Nixon has won Watergate

Jonathan Turley: "From unilateral military actions to warrantless surveillance that were key parts of the basis for Nixon's impending impeachment, the painful fact is that Barack Obama is the president that Nixon always wanted to be.

Four decades ago, Nixon was halted in his determined effort to create an "imperial presidency" with unilateral powers and privileges. In 2013, Obama wields those very same powers openly and without serious opposition."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/03/25/nixon-has-won-watergate/2019443/

A sophisticated visualization of all documented drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004.

http://drones.pitchinteractive.com/

Security theater

While at the airport, have you ever said to yourself anything like: "Hmmm, this TSA crap seems like security theater. Is this really just creating the illusion of safety? Is it worth sacrificing my privacy for this charade? Is this government bureaucracy totally incompetent (and is this a silly question)?"

Well, this should put all of your doubts to rest.

What is it good for?

This unjust and unnecessary war could cost $6 trillion when accounting for interest over the next 4 decades; killed hundreds of thousands and perhaps over 1 million Iraqis, with millions more displaced; left a country in complete ruin and a region totally destabilized; and killed thousands of U.S. soldiers and left tens of thousands injured. And all for what?

http://news.antiwar.com/2013/03/14/iraq-war-could-cost-6-trillion/

Exciting, inspiring, optimistic analysis of the current state of the State and our long march towards freedom by Jeffrey Tucker.

http://lfb.org/today/the-four-signs-of-a-collapsing-state/

The War Against Bradley Manning

John Whitehead: "Manning reacted as one would hope any honorable American would react when they witness their government acting in a manner that is corrupt, incompetent, inhumane, immoral and, it must be said, downright evil."

http://original.antiwar.com/jwhitehead/2013/03/12/the-war-against-bradley-manning/

The Imperial Presidency

Ron Paul: "Last week the US Senate took a break from debating the phony cuts known as “sequestration,” for Senator Rand Paul to hold a 13-hour filibuster to force the Obama administration to state whether it believes the President has the right to kill American citizens with drones on US soil. I find it tragic that there has to be a discussion on an issue that should be so self-evident.

However, feeling the pressure, the administration finally said “no,” but in language so twisted that no one should feel in the slightest bit reassured. According to Attorney General Eric Holder, the president does not believe he has the right to use the military to kill an American who is “not engaged in combat on American soil.” Left undefined is how the administration defines “combat.” As constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley wrote last week, “one can easily foresee this or a future president insisting that an alleged terrorism conspiracy is a form of ‘combat’.”

The administration’s outrageous response to the most serious Constitutional question of all -- when a government can kill its own citizens -- is clear evidence of an executive branch out of control."

http://the-free-foundation.org/tst3-11-2013.html

Glenn Greenwald: "Once you embrace the US government's War on Terror framework, then there is no cogent legal argument for limiting the assassination power to foreign soil. If the Globe is a Battlefield, then that, by definition, obviously includes the US."

http://m.guardiannews.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/10/paul-filibuster-drones-progressives

Dinosaurs

It's almost embarrassing watching this dinosaur cling to his beloved interventionism. Not to mention his intentional misstatements (read: lies) about sequestration gutting the military and other nonsense. Also, there's the predictable "I'm carrying on the tradition of Ronald Reagan" justification for U.S. hegemony and empire. And listen to the utter disdain when he refers to "impressionable libertarians in their college dorms". The only thing missing is "get off my lawn, you damn libertarian kids!"

But on the bright side--and speaking of dinosaurs--McCain's ideas are on the path to extinction.

Amy Goodman: "Barack Obama and John Brennan direct the drone strikes that are killing thousands of civilians. It doesn't make us safer. It makes whole populations, from Yemen to Pakistan, hate us. Senator Rand Paul's outrage with the president's claimed right to kill US citizens is entirely appropriate. That there is not more outrage at the thousands killed around the globe is shameful … and dangerous."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/07/america-shamed-rand-paul-drone-executions

Jeffrey Tucker RE: the most paranoid institution on the planet

Jeffrey Tucker: "Remember that government is the most paranoid institution on the planet. It is extremely jumpy for that reason. You know how the petty thief is always watching his back, worried that he is going to get caught? Government is like that. It is always and everywhere engaged in criminal activity. It mainly worries about being found out. It fears discovery. Digital media permit every American to say, “You have been found out!”

http://lfb.org/today/can-i-get-a-candy-bar-sen-rand-paul/

Lessons in boot-licking

That fearless political maverick John McCain--fresh off a romantic evening of presidential boot licking--has some words for those who dare to speak truth to power.

http://www.businessinsider.com/mccain-slams-rand-paul-filibuster-2013-3

Why won't Obama simply say that he absolutely will not order drone attacks on American soil. Given his deadly record--including the intentional killing of a 16 year old American boy in Yemen as well as all of the so-called collateral damage (read: dead innocent bystanders)--it would be nice to have a little reassurance.

If you see something, say something...

...unless the something you see is war crimes and evils committed by your government. In that case, shut up.

The U.S. government encourages and rewards with praise those individuals who follow its slogan "if you see something, say something" as it relates to tattling on their neighbor. But if an individual blows the whistle on the government itself for truly evil doings, they may be held without trial under cruel and unusual conditions for nearly three years and will likely face 20 years to life in prison.


Check out this article by Glenn Greenwald on the heroism of Bradley Manning: 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/28/bradley-manning-heroism-pleads-guilty