Salon’s Glenn Greenwald (whom I interviewed last night on the Malloy Show on somewhat related topics, audio archive now here), covers this morning’s latest “entirely unsurprising” news that Cheney tried to deploy the U.S. military on U.S. soil against U.S. citizens following 9/11. And unaccountable-DoJ-attorney-for-all-illegal-unConstitutional-seasons John Yoo was happy to supply a “legal” memo for him, describing how the U.S. Constitution could be entirely ignored by any President at any whim.
Greenwald begins this way [emphasis in original]…
Though it received very little press attention, it is not hyperbole to observe that this October 23 Memo was one of the most significant events in American politics in the last several decades, because it explicitly declared the U.S. Constitution — the Bill of Rights — inoperative inside the U.S., as applied to U.S. citizens. Just read what it said in arguing that neither the Fourth Amendment — nor even the First Amendment — can constrain what the President can do when overseeing “domestic military operations”…
Ultimately, the plan was opposed by those in the DoJ who either still believed in the Constitution, or otherwise wanted to keep all the “glory” for themselves. That said, as Greenwald points out,
But John Yoo and Dick Cheney and Addington and Gonzales and all the other fugitives from justice still roam free because cowardly Democrats want to “look forward not back,” and lying hypocritical Republicans who once acted as if they believed in the Rule of Law and the U.S. Constitution actually don’t give a tinker’s damn about either of them.
Pathetic. But, yes, by now, unfortunately, unsurprising.
what a fascist jackass.
Oh oh! Big trouble…
This means that obama will actually DEPLOY U.S. TROUPS ON U.S. SOIL because, to day, he has picked up EVERYTHING where chimpy/cheney left off.
…no accountability, endless wars, signing statements, massive give-aways to corporations, torture, and even less transparency.
Candidate obama was just a slick huckster – it cheney/chimpy said it was OK – he is gonna do it next!
So, what do the “CONSERVATIVES” have to say about this? They were always a bunch of FAKES, anyway! This is exactly why conservatives cannot be taken seriously, ever. Their silence is very loud. How can you take them seriously, if they don’t say anything about this?
Hey ANOTHER JOE, I think Chuck’s reply was about you!
Someone obviously didn’t listen to ACCOUNTABILITY FRIDAY – go ahead, moron, be an obama-bot and give the dems a “free pass” one everything.
Just gotta laugh at the crowd that wants to hold one side of the coin accountable and then mindlessly cheerlead the other side. Not that flamers actually read posts or are looking for information, but to those that read and think – here’s some points to consider:
* Significantly expand the reach and intensity of imperial violence (replete with the mass slaughter of civilians and the related escalation of targeted assassinations) in South Asia.
* Promote a notorious assassin and death-squad leader (Lt. General Stanley A McChrystal – former chief of the military’s special Joint Special Operations Command) to the position of Commander of U.S. Forces in the newly merged “Af-Pak” war theater.
* Sustain the criminal occupation of Iraq beneath rhetoric of withdrawal.
* Increase “defense” (empire) spending, consistent with the following statement in a report issued by the leading Wall Street investment firm Morgan Stanley one day after Obama’s presidential election victory: “As we understand it, Obama has been advised and agrees that there is no peace dividend.”
* Revive military commissions.
* Continue the practice of renditions.
* Maintain secret prisons for persons “held on a short-term, transitory basis.”
* Continue the unspeakable torture of prisoners by an “extrajudicial terror squad” (Jeremy Scahill’s description of the Pentagon’s sadistic “Immediate Reaction Force” in Cuba) at Guantanamo Bay.
* Advance the policy of “indefinite detention” (potentially permanent incarceration) for Guantanamo prisoners for whom no legally compelling evidence can be marshaled.
* Intimidate [Britain] (with a threat to withhold intelligence data on potential terrorist attacks!) into preventing a Guantanamo victim from having his day in court on the Bush administration’s torture practices.
