"[W]hat’s not up for debate in this election is the continuation of the post-911 security state Bush instituted and Obama expanded. No matter who wins tomorrow, that state aparatus will continue to roll right along, because no-one in the corriders of power – industrialists, mainstream media or politicians – has any good short-term reason to do otherwise. The only losers are we the mooks, at home and abroad, who lose lives and liberty."
Steve Hynd, Remember, remember…the bipartisan security state (via theamericanbear)
(via thefreelioness)
Obama criticizes Hilary’s healthcare “penalty” in 2008 mailer.
Just to remind everyone that both candidates have flip-flopped on health care, based on political efficacy.
When you cast your ballot, I just ask everyone to evaluate politicians by their actions, not their promises or their claims. Obama has flip-flopped on a multitude of issues, just as Romney has; Romney’s just not intelligent or eloquent enough to pull it off.
When you explain why you support who you support, don’t say that it’s because Romney isn’t just like Obama or because Obama wants to make college affordable or is good on civil liberties. Make sure your justifications are backed with actual policies signed off on. Political promises are just field-tested rhetoric designed to maximize their share of votes.
(via thecheekylibertarian)
Probably the most disturbingly clear indictment of Obama’s very real acts to do away with all civil liberties and rights of american citizens - and it comes from Obama’s own mouth, clear as day, no euphemisms necessary.
Every supporter of Obama should take a few minutes to watch this, and ask themselves why they’re still rationalizing all this, and whether they felt these things were acceptable under George W. Bush.
Also, I’m proud of Rachel Maddow for actually acting like a journalist, asking difficult questions, something that can’t be said of her peers very often.
How important are civil liberties to Obama supporters?
by Conor Friedersdorf
“It’s as if Obama took a driving test that Sullivan was judging, where he performed quite capably on a great many tasks, but also ran over a three innocent pedestrians, unapologetically broke a major law, and erased data in dashboard GPS system that tied the car’s former owner to a few homicides; and although the test administrator complained at each transgression, his ultimate report pronounced America lucky to have so skilled a driver on the streets.”
"First, in addressing global terror and violent extremism, we need the kind of comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy I called for last August. We need to strengthen security partnerships to take out terrorist networks, while investing in education and opportunity. We need to give our national security agencies the tools they need, while restoring the adherence to rule of law that helps us win the battle for hearts and minds. This means closing Guantanamo, restoring habeas corpus, and respecting civil liberties."
Candidate Obama, 2008 (eBooks, Databases, and other searchable on-line content from askSam)
I wish we had elected this man.
(via jeffmiller)
Whoops.
(via jeffmiller)
NDAA repeals more rights
by Ron Paul
Little by little, in the name of fighting terrorism, our Bill of Rights is being repealed. The 4th Amendment has been rendered toothless by the PATRIOT Act. No more can we truly feel secure in our persons, houses, papers, and effects when now there is an exception that fits nearly any excuse for our government to search and seize our property. Of course, the vast majority of Americans may say, “I’m not a terrorist, so I have no reason to worry.” However, innocent people are wrongly accused all the time. The Bill of Rights is there precisely because the founders wanted to set a very high bar for the government to overcome in order to deprive an individual of life or liberty. To lower that bar is to endanger everyone. When the bar is low enough to include political enemies, our descent into totalitarianism is virtually assured.
The PATRIOT Act, as bad as its violation of the 4th Amendment was, was just one step down the slippery slope. The recently passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) continues that slip toward tyranny and in fact accelerates it significantly. The main section of concern, Section 1021 of the NDAA Conference Report, does to the 5th Amendment what the PATRIOT Act does to the 4th. The 5th Amendment is about much more than the right to remain silent in the face of government questioning. It contains very basic and very critical stipulations about due process of law. The government cannot imprison a person for no reason and with no evidence presented or access to legal counsel.
The dangers in the NDAA are its alarmingly vague, undefined criteria for who can be indefinitely detained by the U.S. government without trial. It is now no longer limited to members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban but includes anyone accused of “substantially supporting” such groups or “associated forces.” How closely associated? And what constitutes “substantial” support? What if it was discovered that someone who committed a terrorist act was once involved with a charity? Or supported a political candidate? Are all donors to that charity or supporters of that candidate now suspect and subject to indefinite detainment? Is that charity now an associated force?
Additionally, this legislation codifies in law for the first time the authority to detain Americans that has to this point only been claimed by President Obama. According to subsection (e) of section 1021, “nothing in this section shall be construed to affect existing law or authorities relating to the detention of United States citizens, lawful resident aliens of the United States, or any other persons who are captured or arrested in the United States.” This means the president’s widely expanded view of his own authority to detain Americans indefinitely even on American soil is for the first time in this legislation codified in law. That should chill all of us to our cores.
The Bill of Rights has no exemptions for “really bad people” or terrorists or even non-citizens. It is a key check on government power against any person. That is not a weakness in our legal system; it is the very strength of our legal system. The NDAA attempts to justify abridging the Bill of Rights on the theory that rights are suspended in a time of war and the entire Unites States is a battlefield in the War on Terror. This is a very dangerous development indeed. Beware.
(Source: moralanarchism)
Obama to sign indefinite detention bill into law
Read this. It’s important. If you’re a U.S. citizen and it doesn’t make you angry, read it again.
The Liberty Idaho: What Have We Learned From 9/11?
What should we have learned from 9/11? We should have learned that military aggression, government security, and sacrificed freedoms cannot make us safe. It was government security that allowed those men to get onto the plane. It was government that received various warnings of the attacks and did nothing. It was government that took away the pilots capability to carry guns on the airplanes. It was government that set the stage for attacks.
Instead, what has resulted from 9/11? We have a government that is capable of spying on our phone calls, emails, bank accounts, job records, and has the ability to spy on us like we’re living in the novel 1984. We have our right to free speech being taken away from us. We have federal agents molesting us at airports. We are occupying 135 countries with 900 military bases around the world. America spends more on the military than all the other governments combined, as our government occupies and murders anyone and everyone it wishes.
What have we learned from 9/11? Nothing. Instead, we have allowed the government to dominate the economy more than ever before. We have allowed assassinations, torture, lifetime imprisonment without trial, and a government similar to 1984.
