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QUOTABLE QUOTE:
“I wonder what
president the corporations are gonna buy us next year!”
— Seth MacFarlane
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With its deadly drones, the US is fighting a coward's war
The Guardian - George Monbiot
The ancient Greeks, unlike the
Jews or the Christians, invested their gods with human
failings. Divine judgment, they believed, was neither
flawless nor dispassionate; it was warped by lust, vengeance
and self-interest. In the hands of Zeus, the thunderbolt was
both an instrument of justice and a weapon of jealousy and
revenge.
Those now dispensing judgment from on high are not gods,
though they must feel like it. The people striking mortals
down with drones are doubtless as capable as anyone else of
self-deception, denial and cognitive illusions. More so,
perhaps, as the eminent fictions of the Bush years and the
growing delusions of the current president suggest. [
More ]
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Ru Paul: Reactionary or Visionary
LewRockwell.com - Patrick J. Buchanan
After his fourth-place showing
in Florida, Ron Paul, by then in Nevada, told supporters he
had been advised by friends that he would do better if only
he dumped his foreign policy views, which have been derided
as isolationism.
Not going to do it, said Dr. Paul to cheers. And why should
he?
Observing developments in U.S. foreign and defense policy,
Paul's views seem as far out in front of where America is
heading as John McCain's seem to belong to yesterday's
Bush-era bellicosity. [
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It's not your grandpa's Florida
CNN - John Avion
Florida is the traditional
tie-breaking primary in the January gantlet -- but there's
very little that's traditional about the Sunshine State. It
is a sprawling cross section of 10 media markets and one of
the most diverse states in the nation, containing
communities of voters across the political spectrum.
But we talk about politics in shorthand, and many
stereotypes endure long after they are bypassed by reality.
So here are three stubborn myths about the Sunshine State to
think about as Floridians go the polls on Tuesday. [
More ]
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Aggression born of American 'exceptionalism'
Japan Times - Hiroaki Sato
I thought American
exceptionalism was debunked and dying. I was wrong.
Most recently, American exceptionalism jumped to the
political fore at the start of this century. It did so with
a swagger, ironically, because of the 9/11 attacks. In his
speech that night, President George W. Bush put forward the
United States as "the brightest beacon for freedom and
opportunity in the world."
That assertion was a bit odd in the circumstances, but no
matter. He condemned those who carried out the attacks as
"evil" and told the world that America, being goodness
incarnate, would bring those responsible to justice, making
no distinction between the terrorists who committed these
acts and those who harbored the terrorists.
As Bush pushed his intent to attack Iraq, which had nothing
to do with those "evil" acts, some advised that the U.S.
assume the role that Britain played from the 19th to the
early 20th century. The U.S. is powerful and enlightened
enough, the argument went, to relegate those benighted,
ne'er-do-well Middle Eastern countries back into colonial
status and rule them as lord and master. [
More ]
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Ru Paul Heads to Nevada: Strategy Called ‘Odd’
ABC News - Jason M. Volack
While his GOP rivals duke it out
in a bloody Florida primary on Tuesday, Ron Paul will
continue stumping for votes in the caucus states that
dominate the political calendar over the next week.
Paul does well in caucus states, where superior organization
and passionate supporters play to his strengths and could
allow the Texas congressman to pick up more delegates than
Gingrich and Santorum combined this week. [
More ]
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Not a peep about the President's praise for war
The Nation - Laura Flanders
The grades for the president’s
State of the Union are in and the critics have been kind. In
fact, it's chilling to see just how few hits the president
takes for couching his entire address in unqualified
celebration of the US military.
Speaking of the troops, President Obama began: “At a time
when too many of our institutions have let us down, they
exceed all expectations.”
Post-show pundits on cable news praised the president’s
comfort with his commander-in-chief role, but none saw fit
to mention recent news—of marines urinating on Afghan
corpses, say, or Staff Sergeant Wuterich walking free after
participating in the killing of twenty-four unarmed men,
women and children in Haditha, Iraq. Accompanying Obama's
next phrase, “Imagine what we could accomplish if we
followed their example,” no one thus far has played vile
viral video. The critics have been kind. [
More ]
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Warmonger Condi Rice Still at It
Lew Rockwell.com - Michael S. Rozeff
On November 6, 2011, according
to an AP news report, she said that the U.S. should be
undermining Iran's government in any way it can,
specifically, "be doing everything we can to bring it down."
She said that the option of military force against Iran
should be on the table and never be taken off. She said that
Iran is trying to obtain a nuclear weapon and that "the
regime has absolutely no legitimacy left."
Why does Condoleezza Rice have any credibility on such an
important issue after having misled America about Iraq and
Saddam Hussein, erred about intelligence reports, and lied
about the threat posed by Saddam? Why should anyone pay any
attention to her whatsoever, when she knowingly participated
in the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Powell-Rice propaganda effort to
paint Saddam as a villain intent on destroying America?
[
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Ron Paul and the pink slip that could decide the election
Reuters - Jack And Suzy Welch
Have you ever woken up in the
morning knowing you have to let someone go and just felt
sick to your stomach? It’s the worst part of work, isn’t it?
