People should be networking, coming together, just as determinedly as we did for the filibuster on the filibuster for this.

Thank You Brad, Your just like the energizer bunny.You just keep going and going and going and going,Please don't stop! We are all counting on you!

So, Ricky...conservative-based Republicans are calling for hearings. Any comments?

Of course not! Absolutely no comments from Ricky on this one!

The great enemy of the people these days is feigned secrecy, feigned classified material, and feigned national security.

These false energies may do severe and lasting damage to the appropriate methods of utilizing such measures.

The truly patriotic american government is open and uses very little secrecy, and only when mandated.

The Bush regime uses the notion of secrecy wrongfully and wastefully as if everything it does is entitled to secrecy.

I thought I would research some of these groups, see what I could learn about them.

In case anyone still doubts that blogs like this one are infiltrated, I found this interesting comment (note the date) on a forum on the Republican Liberty Caucus' web site:

Entire comment is alot longer. My deletions do not change the meaning....

"Strategical suggestion

Posted on 12/11/2004 5:31:26 PM PST by Terr

Here is what I think some of our strategy should be in order to ensure Democrat party's disarray:

1. The DP activists are in a tizzy about the "election fraud"....This....should be encouraged.... it .... keeps them concentrated on the past....they are so sure that fraud happened, but cannot find any proof of it (since none exists).

2. Keep this "fraud" hysteria going. Infiltrate their forums, like democraticunderground.com and push the fraud theory. We already have some people flooding that forum with bogus "statistical analysis" posts...."

....They may turn the thinking towards future elections, political strategies, etc. Disrupt that. Accuse them of being "freepers" for daring to think there was no fraud....
....Since no proof of fraud exists, they will go deep into conspiratorial theories. Encourage that. People who think that way will be discouraged from general political activism....With luck, we can extend this all the way to 2008 elections.

5. The hatred of Bush - ...Keep fanning it....Post inflammatory anti-Bush rhetoric. Start threads with topics like "How much do you hate Bush?" and "I hate him, I just hate him"....

.... Don't underestimate the power of a well-placed conspiracy theory, it may work wonders in despiriting the other camp."

Sensenbrenner and Wilson are coming around... and Specter has said he want judicial review... things are happening... but what will Republicants do if the results turn out to be against the president? not much, probably...

Specter has said publicly that impeachment is the appropriate response "if" the president breaks the law. A huge "if".
I'm sure, though, that those in power have a plan or two ready to implement in the event bush or bush/cheney or whomever is impeached or otherwise removed.
There are plenty more where they came from, unfortunately.

Pete--Sensenbrenner is coming around?

Jack Cafferty is great! (ot, sort of...)

Woofie Apologizing for Boner

Sensenbrenner and Ney were close colleagues. I suspect Ney's downfall has freed Sensenbrenner up a bit to act on his own conscience.

He's not as bad as he seemed that day when he shut the hearings down. His previous history was of being a strong Republican, but one who was fair to minority Democrats. He's from Wisconsin, a state with a progressive history and two Democratic senators.

When we really want to hear rightwingers thoughts on something, they don't respond.

Ricky et al: What are your thoughts on members of "your" party, the Republicans, calling for hearings on members of their own party?

I think if we see Ricky, MediumBoner, Paul(was it Paul?), and newcomer TrueGayConservative, or any other rightwinger post on ANY of Brad's article, even if it's a different topic, we should insert this question under their comments.

In fact, this is so huge, we should go onto some conservative blogs and ask the question, "What are your thoughts on members of the Republican Party calling for investigations of Bush?" Does everyone realize this is a WIN-WIN situation? I remember reading, from true conservative, that the only way the Bush administration would fall is if the true conservative Republicans, you know, the good guys who had their party taken over by the neo-cons, stopped acting like sheep.

But, I "DREDD" the thought of going onto a rightwing blog.

Did y'all see Jon Stewart's bit on the Daily Show about the NSA hearing?

OMG it was funny!!!

Robert - If Sensenbrenner has a history of being fair to minority Dems, why do you think he decided to be such an ass that day at the hearings? I'm not totally disagreeing with you, but I have obviously missed his "nice guy" days. Every time I've seen him he's been a megajerk.

Robert,
Thanks for the clarifying info re Sensenbrenner. I know very little about him other than his behavior on that infamous day, which was stunningly rude &, as I understand, completely against congressional rules.

I'll keep an open mind until I learn more, but I have to say that, along with Kestrel, I must have so far "missed his "nice guy" days"!

