Global
Washington and its willing mouthpieces in the media have for years been trying to sell us the preposterous war in Afghanistan. While they attempt to convince us that the war is predicated on a faultless military logic and moral wisdom, it remains in fact a tragic adventure with no decipherable objectives, and involving several countries, private contractors, and all sorts of firms seeking to make a quick buck.
The intellectual cowardice of some should not blind the majority to the fact that the war in Afghanistan is morally indefensible and militarily unwinnable.
The decision of the US to continue with its brutal military adventurism in Afghanistan can only be understood in terms of its limited and highly selfish political logic.
The intellectual cowardice of some should not blind the majority to the fact that the war in Afghanistan is morally indefensible and militarily unwinnable.
The decision of the US to continue with its brutal military adventurism in Afghanistan can only be understood in terms of its limited and highly selfish political logic.
For historians who like dates and bookends for their events, the “global war on terror” started with the destruction of the Twin Towers and the attack on the Pentagon (9/11). The idea of perpetual war provided large benefits to a few and pain and terror to much of the world, and to the rest of the world an increasing disbelief in the intents, means, and rationales for the war. Unfortunately for the academic writers of history, history itself does not operate within the confines of given dates - the flow of actions and counter actions never ceases. The 9/11 attacks were by any real accounting only another incident in the fraud that the imperial powers of the world have ‘perpetuated’ on the citizens of the world.
The American people voted out the policies of George W. Bush’s administration. Voters turned their back on W’s war policies and torture; repudiated his Orwellian anti-environmentalism and demanded green jobs; and rejected his bailout of the big investment bankers that destroyed our economy.
Then, in came the political savior – a seemingly untainted junior first-term senator from Illinois.
The shiny knight was distinguished from other Democratic candidates like Hillary Clinton and John Kerry because as a state senator he had made “the speech” opposing the illegal attack on Iraq.
But did he ride in on a Trojan horse?
It’s now clear Obama favors the same failed policies as the Bushites. Obama embraces the same “the surge is working” mantra, simply shifting the location from Iraq to Afghanistan. He echoes W’s nonsensical rhetoric that the massive U.S. forces in Iraq and being dispensed to Afghanistan are “fighting for our freedom.”
Then, in came the political savior – a seemingly untainted junior first-term senator from Illinois.
The shiny knight was distinguished from other Democratic candidates like Hillary Clinton and John Kerry because as a state senator he had made “the speech” opposing the illegal attack on Iraq.
But did he ride in on a Trojan horse?
It’s now clear Obama favors the same failed policies as the Bushites. Obama embraces the same “the surge is working” mantra, simply shifting the location from Iraq to Afghanistan. He echoes W’s nonsensical rhetoric that the massive U.S. forces in Iraq and being dispensed to Afghanistan are “fighting for our freedom.”
At Friday's hearing on torture memos, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy asked Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler whether the Department of Justice agrees with John Yoo that a president's powers cannot be limited with regard to such actions as massacring villages. Grindler did not provide an answer.
Liveblog of Leahy Hearing on Yoo and Bybee and Margolis Without Yoo or Bybee or Margolis:
Of course nobody's been subpoenaed.
10:00-10:15 delay and puffery.
10:16 Leahy running his mouth. OPR report has gaps, including Yoo's Emails which were required to be maintained by law. Leahy says he'll ask witness (Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler) about that. Says memos were "shoddy" and "twisted the plain meaning of statutes." But THAT is a violation of the anti-torture statute and a felony.
Liveblog of Leahy Hearing on Yoo and Bybee and Margolis Without Yoo or Bybee or Margolis:
Of course nobody's been subpoenaed.
10:00-10:15 delay and puffery.
10:16 Leahy running his mouth. OPR report has gaps, including Yoo's Emails which were required to be maintained by law. Leahy says he'll ask witness (Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler) about that. Says memos were "shoddy" and "twisted the plain meaning of statutes." But THAT is a violation of the anti-torture statute and a felony.
A driving snowstorm could not keep Vermonters away from the statehouse
in Montpelier yesterday as the Vermont Senate convened a historic debate
and then voted on the future of the state’s aging nuclear power plant.
Playwright Lillian Hellman said: “I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions.” The statement was in a letter to the House Un-American Activities Committee. The year was 1952. We tell ourselves that the McCarthy era was vastly different than our own -- but what about the political fashions of 2010? This year’s fashions cut mean figures on Washington’s runways. Conformities lie, and people die.
While the escalating disaster of war in Afghanistan keeps setting deadly blazes, the few anti-war voices on Capitol Hill usually sound like people whispering “Fire!”
In 2010, this is what the warfare state looks like: a largely numbed state, mainlining anesthetics that induce routine torpor. In that context, the conformity of mild dissent is apt to be mistaken for outspoken moral acuity.
On the back of an envelope, or anywhere else, check this math:
$1,000,000 x 100,000 = $100,000,000,000
In round flat numbers, that’s the cost of deploying 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan for one year -- $100 billion. The initial “cost” includes none of the human consequences.
While the escalating disaster of war in Afghanistan keeps setting deadly blazes, the few anti-war voices on Capitol Hill usually sound like people whispering “Fire!”
In 2010, this is what the warfare state looks like: a largely numbed state, mainlining anesthetics that induce routine torpor. In that context, the conformity of mild dissent is apt to be mistaken for outspoken moral acuity.
On the back of an envelope, or anywhere else, check this math:
$1,000,000 x 100,000 = $100,000,000,000
In round flat numbers, that’s the cost of deploying 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan for one year -- $100 billion. The initial “cost” includes none of the human consequences.
