ProgressiveDem

FYII, Friday, May 25, 2012

Kaz — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:38:44 GMT

"How to fix the Fed: Dismiss Dimon, boot the bankers, and can the corporations"

Mass voter disenfranchisment: a GOP speciality for decades

Multi-millionaire DINO "Nancy Pelosi's pre-emptive cave on Bush-Obama tax cuts"

"It may be to a lesser extent than the Republican candidate, but the US president is a frontman for financial interests"

"Romney's regressivism"

"Montreal's students defy restrictions as demonstration grow"

"Iran and Europe: 'til death do us part"

GOP and DINO Motto: Don't Threaten Corporate Power or Profits

Kaz — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:36:41 GMT

That the DINOs are in control of the Democratic Party is obvious. That DINO elected officials in Washington are controlled by Wall Street is also obvious. DINOs are only marginally better than their GOP corporatist colleagues and often just as bad---two versions of the same destructive philosophy......government of, by, and for the wealthy few.

David Sirota at In These Times provides a telling example straight from a DINOs mouth.

"Headlines transmit information in its rawest form—and the best of headlines crystallize indelible truths. Such was the case this week when the New York Daily News blared this simple but iconic headline: “Cuomo: Minimum Wage Harder to Get Than Gay Marriage.”

"The story quoted New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) claiming that the effort to raise wages for the poorest of his constituents represents a “broader and deeper” divide than the recent successful fight to legalize same-sex matrimony in the Empire State. Though the piece quickly dissolved into the ether, it should have received more attention because it is an important Rosetta Stone—one that translates this era’s inscrutable political rhetoric into a clear admission that money trumps everything else.

"Decoding this Rosetta Stone requires just a bit of contextual information from Siena College. According to the school’s surveys, only 58 percent of New Yorkers support legalizing gay marriage, while a whopping 78 percent support raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50.

"Put Cuomo’s declaration next to those numbers, and the revelation emerges: in a political arena dominated by corporate money, the governor is acknowledging that politicians will champion initiatives that don’t challenge corporate power, but will avoid promoting those that do. Not only that, Cuomo is admitting this is the case regardless of public opinion.

"Events in New York illustrate the larger dynamic at work. As the New York Times reported, despite lukewarm public support, Cuomo was able to get the state legislature to legalize gay marriage after Wall Street financiers dumped cash into the campaign for equal rights. Knowing that marriage doesn’t threaten their profits, these moneyed interests opted to help their ally Cuomo notch a strategic win—one that allows the governor to preen as a great liberal champion to the state’s left-leaning voters, all while he simultaneously presses an anti-union, economically conservative agenda that moneyed interests support.

"Now, of course, the situation is reversed. With New York’s recession-battered voters supporting a minimum wage hike, the greed-is-good crowd is firmly aligned against the initiative. Why? Because unlike gay marriage, which requires no corporate sacrifice, the modest minimum wage boost may slightly reduce corporate profits—and that’s something the fat cats in the executive suites never permit without a fight.

"Knowing this, a hack like Cuomo—a guy who asks “how high?” when his campaign contributors say “jump”—is using his power to undermine the popular minimum wage initiative. In this case, he is cooking up a self-fulfilling prophecy about the measure being a political non-starter.,,,,,

"Noting all this isn’t to disparage the push for same sex marriage (I’m a strong supporter!)—it is merely to spotlight a bait and switch whereby social issues are increasingly used to perpetuate the economic status quo.

"Obviously, it’s possible to simultaneously guarantee equal rights and fix the economy. But as New York most recently proves, it’s much harder to do both when money dictates political outcomes, and when bought-off politicians employ social issues as an excuse to ignore economic justice."

FYII, Thursday, May 24, 2012

Kaz — Thu, 24 May 2012 20:29:39 GMT

Facebook IPO difficulties consequences of the insanity "Congress and the Presidentperpetuated by signing the JOBS Act."

"How Obama helped authorize Shell's drilling the Arctic"

"GOP and Dems perform the Bain hustle"

"On military budgets and spiritual death"

"The administration takes a break from its war on whiistleblowers to provide classified information to filmmakers"

"Management----bad management----crippled the auto industry's Big Three, not the UAW"

"Obama officials demand full, reform-free renewal of controversial power to eavesdrop without warrants"

Washington's Repugnant Revolving Door

Kaz — Thu, 24 May 2012 20:27:44 GMT

That revolving door between Capitol Hill and K Street just keeps spinning non-stop. The reality of how Washington works in this fashion is both informative and repugnant.

David Dayen at Firedoglake comments on an article in The Hill about this revolving door.

"I always find the revolving door to be an intriguing subject of inquiry. The combination of big money in influencing policy, as well as the transient nature of most political jobs, combines to ensure that members of Congress and their staffs put in their time building relationships on Capitol Hill, only to jump over to K Street to lobby those ex-colleagues. You have to do this a few times, to maintain the relationships with the new cast of characters and prove your worth to the paymasters of the lobbyists. And so that’s what we see.

"One lobbyist quoted in the article says quite explicitly that the goal of flipping back to Capitol Hill after some time on K Street is to “refresh contacts.” You get to know the new players in Congress, and after a time, you have a blueprint from which to lobby them. So you head back out for a payday.

"This is basically legalized bribery. You have lobbyists working off relationships gained from close contacts with Congressional figures. Maybe they aren’t passing money around, but they are passing what amounts to a “legislative subsidy,” in the form of working knowledge. And at the end of the day, the favors are made to friends. And campaign contributions always lurk in the background.

"We have laws against senior staff lobbying at their former employer; in the Senate it’s a total ban, while in the House senior staffers cannot lobby the specific office in which they worked. But that only holds for a year, and any Congressional aides who make under 75% of a member of Congress’ salary are exempt from the restrictions. So the anti-revolving door rules are hardly rules at all."

FYII, Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Kaz — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:05:39 GMT

Anti-women GOP Women's Caucus.....more GOP hypocrisy

".....over-consumption and rampant pollution was threatening the world's ocean and marine biodiversity" and "......an epitaph for Planet Earth"

"War pay or the nearly $1 trillions national security budget"

"10 reasons to be suspicious about Wall Street's Facebook fiasco"

"American workers: Shackled to labor law"

Are You What You Eat If You Don't Know What You're Actually Eating?

Kaz — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:04:35 GMT

There's an old adage: "you are what you eat". But what if you don't really know what your eating???? For example, meat glue may be in your steak, but it doesn't appear on the menu. What is meat glue?

Jim Hightower explains and then some.

"If you're one who enjoys a steak dinner now and again, let me ask this question: do you prefer it with a nice sauce, a side of garlicky spinach – or maybe some transglutaminase?

"Trans-what-did-he-say?

"Transglutaminase is an enzyme made by the fermentation of bacteria and added to meat pieces to make them stick together. Yes, "meat glue" – it's what's for dinner!

"This is yet another dandy product from industrialized food purveyors that keep inventing new ways to mess with our dinner for their own fun and profit. Right about now, you're probably asking yourself: "Why do they need to glue meat together?"

