September 30, 2014

How the U.S. Concocted a Terror Threat to Justify Syria Strikes, and the Corporate Media Went Along

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/9/29/how_the_us_concocted_a_terror I think DemocracyNow and all of its personalities should be thrown under the bus and ran over a few times for a headline like that, no? They are obviously in cahoots with that villian Glenn "the chameleon" Greenwald.

MURTAZA HUSSAIN: So, in the days leading up to the attack, several anonymous sources suggested that an attack was imminent. They suggested that there were a threat against airliners using toothpaste bombs or flammable clothing. And they said that, like Barbara Starr mentioned, they were in the final stages of planning this attack. After the strikes were carried out, several U.S. officials started walking back that estimation quite far and saying that the definition of "imminent" is unclear, and when we’re saying is a strike about to happen, we’re not sure what that means exactly. So, in retrospect, this definition of a strike being imminent and this characterization of a threat coming from this group, which is very definable and very clear, became very unclear after the strikes, and they suggested through The New York Times the strikes were merely aspirational and there was no actual plot today existing against the United States. So, the actual justification for the strikes was completely negated after the strikes ended, which was something quite troubling.

AMY GOODMAN: Explain what you mean, negated right after the strikes began, right after the justification worked.

MURTAZA HUSSAIN: Right. So, after the strikes happened and there were statements saying that people were killed and the group had been scattered, James Comey and many others within the U.S. establishment started saying that, "Well, you know, we said the strikes were imminent from this group, but what does 'imminent' really mean? Could be six months, could be a year.’" And other anonymous officials started saying there was not any threat at all, there was not any plan in the works to attack the United States. And then, further it came to light that the Khorasan group itself, which we had been hearing about in the media was a new enemy and was a definable threat against the United States, did not really exist per se; it was simply a group of people whom the U.S. designated within a Syrian opposition faction as being ready to be struck. So, the entire narrative that had been developed, and within the media developed, was completely put to a lie after the strikes. And it was interesting that Ken Dilanian reported the story first in the Associated Press, saying that this was a new threat and a new group, and he was one of the first people to break the story afterwards saying that U.S. officials are now adding more "nuance," is the word he used, to their previous warnings about the group. So, it was kind of a really egregious case of media spin, whereby the media had taken up this narrative of a threat from a new terrorist, and then, after the strikes had been conducted which justified this group, they immediately took the opposite tack, saying that in fact there was no threat that was imminent and the group itself did not exist per se. So, it was really quite a failure of the media, which we’ve seen several times in the past, as well.

I suppose the doves turned into hawks due to the influence of that dastardly GG should be happy for this BHO failure http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/09/obama-justifying-syria-strikes-with-same-law-he-sought-to-repeal-in-january.html/ and the way he successfully brought the two parties together so as maybe they can be droned at the same wedding party some day. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=16&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CG0QFjAP&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2014%2Fsep%2F28%2Fisis-al-qaida-air-strikes-syria&ei=uCIrVJK6FsK3yASBxoDAAQ&usg=AFQjCNFcF28D42qTii-xG0iE0KyBf_OT6Q&bvm=bv.76477589,d.aWw

September 15, 2014

What's The Matter With The Democratic Party?

I think the majority of us here can answer that question, and think it's more about intentions and design than the happenstance some excuse it with.

Allow me to drop a single, disturbing data point on this march of science. You might recall that Democrats controlled the House of Representatives from the early 1930s until 1994 with only two brief Republican interludes. What ended all that was not an ill-advised swerve to the left, but the opposite: A long succession of moves toward what is called the “center,” culminating in the administration of New Democrat Bill Clinton, who (among other things) signed the Republicans’ NAFTA treaty into law. Taking economic matters off the table was thought to be the path of wisdom among expert-worshipping Washingtonians, but it had the unforeseen consequence of making culture that much more important for a large part of the population. Democrats were eventually swamped by all the crazy grievance campaigns of the right, which has splashed back and forth in the mud of the culture wars ever since. http://crooksandliars.com/2014/09/thomas-frank-whats-matter-democratic-party

The recent rise in rightwingnuttery imo, and most notably that of the Tea Party, has served this cause by pushing the already well off center ideological dividing line in DC further to the right, and increased the dread on both sides of that line over the alternative. The so-called centrist dem now looks more like a saint and savior than the sinner they often are in terms of lefty causes. That's the primary motivator so many balk at -- "Vote for us, or suffer through the alternative!!!".

That's the kinda stuff enthusiasm is made of, ain't it?

September 11, 2014

The crazy things "racists" will say to cover their tracks

Moore praised Django Unchained, tweeting that the movie "is one of the best film satires ever. A rare American movie on slavery and the origins of our sick racist history."[62] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Moore#cite_note-62

maybe it was simply an unintentional/undeliberate/oblivious acknowledgement of his awareness of the origins of his own deep rooted personal problem with racism that a single comment recently illuminated, no?

that's the first step towards his recovery, ain't it? I'd say he deserves some kudos for shining the spotlight on his kind http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCkQtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DbyiJ3pN86MM&ei=1NURVOD-JcW3yAT0lYGABg&usg=AFQjCNEpJ38Ar6QvzilfoHpqBVpXWCqVYA&bvm=bv.74894050,d.aWw even if has yet to finish all the steps necessary for his recovery or "evolving" on the issue, even though his recent comment evidently gives him at least vicarious ownership of all things racist, despite his clever ways of hiding it in the past.

He's fooled a lot of people http://www.blackbottom.com/watch.php?v=GpxPKORVC3D in the past in the past, but I guess the "truth" has finally prevailed with his finally being caught. Whatta figurative and literal Jekyll/Hyde the cad has been, no?

How sad. Just when you think you know a guy as a champion for the truth, justice, and the way America should be, that belief is shattered with a single utterance. It only goes to show you, only the shadow "knows"...