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

Budget "cut" theater

The federal government plans to increase spending by $2.5 Trillion over the next 10 years. Republicans and Democrats are arguing over whether they should instead only increase spending by $2.4 Trillion, and whose special interests will benefit most. So, they are quibbling over a totally insignificant difference in how much they will **increase** spending. Nothing is being cut. Nothing is ever cut. This is political theater.

http://reason.com/blog/2013/02/19/what-will-sequestration-really-look-like

http://lewrockwell.com/napolitano/napolitano89.1.html

The heroism of entrepreneurs

Lew Rockwell interviews Whole Foods founder John Mackey about the heroic spirit of business, and how capitalism in a free market creates enormous value for all of society.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/podcast/349-heroic-spirit-of-business/

MSNBC clarifies its function

Glenn Greenwald: "Impressively, David Axelrod left the White House and actually managed to find the only place on earth arguably more devoted to Barack Obama. Finally, American citizens will now be able to hear what journalism has for too long so vindictively denied them: a vibrant debate between Gibbs and Axelrod on how great Obama really is."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/19/msnbc-axelrod-gibbs-obama

Let's actually be better

Connor Friedersdorf: There were almost 10,000 drunk-driving fatalities in 2011 alone. That's the equivalent of three 9/11s in people killed, plus many more seriously injured, every year. Is a majority of Americans ready to lower the blood alcohol limit to 0.01 and to mandate breathalyzers on all ignition switches? Nope. That would be an onerous government intrusion on liberty. I'm fine with that. But it vexes me when the same citizenry faces the significantly lower risk that terrorists pose, spends far more on prevention, and still insists that targeted killings in Yemen and Somalia can't be constrained, because taking more care to save innocents would threaten us.

Many Americans willingly take bigger risks to scuba dive, ride a motorcycle, or eat junk food than they are willing to take to spare the lives of far away kids. As my colleague Ta-Nehisi Coates put it, writing on a related subject, "Our problem is we think we're better than we actually are. We've gotten so good at telling ourselves this."

Let's actually be better.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/02/a-republic-demands-courage-from-its-citizens/273108/

The animosity deepens

Glenn Greenwald: "[I]f you continually bomb another country and kill their civilians, not only the people of that country but the part of the world that identifies with it will increasingly despise the country doing it. That's the ultimate irony, the most warped paradox, of US discourse on these issues: the very policies that Americans constantly justify by spouting the Terrorism slogan are exactly what causes anti-American hatred and anti-American Terrorism in the first place."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/15/us-obama-muslims-animosity-deepens