"Glad you asked. It's so the industry can take cheap chunks of beef and form them into what appears to be a pricey steak. For example, that filet mignon you ordered at the Slaphappy Steakhouse chain recently – was it steak... or transglutaminase? By liberally dusting meat pieces with transglutaminase powder, squishing them into filet mignon-shaped molds, adding a bit of pressure to bond the pieces, and chilling them – voila, four-bucks-a-pound stew meat looks like a $25-a-pound filet mignon!

"While meat glue is widely used, corporations peddling molded meat are not eager to let us consumers in on their little secret. Well, sniffs the meat industry's lobbying group, they have to list transglutaminase on the ingredient label and stamp the package as "formed" or "reformed" meat. How honest! Except that most of these glued steaks are peddled as filet mignon through high-volume restaurants, hotels, cafeterias and banquet halls – where unwitting customers never see the package or ingredient label.

"This is why we should support truth-in-menu laws. Make them say "reformed and glued" filet mignon right on the menu. That simple step lets us decide if we really want to eat that. Consumers should have the right to know... and choose."

Bon appetit!

FYII, Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Kaz — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:54:20 GMT

"Top Obama officials, secretive process create 'assassination list' "

"Snarling banker"

How Congress works...Former JP Morgan Chase lobbyists will be running the Senate Banking Committee's investigations of JPMorgan Chase's up to $7 billion fail whale trade

"Fired up? Ready to go (electrocute people)!

"Catholic institutions sue government over contraception mandate"

"90% of corn seeds coated with Bayer's bee-decimating pesticide"

Quit With the Fabricated Deficit Crap

Kaz — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:53:05 GMT

The deficit is not on regular Americans' radar. What concerns them is the economy and jobs.

As Jon Walker at Firedoglake writes:

"Just one single percent of Americans rank the deficit as the most important issue for them in choosing a president, according to the new Washington Post/ABC News poll.

"The percentage of Americans who think the deficit is the most important issue this election is so incredibly tiny that it is practically unmeasurable. What Americans really care about right now are the immediate economic and employment crises, not potential long term budget projections.

"The bizarre obsession by mainstream media and political elites with the deficit during an employment crisis isn’t based on public outcry, nor is it drive by the market, given that our government borrowing costs are near historic lows. It is a manufactured issue created by billionaires spending literally hundreds of millions to artificially raise its prominence and furthered by those who want to use it as an excuse for their real goal of slashing our social safety net."

Unfortunately, we have the GOP and DINO idiots on Capital Hill and their nitwit media enablers who ignore regular people's demands in order to serve their gazillionaire puppeteers who call the shots.

Jay Ackroyd at Eschaton hits the nail on the head with this:

"More Dancin' with Dave:

REP. RYAN: Well, no, David, I would say they've also raised taxes, they have--this is a cautionary tale of what happens when politicians who make a lot of empty promises end up running out of the ability to borrow money at cheap rates and now they're broken promises. It's a cautionary tale of what will happen to us if we stay on the path we are on. What we're saying is let's get on growth and prevent austerity. The whole premise of our budget is to pre-empt austerity by getting our borrowing under control, having tax reform for economic growth, and preventing Medicare and Social Security and Medicaid from going bankrupt. That pre-empts austerity. The president, his budget, the fact the Senate hasn't done a budget in three years, puts us on a path towards Europeanlike austerity. That's what we're trying to prevent from happening in the first place.

MR. GREGORY: So this is the problem, Senator, whether if the president's message to European leaders is your approach hasn't worked. He wants a pro-growth agenda. What does that mean? More taxes? More spending? More stimulus? Is that his answer for the U.S. economy as well?

SEN. DURBIN: No, Paul, David, I can tell you that Paul and I agree on the basic premise. We are facing serious deficit and debt challenge in this country. Our approaches are different. President Obama, and I agree with his position, thinks that we ought to make certain that we're strong coming out of this recession, that we are creating good jobs and growing businesses.

Transcript

"Did I mention we're doomed?"

Excuse the mixed metaphors but back up the truck and clean out the Augean stables

FYII, Monday, May 21, 2012

Kaz — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:27:45 GMT

"......Break up the big banks now. Here's how."

"The waltz of the zombie banks"

"101 people sentenced to die were later exonerated"

"Nato talks security and peace, Chicago has neither

"War and cheeseburgers"

"Nato summit leaders should have been forced to watch the moving protest of the former troops chucking their medals away."

"The commencement address that won't be given"

Democratic Elected Officials Dance To Wall Street's Tune

Kaz — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:26:47 GMT

The Democratic Party of the 21st century has become a bastion of phony Democratic elected officials who have hoodwinked the Democratic voter base whom they have betrayed in favor of their Wall Street masters.

Glenn Greenwald at Salon has done an excellent job exposing the DINO destruction of the Democratic Party with his commentary, "Democrats and Bain" and captures that ruinous change with the following excerpt:

"Yesterday, Newark Mayor Cory Booker went on Meet the Press and angered hordes of Democrats when he condemned the Obama campaign’s attacks on Bain as “nauseating,” equated the anti-Bain messaging to the GOP’s sleazy use of Jeremiah Wright, and then demanded: “stop the attacks on private equity” (in response to the backlash, Booker then released a hostage-like video recanting his criticisms and pledging his loyalty to President Obama). But as my Salon colleague Steve Kornacki noted, this was not some aberrational outburst from Booker; to the contrary, as Mayor of Newark, home to numerous Wall Street executives and firms, “financial support from Wall Street and, more broadly speaking, the investor class has been key to Booker’s rise, and remains key to his future dreams.”

"But there’s nothing unique in that regard about Booker, who has long been regarded as a rising star in the Party. The same can be said of the Democratic Party generally. There was more or less a conscious decision in the early 1990s that the Party would transform itself into a servant of Wall Street and corporatism. It became the party of Robert Rubin and Larry Summers as it presided over massive de-regulation of the financial industry. And in response, the corporate money poured into the Party’s coffers and hasn’t stopped pouring in. Recall this December, 2008 New York Times article on key Party fundraiser Chuck Schumer — entitled “A Champion of Wall Street Reaps Benefits” — detailing the New York Senator’s loyalty to the banking industry and how crucial it has been in building and sustaining Democratic Party power in Washington:

" "As the financial crisis jolted the nation in September, Senator Charles E. Schumer was consumed. He traded telephone calls with bankers, then became one of the first officials to promote a Wall Street bailout. . . .

" 'The next day, Mr. Schumer appeared at a breakfast fund-raiser in Midtown Manhattan for Senate Democrats. Addressing Henry R. Kravis, the buyout billionaire, and about 20 other finance industry executives . . . “We are not going to be a bunch of crazy, anti-business liberals,” one executive said, summarizing Mr. Schumer’s remarks.' "

" 'As a result, he has collected over his career more in campaign contributions from the securities and investment industry than any of his peers in Congress, with the exception of Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic nominee for president in 2004, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which analyzed federal data. (By 2005, Mr. Schumer had so much cash in reserve that he shut down his fund-raising efforts.)

