Saturday photoblogging: Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur

today was a beautiful day in buenos aires and i spent much of it walking with a friend through the Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur, an ecological preserve that lies between downtown and the rio de la plata... it was formed by dumping the excavation debris from the construction of the many subte lines (the buenos aires subway system is known as the subte, short for subterraneo) and letting nature slowly reclaim it... i'd been there before, but had forgotten just how pleasant (and BIG!) it is...


Pampa grass, Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur,
Buenos Aires, with the Rio de la Plata in
the background

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$154B + $84B + $8.5B + $4.2B + $38B = $288.7B

$154B on thursday and now this, yesterday...

The European Central Bank lent $84 billion Friday to financial institutions, a day after providing $130 billion. Japan's central bank added $8.5 billion, and the Reserve Bank of Australia provided $4.2 billion.

The Federal Reserve injected $38 billion into the system in three increments Friday, its biggest one-day infusion since September 2001.

i know zip about financial markets, but of one thing i am certain... SOMEBODY'S making a killing out of this... can anybody tell me who...?

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rein in that damn Internet!

From The Nation, "AT&T Censors Criticism of Bush" (08/10/2007)

Telecommunications giant AT&T says no one should worry about their aggressive lobbying to eliminate net neutrality -- the first amendment of the internet that guarantees equality of access to all websites.

AT&T executives claim they would never interfere with web content.

When Americans hear this spin, they should hang up on AT&T.

But on Sunday, when Pearl Jam was performing the song "Daughter" during the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, the band broke into a version of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall." Reworking the lyrics of the classic rock song, Vedder sang, "George Bush, leave this world alone" and "George Bush, find yourself another home."

The lyrics that criticized Bush were muted in the webcast.

[...]

AT&T admits that the censorship occurred.

Another Brick in the Wall, indeed.

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DailyKos is a sell out?

I thought that Markos Moulitsas Zunigas was a left wing, is he really just another sell out to the NeoCon agenda? His evaluation of the CIA is interesting, at best.
Listen for yourselves and think about what he says.
From an interview with the Commonwealth Club.

Wholly shit, this is the guy with the #1 Democrat Blogsite?
ProfMarcus, Mettle, Brother Tim, JollyRoger, Ed H, everybody help me out here. Am I going completely crazy?

Make some sense of this for me quick, or I am definitely joining an anti-gov't militia group.

I need real Democrat Left Wingers to keep me grounded in reality. How can I be an economic conservative if the lines keep blurring like this?
PLEASE, let me know that I am fighting for a Constitution that recognizes alternative views, not just more robotic fools.
I interviewed with the CIA, and I didn't get the same impression at all. At the time, I thought Ronald Reagan was a God. How did this guy come up with the idea that they are progressive liberals? Is he a complete idiot?
I feel so strongly about this I offer my personal e-mail for answers:
JBurke6000@aol.com

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One of our Dictators is in trouble

No, not Little Georgy or Uncle Dick. Sorry to get your hopes up.
Let's not underestimate the seriousness of this situation. Because of our support of another dictator, we have created another hotbed of anti-US Muslims. The main difference between Pakistan and other nations is the fact that Pakistan is a much more stable and moderate state. Pakistan's populace still want rule of law, not necessarily a Theocracy.
The current opposition leader is their Supreme Court Chief Justice, not an Imam.
From PRlog.

Pakistan's Political Crisis And Musharraf's Desperation

The anti-Musharraf agitation spear-headed by Chaudhary has transformed the national landscape and infused a new spirit in the people

Source: Dipayan Mazumdar and Associates
May 28, 2007
PRLog.Org) – Even though people's mobilization over the judicial crisis has exposed Gen. Pervez Musharraf's political incompetence, as Kargil conflict proved his military shortcoming, he shows no sign of making amends by responding to the people's yearning for change and return to full democracy and civilian rule. When the nation was mourning the killing of 41 Karachi citizens at the hands of his goons, who prevented sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary from entering Pakistan's largest city and addressing a gathering of lawyers and others, he was bold enough to announce that he was hell bent on getting re-elected President for another five-year term by the existing national and provincial legislatures and there was no escape possible for Pakistan from the military boots.
[...]
The anti-Musharraf agitation spear-headed by Chaudhary has transformed the national landscape and infused a new spirit in the people, which the General and his cronies, who depend on him for survival and have amassed huge fortunes refuse to acknowledge. For the Pakistani military ruler it has been a cruel spring in which he stands guilty of several miscalculations. But, buttressed by the firm support he continues to receive from the United States, which wants him in office to implement a bagful of strategic plans for the region and remain a staunch and dependable military ally, Musharraf feels secure in his place and is obligated to provide military support to whatever the U.S. and NATO decides for the region.
[...]
The Karachi riots have made the people wonder if the present rulers have lost hope of retaining in power through legitimate constitutional means and are prepared to do anything to stay in office.

Sound familiar? It should.

Gen. Musharraf is obviously trying to settle scores with the top judiciary which has overturned some government orders and issued notices to the state on disappearances of hundreds of political activities rounded up by the police and other agencies. The very first step is to seek removal of the Chief Justice was inspired by political motives. The legal community, civil society and political opposition, alienated by past assaults on the judiciary's independence have rightly interpreted the move as driven by political considerations.
[...]
It is, perhaps, for the first time in the history of Pakistan that the Chief Justice episode shows that the judiciary has been trying to assert its independence vis-à-vis the executive, which has acquired unprecedented powers under the patronage of the military. Under the Commonwealth principles, as reiterated by the British Government, Pakistan is morally and politically bound to ensure and respect the separation of powers and independence of action between the three branches of government – the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.

Obviously, the removal of a non-pliant Chief Justice is meant to send a message to the world that in an election year, the President wants to ensure that there is no threat to his plans to get re-elected in uniform and also win the parliamentary election for the ruling party he himself created, so that everything continues as at present.
[...]

Again, does any of this sound familiar? At least Pakistan has a leading figure, Justice Chaudhary, willing to risk everything to institute Judicial oversight.
Bush is promoting the upcoming elections in Pakistan. I wonder what he will do if they don't go his way, like what happened with the Palestinian elections.
It seems like the fix is in for Musharraf, but if he doesn't win, it's not likely his successor will be a NeoCon lap dog.
Although there are a lot of pundits warning us about the dangers of Pakistan's nukes falling under the control of extremists, remember, Pakistan has a much bigger shadow right next door, India.
Their traditional enemy has been trying to work with Pakistan to cool tensions. Any new gov't would be quickly reminded that if they start tossing around nukes, about a billion Indians would get very angry.

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The Center for Constitutional Rights challenges NSA warrantless surveillance

the center for constitutional rights represents detainees at guantánamo and claims that warrantless surveillance has violated attorney-client privilege thousands of times, that the attorneys fall within the category of victims of warrantless surveillance, and, furthermore, that the warrantless surveillance violates the fourth amendment to the united states constitution which requires that judges approve warrants for surveillance and do so only on evidence of probable cause...

