Mourning In America

He's killing off Americans, and he shrugs off responsibility.  He is so incompetent, he is unable to fathom that his ideas are killing real people.  "What have you got to lose?"

Buy That Burial Plot Now

16,000+ deaths.  The leader of the free world touts his television ratings.  He says it is not necessary to test everyone before he reopens America.  We must forget this is happening, he advises us.  We must all surge as one to make this economy great again.  Soon.  Sooner than later. 

Time to get that burial plot.  There may not be many left after he reopens America.

We're All Gonna Die

This is the price America is paying for allowing this charade of a presidency to continue unabated.  Trump's presser today was a disgrace, and all those aligned with him bear responsibility for their failure to act and to protect the American people.  Not the damn corporations.  Our government must put the people first.  But it won't.  Many of us are infected.  We don't know.  We can't get tested. And the band played on.  We're all gonna die.

The Romney Smirk - Don't You Just Want To Smack It Off His Face?

I have been trying to watch Fox News these past couple of weeks, in order to get a better understanding of the enormous gap between the right wingers and the rest of the sane world.  It is very difficult to watch for longer than 5 minutes at a time.  Seriously, very difficult.  The disconnect from reality is obvious from the very first utterance of any one of the hosts and/or guests such that it actually gives me a headache.  I am more than alarmed at the prospect that the "majority of Americans" actually buy the trope they are pedaling.  A part of me wonders if in the end, the votes tallied at this next election will be a landslide for Obama, not necessarily because Obama is the gift that keeps on giving, but that, in general, not many people are buying what the Republican party is selling.  On the other hand, absent any tangible proof that there is widespread tampering with the votes (a not too far fetched reality, to be sure), if it is close, or even if the worst case scenario materializes and Romney is elected, what happens when all of the junk that Republicans have been trying to do to the rest of us Americans as a people happens.

To begin with, those that support the Republican agenda, will be probably the first to realize in, oh, say about one year into the Romney presidency, that they are also a part of the 99% that the 1% don't care about, and despite their fervent belief that Romney and the Republican hierarchy care about THEIR interests, voila, uh, no they don't.  Health insurance? Cross that off the list, especially after Romney and his 1% cohorts do all they can to see that the ability for most Americans to be financially capable of having basic health care vanishes, and massive numbers of people are dropped systematically off the insurance rolls.  Free education?  Forget about it.  State by state, city by city, public schools will be gobbled up by private for profit groups under the guise of bettering America's schools, when in reality, it is again, the 1% lining their pockets off the backs of those that already had no money to afford school in the first place, now finding themselves caught between a rock and hard place regarding the education of their children.  Forced by laws mandating children attend school, and saddled by the inability to actually afford them.  And then we have those that get to use the so called voucher system that will find out after their children keep getting passed year after year that in actuality, those children do not know how to add and subtract, or even read, because the teachers that teach, bereft of unionization, are not actually qualified to teach! Next is the gutting of social services, which will put a tremendous strain on the economy as state by state, the number of people left by the wayside, unable to afford housing, buy food to feed themselves and their families, and STILL OUT OF WORK (because, let's not for a moment believe the bullshit of Republicans that they have a clue how to stave off unemployment, as they salivate at tax break after tax break that lines still only the 1% of their party, and not the mass numbers of stupid people in the poorest states of this country that will be adversely affected by a Republican United States circa 2012 onward), unable to even afford decent housing and become homeless.  Does it sound like I am foretelling a Domesday scenario if Romney and his ilk take office?  You betcha. 

The lies, and I mean it very seriously, LIES that those that control the Republican party are telling their supporters (and by all means, please do feel sorry for those stupid enough to actually believe what the 1% of the Republican party is telling the rest of the 99% Republican followers) will unfold in such a ferocious and agonizing way that, in my opinion, will rock this nation to its core, and bring the 99% of we Americans to the brink of anarchy.  To believe it won't come true is to believe that the smirk that is ever present on Romney's face belies the fact that he is salivating at the prospect of destroying America and pillaging all that he can for himself and his cronies.  The man has no fear of taking this country down just for the sake of money.

