"I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors," Barack Obama told a crowd in Elko, Nev. "I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face." Actually, Obama supporters are doing a lot more than getting into people's faces. They seem determined to shut people up.
That's what Obama supporters, alerted by campaign emails, did when conservative Stanley Kurtz appeared on Milt Rosenberg's WGN radio program in Chicago. Kurtz had been researching Obama's relationship with unrepentant Weather Underground terrorist William Ayers in Chicago Annenberg Challenge papers in the Richard J. Daley Library in Chicago -- papers that were closed off to him for some days, apparently at the behest of Obama supporters.
Obama fans jammed WGN's phone lines and sent in hundreds of protest emails. The message was clear to anyone who would follow Rosenberg's example. We will make trouble for you if you let anyone make the case against The One.
Other Obama supporters have threatened critics with criminal prosecution. In September, St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch and St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce warned citizens that they would bring criminal libel prosecutions against anyone who made statements against Obama that were "false." I had been under the impression that the Alien and Sedition Acts had gone out of existence in 1801-02. Not so, apparently, in metropolitan St. Louis. Similarly, the Obama campaign called for a criminal investigation of the American Issues Project when it ran ads highlighting Obama's ties to Ayers.
These attempts to shut down political speech have become routine for liberals. Congressional Democrats sought to reimpose the "fairness doctrine" on broadcasters, which until it was repealed in the 1980s required equal time for different points of view. The motive was plain: to shut down the one conservative-leaning communications medium, talk radio. Liberal talk-show hosts have mostly failed to draw audiences, and many liberals can't abide having citizens hear contrary views.
To their credit, some liberal old-timers -- like House Appropriations Chairman David Obey -- voted against the "fairness doctrine," in line with their longstanding support of free speech. But you can expect the "fairness doctrine" to get another vote if Barack Obama wins and Democrats increase their congressional majorities.
Corporate liberals have done their share in shutting down anti-liberal speech, too. "Saturday Night Live" ran a spoof of the financial crisis that skewered Democrats like House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank and liberal contributors Herbert and Marion Sandler, who sold toxic-waste-filled Golden West to Wachovia Bank for $24 billion. Kind of surprising, but not for long. The tape of the broadcast disappeared from NBC's Website and was replaced with another that omitted the references to Frank and the Sandlers. Evidently NBC and its parent, General Electric, don't want people to hear speech that attacks liberals.
Then there's the Democrats' "card check" legislation, which would abolish secret ballot elections in determining whether employees are represented by unions. The unions' strategy is obvious: Send a few thugs over to employees' homes -- we know where you live -- and get them to sign cards that will trigger a union victory without giving employers a chance to be heard.
Once upon a time, liberals prided themselves, with considerable reason, as the staunchest defenders of free speech. Union organizers in the 1930s and 1940s made the case that they should have access to employees to speak freely to them, and union leaders like George Meany and Walter Reuther were ardent defenders of the First Amendment.
Today's liberals seem to be taking their marching orders from other quarters. Specifically, from the college and university campuses where administrators, armed with speech codes, have for years been disciplining and subjecting to sensitivity training any students who dare to utter thoughts that liberals find offensive. The campuses that used to pride themselves as zones of free expression are now the least free part of our society.
Obama supporters who found the campuses congenial and Obama himself, who has chosen to live all his adult life in university communities, seem to find it entirely natural to suppress speech that they don't like and seem utterly oblivious to claims that this violates the letter and spirit of the First Amendment. In this campaign, we have seen the coming of the Obama thugocracy, suppressing free speech, and we may see its flourishing in the four or eight years ahead.
This was written by a life long dem friend of mine - just shows you how much our world has changed . It's simple, but what I thought was unique about it is .. these issues were 'always' assumed to be dem issues .. and NOW ..?? NO
Who is this man? Why does he not hear the cry of the downtrodden?
Why does he not dare to take our trust and keep it safe near his breast?
Instead we are laughed at for our honesty for our patriotism for ours fears of a colder world where some are seated at the table while others are on the floor we want to believe in our leaders who do not charm us with money and fancy suits
we have had better times when we did not feel the bitter wind which made us wise we cannot afford another to put us down in order to prop up a president
miss the writing, strato.., yes, the place has changed a lot, less fun, fewer warm and fuzzies .. am discovering how easy it is to have posts deleted .. if this is too long then that's just too bad ..