* Sustain the Bush administration’s abrogation of habeas corpus rights in regard to the roughly 600 “enemy combatants” kept at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan (where people rendered out of other countries like Yemen and England can be considered “war [-zone]” prisoners!.
* Advance nauseatingly specious legal and moral arguments (“better to look forward than backward”) to prevent serious federal investigation of the Bush administration’s human rights crimes.
* Sustain George W. Bush’s domestic wiretapping program.
* Invoke the “state secrets” (akin to the divine right of kings) doctrine to prevent disclosure of evidence in response to lawsuits emerging from Bush era rendition and surveillance policies.
* Suppress photographic evidence of U.S. torture practices.
* Justify all this and more in the name of the supposed “global war on terror” that was supposedly launched in legitimate defense against the supposedly unprovoked jetliner attacks of September 11, 2001.
* Disregard qualified progressive defenders of civil liberties and human rights from consideration for appointment to succeed Supreme Justice David H. Souter and to thereby counter the hard right leanings of the court’s conservative majority.
* Send clear signals of intent to roll back and partially privatize Social Security and Medicare benefits.
* Betray campaign pledges to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to insert stronger labor and environmental protections.
* Betray campaign pledges of serious intent to advance an elementary and overdue labor law reform (the Employee Free Choice Act).
* Force and approve an automobile industry re-structuring that drastically cuts domestic autoworkers’ jobs, wages and benefits while subsidizing General Motors’ further shifting of jobs abroad.
* Advance a tepid, business-friendly health care “reform” that leaves the leading parasitic insurance corporations (major campaign sponsors of his) in power.
* “Methodically erase single-payer advocates from the picture” (Glen Ford) of health care reform despite the fact that a majority of Americans have long favored a single-payer (“Medicare for all”) health insurance system.
* Spend trillions of federal dollars on taxpayer handouts to giant Wall Street firms who spent millions on his campaign and who drove the economy over the cliff. Obama’s Wall Street bailout rejects the elementary bank nationalizations and public financial restructuring that are required to put the nation’s credit system on a sound and socially responsible basis, choosing instead to guarantee the financial, insurance, and real estate industries’ toxic, hyper-inflated assets while keeping existing Wall Street management in place. It amounts to a giant effort to “keep perpetrators afloat” (liberal economist James Gailbraith) through a scheme in which the government takes more than 90 percent of the risk but private investors reap at least half the reward.
Sounded like Friday’s show was largely about acknowledging these issues and holding those responsible accountable.
But if it makes you feel kewl to come here and be an obama propaganda shill – KNOCK YOURSELF OUT!
No one will buy it!
Can we get back to the real issues here? Our health care system needs to be overhauled. Why, in Israel their health plan covers organ transplants even if the organs are illegally harvested (sometimes at gunpoint) from the poor, yet here medicaid doesn’t even cover dental. WTF.
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/...t-israels.html
Gos – the REAL ISSUE is that expecting meaningful change in healthcare from he same folks that are continuing the policies of cheney/chimpy/yoo is INSANTITY.
The dems talk a good game – the repugs and the pundits are lying liars. They tell lies and will contribute nothing but discourse to the debate.
Our real problem is the blue dogs, however, if obama and the rest of the blue dogs will not take a strong stand, showing them up and shaming them in front of their constituencies and the nation – then the real problem is THE PEOPLE THAT PROMISED US YES WE CAN IN THE FALL AND NOW ARE SAYING NO WE CAN’T.
Talking a good game, hiding behind “bipartisan” liars, and letting a handful of blue dogs obstruct healthcare reform is not YES WE CAN!
You don’t think Cheney trying to sic the military on citizens is a “real issue”? Is it only a “real issue” if it’s Israel bashing? I am an avid Israel basher, Gos, but you’re just a damn pain in the ass about this stuff. Where were you last night when we were asking you to call in and hold Brad accountable? No, instead, you have to come on this thread to stick your head up your ass about “real issues”.
