Jim Hightower's Common-Sense Commentaries

WAS ROBERTSON SPEAKING FOR THE BUSHITES?
George W's state department was furious with Bush's political buddy,
Pat Robertson, who had just called for the use of murder as a foreign
policy tool.

INVADING YOUR LIBRARY RECORDS
You can trust your government, right? That's what the Bushites told us
and the congress in 2001, when they rushed into law their USA Patriot
Act, which included Section 215, a provision allowing the FBI to seize
our personal library records without even getting a search warrant.

WHY AREN'T THE BUSHES AT WAR?
George W is the kind of guy who'll gladly sacrifice your life for his
country.

THE GREAT TEXTBOOK ROBBERY
In recent weeks, on campuses all across America, another wave of
bright-eyed and bushy-tailed students have been enrolling in university.

COWBOY GEORGE
J. Frank Dobie, the great writer and chronicler of the Texas ranch
country, would guffaw.

Support the ACLU

Please take a moment and view the Flash video, ACLU PIZZA in the post below.  Be sure to have your volume turned up. It’s amusing, but a bit scary too.

The criminals who have co-opted the Republican Party are not limiting their assault on our liberties by selling out our right to privacy to the corporations and the Christians, but they’re also having remarkable success with our civil liberties as well! PLEASE support our ACLU! They’re all we have left preventing the permanent loss of our Democracy!
FEMA was so ineffective because they took a cabinet level department and turned it into a powerless agency headed by the college buddy of a campaign contributor. Headed by someone who they could rely on to give no-bid contracts to their corporations. FEMA was placed within the Department of Homeland Security. I’m surprised they don’t just call it the Department of Fatherland Security, but that might just be too obvious for even the simpletons who rely on policy by platitude.
The Department of Homeland Security, among other things, is supposed to be protecting us from terrorists. Now who is it the FBI is worried about? Here’s just one story.
Two gentle young people were peacefully AND LAWFULLY standing outside of a Honeybaked Ham store holding signs and trying to educate people about animal cruelty and promoting a vegetarian diet.  Now I’ve had my own discussions with other people in organizations affiliated with theirs, and, while I still enjoy meat, I respected their conviction and manners. I believe they have a RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH! The young people in question noticed a man in a CVS pharmacy parking lot taking pictures of them Later, after the protest, because they wrote down the number of the license plate of the van, they were handcuffed and arrested.  
The Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and local law enforcement officials have been working together to spy on people and groups simply for speaking out or practicing their faith. Here’s another example: Rev. Raymond Payne of Russell, has never been arrested, has never been charged with a crime, and has never even participated in a protest. In fact, he has received only one traffic ticket in his lifetime. But officials told him that he was being detained because he is the subject of an FBI file.
Rev. Payne believes he may have come under federal scrutiny immediately after September 11 when he ordered books over the Internet about the Islamic religion, including several copies of the Koran. He did so – at the request of his congregation – to help the church members gain a better understanding of the faith.
“The FBI seems to be on a fishing expedition and law-abiding citizens are the target,” said Lili S. Lutgens, staff attorney for the ACLU of Kentucky. “Why Rev. Payne would even have an FBI file is a mystery, but this kind of spying by the federal government has got to stop.”
According to documents obtained through a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed last December, the ACLU charges that the FBI and local police are engaging in intimidation based on political association and are improperly investigating law-abiding human rights and advocacy groups.


The ACLU’s clients comprise a Who’s Who of national and local advocates for well-known causes, including the environment, animal rights, labor, religion, Native American rights, fair trade, grassroots politics, peace, social justice, nuclear disarmament, human rights and civil liberties.
The ACLU is also fighting for our national soul with regards to unlawful detention and TORTURE. Stay tuned for further installments!