CCR IN COURT TODAY TO CHALLENGE NSA DOMESTIC SPYING PROGRAM AND NEW FISA LAW
Center for Constitutional Rights Believes Privileged Attorney-Client Communications Were Intercepted by NSA Without Warrants

Synopsis

On August 9, 2007, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) appeared before Federal District Judge Vaughn R. Walker to argue that the NSA’s program of warrantless surveillance is unconstitutional and should be struck down. The argument in CCR v. Bush comes days after Congress and the Bush administration passed the Protect America Act of 2007 which broadly expands the government’s power to spy on Americans without getting court approval.

According to attorneys, there are substantial questions about whether the new law, which is temporary and due to expire in six months, is constitutional, and they will seek permission to file additional legal papers to that effect today. The law effectively removes oversight for spying from the FISA court and leaves it up to the Executive Branch to monitor itself, with Attorney General Gonzales having the primary responsibility for oversight. For that reason, CCR attorneys will argue in court today that the new law violates the Fourth Amendment's requirement that judges approve warrants for surveillance and do so only on evidence of probable cause.

The administration has continued to claim that the NSA program was always legal and that they have the inherent right to resume such surveillance at any time regardless of what the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) says. CCR attorneys therefore argue that their case has not been rendered moot by the new law, which in any event will expire in six months.

According to CCR attorney Shayana Kadidal, "Congress has ceded further power to an administration that has done nothing but abuse its power and betray the trust of the American people. Congress has given the President and Attorney General virtually unchecked power to spy on international calls of Americans without any oversight or accountability from the courts."

CCR v. Bush was originally filed in federal court in New York but was subsequently transferred to San Francisco where other challenges related to the program, including cases against several large telecommunications companies for their role in the NSA Program, are being litigated.

CCR's case challenges the NSA's surveillance of people within the United States without judicial approval or statutory authorization. CCR filed the suit on its own behalf and on behalf of CCR attorneys and legal staff representing clients who fit the criteria described by the Attorney General for targeting under the NSA Surveillance Program. CCR has been one of the most active opponents of the illegal detention, torture and intelligence gathering practices this administration instituted in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. As part of its mission to fight violations of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, the Center for Constitutional Rights represents hundreds of men detained indefinitely without charge as "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo Bay; Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen falsely accused of ties to terrorism and rendered from the United States to Syria for the purpose of being tortured; and Muslim immigrants unreasonably and wrongfully detained in the U.S. for months without probable cause or criminal charges in the wake of 9/11.

In the course of representing these clients, CCR's lawyers have engaged in thousands of telephone calls and e-mails with people outside the United States, including their clients, their clients' families and outside lawyers, potential witnesses, and others. Given that the government has accused many of CCR's overseas clients of being associated with Al Qaeda or of being of interest to the 9/11 investigation, there is little question that these attorneys fall within the likely range of victims of the NSA Surveillance Program.

CCR Executive Director Vincent Warren said, "It is virtually certain that the NSA spied on our confidential communications with our clients as well as conversations with other American attorneys outside of the U.S. The president violated his oath of office to faithfully execute the laws of this nation and instead secretly broke the law for years to spy on Americans. He has taken an axe to the Constitution."

The Center for Constitutional Rights is represented in the suit by CCR attorneys Shayana Kadidal and Michael Ratner, and CCR cooperating attorney David Cole, and Professor Michael Avery of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG).

For more information on the case, visit www.ccr-ny.org/NSAspying.

this is potentially very, very big... the last case of this type, brought by the aclu, was dismissed...

A federal appeals court Friday ordered the dismissal of an ACLU lawsuit challenging President Bush's domestic surveillance program.

President Bush secretly instituted the National Security Agency's domestic spying program after 9/11.

The plaintiffs -- a group of journalists, scholars and legal advocates -- had no legal standing to pursue their claims because they could not show they were targeted by the National Security Agency's warrantless spying program, the court decided in a 2-1 vote.

"They cannot establish they are 'aggrieved persons,'" wrote Judge Alice Batchelder, of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

interestingly, the suit was filed in san francisco...

CCR v. Bush was originally filed in federal court in New York but was subsequently transferred to San Francisco where other challenges related to the program, including cases against several large telecommunications companies for their role in the NSA Program, are being litigated.

this has the potential to be explosive and i hope the court doesn't slow-walk it... we are dealing with a criminal presidential administration and haven't a moment to lose...

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I wouldn't call this a particularly good sign of things to come

to be sure, the headline creates an initial level of impact...

Credit Crunch In U.S. Upends Global Markets

and the first paragraph heightens it a bit...

The turmoil in the U.S. credit markets turned global Thursday, prompting central banks in Europe and the United States to pump more than $150 billion into the financial system to keep it operating smoothly.

but it's not until the fifth paragraph that the full weight of the story becomes clear...

The injection of $130 billion into the financial markets by the European Central Bank was the largest amount ever provided in a single operation, exceeding the amount added after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It came after France's biggest bank, BNP Paribas, froze three funds that had invested in the troubled U.S. mortgage market. The move sent banks in Europe scrambling for cash. The Federal Reserve followed by adding $24 billion to the U.S. banking system.

ya got all that...? that's ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FOUR BILLION DOLLARS...!

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Paul Craig Roberts is getting really angry

Roberts isn't pulling any punches. It's amazing how the Republican party is driving out anyone who speaks out against NeoCons and the Bush Administration. Paul Craig Roberts is currently under enormous attack from the NeoCon crooks and their cronies. He doesn't seem to be very intimidated by them.
From the Information Clearing House.

US Hegemony Spawns Russian-Chinese Military Alliance

By Paul Craig Roberts

08/09/07 "ICH " -- -- This week the Russian and Chinese militaries are conducting a joint military exercise involving large numbers of troops and combat vehicles. The former Soviet Republics of Tajikistan, Kyrgkyzstan, and Kazakstan are participating. Other countries appear ready to join the military alliance.

This new potent military alliance is a real world response to neoconservative delusions about US hegemony. Neocons believe that the US is supreme in the world and can dictate its course. The neoconservative idiots have actually written papers, read by Russians and Chinese, about why the US must use its military superiority to assert hegemony over Russia and China.

Cynics believe that the neocons are just shills, like Bush and Cheney, for the military-security complex and are paid to restart the cold war for the sake of the profits of the armaments industry. But the fact is that the neocons actually believe their delusions about American hegemony.

Russia and China have now witnessed enough of the Bush administration’s unprovoked aggression in the world to take neocon intentions seriously. As the US has proven that it cannot occupy the Iraqi city of Baghdad despite 5 years of efforts, it most certainly cannot occupy Russia or China. That means the conflict toward which the neocons are driving will be a nuclear conflict.

