A newly released poll by Public Policy Polling (PPP) of Ohio Republican voters contains a rather surprising statistic: roughly one in seven Republicans in the state believe that Romney was responsible for killing Osama Bin Laden. It is not clear how the businessman accomplished this act (I was hoping for an article that Bain Capital simply transferred his job outside the country and downsized him out of existence). While I have been critical of the degree to which President Obama has virtually worn the corpse around his shoulders like a campaign shawl (and Biden’s equally ridiculous claims), the poll is the final showing that the EEG is flat on any brain activity in this election.
Category: Politics
Below is my column today in USA Today on the closure of the final torture investigation by the Obama Administration. Notably, in light of the rift with civil libertarians and his move to the right on national security matters, Obama is not running on civil liberties in this election or claiming to be champion for such rights. Likewise, liberal newspapers and commentators have criticized the Obama Administration and the Democratic Party for rolling back on strong language in the prior 2008 platform to civil liberties in the Democratic platform. The downgrading of civil liberties by the Democratic Party leaves civil libertarians without even a pretense of a party or candidate championing the cause in this election. In a prior column one year ago, I complained that President Obama had not just killed certain civil liberties but killed the civil liberties movement in the United States. That appears reflected in the tepid response to these issues in the party platform. Of course, while party platforms can be dismissed as meaningless statements, the final closure of the last torture investigations without a single criminal charge promises to have a more lasting impact on the law and our record on civil liberties and human rights. Here is today’s column:
Continue reading “THE IMPROPRIETY OF TORTURE”
Lenoir City High School is teaching its students a chilling message about free speech and journalistic freedom. Earlier in the year, the school barred Krystal Myers, an honor student and editor of the school newspaper, from writing a provocative article on being an atheist at a Christian school entitled “No Rights: The Life of an Atheist”. It is the type of article that can generate some insightful discussion among high schools, but School Director Wayne Miller censored the entire article to protect the school from “disruption.” Now, the school has reportedly transferred journalism teacher Richard Yoakley for the offense of merely supporting atheist and gay students at the school. He quit in response to the pressure.
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger
We have heard for years now that the wealthy and corporations need their tax cuts because without them jobs will not be created and the economy could fall back into recession. I guess I first heard of this concept during the Reagan years with the so-called “trickle down” economics. The claim that economic benefits and improvements trickle down from the very wealthy to the middle class and the poor was one that helped ride Reagan into office and continues to be claimed by some as the way out of recession. Indeed, the Republicans, since the George W. Bush administration have been insistent that the tax cuts for the wealthy are the key to promote increased employment for the country.
It is time that we look deeper into the claim that lowering taxes for the wealthy and for corporations will actually increase employment and separate the truth from fiction. “Based on IRS figures, the richest 1% nearly tripled its share of America’s after-tax income from 1980 to 2006. That’s an extra trillion dollars a year. Then, in the first year after the 2008 recession, they took 93% of all the new income. Wealth is even more skewed. The richest 10% own 83% of financial wealth, which they’ve skillfully arranged to be taxed at just 15%, ostensibly because they pump that money back into job-creating ventures.” Common Dreams Continue reading “Who Really Creates Jobs?”
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
The internal combustion engine was an idea that originated in the 18th Century. While various working prototypes were built the concept couldn’t really take off until in the late 1850’s the drilling and refining of petroleum began to blossom. This was a time of the burgeoning Industrial Revolution. In 1885 Karl Benz patented his version of the engine and began producing automobiles. World War I, fought with various forms of mechanized weapons exploded the need for petroleum to fuel them. Major nations began to understand the strategic value of petroleum and the wealth of the Oil Industry began to grow exponentially. By the mid 1920’s the three major oil producers were Saudi Arabia, the United States and the Soviet Union. The oil reserves in Saudi Arabia and in the rest of the Middle East were considered to be the deepest and most valuable. At this point the Middle East, long a backwater in the “Great Game” of nations became the focus of both the industrial nations and of the now dominant Oil Industry.
