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Shame the haters: Why I back Obama by Van Jones, jackandjillpolitics.com | November 2, 2012
Have you ever worked at a job where somebody was actively trying to sabotage you? Do you remember what that feels like? Well, that has been President Obama’s experience from Day One. As African Americans, we have a special sensitivity to situations where folks are unfairly set up to fail. We shouldn’t allow such tactics to determine the outcome of a national election. This is especially true in the president’s case. Obama’s performance has been extraordinary in both foreign and domestic policy, but he has gotten almost zero credit for truly historic achievements. read more »Welcome to the Age of Hell: Entrenching Murder as the American Way by Chris Floyd , smirkingchimp.com | October 29, 2012
The Washington Post has just laid out, in horrifying, soul-slaughtering detail, the Obama Administration's ongoing effort to expand, entrench and "codify" the practice of murder and terrorism by the United States government. read more »Iran War on the Ballot by Robert Parry, consortiumnews.com | October 28, 2012
A deal to resolve the Iranian nuclear dispute, based on face-to-face negotiations between Iranian and U.S. officials, could follow quickly upon President Barack Obama’s reelection on Nov. 6, but those bilateral relations would likely veer toward confrontation if Mitt Romney wins and his neocon advisers retake control of U.S. foreign policy. Sources familiar with the status of the talks say the potential settlement is much closer than is publicly understood, with a reelected President Obama prepared to relax the harsh economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for tight constraints on any Iranian nuclear program, assuring that it is for peaceful purposes only. read more »A Failed Formula for Worldwide War by Nick Turse, tomdispatch.com | October 25, 2012
In one way or another, the U.S. military is now involved with most of the nations on Earth. Its soldiers, commandos, trainers, base builders, drone jockeys, spies, and arms dealers, as well as associated hired guns and corporate contractors, can now be found just about everywhere on the planet. Since 2001, the U.S. military has thrown everything in its arsenal, short of nuclear weapons, including untold billions of dollars in weaponry, technology, bribes, you name it, at a remarkably weak set of enemies -- relatively small groups of poorly-armed fighters in impoverished nations like Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Yemen -- while decisively defeating none of them. It should, by all rights, dominate the world just as the neoconservative dreamers of the early Bush years assumed it would. Yet after more than a decade of war, it has failed to eliminate a rag-tag Afghan insurgency with limited popular support. read more »How a Mitt-Style Increase in Military Spending Might Cost You Your Job by Lynn Stuart Parramore, alternet.org | October 24, 2012
As predicted, one of the big clashes in the final presidential debate on Monday night concerned military spending. The dustup not only revealed a key difference between the candidates, it gave us the best line of the night, Obama's quip that we no longer rely on horses and bayonets. When it comes to federal spending, the choices we make reflect our national priorities. If you listened to Mitt Romney during the debate, it was pretty clear what his priorities would be if elected. He could not hide the fact that when it comes to spending, children, education, eldercare, trains, roads, technology, research – in short, the things that make life livable at home – will take a backseat to fighting foreign wars abroad and pumping up an already bloated military budget. But here’s what he really didn’t want you to know: Increased military spending could land a pink-slip on your desk. read more »The Continuing GOP Foreign Policy Meltdown by J. Christian Watts, jackandjillpolitics.com | October 23, 2012
The election of President Obama further decoupled the GOP from the American condition. They don’t have to be responsive to any issue, any situation, any reality, or the truth. Their base hates the President more than they love America, so their candidates can do and say whatever lunatic, hateful, mendacious claptrap comes to mind. Their version of the 47 percent doesn’t care what they say, as long as the President is defeated, or shamed, or humiliated. They simply don’t care. Even in this contested reality, foreign policy has existed as the one place where there should be some buy-in from the GOP. But I find myself aghast at the GOP’s lack of foreign policy seriousness. Looking at the GOP field, at their ideas and ideology, devoid as it is from reality, we should all be terrified of a Romney Presidency. read more »Obama Outpoints Romney In Third Debate by Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post | October 23, 2012
The “horses and bayonets” moment is probably the headline. But the larger story of the third and final presidential debate, ostensibly about foreign policy, is that Mitt Romney didn’t really lay a glove on President Obama. For most of the evening, he didn’t even try. Obama came ready to punch, Romney to counterpunch — or, since we’re torturing the boxing metaphor, to clinch. He agreed with Obama’s policy on Afghanistan, on Libya, on Syria, on the use of pilotless drones in the fight against al-Qaeda, pretty much on everything except how to improve the U.S. economy. Which wasn’t even supposed to be a topic of discussion, but apparently nobody told the candidates. read more »Obama And Romney Ignore Climate, Could Learn From Hillary Clinton by Lisa Hymas, grist.org | October 23, 2012
The climate silence is complete: Climate change got not a single mention in any of the three presidential debates nor in the vice presidential debate this year. That hasn’t happened for 24 years. In the final debate on Monday night, focused on foreign policy, moderator Bob Schieffer didn’t ask anything about energy or climate, but he posed a couple of open-ended questions that would have given easy entrée to either candidate had they any inclination to bring up the topic: “What is America’s role in the world?” and “What do you believe is the greatest future threat to the national security of this country?” In a debate about global challenges and global threats, Romney and Obama both chose to say nothing at all about the climate crisis, the most global of all challenges and threats. read more »Obama as Commander-in-Chief, Romney as Banal Bully by Robert B. Reich, robertreich.org | October 23, 2012