In an attempt to gain the advantage in a nuclear conflict, the neocons are positioning US anti-ballistic missiles on Soviet borders in Poland and the Czech Republic. This is an idiotic provocation as the Russians can eliminate anti-ballistic missiles with cruise missiles. Neocons are people who desire war, but know nothing about it. Thus, the US failures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Reagan and Gorbachev ended the cold war. However, US administrations after Reagan’s have broken the agreements and understandings. The US gratuitously brought NATO and anti-ballistic missiles to Russia’s borders. The Bush regime has initiated a propaganda war against the Russian government of V. Putin.

These are gratuitous acts of aggression. Both the Russian and Chinese governments are trying to devote resources to their economic development, not to their militaries. Yet, both are being forced by America’s aggressive posture to revamp their militaries.
[...]
In a mere 6.5 years the Bush regime has destroyed the world’s good will toward the US. Today, America’s influence in the world is limited to its payments of tens of millions of dollars to bribed heads of foreign governments, such as Egypt’s and Pakistan’s. The Bush regime even thinks that as it has bought and paid for Musharraf, he will stand aside and permit Bush to make air strikes inside Pakistan. Is Bush blind to the danger that he will cause an Islamic revolution within Pakistan that will depose the US puppet and present the Middle East with an Islamic state armed with nuclear weapons?

Considering the instabilities and dangers that abound, the aggressive posture of the Bush regime goes far beyond recklessness. The Bush regime is the most irresponsibly aggressive regime the world has seen since Hitler’s.

If only a sweet young thing would volunteer to give Bush a blowjob so that he can be impeached before he leads us to Armageddon

I have said more than once that conservative Republicans make lousy comedians. The last line may make me revise that opinion. Also, like true humor, his last comment is full of practical sense.
Roberts' assessment of the nuclear issue is not a laughing matter. I have read more than one NeoCon paper that outlines nuclear weapons as being a viable tactical option. Not strategic, but a viable tactical option in modern warfare.
The clock is ticking closer to midnight.

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A brief update of the advancing state of domestic surveillance

a quick refresher of the past week...

[T]he Protect America Act is a dramatic, across-the-board expansion of government authority to collect information without judicial oversight. Even though Democrats negotiated a deal with Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell that addressed solely the foreign-to-foreign "problem" created by the FISC ruling, the White House torpedoed that deal and won a far broader law.

To those who have followed this Administration's legal strategy closely, the outcome should be no surprise. The law's most important effect is arguably not its expansion of raw surveillance power but the sloughing away of judicial or Congressional oversight. In the words of former CIA officer Philip Giraldi, the law provides "unlimited access to currently protected personal information that is already accessible through an oversight procedure."

Like the Constitution's Framers, this Administration understands that power is accrued through the evisceration of checks and balances. Unlike that of the Framers, its mission is the transformation of limited government into a government that is not accountable to anyone.

those who have been paying attention have become reasonably well-informed about electronic interception, the how and the where (see here and here, among others)... so, now, let's add another dimension - the visual, real-time, gps and satellite-assisted form of surveillance...

[T]he NGA [National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency] was first organized in 1996 from the imagery and mapping divisions of the CIA, the Department of Defense and the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency that builds and maintains the nation's fleet of spy satellites. In 2003, the NGA was formally inaugurated as a combat support agency of the Pentagon. It is responsible for supplying overhead imagery and mapping tools to the military, the CIA and other intelligence agencies -- including the National Security Agency, whose wide-reaching, extrajudicial spying inside the United States under the Bush administration has been a heated political issue since first coming to light in the media nearly two years ago.

so, what would this nga outfit be all about...? let's visit their website...

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)

---

A Crucial Member of the Intelligence Community
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) provides timely, relevant, and accurate geospatial intelligence in support of national security objectives. Geospatial intelligence is the exploitation and analysis of imagery and geospatial information to describe, assess, and visually depict physical features and geographically referenced activities on the Earth.
Information collected and processed by NGA is tailored for customer-specific solutions. By giving customers ready access to geospatial intelligence, NGA provides support to civilian and military leaders and contributes to the state of readiness of U.S. military forces. NGA also contributes to humanitarian efforts such as tracking floods and fires, and in peacekeeping.
NGA is a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and a Department of Defense (DoD) Combat Support Agency. Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., NGA operates major facilities in the St. Louis, Mo. and Washington, D.C. areas. The Agency also fields support teams worldwide.

[...]

National System for Geospatial Intelligence
NGA is the functional manager for the National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSGI). NSGI integrates technology, policies, capabilities and doctrine necessary to conduct geospatial intelligence in a multi-intelligence environment.
NGA provides accurate, up-to-date geospatial intelligence to support our senior national decision makers as well as to help plan and prosecute military objectives. NGA’s strategy supports operational readiness through a set of geospatial foundation data. These may include controlled imagery, digital elevation data and selected feature information-which can be rapidly augmented and fused with other spatially referenced information such as intelligence, weather and logistics data. The result is an integrated, digital view of the mission space.

got all that...? now, let's link the nsa and the nga...

In December 2004, the NSA and the NGA announced the signing of an agreement to share resources and staff and to link their "sources, data holdings, information infrastructure, and exploitation techniques." The document spelling out the agreement itself is classified. But in a press release the NGA explained that the pact allows "horizontal integration" between the two agencies, defined as "working together from start to finish, using NGA's 'eyes' and NSA 'ears.'"

pulling all this together into a nice, neat, driftnet surveillance program might look something like this...

Military, intelligence agency and police work is also coming together in numerous "fusion centers" around the country in a joint program run by the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security that has received little public attention. At present, there are 43 current and planned fusion centers in the United States where information from intelligence agencies, the FBI, local police, private sector databases and anonymous tipsters is combined and analyzed by counterterrorism analysts. DHS hopes to create a wide network of such centers that would be tied into the agency's day-to-day activities, according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center. The project, according to EPIC, "inculcates DHS with enormous domestic surveillance powers and evokes comparisons with the publicly condemned domestic surveillance program of COINTELPRO," the 1960s program by the FBI aimed at destroying groups on the American political left.

It doesn't take much imagination to see how powerful technologies, when combined with secretive, growing interagency collaboration, could be misused in a domestic context. In recent years many U.S. cities have deployed sophisticated video cameras throughout their downtown areas that track activity 24 hours a day. And U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies now have at their disposal facial recognition software that can identify one person among thousands in a large crowd. Combine that with the awesome eavesdropping power of the NSA and the ability of the NGA to capture live imagery from satellites and UAVs, and the result could be an ability to track any individual, in real time, as he or she moves around.

don't forget to smile and wave when you step out on the street...

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Today is the World Day of Indigenous People

9 august 2007...

The planet's roughly 350 million indigenous peoples took notable steps on the international stage in the last decade. They got the world's governments to agree to create a body to represent them at the United Nations, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and to appoint a special rapporteur responsible for their human rights. Yet the years 1995-2004, named by the UN as the Indigenous Decade, did not see a significant change in the living conditions of most "tribal", "aboriginal", "native" or "first" peoples. Calling those conditions "precarious", the UN has declared 2005-2014 a second Indigenous Decade. IPS, with its network of contributors at the UN and linked to indigenous communities worldwide, is committed to tracking the world community's efforts to do justice to the rights and aspirations of these peoples.

ips, an outstanding alternative news source that i too often neglect, has a terrific compilation of current articles about native peoples here...