The vacuum that is created by Fox News blows my mind.  The newscasters offer zero proof, and there is nothing by way of facts laid out for their outlandish claims.  I tried to match up Fox News with MSNBC because Fox and the right wingers continually claim MSNBC is a liberal bastion.  I wish! Be that as it may, most of the news analysis on MSNBC is presenting facts to combat the vast amounts of lies being touted by Fox News and other Republicans.  Whereas, on Fox News, it's just a bunch of bullshit, so outlandish that it boggles the mind that people actually believe this crap.  Just the other day, one of the guests touts this blatantly ridiculous theory as proof that Obamacare (hey, I just use the name, I didn't make it up) is socialism because the very first thing all socialist countries do is take over the health care of their country.  First, where the fuck did that come from, and second, where is the proof? She did not give any names of countries, any specifics, it was all general statements that go to the basic erroneous claim that Obamacare is proof positive our President is a socialist.  There was one woman on the show that was trying to get across what I would consider to be a Democratic point of view, (it was on Sean Hannity's show) but Mr. Hannity was having nothing of this, and repeatedly talked over the poor woman.  It was really hard to watch because there was no effort to be "fair and balanced" in the reporting. Anyone trying to point out the obvious untruth was simply mowed down with bullying tactics. No wonder these right wingers are so obnoxious -- they see it all the time on Fox News and I guess they believe this is how the rest of the world operates in a dialogue.

I still believe that Obama will take it all, both the electoral votes and the general popular vote.  I simply cannot believe that anyone finds the rude and obnoxious Romney up to par for the job of POTUS.  Bush was an idiot, and he more than bothered the left of the world, but Romney's smirk would be enough to galvanize even the most timid on the left to take up arms and go target practicing on his ass.

Vintage Paul Ryan - Smack Down On 71 Year Old For Speaking Truth To His Lies

This video has been making the rounds lately, and I believe it was about a year ago. Notice how disgustingly smug Paul Ryan is as he cracks a joke at the expense of the elderly gentleman.



This is a 71 year old man who has paid into Social Security and unemployment insurance all his working life (well, so he says ... but let's just assume it to be a fact or else he would not have taken the stand he did) and his complaint is about the "new age" politicians that keep wanting to cut/gut his Social Security and end unemployment as we know it. The constant drumbeat of the right wingers in re-labeling these services as "welfare" and "hand-outs" when they are, in fact, money taken out of working people's pay checks and put away for that rainy day, makes me sick to my stomach. And ironically, there are actually stupid people out there that believe this rhetoric ... until, of course, it comes to THEIR Social Security and unemployment benefits. In fact, it is even more ironic that many of our old farts in Congress actually get their Social Security and other government benefits (like health care), but continuously refuse to give up theirs while they say the rest of the American population MUST give up theirs. Bull shit.

And notice how the police or security guards treat the old man for just saying what he wants to say, and you can hear them yelling at him to "get on the ground." For god's sake, what is wrong with our country that a 71 year old man is not allowed to voice his opinion and has to be taken away in handcuffs, no less?

Made In America -- Ooops, Made In China!

So, it appears there is a bit of a brouha over the UNITED STATES Olympic teams' uniforms, which were designed by the very epitome of haute couture, Ralph Lauren. On the "right winger" side, they are PISSED that berets are the head piece of choice, while the "left winger" side is PISSED that the uniforms were made in fucking China!

Go figure. Rah rah America ... or not.

