Big Brother
By JULIET WILLIAMS
Associated Press
21 Jan 06
By JULIET WILLIAMS
Associated Press
21 Jan 06
Mon, 23 Jan 2006 12:00 EST
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Former seven-term Congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey said Saturday that he will challenge U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo (news, bio, voting record) for the Republican nomination in his northern California district.
The 78-year-old McCloskey, a maverick known for environmental causes, told The Associated Press he felt compelled to get back into politics because of his concern for the environment and what he sees as a shift in Washington away from traditional Republican values.
By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t
Investigative Report
23 January 2006
By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t
Investigative Report
23 January 2006
Mon, 23 Jan 2006 12:00 EST
Ironically, a day after Wilson's July 6, 2003, op-ed titled "What I didn't Find in Niger" was published in the New York Times, Hadley accepted responsibility for allowing the infamous "16 words" to be included in Bush's State of the Union address. Hadley was sent two separate letters from the CIA, warning him not to allow Bush to cite the Niger uranium claim in his State of the Union address. Hadley said he forgot about the letters.
Exactly one week later, Valerie Plame Wilson's cover was blown in a column written by conservative journalist Robert Novak.
by Charles Sullivan
23 Jan 06
by Charles Sullivan
23 Jan 06
Mon, 23 Jan 2006 12:00 EST
When I rise it will be with the ranks, not from the ranks.--Eugene Debs, June 16, 1918
Working class people, especially progressives, must come to understand that our interests are not being served by hitching our political wagons to either the Democratic or the Republican Party. The Republicrats represent a capitalist system that has given rise to class division, the unequal distribution of wealth, private ownership, and a system of wage slavery that does not serve democracy, but plutocracy. It condemns workers to being the property of their employers. Capitalism is the opposite of Democracy. We are only deceiving ourselvesfalling into an old trapby casting our votes in a system that not only excludes the majority of us, but also treats us with utter contempt.
Whichever party we choose represents a system that favors plutocratsthose of wealth and privilege. It is a system of their creation, for their sole benefit. In that system we are the servants of power and they are its masters. The vast majority of us, probably ninety percent of the population, is not served by this party. We will always be servile; we will never have representation in this system. Our only rational alternative is to form a new party that represents the silent, repressed majority. We are making a serious mistake by thinking that we can reform a system that was created to serve people of wealth and means. It is a system that operates on capital. Our political enemies have all of the money; we have none. Thus they have access to power; we do not. We cannot possibly compete in this system. We have no alternative but to create a new system in place of the old.
by Robert Jensen
23 Jan 06
by Robert Jensen
23 Jan 06
Mon, 23 Jan 2006 12:00 EST
If we transcend the sad, desperate triumphalist rhetoric of an empire in decline -- that is, if we break from the conventional platitudes about the inherent benevolence and superiority of the United States that underlie the politics of both major parties -- we can see clearly the breadth and depth of the problems we face.
Though it is easy for progressive people to focus on the smug frat-boy arrogance of George W. Bush and the shortsightedness, mendacity, and incompetence of his administration, the problem is not simply the reactionary policies of the current gang of thugs and thieves in Washington. Nor is the problem simply the timidity of a Democratic Party bereft of ideas, political acumen, or moral clarity in the face of the right-wing project. The problem is that we live in political, economic, and social systems that are fundamentally unjust and unsustainable.
Where do we look for insights into a path out of the madness of this system of white supremacy and patriarchy, of imperial domination and soulless capitalism, of an unsustainable high-energy/high-technology affluent society?
By MICHAEL DONNELLY
21 Jan 06
By MICHAEL DONNELLY
21 Jan 06
Mon, 23 Jan 2006 12:00 EST
January 19th saw the release of a previously sealed 65-count federal Indictment in the Animal Liberation Front/Earth Liberation Front cases I wrote about a month ago.
Comment: Comment: This case is classic COINTELPRO. Read
Laura's blog entries on the subject to get educated and up-to-speed pronto!