On the same day that Senator Hillary Clinton opined that the Bush Administration was "playing the terrorism card," isn't it a little bit interesting to note that the Russell Senate Office Building was evacuated because of a suspected "nerve agent?"

The Patriot Act is set to expire. More and more politicians from either side of the aisle are finally catching on to the games the Bush Administration has been and wants to continue playing with our lives.

The Bush Adminstration is beginning to be driven by their own fears and desperation.

This is the time to strike. As Agent99 said above, this is a moment for a great in-gathering together of people and groups who still cherish the Constitution.

Many kudos to Brad, bradblog and VelvetRevolution in working toward this patriotic coalition!

{Ed note: Comment removed for violation of so many different rules for posting that I can't even count them all. Good lord.}

Whoa Gramps (#15)!

Your comment is sorta like the conversational equivalent of an out-of-body experience.

Been dropping a little LSD?

Grandpa Stole Bets, take your meds, bud.

What I have gleaned from the leaks and, well, a little common sense is that the thugs think they don't NEED FISA. Here's my reasoning: Let's say they have this Black Ops system (not on US soil, not run by the US, without US tel co taps). Now, let's say they went to FISA (recent WaPo article) and were denied based on tainted Probable Cause reasoning (crosstalk between systems). They get the raw data extra Constitutionaly and are acting upon it outside the US. Drone attack in Pakistan? So, why would they go to FISA and Congress when they can get results elsewhere? Inside the US is another matter. If they do that they know they will get nailed. That is why they are SO sure it doesn't violate FISA, Congress and the Constitution. It's all irrelevant now, you see.

{ed note: Unsubstantiated, unsourced, McCarthy-esque "Red Baiting" and Rightwing propoganda/disinfo deleted. Knock it off, Jose.}

And why would the Multiracial Activist group be involved with this issue? Is this about race, too? How about women's rights? AIDS?

How does race play a part in this?

Joan # 5 - Those guys are way behind the times and not very smart.

Most people are intelligent enough to know that the election reform and fraud issue has to do with he present and the future and are also smart enough to look at the mountains of evidence.

And genearlly "hating Bush" --- Who's going to listen to that? There is enough specific reasons to steel any patriot's heart for battle.

Sounds like a bunch of not-very-bright enthusiastic junior dittoheads.

Most of all, blogs like Brad's are working. Look at the situation today as compared to a year or even six months ago. It sure wasn't the corporate MSM doing its (supposed) job. For them it's a day late and a dollar short. The blogs are moving the frame of the issue slowly (sometimes painfully) but surely toward the light.

Grampa
Seriously, get some help.

Get me my coffee...

I said, And genearlly "hating Bush" --- Who's going to listen to that? There is enough specific reasons to steel any patriot's heart for battle.

As I was saying...And generally hating Bush --- Who's going to listen to that. There are enough specific reasons to steel any patriot's heart for battle.

Anyway, back to the topic.........
If it's true, it's good to see that some Repubs see that this is wrong.
Will hearings actually get anywhere? Do we need a special prosecutor to look into it? The hearings I fear would be something like the corrupt holding a hearing about themselves.

Jose, #20

I know you're a troll incapable of discussion, but I'll try anyway.

On the issue of warrantless wiretapping of american citizens. Who of the following do you think would be most likely to be wiretapped?

-A white, upper-middle class man making a business call to Pakistan

-A man of middle-eastern descent, calling his father in Afganistan

BVAC, that's not the point..

The problem is, the government is abusing it's powers and acting outside the law. How does that affect "specific groups" like women, blacks, environmentalists, dissenters, etc etc.. The answer is, since EVERYONE has the potential to have their rights violated by this illegal activity, EVERYONE should be on board with putting the genie back in the bottle. To ask "why would women, or blacks care about having their rights trampled" is telling of Jose's perspective of the world.. that being, you shouldn't care about your rights in "general", just care when someone is targeting you specifically.. In other words, don't look at the sweeping destruction of the Constitution, keep focused on tiny bits.. be distracted by small things, and divided because you are only working on "your rights", not everyone's rights..

The entire point of this blog item is just that.. that this affects EVERYONE, all groups, all Americans.. And when people unite like they SHOULD, agasint this admin, the neo-cons get wet pants (as they should). Shrubby has pushed his luck this time.. he's no longer shitting on just a few "groups" that are struggling to defend themselves, he took a huge stinking crap on ALL AMERICANS, and the "well to do" folks aren't happy.. perhaps NOW we'll see something done since the richy whities had their sensibilities rubbed all over Shrubby's arse now too.