Good-bye America

I am ambivalent about politics of late. Somewhere between 2005, when I had started up my blog, and was very passionate about the slow take-over of our democracy by the “right wingers,” and today, where seven years of outright lying, a lackadaisical news media, and a misdirected and ill-informed public, I’ve given up. Literally. With the promises made by a presidential candidate in 2008, who won (in my mind) with overwhelming support, and the follow-up of consistent failure to keep those campaign promises, coupled with a very real embrace by said president of certain ideologies that are antiethcal to the very nature of our democracy (i.e., renditions, killing American citizens abroad without warrants, trials, and the like, deporting more people out of this country than Bush ever did, failure to properly and timely embrace the GLBT issues that he ran on, etc., and not to mention the very same reliance on the banking industry that his opponents also embrace) have molded me into a non-believer in today’s version of our democracy.

This is a fully corrupt nation, with zero regard for the 99% of those that make up this country, work hard, and have tried to believe in the greatness of America. Instead, we have countries disparaging America based on the hypocrisy of its ideology vs. the practice. We prop up dictators, deal with our enemies, and wage wars on innocent people and nations. We are trillions in debt and yet not a single legislator on any level of government is taking up the mantle and running with the torch for the American people.

I had a guy tell me yesterday at my local watering hole that it is the corporations like GE, the oil companies, and others, that “pay the majority of taxes” in this country. I literally almost fell off my bar stool. I told him he really must stop watching Fox news, stop reading the Wall Street Journal, and for goodness sake, turn off talk radio. You will not get the truth from such areas, and that is why you, my friend, are ill informed.

It is hard to stand for truth and justice when there are so many politicians that have jumped on the bandwagon of corrupt methods of gaining and maintaining their free ride in government. “Can I please have some more” is the cry of the populace with the answer from the politicians being “hell fucking no” even as they cash their social security checks, get their federally funded (or state mandated) insurance coverage that is denied to anyone not in politics, and tell the average worker to go fuck themselves. Hell, the thought that the 1% think it’s okay (for example, Scranton, PA) to cut police and firefighter’s pay to minimum wage ($7.25), even after a court ordered the mayor NOT to do that, is just to mind boggling for me. The 1% are clearly not aware that to live in today’s America, minimum wage just does not cut it. And to believe that the majority of Americans want to suck off the teat of the government (the only people the suck off the teat of government ARE the politicians) is preposterous. A decent wage, the ability to put a roof over you and your family’s head, and raise your children with a decent education, has now gone the way of a “dream” and is actually, according to many politicians, no longer a “right” for Americans. The only “rights” that these politicians believe in is their right to pillage and destroy the America I grew up in, and turn our government into a corporate owned subsidiary. One person, one vote? Got rid of that. Power to the people? Got rid of that. A decent working wage? Got rid of that. Home ownership for the average American? Got rid of that. Where a corporate executive can work one day, retire, and take home $44 million in severance, bonuses, etc. (think Duke Energy’s CEO Bill Johnson), while there are millions and millions of people (including many Iraq war veterans) who are literally homeless, on the streets, with no real income in sight, as well as the rampant starvation of our children, I get sick to my stomach. And to top it off, a great deal of this rhetoric is pumped up by the false assertion that these politicians and their supporters are merely following Christian (read “bible”) themes, which totally distort the reality of what “Jesus” actually preached (according to some relevant history that seems to be methodically erased from the propaganda of what current Christianity means to this country).

Many of our elected officials are boneheads and seriously stupid. Deranged and empowered by corporate fueled laws and rights that come hand-in-hand with corporate money, it is time for me to check out. The power of the people, or the lack of it at this point, will be demonstrable in the 2012 elections, when it becomes obvious that millions of people will be disenfranchised as voters, where gerrymandering has resulted in lopsided and illegal power grabs, and where many more millions like me will simply fail to show up to cast our worthless vote.

Good-bye America. I will dream of your resurgence in the future. I only hope I live long enough to see the second Revolution and the fight to regain the rights that constitutionally belong to the American people.

Where Are The Fireworks?