I thought the third and last presidential debate was a clear win for the President. He displayed the authority of the nation’s Commander-in-Chief – calm, dignified, and confident. He was assertive without being shrill, clear without being condescending. He explained to a clueless Mitt Romney the way the world actually works. Romney seemed out of his depth. His arguments were more a series of bromides banalities than positions. This has been Romney’s problem all along, of course, but in the first debate he managed to disguise his vacuousness with a surprisingly combative, well-rehearsed performance. By the second debate, the disguise was wearing thin. In Monday night’s debate, Romney seemed to wither — and wander. read more »The Supersizing of American Politics by Tom Engelhardt, tomdispatch.com | October 23, 2012
Obesity is an American plague -- and no, I’m not talking about overweight Americans. I’m talking about our overweight, supersized presidential campaign. I’m talking about Big Election, the thing that’s moved into our homes and, especially if you live in a “swing state,” is now hogging your television almost 24/7. There’s a wonderful old American postcard tradition of gigantism, a mixture of (and gentle mocking of) a national, but especially Western, urge toward bravado, braggadocio, and pride when it comes to this country. The imagery on those cards once ranged from giant navel oranges on railroad flatcars to saddled jackalopes (rabbits with antlers) mounted by cowboy riders on the range. Think of the 2012 election season as just such a postcard -- without the charm. Though no one’s bothered to say it, the most striking aspect of this election is its gigantism. American politics is being supersized. read more »
The Latest
U.S. To Set Cyber Security Plan, BBC News | May 29, 2009
U.S. President Barack Obama is to set out plans for securing American computer networks against cyber attacks. In a speech that follows a 60-day review, Mr Obama is expected to announce the creation of a cyber security office in the White House. Both US government and military bodies have reported repeated interference from hackers in recent years. more »
FBI Planning Bigger Role In Terrorism Fight, Los Angeles Times | May 28, 2009
The FBI and Justice Department plan to significantly expand their role in global counter-terrorism operations, part of a U.S. policy shift that will replace a CIA-dominated system of clandestine detentions and interrogations with one built around transparent investigations and prosecutions. FBI agents will have a central role in overseas counter-terrorism cases. more »
White House Merging National and Homeland Security , Associated Press | May 27, 2009
President Barack Obama announced he is combining White House staffs dealing with international and homeland security, predicting the change will make Americans safer. Obama also is creating a new office intended to communicate more effectively with other countries about U.S. security policy. The Homeland Security Council, created after the Sept. more »
Rampage Hints at Stress of Repeated Deployments, Christian Science Monitor | May 13, 2009
Military police charged Sgt. John Russell, a soldier on a 15-month tour to Iraq – his third deployment to the country – with murder in the shooting deaths of five soldiers at an American base. In an interview Russell's father said his son was facing financial difficulty and feared he was about to be discharged from the Army. more »
Gates Ousts U.S. Commander in Afghanistan, Christian Science Monitor | May 12, 2009
Defense Secretary Robert Gates abruptly removed the top US commander from Afghanistan Monday, replacing him with a general whose background in special operations may signal a desire to further refine the military strategy there. Gates's nominee, Lt. Gen. more »
U.S. Faces Iraq-Like Spending Problems in Afghanistan, Christian Science Monitor | May 4, 2009
The U.S. government is pouring vast amounts of new resources into Afghanistan for security and reconstruction projects. But it's running the risk of repeating some of the same mistakes it made in Iraq where government auditors have said it wasted billions of dollars. The U.S. more »
Anatomy: Robbing Taxpayers, The Wall Street Journal | April 23, 2009
This is how its done, loading up the taxpayer with losses and creating a revenue stream for the banks for ever into the future, your government, the Fed.
Lewis Testifies U.S. Urged Silence on Deal
Bank of America Chief Says Bernanke, Paulson Barred Disclosure of Merrill Woes Because of Fears for Financial System
Homeland Security Chief Defends Report , USA Today | April 17, 2009
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano dismissed criticism of her agency's intelligence assessments and defended a recent report that says some military veterans could be susceptible to extremist recruiters or lone acts of violence. more »
Obama Administration quietly expands Bush's legal defense of wiretapping, rawstory.com | April 14, 2009
In a stunning defense of President George W. Bush's warrantless wiretapping program, President Barack Obama has broadened the government's legal argument for immunizing his Administration and government agencies from lawsuits surrounding the National Security Agency's eavesdropping efforts.
Who is Obama?
U.S. Creates Local Militias To Fight Taliban, Christian Science Monitor | April 13, 2009
Officials Afghanistan turned to an ambitious new American-backed program to train, uniform, and arm locals against the Taliban following the success of a similar plan in Iraq. Under the plan, members of each district shura (council) in Wardak nominate locals for the force who are then trained for three weeks by Afghans (with the involvement of American advisers). more »