Grandpa stole bets,

Who are your sources on this?

Savantster-

It explains why a racial group may find particular importance in this issue, just like how black civil rights groups may have a stake in voter ID cards.

I don't think Coke and Pepsi are polar opposites.

OT..

in case anyone still doesn't think the psychos out there "listen to Ann", Here's a shirt that should put that falsehood to rest.. that is, the trolls that come here and try to pretened Ann isn't a hate monger, and only a comedian, are the whack jobs buying shirts like this.

Sorry, I know my inflamitory rhetoric causes consternation to some and seems to not be language that "encourages others to understand my position".. unless, of course, my position is that some of these people truely ARE clinical..

some scary shit.. and those SAME people feel it's ok for their King to shit on our Constitution and violate our rights.. I'm sure they agree with Shrubby when he says "it's just a god damned piece of paper"..

Arry,

Exactly! How do you explain RC Cola? (Does anybody drink that stuff?)

This is fine, but where is the call to immediately stop datamining American citizens until this investigation goes forward?

Congressional Repiglicans can't vote against * without losing all the support from the machine. If the decent ones, and that means BRAVE ones, join with the rest of us in demanding a REAL investigation (which IS possible... FITZGERALD) that is the only real chance we have of stopping the dictatorship.

Gonzales sat there with a smirk on his face, going on about *'s "rights", as if he were a KING, when * doesn't have "rights" as president, he has DUTIES, and he's cherry-picking those to serve his own ends. He doesn't fulfill the ones he doesn't like, and oversteps himself on the ones he does. He's ripped up the Constitution, and CLEARLY it's going to take a LOUD outcry to hold him to account for it. A couple of weeks ago, some young punks, The Young Turks, decided to stay awake and broadcasting until we had forced the Democrats to filibuster. We knew it was pretty much hopeless, but we busted our butts anyway. We got over half of them in our camp. If even more of us get that loud about it, we can make this one fly.

Brad sat in for the Turks. Bob Kincaid sat in for the turks. Thom Hartmann sat in for the turks. Mike Molloy sat in for the Turks. These kids were dropping onto their faces from lack of sleep and a bunch of progressive radio personalities got their backs, let them catch some sleep. People all over the country were tuned in to The Young Turks' Filibuster on the Filibuster and calling and emailing and visiting their senators, demanding they filibuster the Alito confirmation. Some of them reversed themselves on the subject to do it because of the outcry. It gave them the political cover to do what was not popular with the go along to get along crowd in the Senate.

The Repiglican Senators need that kind of support to break ranks with the administration. The internet is set up such that we can broadcast around the clock, filibuster for a special prosecutor, as it were. We can get all our friends and neighbors in on it this way. If they don't have computers, we can haul them in to ours. There can be people on the air helping direct the efforts, helping convince people who are skeptical, reporting on progress. Heck, we could probably even help find the ideal person for the job and push for that. WE ARE NOT POWERLESS. We are The People.

So the conservatives are standing up. Where are our elected representatives? Why are the Democrats taking the lead here?

Today in NYT we read that the Dems are too timid to go after this. Why? Afraid you won't be re-elected? Well, if you're going to roll over and whimper while our democracy is destroyed, then you don't deserve to be re-elected.

Since Jose Chung chooses to cut and paste without giving credit to the person who wrote his talking points (which I believe is against the rules on this blog?), I'll do him a favor and post it for him.

His cut and paste in #19 above comes from this website:

http://www.discoverthenetwork.org/

If you go to that link, you'll also notice a link to Frontpagemag.com, a website run by David Horowitz, who is publisher and editor-in-chief at "discover the network"

The first article at the Frontpagemag website right now refers to Fred Phelps, the fundamentalist pastor of Westboro Baptist Church who runs the "God Hates Fags" website. The title of the article is 'The "God Hates Fags" Left', and proceeds to try and tie Phelps and his idiots in with Democrats.

Uh. Yeah.

Then, going to another name on the members list at the Discover the Network Website, I noticed the name Richard Poe. He's the idiot that thinks Tom DeLay is in trouble because he is being framed by George Soros.

Here's HIS website:

http://www.richardpoe.com/

There are other names on the list that look familiar to me as well, but those are the only two I've googled.