I miss the ability to set off fireworks as I remember as a child, even growing up in SoCal. Yes, we used to be able to have sparklers as children, and the grown ups would set off the bigger fire crackers. Now, at least insofar as Los Angeles County is concerned, fireworks of any type by personal use is illegal.

Pooh pooh to that idea.

I do find it interesting that at this time every year for quite a few years, I watch the history channel on television and re-acquaint myself with how this "united states" of America was formed.

Anyway, hope you all had a fun day off. We had hot dogs here (with chili and onions and the works!). And, of course, it is Eli's birthday so I know my grandson was spending the day with him at his house having a wonderful party!

A Little Bit Of Black, And A Little Bit Of White In All Of Us, So It Seems

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — For years, varied and sometimes wild claims have been made about the origins of a group of dark-skinned Appalachian residents once known derisively as the Melungeons. Some speculated they were descended from Portuguese explorers, or perhaps from Turkish slaves or Gypsies.

Now a new DNA study in the Journal of Genetic Genealogy attempts to separate truth from oral tradition and wishful thinking. The study found the truth to be somewhat less exotic: Genetic evidence shows that the families historically called Melungeons are the offspring of sub-Saharan African men and white women of northern or central European origin.

And that report, which was published in April in the peer-reviewed journal, doesn't sit comfortably with some people who claim Melungeon ancestry.

This story reminds me of the PBS series hosted by Harvard professor Henry Lewis Gates, Jr. that traces the ancestral history of black Americans. I think the most interesting thing that all of the people learned, as did I, was that the majority of the participants had no idea they had as much European white ancestry roots, primarily from a white woman. Of course, as my daughter likes to say, we all came from Africa, it's where life started on this planet!

Cinco De Mayo History

Usually, I just put up some pictures of tequila, shot glasses, or margaritas and say "ole." But I found one really interesting article that I feel is a must read about the origins of Cinco de Mayo that even I was not aware of. Although, I was not stupid enough about Mexican culture to believe that this is Mexico's Independence Day (which is September 16, by the way), I was of the firm belief that this was more an American holiday, and an attempt to utilize alcohol (especially beer) and attract a more Mexican audience to the beer culture, which based on this article, is actually true.

What I didn't know: During the American Civil War, Mexicans had sided with the Union and not with the Confederates. Also, the French were attempting to invade and control Mexico, which had only had a democratic government for probably 30 some years. The battle at Puebla on the 5th of May (hence, Cinco de Mayo) was when a ragtag group of Mexicans were able to withstand the French army's attempt to take over Puebla. The Mexicans at that time that lived in the United States (mostly in California, and oddly enough, northwestern states such as Oregon) were reading everything they could about the French and their attempt to invade and control Mexico (albeit, in their time, they would be reading things in the newspapers that were probably two to three weeks after the fact), and were excited about the battle and win over the French at Puebla. And that is how the Cinco de Mayo tradition began in the United States. The Mexicans in America at that time would celebrate regularly the victory at Puebla. And, lo and behold, a century later, the beer industry got into the act and started sponsoring Cinco de Mayo events.

I don't begrudge ANYONE finding an opportunity to pop open a brew ... but I did find this information interesting.

Here's another piece that further elaborates on the holiday, and even quotes the link I provided above.

Enjoy some music!

Flaco Jimenez - She Stole My Accordion (ok, you may have to look up Flaco) ... as I have noted on numerous occasions, Flaco was THE accordion guy on many, many records we know but just had no clue there was even an accordion part in the song, let alone, know it was FLACO!!!

Want To Feel Good? Watch This Video Of An Autistic Adult Singing The National Anthem

This actually made me cry.





It's an amazing thing to watch when people actually support one another. Things like this remind me that America is really not the hate mongering country that our politicians and corporations would like us to believe. Like how Fox and its minions continue to deceive their viewers into thinking that ALL of America is truly divided. It is not. It is only the dysfunctional government, i.e., congressmen and senators, state and federal levels, and whom they are beholding to (ah, those pesky corporate "persons") that have a reason to ramp up the divisiveness. Average, regular Americans are simply not hateful. It's a minority of our country, and a majority of our politicians that advance this ideology.

