Contracts

Contracts, according to Obama and the Democrats.

When Labor Unions have contracts with auto-companies, Obama and the Democrats insist that these contracts must be given up and new concessions made by workers as a pre-condition for any government bailout.

When investment bankers have contracts with AIG that guarantee them millions of dollars of bonuses, despite the fact that these are the very people who drove the company 'too big to fail' into government ownership, then Obama and the Democrats insist that these contracts are sacred, that they must be honored, and that these people must get their millions of dollars.

With the Democrats, always watch ACTIONS. Ignore their words, as they are often designed to mislead and sometimes are outright lies. But watch the ACTIONS of the Democrats. Watch who the Democrats really support, watch where the money goes with the Democrats, and you'll see the true nature of that party.

If you don't like what you see, check out the Green Party.

Note: I see David Sirota saying much the same thing.

Last month, the same government that says it “cannot just abrogate” executives’ bonus contracts used its leverage to cancel unions’ wage contracts. As The Wall Street Journal reported, federal loans to GM and Chrysler were made contingent on those manufacturers shredding their existing labor pacts and “extract[ing] financial concessions from workers.” In other words, our government asks us to believe that it possesses total authority to adjust contracts at car companies it lends to, and yet has zero power to modify contracts at financial firms it owns. This, even though the latter set of covenants might be easily abolished

Of course, since Mr. Sirota is a Democratic party activist, the bad guys in the piece mysteriously become an anonymous 'government' instead of the party and President he just helped bring to power.

House Passes Bill With 'Mandatory' National Service Clause

House Passes Bill With 'Mandatory' National Service Clause from FoxNews.com

During an election season, we are often told that its better with the Democrats in power than with Republicans. And in some ways, that's correct. But it is also can be very dangerous to have conservative Democrats in control of the White House and Congress.

When there is a Republican President, many if not all Democrats will tend to vote against him. If for no other reason than party loyalty. This means votes in the House can be close, and sometimes, like on the first bailout bill last summer, the Republicans can be defeated.

But when there is a conservative Democrat in the White House, this dynamic changes dramatically. Now, the default option is for Democrats to 'support their President' and vote for his proposals. When these are conservative or militaristic, this means a large majority Congress is created as 'loyal' Democrats are joined with conservative Republicans.

This is how the bill bringing the DRAFT back to America just passed the House, 321-105.

Oh, the propaganda will tell you this isn't the draft. This story manages not to use the 'word' draft. 'Volunterism' is the propaganda word of the day, and its of course in the headline and prominent in this piece. Hidden most subtly are the words 'national service'. Some article correctly add 'mandatory'. This article downplace all of this by saying that 'forced service' is merely a concern. If you use the word 'slavery' for 'forced-service', are you more concerned? Although the propagandist for centuries have made sure the word 'slavery' is never used when it is the state that is demanding your 'forced service', at gunpoint if you dare to resist.

I was in the first group of 18 year olds not to be subject to the Draft after Vietnam. We still had to go fill out the selective service cards, but unlike those around me a year or more older than me, I didn't have to worry about being drafted. The main feeling I remember having back then was that I had other things to do with my life, other priorities to fulfill, other paths to follow. I thought it was fundamentally wrong for the government to step in and make me its slave for several years.

I still feel that way. You can dress it up with talk about doing other service beside military, you can hide it by duct-taping it to an existing volunteer agency. But this is still slavery. And, you know the bottom line is, the military is going to get enough bodies to fill what it considers its requirements.

It was the Jimmy Carter Democrats who ended the draft back during my youth. Now its the Obama Democrats that bring it back. Just one of the many ways you can see how radically the party has changed during my lifetime.

The Democrats bring back the draft. When I was 18, I never would have imagined I'd type those words.

Hersh: 'Executive assassination ring' reported directly to Cheney

Hersh: 'Executive assassination ring' reported directly to Cheney on RawStory

Hersh replied, "After 9/11, I haven’t written about this yet, but the Central Intelligence Agency was very deeply involved in domestic activities against people they thought to be enemies of the state. Without any legal authority for it. They haven’t been called on it yet."

Hersh then went on to describe a second area of extra-legal operations: the Joint Special Operations Command. "It is a special wing of our special operations community that is set up independently," he explained. "They do not report to anybody, except in the Bush-Cheney days, they reported directly to the Cheney office. ... Congress has no oversight of it."

"It’s an executive assassination ring essentially, and it’s been going on and on and on," Hersh stated. "Under President Bush’s authority, they’ve been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. That’s been going on, in the name of all of us."

Hmmm, wonder who they report to now? Because the one thing you can be certain of is that they didn't just pack up and go home on Jan 20th.

