Torture

I can't believe that I missed Wally voting against McCain's torture amendment. That is just sad.

Spare me the diatribes about "doing whatever it takes" because that is not how it works. It's wrong and everyone knows it. It's that supporters have been able to rationalize it. That doesn't make it right.

Putting up fake arguments that you only have a choice between hug therapy and water boarding is also quite insulting, so don't. Spare me the "this is a different kind of war." How about you muster up the same outrage you had when our troops were shot down over Iraq in Desert Storm? The comparison is not between "terrorists" and our troops but treamtment of human beings in a time of conflict. The goal is not to keep the government from getting information, it's to keep it from getting bad information -- which torture generally leads to. If you have some sick vengence fettish that's your problem. This is an issue of national security and we don't need any more bad intel than we already have. Thanks Wally. Thanks a ton. Nice vote...

Genetic Labels for Food Products

Wally, unsurprisingly*, is against it. Boxer thinks that if we give this information to people we export food to, we should give it to people who buy it here.

I'm not sure where I stand on this. There is so much misinformation and FUD about genetics out there right now. Genetic engineering is happening naturally everyday. Yes, I understand that this is with "natural" genes and not man-made ones. Yes, there are dangers in the choices that can be made in creating an organism with new characteristics. Yes, instead of it happening randomly it would have been created intentionally. Still...I don't know where I stand.

* - That is if you subscribe to the quaint idea that the GOP wants less government, which as we now know is a bunch of bull.

Potential Challengers

The Appeal-Democrat has a story on potential challangers to Wally's 11th term.

Will the name of Tom DeLay come up during the election? I think it should...

Wallys Talks Economy

Wally gave the opening address at a Tri Counties Economic thing-a-majig this past week about the economy. Of course, seeing as how Bush has been in charge for five years now, it's obviously going great.

The conference was hosted at Chico State and if I had known he was going to be there, I might have dropped by to say 'hi' or get an autograph. Maybe some industrious staffer can put me on his press release list? Or is that still a fax-only list? pberry at gmail

Wally Beyond Reason

Herger defends eavesdropping program:

"'I am very alarmed with what I see might happen in the interest of people’s supposed rights,' he said. 'I don’t think a suspected terrorist has rights. As long as a terrorist is contacting someone else and they have a possibility of killing my family . . . or one of the constituents I represent or blowing them up, I want a president who will have the courage go do what he needs to do.'"

Holy. Cow. I don't even know where such logic comes from.

Wally then uses just about every talking point cooked up thus far, I guess in hoping that a shotgun approach will work. Democrats voted for military action, ergo they voted for the NSA spy program. Also the people who leaked the story about the program need to be prosecuted even though he didn't answer Atrios' question:

Can anyone - anywhere - explain, just a little bit - just one time - how "national security has been damaged" by revelations that the Administration was eavesdropping without FISA-required warrants and judicial oversight rather than with them?

It's hard to believe Wally is a conservative Republican. I think he is just being loyal to the party and not his principles because this is not the GOP I remember hearing about. When a representative in Congress thinks that he gets to decide who does and doesn't have rights under the Constitution we have a serious problem. Who does he think he is? The president?