Lex Libertas

The Bush Administration was wiretapping people in the US without a warrant. The targeted people were all suspected terrorists with one end of the conversation taking place outside of the US. The Bush Adminsitration has argued that this was not domestic surveillance, but foreign intelligence gathering. I was under the impression that the NSA could always listen in on communications where one party was outside of the country, but apparently it required a warrant from a special court. Surveillance is authorized under two provisions:

First, FISA allows the Justice Department to obtain warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) before or up to 72 hours after the beginning of the surveillance. FISA authorizes a FISC judge to issue a warrant for the electronic cameras if “there is probable cause to believe that… the target of the electronic surveillance is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power.” 50 U.S.C. §1805(a)(3). Second, FISA permits the President or his delegate to authorize warrantless surveillance for the collection of foreign intelligence if “there is no substantial likelihood that the surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party”.

Several telecom companies are being sued for complying with the government without requiring a warrant, essentially handing over sensitive personal information. Republicans want to grant them broad immunity for past actions, and Democrats want them to be held accountable.

What are your thoughts on the issue? What would you do if you owned a company and the NSA came knocking and asking for information?

My 11th grade English class was a little different than most. Taught by a hippie, it has influenced the way I view secondary education. Instead of having the whole class read the same selected poems, each person was given a poet and told to do in-depth reading and research. They later selected their own poems and made a presentation to the class. My poet was ee cummings. The most syntactically radical of the bunch. Here are a few of my favorite poems:

—

(Me up at does)

Me up at does
out of the floor
quietly Stare
a poisoned mouse

still who alive
is asking What
have i done that
You wouldn’t have

—

may my heart always be open to little… (19)

may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old

may my mind stroll about hungry
and fearless and thirsty and supple
and even if it’s sunday may i be wrong
for whenever men are right they are not young

and may myself do nothing usefully
and love yourself so more than truly
there’s never been quite such a fool who could fail
pulling all the sky over him with one smile

—

since feeling is first… (VII)

since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;

wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world

my blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don’t cry
- the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids’ flutter which says

we are for each other; then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life’s not a paragraph

And death i think is no parenthesis

—

More selected poems

“Congratulations!” Sent by a friend in Russia.

When I was envisioning how the primaries would play out, I was hoping that Thompson would drop out after Iowa, and Romney after New Hampshire. I thought that would have cleared the field for a McCain victory in South Carolina. Instead, virtually everyone is still in the race as at the outset. Now, however, I think their presence in the field actually helps us. Here is a chart from one of the most recent SC polls, most of which put us in the lead. Just as in Michigan, I wouldn’t trust the polls too much, specifically because of the huge amount of undecideds – an estimated 25-40% could make their final decision only when they have the ballot in hand. Take a look at that chart again, and notice that our main competition is Huckabee. If Fred and Romney were out of the race, enough of their supporters might have picked Huck to push him above us. We have lots of establishment support, from Republican party officials to South Carolina’s three biggest newspapers, which helped immensely in New Hampshire. Also, it’s pretty clear that Fred would endorse us if he drops out, but that doesn’t mean that his supporters would follow suit. We had the same problem attracting Brownback’s people. Moral of the story, It works in our favor in South Carolina to have three candidates to split the “conservative” coalition that might have formed against McCain. Instead, we’ve been a relatively consistent front runner in the recent past, which will hopefully help us with those undecideds today – especially if they want a Republican who can win in November.

The more expensive the hotel, the more likely you’ll have to pay for internet access. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Pay 45$ for a room in a horror-movie style motel, and you’re likely to get free wireless. Pay 80$+ for a nice place, and you’re probably going to have to shell out for an internet connection. The more expensive the hotel, the more expensive the intenet connection. Is this not madness? Meanwhile I’m sitting in yet another Panera. These people have made so much money off me these past few weeks, it’s ridiculous - but well worth it. Now I find out where all the Paneras are on my roadtrips, so that I can check the internet. I’ve also learned that they recently opened one in my hometown of Simi Valley.