SINCE WHEN IS THE DEATH OF THE CONSTITUTION NOT A “REAL ISSUE”?
another joe
Please don’t do long copy and pastes. I didn’t delete it because it was too good a rejoinder to a crack against you, but you should give the link and a taste of the content….
99 – since obama, a self-proclaimed “constitutional scholar” and professor decided to pick up where cheney/chimpy/yoo left off.
The obamabots will not be able to see what it a real issue and, even worse, they fail to grasp the inherent dishonesty between the administration’s rhetoric and its action.
Those that think politicians that undermine our constitution, lying about it while they do it, are not going to deliver meaningful change.
Who do they work for? Follow the money trail – wall street was behind obama last year.
Gee… who do you think he actually serves? No wonder he needs to consider the cheney/chimpy/yoo assault on the constitution.
99 – delete whatever you want.
If you really think that it matters and that you are so important to do so – be my guest.
All of a half dozen people will read this thread.
Knock yourself out, pretend you are in front of a parade. Be a little blog goddess and delete to your heart’s content.
Doesn’t add anything to the dialog, certainly doesn’t inform anyone, and it isn’t going to bring anyone back.
Go ahead – delete and make my day!
[ed note: Hey. Figure out who your friends are. Cool off so you can SEE, and get over yourself… please. You are mistaken about the number of people who’ll read this thread. Less than 1% of the readers of any blog ever comment. You don’t need to be spending Brad’s no money on bandwidth if it’s elsewhere on the web. That’s a courtesy to your host and to the others who come here. And if you think I am into blog-goddesstude, you must not be paying attention…. –99]
I’m with you, aj. I think Obama is following orders as steadfastly and more smoothly as * and Fudd did. I think this really is the 9th year of the * administration. I’m so pissed off at Obama, he so does NOT want to be in the same room as me and a cast iron frying pan. He has completely dropped his morals and relies on the hypnotized and the bribed to keep him popular despite doing everything to sell out America.
I’m sure it’s worse than just selling out. I’m sure he doesn’t want his daughters murdered, but… tough shit! That oath doesn’t say, “…unless you’re scared…..”
And speaking of criticism of some Jewish people, WTF is up with SELLING BODY PARTS IN JERSEY
If they were selling foreskins left over from the h’orderves tray at a Brit milah, I could understand it.
BUT IT IS KIDNEYS AND THEY TAKE THEM FROM THE POOR AT GUNPOINT!
obama knew what he was running for and played the game before he took the oath – even if there were legit reasons to be scared, he would not have played the game unless he was willing to go along.
Even more importantly, the folks that underwrote his rise to power wouldn’t have given him a dime if they didn’t know he would be under their thumb.
No matter whatever lever we pull in November, a lemon tumbles out.
We either get band of neocons that lies to us, undermine the constitution, and loot the federal treasury or we get dems that lies to us, undermines the constitution, tells us “moving forward” means ignoring the ongoing thefts from public coffers that wildly exceed avarice, and an endless string of phony excuses justifying their new tune, “NO WE CAN’T!”
IMPORTANT BREAKING NEWS!
Idaho man sodomized by police Taser plans to sue
IS THIS ENOUGH OF A TASTE FOR YAm 99!!!!!!!!!!!
Rather too much of one.
Did I miss where it said, “Open Thread” or whut?
… course, I guess police taser sodomy really does follow from legal authorizations like Yoo’s… all in the fascist coninuà¼m….
Too much for ya?
But you said…
How about those leftovers from the Brit milah platter – is the enough of a “taste” of the story there?
Another Joe
Keep shouting the truth friend. Open thread niceties might just be (way) past their time. Refocus people on the Obama administration before they systematically destroy America. Things are headed to hell very quickly if you fail to sound the Obamalarm. There needs to be an even stronger anti Obama/Democrat/Republican campaign than there was anti-Bush campaign begin in earnest. Don’t lets these bastards win any more time. Its too late already.
