lens, the ratification process was inclusive for its time. And the patriots who gathered in Philadelphia did not intend for the document to be complete. Article V, authorizing Amendments, made it clear that the 1787 Constitution was not an end, but a beginning.
Over the past two centuries America has moved ever closer to the full promise of what President Abraham Lincoln called "government of the people, by the people, and for the people." "We the People" have poured precious blood and treasure into a series of reform efforts that produced the six Voting Rights Amendments. These Amendments fundamentally changed our system of government -- outlawing poll taxes in federal elections, giving ordinary Americans the right to elect U.S. Senators, allowing the citizens of our Nation's capital to vote for President, and guaranteeing African Americans, women and 18-year-olds the right to vote.
These Amendments are just as much a part of the Constitution as is the original text, and they call into question state efforts to impose unreasonable, arbitrary restrictions on the right to vote. On Constitution Day 2012, progressives should share this story with our friends, families, neighbors, and co-workers -- anyone who is willing to listen.
But the fight must not end there. As long as conservatives believe they can win elections by changing the ground rules, the battle over voting rights will continue. And as long as conservatives are weaponizing the Constitution for political purposes -- as the Republican Party Platform most certainly does -- progressives must aggressively tell our own story about the Constitution. This story starts in 1787, but it also prominently includes the 27 Amendments ratified over the last 225 years which improved our Constitution by ending slavery, enshrining guarantees of equality and citizenship, expanding the right to vote, and ensuring that the national government has the power and resources necessary to protect the nation, address national challenges and secure civil rights.
Only by telling this story of the whole Constitution, including the Amendments, can progressives truly seize the Constitution from the tea party and its allies and expose their selective ancestor worship for the sham that it is.
It's hard to imagine a better birthday present for the Constitution.
(This piece was written with Tom Donnelly, Constitutional Accountability Center's Counsel and Message Director. It will be cross-posted on www.textandhistory.org).

 

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-kendall/conservatives-seek-to-cel_b_1876522.html?utm_hp_ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=091212&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief 

Hundreds Detained In Syria, Troops Enter Border Town 17JUL11

MORE of the growing nonviolent political protest for freedom, democracy and human rights in Syria. Every death of a protester, every arrest, every Syrian military defection strengthens the resolve of the opposition to drive the assad cabal from power, freeing the Syrian people to be the vibrant nation they can be. From NPR....

Syrian troops flown in on helicopters descended on an eastern town near the Iraqi border Sunday where scores of soldiers defected to join the four-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad, witnesses and activists said.
Assad has unleashed military and security forces on restive towns across the country to crush the unrest, but the uprising has been building steadily. Friday saw the largest protests yet with hundreds of thousands turning out nationwide to challenge the president's rule. About 30 people were killed on Friday and Saturday authorities rounded up more than 500.
On Sunday, residents in the eastern town of al-Boukamal said about 150 soldiers arrived in helicopters, but there were no immediate reports of violence. The pro-government Al-Watan newspaper reported Sunday that a military operation in the town was imminent.
Activists reported that dozens of soldiers defected and joined protesters in al-Boukamal late Saturday. The crowds chanted "the people and the army are one!" — echoing the rallying cries heard during Egypt's revolution.
The defections were reported by Syria-based human rights activist Mustafa Osso and Omar Idilbi, a spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees, which help organize and track the protests.
Both cited witnesses on the ground to back up the defection reports.
The government has banned most foreign media and restricted local coverage, making it nearly impossible to confirm witness reports independently.
But a video posted on YouTube, purportedly from al-Boukamal, showed scores of people marching and standing on two army tanks and one armored personnel carrier. No soldiers appeared in the video but the residents were chanting "the people and the army, one hand!"
There have been previous reports of army defections, although it is difficult to gauge how widespread they are. Assad, and his father who ruled before him, stacked key military posts with members of their minority Alawite sect, melding the fate of the army and the regime.
The army has a clear interest in protecting the regime because they fear revenge attacks and persecution should the country's Sunni majority gain the upper hand.
Assad is counting on this unwavering loyalty now that Syrians are joining the protest movement in growing numbers and from a broader cross-section of society.
Syrian troops also stormed a town near the Lebanese border Sunday.
The Local Coordinating Committees said some 2,000 military and security forces stormed into Zabadani, some 25 miles northwest of Damascus, after cutting the town's telephone services, Internet connections and electricity.
Activists say the government's crackdown has killed some 1,600 people since March, most of them unarmed protesters. But the regime disputes the toll and blames a foreign conspiracy for the unrest, saying religious extremists — not true reform-seekers — are behind it.
Also Sunday, authorities detained leading opposition figure Ali Abdullah after a raid on his home in the Damascus suburb of Qatana, his son Mohammad said. Abdullah, 61, had spent four years in jail but was released May 30 when Assad issued pardons to pacify the protesters.
Sunday's military operations came a day after opposition figures called for a united front to bring down Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for more than 40 years.
Hundreds of opposition members met in neighboring Turkey to form a unified movement that can offer a realistic alternative to Assad, whose supporters argue that he is the only force who can guarantee stability in a region bedeviled by civil wars and religious strife.
Although Assad's regime is shaken, he still draws from a significant well of support from the middle classes, business community and religious minorities.