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For My Friend, ProfMarcus, A Veteran

For an old soldier from some young soldiers.
I don't have the right, being a civilian. I am one of the few Republicans(formerly) that admits he isn't a war vet. I'm a chicken.
Let the veterans do the talking.
From Iraq Veterans Against The War.
Posted in total.

Happy 40th Anniversary to Vietnam Veterans Against the War!
VVAW will celebrate their 40th anniversary this weekend in Chicago, IL. Visit www.vvaw.org for more information.

By 1967, the war in Vietnam had been escalating for several years with U.S. and Vietnamese casualties growing when six Vietnam veterans marched together in a New York City peace demonstration and laid the groundwork for Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). The founding of VVAW was echoed 37 years later by the formation of Iraq Veterans Against the War by 8 Iraq veterans in the summer of 2004. As IVAW has grown from a fledgling organization of a handful of Iraq and Iraq-era veterans to a nationwide organization of over 500 veterans and active duty men and women, VVAW has always been there to support us. Our sisters and brothers in the VVAW have helped IVAW grow, and encouraged and empowered many returning vets to voice their opposition to the reprehensible occupation of Iraq. IVAW is learning from the successes and struggles of VVAW to help us accomplish our goals of bringing the troops home now, caring for vets, and advocating for reparations and other help for the Iraqi people.
Like IVAW, VVAW was organized to voice the growing opposition to a U.S.-led war among returning servicemen and women and to advocate for the rights and needs of veterans. VVAW grew rapidly to a membership of over 30,000 throughout the United States as well as active duty GIs stationed in Vietnam. Through ongoing actions and grassroots organization, VVAW exposed the ugly truth about US involvement in Southeast Asia and their first-hand experiences helped many other Americans to see the unjust nature of that war.
VVAW quickly took up the struggle for the rights and needs of veterans. In 1970, they started the first rap groups to deal with traumatic after-effects of war, setting the example for readjustment counseling at Vet Centers now. They exposed the shameful neglect of many disabled vets in VA Hospitals and helped draft legislation to improve educational benefits and create job programs. VVAW fought for amnesty for war resisters, including vets with bad discharges. They helped make known the negative health effects of exposure to chemical defoliants and the VA's attempts to cover-up these conditions as well as their continued refusal to provide treatment and compensation for many Agent Orange Victims.
I know that the members of IVAW stand in proud agreement when VVAW declares that, “service to our country and communities did not end when we were discharged. We remain committed to the struggle for peace and for social and economic justice for all people. We will continue to oppose senseless military adventures and to teach the real lessons of the Vietnam War. We will do all we can to prevent another generation from being put through a similar tragedy and we will continue to demand dignity and respect for veterans of all eras. This is real patriotism and we remain true to our mission(emphasis added).”

If I might be so bold, I have a suspicion that ProfMarcus would approve.

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Could this be why selling out to China was a bad idea?

Why in the world would we let the largest, arguably most repressive, communist country hold so much power over us?
Because a few people here make a lot of money from it.
From the Telegraph.

China threatens 'nuclear option' of dollar sales
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Last Updated: 9:54am BST 08/08/2007

The Chinese government has begun a concerted campaign of economic threats against the United States, hinting that it may liquidate its vast holding of US treasuries if Washington imposes trade sanctions to force a yuan revaluation.

Two officials at leading Communist Party bodies have given interviews in recent days warning - for the first time - that Beijing may use its $1.33 trillion (£658bn) of foreign reserves as a political weapon to counter pressure from the US Congress.
[...]
Described as China's "nuclear option" in the state media, such action could trigger a dollar crash at a time when the US currency is already breaking down through historic support levels.

It would also cause a spike in US bond yields, hammering the US housing market and perhaps tipping the economy into recession. It is estimated that China holds over $900bn in a mix of US bonds.
[...]
He Fan, an official at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, went even further today, letting it be known that Beijing had the power to set off a dollar collapse if it choose to do so.
[...]
The threats play into the presidential electoral campaign of Hillary Clinton, who has called for restrictive legislation to prevent America being "held hostage to economic decicions being made in Beijing, Shanghai, or Tokyo".

She said foreign control over 44pc of the US national debt had left America acutely vulnerable.

Simon Derrick, a currency strategist at the Bank of New York Mellon, said the comments were a message to the US Senate as Capitol Hill prepares legislation for the Autumn session.

"The words are alarming and unambiguous. This carries a clear political threat and could have very serious consequences at a time when the credit markets are already afraid of contagion from the subprime troubles," he said.

A bill drafted by a group of US senators, and backed by the Senate Finance Committee, calls for trade tariffs against Chinese goods as retaliation for alleged currency manipulation.
[...]
Henry Paulson, the US Tresury Secretary, said any such sanctions would undermine American authority and "could trigger a global cycle of protectionist legislation".

Mr Paulson is a China expert from his days as head of Goldman Sachs. He has opted for a softer form of diplomacy, but appeared to win few concession from Beijing on a unscheduled trip to China last week aimed at calming the waters.

This has been the 800lb. gorilla for a long time.
Now, that gorilla may stomp on our already shaky economy. It's nice that the NeoCon man on the job, Paulson, is fighting so hard for us.
What is totally under-reported is the fact that the debt China holds is tied in very closely with mortgage debt in this country.
I will give a very basic summary of why this is true. Mortgage brokers hold your new loan for all of 5 minutes before they sell it "up the line" to various institutions. Eventually, that debt winds up in various investment fund markets. Any investor, anywhere, can invest in those funds to underwrite that debt, with the hope of making a nice return. China holds large investments in those same funds. As our mortgage market collapses, investors like China would be smart to jump out of those funds. So even if they continue their holdings in the bond market, their "nuclear option", China could still trigger a US recession by jumping out of other investment funds. Fun, isn't it.
Great national security policy.
And I still can't buy a good cigar from Cuba.

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Normalizing the unthinkable

do yourself a favor and go read the transcript, watch the video or listen to the mp3 of this john pilger speech during the Socialism 2007 conference in Chicago...

here's a teaser, thanks to democracy now via co-blogger tobymandrake...

John Pilger - the eminent investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker - is a harsh critic of the corporate media. Pilger began his career in journalism close to half a century ago. He has made over 50 documentaries and is the author of numerous books, his most recent is titled "Freedom Next Time: Resisting the Empire."

[M]edia clichéd language ... is designed to normalize the unthinkable; of the degradation of war, of severed limbs, of maimed children, all of which I've seen. One of my favorite stories about the Cold War concerns a group of Russian journalists who were touring the United States. On the final day of their visit, they were asked by the host for their impressions. "I have to tell you," said the spokesman, "that we were astonished to find after reading all the newspapers and watching TV day after day that all the opinions on all the vital issues are the same. To get that result in our country we send journalists to the gulag. We even tear out their fingernails. Here you don't have to do any of that. What is the secret?"