That always cracks me up, when someone says we shouldn’t talk about something, because it “takes away from the ‘real issues'”.
I always say:
“We can talk about more than one issue at a time”.
That’s my saying!
It’s creating a false argument, saying that if we talk about Cheney and deploying troops, we can’t talk about health care.
That is a fallacy, to “make up” that if you talk about ONE THING, you can’t talk about ANOTHER THING. A totally false, “made up” argument. And illogical.
GOS’s comment is correct, though, besides the not being able to talk about BOTH things…I agree with the comment.
None of my comments are really OT.
This thread is about treason. Many of these issues started under cheney/chimpy and the used folks like gonzo and yoo to provide cover.
The law is clear. THOSE THAT ABIDE AND ABET TREASON ARE GUILTY OF TREASON!
If we are going to talk about the criminality of the criminal cabal behind dur chimpfurher, then we also need to talk about the current administration that is continuing much of the criminality and refusing to hold anyone accountable.
give me a break, 99 and get over yourself.
I have many projects, videos, and blogs online – you and I (and anyone else that has projects on servers) know that bandwidth is in chunks and that there is actually no additional cost for each of these posts.
Maybe you think you can sway some by proclaiming that somehow a few KB of text use up all you bandwidth – but it is a lie!
Big Dan – none of the issues we talk about exist in a vacuum. We cannot have a dialog about issues if we refuse to acknowledge relationships between issues.
99 – if you are going to make up stats, please be more convincing. Say:
.8597% of blog readers don’t post commnets.
It makes people think that numbers pulled out of one’s butt were actually scientifically calculated, in this case, to four decimals to increase accuracy!
But you’re right about knowing who your friends are – does this mean we have a date?
Hey, Joe, man you got a big mouth. There’s a reason there’s a topic at the top of this page, because it’s worthy of discussion. In case you haven’t noticed, you have a real tendency to avoid the issue and whine about needing to say everything no matter what’s being discussed.
Just shut up, already; you added your two cents, and now you’re out of money.
steve – I had 2 more cents than you had.
I don’t have to tell you to stfu because you have just showed the world you have absolutely nothing to say.
what a whiner…
I wont even begin to think anything has changed until Yoo is disbarred, followed by legal prosecution against him.
Obama is proving to be bush v3.0, smarter, slicker, and just as ruinous of our constitution.
Apparently if hitler had a low level attorney write memos that gassing jews and other atrocities were legally allowed, I guess there would have been no war crimes by the nazis during WWII.
What I can’t figure out is this: Why is Obama covering the backs of every single person who will galadly, gleefully put a knife in his? And also: What the hell does Obama think the military and intelligence screw-ups are going to do for him, that they couldn’t accomplish for George Bush, who they ostensibly adored?
Obama is a chump. Does he really think that now that he’s in charge, all of Bush’s “War on Terror” BS is gonna work out great? The whole thing was rotten from the beginning, and Obam can’t make it any better. If they could have “won” they would have done it for Bush. Obama they will just bullshit until he gets in way over his head, and then they will gladly hold him under.
Probably, another joe, all six of your readers comment, and that’s why you are so confused; and probably you aren’t very good at math, but very picky about it anyway; and probably your remaining testicle would have turned up missing after going for a cup of coffee with me….
Another Joe, do you really think you are bringing anything enlightening, insightful, intelligent, or even entertaining? You sure are pig-headed and stubborn. This thread WAS NOT about treason, jackass. Nor was it about YOU and YOUR THOUGHTS. So get off your high-horse before the 1% of bloggers that reply KNOCK YOU OFF OF IT.
I agree with mooser – can’t talk about the treason and criminality of previous administration without acknowledging that the current administration has given it all a FREE PASS and is therefor
actually committing treason!
boo hoo – 99 and whoever, “I posted an online forum and people had comments that were not part of my script!”
What a bunch of whiners…
If only all the actors would play the roles dutifully assigned by folks that have very little to say for themselves.