" 'Lee A. Pickard, a lawyer representing clients including the Bank of New York, whose employees have been significant donors to Mr. Schumer and other Senate Democrats, turned to Mr. Schumer last year to successfully beat back a regulatory initiative by the Securities and Exchange Commission. “If you get Chuck Schumer on your side, you are O.K.,” he said.' "

"And then there’s the always-annoying fact that Wall Street poured far more of its money into President Obama’s 2008 campaign than it did into John McCain’s, then placed large numbersof its former lobbyists and officials in key administration positions beyond just Summers and Tim Geithner, then received full-scale protection for the crimes leading to the 2008 financial crisis. Thus far, the banking industry — angered by Obama’s tepid anti-oligarch rhetoric and symbolic Election Year populist proposals, and excited to elect one of their own — hasdonated substantially more to Romney than Obama. It remains to be seen if that trend continues, but whatever else is true, the Democratic Party has been the recipient of ample amounts of Wall Street largesse for two decades now, and with good reason."

FYII, Friday, May 18, 2012

Kaz — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:52:03 GMT

"NATO occupies sweet home Chicago"

"Senate Banking chair calls Jamie Dimon to testify: But JPMorganChase is his biggest contributor"

"A new politics that rejects austerity and the whims of war"

"Will Schumer propose a 35% tax rate on capital gains and other tax avoidance schemes?"

Catching up with the rest of the true Democrats: Krugman on Romney

"Obama's poverty-relieving plan for Africa a profit boon for giant agribusiness"

Occasionally, DOJ Gets The Obvious

Kaz — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:50:39 GMT

Very occasionally, the Department of Justice recognizes unconstitutionality when it is pointed out by regular Americans after many egregious incidents.

As Chris in Paris at AmericaBlog writes: "Justice Dept. supports right to film police"

"It's one of the few good moves to come out of this Justice Department. Police forces across the US have increasingly been abusing their power during legitimate protests, including taking away video recordings that show abusive police behavior. While such tactics may be normal in some countries, we should never accept that behavior in the US."

"More via Wired:

In a surprising letter (.pdf) sent on Monday to attorneys for the Baltimore Police Department, the Justice Department also strongly asserted that officers who seize and destroy such recordings without a warrant or without due process are in strict violation of the individual’s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

The letter was sent to the police department as it prepares for meetings to discuss a settlement over a civil lawsuit brought by a citizen who sued the department after his camera was seized by police.

In the lawsuit, Christopher Sharp alleged that in May 2010, Baltimore City police officers seized, searched and deleted the contents of his mobile phone after he used it to record them as they were arresting a friend of his.

FYII, Thursday, May 17, 2012

Kaz — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:45:30 GMT

"NDAA's 'indefinite detentions' provision' unconstitutional, says judge"

"Another Koch-funded stealth campaign": discrediting climate teaching.

"Behind locked capitol doors, in an almost clandestine operation, Missouri Republicans honor Limbaugh"

"Obama can't knock the hustle" and "The dog that didn't bark: Obama on JP Morgan"

"Those 'flying coffin' F-22 Raptor duds"

FYII, Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Kaz — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:49:31 GMT

"Bill Clinton, Boehner, and some other rich white guys had a 'summit' and agreed: " "It's all your fault' "

"Greeks to face month of Eurozone 'fear mongering' to swallow austerity"

Anti-women's rights...."Pharmacists in Kansas can now deny women access to birth control"

Any union member voting for Romney is nuts.

"Obama's new free speech threat"

Too Many DINOs

Kaz — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:48:18 GMT

Are there any 21st century New Deal Democrats holding office or just millionaire DINO Wall Street corporatist hacks spewing GOP lite? Let's see, some of the Dem base thought Eric Schneiderman was in the first category.

Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism exposes the NY Attorney General as an Obama DINO.

"As regular readers no doubt recall, Eric Schneiderman abandoned the dissident state attorney general effort to get a better mortgage settlement, assuring the Administration a win on this sellout to the banks. The bright shiny prize Schneiderman got in return for his betrayal was serving as one of five co-chairmen on a Federal mortgage task force, which appears to have gotten close to nada in resources beyond the staff in various Federal agencies who were already working on mortgage investigations. And given that were are now close to a full five years past the origination of toxic subprime deals, those existing investigations don’t exactly look to have been pursued with much in the way of vigor.

"We’ve criticized the Schneiderman sell out, yet the PR push to position him as the True Hero of What Passes for the left continues apace, including some ham-handed efforts like the American Prospect’s “The Man the Banks Fear Most“.

"Schneiderman today proved the skeptics to be correct (hat tip reader Peter). From a writeup in the New York Law Journal of a presentation Schneiderman made on white collar crime. It seems Schneiderman is in favor of it:

" 'Noting his role as co-chair of President Barack Obama’s mortgage-fraud task force, he said that he was “very pro-Wall Street” and had represented somefinancial services firms in private practice.
" 'He said that the majority of people working in the financial industry are honest, but added that the “ability to tell people that and not have people scoff has been damaged” by ongoing scandals.' "

And, what a surprise....not! Obama isn't polling well among independent voters regarding mortgages/housing foreclosures and not holding big banks accountable.

"This telling admission of the truth comes as polls in swing states show that ordinary citizens aren’t fooled about Obama’s sell out on the mortgage front and to big banks. From CFS:

" '….majorites of independent likely voters in three swing states (Nevada, Arizona, and North Carolina) and near-majorities in two others (Pennsylvania and Florida) say they disapproved of Barack Obama’s handling of the housing crisis, and majorities in each state say the Administration is not doing enough to police Wall Street banksi in the housing market.
" 'Strong majorities of likely voters in each state polled – Nevada, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania – also say the economic crisis was caused partly by criminal actions of Wall Street executives.' "

"It is going to be instructive to see whether token gestures by the Administration on the financial front between now and the election will be enough to fool voters who have suffered serious economic setbacks."

FYII, Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Kaz — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:23:02 GMT

"Why Jamie Dimon's $2 billion gambling loss will NOT speed financial reform"

"....Dimon, the Whale Man, and Glass-Steagall"

"Financial Regulation: Don't get your hopes up"

"The human disaster of unemployment"

And so it continues across the country in countless election.....overheated paper ballot op-scan counters mis-tally 70% of votes. Wow! Just in time for 2012 presidential elections.

"The GOP's dead end path to prosperity"

"US arms sale to Bahrain sends wrong signal, groups say"

"Are virus powered cell phone around the corner?" and what about "bacteria powered magnets and the bio-computer era"?

Wall Street Casino

Kaz — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:20:45 GMT

The Wall Street casino privatizes wins aka profits and socializes losses (government aka taxpayer bailouts), aided and abetted by Wall Street's puppets, the anti-regulatory GOP and DINO elected officials.

It's succinctly described by Atios.......

"I'm An Excellent Gambler"

"Sure some might actually be able to move markets with big positions or exploit insider information, but basically everybody playing in the Great Casino is just gambling. It's not a new original point, but with enough people gambling some will have extended winning runs, convincing themselves in the process that they are truly excellent gamblers. Helps a bit if the ATM next to the roulette table regularly spits out free money from the Fed, Treasury, or the deposits and investment accounts of your clients to let you keep on doubling down.

"Until you lose of course."