2007/2008 Human Development Report 01Human development index Human development index value Excel Export results to Excel
HDI Rank Country 2005 1 Iceland 0.968 2 Norway 0.968 3 Australia 0.962 4 Canada 0.961 5 Ireland 0.959 6 Sweden 0.956 7 Switzerland 0.955 8 Japan 0.953 9 Netherlands 0.953 10 France 0.952 11 Finland 0.952 12 United States 0.951 13 Spain 0.949 14 Denmark 0.949 15 Austria 0.948 16 United Kingdom 0.946 17 Belgium 0.946 18 Luxembourg 0.944 19 New Zealand 0.943 20 Italy 0.941 21 Hong Kong, China (SAR) 0.937 22 Germany 0.935 23 Israel 0.932 24 Greece 0.926 25 Singapore 0.922 26 Korea (Republic of) 0.921 27 Slovenia 0.917 28 Cyprus 0.903 29 Portugal 0.897 30 Brunei Darussalam 0.894 31 Barbados 0.892 32 Czech Republic 0.891 33 Kuwait 0.891 34 Malta 0.878 35 Qatar 0.875 36 Hungary 0.874 37 Poland 0.870 38 Argentina 0.869 39 United Arab Emirates 0.868 40 Chile 0.867 41 Bahrain 0.866 42 Slovakia 0.863 43 Lithuania 0.862 44 Estonia 0.860 45 Latvia 0.855 46 Uruguay 0.852 47 Croatia 0.850 48 Costa Rica 0.846 49 Bahamas 0.845 50 Seychelles 0.843 51 Cuba 0.838 52 Mexico 0.829 53 Bulgaria 0.824 54 Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.821 55 Tonga 0.819 56 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 0.818 57 Antigua and Barbuda 0.815 58 Oman 0.814 59 Trinidad and Tobago 0.814 60 Romania 0.813 61 Saudi Arabia 0.812 62 Panama 0.812 63 Malaysia 0.811 64 Belarus 0.804 65 Mauritius 0.804 66 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.803 67 Russian Federation 0.802 68 Albania 0.801 69 Macedonia (TFYR) 0.801 70 Brazil 0.800 71 Dominica 0.798 72 Saint Lucia 0.795 73 Kazakhstan 0.794 74 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 0.792 75 Colombia 0.791 76 Ukraine 0.788 77 Samoa 0.785 78 Thailand 0.781 79 Dominican Republic 0.779 80 Belize 0.778 81 China 0.777 82 Grenada 0.777 83 Armenia 0.775 84 Turkey 0.775 85 Suriname 0.774 86 Jordan 0.773 87 Peru 0.773 88 Lebanon 0.772 89 Ecuador 0.772 90 Philippines 0.771 91 Tunisia 0.766 92 Fiji 0.762 93 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0.761 94 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 0.759 95 Paraguay 0.755 96 Georgia 0.754 97 Guyana 0.750 98 Azerbaijan 0.746 99 Sri Lanka 0.743 100 Maldives 0.741 101 Jamaica 0.736 102 Cape Verde 0.736 103 El Salvador 0.735 104 Algeria 0.733 105 Viet Nam 0.733 106 Occupied Palestinian Territories 0.731 107 Indonesia 0.728 108 Syrian Arab Republic 0.724 109 Turkmenistan 0.713 110 Nicaragua 0.710 111 Moldova 0.708 112 Egypt 0.708 113 Uzbekistan 0.702 114 Mongolia 0.700 115 Honduras 0.700 116 Kyrgyzstan 0.696 117 Bolivia 0.695 118 Guatemala 0.689 119 Gabon 0.677 120 Vanuatu 0.674 121 South Africa 0.674 122 Tajikistan 0.673 123 Sao Tome and Principe 0.654 124 Botswana 0.654 125 Namibia 0.650 126 Morocco 0.646 127 Equatorial Guinea 0.642 128 India 0.619 129 Solomon Islands 0.602 130 Lao People's Democratic Republic 0.601 131 Cambodia 0.598 132 Myanmar 0.583 133 Bhutan 0.579 134 Comoros 0.561 135 Ghana 0.553 136 Pakistan 0.551 137 Mauritania 0.550 138 Lesotho 0.549 139 Congo 0.548 140 Bangladesh 0.547 141 Swaziland 0.547 142 Nepal 0.534 143 Madagascar 0.533 144 Cameroon 0.532 145 Papua New Guinea 0.530 146 Haiti 0.529 147 Sudan 0.526 148 Kenya 0.521 149 Djibouti 0.516 150 Timor-Leste 0.514 151 Zimbabwe 0.513 152 Togo 0.512 153 Yemen 0.508 154 Uganda 0.505 155 Gambia 0.502 156 Senegal 0.499 157 Eritrea 0.483 158 Nigeria 0.470 159 Tanzania (United Republic of) 0.467 160 Guinea 0.456 161 Rwanda 0.452 162 Angola 0.446 163 Benin 0.437 164 Malawi 0.437 165 Zambia 0.434 166 Côte d'Ivoire 0.432 167 Burundi 0.413 168 Congo (Democratic Republic of the)0.411 169 Ethiopia 0.406 170 Chad 0.388 171 Central African Republic 0.384 172 Mozambique 0.384 173 Mali 0.380 174 Niger 0.374 175 Guinea-Bissau 0.374 176 Burkina Faso 0.370 177 Sierra Leone 0.336
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
