Immortalizing the Immoral

President Barack Obama's fawners suggested he be the next face on Mount Rushmore.  Why stop there?  Why not add the last two Presidents, Clinton and Bush?

President Clinton pushed privatization of government services, which got The Carlyle Group off to a smashing early start.  Private equity greed grew mightily under W.'s two terms.  It's exploded during the Obama years.

These three represent the ruling class, where all that matters is being in power.  Principles aren't needed, however principals, the investor type, are required. 

Bifurcated Rule of Law in U.S.

Those in power aren't held to rule of law:



Those sufficiently powerful aren't constrained by rule of law.

Rumsfeld, Petraeus Linked to U.S. Imposed Torture

The Guardian reported:

The Pentagon sent a US veteran of the "dirty wars" in Central America to oversee sectarian police commando units in Iraq that set up secret detention and torture centres to get information from insurgents. These units conducted some of the worst acts of torture during the US occupation and accelerated the country's descent into full-scale civil war.

Colonel James Steele was a 58-year-old retired special forces veteran when he was nominated by Donald Rumsfeld to help organise the paramilitaries in an attempt to quell a Sunni insurgency, an investigation by the Guardian and BBC Arabic shows.

 A second special adviser reported directly to David Petraeus.  Neither Rumsfeld or Petraeus have been charged with war crimes.  Our "democracy,"  where the ruling class makes the rules, would have it no other way. 

The Guardian/BBC Arabic investigation was sparked by the release of classified US military logs on WikiLeaks that detailed hundreds of incidents where US soldiers came across tortured detainees in a network of detention centres run by the police commandos across Iraq. Private Bradley Manning, 25, is facing a prison sentence of up to 20 years after he pleaded guilty to leaking the documents.

The little people, however principled, must pay.  

Political Theater of the Murdering Absurd

AirForce Times reported that drone air strikes in Afghanistan would no longer be reported.  Oddly, this piece outed Rand Paul on his "spontaneous filibuster."

On Feb. 20 Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., sent a letter to Brennan saying that he would filibuster the nomination over concerns about using RPA strikes inside the U.S., a threat he carried out for over 12 hours on March 6 (Brennan was confirmed the next day). 

Obama hides his program to create more terrorists, while Rand had over two weeks to prepare for his political stunt, which firmly aligned him .with NeoCons, who desperately need the Ron Paul's liberty followers to retake the White House.

Update 3-9-11:  As for democracies killing their citizens with drones, consider Pakistan.  

Annual AIPAC Powerfest

Speaking and attending the annual AIPAC meeting is in a critical event for America's political leaders.  AIPAC's website states the following elected leaders will participate:

Members of Congress

• The Honorable Shelley Berkley, Former Member, United States House of Representatives
• The Honorable Eric Cantor (R-VA), Majority Leader, United States House of Representatives
• The Honorable John Cornyn (R-TX), Republican Whip, United States Senate
• The Honorable Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Vice Chair, Democratic Caucus; Member, Foreign Affairs Committee, United States House of Representatives
• The Honorable Ted Cruz (R-TX), Member, Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate
• The Honorable Ted Deutch (D-FL), Ranking Member, Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia, United States House of Representatives
• The Honorable Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Member, Foreign Affairs Committee, United States House of Representatives
• The Honorable Eliot Engel (D-NY), Ranking Member, Foreign Affairs Committee, United States House of Representatives
• The Honorable Marcia Fudge (D-OH), Chairwoman, Congressional Black Caucus, United States House of Representatives
• The Honorable Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Democratic Whip, United States House of Representatives
• The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman, Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia, United States House of Representatives
• The Honorable Peter King (R-NY), Chairman, Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, United States House of Representatives
• The Honorable Michael McCaul (R-TX), Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security, United States House of Representatives
• The Honorable Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chairman, Foreign Relations Committee, United States Senate
• The Honorable Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee, United States House of Representatives
• The Honorable Brad Sherman (D-CA), Rannking Member, Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, United States House of Representatives

Top issues include 1) more war. 2) more war and 3) money for more wars. The session kicks off in earnest tomorrow.  Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak will meet with U.S. Defense Chief Chuck Hagel after AIPAC.

Update 3-9-11:  This year's AIPANDER results included one House and two Senate bills.  House bill would support an Israeli strike against Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program.  One Senate bill called on the U.S. to logistically support Israel should it feel "compelled" to strike Iran to stop its suspected bomb-making, while the other created a new "super ally designation" for Israel, confirming its 51st state status.

Update 4-19-13:   Jerusalem Post reported  "An overwhelming majority of the US Senate approved a resolution on Monday that stated the intent of Congress to support the “legitimate self-defense” of Israel, with American diplomatic and military power, if the Jewish state chooses to move ahead with a strike on Iran."

America's Surveillance State Knows No Bounds

The Guardian reported on one facet of America's descent into a total surveillance state:

The battered credibility of the Guantánamo trials has been further dented by revelations of hidden microphones, intelligence service interference with court proceedings and protests from lawyers who say the US military is preventing a proper defence of the alleged organisers of the 9/11 attacks.

The increasingly chaotic pre-trial hearings for the alleged mastermind of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four co-accused have slowed progress toward the full trial, to the point where it will now not start until at least 2014. But the latest developments also further undermine confidence in a military court whose legitimacy has long been questioned.

In recent days, the commander of the Guantánamo prison, Colonel John Bogdan, was forced to admit on the witness stand that secret listening devices disguised as smoke detectors were installed in the cell where lawyers met their clients, and that he knew nothing about them.

This means citizens must rely on whistle blowers, those in the inside of the surveillance state, for revelations on its depth and mendacity.  Which brings us to America's treatment of Bradley Manning.

Bradley Manning, the US soldier accused of being behind the largest leak of state secrets in America's history, has been denied the chance to make a whistleblower defence in his upcoming court martial in which he faces possible life in military custody with no chance of parole.

Checkmate, the surveillance state wins.  Obama must be very proud of the payoff that awaits him post public service.

Update 1-2-2017:  President Obama's zero tolerance war on whistleblowers paves the way for President elect Donald Trump, who has already expressed extreme disregard for the press and the role it's played in keeping government responsible and accountable. 

Obama to Continue Summary Executions

A white paper identified the "legal basis" for a U.S. President to order the summary execution of American citizens.  President Obama ramped up the use of drone strikes. The practice violates international law, but the U.S. isn't accountable given its U.N Security Council veto vote.

Not content with exterminating people via drone, Obama wants to turn this tool on citizens.  Hail to Obama, the Drone King!