And knowing that this is the garbage poor Jose is digesting explains a lot about his sad and twisted mentality.

Ya know-oh [Christopher Walken], when you start focusing on the trolls, their purpose has been served.

WHAT ABOUT GETTING * AND HIS GANG OF THUGS BEHIND BARS?

#16 lol. I read the whole post (#15) trying to make sense of it with my analytical mind and caught a bit here and there but I did not get the message that was being conveyed. I know it's in 'there' somewhere...or what is the point of going on and on about all of this, anyway...

Metaphysics 101. The 'I AM', the most powerful words in our language. When we say these words we become what they preceed, ie: I am smart, I am dumb, I am afraid, I am fearless. Do not negate the power of these two words by using a negative, ie: I am Not afraid, rather say I am fearless. I am powerful. I am informed. Everytime bush utters the words "I am the Commander...." he draws power unto himself. We must do the same to counter that power by becoming powerful ourselves. Words carry vibration and all the world has been brought into being by sound/vibration. We must get in touch with our power. A99's last sentence stated this, however, I would end with saying WE ARE POWERFUL, We are The People. OT, perhaps, but like grampa, just needed to get that out! I believe we have now had a reality split I think it is important that those of us that have moved into the new reality do so Powerfully. M4

For Kestrel and Joan: I don't know if "nice guy" would ever have described Sensenbrenner. But he had a reputation (before that awful day when he shut the hearings down) of being fair-minded in his conduct of the committee.

He's been around a while, and remembers when Republicans were in the minority, so he really isn't part of the modern Gingrich/DeLay crowd. As far as his attitude toward the 2004 election is concerned, Wisconsin was one of the (very) few states where Democrats might have been just as crooked as Republicans (New Mexico and Washington being the only other two I could name), and I suspect he honestly thinks, however wrongly, that Bush really carried Ohio and won the election.

Joan,
I don't think the point makes this about Sensenbrenner. As you said both democrats and republicans are making it into a partisan political fight again. Sensenbrenner is only doing this because he fears for his job.

Here's my point: Again people are trying to make election fraud or reform about who is stealing elections.

Disrupt the democrats, disrupt the republicans etc and its all a waste of time. This is about FAIR ELECTIONS, PERIOD. I will tell this for a fact: Democrats have been stealing local elections everywhere and Republicans have been stealing national. I've seen absolute proof of this. They have also been stealing eachother's seats vice versa.

Part of it is just ballot stuffing and the rest is electronic machines. It is NOT voter fraud, I have weighed the percentages and there is not any crude epidemic of voter fraud like neocons want everyone to think.

It is just a plain FACT that election integrity is crucial. We need to make absolute sure, on all sides that the machines are audited with paper records. And have proper ID requirements/security in place which doesn't disenfranchise.

That needs to be FRONT and CENTER and people are doing just that in Arizona right now. Join with your local groups and make sure that job gets done. Then, everyone can join to call in a special counsel about this wiretapping. We have clear violations of law here and so on, and the neocons are running insane and scared so if you want to win, make it count and take the rest of it to the bank on this.

Doug E.

Btw Sensenbrenner did seem to be a pretty moderate person several years ago before all of this Bob Ney garbage. I wouldn't be surprised if he was being blackmailed by Abramoff. Either way, he certainly isn't doing this because he wants to its just all about themselves again.

Politicians will rarely do things because they truly want to, unless they have an unwaivering integrity like a paul hackett....by serving in the military.

Doug E

KESTRELBRIGHTEYES: I've done that too, before...I've taken an obscure part of some rightwinger's post, cut/paste into a search engine, and found they've taken it from a rightwing website. We have a lot of (use your own favorite detective) "Columbo's" on this blog!!!

I guess that means we're pretty smart here!

There are other ways, too...

I don't get Gramps' post.

We were happy to sign-on with the Liberty Coalition letter calling for a complete investigation.
However, Joan (Comment #5) slightly misrepresents a quote from one of our public eGroups. It wasn't a comment from a member, nor even remotely a statement of policy by the RLC, but rather a quoted piece from another source.
Bloggers are welcome to review our Statement of Principles at:
http://www.rlc.org/?p=OrgArchives

Bill
National RLC Chairman

William,

Thanks for directing those quotes. If there's one thing nobody wants to do and definitely not today, its misquote eachother and spread that.

Doug

Big Dan #11

I too "dredd" the idea of going onto a rightwing blog. It would resemble faux and MSM news too much, and that gags me.