Just got back from the McCain-Lieberman town hall in Ann Arbor. I’m heading over now to the call center to make some last minute get out the vote calls. This election is up in the air, it’s anybody’s guess. The polls are neck and neck, and there are some spoilers that make it hard to predict. First, they estimate that independents and Democrats will break to McCain. They question is, in what numbers? Second, a lot of absentee ballots were cast early, including before McCain’s victory in New Hampshire. Some people are estimating that Romney outnumbers McCain 3 to 1 in those. We can’t know the answer to those two questions, and in such a tight race it matters.

This state is much more important for Romney than for us. Just like New Hampshire was a must win for us, Michigan is a must win for Romney. If he loses here, he’s pretty much out of the running. It’s his last stand, his home state, and he has an important connection through his dad, who was governor. We have been moving up in the polls all over the country, we’re in the lead in important states like South Carolina, Florida, California, and we’re a large first in the national polls. A win here would just about seal the deal, but we can still be very competitive in South Carolina and Florida without it.

McCain has done some great campaigning to large crowds these last few days, and I’m confident that we have a chance to win. We’ll see tonight.

I went with the advance team this morning to set up for one of McCain’s four events today. “Advance” are people who set up an event hours before the principal ever takes the stage. They’re in charge of set design, sound, placement of people, preparation of note cards (VIPs, elected officials, and others who need to be thanked), press area, registration, coat check, and myriad other details that need to be in order for an event to run smoothly.

Hanging the McCain Sign

Today’s event is at Hope College, a campus with 3,000 students in Holland Michigan.

Officially, the event is sponsored by the College Republicans, who have publicized all over campus and the city. We were expecting around 300 people, but the event hasn’t even started yet, and we’re already at standing room only, starting to run into the hall, and there’s still a line outside in the snow of people waiting to get in.

Can they vote?

The racks set up are full, and coats are being piled on tables and the floor

Local media broadcasting before the event begins

Fox jeep, with a great wrap

Full House Inside

Veteran and Volunteer

Happy Front Row

Asking a Question

Talking with supporters

Press Pack

Straight Talk Express

McCain Train

After some internet searching, I found a local church to go to. Being on the campaign trail makes it difficult to stay grounded, but I was very lucky to have a church in Des Moines that I felt comfortable and welcome in, and I went looking for one in the same denomination, Vineyard. When I go to church, I try not to campaign. Whenever I’m about town, I wear a lapel sticker. It’s important for people to see that, and all staff and volunteers should. At church, however, I take it off. I don’t hide the fact that I’m a volunteer, and if it comes up in conversation, as it always does, I feel free to talk about it. I just don’t think it appropriate to go in with a campaign attitude.

Today, I got a bit lost looking for the church in some heavy snow, and showed up late. As I was approaching the building, I started going towards the wrong entrance, and a woman helped me out. We started talking, and she found out that I was there only today, and that I was a campaign volunteer for McCain. In Iowa, I was always hesitant at a church to say McCain, because we didn’t have a lot of support at charismatic and evangelical churches out there. Michigan is a whole other story. She light up when she found out and told me that she had been thinking about McCain. She liked Huckabee, and wished McCain said some of the things he did, but recently was reconsidering McCain. She turned out to be a very active person in the church and introduced me to a lot of people on the way in, even though worship had already started.

By the end of the service, I had met a lot of people, who all knew I was with McCain. I got a great initial response from most, and spoke more in-depth with some. There’s no doubt that I got a considerable number of votes out of it. It’s very important for people to make a personal connection to a candidate, and if they know that someone like themselves (for example an evangelical/charismatic Christian) supports a candidate, they’re much more likely to consider them. What I found amazing about the regional diversity was that these people were no different doctrinally from those I met in Iowa, but culturally more open to McCain as a candidate. I have been very lucky on this campaign, in both Iowa and here, to have found churches that immediately welcomed a traveler into their family.

As an added bonus, after the service I had lunch at Panera (free wi-fi and good food). Because of the bumper sticker on my computer, several people spoke with me about McCain. I converted one from an already decided Huckabee supporter to McCain. At the end of the day, it can seem like a tiny drop in the bucket to get a few dozen votes here and there, but if all the volunteers and staff are doing the same, it adds up.

