Premature Anti-Fascist

We were closer than we knew

2009-03-05T06:31:00.002-05:00

The secret legal opinions issued by Bush administration lawyers after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks included assertions that the president could use the nation's military within the United States to combat people deemed as terrorists and to conduct raids without obtaining a search warrant.

That opinion was among nine that were disclosed publicly for the first time Monday by the Justice Department, in what the Obama administration portrayed as a step toward greater transparency. The opinions showed a broad interpretation of presidential authority, asserting as well that the president could unilaterally abrogate foreign treaties, deal with detainees suspected of terrorism while rejecting input from Congress and conduct a warrantless eavesdropping program.

...

Yoo and Delahunty also said in the Oct. 23 memorandum that "First Amendment speech and press rights may also be subordinated to the overriding need to wage war successfully." They added that the "current campaign against terrorism may require even broader exercises of federal power domestically."

Yoo said the Posse Comitatus Act, a statute first enacted in 1878 and since renewed, would also not present an obstacle to the use of the armed forces. The Posse Comitatus Act generally forbids the use of military forces in domestic law enforcement.

Yoo and Delahunty asserted that the act's prohibition against use of the military was only for law enforcement functions and that using soldiers against terrorist suspects would be a national security function.

Marjorie Cohn:

Seven newly released memos from the Bush Justice Department reveal a concerted strategy to cloak the President with power to override the Constitution. The memos provide “legal” rationales for the President to suspend freedom of speech and press; order warrantless searches and seizures, including wiretaps of U.S. citizens; lock up U.S. citizens indefinitely in the United States without criminal charges; send suspected terrorists to other countries where they will likely be tortured; and unilaterally abrogate treaties. According to the reasoning in the memos, Congress has no role to check and balance the executive. That is the definition of a police state.

Naomi Wolf:

the groundwork was laid out that gave the president the legal power effectively subvert the Republic.

Memos online at DOJ here:

Bush & News Media Rewrite History Before our Eyes

2008-12-03T10:59:00.002-05:00

TPM:

Big News Orgs Help Bush Whitewash History Of Iraq War

By Greg Sargent - December 2, 2008, 10:02AM
This really isn't complicated. President Bush was not being "blunt" or showing "candor" when he told ABC News in an interview published yesterday that his biggest regret was the failure of intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq War.

Rather, he was whitewashing away his own role in the fisaco by promoting the demonstrable falsehood that there was no available evidence or information that argued against war and that he was merely fooled into invading Iraq solely by the bad intel.

The big news orgs seem eager to help Bush do this. Not a single one of their reports on the interview that we can find bothered to tell readers that there was plenty of good intel -- ignored by the Bush administration -- saying that Saddam wasn't the threat Bush was claiming he was. Nor did any of them bother mentioning that the weapons inspectors in Iraq were saying the same thing -- something that also went ignored.

These facts are absolutely central to understanding Bush's efforts to falsify history in yesterday's interview. Yet they went unmentioned in reports by Reuters, The Washington Post, the Associated Press, CNN, and The New York Times.

Worse, at least one news org pretended that Bush was making some kind of admission or concession here. WaPo hailed Bush's "candor" and said he was being "unusually blunt."

Let's go over this very slowly. For Bush to blame the failure of intel for his decision to invade is not a concession at all, and it is not an admission of failure on his part. Rather, it is the opposite of these things. It is an evasion of responsibility for what happened.

Yet the big news orgs seem unable -- or unwilling -- to grasp this simple dynamic or give readers the info they need to understand it, and for some reason are perfectly willing to enable Bush's falsification of history.

Much like the idea that Vietnam was a "mistake" (oops), this will join the ranks of Americans' collective self-deceptions about our imperial history.

Historical fun facts

2008-11-06T16:04:00.004-05:00

Even Hitler thought Franco was a dick. After their meeting in 1940, Hitler said he'd rather have several teeth pulled than ever have to spend any more time with Franco.

When the Furhrer decides you're too much of an asshole to ever want to see again, it's time to reassess. Unfortunately, the Generalissimo appears not to have been sufficiently sensitive to have taken the hint.

End of the "Monster years"?

2008-11-06T08:38:00.003-05:00

Krugman reflects on the election:

Last night wasn’t just a victory for tolerance; it wasn’t just a mandate for progressive change; it was also, I hope, the end of the monster years.
What I mean by that is that for the past 14 years America’s political life has been largely dominated by, well, monsters. Monsters like Tom DeLay, who suggested that the shootings at Columbine happened because schools teach students the theory of evolution. Monsters like Karl Rove, who declared that liberals wanted to offer “therapy and understanding” to terrorists. Monsters like Dick Cheney, who saw 9/11 as an opportunity to start torturing people.
And in our national discourse, we pretended that these monsters were reasonable, respectable people. To point out that the monsters were, in fact, monsters, was “shrill.”
Four years ago it seemed as if the monsters would dominate American politics for a long time to come. But for now, at least, they’ve been banished to the wilderness.

