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For the sake of the U.S.A.Let it happen!
Let The Sun Shine In......
The Iranian Threat?
15 years ago
Friday, April 17, 2009
Maj. General Calls forIinvestigation
Major General Antonio Taguba called for an independent commission to investigate war crimes committed by senior members of the Bush Administration. Taguba was pressured to resign by the Bush Administration in 2007 following the 2004 leak of his report detailing abuses by U.S. armed forces in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
For the sake of the U.S.A.Let it happen!
For the sake of the U.S.A.Let it happen!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Right-Wingers Are Desperately Trying to Destroy Obama, and the Cowardly Corporate Media Are Helping
Yet, despite the evidence of that, the major American news media mocked Hillary Clinton when she complained about a "vast right-wing conspiracy."
After Clinton survived impeachment, the national press corps transferred its hostility toward Vice President Al Gore in Campaign 2000 , ridiculing him as a serial exaggerator and liar, even when that required twisting his words. [For details, see our book Neck Deep.]
Then, when George W. Bush wrested the White House away from Gore with the help of five Republican partisans on the U.S. Supreme Court, the drumbeat of hostility toward the American President suddenly disappeared, replaced by a new consensus about the need for unity. The 9/11 attacks deepened that sentiment, putting Bush almost beyond the reach of normal criticism.
Again, the right-wing media and the mainstream press moved almost in lockstep. The deferential tone toward Bush could be found not just on Fox News or right-wing talk radio, but in the Washington Post and (to a lesser degree) the New York Times -- and on CNN and MSNBC. [For details, see Consortiumnews.com’s "America’s Matrix."]
To some foreigners, the U.S. news media’s early coverage of the Iraq War had the feel of what might be expected in a totalitarian state.
"There have been times, living in America of late, when it seemed I was back in the Communist Moscow I left a dozen years ago," wrote Rupert Cornwell in the London-based Independent. "Switch to cable TV and reporters breathlessly relay the latest wisdom from the usual unnamed ‘senior administration officials,’ keeping us on the straight and narrow. Everyone, it seems, is on-side and on-message. Just like it used to be when the hammer and sickle flew over the Kremlin." [Independent, April 23, 2003]
Bush’s Slide
Bush skeptics were essentially not tolerated in most of the U.S. news media, and journalists who dared produce critical pieces could expect severe career consequences, such as the four CBS producers fired for a segment on how Bush skipped his National Guard duty, a true story that made the mistake of using some memos that had not been fully vetted.
Only after real events intervened -- especially the bloody insurgency in Iraq and the ghastly flooding of New Orleans -- did the mainstream U.S. press corps begin to tolerate a more skeptical view of Bush. However, the news personalities who had come to dominate the industry by then had cut their teeth in an era of bashing Democrats (Clinton/Gore) and fawning over Republicans (Reagan and the two Bushes).
With Barack Obama as President, these "news" personalities almost reflexively returned to the Clinton-Gore paradigm, feeling the freedom -- indeed the pressure -- to be tough on the White House.
Though MSNBC does offer a few shows hosted by liberals and there are a few other liberal voices here and there, the national media remains weighted heavily to the right and center-right.
For every Keith Olbermann or Rachel Maddow or Paul Krugman or Frank Rich, there are dozens of Larry Kudlows, Sean Hannitys, Bill O’Reillys, Joe Scarboroughs and Charles Krauthammers who take openly right-wing or neoconservative positions — or the likes of Lou Dobbs, John King and Wolf Blitzer, who reflect Republican-oriented or neocon views out of personal commitment or careerist caution.
While the right-wing media denounces Obama as a "socialist" and Republican activists are organizing "tea parties" to protest taxes, the mainstream media continues to follow the old dynamic of framing political issues in ways most favorable to Republicans and least sympathetic to Democrats.
