Jack,

Aren't you jumping the gun just a bit?

Exhibit 1) "Instead of reacting immediately..."

Exhibit 2) "If the feed was indeed cut off, and no reasonable answers to questions 2 and 3 above can be found, then what does this say about our government when a live feed is terminated because a witness is ripping into both the Congress and the current administration?"

Look, it may well turn out that there's some evil plan to shut down these proceedings because THE MAN doesn't want anyone to hear them. If so, I'll scream just as loud as you. But until it's established that that is, indeed the case, do you think it's worthwhile to speculate on what such a plan says about our government?

No offense intended, but I think you are entirely too quick to jump on the Bush administration these days. I don't think you've jumped on the liberal bandwagon, but much of what you write here lines up pretty well with their rhetoric.

Here's a link to what purports to be Galloway's full testimony.

Believe it or not, I don't read liberal blogs.

Question (4) was the only one that made assumptions, and indeed it was listed as the LAST question because if ANY of the first three had valid answers, then the last had no point.

Yes, my views have changed in the past several months, but there is a reason behind the change, and that reason is that the evidence of pure power politics coming from the Bush administration has shown me that all they appear to be interested in is the exercise of POWER, not what is best for the nation.

Seriously.

I'm not jerking my knee here.

I've been weighing the evidence.

It may seem sudden to you, but it's not, really.

Do I support the Democrats?

Nope.

I think they're a bunch of idealistic idiots who wouldn't know the real world if it bit them in the ass (and it often does, and they can't figure out what the hell happened).

However...

They do *less* damage to our freedoms than the Republicans have been doing.

You may not be very much concerned with the Real ID Act, but I am.

You may not be very much concerned with the USA PATRIOT Act, but I am.

You may not be very much concerned with the assertion of the President to declare any citizen an "enemy combatant" to be jailed with no judicial review and no consultation with legal counsel, but I am.

You may not be very much concerned with the extra-legal prison at Guantanamo Bay, but I am.

See the pattern?

Seriously.

I'm not spouting an agenda given by the Democrats or other left-wingers. I came up with this pattern all on my own.

I am ready to jump on the administration now because I do follow the old adage "once burned, twice shy".

From where I sit, with the Shiavo matter, the numerous assertions of "secrecy" from a government nominally democratic in nature, the large number of acts passed and signed that restrict freedoms along the lines of that required in the old Soviet Union, and the other non-democratic actions taken by the administration, have prove to me that they are interested only in the assertion of their own power, in other words, "my dick is bigger than yours".

I would NOT be doing my duty as a patriot to remain silent.

I know you do not say this, but it seems all too common a feeling, but patriotism is not limited to those who join the military. Those of us who did not but have contributed to our nation in other ways are just as patriotic, and I feel my patriotism deeply, despite recognizing when my nation does wrong.

Again, completely seriously, not spouting some line I read somewhere else.

Hey buddy, I'm certainly not accusing you of parrotting Democratic talking points, only pointing out that your train of thought, and at times, your conclusions could be construed as doing so.

For the record, I don't think you are.

As for the Army stuff, believe me when I say I didn't sign on because of an innate sense of patriotism - although that certainly developed throughout the course of my service.

It's much more pedestrian than that - I asked my Dad about helping me pay for college, and he took me to see the nice E-7 at the recruiting center.

Given that service was a means to an end for me, You certainly won't catch me equating non-service with nonpatriotism. That would be a foolish mistake for a Bush administration supporter to make in any case, given most of the senior officials never served themselves ;-)

You probably don't much care about the impression I, or any other reader might have about posts like this one, but I thought I should point out, as a friend, that people will certainly draw conclusions based on your writing.

And I wanted to do it here on Random Fate so that it's clear I'm not sniping at you.

Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism.

And, I am half in love with the biting wit of Mr. Galloways. Have you seen the open letter to the Congress written by Stan Goff? NO? Well, go here:
www.counterpunch.org/goff05192005.html

Man, I love these guys.

That's a bit interesting about the feed cutoff and would not surprise me in the least. CSPAN never goes down.

I spent 9 months of my life dissecting the USA Patriot Act and related douments and presidential orders. And, I must tell you, its a chilling piece of crap.

Joe, WAKEUP and smell the sewage in your water system!

And, Jack, I agree with your epiphanies, glad someone is seeing the light.