Constant Quandries

I posted a few days ago about how many scholars fault the reasoning in the NSA decision. After the President's remarks, the deeper political effects are now being felt in Washinton. Clearly, national security will take center stange come November, even if the rest of us really care about tax cuts and government spending.
There has been another interesting development with American policy on Iraq. Apparently, the President is entertaining the idea of installing a dictator to lead the government in Bagdad. One would think that, at the very least, we would learn from history, especially considering history has shown these tactics don't work to th benefit of American interests. It may finally be coming down to the point where the old-style Texas shoot-from-the-hip politics will have to give way to diplomatic negotiation.

Moving from one political battlefront to another, the political battle over net neutrality continues to rage in Washington. It appears as though Congress is about to strike the final blow. If ever there was a time for action, this would be it. If this bill passes you can expect more of the idiotic, pocket filling, useless, anti-consumer, rate hikes like the new veiled hikes from Verhizon. The worst possible affect is a new restriction on civil liberties. One that would otherwise silence the power of sites like YouTube to expose government action through user created content.

One example is a recent video that shows polices arresting a teenager for his speech. Two Sheriff's apparently arrested a teenager for expressing a political opinion with explitive language. This situation reminds me most of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Cohen v. California. In that case, the expression involved similarly explicative language, but focused on the draft. I think there is a strong argument that the Sheriffs violated the teenager's First Amendment right to free speech, provided he was trying to convey a political message.