Yemen imposes state of emergency after deadly attack on protesters 18MAR11

THE U.N. imposes a no-fly zone over Libya and threatens military action in an attempt to stop the slaughter there but continues to ignore the genocide in Darfur and the bloody attacks on protesters in Yemen. Why? Because Darfur and Yemen offer no profits for corporate America and the American military-industrial complex. Don't be surprised when the Yemini government is overthrown and the new government wants nothing to do with America and the West.

Muhammed Muheisen/ AP - Anti-government protestors carry wounded protestors from the site of clashes in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, March 18, 2011. Yemeni security forces firing from rooftops and houses shot at tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators.

By Hakim Almasmari

SANAA, Yemen — Yemeni authorities declared a nationwide state of emergency Friday, hours after pro-government gunmen firing from rooftops unleashed a bloody attack on protesters in the capital.

The death toll rose to 47 after the surprise assault, in which security forces and government supporters fired directly at protesters for more than 20 minutes, according to witnesses. In addition to the dead, hundreds of people were injured, dozens critically, medical workers said.

Doctors at the scene of the attack near Sanaa University, the protesters’ headquarters, said most of the wounds were to the head and chest, which they said indicated an intent to kill.
“Where are the human rights organizations?” said Alawi Hababi, a doctor at the university. “This is a massacre not witnessed in Sanaa over the past three decades.”
Protesters have held demonstrations daily across Yemen for more than 40 days, demanding the immediate ouster of longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Government forces have struck back with increasing violence, injuring more than 300 people in the port city of Hodeida on Wednesday. But Friday’s protests were the largest yet, with crowds estimated in the hundreds of thousands turning out in Sanaa and Taiz. There were significant rallies elsewhere, including in Hodeida and Aden.
The measure imposed Friday empowers the government to restrict Yemenis’ civil rights and monitor their communications, according to a senior Interior Ministry official.
“The country is witnessing a real crisis, and the state of emergency is the only option in ensuring that Yemen can be safe,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Hussein al-Mashdali, a lawyer and constitutional expert in Sanaa, challenged the move, saying it is not provided for in the constitution. “President Saleh does not have the authority to announce a state of emergency,” he said.
Meanwhile, Saleh said at a news conference restricted to state media representatives that he had ordered an investigation into attacks on protesters across the country and denied that the government was responsible for the killings in the capital.
“Security forces did not shoot at the protesters and were not armed,” he said.
An official at the presidential palace, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, reiterated that security forces were not involved. “The shooting came from the residents located near the area of the protest at Sanaa University,” the official said.
Youth activists said the gunfire came from the rooftops of government officials’ residences, in particular the home of Ahmed Ali Mohsen, a senior ruling party figure and governor of Mahweet province. At least 10 witnesses also said members of the ruling family, including Mohammed Mohammed Saleh, a nephew of the president’s, had been seen at the side of gunmen firing on protesters on the ground.
Witnesses said that security forces prevented ambulances from entering or leaving the area of the protest and that government vehicles took at least 20 of the wounded to the National Security Prison rather than to a hospital.
“At least seven national security vehicles took the injured to prison, and we fear they will be harassed and not treated,” said Ahmed Bahri, a lawyer who was at the protest.
Among those fatally shot Friday was Jamal al-Sharaabi, a photographer for the independent Yemeni weekly al-Masdar, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. A photographer for the BBC’s Arabic service was reportedly injured.
The opposition parties condemned the attack in forceful terms and reiterated their call for Saleh to step down. “The funeral of this regime will follow the funeral of the innocent civilians who were killed today,” said Mohammed Qahtan, the parties’ spokesman.
President Obama said in a statement Friday that those responsible for the attacks on Yemeni protesters must be held accountable. “I strongly condemn the violence that has taken place in Yemen today and call on President Saleh to adhere to his public pledge to allow demonstrations to take place peacefully,” he said.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement that the United States was “alarmed” by the violence and was “seeking to verify reports that this is the result of actions by security forces.”
Saleh is a key ally in U.S. efforts to combat al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, an affiliate of the terrorist network that is active in Yemen.
International companies have started to evacuate their foreign staffs from Yemen amid fears that the growing violence might erupt into war. The U.S. and French embassies have also urged their citizens to leave.
Almasmari is a special correspondent.