FYII, Monday, May 14, 2012

Kaz — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:07:08 GMT

"Jamie Dimon's JPMorgan Chase: Why its the scandal of our time"

"Must we stand idly by while world leaders spout this codswallop"

"Five facts that put America to shame"

"America as a shining drone upon a hill"

"Business insider CEO: 'Wall Street is just a bunch of kids playing with dynamite' "

Codswallopping Colin Powell, GOP Man of Integrity

Kaz — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:06:04 GMT

I love the English word, "codswallop". Just the sound tells you it's something yucky and a wonderful description for hypocritical hogwash. It also perfectly describes Colin Powell's claim in his recent book that he didn't know that his 2003 accusations of Iraq's possession of WMDs to the UN were lies.

Yet, the Very Serious People continue to trot him out as an example of a GOP man of integrity, which speaks volumes about him and them.

Well, in case you forgot or didn't know about Powell, Jon Schwarz at A Tiny Revolution posts this:

"In his new book, It Worked For Me: In Life and Leadership, Colin Powell writes this about his 2003 presentation at the United Nations about Iraq's supposed WMD: "I get mad when bl*ggers accuse me of lying – of knowing the information was false. I didn’t."

"Well, I'm a blugger, and I accuse Colin Powell of lying. The evidence is overwhelming that he knew much of what he said in front of the Security Council was false.

"This may not seem plausible to people who know Powell only via the media image he's carefully constructed over decades – that of being Washington's last honorable man. As journalist Margaret Carlson said in 2003, "Whatever Colin does, I’ll go with."

"But in fact Powell's image has about as much to do with reality as what he told the UN. Though his entire career Powell has eagerly bent the truth to please his superiors. He started his climb up the Army ladder by covering up the massacre of civilians by U.S. troops in Vietnam, even serving as a character witness for a general who apparently shot Vietnamese from helicopters for fun. During the 1980s, when Powell was assistant to then-Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, he also helped cover up the Iran-contra scandal, and almost certainly deceived congressional investigators. (If there were a Museum of Washington's Funniest Lies, it would have its own wing for Powell's statement that, "To my recollection, I don't have a recollection.")

"So everyone's default assumption should have been that Powell would lie to Americans and the world at the UN. And – as anyone can see just by looking at what's in the public record – he did....."

Go read the rest.

FYII, Friday, May 11, 2012

Kaz — Fri, 11 May 2012 19:36:42 GMT

"JP Morgan's $2 billion tumble renews call: Break up the big banks" and also the case for resurrecting Glass-Steagall

"Will Democrats embrace 'Austerity American style? Crash this party and find out"

"Chicago police ready for NATO summit protestors with 'sound cannon' " but "despite Rahm Emanuel's best efforts, there will be protest"

"Child labor and Agribusiness churn Washington's food fight"

"Should we simply say that any exports -- no matter their moral, ethical, environmental or health implications -- are inherently good?"

FYII, Thursday, May 10, 2012

Kaz — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:54:27 GMT

Bipartisanship is dying and shouldn't be mourned"

"Despite marriage equality shift, Obama still won't sign LGBT anti-discrimination executive order"

"We're fighting in a war we lost, before the war began"

"US military taught officers: 'Hiroshima' tactics for 'total war' on Islam"

"Holding Bank of America to account"???? however, ".....how that bank silenced a whole town"

"Wall Street's immunity"

GOP Alice in Wonderland

Kaz — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:53:42 GMT

Republicans promote, protect and defend a government of, by, and for the wealthy few and corporations. Tax cuts or no taxes for the rich. Everyone else: you're on your own. It's a GOP Alice in Wonderland where up is down, lies are facts, illogic is logic....you get the picture.

The inimitable Jim Hightower captures this GOP mind(less) set.

"The news of massive bribery by Wal-Mart's Mexican subsidiary has filled Republican Rep. Darrell Issa with outrage – not at the corporation's corruption, but at those who're outraged by it.

"A former corporate CEO himself, Issa recently said: "Bashing private enterprise for trying to expand and make a profit on behalf of their stockholders seems to me to be a goal that I don't really understand." Well gosh, Darrell, we can explain to you again that bribery is both immoral and illegal, but we can't comprehend it for you.

"Yet, even this obtuse corporate-hugging lawmaker might finally be able to grasp Wal-Mart's ethical turpitude, for its scandalous behavior is now spilling into his own realm: Congress. It turns out that while the predatory Behemoth of Bentonville was profiting by systematically violating America's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, it also had two powerful political forces working ever so quietly on Capitol Hill to weaken – guess what? – the very law it was flagrantly violating.

"Wal-Mart is a prominent funder of and player in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, sitting on the governing boards that direct the lobbying agendas of the two front groups. Now it's been revealed that both groups have been lobbying since 2010 to limit a parent corporation's liability for a subsidiary's illegal behavior under the anti-bribery law.

"What a rabbit hole we've tumbled into! Wal-Mart executives brazenly broke the law to enrich themselves, covered up their dishonesty for years, secretly tried to have their illegalities redefined as legal – and are now grinning like Cheshire Cats as a Congress critter howls that critics of their lawlessness are "bashing private enterprise." The Mad Hatter's tea party wasn't as twisted as this."

FYII, Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Kaz — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:17:07 GMT

House Repugs want to "trim the fat.....like feeding poor kids and senior to protect military spending from automatic cuts"

"Making chemical giants happy at our expense"

"Showdown in Charlotte" with protests outside and inside BofA shareholders' meeting, andactivists want DNC convention moved out of NC?

"They never intended to share it"

"DC Democrats upset that Feingold called out Pelosi game of footsie with Bowles-Simpson"and exposes the hypocrisy of the Progressive Caucus.

If it looks like a duck and acts like a duck......."ALEC says it's not a lobbying group as some state quietly exempt it from lobbying rules"

Local Virginia Republican Party right wing nut suggests armed insurrection if Obama wins re-election

GOP and DINO Deficit Scam To Enrich The 1%

Kaz — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:15:03 GMT

The deficit scam has been perpetrated by the Republicans, aided and abetted by DINOs in the White House and on Capitol Hill in order to protect and further enrich the wealthy few and corporations while causing economic harm and suffering for regular people.

Dave Johnson at Our Future explains in a deficit story about Republicans and DINOs that it illuminating and exposes their hypocrisy.

"Atrios says it: Eschaton: Planning For 10 Years From Now:

The last time the an administration did the supposedly responsible thing, the fiscal "hawks" suddenly decided that the worst possible thing was no longer a deficit, but a surplus, and that therefore it was necessary to have massive tax cuts for rich people.
And they will, of course, do it again.

"Any time any DC elite complains about "the deficit" remind them that when Clinton left office we had a huge surplus, so big that at the rate it was being paid down the entire US debt was going to be paid off in 10 years. Bush demanded that we give back the people's money and Greenspan warned of the danger of paying off the debt. Etc. Etc. Etc. Then Bush doubled military spending -- and started two wars on top of that!

"So we went from big surplus to huge, huge deficits. Bush said it was "incredibly positive news" when we went back into deficit spending. He said it was good news because it continued the plan to use debt to force the government to cut back. He said that. It was the plan. (Don't take my word for it, click the links.)