Much of the history of the Twentieth Century and still today is about the domination of the oil supply. However, as this has played out surrogate issues have been used to provide a mythology to justify intrusions into Middle East that make this economic imperialism palatable to the majority of people. We have watched as Saddam Hussein, a brutal dictator no doubt, was toppled for an act, 9/11, which he had nothing to do with. With our Iraq invasion, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi’s were killed and injured as collateral damage. The cost in the deaths and maiming of our troops was in the tens of thousands. The freedom of the Iraqi people has been improbably lessened, from that of the brutal Hussein regime, which at least was secular and somewhat respectful of women’s rights? The end result though of this unwarranted war was the signing over of Iraqi Oil Rights and the explosion of military spending geared towards various supporters of the Bush regime.
As this is written the drumbeat in the Middle East goes on for intervention to change the regimes in both Iran and in Syria. With Iran it is the supposed threat from their nuclear development (weapons of mass destruction sound familiar) and with Syria it is the removal of a vile, oppressive regime. My own view, which I will elaborate on below, is that in both these instances the reality is quite different from the myth being put forth. I believe that we are being gulled by those who desire American world hegemony via use of our overwhelming military might. There are forces that see the United States morphing into Empire, just as Rome turned from a Republic to an imperial state. While Caesar crossing the Rubicon was represented as the seminal moment in roman transformation, the reality was just as now that the change was a long time coming. Here is my condensed version of how this all came to be and at the end I will provide links that underlie some of my reasoning. Continue reading “The Drum Beat Goes On”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Paul Ryan, Republican nominee for Vice President, said he believes that states should have the right to determine if prayer in public schools is allowed. In response to a question from a campaign volunteer, Ryan said that’s “a constitutional issue of the states.” Prayer in public schools is a hot-button issue for religious conservatives. Was Ryan simply pandering to the Republican base or does he truly not support the separation of church and state?
Continue reading “Ryan: Prayer In Public Schools Is A State Issue”
Vladimir Putin continued his effort to create a cult of personality around his superhero exploits this week. If you recall, after his being featured as a race car driver, great white hunter, jet pilot, oceanologist, martial artist and Hell’s Angel, Putin was shown as a scuba diver. While only having dived three times, Putin was filmed at an ancient Greek Black sea site where he “discovered” two sixth century urns under the water — one of which was in pristine condition with nary a seaweed adhering to its surface. As many of us suggested, Putin’s worshipful staff later admitted it was staged — as Putin was fully aware. Now Putin has decided to morph into a giant white crane – flying a motorized hand glider to guide young Siberian cranes on their migration to Asia while dressed in a white costume. It turned out to be an incredibly symbolic moment. Like many voters protesting his authoritarian policies, all but one crane saw through him for what he was and refused to follow.
Continue reading “Losing His Flock: Putin Takes Highly Symbolic Flight Alone As Giant Crane”
Over objections over academic freedom and free speech, the California State Assembly passed a controversial resolution (HR 35) that calls on universities to crackdown on criticism of Israel. Passed by a voice vote, the resolution includes language that equates criticism of Israeli policies and actions as “anti-Semitism.” While the resolutions original purpose is laudatory and does include clear expression of anti-Semitism, its drafters decided to include criticism of Israel and its human rights record in a measure that at a minimum chills free speech by professor and students alike. Drafted by Republican Linda Halderman, there was no hearing or debate allowed on the resolution. Just a voice vote.
While Democracy and the Democratic Party may sound similar, the party leaders again showed yesterday that one has little to do with the other. President Obama and party leaders wanted the party’s platform changed to include a reference to both Jerusalem being the capital of Israel and God. The omissions however were not accidental and a high number of delegates opposed the change, which had to be agreed to by two-thirds of the delegates. As shown in the video below, in calling for a voice vote, the leadership was shocked when it appeared that more people voted no than yes — certainly well short of two-thirds in support of the changes. That did not matter. The leadership just declared the vote as having passed by two-thirds acclamation.
