I’m voting for Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the next presidential election. I’m just going to write in his name on my ballot.

Is Our Dick Going Soft?

Ballheimer’s or Gallheimer’s

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-november-3-2009/is-our-dick-going-soft-

Jeremy Scahill is another journalist I follow–and trust to speak the truth. Just got a link to the following BBC article from one of his “tweets.”

CIA agents guilty of Italy kidnap

An Italian judge has convicted 23 CIA agents and two Italian secret agents of the kidnap of a Muslim cleric in 2003.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8343123.stm

***************

Mike,

Here’s a link to a NYT blog post titled NBC Fights to Keep Kucinich Out of Debate

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/nbc-appeals-ruling-on-adding-kucinich-to-debate/?hp

“And isn’t it a fact that certain members of the mainstream media often do their best to marginalize some of these fair-minded folks and have even excluded them from some of the presidential debates?”

FFLEO and Elaine,
Bingo. These are two important elements in the problems the country faces. FFLEO calls himself a conservative and I call myself a liberal, but the doctrinaire, party line approach only causes chaos. Whhichever party is in power. I think the problem though is that in order to get elected to any office one must be ego centric to begin with. The old example of Cincinnatus, taking power, saving his country and returning to farming is probably mythology, or if it isn’t a highly unuasual occurence.

Elaine, your point that the MSM frame the debate and exclude people with points to be made that are outside the establishment’s realm of “common sense” is a good one. Look at how Alan Grayson has been treated by the MSM for stating truths that the MSM won’t mention.

Mr. Greenwald’s columns are daily must-reads. Comments to his topics are also a good read and Glenn often replies to some of the commenters’ questions.

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2009/11/03/arar/index.html

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glen_greenwald/

A Court Decision That Reflects What Type of Country the U. S. Is

“It’s not often that an appellate court decision reflects so vividly what a country has become, but such is the case with yesterday’s ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Arar v. Ashcroft (.pdf).”

Here’s the link to the full article:

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glen_greenwald/2009/11/03/arar/index.html

I remember first reading about Maher Arar in Jane Mayer’s book The Dark Side.

********************

FF LEO

“When we do vote, we select rigid ideologues who champion biased, self-serving ideologies instead of voting for fair-minded legislators/lawmakers, executives, and judges who want what is best for all citizens within our society.”

And isn’t it a fact that certain members of the mainstream media often do their best to marginalize some of these fair-minded folks and have even excluded them from some of the presidential debates?

“Buddha Is Laughing

FFLEO,
I submit that elitist system worked in France too. Until it didn’t.”

Elaine,
I think the answer on Fitzgerald is in now and he was put in there to limit damage, which he did. He was after all appointed by Republicans.

“The most likely outcome for those attempting idealistic reform within the “system” is forced ‘early’ retirement or job loss;”

FFLEO,
I know where you’re coming from, been there and had that done to me. That was why I retired at 55, I was pushed.

I submit that elitist system worked in France too. Until it didn’t.

“See how well that works out for you “elites” in the long run.”
____________________________________________

Unfortunately, it has worked, is working, and will continue to work quite splendidly; there is virtually nothing we citizens can do to rebottle the big, fat genie of corruption and bribes given the narrow bottleneck of our current system of “justice.”

Throughout my 5 full decades-plus of life I have been fortunate to have experienced freedom and to have seen real justice; however, I doubt that my son, his family, and others will have the opportunities that my generation experienced.

Just prior to my retirement—and for almost 4 years since—I have exposed irrefutable evidence of governmental lies and falsification of documents by public “servants.” However, there is essentially no retribution meted to those State and Federal agency personnel and the only recourse is to expose them in newspaper articles, which does not matter to them because you cannot shame people who have no shame in their character.

The most likely outcome for those attempting idealistic reform within the “system” is forced ‘early’ retirement or job loss; those outside the system have even fewer opportunities to effect change. Unfortunately, I can speak from having experienced both venues.

Clearly, if Mr. Obama continues in his current path, I think we citizens have lost any chance of reforming our corrupt systems of government. Obama has apparently tasted the elixir of power and only those having strong character and willfulness can resist the corruption that inevitably follows.