Unfortunately for us, there are 56 million voters out there ready to welcome the monsters into their homes and keep them alive until the next election cycle. Our monsters aren't going away anytime soon.

hat tip: Crooks and Liars

WTF are those people thinking?

2008-11-05T15:01:00.006-05:00

Let's recap:

The Republicans have spent the bulk of the last 30 years aggressively redistributing income upwards in favor of the very rich few, deregulating the economy and especially the now precarious financial sector, and putting the country on the brink of an economic crisis of historic proportions. They misled us into a disastrous and unnecessary war of aggression, instituted policies of what amounts to extrajudicial abduction and torture, seriously threatened fundamental freedoms like habeas corpus, and engaged in wholesale warrentless wiretapping. And they ran a transparently fraudulant and mean-spirited campaign which included race-baiting and red-baiting and religion-baiting directly attributable to the campaign and the party apparatus.

All of that and more, and they still get 56 million votes.

Small celebrations of democracy

2008-11-04T16:52:00.005-05:00

6:20 this morning, PAF voted for Obama.

More people than I expected at the polling place that early in the morning, many of them visibly happy about voting in this election. One woman ahead of me had her son in the booth with her and emerged grinning at me. She said nothing, but it was clear as day: she was so pleased to give her son the gift of a piece of history by sharing her vote with him.

This is not the rapture and we're not saved.

But it is a sweet moment for a whole bunch of good reasons, and it was great to see fellow citizens so obviously enjoying that feeling.

Yikes!

2008-10-30T08:56:00.000-04:00

Atheists!

Piss on my leg and tell me it's raining

2008-10-29T11:58:00.021-04:00

Neocon, war booster, and McCain advisor
Robert Kagan wants us to move beyond silly and absurd conspiracy theories about the neocons and the administration deliberately misleading the public to justify the Iraq war.

The only problem with that: They deliberately misled the public to justify the Iraq war.

Yep.
Uh-huh.
Oh yeah.
Not just once, and not by mistake.
Enough evidence yet?
How much more evidence do you need?

The verdict.

Mr Kagan would like us to think that taking seriously all this evidence of calculated deception is roughly equivalent to believing that LBJ shot JFK, or spreading scurrilous stories about Jews secretly plotting to take over the world.

What do you say when somebody repeatedly and deliberately misleads you, and then when you call them on it after you have paid a heavy price for their dishonesty, they insult your intelligence and equate you with loonies and con men?

I'm having trouble finding more than two words for Mr. Kagan.

McCain with George the president

2008-10-26T09:01:00.001-04:00

McCain's imperial neocon agenda

2008-10-22T15:45:00.007-04:00

Jonathan Landay at McClatchy:

Although he's cultivated a maverick image, McCain's fixation with Iraq, and with regime change more generally, is squarely in step with his party's neoconservatives, many of whom now work for his campaign. Neoconservatives believe that the U.S. must preserve its unchallenged global dominance and military superiority, and reshape the world, by force if necessary.

...While McCain has toned down many of his hard-line pronouncements in this campaign, a McClatchy review of dozens of his speeches, interviews, statements and writings over more than two decades traces an evolution from reluctant warrior to advocate of U.S. military intervention on a global scale.

In speeches and interviews McCain:

Has vowed, since at least 1999, to institute a "rogue state rollback" policy of arming rebel forces to replace regimes in Iraq, Iran, Libya, North Korea and other nations.
He said such nations were developing weapons of mass destruction, supporting terrorism and threatening "our interests and values."
Has advocated sending the U.S. military to "back up" those rebel forces "when they meet with reversals."
Has said that civilian casualties should be a secondary concern of military operations.
Has invoked a variety of justifications for using force, from defending the nation's security, allies, interests and "principles and values" to halting genocide in places such as Darfur and Kosovo and salvaging U.S. "credibility."
Has called for the creation of a "League of Democracies" to circumvent the U.N. Security Council when Russia and China oppose the use of force, tough sanctions or other actions sought by the U.S.

I'm getting a little tired of the idea that there is no such thing as too much war.

why Al Qaeda might want McCain to win

2008-10-22T15:25:00.006-04:00

Because the neocons (including McCain) and al-Qaeda are symbiotic, they need each other to frighten their own followers and legitimate their militant extremism.

Spencer Ackerman:

The case is simple enough. Al Qaeda prefers an indefinite U.S. occupation of Iraq and a bellicose U.S. all across the Muslim world to radicalize Muslims to its terrorist cause and drain the U.S. of its financial wealth — what Osama bin Laden calls his “bleed to bankruptcy” strategy. Hence, the reason why, as the CIA eventually concluded, Bin Laden tried to help George W. Bush’s reelection in 2004 by releasing a late-October tape. McCain pledges basic continuity with Bush on the Iraq war. As Scheunemann put it, “John McCain will spend what it takes to win.”

