"No matter how cynical you get, it's impossible to keep up." - Lily TomlinFreedom and the rule of law lost a valuable resource and unique voice on Tuesday when Pamela Jones concluded that she could no longer in good conscience run Groklaw in the face of oppressively ubiquitous internet and email surveillance by US and allied intelligence agencies.
That was not just sad and unfortunate. It is absolutely unacceptable in a supposedly civilised society that an inoffensive, non-political legal researcher and information technology journalist perceived such a real threat to her privacy and that of her correspondents that she decided she had no choice but to stop using the internet almost entirely.
The metaphor of the canary in the coal mine springs to mind. If such an honourable, upstanding, straight arrow, good government supporter passionately dedicated to the rule of law like Pamela Jones could no longer believe that her privacy remained relatively safe using the internet and email, we are all in big trouble.
Comment: Iraq, check. But with al-Maliki's government supporting Iran and Syria, regime change has already failed, again.
Lebanon, failed, but still working on it.
Iran, failed, but still working on it.
Somalia, check.
Sudan, check.
Libya, check.
Syria, still working on it.
And then there is Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan and Egypt, countries that may not have been on the post-9/11 list but have been subject to heavy US and Western military intervention in the past decade.
Clark's recounting of the Pentagon's ad hoc, almost flippant, approach to targeting countries is significant because it shows that military budgets come first, then planning and justifying wars comes later.