H/T to Pics and Random Stuff.

Facing Life In Jail For Protesting OC Your City

The threat of life imprisonment looms for Occupy Oakland activist Marcel Johnson - better known by his alias, Khali - after a third-strike arrest during the demonstration.

Read the rest. It's like the guy in Cali that was facing his third strike for stealing a slice of pizza. The third strike felony law was supposed to be for those that are a danger to society and commit a third DANGEROUS felony, like armed robbery, murder, etc. Not for some misdemeanor like protesting or stealing a slice of pizza.

Don't blink. If you do, you might not realize you are still living in the United States and not some third world dictatorship. Oh, my bad, we are living in a third world dictatorship!

H/T to Crooks and Liars.

The Vigilante Gardner

This is a cool piece, in two parts. H/T to AMERICAblog.

Part 1



Part 2

The Death Of A Nation (Sorry To Steal The Title)

Said more poignantly than I could ever put words to paper. From Ilyse Hogue’s thoughts in The Nation, H/T (unfortunately) from C&L:

Some may say that this is business as usual in Washington and that getting frustrated at party bosses is as old as our democracy, so why am I making so much of this now? Well, for a couple of reasons. We are coming off a decade of unprecedented organizing opportunity. With the emergence of online engagement and social media, Americans were beginning to feel as though they had a way to strategically participate in the conversations in Washington that shape their lives. This president was the first one elected using broad engagement strategies, and his election changed the national psyche by demonstrating to millions of Americans that their political participation could pay off and democracy could work. The disappointment about the debt deal is especially acute against the backdrop of the record levels of political participation, enthusiasm and hope generated during the 2008 election.

In between, we had the 2010 Citizens United decision, which rebuilt those gates around the capitol that the online revolution had supposedly crashed. Corporate cash, already omnipresent in lobbying, dominated the airwaves; and thirty-second ads, played over and over once again, drowned out the millions of organized voices crying for change. That led to the 2010 election of radical candidates representing a tiny minority of Americans who were more concerned about the federal deficit than they were about joblessness and the overall economy.

The debt deal’s final resolution to what essentially amounted to a hostage crisis by that minority represents a complete unmooring of official decision-making from the will of the American people. The last few weeks could be the final straw that leads to a collapse of confidence not just in this government but in the American project of self-governance. When citizens don’t participate, democracy is in peril. At a time of so much great need in our country, sending the message that citizen involvement is futile is dangerous not just to the substance of one debate but to the core principles that allow us to call ourselves a democracy. Are we really prepared to risk that?

Apparently, we Americans are prepared to risk that, because our country is headed down the toilet, financially, politically and socially. The very core of our Constitution is being assaulted and not just by the nut jobs on the "right," but also by our very own supposed defenders of said Constitution, the Democratic party.

The signs are abundant. Verizon workers striking because the company wants them to pay more into their pensions and make less in their wages, this despite the fact that the corporate stockholders and higher ups have made unprecedented gains in their wages and earnings and dividends. Jobless people are told not to apply for new jobs that open up, as corporations and businesses are now seeking only people willing to move FROM a job TO a job, totally ignoring our unemployment crisis. Our spineless president and his echo chamber of political advisers who have so blurred the line between what used to be definitive Democratic and Republican ideals, coupled with the upsurge in stupid people having been elected to Congress by corporate money giddy over the fact they have puppets doing their dirty deeds under the guise of "representation" of a constituency, has resulted in a more resigned and depressed America. Etc.

The writing is clearly on the wall. 2012 will be interesting insofar as elections are concerned. This will be the turning point, where Americans who do vote find out that their vote (1) either was changed electronically by the corporate controlled voting process or (2) that the candidate they voted for was/is just a stupid person backed by a boatload of overseas money as well as local and national corporate controlled money with specialized agendas (and ones that do not help out the actual voter, but in reality, continue to disenfranchise the voters).