"The Reagan people said it too, back when they started the massive deficit spending. It was the plan: force the country into massive debt, "starve the beast," and use that to force the government out of business, or at least to be "small enough to drown in a bathtub." They forced the tax cuts and Reagan said this was "cutting the government's allowance." The point was to use revenue cutbacks to force government to shrink, to get out of the way of the 1%.

"Now that government is very much out of the way of the 1% we are seeing how things work out when the 1% dominate everything.

"They called it "strategic deficits." They said it was the plan to force the country into debt, and then they would demand that we cut the things that government does for the 99%, in order to further enrich the 1%. They would scare everyone by saying that the debt will destroy us so we have to cut back. That was the plan. They said that was the plan. And now that the plan is being executed, we should understand that it was the plan and not fall for it!

"They said it was the plan. So as the plan unfolds, don't be so surprised."

FYII, Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Kaz — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:47:20 GMT

"Social Security is not going broke"

"On both sides of the Atlantic, the social ties that bind our political, legal and corporate forces lie exposed"

"How dare the French and the Greeks reject a failed strategy!"

"Sarkozy's footsteps: Will the Democrats be next?"

"New schemes hold the public hostage to private finance"

"Wall Street's speed freaks"

"A sham for Wal-Mart's scam"

Continuing to win hearts and minds in Afghanistan

FYII, Friday, May 4, 2012

Kaz — Fri, 04 May 2012 21:22:37 GMT

"There is a plague upon our land"

"The so-called 'recovery' isn't working for working people"

"The stall has arrived"

"More federal judge abdication; a craven subservience to Executive branch security claims"

"Volunteerism or exploitation? Labor Department's 'Bridge to Work' program rankles some"

"New study refutes claims that tasers are 'non-lethal' "

"AZ review shows private prisons cost more. So legislature ends the study"

"....new survey showing Virginians have a very low opinion of Eric Cantor (VA-07)"

With DINOs Like These......

Kaz — Fri, 04 May 2012 21:20:39 GMT

Just how blatantly can this DINO administration show that it is illogical, anti-common sense, anti-common good, and GOP lite? How much more conspicuously can it dance to the tune of its corporate masters?

Well, the following is a another prime example.

From John Walker at Firedoglake:

"In what is a truly pathetic and what can only be seen as a deeply corrupt move by the Obama administration, companies who engage in hydraulic fracturing will only need to disclose what chemicals they use after the well has been drilled. From the New York Times:

But in a significant concession to the oil industry, companies would have to reveal the composition of fluids only after the drilling of a well is completed, not before, a sharp change from the government’s original proposal, which would have required disclosure of the chemicals 30 days before a well could be started.
The weakening of the rule followed a series of meetings at the White House after the original regulation was proposed in February. Lobbyists representing oil industry trade associations and individual major producers like ExxonMobil, XTO Energy, Apache, Samson Resources and Anadarko Petroleum met with officials of the Office of Management and Budget, who reworked the rule to address industry concerns about overlapping state regulations and the cost of compliance.

"The whole point of disclosure is to protect people from potential dangers, to stop something bad from happening before it happens. If you know what the chemicals are beforehand you can at least theoretically try to address concerns before something irreversible occurs.

"If the data is only released after the well is drilled, it is too late. Any possible damage is already done. Once the chemicals have already been pumped into the ground there is no way to ever get all of them back out. At that point the die is cast.

"This is disturbingly pathetic. The Obama’s administration decided to side with big oil over the American people and basic common sense. The people who made this decision should be ashamed of themselves."

With DINOs like these..........????

FYII, Thursday, May 3, 2012

Kaz — Thu, 03 May 2012 19:48:00 GMT

"Why Obama is not ending the war in Afghanistan"

"Media gets bored with Occupy----and inequality"

"Why we must 'follow the money' of 2012's political ad spend"

"High cost of health care: US spending 'dwarfs' other countries'

"The slickest stunt at SeaWorld"

"ALEC's top five anti-environment 'model' laws"

FYII, Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Kaz — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:38:42 GMT

"The recovery is really good at creating bad jobs"

"Bribery as a business model"

"13 workers killed each day on the job in 2010 (the most recent for which data are available)"

"New study predicts frack fluids can migrate to aquifers within years"

"How can you tell a really smart rich guy from a really silly one? The really smart one would never spend four years writing a book that tries to justify the incredible riches of incredibly rich people."

US Troops Consigned To Yet Another Decade in Afghanistan

Kaz — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:37:11 GMT

So, US troops will now stay in Afghanistan for another decade plus says the president in a midnight meeting with Karzai in Kabul.

From Common Dreams:

"President Obama's secret trip to Afghanistan, shrouded in secrecy for security reasons, culminated in a midnight meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the signing of a 'strategic partnership agreement', the full details of which have not been made available to either the American or Afghan public.

" 'If ever there was an image to convey the limits of the UK-US success in Afghanistan, it was the way that Barack Obama, the Commander-in-Chief of the liberating, Taliban-scattering forces was forced to skulk into Kabul last night under the cover of darkness,' " writes theTelegraph's Peter Foster. " 'After landing at Bagram Airbase just after 10pm local time, there was a low-level, cover-of-darkness helicopter insertion to the Presidential Palace where the ten-page deal (which contains no specifics on funding or troop levels) was signed around midnight.' "

"Though Obama spoke optimistically of 'light of a new day' in Afghanistan and many media reports heralded the agreement as a 'signal to the end of war', other analysts arrived at different conclusions.

" 'Interestingly," writes Jason Ditz at Anti-war.com, " 'with the ink now drying on the document and the US officially committed to the occupation of Afghanistan for another decade, officials are continuing to tout 2014 as the “end” of the war. This speaks to how the 2024 date, though openly discussed by the Karzai government in Afghanistan and privately acknowledged as part of the secret pact, has not been publicly presented to the American public. When they will officially spring it on us remains unclear.' "

"US veteran Sgt. Jacob George, who served in Afghanistan but now speaks out against the war, argued the agreement speaks to the futility of US military efforts in Afghanistan that began with the US invasion in 2001. “ 'The agreement actually allows for sustaining a ‘post-conflict’ force of 20,000 to 30,000 troops for a continued training of indigenous forces. They are pretending this is something new, but it’s not. That’s what I was doing in 2001 — and 2002, 2003 and 2004. This is just disastrous, for ten years, with the greatest military the world has ever seen, we’ve been unable to defeat people with RPGs. And a year after Bin Laden was killed, we’re still planning to keep tens of thousands of troops there.' ”

" 'Does anyone think our staying until 2024 is going to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan?' " ask Kevin Martin and Michael Eisenscher in an op-ed today on Common Dreams. " 'We’ve already been there for eleven years – the longest war in our country’s history. What do we really have to show for it? We’ve spent almost $523 billion. Almost 2000 Americans have been killed and another 15,300 wounded. 1000 NATO troops have lost their lives.' " Eisenscher is National Coordinator of U.S. Labor Against the War and Martin is the executive director of Peace Action.