Even when it’s absolutely necessary — the money isn’t there
or the employee hasn’t been contributing for ages — the
emotional pain and mess of sending someone home is every
good leader’s bête noire.
To make matters worse, letting someone go is, without doubt
the moment when every leader is the most likely to screw up.
Really screw up. Because when you fire a person the wrong
way — that is, without generosity and respect — you can be
sure of two things.
You’ve hurt someone unnecessarily.
And you’ve set up your organization for a future
relationship from hell. After all, terminated employees
don’t just fade away. They usually reappear, and pretty
rapidly, as customers, suppliers, distributors, or in the
worst-case scenario, competitors with an ax to grind.
By the way, this is a column about Ron Paul. [
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Mourning Joe Paterno, a flawed hero
CNN - L Z Granderson
I am sitting here in front of my
computer, looking at the headline that former Penn State
football coach Joe Paterno has died, and I honestly don't
know how or what I should feel. If he had passed a year ago,
it would be a no-brainer. For a World War II soldier who
dedicated more than 50 years to one institution and one wife
during a time in which examples of both grow rarer by the
decade, it seems flags should be flown at half staff.
But then there's Jerry Sandusky. [
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Who Wants War With Iran?
Lew Rockwell.com - Patrick J. Buchanan
On Sept. 21, 1976, as his car
rounded Sheridan Circle on Embassy Row, former Chilean
ambassador Orlando Letelier was assassinated by car bomb.
Ronni Moffitt, a 25-year-old American women who worked with
Letelier at the leftist Institute for Policy Studies, died
with him.
Michael Townley, an ex-CIA asset in the hire of Chile's
intelligence agency, confessed to using anti-Castro Cubans
to murder Letelier, in what was regarded as an act of
terrorism on U.S. soil.
Which raises a question: Are not the murders of four Iranian
scientists associated with that nation's nuclear program, by
the attachment of bombs to their cars in Tehran, also acts
of terrorism? [
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Ron Paul
2012 witnessing the rise of a guru to the downwardly mobile
Toronto Star - Mitch Potter
Radical. Dangerous. Crazy.
Unworthy of mainstream attention. Just too out there. And
don’t forget about all those old racist newsletters.
That was the conventional Republican playbook on Ron Paul in
December, when the eccentric 76-year-old Texas libertarian
began showing the first real signs of traction in the race
for the Republican presidential nomination.
Plenty of conservatives could get their head around Paul’s
doomsday pledge to drastically shrink the federal
government. But his vow to completely upend American foreign
policy, ending its role as “the world’s police officer” for
being neither helpful nor affordable, whoa. [
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What's wrong with 'pre-emptive' war?
National Post - George Jonas
What justifies preemptive war?
Presidential hopeful Ron Paul may think he alone worries
about this. In fact, it's hard to find anyone who doesn't.
Last time I raised the question was more than a decade ago,
after Osama bin Laden told Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir
that he had nuclear weapons. The lie fooled no one, but it
invited the question of why was it necessary to wait until
it became the truth?
I wrote at the time that no month passes without a police
officer being investigated for having an itchy trigger
finger. The facts are usually identical. A suspect appears
to reach for what the officer thinks is a gun, to which the
officer responds by shooting first. [
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Marginalizing Ron Paul
Truthdig - Robert Scheer
It is official now. The Ron Paul campaign, despite surging in the Iowa polls, is not worthy of serious consideration, according to a New York Times editorial; “Ron Paul long ago disqualified himself for the presidency by peddling claptrap proposals like abolishing the Federal Reserve, returning to the gold standard, cutting a third of the federal budget and all foreign aid and opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” [ More ]
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Mr. and Mrs. Cranky Pants
National Review - Michelle Malkin
So, it turns out that the cool
cat billed as “No Drama Obama” by his sycophants is actually
quite the drama queen. While the White House publicly
pretends to ignore conservative detractors of his
administration, Chief Touchy-Touchy seems to be personally
consumed by our critiques. Yes, mine included.
On Wednesday, the president had himself a mini–“Toddlers and
Tiaras”–style meltdown with Arizona GOP governor Jan Brewer
after landing in Phoenix for a post–State of the Union
dog-and-pony show. As Brewer told pool reporters on the
scene, Obama took umbrage at Brewer’s recent memoir. She
minced no words on the cover: “Scorpions for Breakfast: My
Fight Against Special Interests, Liberal Media, and Cynical
Politicos to Secure America’s Border.” [
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Preparing for the next conquest
What does Libya tell us about intervention in Syria and Iran?
Global Research - Richard Lightbrown
British press reports say
agents from the CIA and MI6 are operating within Syria while
British and French Special Forces are training members of
the Free Syrian Army in Turkey. Pravda has claimed that NATO
snipers who fought in Libya have been sent to Syria.
As regional war threatens drastic and unforeseen
consequences in the Middle East some commentators claim that
humanitarian benefits justify Western intervention in
repressive states. This claim is worth considering in the
context of the events that have befallen Libya.