People, we will see bread lines. We will see an upsweep in homelessness, and not just by individuals, but whole families. We will end up looking a lot more like refugees in this country, than ordinary citizens of the once great democracy that America stood for.

Hope. It left the building. Obama and the Democrats shoved a desk in front of the door, bought ear plugs, and are not listening. The Republicans have put wood in front of the door and are pouring lighting fluid on it. The tea baggers have the lighter. It's just a matter of time.

American Current Wars Account For Majority Of World's Refugee Crisis

From Think Progress:

America’s wars are forcing Afghans and Iraqis to flee their homes in greater numbers. According to a recent U.N. High Commission for Refugees study, nearly one half of the world’s refugees are from Afghanistan and Iraq, 3.05 million and 1.68 million, respectively. But neither the United States nor much of the developed world bears the burden of the 10.55 million refugees under the UNHCR’s purview globally. Instead, Pakistan, Iran, and Syria serve as the top host countries. The Economist has charted the numbers:

And why, I ask again, are we not putting war spending cuts into the picture on this debt ceiling craziness going on in Congress?

I seriously hate the fact that our so called elected leaders in the past 12 years have completely isolated America from the rest of the world, and have their fingers in their collective ears. We have children running our country, for God's sake. These people feel the world is still flat, and that they can just keep running in one direction and will never fall off that deep end. Me, (as well as millions of other Americans), I see that deep end, and our current government is on the precipice. God help us all.

Unemployed Need Not Apply - New Business Mantra

Sadly, this is the new craze in hiring. Ain't American business just grand?

Hundreds of job opening listings posted on Monster.com and other jobs sites explicitly state that people who are unemployed would be less attractive applicants, with some telling the long-term unemployed to not even bother with applying.

I'd bang my head on the keyboard, but I gave that up a long time ago (got a strong head, and I really like my keyboard!)

Who REALLY Owns America?

Many people — politicians and pundits alike — prattle on that China and, to a lesser extent Japan, own most of America's $14.3 trillion in government debt.

But there's one little problem with that conventional wisdom: it's just not true. While the Chinese, Japanese and plenty of other foreigners own substantial amounts, it's really Americans who hold most of America's debt.

[snip]

• Hong Kong: $121.9 billion (0.9 percent)
• Caribbean banking centers: $148.3 (1 percent)
• Taiwan: $153.4 billion (1.1 percent)
• Brazil: $211.4 billion (1.5 percent)
• Oil exporting countries: $229.8 billion (1.6 percent)
• Mutual funds: $300.5 billion (2 percent)
• Commercial banks: $301.8 billion (2.1 percent)
• State, local and federal retirement funds: $320.9 billion (2.2 percent)
• Money market mutual funds: $337.7 billion (2.4 percent)
• United Kingdom: $346.5 billion (2.4 percent)
• Private pension funds: $504.7 billion (3.5 percent)
• State and local governments: $506.1 billion (3.5 percent)
• Japan: $912.4 billion (6.4 percent)
• U.S. households: $959.4 billion (6.6 percent)
• China: $1.16 trillion (8 percent)
• The U.S. Treasury: $1.63 trillion (11.3 percent)
• Social Security trust fund: $2.67 trillion (19 percent)

The Secret Bipartisanship Of The Patriot Act

I was having a conversation with someone at my local watering hole last Friday, and when I indicated my dislike for the current president, he nearly went apoplectic on me! When he asked me why, and I started to explain all of the things that Obama has failed to accomplish when compared to what he campaigned on, I got the regular meme recited back to me that most liberals and progressives chant. That being the statement that Obama (1) has done incredible things and (2) what he hasn't been able to accomplish is because his "hands are tied" by Congress. He even said something akin to "after all, he's only the President."