"They continue: " 'Staying through 2024 will be a hard sell to the majority of Americans. According to last week’s Pew Research public opinion poll, only about a third of those polled think U.S. troops should stay in Afghanistan 'until the situation there is stabilized' (whatever that means). About two-thirds of Obama supporters, and almost as many swing voters (who make up nearly a quarter of the electorate), want a swift withdrawal of U.S. troops, while Mitt Romney supporters are split just about evenly."

For other information and opinions about the midnight signing ceremony and its consequences check here and here.

This executive order, not a treaty, since it has not been ratified by Congress, will keep US military in Afghanistan for more than ten years, until 2024 instead of bringing them all home, to be reunited with their families as captured in this touching video from Jonathan Turley's blog.

FYII, Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Kaz — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:38:32 GMT

"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday"

"Budgets: the ultimate lie-detector"

"....Obama's assassination of al-Qaida's leader has not altered a US default of being mired in disastrous foreign wars

"Why are we striking? Or to put it another way---What's wrong with the world?"

"Bread, Circuses and the Edwards prosecution"

"Latin America delivers a swift kick"

"May Day protests across the globe"

Restoring May Day

Kaz — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:37:20 GMT

Restoring May Day in the United States.....a timely history lesson about the struggles of workers.

It's a history that resonates today in this country of egregious economic inequality, continuing unemployment hardships for so many, stagnant wages for the majority versus massive wealth for the 1%, a plutocratic, corporate controlled government of, by, and for the wealthy few.

Instead of fairness, real justice, and true equality thanks to a 21st century New Deal, regular Americans struggle to survive in a 21st century Gilded Age of the disgustingly rich few, increasing poverty for many, and a disappearing middle class.

David Swanson writes at Firedoglike:

".....Labor Day was created at a completely different time of year — labor day without the struggle, labor day without the history, labor day without the labor movement....

"Two key steps are helping to restore May Day to us. First, recent immigrants from the rest of the world — which has continued to celebrate May Day even as we who began it have forgotten it — have brought it back as a day to demand rights for immigrants. Second, the Occupy movement is building a broad movement combining demands for civil rights, economic rights, and peace. And as part of that process, we are studying people’s history instead of the sort of history approved by the Texas School Board and other big buyers of lousy text books.

"May Day in year 126 since May Day began is showing signs of out-shining the May Days we’ve seen for many years. May Day is the commemoration of the Haymarket Massacre and the struggle for an 8-hour day in Chicago.

"May Day had a long history in Europe as a seasonal celebration of rebirth and hope. It was also the first of a month, an ideal time for strikes in industrialized nineteenth-century America where workers tended to be paid at the end of the month. At its 1884 convention the American Federation of Labor adopted a resolution that all labor would strike on May 1, 1886, to demand an eight-hour day. The media, which in this country has always been completely fair and balanced, predicted a violent Communist insurrection. The Chicago Tribune reported oh so responsibly: “Every lamp-post in Chicago will be decorated with a communistic carcass if necessary to prevent wholesale incendiarism or prevent any attempt at it.”

And from Dave Zirin at The Nation his piece about visiting Población La Victoria, a small, self-contained suburb outside of Santiago, Chile,

"...On one corner, I looked and found myself on an avenue called Los Mártires de Chicago....

".....The avenue was in fact named after Albert Parsons, August Spies, Adolph Fischer and George Engel: four Chicago socialist/anarchists executed in Illinois in 1887 for the crime of being leaders of the mass labor struggle for the eight-hour work day. They are the men remembered the world over on May 1, otherwise known as May Day.

"Officially, they were hung for a bomb that went off among police at a labor rally in Chicago’s Haymarket Square. But not even the prosecutor, Julius Grinnell, carried the pretension that they were actually guilty.

"As Grinnell said in his summation to the jury,

Law is on trial. Anarchy is on trial. These men have been selected, picked out by the grand jury and indicted because they are leaders. They are no more guilty than those thousands who follow them. Gentlemen of the jury: convict these men, make examples of them, hang them and you save our institutions, our society.

"Their hanging was supposed to kill the movement as well. But as Spies said so famously in his last words at trial,

If you think that by hanging us, you can stamp out the labor movement—the movement from which the downtrodden millions, the millions who toil and live in want and misery—the wage slaves—expect salvation—if this is your opinion, then hang us! Here you will tread upon a spark, but there, and there, and behind you and in front of you, and everywhere, flames will blaze up. It is a subterranean fire. You cannot put it out.

"It’s a remarkable testimony to Spies’s words and courage that their memory continues to blaze in a small corner of Chile, not to mention in massive gatherings and protests the world over."

FYII, Friday, April 27, 2012

Kaz — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:24:34 GMT

"The 'Arizonafication' of the US immigration debate"

"Postal workers unions continue fight to stop massive USPS cutbacks"

"Facebook lobbies Washington to 'Like' spying on users"

"What foreign corporations will Obama empower to undermine environmental law near you?"

"The politics of sight"

"The legacy of Chernobyl"

"The meaning of 'austerity measures' in Eurospeak"

"Marco Rubio, GOP veepstaker, another flip-flopping Pinocchio"

The Hypocrisy Of DINOs

Kaz — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:23:03 GMT

What you get with a DINO administration and DINOs on Capitol Hill is GOP lite. It's helping destroy the common good. And we are asked to re-elect this DINO president, despite his betrayals of that common good, because the GOP alternative would be a disaster. That's damning with faint praise, indeed.

Richard (R.J.) Eskow at Our Future hits the nail on the head with this posting (excerpts below) on this hypocrisy by this DINO administration.

"Forgery. Perjury. Investor fraud. Bribery. Money laundering. The body of evidence against individuals at the nation’s biggest banks is overwhelming. Nothing speaks louder about the banks’ guilt than this evidence - nothing, that is, except the billions they’ve paid to settle the charges.

"The Administration reacted indignantly this week to suggestions it’s still slow-walking its investigation. And then, despite all this evidence, the Treasury Secretary of the United States proclaimed that no laws had been broken. And the White House wonders why its word is no longer enough?

"A source in the office of a key figure in the investigation has denied a new story that they’re ruled out criminal prosecutions. But the burden of proof has shifted. Nothing will convince the public now now except action.

"Whether it’s JPMorgan Chase settling bribery charges in Alabama, Wells Fargo settling charges of laundering drug-cartel money in Mexico, or the nation’s five largest banks buying their way out of widespread foreclosure fraud and tax evasion, never in history has so much evidence led to so little action. Investigators pinpointed the fraudulent activity of individual accountants in GE Capital’s settlement with the SEC, only to be dumbfounded to discover that no criminal indictments were handed down.

"So it was nothing short of astonishing to hear the Secretary of the Treasury assert yesterdaythat no crimes were committed by America’s banks, saying that “most financial crises are caused by a mix of stupidity and greed and recklessness and risk-taking and hope” and adding “you can't legislate away stupidity and risk-taking and greed and recklessness.”

"That’s a straw-man argument, since nobody has suggested outlawing character traits. The Administration’s critics are pointing to a mound of evidence implicating bankers in criminal activity and asking the simple question: Where are the prosecutions?

"Geithner was doubling down on an assertion his boss made last December, when President Obama told 60 Minutes that ““Some of the most damaging behavior on Wall Street — in some cases some of the least ethical behavior on Wall Street — wasn’t illegal.”

