ucrdem
ucrdem's JournalWatch and learn grasshopper:
Sen. Edward Kennedy's Iraq Speech at the National Press Club:
And Teddy is just one of many Democrats in both houses who voted against the IWR in 2003.
Thanks. How can I put this in a way you will understand. Let's try this:
The Bush-Cheney admin did a lot of sneaky, warrant-less spying. That we know. The Obama administration has made considerable effort to clean up the surveillance mess legally, beginning I suppose with Obama's FISA flip-flop in May 2008, which we can now understand now as the first vote of his presidency, coming as it did immediately after he locked up the Dem nomination.
Why would Obama want to absolve Bush-Cheney from their heinous and illegal acts? Probably because that was never part of his agenda. Winding down the wars, shrinking the military, passing some form of ACA, economic recovery, protection of civil rights -- not, incidentally, "civil libertarian ideas" -- are part of his agenda, and those are the issues he's focused on. And I doubt that Hillary or any other Democratic president wouldn't have played it the same way.
So NSA-gate, qu'est-ce que c'est? This: a clearly and unapologetically right-wing bash, period. Greenwald is a right-wing libertarian. Tea-baggers and their second amendment fetishes are right-wing. People who think Obama is worse than Bush, and that includes Chomsky, Scahill, and Hedges, are right-wing.
DU is not right-wing. It may be a big tent, as it should be, but RW propaganda is not welcome here. So why drag all that tea-baggery in and expect anyone but RW trolls to slurp it up?
NSA-gate: What did Obama do?
Answer: here's what Obama did --
When campaigning for President 2008, then senator Obama vigorously attacked President Bushs warrantless wiretapping program and vowed to stop the practice.
That is exactly what he did.
President Obama returned to the policies before President Bush of using the Ted Kennedy and Jimmy Carter FISA law to obtain warrants wherever this kind of surveillance would be performed.
Feel better now? More essential background and analysis in stevenleser's excellent NSA piece posted in the BOG. I just kicked it up but here's the direct link:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/110210510
Audio link, too! Having just read it I can say that it provides an infinitely deeper understanding of the FISA issue than any of the Greenwald or Snowden defenses posted here. Highly recommended.
Thank you Astrad, you expressed that beautifully.
I'm quoting it to put in my journal:
I believe this belongs in the religion forum. --UPDATED--
Greenwald is a tax-cheat pornographer among his other dubious accomplishments and to give any credit at all to anything he says takes a tremendous act of faith. I respect faith but religion is against the GD SOP as we are frequently admonished.
......................................
EDIT: GREENWALD'S CAREER AS TAX CHEAT AND PORNOGRAPHER
TAX CHEAT:
The New York County Clerks office shows Greenwald has $126,000 in open judgments and liens against him dating to 2000, including a $21,000 from the state Tax Department and the city Department of Finance.
Theres no record of those debts being paid, but Greenwald said he believes hes all caught up although hes still trying to pay down an old IRS judgment against him from his lawyer days.
Records show the IRS has an $85,000 lien against him.
Greenwald lives in Rio, because thats where his boyfriend is. His tax problems didnt drive him away.
Were negotiating over payment plans, he said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/greenwald-reporter-broke-nsa-story-lawyer-sued-porn-biz-article-1.1383448#ixzz2XdZn4QFf
. . . AND PORNOGRAPHER:
Court papers show that one of the companys clients was then known as HJ short for Hairy Jocks and that Greenwald was the one who negotiated their deal.
Owner Peter Haas had this pornographic company he wasnt able to maintain, Greenwald said.
Greenwald and Buchtel agreed to help Haas in return for 50% of the profits.
In the two months the companies worked together, Haas made more money than he ever made before in his entire life, Master Notions filings say.
But Haas refused to pay the company its share of the profits, which led to a nasty legal battle.
Haas said he called the deal off because Greenwald was demanding changes to the content of the videos which were and are unacceptable.
He also accused Greenwald of having bullied him into signing the deal, citing several twisted emails that he said were from Greenwald, whose email address was, DomMascHry31. In one, Greenwald allegedly called Haas a little bitch and a good little whore.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/greenwald-reporter-broke-nsa-story-lawyer-sued-porn-biz-article-1.1383448#ixzz2XdZvMWvA
This week's "Libertarians": François Hollande, Nelson Mandela, and the Dalai Lama. Check.
Last time it was Mahatma Gandhi, next it will be Jesus Christ. Nobody here really takes this stuff seriously, do they?
p.s. these "you might be Libertarian" charts are total horseshit and so is the beloved politicalcompass.org, which is as dubious as Internet sources get, complete with misleading attribution: "Pace News Ltd." has no known connection to Pace University or to any other reputable publication, institution, or organization. Good for a laugh, like sneaky RW propaganda always is, and that's it.
LOL, you've been watching too much CNN.
Not healthy. What you missed is that A) metadata collection isn't spying and b) it's legal. Here, watch this presser from three weeks ago and start catching up:
Even if you disagree with the policy there's no way Obama's handling of it aligns with Bush's. And executing US policy is his constitutional responsibility.
Chait: Greenwald "insists that Obama is worse than Bush."
Bingo. So do his confrères Scahill, Hedges and of course Chomsky. I've been pointing that out for months. Nice to see it in print, thanks Whisp!
K'n'R
p.s. as for the rest, well, Chiat is far too kind.
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