What is the secret? It is a question seldom asked in newsrooms, in media colleges, in journalism journals, and yet the answer to that question is critical to the lives of millions of people. On August 24 last year the New York Times declared this in an editorial: "If we had known then what we know now the invasion if Iraq would have been stopped by a popular outcry." This amazing admission was saying, in effect, that journalists had betrayed the public by not doing their job and by accepting and amplifying and echoing the lies of Bush and his gang, instead of challenging them and exposing them. What the Times didn't say was that had that paper and the rest of the media exposed the lies, up to a million people might be alive today. That's the belief now of a number of senior establishment journalists. Few of them—they've spoken to me about it—few of them will say it in public.

there's plenty more, much of which confirms the complicity of our two political parties' and our media in keeping us from learning the truth...

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The do-it-yourself interrogation and torture kit, ready to be used at your very own black site

i confess, i haven't gone and read jane mayer's new yorker article on the cia's black sites simply because i haven't wanted to soil my mental and emotional state with any more of the bushco nightmare than has already been sprinkled around my neural synapses... i was just following a link from kos to digby and found myself reading this...

The C.I.A.’s interrogation program is remarkable for its mechanistic aura. "It’s one of the most sophisticated, refined programs of torture ever," an outside expert familiar with the protocol said. "At every stage, there was a rigid attention to detail. Procedure was adhered to almost to the letter. There was top-down quality control, and such a set routine that you get to the point where you know what each detainee is going to say, because you’ve heard it before. It was almost automated. People were utterly dehumanized. People fell apart. It was the intentional and systematic infliction of great suffering masquerading as a legal process. It is just chilling."

the do-it-yourself torture kit... just follow the easy, illustrated instructions...

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Worthless, lying boilerplate from Senator John Ensign

i emailed both my senators and my congressman on sunday about how deeply i am distressed over the latest sell-out of our constitution...

Dear Senator Ensign,

I will say this once and once only.

That both the Senate and the House both approved sweeping new, almost certainly unconstitutional, surveillance powers as dictated by the White House, after it has become completely clear that the Bush administration has no respect for the rule of law or the principles upon which the United States was founded, is a clear betrayal of our country.

I see George Bush, Dick Cheney and their fellow criminals as the most dangerous leaders the United States has ever been cursed with, and desperately pray every single day for their removal. I have now added the United States Senate and House of Representatives to that list.

To say that I am disappointed is a huge understatement. To be blunt, I am both horrified and disgusted - horrified at the shredding of civil liberties and disgusted that our elected leaders support our national descent into fascism.

Sincerely,

this is the key paragraph from the worthless, lying boilerplate email that senator ensign sent me in response...

I can assure you that I understand the importance of preserving our civil liberties. This legislation would in no way change the manner in which domestic intelligence is collected and requires our intelligence community to create and maintain a document trail that is easily auditable. Additionally, this act requires both the Attorney General and the DNI to jointly authorize foreign targeting for individuals believed to be threats. Finally, it reaffirms Congress's oversight role by requiring the Attorney General to provide semi-annual reports to both the Senate and House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees.

oh, golly, i am SO-O-O-O-OOO comforted, not that i expected anything else...

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Brightening things up a bit

i realized one thing i could definitely do to break up the bushco atmosphere of unrelieved gloom is to post more pics...



this is one of three beautiful blossoms on the large aloe plant that grows right outside my front window, where i can gaze on its beauty as i toil away on my laptop... it always blooms right in the middle of the buenos aires winter... while the climate is mild enough here for other plants to also bloom during invierno (winter), this one only pops into bloom in late july/early august, just when winter is entering its home stretch...

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To Write is to Act

from Bluepete:

Scribere est agere, fancy Latin words, a legal maxim, 'To write is to act.' '... the author who is bound to write is the man or woman who has acquired, by the continual study of years, exceptional sources of knowledge. If that knowledge is not bequeathed, posterity is a heavy loser.' These are fine words, however, people usually write for lesser reasons. George Orwell in his book, Why I Write (1947) thought there are four great motives for writing: first, sheer egoism, a desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembered after death; second, aesthetic enthusiasm; Third, historical impulse, the desire to see things as they are, to find out true facts and store them up for the use of posterity; and fourth, for a political purpose, and in the use of the word 'political,' Orwell meant to use the word in its widest possible sense, viz., a desire to push the world in a certain direction, to alter other people's idea of the kind of society that they should strive after."

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Will Congress EVER stop the charade?

ofercryinoutloud, leahy, stop pussy-footing around and slap ‘em with inherent contempt… you know goddam good and well they AREN’T going to respond, no matter how much sugar you pour on…

from think progress...

In a letter to White House Counsel Fred Fielding today, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) set a new return date of August 20 for subpoenas served to the executive branch in June. After the White House missed the original due date of July 18, Leahy granted them an extension until Aug. 1, which they also missed.

a think progress commenter observes...

This is like watching a monkey hump a football.

At first it’s funny, then it just gets sad.

now, THERE'S an arresting visual image...

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"This is the price of living in a modern society"

trust me, reading this entire op-ed WILL make your head explode...

first, there's the title...

Too much FISA oversight?

then there's the co-authors, shameless bushco apologists...

David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey are partners in a Washington law firm and served in the Justice Department under presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

then, there's THIS...

Our privacy is compromised daily by government and nongovernment actors. This is the price of living in a modern society.

no, you horse patoots, it's not...

and, if your head hasn't exploded yet...

The real problem with the FISA amendments isn't about civil liberties at all. It is that they allow an unprecedented and constitutionally problematic review of the executive branch's foreign intelligence activities by the FISA court. As a check on the NSA's surveillance activities, the FISA court will be able to retroactively review the key ground rules that the agency uses to structure the surveillance of foreign terrorists who deliberately communicate into the United States -- and require changes in those rules. This proposal is certainly less onerous for the NSA -- less time-consuming and therefore less likely to block the gathering of important intelligence -- than having to get warrants on a case-by-case basis. Unfortunately, it raises some troubling constitutional and policy problems.

As a rule, the Constitution limits the judicial power of the United States to individual cases and controversies and to the issuance of warrants. Under the FISA amendments, the FISA court would instead, arguably, be issuing a broad advisory opinion, which the NSA would have to implement if it wished to continue a particular surveillance. That may violate the Constitution's separation of powers principles.