"Deliberately or not, that sent a message to bankers that they could stop worrying about indictments - that is, if they ever had worried. Why would they? There’s been no investigation, no grilling, no subpoenaing of bank executives’ emails or phone records. And as far back as 2010, Eric Holder and his Justice Department were trying to pass off long-standing investigations as part of a major assault against financial fraud called “Operation Blind Trust.”

"The DoJ's claims were quickly debunked and “Blind Trust” was shown to be nothing more than a deception which a Bloomberg columnist said used “trumped-up numbers.” The Columbia Journalism Review summed up their recap of “Blind Trust” coverage with the headline, "Obama Administration’s Financial Fraud Task Force Stunt Misfires."

"The real problem is this: As long as bankers know they won’t be prosecuted for committing crimes they’ll commit them again. Officials in the Justice Department and elsewhere privately express fears that it will be difficult to obtain convictions after so much time has passed, or in cases where intent is difficult to prove.

"But they don’t even look like they’re trying. Comments like Mr. Geithner’s only add to the perception that bankers have a free pass to commit crimes without fear of prosecution. That’s not just an injustice. It’s also a threat to our economic security.

".... The public needs to see action, and it needs to see it now."

FYII, Thursday, April 26, 2012

Kaz — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:34:55 GMT

"Is your candidate for higher office 'politically insane? Five telltale signs."

"The key to reviving U.S. workers’ fortunes may be as simple as amending the Civil Rights Act".

"The NSA, which dwarfs the CIA, is so powerful that those with oversight are too intimidated to check its incursions on liberty"

"Halfway through the lost decade"

"Relax, it's just a run-of-the-mill nuke spill"

"America's mad cow crisis"

"Washington Capitals win over Boston Bruins spurs spasm of racism"

A Third Bush Term????

Kaz — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:33:44 GMT

During the Bush administration, many of us thought we were living in an Orwellian nightmare. However, under this DINO administration, the Owellian environment has been strengthened with a mixture of Alice in Wonderland.

Two items from Glenn Greenwald at Salon capture the absurdity and delusion.

The first:

"Ten days ago, I wrote about a request made by CIA Director David Petraeus to expand the drone war in Yemen......

"At the time, I wrote that “it’s unclear whether Obama will approve Petraeus’ request for the use of ‘signature strikes’ in Yemen,” though that was true only in the most technical sense. It was virtually impossible to imagine that a request from David Petraeus, of all people, to Barack Obama, of all people, for authority to target even more people in Yemen for death, now without even knowing who they are, would be anything but quickly and eagerly approved. And that is exactly what has now happened, as the Post‘s Greg Miller reports today:

"The United States has begun launching drone strikes against suspected al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen under new authority approved by President Obama that allows the CIA and the military to fire even when the identity of those who could be killed is not known, U.S. officials said. . . .

"So here’s yet another war that Obama is escalating, now ordering people’s death with greater degrees of recklessness, now without even bothering to know who is being targeted.....

"Beyond the moral aspect — which Serious People do not comment upon, since it implies that the U.S. does not have the right to kill whomever it wants: only strategic objections are permitted — it is crystal clear that, as usual, this aggression will only worsen the very problem it is ostensibly intended to solve.

"Then there’s the question of what legal authority exists for Obama to order the targeting of Yemenis who very well may have nothing to do even with the “Al Qaeda” group in Yemen: one which itself did not even exist as of the time the 2001 AUMF was enacted. As Yale Professor Bruce Ackerman argued this weekend in The Washington Post, Obama, by approving of these strikes, is “breaking the legal barrier that Congress erected to prevent the White House from waging an endless war on terrorism.”

The second item:

"President Obama gave an interview to Rolling Stone‘s Jann Wenner this week and was asked about his administration’s aggressive crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries, including ones located in states where medical marijuana is legal and which are licensed by the state; this policy is directly contrary to Obama’s campaign pledge to not “use Justice Department resources to try and circumvent state laws about medical marijuana.” Here’s part of the President’s answer:

" 'I never made a commitment that somehow we were going to give carte blanche to large-scale producers and operators of marijuana – and the reason is, because it’s against federal law. I can’t nullify congressional law. I can’t ask the Justice Department to say, 'Ignore completely a federal law that’s on the books' ” . . . .

"Aside from the fact that Obama’s claim about the law is outright false — as Jon Walkerconclusively documents, the law vests the Executive Branch with precisely the discretion he falsely claims he does not have to decide how drugs are classified — it’s just extraordinary that Obama is affirming the “principle” that he can’t have the DOJ “turn the othe way” in the face of lawbreaking. As an emailer just put it to me: “Interesting how this principle holds for prosecuting [medical] marijuana producers in the war on drugs, but not for prosecuting US officials in the war on terror. Or telecommunications companies for illegal spying. Or Wall Street banks for mortgage fraud.”

"That’s about as vivid an expression of the President’s agenda, and his sense of justice, and the state of the Rule of Law in America, as one can imagine. The same person who directed the DOJ to shield torturers and illegal government eavesdroppers from criminal investigation, and who voted to retroactively immunize the nation’s largest telecom giants when they got caught enabling criminal spying on Americans, and whose DOJ has failed to indict a single Wall Street executive in connection with the 2008 financial crisis or mortgage fraud scandal, suddenly discovers the imperatives of The Rule of Law when it comes to those, in accordance with state law, providing medical marijuana to sick people with a prescription."

It like a third Bush term.

FYII, Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Kaz — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:56:14 GMT

"Two Blue Dogs defeated in Pennsylvania primaries"

"The DCCC....not a friend of working families"

"Romney's economic fix and the inequity of private-equity hustlers"

"Crime boasting for profit"

"Unorthodox exception or preferential treatment? Brooklyn DA refuses to release names of orthodox Jews accused of child abuse"

"Mad cow disease case in US was a 'one-off' caused by a mutation"

FYII, Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Kaz — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:37:46 GMT

"Social Security and Medicare: Myth vs. Fact" and Experts: Contrary to mainstream myth, Social Security is strong and could be made stronger"

"Why does OSHA move at a glacial pace?"

"Nestle's new deal is deja vu: profits trumping public health"

Wal-Mart's huge Mexico bribery scandal fallout

"The lesson for Obama of Europe's failed austerity"

"Labor action and inaction in Colombia Free Trade Deal"

An Orwellian Trial: What Needs To Be Kept Secret Is A Secret

Kaz — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:36:44 GMT

Transparency and accountability are supposed to be some of the hallmarks of this democratic country. Unfortunately, it is suppression and secrecy that seem to be dominant, trumping the constitutional rights that were once valued. What's even more Orwellian is that it's happening under a president and his administration and its supporters who criticized Bush for trampling on the Constitution.

Michael Ratner writes in The Guardian:

"On 24 April, a hearing in one of the most important court martial cases in decades will take place in Fort Meade, Maryland. The accused faces life in prison for the 22 charges against him, which include "aiding the enemy" and "transmitting defense information". His status as an alleged high-profile whistleblower and the importance of the issues his case raises should all but guarantee the proceedings a prominent spot in major media, as well as in public debate.

