Please write Sen. Thune

I got a request for action from Jennifer Ring of the SD ACLU today. This is important stuff. I sent a note to Sen. Thune which is attached.

Friends -

Today two South Dakotan Delegates are attending the ACLU Day of Action to Restore Habeas Corpus. Senator Thune declined to meet with them. We are asking for your help. Please contact the Senator and ask for his support in restoring Habeas Corpus, let him know that we are concerned his decision to not meet with them may indicate he is not willing to support restoring Habeas Corpus. Please contact him today, if at all possible. His contact information is:

Phone: 202-224-2321
Toll Free: 1-866-850-3855
Email Link: http://thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Email


Thank you,

Jennifer Ring
Executive Director
ACLU of the Dakotas
701-461-7290

Here is my response:

Dear Sen. Thune:

I am concerned by your decision not to meet recently with representatives of the ACLU about the issue of restoration of the rights of habeas corpus to individuals detained
according to certain anti-terrorism statutes. Can you clarify your position on this issue?

I urge you to consider supporting such legislation that will restore the right of habeas corpus. The recent Dept of Justice rulings and legislation legalizing government behavior in the areas of interrogation techniques and incarceration without trial or charges lowers our standing in the world and makes our soldiers less safe when we ask for such protection from regimes around the world that have little respect for our heritage of the rule of law and restriction of government power against even the most unpopular of persons. It gives them a blank check to do
whatever they want to their own people or members of our military. We must do all we can to protect our civil liberties. It's in our national interest and certainly in the interest of all of humanity.

Please support legislation to restore the right of habeas corpus.

Thank you.

Curtis Price
Rapid City, SD

A sea sponge challenges John Thune's intelligence

A sea sponge? Or Sen John Thune's brain?

We link, you decide.



One of the arguments against evolutionary theory is that complex parts that work together could not have developed independently and certainly not placed in their complex structure naturally through time. It's a very tempting argument, especially if you are inclined to ignore the geological time scale or are amazed (you should be) by a complex structure like the human eye and also in the marvelous interdependence of entire ecosystems.

You may have heard this as the "wristwatch on the beach" argument. It's a very old and weak line of reasoning that dates back before Christianity, and was a popular criticism of Darwin in the 19th century. (Apparently no fewer than three of the current Republican presidential candidates still don't get it.)

On Newsweek's insanely great science blog this week, Sharon Begley reports on a new nail in the coffin of intelligent design theory... noting that when creationists say "but, scientists haven't found ..." they should be careful.. the truth very well be that they simply haven't found it yet.

Back to the Republicans, Gov. Mike "here I stand... an ignorant governor" Huckabee whined that the question "do you believe in evolution" wasn't relevant.

You bet your **** it's relevant!

Just as an example, our own Sen John Thune is on record against the theory of evolution. This is a UNITED STATES SENATOR who makes decisions that require scientific information to benefit or even save lives. If you can't accept the fact of evolution, what use do you have for scientifically revealed truth about, say, public health, hurricanes, climate change, or threatened species? How does someone philosophically unable to handle the fact of evolutionary theory make good governing decisions??

Oh, yeah, that's what we've seen in the last six years: they can't.

This keeps me up at night, as there are far too many people in our government (especially now) who appear to have very little understanding or even respect for science or any other form of objective truth. In this environment, governing decisions are made on the basis of politics.

A call for compassion

Highly recommended new post on DailyKos: Why I Perform Abortions

I have never seen an abortion decision entered into lightly by anyone involved. The decision to have an abortion is most often made in the time of the first great personal moral crisis that ever faces a girl, a woman, her family and the people who love them. It is only those who stand outside and condemn the women and families who are faced with these dilemmas who take lightly the decisions made in these straits and trivialize the circumstances in which they are made.

A few of these harsh, arrogant "true believers" are yet seen flashing their lying signs some weekday mornings on Cathedral Drive in Rapid City. It's good to see them beaten back in the 2007 legislature. But we must keep fighting to make it politically expensive for Gordon Howie and Mike Buckingham (and Julie Bartling) to step on middle- and low-income women's health to further their careers. The free ticket on this issue must be recinded, especially with Roe in the balance.