After John McCain staged a stunning upset in New Hampshire, the Democratic Party is officially frightened of facing him in the general election. The Democratic National Committee released a hit piece on McCain meant to skew his record. Entitled “McCain promises Third Bush Term,” it quotes Senator McCain on Iraq, Health Care, Social Security, and Taxes. The message and timing are clear - John McCain is the best Republican candidate to defeat the Democrats in ‘08. State-by-state surveys have shown for some time that McCain outpolls the rest of the field against Democrats, but the DNC hoped his candidacy would just fade away. Now, faced with the success of the McCain surge overseas and at home, they’re pulling out all the stops. In addition to the national attack, a major Democratic activist has called for Democrats to cross over and vote against McCain in Michigan.

John McCain’s record on the issues is clear:

Iraq: From countless visits with our troops overseas, John McCain brings us back a message from the front - “Let us win!” Only McCain had the character, leadership, and experience to call for and bring about the Surge, which has resulted in a dramatic decrease of civilian and military deaths. Progress is being made, and we can win. Don’t let the Democrats give the terrorists a time line for surrender.

Health Care: Senator McCain understands that the main problem with health care in America is rapidly rising costs. He has proposed a plan that would empower individuals to make their own decisions and open up the market, such as allowing people to shop across state lines. John McCain wants to preserve the quality of American health care, the best in the world, while keeping it affordable. The Democrats’ proposals for government controlled health care is a sure prescription for rising costs and lowered quality.

Social Security: Our government’s promise to Americans needs to be kept, but we also must understand that the current Social Security system is not solvent. Democrats don’t care about unchecked government spending, but John McCain has never shied from tackling the big problems. When president, he will base a solution on the values of freedom and individual choice to make sure that this problem does not threaten future generations of Americans.

Taxes: Nobody’s record of fiscal responsibility matches up to Senator John McCain. Over the past 25 years he has fought vigilantly to keep government spending within its means, and has never asked for any pork barrel projects for his state of Arizona. When president, he has promised to make famous any legislator who sponsors earmarks and wasteful spending. He supports extending President Bush’s tax cuts because doing otherwise would mean a tax increase on millions of Americans - penalizing them for their hard work.

John McCain doesn’t hide his record, he stands on it. He is a consistent and principled conservative with unparalleled character, experience, and leadership. The Democrats know this, and are trying to take him out now, before he can challenge them directly. When McCain wins the nomination, we’ll prove that their fears about a Republican victory are well founded.

Live Blogging the South Carolina Republican Debate:

Summary:

McCain had a good night. We got lots of speaking time, and the attacks were all focused on other people, mostly Huckabee. Fred Thompson knows that he has to win South Carolina, and is in a battle with Huck for the social conservatives. Romney didn’t get much speaking time at all, especially compared to McCain. Plus, the very first question of the debate criticized Romney for having the third lowest rate of job growth in the country as governor. McCain was the first candidate to be interviewed on the Hannity and Colmes analysis, and he looked great - physically. His complexion is far better than it was a few months ago, he has energy, and was moving great. Attitude all smiles. I guess winning does that.

9:02 - So Mitt, why did Mass suck so much at job creation when you were gov?
-I’ll create jobs.

9:05 - McCain: “Please vote for me, Michigan.”

9:15 - Paul: “We’re going into a recession because of low interest rates!!! We need the Gold Standard!”

9:20 - Huckabee, does the traditional Republican coalition of fiscal, social, and security conservatives still exist?
-We need the 2nd Amendment, and fat cats make too much money.

9:21 - McCain: “Government changed us. We’re spending too much money, bridge to nowhere. We’ve abandoned TR’s environmental principles. We need less gov, lower taxes, strong family values, strong nat’l defense. We kicked Russia’s @ss.”

9:22 - So Mitt, why did you pass a health care bill that funded abortion?
-I was forced by the court, and always upheld life in all of my decisions. Reagan, Reagan, Reagan, Reagan, shiny city on a hill, Reagan.

9:24 - Thomspon: “I also want to talk about Reagan! I’m way different than Huckabee, I’m the true conservative, Huckabee did lots of bad liberalism … South Carolina, vote for me!”