I started to delineate all the areas of compromise made by the President, mostly with himself and the Democratic party, and the faux bipartisanship the Obama administration believes they have accomplished.

Actually, there is an interesting piece by, you guessed it, Glenn Greenwald, on the actual bipartisanship that exists up on the Hill.

First, consider what Democrats and Republicans just jointly did with regard to the Patriot Act, the very naming of which once sent progressives into spasms of vocal protest and which long served as the symbolic shorthand for Bush/Cheney post-9/11 radicalism:

[snip]

This will be the second time that the Democratic Congress -- with the support of President Obama (who once pretended to favor reforms) -- has extended the Patriot Act without any changes. And note the rationale for why it was done in secret bipartisan meetings: to ensure "as little debate as possible" and "to avoid a protracted and familiar argument over the expanded power the law gives to the government." Indeed, we wouldn't want to have any messy, unpleasant democratic debates over "the expanded power the law gives to the government." Here we find yet again the central myth of our political culture: that there is too little bipartisanship when the truth is there is little in Washington but that. And here we also find -- yet again -- that the killing of Osama bin Laden is being exploited to justify a continuation, rather than a reduction, in the powers of the National Security and Surveillance States.

How's that "transparency" campaign promise working out for America? When Obama campaigned on this rhetoric, and when he especially spoke distastefully about The Patriot Act, it is no wonder that his Administration works "in bipartisanship fashion" secretly to not only extend this horrible assault on American's rights, but enhance it to include spying on American's internet and mobile phone usage. And someone on another blog had the audacity to criticize me for mentioning a thought I had about moving to China ... as if only in China and countries like China, have privacy rights been trampled on!

So first they conspire with the GOP to extend the Patriot Act without any reforms, then seek to expand its most controversial and invasive provisions to obtain the Internet activities of American citizens without having to bother with a subpoena or judicial approval -- "they" being the Democratic White House.

And people actually want to argue with me that this President is better than not only what we had for the past 8 years with Bush, but will continue to be better than what the "other side" will put up in 2012 for votes?

The way a republic is supposed to function is that there is transparency for those who wield public power and privacy for private citizens. The National Security State has reversed that dynamic completely, so that the Government (comprised of the consortium of public agencies and their private-sector "partners") knows virtually everything about what citizens do, but citizens know virtually nothing about what they do (which is why WikiLeaks specifically and whistleblowers generally, as one of the very few remaining instruments for subverting that wall of secrecy, are so threatening to them). Fortified by always-growing secrecy weapons, everything they do is secret -- including even the "laws" they secretly invent to authorize their actions -- while everything you do is open to inspection, surveillance and monitoring.

China or America - spying on its citizens is just another job by the government. You tell me where the difference is.

American Lawlessness

Beyond the apparent indifference to how this killing took place, what has also surprised me somewhat is the lack of interest in trying to figure out how the bin Laden killing fits into broader principles and viewpoints about state power and the War on Terror. I've seen people who have spent the last decade insisting that the U.S. must accord due process to accused Terrorists before punishing them suddenly mock the notion that bin Laden should have been arrested and tried.

My sentiments, as well. Glad OBL is gone, but I just can't get my head around how it came down.

Drama, Drama Obama, Holder, Clement And Continued Arguments In Defense Of DOMA

I was bothered a lot when Obama went back on his promise with regard to not defending DOMA, and then his DOJ filed really nasty briefs in support of it. They were even more egregious than anything Bush's DOJ ever filed, and they angered not only the GLBT community, but those that support marriage equality for all (and not just domestic partnership rights, but real marriage).

Then, after all Obama's DOJ did, they suddenly decided not to continue with the defense. Of course, perpetually orange skin fake tanned Boehner, decided Congress would hire a private firm (the law firm King & Spalding) to continue to oppose DOMA. However, they suddenly unemployed themselves (and one of the lead attorneys, Paul Clement, quit because of that decision).