Continue reading “The Democratic Convention and The Illusion of Democracy”
We have often discussed the rampant corruption in the government of Hamid Karzai with billions in U.S. aid just disappearing — reportedly going to his brothers and associates. Now, the man Karzai selected as the next intelligence chief — Asadullah Khalid — has been accused of drug trafficking and torture. Khalid operates various torture chambers, including what a Canadian diplomat described as a “dungeon in his guest house.” That would certainly be a good resume for Karzai given the rest of his government.
Continue reading “Karzai’s Intelligence Chief Nominee Accused of Torture and Drug-Trafficking”
We have another example of religious intolerance from one of our closest Gulf allies, Bahrain. Christians in that country were hoping to build a large church — something they are prohibited from doing in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom had agreed to the construction in what was widely viewed as a major advance for religious freedom. That has now led to widespread protests and the statement from a prominent cleric, Sheik Adel Hassan al-Hamad, who proclaimed in a sermon that all further construction on any church should end in the country since “anyone who believes that a church is a true place of worship is someone who has broken in their faith in God.” The protests have led the monarchy of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to isolate al-Hamad.
Continue reading “Church Construction Ignites Widespread Protests in Bahrain”
On Huffington Post this week, John Cusack has published an interview with me on the record of the Obama Administration. For full disclosure, John and I grew up together in Chicago and our families have been very close since childhood. With John, I was part of the Piven Theater company with Anne and Joan Cusack (also with Aidan Quinn, Jeremy Piven, Bill Macey, and others involved with the company). John and I continue to discuss politics and philosophy – a regular past time over the holidays for decades over kitchen tables in Evanston and Chicago. In this interview, we shared some of our mutual sense of betrayal by President Obama of core civil liberties in the United States. I have previously written (See e.g., here and here and here) about the harm caused to civil liberties by Obama as well as the harm he has caused to the civil liberties movement. This is also a debate that we have had on this blog over the dilemma facing many civil libertarians voting in this election.
Continue reading “My Interview With John Cusack on Civil Liberties and Obama”
Former Superior Court Judge Ernest B. Murphy will not be receiving disability payments in addition to his multimillion dollar libel award against the Boston Herald. Murphy filed for disability pension based on a claim of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression linked to receiving hate mail and death threats due to his ruling in a rape case. The Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts found unanimously that the Contributory Retirement Appeal Board was correct in denying Murphy the disability pension.
Continue reading “Massachusetts Judge Denied Disability Pension For Hate Mail”
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
In an article for Huffington Post, Miles Mogulescu wrote the following about Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan:
He comes off like a Midwest choir boy who grew up busing tables and just wants to help unemployed 20-year-olds get jobs and move out of their parents’ house. This ‘aw shucks’ act may play well among heartland voters who could swing the election.
But Ryan lies like a hooker telling her john that she loves him. And given a media that tends to cover the horse race rather than the substance, there’s a good chance he could lie his way all the way to the vice presidency.
Mogulescu—among others—has written and spoken about the number of inaccuracies and untruths included in the speech that Paul Ryan gave at the Republican National Convention last week.
Sally Kohn of Fox News wrote:
…to anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to facts, Ryan’s speech was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech. On this measure, while it was Romney who ran the Olympics, Ryan earned the gold.
The good news is that the Romney-Ryan campaign has likely created dozens of new jobs among the legions of additional fact checkers that media outlets are rushing to hire to sift through the mountain of cow dung that flowed from Ryan’s mouth. Said fact checkers have already condemned certain arguments that Ryan still irresponsibly repeated.
Continue reading “Marathon Man: Does Paul Ryan Play Fast and Loose with the Facts?”
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger
We have heard a lot lately from politicians of many stripes claiming that Iran must be stopped at any cost and that their Nuclear program is already a “clear and present danger” to Israel and its allies in the West. We have had visitors to this site claim that Iran is already a nuclear threat and the Iranian nuclear facilities must be taken out now to protect Israel and our interests in the Middle East. With that drumbeat of an alleged need to attack Iran, I thought it was especially interesting that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff seems to be against the idea of a unilateral strike against Iran, by any country. Including Israel! Continue reading “Dealing With Iran and Reality”