Our sources tell us that any day now Senator Lindsey Graham's appalling legislation (S. 2977) could be hitting the Senate floor. Graham's proposal takes a back-door approach at stopping federal trials for those suspected of being involved in the September 11th terrorist attacks - instead of flat-out opposing action to move these detainees to facilities in the U.S., this legislation drains funding from the last hope we'll have at fair September 11th trials.
If these men are guilty, then our federal courts will reach that determination. It is just wrong to cheat - and worse, even rob - them of their day in court. However, one-by-one we're seeing the Senators we thought we could count on to uphold the rule of law, turning on those values and backing this devious proposal.
Last week, we asked you to pick up the phone and put both Senator Graham and the White House on notice that we would fight any attempt to backtrack on federal trials. Now that they've been warned, it's our time to strike!
If these men are guilty, then our federal courts will reach that determination. It is just wrong to cheat - and worse, even rob - them of their day in court. However, one-by-one we're seeing the Senators we thought we could count on to uphold the rule of law, turning on those values and backing this devious proposal.
Last week, we asked you to pick up the phone and put both Senator Graham and the White House on notice that we would fight any attempt to backtrack on federal trials. Now that they've been warned, it's our time to strike!
I'm not a big fan of post-partisan America, a notion that seems to amount to running the government through two political parties but taking care that one of them not perform in any significant way better than the other one. But I am a fan of the idea, which nobody ever seems to consider, of actually disempowering parties.
That idea has a precedent in the first dozen years or so of our republic whose Constitution never planned for party rule, although nonpartisanship would obviously have to look very different today. I suspect we could imagine ways of making party-free government work if we tried. At the moment, however, Americans' political thinking is so party-saturated, that any talk of opposing parties is met with the question "Which one?" or with the statement "Yeah, I'm for a third party too!"
Read the following blog post by John Caruso titled We've tried nothing, and we're all out of ideas
That idea has a precedent in the first dozen years or so of our republic whose Constitution never planned for party rule, although nonpartisanship would obviously have to look very different today. I suspect we could imagine ways of making party-free government work if we tried. At the moment, however, Americans' political thinking is so party-saturated, that any talk of opposing parties is met with the question "Which one?" or with the statement "Yeah, I'm for a third party too!"
Read the following blog post by John Caruso titled We've tried nothing, and we're all out of ideas
- "John Feffer bewails the lack of any alternative to the Democratic Party:
“It’s a great day to fight for working families,” thundered Ohio AFL-CIO President Joe Rogola, to the cheers of hundreds at the March for Jobs in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday. “It’s snowing here and they’re sitting up there in Wall St., nice and warm. But I’ll tell you, it’s going to get a whole lot hotter there, as we organize and fight for jobs and security for working families here in America!”
“Hey, hey, ho, ho, Wall St. greed’s gotta go,” “People’s needs, not Wall St. greed,” & “We need JOBS, now,” echoed off buildings in downtown Columbus, as hundreds braved the latest snowstorm to march to the Ohio State Capital building, calling for jobs and relief for working families.
“I came to the march to fight for jobs, for me, but especially for our families,” said unemployed sheet metal worker Mary Young. “I’ve worked 4 months in the last two years, and had to go to Tennessee to even get part time work,” she said. “It’s ridiculous! These billionaires just take more and more and more from working folks. Even when they hire a few, they won’t hire the women,” she said.
“Hey, hey, ho, ho, Wall St. greed’s gotta go,” “People’s needs, not Wall St. greed,” & “We need JOBS, now,” echoed off buildings in downtown Columbus, as hundreds braved the latest snowstorm to march to the Ohio State Capital building, calling for jobs and relief for working families.
“I came to the march to fight for jobs, for me, but especially for our families,” said unemployed sheet metal worker Mary Young. “I’ve worked 4 months in the last two years, and had to go to Tennessee to even get part time work,” she said. “It’s ridiculous! These billionaires just take more and more and more from working folks. Even when they hire a few, they won’t hire the women,” she said.
Playwright Lillian Hellman said: “I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions.”
The statement was in a letter to the House Un-American Activities Committee. The year was 1952. We tell ourselves that the McCarthy era was vastly different than our own -- but what about the political fashions of 2010?
This year’s fashions cut mean figures on Washington’s runways. Conformities lie, and people die.
While the escalating disaster of war in Afghanistan keeps setting deadly blazes, the few anti-war voices on Capitol Hill usually sound like people whispering “Fire!”
In 2010, this is what the warfare state looks like: a largely numbed state, mainlining anesthetics that induce routine torpor. In that context, the conformity of mild dissent is apt to be mistaken for outspoken moral acuity.
On the back of an envelope, or anywhere else, check this math:
$1,000,000 x 100,000 = $100,000,000,000
In round flat numbers, that’s the cost of deploying 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan for one year -- $100 billion. The initial “cost” includes none of the human consequences.
The statement was in a letter to the House Un-American Activities Committee. The year was 1952. We tell ourselves that the McCarthy era was vastly different than our own -- but what about the political fashions of 2010?
This year’s fashions cut mean figures on Washington’s runways. Conformities lie, and people die.
While the escalating disaster of war in Afghanistan keeps setting deadly blazes, the few anti-war voices on Capitol Hill usually sound like people whispering “Fire!”
In 2010, this is what the warfare state looks like: a largely numbed state, mainlining anesthetics that induce routine torpor. In that context, the conformity of mild dissent is apt to be mistaken for outspoken moral acuity.
On the back of an envelope, or anywhere else, check this math:
$1,000,000 x 100,000 = $100,000,000,000
In round flat numbers, that’s the cost of deploying 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan for one year -- $100 billion. The initial “cost” includes none of the human consequences.