Wayne Dickson #34

Good neoCon talking points there ... only thing missing is the reality. The reality that the minority parties, independents (1 member) and democrats (44 members) do not chair any senate committee. Nor can they subpoena or schedule committee hearings. They do not even have the power to require witnesses to take an oath to tell the truth.

Blaming the powerless minority for the wrongs and crimes of the powerful majority is a classic act of blaming the victim for the crime of the perpetrator. The perpeTRAITORS are the republicans, and if accountability means anything, they republicans will be voted out en masse in November.

Doug E #40

As if serving in the military was the acid test of integrity.

Where have you been lately when the military is at the center of the corruption of torture, invasions and occupations that are appalling to the world and most Americans, loosing billions upon billions and even trillions of dollars, spying on Americans (NSA is a military org), killing thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians, and holding thousands of people behind bars without access to courts, lawyers, or family.

Are you unaware that "Commander in Chief" is a military term that applies to the military?

On the Left, you don't need to ask whether a thing is true or untrue. If it comes from a source on the Right, then it is automatically dismissed or shouted down. It does not matter whether the information is correct or not. It is the source that determines whether the Left accepts the information or not.

I'm sorry, but the title of this thread appears to be misleading and inaccurate: EXCLUSIVE: Conservative-Based Coalition Calls for....

Of the 19 groups in the coalition, how many are conservative? Anybody know? Or care?

I didn't think so....

Jose Chung

Why don't you ask their leaders? Every single group is conservative and admits it openly.

As are their people. If you find it impossible to see there are true conservatives that don't agree with your neoliberal type of crap, perhaps you're living in the wrong area of town.

I have myself, very conservative constructionist views....and I don't agree with a damn thing the fakes like your Ann Coulter and company say, because they aren't conservative.

As for you Dredd.....Give me a reap and let her reap the mile, not everyone in the military behaves like jackels and let that be a lesson....Paul Hackett shines as an example.

Doug E.

Jose at #47, Here's a thought.. go find out how many are Conservative.. then do the math.. and if the "bigger portion" of the group isn't "conservative", THEN come post your gripe about a "misleading headline".. until then, as you said in #46 (though, you were projecting, it seems)

"On the Left Right, you don't need to ask whether a thing is true or untrue. If it comes from a source on the Right Left, then it is automatically dismissed or shouted down. It does not matter whether the information is correct or not. It is the source that determines whether the Left Right accepts the information or not."

Fine.

My research shows that of the 19 groups listed above, only one is Conservative, four are Libertarian,
and the remaining 14 range from the Left to the Far Left to the Radical Left.

Hardly a "Conservative-Based Coalition."

Thank you very much.

Ok Jose since this is an open forum show your research.

Everyone from liberty coalition would like to see it. Where is your proof that these assertions are correct and only one group is "conservative"?

Doug

Republican Liberty Caucus: uh.. conservative.. has membership fees, and members in "every state" according to their site.. couldn't find current membership numbers..

American Policy Center: With this on their site, "dedicated to the promotion of free enterprise and limited government regulations over commerce and individuals", I'd have to guess it's most a Republican group.. anyone that feels the free market is "good by nature" is a moron, and usually a Republican [trying to fuck someone over for profit]. No idea how many people are part of that group either. One of the "partners" for them is freedom21.com, who on their site explains the need for freedom21.com with statements like "Our religion is no longer permitted on public lands that our tax dollars pay for.".. which tells me they are conservative.. I'd guess APC is as well.

Democrats.com: I'll take that as a Dem/Left/Liberal site.. so, 2 conservatives, 1 liberal, so far..

Fairfax County Privacy Council: .. is a member of Coalition for Constitutional Liberties, who on their site says "Free Congress Foundation is politically conservative".. 3/1..

Rutherford Institute: doesn't really say, but they do a lot of legal work defending religion, and their rights. Typcially, that means fighting to display the 10 commandments, keeping churches from paying taxes, making sure people can avoid "zoning laws and liscencing fees", etc.. I'd guess they are a "conservative bunch" over there, but their main mission is "protecting civil liberties".. how about we call them a "neutral" party, since they don't claim any political allegience.. 3/1/1

Former Congressman Bob Barr: Republican.. 4/1/1

Multiracial Activists: Libertarian.. we'll group them under 'neutral', if that's ok with you, Jose.. so, 4/1/2

Cyber Privacy Project: another neutral group, I'd guess.. 4/1/3

U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation: couldn't find a site (not spending a lot of time on this).. we'll add them to Neutral.. 4/1/4

Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances: Says "conservatives and progressives", left out Dems..didn't really claim to be bi-partisan, and has Bob Barr (yeah, that one) as Chairman.. I'd say 5/1/4

National Lawyers Guild/National Office: Given that their mission statement talks about helping "worker, women, minorities", etc.. we'll call them Dems.. that little "1" is getting lonely.. 5/2/4

Consumer Action: seems to have nothing to do with "politics" per se'.. 5/2/5

First Amendment Foundation: seems non-partisan.. want's open access to government.. but that's not really a partisan issue (that I'm aware of.. I just know Shrubby doesn't want anyone to know about anything he does, while wanting to know everything about everyone else).. 5/2/6

NCARL, National Committee Against Repressive Legislation: Bunch of peacenicks.. BLEH.. right? so.. 5/3/6

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility: I'd guess neutral since they just want to educate people about technology and computers.. 5/3/7

National Security Whistleblower Coalition: non-partisan, as far as I could tell.. that's what it says in the wikipedia, anyway.. 5/3/8

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee: founded by a Democrat in 1980.. probably non-partisan, but since we used guilt by association for the conservative count, have to do that here too.. 5/4/8

Electronic Privacy Information Center: I'd guess neutral.. they don't seem to care what side of the isle you are on, they want civil liberties (with regards to electronics) protected.. 5/4/9

Velvet Revolution: Non-partisan/Progressive.. 5/4/10

So, by MY count, it's just a tad more "conservative" than "democratic", with a lot of groups that are mostly special interest groups and non-partisan.. Some of those guys probably tend to be more "liberal", but then.. Democrats are much more about "protecting rights" than Repubs.. The -fact- that so many "conservative groups" (compared to stated/implied "dems"/liberals) signed on is significant.. yet, you want to bicker about a headline?

Fine.. Brad, your headline is misleading.. I have to agree with Jose.. Technically, there are a lot more non-partisan, bi-partisan, libertarian, progressive groups on this coalition than there are "conservatives".. Perhaps a better headline, to appease the trolls (not that it matters, they will distract, distort, lie, and disinform regardless), would be "broad coalition, including several conservative groups, Calls for 'Comprehensive Hearings', Special Counsel to Investigate Bush's Warrantless Wiretaps"

not that I expect Jose to even -care- that someone did his home work, and -agrees- that the headline is "misleading".. nor do I expect him to understand that the "misleading" in this case is pretty innocuous.. as opposed to Shrubby "misleading Congress into war".. or some "serious" misleading. I don't even expect Jose to eat his words, like he should.. but oh well, what can you do with trolls, right?

Thank you Savanster for getting it right. As the publisher of The Multiracial Activist I find it amusing and pathetic when folks get their panties in a wad like Jose did at our participation in this coalition letter. If you spend anytime at all involved in lobbying and advocacy, you see cross-participation in coalitions by groups that at first glance may seem unrelated to the issue being debated.

The Multiracial Activist has particiapted in approximately 75 (rough estimate) coalition letters, statements, media campaigns and a lawsuit on civil liberties violations and other issues of relevence to libertarians and/or multiracial individuals/families.

Not every coalition matter we choose to participate is necessarily race-based. The NAACP and other "race" focused groups also often participate in larger civil liberties issues. Many issue specific conservative groups participate in coalitions that don't necessarily seem related to their core constituency's interests also. That doesn't mean they shouldn't participate if they are interested and can represent their members adequately.

Some, like this one, deal directly with domestic surveillance (which often includes classifying by "race" as a side note), an issue we have taken a stand on for several years. This particular issue does not involve "racial" tracking as far I know, but several other domestic surveillance efforts do involve such tracking. The whole apparatus is related and I feel no problem with speaking out on the topic in general, instead of just restricting my voice to only the upfront and obvious "race" related issues.

We've participated in campaigns led by the Liberty Coalition, the Free Congress Foundation's Coalition for Constitutional Liberties, the ACLU and the Center for National Security Studies. We've commented on the Drug War, domestic surveillance, "racial" tracking, the Census and many other issues that are not always "race" specific. I'm not restricting our voice and efforts to please the Joses of the world.

On the race-based front, we were involved in the Steering Committee of the Racial Privacy Initiative (Ward Connerly effort) in California and have long been on record seeking abolition of the government's use of "race."

Perhaps that will make Jose happy.