Mr. Cheney is just one high-level example among the many levels of corruption within government; unfortunately, the lazy, uninformed, ignorant, and biased electorate is largely to blame—that being, we the people. When we do vote, we select rigid ideologues who champion biased, self-serving ideologies instead of voting for fair-minded legislators/lawmakers, executives, and judges who want what is best for all citizens within our society.

There will be a point when very large numbers of people cannot pay any of their debts. People have been using credit to survive. When that stops even the banking industry will suffer. The govt. can’t keep bailing the wealthy out forever. We are printing money and we’re prosecuting three wars. We have promised about 27 trillion to the financial industry. Of course, the wealthy assume they will get this money from everyone else, but the numbers don’t add up.

At this point the govt. will have to do something. It is obvious that they have no intention of actually helping the middle, poor and working class. So far they have taken actions to bail out the top 2%, their BFFs. They have not prosecuted people at that level for financial wrongdoing. Instead, they have appointed them to the highest places in the govt. They have also failed to enact regulations and instead set up a system that guarantees another financial bubble. They have hidden their wrongdoing and lies from the public much as they have on past and present war crimes.

What I have seen this govt. do is dry runs on inciting the public. They were successful several times now in eliciting the population to turn against each other. They then ratcheted down the citizen on citizen hatred because it didn’t serve their needs at the time. But they have proof of concept. People will turn on each other, instead of seeing the real source of their suffering. People will not oppose the elites because they will be turning on each other.

This is something we as citizens must work hard at avoiding. We need a united stand against those people in our govt. and our corporations who collectively, harm us. We must absolutely not be fooled by the corporate state into turning on each other. Every time you see a swell of citizen hatred, step back and look deeply. Who benefits? What is going on? What is true about the situation and what untruths are being attached to the parts that are true?

If we don’t ask questions, the govt. can sit back and let us destroy each other.

This is the sentence that destroys America and will eventually lead to open season on politicians.

So by all means, Washington, keep it up. I want nothing more than to see what happened to Mussolini happen to Cheney.

So please.

KEEP

ON

LYING

AND

STEALING

See how well that works out for you “elites” in the long run.

Unlike your lot, I can spell “bludgeoned”. Unlike your lot, I can see the open hands turning to closed fists. Unlike your lot, I believe the Constitution is the most important part of our legal system and should be protected above and beyond the lust for personal profit held by amoral scumabags from either party. Unlike your lot, I’m about tired of talking about it and about ready to do something about it.

PROSECTUTE BUSH/CHENEY NOW!

Restore the Rule of Law or don’t be surprised when We the People burn your little graft playhouse down and run you into the woods with an angry mob hot on your trail. We’ll bring our own rope.

Or you can avoid the unpleasantness now by putting the Neocons on trial for war crimes, fraud and theft.

Don’t forget! It’s your choice not to prosecute and your choices will have consequences. It’s YOUR choice to keep screwing us over, Washington. Think about that next time an insurance company, bank or defense contractor pays you to look the other way at their illegalities. I don’t want to hear “campaign contribution” as an excuse either. We’re all adults here who understand graft – it’s like porno, we know it when we see it. It’s YOUR BAD ACTIONS, Republicans and Democrats and Lobbyists douche bags inside the Beltway. Don’t come crying to me when one of your lot eats it, got it? Because it’s my choice not to care if someone who has proven REPEATEDLY to be a bad actor not looking out for my interests despite it being their PAID JOB and SWORN DUTY gets the crap knocked out of them. Not only will I choose to be indifferent to YOUR suffering, I’m likely to laugh a lot at this point. To quote the Batman, “I’m not going to kill you, but I don’t have to save you either.”

I do so find karma amusing.

Power aggregating maroon!

“He reminds me of the man who murdered both his parents, and then when sentence was about to be pronounced pleaded for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan”

It’s more important than any issue Obama faces, including health care, the Afghanistan War, and Fox Detritus, Inc. combined. Because an America without laws is a dead, lawless, and helpless country. It remains in free fall until restoration of the Law beginning from the top saves it.

If the President thinks the furor over healthcare is great, fail to fully prosecute both Cheney and the Neo Cons will be a real shocker. That would be tantamount to launching an attack against American Justice and it’s culture, just like Bush, then ignoring the People’s right to legal redress.

Not in America.

Mike S.

What you wrote above is absolutely true.