On CNN’s "State of the Union" Sunday, in an interview with Gen. Ray Odierno, host John King pushed a favorite media myth about President Bush’s successful "surge" in Iraq. King never mentioned that many factors in the declining Iraqi violence predated or were unrelated to Bush’s dispatch of additional troops, nor did King note the contradiction about Bush’s supposed "success" and Odierno’s warning that he may have to urge more delays in withdrawing U.S. troops.
Let The Sun Shine In......
So Say The People!
Cheney is full of it!!!
So, what else is new?
72 percent of Americans disagree with Cheney’s claim that Obama has made the U.S. less safe.
Last month, former Vice President Dick Cheney complained that President Obama’s policies “raise the risk…of another attack” in the U.S.Since then, numerous government officials — including Gen. David Petraeus and Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) — have spoken out against Cheney’s remarks.
Now, a new CNN poll shows that the American public also view Cheney’s claim with disregard.
According to the poll, 72 percent “disagree with Cheney’s view that some of Obama’s actions have put the country at greater risk with 26 percent agreeing with the former vice president.”
Let The Sun Shine In......
Krugman on the Chambliss Hypocrisy
Here is' something for my fellow Georgians.
more about "Krugman on the Chambliss Hypocrisy", posted with vodpod
Obama a 'fascist'?
Why can't anyone think to ask even one of these nut jobs to define Fascism or Socialism or Communism for that matter? How about Capitalism? Can anyone define Capitalism
The man who founded the Fascist party in Italy was none other than, Benito Mussolini. He said that the word for fascism would easily be replaced with corporatism; when government and the corporations, who own the elected officials, are one force in the nation and in the world, representing the U.S.A..
Proud of all our corporate types and what they have been up to for the past 50 years or so? Is anyone proud to vote for one more politician who is owned by some corporate interest that is clearly not in-line with the well-being of the people?
more about "Obama a 'fascist'?", posted with vodpod
Obama publishes 'torture' memos
| ABOUT TIME!!! | |||
The US has published four secret memos detailing legal justification for the Bush-era CIA interrogation programme. Critics of the programme say the methods used amounted to torture. President Obama has also issued a statement guaranteeing that no CIA employees will be prosecuted for their role in the interrogation programme. Some in the CIA wanted parts of the memos to be blacked out, fearing full disclosure could trigger lawsuits against agents, reports suggest. The release of the memos stems from a request by civil rights group the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Harsh techniques Three of the documents were written in May 2005 by the then acting head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), Stephen G. Bradbury. They gave legal support for the combined use of various coercive techniques, and concluded that the CIA's methods were not "cruel, inhuman or degrading" under international law.
The fourth document, dating from 1 August 2002, was written by OLC lawyer John Yoo and signed by his colleague Jay Bybee. It contained legal authorisation for a list of specific harsh interrogation techniques. Critics of the Bush administration's interrogation programme say the memos provide evidence that many of the methods authorised amount to torture under US and international law. There was a rift within the Obama administration about whether the documents should be made available to the public in full or should be partially redacted. Attorney General Eric Holder and White House Counsel Greg Craig were vocal supporters of full publication of the memos, according to reports. But CIA chief Leon Panetta and Deputy Director John Brennan called for portions of the memos to be blacked out, or redacted, the New York Times reported. They were concerned that full disclosure would set a precedent for future exposure of intelligence sources and methods, and would threaten America's relationship with allied intelligence services. But civil liberties campaigners said anything short of full publication would undermine President Obama's attempts to paint himself as more transparent than his predecessor. Announcing the publication of the memos, Mr Obama said: "I believe that exceptional circumstances surround these memos and require their release." "Withholding these memos would only serve to deny facts that have been in the public domain for some time," he explained. But he also gave an assurance that "those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice... will not be subject to prosecution." During his first week in office, President Obama issued an executive order officially outlawing the use of harsh interrogation techniques by the CIA, and forcing the agency to adhere to standards laid out in the US Army Field Manual. | |||
Let The Sun Shine In......
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