11 Freedoms That Drunks, Slackers, Prostitutes And Pirates Pioneered And The Founding Fathers Opposed (PHOTOS) 13OKT10

CLICK the header to go to the article on HuffPost....it is pretty interesting. Benjamin Rush and John Adams were NO FUN AT ALL!!!!!!
 
During the War of Independence a culture of pleasure and freedom blossomed in American cities. Non-marital sex, including adultery and relations between whites and blacks, was ubiquitous and rarely punished. Because divorce was unregulated, it was easily and frequently obtained, often by women. Brothels were legal and abundant and prostitutes were rarely prosecuted. Black slaves, Irish indentured servants, Native Americans, and free whites of all classes commingled extensively in saloons and in the streets. Pirates who settled in the port cities brought with them a way of life that embraced both general revelry and homosexuality. On nearly every block in every 18th-century American city, there was a public place where one could drink, sing, dance, have sex, argue politics, gamble, play games, or generally carouse with men, women, children, whites, blacks, Indians, the rich, the poor, and the middling. Rarely have Americans had more fun. And never have America's leaders been less pleased by it.
To the Founding Fathers the culture of personal liberty was a more serious threat to their project of creating an independent republic than the British Army.

"Indeed, there is one enemy, who is more formidable than famine, pestilence and the sword," John Adams wrote. "I mean the corruption which is prevalent in so many American hearts, a depravity that is more inconsistent with our republican governments than light is with darkness."

The Founding Fathers hoped that self-rule would cure Americans of their love of frivolities. A government of the people, John Adams argued, would make the people disciplined, stern, hard-working, and joyless -- the qualities he most admired. It would "produce Strength, Hardiness Activity, Courage, Fortitude and Enterprise; the manly noble and Sublime Qualities in human Nature, in Abundance." Adams understood that democracy forced the people to shed their pleasures and surrender their personal freedom, because they alone would shoulder the responsibility of managing society.

"Under a well regulated Commonwealth, the People must be wise, virtuous and cannot be otherwise. Under a Monarchy they may be as vicious and foolish as they please, nay, they cannot but be vicious and foolish. ... Virtue and Simplicity of Manners are indispensably necessary in a Republic among all orders and Degrees of Men. But there is so much Rascallity, so much Venality and Corruption, so much Avarice and Ambition such a Rage for Profit and Commerce among all Ranks and Degrees of Men even in America, that I sometimes doubt whether there is public Virtue enough to Support a Republic."

But what the Founding Fathers called corruption, depravity, venality, and vice, many of us would call freedom ...
Here are "11 Freedoms That Drunks, Slackers, Prostitutes and Pirates Pioneered And The Founding Fathers Opposed," a sample of the fresh take on American history found in "A Renegade History of the United States."