No one should be under any illusions about the intentions of
Western governments in Libya following their activities
throughout the 42 years of Muammar KaDaffy’s rule. During
this time there were 39 coup attempts inspired by US,
British and French agencies, most of which were centered on
Benghazi and the province of Cyrenaica. Many involved an
attempt at assassination, as did the US fighter-bomber
attack on Tripoli in 1986 in which eight of the 18 aircraft
flying from Britain specifically targeted Col KaDaffy’s
private residence. [
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Why the establishment really fears Ron Paul
Daily Caller - Jack Hunter
As Ron Paul has risen in the
polls, so has the frequency of attacks against him. “Any
stick will do to beat a dog” goes the old saying, and the
whacks against Paul range from reasonable to ridiculous.
Expect the attacks to continue. Expect them to get more
ridiculous.
And expect the worst attacks to come from Republicans. [
More ]
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In eroding civil liberties . . .
Barack Obama finishes what George Bush began
NOLA.com - James Gill
Ron Paul, who is expected to fare well in next week's Iowa caucuses, is also attracting passionate support in various other states, including Louisiana. Nobody gives him any chance of winning the GOP nomination, however. He wants, for instance to repeal the Patriot Act, so named, in the spirit of Orwell, because it betrays the principles that made America a beacon for the free world. [ More ]
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The “Dear Leader’s” death creates dangers and hopes
LewRockwell.com - Eric Margolis
The death last weekend of
North Korea’s "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il presents many
dangers, but also some hopes for lower tensions on the
strategic peninsula.
Kim’s death was not unexpected. He had been seriously ill
with diabetes and cardiac problems that led to a stroke in
2008. His youngest son, 26- or 27-year old Kim Jung-un, was
hurriedly groomed for the leadership.
It seems more likely Jung-un will be a figurehead behind
whom North Korea’s powerful factions – its military,
Communist Worker’s Party, and security forces – wield power.
[
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Why young voters love Ron Paul
Salon.com - David Sirota
Despite a sustained campaign by
the Washington media and political establishment to
marginalize him, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, is still a serious
contender for the Republican presidential nomination. That
has a lot to do with the support he’s receiving from young
voters. In almost every survey and activist straw poll, Paul
draws big numbers from voters between the ages of 18 and 29.
The laziest way to explain the counterintuitive phenomenon
of youth rallying around the GOP’s oldest candidate is to
insist that it’s about kids’ silly college fling with
unrealistic libertarianism or that it’s about kids’ affinity
for drug use — and more specifically, Paul’s support for
legislation that would let states legalize marijuana.
[
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Did Congress just endorse rendition for Americans?
Mother Jones - Nick Baumann
A defense spending bill that passed both houses of Congress overwhelmingly and is set to be signed by President Barack Obama as early as this week could make it easier for the government to transfer American terrorist suspects to foreign regimes and security forces.
The National Defense Authorization Act (PDF) contains a section that says the president has the power to transfer suspected members and supporters of Al Qaeda, the Taliban, or "associated" groups "to the custody or control of the person's country of origin, any other foreign country, or any other foreign entity."
[ More ]
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'Bugsplat'
The “ugly” US drone war in Pakistan
Al Jazeera - Jennifer Robinson
This weekend, Pakistan ordered the closure of the US drone base after a US attack killed 26 Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border. This news will be welcomed by the people of Waziristan, where communities have borne the brunt of the "collateral damage" of the US covert drone war. But for many, this decision comes too little too late. For too long, authorities ignored the deaths of innocent civilians being "bugsplat" by drones. [ More ]
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The greatest threat
Lew Rockwell.com - Justin Raimondo
There's always a Looming Danger, an Ominous Threat lurking somewhere – that's the War Party's bread-and-butter. Back in the day, it was the Germans, who were going to cross the Atlantic and meet their Japanese allies somewhere near the Mississippi. Then it was the Commies, who were not only in the process of swallowing Asia but supposedly had their Fifth Column right here in the US, ready willing and able to take the Capitol at a signal from the Kremlin. After that there was some hesitation in deciding just who or what would take the place of the Red Threat, but that was decided on September 11, 2001, when Osama bin Laden's Global Caliphate emerged as the Bogeyman of the moment. It turned into quite a long moment, as we have seen, one that still lingers to this day, even after bin Laden's death and the crushing of al-Qaeda: Americans, being sentimentalists, hang on to their villains long after their shelf life has expired. [ More ]
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The pretty boys of Afghanistan
VICE Magazine -
Robert Maginnis
Kandahar just may be the world capital of buggery. There’s a
popular joke here that goes, “Why do birds fly in circles
over Kandahar? Because they’re covering their ass with one
wing.”
The rest of Afghanistan is always riffing about Kandahar. “Down there, girls are for procreation, boys are for recreation.” Stuff like that. Taliban, "mujahideen" strongmen in Kandahar — including the police chief — were not averse to taking boys as brides. In fact, according to a New York Times article, a homosexually driven feud led to the rise of Bin Laden’s future hosts. Two "mujahideen" battled for possession of a prized boy. They rolled out the tanks and shot up the bazaar, killing scores of innocents. By 1994, many of the “holy warriors” who had beat back the Soviets were terrorizing their own people. [ More ]
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Toronto Dailies (local interest) Opinions
Toronto Newspapers - Various Scribes
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