In effect, under this arrangement, the government will now have to obtain a judicial imprimatur to the procedures used to intercept all overseas communications coming into the United States. Thus, for example, if the Chinese defense minister calls into the United States, the procedures used to govern his surveillance must be submitted to the FISA court for review. Such a rule clearly cuts into the president's core authority as the nation's "sole organ" (former Chief Justice John Marshall's term) in foreign affairs, as well as his powers as commander in chief.

what a gigantic load of steroid-inflated, disease-ridden bollocks... i defy ANYONE to unearth a single instance from the invention of the telephone to the present where the outgoing communications of ANY foreign entity, government or otherwise, to the u.s. or to some other country, WASN'T considered fair game for interception, and ANYBODY who thinks THIS arrangement will alter that in any way, is smoking stuff way stronger than i've had the opportunity to sample...

what THIS arrangment means, in simple terms, is that ALL voice and data communication that is routed through ANY path owned by or physically located in the united states, originating or terminating in any foreign country, can and WILL be subject to intercept, without warrant, subject only to the review of alberto gonzales... and, for those who think that communication can be routed AROUND the united states had better think again... why do you think the u.s. was so adamant at the world summit on the information society, held in tunis back in november 2005, on keeping icann (internet corporation for assigned names and numbers) under u.s. control... that's one way the u.s. can INSURE that all traffic is routed where it chooses...

gotta keep puttin' these pieces together, dontcha know... it's amazing just how stupid they think we are...

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A wee bit more whining

as i didn't articulate very well in the post night b4 last, now that i've got THE PROBLEM (u.s., bush, world, etc.) defined to MY satisfaction, i've lost some energy around continuing to post about THE PROBLEM... when i said "it's time to move on," i wasn't referring to abandoning the blog but rather to shifting the focus more toward solutions, visions, possibilities, positive scenarios, but i really don't know what that looks like or how and where to begin... it also doesn't mean calling a halt to pointing out continuing outrages and things that need highlighting... as a commenter said, encouraging me to keep on, "Do I have to come over and bitch-slap you?"

co-blogger jim was concerned that i might be feeling a bit down... not so much... extremely discouraged about watching the horrors being perpetrated on my country solidifying rather than being attacked and eliminated...? yeah, definitely... however, as bizarre as it may sound, i have a gut feeling, a la chertoff, that things are going to turn the corner... i don't know how or when, but i think we WILL be seeing daylight... in the meantime, i'll continue to struggle to keep my impatience and frustration in check, and to keep on keepin' on...

thanks for all the comments and the good thoughts expressed therein... definitely a needed boost...

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Alternative Media

Gore Vidal on the media, from TheRealNews.

C&L has an excellent video clip of Amy Goodman interviewing Glenn Greenwald on FISA and Domestic Wiretapping.

Serious concern over the issue of the FISA Amendment does not appear to be simply rolling over, belly up, for the convenience of the Administration.

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Read Or Die

the anime music video. (Just something whimsical.)

However bad you think things are, they are so much worse.

As far as option 6 in jburke6000's "Response to ProfMarcus: What To Do Next?", no doubt the administration is counting on it.

As far as a previous comment I made, "what Posse Comitatus Act?", here's more:

Meanwhile, last October Bush and Cheney, with the help of a compliant Congress, put in place some key elements needed for a military putsch. There was the overturning of the venerable Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which barred the use of active duty military inside the United States for police-type functions, and the revision of the Insurrection Act, so as to empower the president to take control of National Guard units in the 50 states even over the objections of the governors of those states."

That entire article, "Martial Law is Now a Real Threat - Declaring the US a Battlefield", By Dave Lindorff (7/27/07),is well worth reading.

I notice that when I went to read a new article at the New York Times, about Bush challenges critics of new spy laws, it runs sponsored propaganda first about "Anti-Drugs", which has a message that pedophiles are not the only people our kids are meeting online.

We know that mainstream media shills for the government. The preferred order of alliance among states and in fact, probably true with the media, is:

1. To remain neutral
2. To join the side of the strongest
3. To join whichever side one must

many Right Wing apologists scoffed at the notion that when Bush and Putin met last, they may have discussed staying late at the party.

Now Pravda has this.

Many Right Wing apologists now scoff, in much the same way, at comparisons of present America to Nazi Germany.

uh, hello?

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As hateful as these people are, I will not respond in kind

my wish for them is that, despite their resistance, some light will eventually leak into their dark souls...


(click image for larger version)

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Response to ProfMarcus: What To Do Next?

I was going to post this as a comment to ProfMarcus last post, but it got kinda long, so I thought I should actually post it.
Yes, this has been my same question for some time now. What to do next?
It just seems that most ordinary Americans are satisfied with looking the other way as long as it doesn't directly affect them. What they don't realize, and what you and others have been trying to illuminate, is that it has been affecting us for a long time.
People know there is something terribly wrong with our gov't, but the kids, the mortgage, the boss, that herniated disk, etc. keep their head in the sand. Additionally, why should they risk what they have? After all, they have a car, house, job. Things are good, aren't they?
If we allow our trusted leaders, who are the experts, protect us and guide us, everything will be fine.
A lot of loud nuts on the Internet might just spoil it and we might wind up living like those other people in the world. I'll just donate and extra few dollars to the United Way to help them. So ignore what those bloggers say and the problems will go away.
It's a cage, but the gold veneer is beginning to wear thin.

In answer to the original question, I think there are several options. I will leave it to all of you to discuss the pros and cons.
1)Do nothing. Bury your head in the sand.
2)Continue blogging.
3)Become active in one of the existing parties and try to change our gov't from within.
4)Try to start a new party.
5)Organize civil disobedience.
6)Coordinate with domestic extremists and engage in open revolt.
7)Emigrate to somewhere else.
I am certain I have missed at least one option. Each of these I have listed comes with a boatload of potential "issues".
Certain options above will certainly lead to, any who participate in it, winding up in a cell. Possibly for the rest of their life.
I just want to list all I can think of and talk about what might work.
One thing I will say, option #1 isn't an option for me. I do have my favorites, but I don't want to influence your thoughts, yet.
What do you think?

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Republican Reaganomics Redux?

"Trickle-Down" is a Republican misnomer for the redistribution of wealth, upwards.

Sources:

TEXT:

"The World Distribution of Household Wealth" (12/5/06) {.pdf}

World Bank Report, "Where Is The Wealth of Nations?" (2006) {.pdf}

Or, you may prefer a synopsis: Reason Online's, "The Intangible Wealth of Nations" (12/16/05)

[Y]ears of schooling and a rule-of-law index can account for 90 percent of the variation in intangible capital. In other words, the more highly educated a country's people are and the more honest and fair its legal system is, the wealthier it is."

and

Reason Online, "Our Intangible Riches" (8/3/07)

VIDEO:

Of course you may want to compare that to Democracy Now!'s report, "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: How the U.S. Uses Globalization to Cheat Poor Countries Out of Trillions" (5/17/05) {requires Real Player}

Distinguished law scholar Elizabeth Warren, "The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class" (3/8/07) {requires Real Player}

Bill Moyers Journal: Gretchen Morgenson on record U.S. mortgage defaults (6/29/07) {QuickTime or Windows media}

"Jim Cramer Blows a Head Gasket" (8/3/07) {YouTube}

Comedy Central: "Subprime Loans" (8/1/07) {requires Adobe Flash Player}

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It's time to move on

i've been struggling a bit lately with how i want to continue with this weblog... let me see if i can articulate my thoughts...

