Glenn Greenwald reports, "John Brennan's extremism and dishonesty rewarded with CIA Director nomination: "Obama's top terrorism adviser goes from unconfirmable in 2008 to uncontroversial in 2013, reflecting the Obama legacy." (As I write this, I'm listening to Glenn talking live to Sam Seder right now about just how egregious this choice really is, on The Majority Report.)
Jonathan Turley, "Minnesota Man Criminally Charged After Filming Police in Public [...] Henderson, 28, was filming Ramsey County deputies arresting a man when his camera was confiscated by a deputy, Jacqueline Muellner, who suddenly announced 'We'll just take this for evidence.' She also warned Henderson that 'If I end up on YouTube, I'm gonna be upset.'"
"INSOURCING Analysis - Prison Labor Competing For Your Job" - This is a heavily-sourced piece that covers a lot of ground.
David Sirota on Why Chuck Hagel terrifies hawks, GOP: "Here's a rule of thumb for understanding Washington politics: On the rare occasion when everything including the kitchen sink gets thrown at a Cabinet nominee to block an appointment, there's a solid chance that the opposition is not merely about the collage of negative headlines. Instead, it's more likely that the opposition is motivated by a deeper belief that the nominee fundamentally threatens the Beltway's Permanent Bipartisan Power Structure™. That is particularly the case when a nominee is seen as a threat to the lucrative business of permanent war - a business whose profit margins, employment footprint across America, campaign contributions and think-tank underwriting make it, by far, the most powerful pillar of that power structure."
Monday, 27 August 2007, David Broder: "Two who could find a third way" - Chuck Hagel and Michael Bloomberg. Both of these guys have been the dream boys of the "Centrists" for a good long time.
Readers of The Sideshow may recall that Chuck Hagel first came to our notice as an owner of the very voting machines that had given him unlikely wins of a Senate seat. And that's one of many reasons why I would prefer not to see Hegal anywhere near government. But the horrible fact is that he may not be quite as terrible as most of Obama's other appointments.
"Teachers Irate as Bloomberg Likens Union to the N.R.A." Absolutely shameless.
Paul Rosenberg at AlJazeera: "Obama and the transformation illusion: Everyone has an ideology, whether they know it or not. But when your ideology has you - that's when you're an ideologue. It's not a matter of "extremism" but of rigidity and blindness - detachment from reality. Which is why Barack Obama is one of the most ideological presidents we've ever had. And being imprisoned in his "pragmatist" ideology is key to his numerous pragmatic train wrecks, as well his less-noted failures to even take on several really big, really significant problems."
"Now That the Election Is Over, the Real Battles in the States Begin" - This is a depressing list of assaults on the public that will require energetic pushback.
Bulletin: In the wake of the economic meltdown big-time policy mistakes were made!
Replacing Jesse Jackson, Jr In IL-02 - Is there actually a chance to get a real liberal in there, now?
"The most annoying conservative Democrat? Starts with E and ends with Rendell" - He really is annoying, but I still reserve the #1 spot for Obama.
I'm not entirely sure that this interview with Alex Jones was really any loopier than the one Jon Stewart had with Alan Simpson, who just produced a lot of babble when asked to explain his crazy ideas.
Speaking of Jon Stewart, he thinks it's time to talk about gun control: "No one is taking away all the guns. But now I get it. Now I see what is happening. So this is what it is, their paranoid fear of a possible dystopic future prevents us from addressing our actual dystopic present. We can't even begin to address 30,000 gun deaths that are actually in reality happening in this country every year because a few of us must remain vigilant against the rise of imaginary Hitler."
"NRA Vows To Stop Tucson From Destroying Guns" - via Moshe, who said, "Suing to prevent the destruction of these guns demonstrates that for many, our gun culture is not about Constitutional rights, self defense, or an innocent hobby interest in precision machines. Rather, it is a form of what the Hebrew prophets, and the Puritans influenced by them, called idolatry."
Robert Reich, "'Entitlement Reform' is a hoax." Well, yeah, but it's always worth saying it again.
Interesting, The Examiner is calling Robert Borosage "the Left's Grover Norquist". Don't see a pledge yet, though. How 'bout lowering the Social Security retirement age to 55?
Ted Rall: Proletariat Steak
Tom Tomorrow: Always Crashing in the Same Car
Definitely worth your while to check out the little family tale from NPR Snap Judgment Performance of the Year / Noah St. John, "The Last Mile".
On the 150th anniversary of the London Underground, Google gave me an Underground map.
Don't forget to mention that Alex Jones is favorite listening of many ultralefties... when he talks about 911 or trashes Obama.
ReplyDeleteWhat's an ultra-lefty?
DeleteSee here. But since the conventional far left has disappeared, at least in the US, the ultra-left is mostly populated by Very Strange People.
DeletePeople of the kind who think Alex Jones is an acceptable source of information, even though he's pretty obviously a loon.
Of course he's a loon. That's why they let him on TV.
DeleteJust like Alan Simpson.
re: Replacing Jesse Jackson, Jr In IL-02
ReplyDeleteThere are only two significant questions about Mayor Rahmbo: Is he running for Senator or Governor, or straight for President? and How much more blood can he squeeze from this bankrupt city?
It never occurred to me that the new Rep wouldn't be owned.