"Yet, in spite of the grave implications, not to mention the press and public's first amendment right of full and open access to criminal trials, no outside parties will have access to the evidence, the court documents, court orders or off-the-record arguments that will ultimately decide his fate. Under these circumstances, whatever the outcome of the case, the loser will be the transparency necessary for democratic government, accountable courts and faith in our justice system.

"In the two years since his arrest for allegedly leaking the confidential files that exposed grand-scale military misconduct, potential war crimes and questionable diplomatic tactics,army private Bradley Manning has been subjected to an extremely secretive criminal procedure. It is a sad irony that the government's heavy-handed approach to this case only serves to underscore the motivations – some would say, the necessity – for whistleblowing like Manning's in the first place.

"The most well-known of the leaked files, a 39-minute video entitled "Collateral Murder", depicts three brutal attacks on civilians by US soldiers during the course of just one day of the Iraq war. The footage, recorded from the cockpit of a US Apache helicopter involved in the attacks, shows the killing of several individuals, including two Reuters journalists, as well as the serious injury of two children. Beyond the chilling images of US soldiers eagerly pleading for chances to shoot, the release of this footage placed a spotlight on the military's blatant mischaracterization of the events, in which a spokesman claimed that there was "no question" that the incident involved engagement with "a hostile force", and underscores the vital role that public scrutiny plays in government accountability.

"As an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and a legal adviser toWikiLeaks and Julian Assange, I continue to attend Manning's hearings and can only describe them as a theater of the absurd: the trial involves numerous and lengthy off-the-record conferences, out of sight and hearing of the press and public, after which the judge provides an in-court summary that hardly satisfies standards of "open and public". Perhaps more remarkable is the refusal even to provide the defense with a pre-trial publicity order signed by the judge – an order that details what lawyers can and cannot reveal about the case. Yes, even the degree to which proceedings should be kept in secret is a secret, leaving the public and media chained in a Plato's Cave, able only to glimpse the shadows of reality.

"The greater issue at hand is why this process should be necessary at all. As circuit judge Damon Keith famously wrote in Detroit Free Press v Ashcroft, "Democracies die behind closed doors." Yet it is evident from the many layers of secrecy around Manning's arrest, imprisonment and prosecution that the government shows no sign of relinquishing its claimed powers to obscure rightfully transparent judicial proceedings. The doors appear to be tightly shut.

"Unless we challenge the growing culture of secrecy within our government, and counter the ever-increasing, reflexive claims of "national security" by claiming our own constitutional rights, we risk finding those doors shut indefinitely."

FYII, Monday, April 23, 2012

Kaz — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:09:35 GMT

"Five reasons why the very rich have not earned their money"

"Social Security and Medicare: the number behind the spin"

"Surveillance state evils"

"Shareholders say no on Citigroup CEO pay"

"Our brave new service economy"

"Obama edits out climate change from his Earth Day proclamation"

A Gathering of Incompetents

Kaz — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:02:46 GMT

You can't make this stuff up. The spring meeting of the IMF and the finance ministers of its member nations is a gathering of incompetents, these elite nitwits complimenting each other even though each is stark naked like the emperor.

Scarecrow at Firedoglake captures the absurdity.

"My New York Times tells me the annual spring gathering of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and financial ministers of member nations is underway in Washington, D.C. It seems they’re all worried about the world economy not doing as well as they hoped, so they’re groping for ways to explain why the remedies imposed by our financial elites and elected officials are either failing or may soon.

There is a “light recovery blowing in a spring wind” with “dark clouds on the horizon,” Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said Thursday, at the start of meetings here that will focus on Europe’s troubles and global growth. Ms. Lagarde implored world leaders not to become complacent.

"The word “fail,” will likely not be heard, nor will something as simple as “you’re doing it wrong.” It’s all very polite and diplomatic. As Tim Geithner reminded the Brookings Institute a few days ago, there are “headwinds” out there that just somehow pop up to deflect the best of plans, and no one’s to blame. So member countries need to make sure they apply the appropriate “balance” between growth and austerity, Tim tells us.

"So what are the elites telling themselves? Balance. We need balance. What they mean, I believe, is that countries who are capable of borrowing at reasonable costs should be doing more to stimulate demand and lowering unemployment in their economies. They have to do that because the countries already in depression cannot afford to borrow without paying exorbitant costs, so buying more of their stuff is a good way to help them. In the meantime, all the credit authorities, whether the IMF or the central banks or the Euro-zone stability funds, must promise more billions to their respective “firewalls” — aka bailout funds — because nobody really believes anyone will do the “right” things (and it would be worse if they did), so we best get ready for the next collapse, in Spain, or Italy or wherever.

"Tim Geithner can afford to lecture the Europeans about “balance,” because so far the Administration’s policies have not been quite as stupid as theirs. But we’re trying. The Administration long ago gave up on trying to argue for stimulus; now it must masquerade with ineffective tax cuts while Obama still pursues “grand bargains” that would slash government spending at the federal level while the states are still slashing at the state level. This “balance” is all meant to mollify the complete idiots slightly to the right — aka Republicans — who want to slash government/spending even further — because punishing the poor and unemployed is the moral thing to do. And they have to reverse the massive growth in government created by the socialist Kenyan. Except that’s a complete myth.

"As Krugman, et al have pointed out numerous times, the combined level of government spending relative to GDP has been declining and much of the continuing downward pressure on employment is coming from states laying off teachers and other public workers. One estimate from the Cleveland Fed, via Tim Taylor (h/t Mark Thoma) shows that current government spending as a fraction of the GDP is lower than most of the 1970s and 1980s.

"But facts don’t matter. In the US we face a continuing battle over how much and how quickly to cripple government’s ability to help the economy and those suffering from the elite’s bungling, and the only hope is the economy will grow despite destructive, inhumane government policies.

"Back at the IMF meetings, the intended message from our elites to ordinary citizens is that the elites are watching things closely, and we should trust them. Sentient observers, however, are concluding that our political and financial elites are incompetent and either too ideologically closed or too corrupt to admit it."

Incompetent and/or corrupt, they are killing the rest of us.

FYII, Friday, April 20, 2012

Kaz — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:58:21 GMT

"The unlearned lessons of the BP oil spill or corporations can't be trusted to police themselves"

"Helmsley and the 'Little People' "

"Ann Romney, working woman?"

"Two USA Today journalists hit by smear campaign after their Pentagon propaganda story"

"33 corporations that paid no taxes from 2008-2010 have ties to ALEC

"The Encyclical against cooties"

FYII, Thursday, April 19, 2012

Kaz — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:39:09 GMT

"Obama's policies: the real scandal in Cartagena"

"EPA rules on fracking leave public health, communities at risk"

"OSHA fines company $400,000 for (13 safety violations) grain dust explosion that killed 6.....but where are the criminal prosecutions?."

"BP toxic legacy: a hidden health crisis festers and marine life deformities in the Gulf, as well as deteriorating ecosystems, collapsed fisheries"

"America's drone sickness"

"Vatican smacks down American nuns for daring to care about poor people"

"Tactics and principle as French near vote"