i started the blog in early march of 2005, out of a sense of helplessness and outrage at what i saw taking place in my country... my intent was to offer up pieces of what struck me as a puzzle, many seemingly separate events and incidents that, while individually bad enough, when they were assembled, i reasoned, could form an intelligible picture of what was really going on... in the first few months of posting, i discovered an unanticipated benefit to blogging, the maintenance of my sanity through giving voice to the deep concerns i had for the future of the united states and sharing similar concerns with fellow bloggers... and, although not paramount, i also hoped that, by tossing out what i considered to be important puzzle pieces, others would, along with me, help to piece together the overall pattern...

the good news...? this blog has offered up 5920 puzzle pieces over nearly 2 1/2 years, most of them from me, but also via the able assistance of several outstanding fellow bloggers, the most recent of whom have been jim, brother tim and mettle, whose serious talents and generous support i have greatly appreciated... and, not only have i retained my sanity (although some would dispute that claim), the even better news is that, for me at least, the full picture is now clear...

the big picture i now see is of many years of deliberate undermining of the u.s. constitution, extending back to at least the late 19th century, under a covert but deadly serious campaign by monied elites intent on establishing global control of power, money and resources, and guided by a complete absence of human values, first and foremost of which is any respect whatsoever for human life, except, of course, for their own... for the most part, these elites have operated in the shadows and have pursued their agenda without arousing too much suspicion from the masses, and labeling those that do question their motives as conspiracy theorists and wild-eyed fanatics... this has worked fairly well, although certainly with some ups and downs, taking us from woodrow wilson through two world wars, the depression, korea, vietnam, the first gulf war, and, now, iraq, punctuated with numerous smaller conflicts in between, all designed to keep accruing money, resources and, most definitely, more power, all the while using the poor bastards - us - unlucky enough to not belong to their elite circle, as cannon fodder...

this scenario might have continued unabated except for one thing - the internet... it is no longer possible to disguise the moves of this reprehensible shadow world government when millions of people have access to unparalleled amounts of information, unfiltered by the elites... so, what have we seen...? for one thing, we have seen that the elites have continued to move forward with their agenda, not fully realizing just how transparent it is becoming, and how exposed they now are to the eyes of a watching and slowly awakening world... but, interestingly enough, as that awareness has begun to dawn on the citizens of the world, it has also begun to dawn on the elites that a growing number of people now have their number, an awareness that has caused them to attempt to accelerate their agenda with bolder and increasingly desperate moves... what we are now seeing with the bush administration are the actions of people who will stop at nothing to maintain their privileged status by shutting down the last constitutional freedoms enjoyed by u.s. citizens... but, make no mistake, this is not unique to the united states... it is visible in countries across the globe, perhaps most recognizable to us in the other english-speaking countries, but clearly underway in other countries as well... fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you frame it, the united states, flanked by the united kingdom, is the pace-setter, the one that sets the norms for the rest of the world... and it is the united states, in particular, where the important and fundamental changes must be made...

for those of us who have been raised from infancy on the special place that the united states occupies in the world and the unique responsibility it has for respecting human dignity and for keeping the torch of freedom alive, it is a bitter pill to swallow when we finally accept that the elites control both of our political parties, and that both of those parties have been equally complicit in dismantling the very principles our parents and teachers, with all of the honesty and sincerity they could muster, swore were true... that is where i am right now...

the struggle i have been having is this... once the symptoms have been catalogued and the diagnosis made, what is there left to do...? i know what i HAVE been doing... for several months now, or perhaps longer, i have done nothing but repeat myself, pounding away on how serious a constitutional crisis the u.s. faces, how dangerous the bush administration is, how it must be removed, how the illegal and unconstitutional power grabs those criminals have put in place must be rolled back BEFORE the next inauguration, etc., etc., ad nauseam... but i've had it with that... i now know what i WANT to do, but i don't have a clue on how to go about it... after the diagnosis has been made and confirmed, the treatment must follow... this is the time for DOING, not TALKING... but what is it that i can DO...? what is it that WE can do...? that is what i would like to begin to seriously explore on this blog... i know that many people are out there, furiously working to get candidates of their choice elected... i applaud that in all seriousness... what i would like to discuss here, however, is how the head of the snake can be cut off... for me, that is the only thing i would like to devote my energy to... any thoughts...?

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There is just no end to incompetence

From WaPo

The Pentagon has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, according to a new government report, raising fears that some of those weapons have fallen into the hands of insurgents fighting U.S. forces in Iraq.

The bungling incompetence of this Administration and their moronic minions just boggles the mind. There's nothing like arming the insurgency to keep this war going strong. I would venture to say that they probably can't physically account for over half of the weapons that are accounted for in the property books either.

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So, what do we do now?

more arthur...

To restore anything even approaching the original design of a constitutional republic, another revolution is required. There is still time for a peaceful revolution, one led by those with a radically different political vision, but just barely. An attack on Iran and its likely aftermath, or an attack or series of attacks here at home, would almost certainly finish us off. But the liberals and progressives who remain devoted to Democratic electoral victory are completely unable to grasp this larger picture, and usually they have rendered themselves incapable of seeing even a small part of it. They remain committed to the story that gives their lives and their precarious sense of self meaning and succor: the Democrats will save us.

They will not. Try to grasp this finally, before it is too late: the Democrats may differ from the Republicans on matters of detail, or emphasis, or style. But with regard to the fundamental political principles involved, everything that has happened over the last six years -- just as is the case with everything that has happened over the last one hundred years -- is what the Democrats want, too.

This should not be a difficult point to understand. The historical record is compelling in its clarity, and overpowering in its length and volume. A corporatist, authoritarian state is what the ruling elites want, and it is precisely what serves their interests, Republican and Democrat alike. They know it; they count on your inability or refusal to see it.

So far, most liberals and progressives oblige them, just as the conservatives do. One would think the fact that they have become the Sam Brownbacks of political discourse would at least give the progressives pause. To date, it hasn't caused them to miss even a single step. And does anyone doubt that all the leading progressive and liberal writers and bloggers will eagerly fall into line for Hillary Clinton, if she is the presidential candidate? I certainly do not -- Hillary Clinton, warmonger, lover of ever-expanding executive authority, and endorser of state torture. If that last element isn't a deal-breaker for you, I have nothing further to say to you. She will be no better than Bush; in certain respects, she is likely to be significantly worse. And keep in mind that in the context of a deadly and oppressive authoritarian state -- which is what we've got and will have much more of, my friend -- competence is the last thing you want. The extent to which Clinton may be more "competent" than the current criminals is the precise extent to which she will be markedly more dangerous to anyone who wants to live in anything remotely like freedom.

But she's a Democrat and a self-proclaimed "progressive," the other progressives will bleat. She will save us.

Those of us who find ourselves in the newly-constructed domestic detention camps for "terrorists," dissidents, and other protesters against the state religion of power without end or limit will remember your immense and unforgivable betrayal. And even as we are imprisoned, beaten, starved, tortured and murdered, we will laugh at you -- for unless you finally wake up and begin to recognize reality, contempt and ridicule are all that you deserve.

it's time to act...