Teddy :)

Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day. - Theodore Roosevelt

courtesy of Progressive Review

The Rape of Washington

The Rape of Washington by Uri Avnery on Antiwar.com

Speaking of the Charles Freeman nomination, Mr. Avnery asserts ...

This has a significance that goes far beyond the already far-reaching implications of the affair itself. Many people in Israel who view the establishment of the new rightist government with apprehension cite as their main fear the danger of a clash with the new Obama administration. Such a clash, they believe, could be fatal for Israel's security. But the rightists deride such arguments. They assert that no American president would ever dare to confront the Israeli lobby. The captive congressmen and senators, as well as the supporters of the Israeli government in the media and even in the White House itself, would sink on sight any American policy opposed by even the most extreme right-wing government in Israel. Now the first skirmish has taken place, and the president of the United States has blinked first. Perhaps one should not rush to conclusions, perhaps Obama needs more time to find his bearings, but the signs are ominous for any Israeli interested in peace. It may be too early to call this episode the Rape of Washington, but it is certainly vastly more important than Katsav's sexual escapades.

If You Are Reading This, You May Already be a Terrorist

If You Are Reading This, You May Already be a Terrorist by Antiwar.com

So, now its official. Express public support for non-approved candidates for President, and you'll be suspected of being a 'terrorist' by that friendly state trooper you are driving past.

The Feb. 20 report called “The Modern Militia Movement” specifically identifies people who “display Campaign for Liberty, Constitution Party, or Libertarian material. These members are usually supporters of former Presidential candidate: Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr.”

The report identifies red flags that can identify potential domestic terrorists:

* Bumper stickers for third-party candiates like Ron Paul
* Talk of “New World Order” conspiracy theories
* Opposition to the Federal Reserve and support of the gold standard
* Opposition to US Army takeover of Homeland Security
* Opposition to the North American Union
* Opposition to universal military service
* Tax resistance
* Possession of subversive literature: “pictures, cartoons, bumper stickers that contain anti-government rhetoric. Most of this material will depict the FRS, IRS, FBI, ATF, CIA, UN, Law Enforcement, and ‘New World Order’ in a derogatory manner.”

One of the examples shown is the Gadsden Flag (”Don’t Tread on Me”).

The last gets even better. If you show support for the American Revolution by showing a historic flag from that era, then you are to be considered a 'terrorist'. King George III must be looking up from hell a look of pride on his face in the accomplishments of those who've come after him.

Of course, sometimes the scariest thing in a police state is that the police aren't really very smart. Ron Paul did not run as a 'third party'. He's a Republican Congressman from Texas. But hey, he rocks the boat so he must be both kooky and dangerous. Still, the report is written by someone who probably voted Republican, but couldn't tell you who just ran for President in the Republican primaries. Given the power of the police, that's just scary.

The article had this link to the report.

It gets even better than this as I read the report. For instance, this is listed under the section talking about militia 'Organization.'

Committees of Safety (COS) Organizations formed to lobby government officials and confront corruption. These groups claim to be a voice of the people and usually control or associate with militia organizations in their area.

Wow, so citizens who organize to 'lobby government officials and confront corruption' are smeared as associating with militia members. Remember, this report went out to the Missouri State Troopers as what to look out for with regards to dangerous militias, so if you are a Missouri citizen who has a habit of trying to confront local corruption, don't be surprised when that Missouri State Trooper first pulls you over for no reason (he'll say the tail-light blinked out or something, or maybe that you touched a line), then approaches the car with his weapon drawn and forces you out of the car to lay face down on the pavement. He's gotten this report from his superior officers telling him that you my friend are a dangerous terrorist and a threat to the American way of life by daring to challenge that local corruption.

To make sure that message comes through loud and clear, that exact section of text quoted above is next to a picture of a group of men in camoflauge and carrying automatic rifles captioned "Missouri militia members during a field training event." There is a visual image of men with automatic weapons designed to scream 'danger' to police officers in the field, and it is paired with text about those awful people in the community who try to 'lobby government officials and confront corruption.'

So, when you drive past that state trooper, with a bumper sticker supporting an alternative candidate to the corrupt local sheriff on one side of your rear bumper, and a Ron Paul for President sticker on the other side, what that state trooper is going to remember is a picture of a bunch of dangerous looking men with automatic weapons. Feel safer now?

This is from Missouri, but the AntiWar.com article points out that its done with information compiled by Dept Homeland Security. Thus its a reasonable assumption that similar reports are being compiled elsewhere under DHS prompting. And its another reasonable assumption that these viewpoints have some support in DHS and other federal agencies who are a part of this.