Just too funny when people complain about posts without adding anything to the dialog!
Call the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabulance!
Someone actually posted THEIR opinion and not MINE!
chris – if you are gonna lie, do it right.
Say .897648162% and create the illusion that you might actually know what you are talkin’ about.
And then, dramatize your point by proclaiming that the cost of bandwidth and hosting for a string of ASCII text is somehow gonna break the banks!
COMMENT #26 [Permalink]
… another joe said on 7/26/2009 @ 5:39 am PT…
Big Dan – none of the issues we talk about exist in a vacuum. We cannot have a dialog about issues if we refuse to acknowledge relationships between issues.
I agree with you. I was saying, we could talk about both health care AND treason.
Clearly the constitution matters, but not to the lawless and paid off fascists that run the country and have for a long time, at least since Kennedy got his head blown off, I’m guessing. I don’t see how anyone could think that people who are willing to kill, bribe, frame whatever to keep their corrupt power structure in place are going to respond to the rule of law, so why get upset if and when they don’t?
And my original post was done tongue in cheek so take it with a bit of humor people.
It’s allready happnin’ but at a slow, incremental pace.:
https://www.checkpointusa.org/b...ng_san_bernard
http://www.congresscheck.com/20...-in-tennessee/
http://www.sanfelipe.com.mx/get...eckpoints.html
***
From a Psy-Op point of view having a police force increasingly militarized in look and attitude as we currently do have, is a valuable step in desensitizing citizens to the sight of their military assuming duties more appropriate for civilian law enforcement.
Having the military perform civilian law enforcement duties periodically and in conjunction with civilian law enforcement personnel is another step in desensitizing the citizenry to the prospect of many civilian law enforcement duties being done routinely by the military with or without civilian law enforcement in attendance.
Cheny didn’t get his way because IMO, he wanted to move too fast.
Another Joe – For what it’s worth, I completely agree with your assessment of Obama. I voted for Nader. I saw the writing on the wall with Obama when I saw his voting record (or lack thereof) in the senate. There was never anything progressive about him. He threw his constitutional scholar credentials under the bus when he voted for the patriot act and fisa without retroactive immunity and with his support of faith-based initiatives.
I just wish more people would have seen it coming. I hope we get some more worthy candidates in 2012 and that people’s eyes are more open now that they are seeing the backtracking on all his promises.
another joe said
“We either get band of neocons that lies to us, undermine the constitution, and loot the federal treasury or we get dems that lies to us, undermines the constitution, tells us “moving forward” means ignoring the ongoing thefts from public coffers that wildly exceed avarice, and an endless string of phony excuses justifying their new tune, “NO WE CAN’T!””
I’m sympathetic joe but we gotta “do something to change it”. Not saying you don’t… but
If we vote in a stinker Dem WE are the ones who have the responsibility to discipline the politician. If they refuse to listen to us threaten to un-elect them and Follow Through!
Give them fits ducking your barbs. Show no mercy.
Continually re-electing Democrats that lie to us is no solution. We must change their attitude towards us. A little political fear if you will.
As an example take [my comment on this thread]….
[ed note: Duplicated part of comment deleted. JHK, please read our rules for commenting. Thank you. –99]
I think it’s very hard for commenters to hold back on whatever pops into their minds, especially with the very liberal policies of this blog. It’s sort of like looking up a word in the dictionary and having to go ten different places which don’t relate whatsoever to the original word you were trying to define. That’s not a bad thing.
The bad thing is when a thread about Cheney’s lawlessness isn’t even addressed in the comments section and Obama’s is. It looks suspicious to me.
My real name is as posted and I’m “in the book”
They are all crooks and need to be hung for high treason. They all lie and you can tell they are lying because their lips are moving. The only way we the people are going to free ourselves is to vote these people out of office. As long as we vote for the same parties, we get the same idiots. VOTE THIRD PARTY!! It is the only way out of this mess.