MetaFilter posts tagged with congress and corruption

Free Congress

gsteff — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:34:56 -0800

In trademark style, Lawrence Lessig today announced the creation of a congressional exploratory committee. If in the next few days he decides to officially enter the race, he'll be running in the special election on April 8th to fill the CA-12 seat recently vacated by the death of Tom Lantos. A run by Lessig would likely be seen as a new front the the technocratic, post-partisan movement Barack Obama is attempting to catalyze; Lessig was a colleague of Obama at the University of Chicago law school, helped to draft Obama's technology plan, and is describing his potential run (his first attempt at public office), and the larger Change Congress project he also announced today, as an attempt to save Congress as an institution from the corrupting influence of money. Lessig would be an untraditional democratic candidate; he began his law career clerking for Justice Scalia, and gained celebrity fighting against Hollywood and the RIAA for shorter copyright terms and expanded fair use. This move comes only months after Lessig moved on from that work to focus on political corruption, saying at the time

I have come to believe that until a more fundamental problem is fixed, [the free culture movement] can't succeed either. Compare: Imagine someone devoted to free culture coming to believe that until free software supports free culture, free culture can't succeed. So he devotes himself to building software. I am someone who believes that a free society -- free of the "corruption" that defines our current society -- is necessary for free culture, and much more. For that reason, I turn my energy elsewhere for now.

This announcement comes after a week of efforts to draft Lessig into the race on Facebook, MySpace and elsewhere.

Im in ur congress, monitoring changes to ur legislation

grobstein — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 07:22:13 -0800

Slashdot poster has brilliant legislative reform idea: "Source Control for Bills in Congress." What if sneaky changes to pending legislation showed up as soon as they were made instead of in ominously worded media reports months later?

Incompetent, Lazy & Corrupt

homunculus — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 14:15:44 -0800

The Worst Congress Ever. How our national legislature has become a stable of thieves and perverts -- in five easy steps. By Matt Taibbi. [Via TalkLeft.]

Life imitates art.

bardic — Wed, 24 May 2006 16:42:21 -0800

Defend DeLay (link to embedded video). Tom DeLay needs your help to fend off the rabid liberal media. He appreciates the fact that Stephen Colbert is doing his part by taking on Robert Greenwald, maker of the upcoming "The Big Buy: Tom Delay's Stolen Congress" and previously "Outfoxed." (via)

DeLay Gets QueerEyed in Time for the Pen

digaman — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 13:32:39 -0800

[Mugshot filter] The Hammer is tanned, rested, and ready... to kick some partisan-hack a**! But seriously folks, has Tom DeLay ever looked better in his life? Book 'im, Danno -- and don't muss that fabulous hair!

Dirty (baker's) dozen

caddis — Tue, 27 Sep 2005 08:44:26 -0800

Beyond DeLay: The 13 Most Corrupt Members of Congress. CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) has released a report detailing the dirty business of many members of Congress.