The law firm King & Spalding stunned many observers Monday by abruptly withdrawing from representing the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) -- barely a week after coming under fire for signing on to defend the law on behalf of House Republicans. But the real shockwaves may have taken place within the firm, where, according to one insider, employees were at each other's throats over its decision to take on the case.

Obviously, the firm was not aware that most of America supports gay marriage.

Sources with knowledge of the backlash confirm that one of King & Spalding's top clients, Coca Cola, also based in Atlanta, directly intervened to press the firm to extricate itself from the case.

Then, of course, there was that onerous "contract."

This is a huge deal. Lawyers don't just drop cases. King & Spalding knew DOMA was controversial, but they took the case anyway. Then, once the controversy erupted last week, they fled. Granted, things were looking bad for King & Spalding. Petitions had been launched. Their embarrassing contract with Boehner was leaked, a contract that appeared to forbid any an all employees of King & Spalding, even those not working on the case, from doing any gay rights advocacy opposing DOMA (including, it seemed, even donating to a gay rights cause that didn't toe the official Boehner line on DOMA).

Naturally, Eric Holder, the White House Attorney General has to chime in with his two cents.

"Paul Clement is a great lawyer and has done a lot of really great things for this nation. In taking on the representation--representing Congress in connection with DOMA, I think he is doing that which lawyers do when we're at our best," Holder said during a roundtable with reporters at the Justice Department. "That criticism, I think, was very misplaced."

Holder also compared the criticism of Clement to the attacks on Justice Department lawyers for their past work for detentainees at Guantanamo. "It was something we dealt with here in the Department of Justice...The people who criticized our people here at the Justice Department were wrong then as are people who criticized Paul Clement for the representation that he's going to continue," Holder added.

As John Aravosis adroitly points out, "Criminal defendants have a constitutional right to counsel. Causes do not."

That's a good one. Now Eric Holder is suddenly the great defender of the eternally-incarcerated at Gitmo. But let's talk about Holder's offensive comparison of the American civil rights community to the anti-Muslim bigots and religious right filth who would let those detained at Gitmo rot on the vine because they're dark-skinned. It seems our top law enforcement officer isn't familiar with Constitution. Criminal defendants have a constitutional right to counsel. Causes do not. That's the difference between the Gitmo defendants and DOMA. It's offensive and embarrassing that Holder isn't aware of the difference.

And let's not forget what happened with this DOMA defense, and thus how it compares to the Gitmo trials. The lead Republican lawyer who Eric Holder is defending let the Republicans politicize the defense of DOMA and portray their move to hire him as a swipe at President Obama (funny that Obama's own Attorney General had no problem with that). The lead Republican lawyer had no problem letting Boehner portray the DOMA defense as a favor Boehner was doing for the religious right. Again, not a word from Holder. The DOMA defense was already politicized long before the gays weighed in in their own defense, and President Obama's Attorney General couldn't have cared less.

Did Democrats politicize the terror trials, forcing the Republicans to respond in kind? No.

Clients of King & Spalding were disgusted by the firm taking on a case defending bigotry. Did the same thing happen with the terror trials? No.

One can assume that new recruits and current staff of King & Spalding were not exactly pleased about the nature of the case, nor the fact that the firm's contract included a blatant effort to restrict the free speech rights of the firm's employees, even those not working on the case (ordering them not to do anything, even on their free time, that might help overturn DOMA). Did all of that happen on the terror trials, forcing the Republicans to intervene? No.

The defense of the DOMA brief was politicized from the beginning by the GOP. The terror trials were politicized by the GOP. That's the only thing these two issues have in common.

Perhaps it's time someone explained to our Attorney General the difference between those who criticize you for defending the Bill of Rights versus those who criticize you for attacking the Bill of Rights.

Now it appears that Clement's new firm, Bancroft PLCC, will handle he eternal tan man's insistence that DOMA needs to be defended. As John stated: "I think Bancroft PLLC just bought itself a world of pain."