9:26 - Huck: “I did good conservative things in a Democratic state. Y’all would’ve hated on Reagan too. Aren’t I likable :)”

9:27 - Rudy: “Reagan was a strong leader. I love military power, and I’ll kill all terrorists while lowering taxes and devolving government.”

9:30 - Ron Paul, are you a crazy conspiracy theorist?
-No, I don’t endorse what they say, and they should shut up. Please, could I participate in the current debate? The Reagan coalition is gone, we’re not fiscal conservatives anymore, we’re building an empire.

9:35 - Huck: “If you put your sights on one of our American ships, we’ll send you to the gates of hell. Don’t kick sand in our eyes.”

9:37 - Fred: “They were one step away from meeting those virgins they’re looking forward to. They’re frisky, testing us. We’ll kill ‘em.”

9:38 - Rudy: “Iran is still a threat, need to stay focus, keep the bomb away from them.”

9:39 - McCain: “I would have placed my confidence in the captains of the ship, but we weren’t there, so we can’t double-guess them. They professional and competent. We’ve killed lots of people on the water, we’re pretty good at that. We’ll preserve the freedom of the sea. This was a serious incident, and Iran better understand that we’ll kill them too.”

9:41 - Paul: “Uh, we shouldn’t be so militant. It was five small speedboats attacking a destroyer, and we’re ready to start WWIII??? People in DC are looking for a chance to go to war, they’re disappointed in the NIE report, want to bomb Iran.”

9:43 - Mitt: “Paul needs to stop reading Ahmadinejad’s press releases. Iran is challenging and testing us. We need more sanctions.”

9:45 - McCain: “Dems can’t face reality that the surge is working. I’m the only one here who supported the surge.”

9:47 - Rudy: “Palestinians are terrorists. I too love the surge, totally supported it from the beginning.”

9:49 - Paul: “Let’s ditch the Middle East, they can solve their problems without us. We’re going bankrupt, our empire is collapsing. Gold Standard! We do bad stuff, way too much Blowback!”

9:50 - McCain: “The length of time doesn’t matter, our casualties have gone way down, we need to support our troops.”

9:52 - Fred: “You can tell that the news is good coming out of Iraq, because you read so little about it in the NY Times. We need democracy in Pakistan, but not now. They’re the only Muslim country in the world with nukes, we want to make sure they’re not in crazy hands. He needs to free dissidents, judges, and help us more in Western Pakistan. At the end of the day, though, our national security takes precedence.”

9:56 - Mitt: “International Relations isn’t like playing chess, it’s like playing 3-D chess. We need to catch Bin Laden, move Islam towards modernity.”

9:57 - Huck: “We’ve given too much money that just disappeared, but we don’t know who’ll replace Musharraf. Look, I’m all buffed-up on foreign affairs I [heart] Israel, we must defend Israel.”

9:58 - Paul: “We treat Israel as a step-child, undermine their national sovereignty, we have to ok their peace deals. We give three times more aid (weapons) to their enemies, Arabs. I defended Israel for bombing Osirak, nobody else did at the time. Plus, we have no money!”

10:00 - Rudy: “We only have a few reliable allies, Israel rulez!! We need to get Musharraf in gear, catch Bin Laden.”

10:02 - Fred: “Part of the reason we give Pakistan money is to pay for the military, that’s a good thing. If they want to catch Bin Laden, they’ll need the miliatry.”

10:05 - After McCain beat you in New Hampshire, do people want Washington experience?
-No, Washington is broken. I’m a capitalist, fixed lots of businesses. I’m the Midas of change, I change everything I touch.

10:07 - McCain: “I own change, I changed the strategy in Iraq! I’m not a Washington insider, I put corrupt people behind bars.”

10:09 - Huck: “I signed pledge not to raise taxes. I helped kids in Arkansas get an education, made most road improvements in country.”

10:10 - Fred: “Huck’s a liar and a charlatan who caves in to pressure, said a tax pledge would be horrible, then signed one. I’m super Pro-Life.”

10:10 - Huck: “Fred, you passed welfare reform, but I made it work, creating a record number of jobs. I governed, you legislated.”