Adam Nagourney
NY Times
Mon, 23 Jan 2006 12:00 EST
Washington - With a campaign of high-profile national security events set for the next three days, following Karl Rove's blistering speech to Republicans on Friday, the White House has effectively declared that it views its controversial secret surveillance program not as a political liability but as an asset, a way to attack Democrats and re-establish President Bush's standing after a difficult year.
Whether the White House can succeed depends very much, members of both parties say, on its success in framing a complicated debate when the country is torn between its historic aversion to governmental intrusion and its recent fear of terrorist attacks at home.
Comment: Yup, that's what the conspiracy theorists were telling us years ago: that social terror would be manufactured so that the populace would beg for a "strong leader," a dictator, in fact. What is baffling is that this information has been out there for YEARS and now, when it is in everybody's face, nobody seems to see it! Heck, it's the REAL New World Order, only it isn't the UN, it isn't a bunch of old dudes smoking cigars in their club in London, it's plain and simple: The Good Ole US of A. The BEAST.
By Staff and Wire Reports
Jan 23, 2006
By Staff and Wire Reports
Jan 23, 2006
Mon, 23 Jan 2006 12:00 EST
Several lawmakers said Sunday they will press President Bush to justify his decision to allow domestic eavesdropping, rebuffing GOP suggestions their criticism of broad executive authority puts the nation at risk.
Comment: Comment: Now remember, these pusillanimous politicos are only discovering they have latent cojones because of the pressure being put on them by their constituents. So keep writing, keep calling, keep faxing. Do NOT let up on them! Demand that Alito be filibustered, demand an investigation of Bush's illegal spying; heck, while you're doing it, might as well go for broke and demand the arrest of the whole administration for Treason!
BY WILLIAM E. GIBSON
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
BY WILLIAM E. GIBSON
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Mon, 23 Jan 2006 12:00 EST
WASHINGTON - While the White House defended domestic surveillance as a safeguard against terrorism, a Florida peace activist and several Democrats in Congress accused the Bush administration on Friday of spying on Americans who disagree with President Bush's policies.
Richard Hersh, of Boca Raton, Fla., director of Truth Project Inc. of Palm Beach County, told an ad hoc panel of House Democrats that his group and others in South Florida have been infiltrated and spied upon despite having no connections to terrorists.
www.emailtocongress.com
www.emailtocongress.com
Mon, 23 Jan 2006 12:00 EST
There is a classic cliffhanger you've probably seen in more than one horror movie and it generally goes like this. One character in the movie is in some kind of a trance under an evil spell, and their inaction or unwitting complicity is required for the evil plan to be fulfilled. And you see the hero of the movie shaking them, and yelling at them, "Snap out of it!" because only by working together can the good and the just prevail. Because it is a movie at the last minute the hero always succeeds in getting the other character to come to their senses and everyone cheers. And that's exactly what is going on right now with the nightmare nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.
Is "nightmare" too strong a word? Actually, that's the word that Bill Frist used just the other day in referring to their own nominee. For decades they have dreamed of overturning every progressive precedent since the New Deal, for privacy rights, for labor rights, for the rights of people to be protected from socially irresponsible corporations, and more. And now they even want to absolve the president himself from having to obey the laws of the people as passed by Congress, with Sam Alito the prime mover and judicial theorist behind the so-called "unitary executive" theory. That is nothing more than dictatorship with a make-over. A dream to them perhaps, but truly said a very scary nightmare for the rest of us.
Comment: Comment: YOU can put a stop to the destruction of the very foundations of our democracy but speaking out to your senators and demanding they stand up for us at
http://www.emailtocongress.com
There you will find a one click for that will send your personal message to all your members of Congress at once, and you can make it a letter to the editor of your nearest daily newspaper all at the same time.
By VERENA DOBNIK
The Associated Press
Saturday, January 21, 2006
By VERENA DOBNIK
The Associated Press
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Mon, 23 Jan 2006 12:00 EST
NEW YORK -- Entertainer Harry Belafonte, one of the Bush administration's harshest critics, compared the Homeland Security Department to the Nazi Gestapo on Saturday and attacked the president as a liar.
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