First things first. Three members of a Russian feminist punk band, Pussy Riot, recited a "punk prayer" slamming Vladimir Putin at a church in February, and now a Russian court might well sentence them to seven years in a labor camp. Hard to believe Russia would flush away all that good PR they earned simply by not being Soviets anymore! Think of what happened to the Dixie Chicks back in 2004 when they said on stage that they were ashamed that George W. Bush came from Texas: lots of Americans criticized them and boycotted them, but only the most idiotic of right-wingers thought they should actually go to jail for what they said. But in Russia, the powers-that-be can arrest you on trumped-up charges of "hooliganism" if you criticize the President. Amnesty International helps you tell Russia to drop the damn charges. As I said, they might be former Soviets, but they know the power of bad PR just as well as anyone else.
Meanwhile, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has introduced S. 3347, the 21st Century Trade Agreements and Market Access Act. S. 3347 would force our government to negotiate trade deals only with nations that don't trample human rights and only with nations that might actually buy our exports. S. 3347 would also ensure that we don't negotiate "free" trade agreements that offshore jobs and investment or ignore our food safety, environmental, or labor standards. Hard to imagine how any of that would upset conservatives, who typically prefer that we follow American laws and that agreements actually benefit America. So if you see a bunch of Republicans oppose S. 3347 by going on about "creative destruction," you might well conclude that Republicans have stopped being conservative -- if, indeed, you didn't conclude that years ago. Public Citizen helps you tell your Senators to support the 21st Century Trade Agreements and Market Access Act.
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