10:13 - Rudy: “The change that Dems are talking about is how they want to take the change out of your pocket. I’ve been tough on terrorists since the 70s - kicked Arafat out of NY and didn’t take money from a Saudi. As Pres, you’re not just one of a hundred.”

10:16 - McCain: “I’ve been involved in every national security issue of the past 25 years, and before that, I fought in some of them.”

10:17 - Huck: “Religion is off-limits, except everybody can ask me. If we’re going to have a religious service, could we pass the plates, because my campaign could use the money. If you’re a Christian, women should submit, but I won’t impose that as a president. Husbands are supposed to submit themselves to women, too. Do what a marriage ought to, each partner gives 100% of devotion to each.”

10:19 - Paul: “We’ve only had two little primaries so far, so it’s too early to say who’s going to be our candidate. I’m the most conservative member here, I’ve voted against more spending than anything. I believe in fiscal responsibility and civil liberties, why do the Republicans not want me? We need to borrow money from China to give it to Musharraf, who is a dictator, to fight and promote democracy in Iraq? I defend the platform, we used to want to get rid of the Dept of Education!”

10:25 - McCain: “I’m from a Southern state, we’ll have those governors certify that the borders are secured. I’m not going to deport the wife of a serviceman who is missing in action.”

10:26 - Mitt: “The 12 million here illegally need to leave the country and get in line with everyone else who wants in.”

10:27 - Fred: “We need to be a nation of high fences and wide gates. Crack down on employers who hire illegals. End sanctuary cities, cut off them discretionary federal spending. Enforcement by attrition. We need to be concerned about another 12 million people. Huckabee is awful on immigration.”

10:30 - Paul: “We’re subsidizing illegal immigration because of the welfare state. Some of our border guards are in Iraq, they ought to be protecting our borders. The law is the law, and we should enforce the law.”

10:32 - Huck: “Legal Hispanic immigrants are often for enforcement of immigration laws. We didn’t bring anybody here, they came on their own, and they can leave that way.”

10:33 - Rudy: “Would have been irresponsible to not allow illegals to report crimes. We reported every single criminal and suspects. We reported so many to immigration, that they asked us to stop reporting.”

10:39: McCain is the first one on the post-debate analysis with ‘Hannity and Colmes.’ He looks jovial, relaxed. “Right now is status quo amnesty, by not passing legislation we let the current, broken system continue. The major concern with conservatives is security, and they respect my decisions, they trust me. Evangelicals are concerned, more than anything else, with the rise of radical Islam. In New Hampshire we got the majority of Republican votes. The toughest part in Iraq is rule of law.”

We won New Hampshire, and by a pretty good margin! As I write this, 88% of the polls have reported, and we’re leading Romney by 5 points, 37% to 32%. A month ago, we were in 3rd place, with Romney more than doubling our support. We don’t need to talk anymore about a McCain surge in the polls, we’ve got it at the ballot box. With our surprising 3rd in Iowa and this win, we have shown what dedication, determination, and perseverance can do. I’m driving to Michigan tomorrow, and will be there for a week until the election on the 15th. It’s Romney’s home state, and his father was governor there. This will be where he tries to make stand and throw back the tide of loses.

I really don’t know what to make of this:

Comments like this are really uncalled for:

This isn’t going to play well in Moscow.

Speaking in Hampton this evening, Hillary Rodham Clinton said the president of Russia “doesn’t have a soul.”

She was riffing on the danger of inexperience, and reliance on personal relationships, in foreign affairs, indirectly comparing Obama to George W. Bush, who notoriously looked into Vladimir Putin’s soul and liked what he saw.

“I could have told him — he was a KGB agent. By definition he doesn’t have a soul,” Clinton joked.

She may have been echoing John McCain’s somewhat less personal shot at Putin: “I looked into his eyes and saw three letters: a K, a G and a B.”

Senator McCain’s version is less offensive, but I still a little off the mark. Putin has done a lot of good for Russia, and just being a KGB agent didn’t make you automatically evil. Is this substantively different from Chavez calling Bush the devil? Mindless insults don’t help anything.

Now that Iowa’s over, I’m heading out to Michigan.