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"The Democrats are implicated in every single crime with which they would charge the members of the administration."

as long as i'm still hyperventilating about the passage of the fisa legislation and barely able to even think coherently, i'll let arthur speak for me...

Recently, there was much commotion on the progressive blogs, as the liberals breathlessly anticipated the possible impeachment of Gonzales. A voluminous record supports the immediate start of impeachment hearings for Bush and Cheney, which is where one would and must start if one were serious about stopping even one of these continuing crimes, and if the Democrats genuinely wanted to forestall an attack on Iran. But, contend many progressives, if we start with Gonzales, we can then begin to establish a record that will make the impeachment of Bush and Cheney more likely.

Passage of this FISA legislation, which approves and expands the unconstitutional and criminal acts already engaged in by the administration, turns any future effort to impeach Gonzales into intellectual hash. To approve this legislation and to simultaneously push for the impeachment of Gonzales represents the triumph of utter incoherence. The Democrats may have feared Republican attacks on any impeachment effort, and that the Republicans would accuse them of acting only out of partisan motives, devoid of any concern for political principle whatsoever. The Democrats themselves have now handed the Republicans conclusive proof that the Republican attacks would be entirely correct. If the Democrats were actually concerned about Gonzales' eminently impeachable actions, this legislation would have been laughed off the Hill.

But for the reasons set forth above (and a full case would fill many volumes), the Democrats are not going to impeach any of these criminals, barring events entirely unforeseeable at present. And they will not for one overwhelmingly significant and determinative reason: always with regard to the underlying principles, and frequently with regard to the specifics, the Democrats are implicated in every single crime with which they would charge the members of the administration. The Republicans' crimes are their crimes.

arthur simply does not comprehend how progressive bloggers can possibly be surprised at the complicity of our congressional democrats...

[I]n terms of the most critical fundamental principles, there is no difference whatsoever between the Republicans and the Democrats as institutions of power in the U.S. political system as it has developed over the last hundred years.

[...]

[T]hey both agree that the government must be empowered to do whatever it wants, with no constraints at all, even if those constraints are imposed by the Constitution itself.

[...]

[T]he progressives' central articles of religious faith: The Democrats aren't really like this, not in their heart of hearts. The Democrats don't actually favor a repressive, authoritarian state. The Democrats are good, and they want liberty and peace for everyone, everywhere, for eternity, hallelujah and amen.

People who continue to believe this have evicted themselves from serious political debate, and they have willingly made themselves slaves to their enthusiastically embraced self-delusions. They confess a comprehensive ignorance of history, a stunning inability to understand the political developments of the last century, and a desire to place the story they have chosen, primarily because it flatters their own false sense of vanity and self-worth, above every relevant fact.

[...]

What is true in foreign policy is also true in domestic policy. The Republicans and the Democrats both advance the growth of the corporatist state, as they have for the last century -- a state where key and hugely influential financial interests ally themselves with government power (including perhaps most significantly the military-industrial-congressional complex). As it expands and becomes increasingly corrupt, the corporatist state is also an authoritarian state: individual rights give way more and more to state power, in the form of proliferating laws, regulations, edicts, wiretapping and surveillance.

i have seriously wanted to believe that democrats could make a difference, but i was sadly mistaken... from the beginning of the congressional session in january, it's become horrifically clear that, when it comes to truly upholding our united states constitution, there is no daylight whatsover between the two parties... for both of them, it's all about money and power...

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"Examine virtually every Bush scandal and it increasingly bears the mark not merely of Democratic capitulation, but Democratic participation."

i simply don't have the words to express the outrage i feel about knowing that our elected congressional leaders have gone fully on record as accomplices in the bush administration's headlong rush to turn the united states into an authoritarian state...

glenn greenwald...

It is staggering, and truly disgusting, that even in August, 2007 -- almost six years removed from the 9/11 attacks and with the Bush presidency cemented as one of the weakest and most despised in American history -- that George W. Bush can "demand" that the Congress jump and re-write legislation at his will, vesting in him still greater surveillance power, by warning them, based solely on his say-so, that if they fail to comply with his demands, the next Terrorist attack will be their fault.

[...]

Examine virtually every Bush scandal and it increasingly bears the mark not merely of Democratic capitulation, but Democratic participation. In August of 2006, the Supreme Court finally asserted the first real limit on Bush's radical executive power theories in Hamdan, only for Congress, months later, to completely eviscerate those minimal limits -- and then go far beyond -- by enacting the grotesque Military Commissions Act with the support of substantial numbers of Democrats. What began as a covert and illegal Bush interrogation and detention program became the officially sanctioned, bipartisan policy of the United States.

[...]

The common, defining political principle here -- what resonates far more powerfully than any other idea -- is a fervent and passionate belief in our country's constitutional framework, the core liberties it secures, and the checks and balances it offers as a safeguard against tyrannical power. Those who fail to defend that framework, or worse, those who are passively or actively complicit in its further erosion, are all equally culpable. With each day that passes, the radicalism and extremism originally spawned in secret by the Bush presidency becomes less and less his fault and more and more the fault of those who -- having discovered what they have been doing and having been given the power to stop it -- instead acquiesce to it and, worse, enable and endorse it.

what are we going to do...? what CAN we do...?

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Horrified and disgusted

this letter went out first thing this morning...

Dear Senators and Congressmen,

I will say this once and once only.

That both the Senate and the House both approved sweeping new, almost certainly unconstitutional, surveillance powers as dictated by the White House, after it has become completely clear that the Bush administration has no respect for the rule of law or the principles upon which the United States was founded, is a clear betrayal of our country.

I see George Bush, Dick Cheney and their fellow criminals as the most dangerous leaders the United States has ever been cursed with, and desperately pray every single day for their removal. I have now added the United States Senate and House of Representatives to that list.

To say that I am disappointed is a huge understatement. To be blunt, I am both horrified and disgusted - horrified at the shredding of civil liberties and disgusted that our elected leaders support our national descent into fascism.

Sincerely,

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Totally beyond pathetic

i have just added congress to my list of those who have to go...

House Approves Wiretap Measure
White House Bill Boosts Warrantless Surveillance

By Ellen Nakashima and Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, August 5, 2007; Page A01

The Democratic-controlled House last night approved and sent to President Bush for his signature legislation written by his intelligence advisers to enhance their ability to intercept the electronic communications of foreigners without a court order.

The 227 to 183 House vote capped a high-pressure campaign by the White House to change the nation's wiretap law, in which the administration capitalized on Democrats' fears of being branded weak on terrorism and on a general congressional desire to act on the measure before an August recess.

if i suspected that congress wasn't really dedicated to upholding our constitution before, there is absolutely no doubt now... with everything that's come out about the bush administration, for congress to hand over sweeping new powers to the white house without even the hint of a fight, is completely despicable...

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