Christian bigotry feeds McCain campaign

2008-10-20T13:04:00.004-04:00

Atheists and Muslims are not to be trusted with public responsibility, nor are their sons or daughters. Even christians who don't do it quite right are suspect.

Scary.

Go Big Red(neck)

2008-10-20T08:03:00.003-04:00

PAF's heartland alma mater caves to right-wing pressure:

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln rescinded its speaking invitation tonight for 1960s radical-turned-educator William Ayers.

Just 11 days after next month’s election, the University of Illinois-Chicago professor, William Ayers, is scheduled to speak at a student research conference held by the UNL College of Education and Human Science.University officials cited "safety reasons" for canceling Ayers' Nov. 15 appearance.

Spokeswoman Kelly Bartling declined to elaborate on what safety concerns would keep Ayers from addressing a College of Education and Human Sciences event.

Earlier today, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman strongly condemned the invitation and called on the NU Board of Regents and President J.B. Milliken to block it.

Heineman said through a spokeswoman this evening that he was pleased the university had reconsidered and rescinded the invitation.

An Omaha charitable foundation had announced it was pulling all of its contributions to the university. Several other donors also have indicated to university fundraisers that there could be a financial cost if Ayers speaks.

And Nebraskans by the hundreds continued to register their opposition with university administrators and others, lighting up phone lines and filling e-mail boxes.

Thanks to David Neiwert at Crooks and Liars.

Violent Hate Speech from the "real Americans"

2008-10-20T07:16:00.009-04:00

People for the American Way document some of the hate speech directed at liberals, ACORN, and Obama:

"You liberal idiots. Dumb shits. Welfare bums. You guys just fucking come to our country, consume every natural resource there is, and make a lot of babies. That's all you guys do. And then suck up the welfare and expect everyone else to pay for your hospital bills for your kids. I just say let your kids die. That's the best move. Just let your children die. Forget about paying for hospital bills for them. I'm not gonna do it. You guys are lowlifes. And I hope you all die."

“Hi, I was just calling to let you all know that Barack Obama needs to get hung. He's a fucking nigger, and he's a piece of shit. You guys are fraudulent, and you need to go to hell. All the niggers on oak trees. They're gonna get all hung honeys, they're gonna get assassinated, they're gonna get killed.”

The scapegoating and meanness of the McCain campaign -- their narrative about dangerous un-American others (blacks, liberals/socialists, non-christians & baby killers, terrorists) taking over the country -- is bringing the poison to the surface. Of course McCain didn't create this kind of ugliness, but he seems happy to feed the fires of hate if it improves his chances on election day. Country first, don'tchaknow.

h/t Crooks and Liars.

McCain Strategy: Pump up the Racism and Fear

2008-10-19T14:44:00.003-04:00

Here's TPM on the McCain strategy:

McCain's final strategy relies on two pillars. The first is aggressively playing to voters' fears of electing a black president. Make no mistake: not just his campaign in a general sense, but McCain himself and his top handful of advisers, are banking on the residual racism in a changing America to get them over the finish line. The second is an aggressive use of innuendo to convince casual voters that Obama is in league with Islamic terrorists bent on killing Americans.

...Ayers is nothing more than a tool that permits McCain, Palin and all their surrogates to use the noun "terrorist" in polite company in the same sentence as "Obama," over and over and over again. It allows them to cobble together a 'respectable' version of those Obama smear emails they can push in commercials and robocalls and surrogate talking points every hour of every day.

Stripped down to its components McCain's message to voters is this: "Don't forget. He's definitely black. And he may be a terrorist." That's the message.

GOP campaign theme: Scary "others" are about to take over the USA

2008-10-19T10:31:00.013-04:00

They're not like "us real Americans". They're un-American. They're anti-American. They're liberal-leftist-socialists. They kill babies. Some of them aren't even white people. They might not be christians. They're probably terrorists.

Tell me this isn't thinly veiled racism layered on top of old-fashioned GOP fear-mongering. Or maybe its fear-mongering layered on top of old-fashioned racism. Hardly surprising that some of the GOP base are concluding that some lynchings might be in order. John Lewis was right: they are playing with fire.

Promoting hatred and fear. That's what the Republicans mean when they talk about putting the country first.

It's fraudulant and utterly vile.

Scary: Representative Michelle Bachman equates liberals and leftists with anti-American terrorists, and calls Obama anti-American

2008-10-19T10:13:00.008-04:00

They're everywhere, these treacherous anti-Americans.

You know, what this country needs now is a new McCarthyism to keep all those scary anti-American elements in check. Especially now that the GOP has shredded the bill of rights and increased the ability of the national security state to spy on ordinary citizens and people exercising their free speech rights.

Too late for "victory" in Afghanistan?

2008-10-18T18:15:00.001-04:00

Nir Rosen travels to Taliban country and lives to tell the tale.

General J.C. Christian presents

2008-10-18T16:16:00.002-04:00

Passionately Credulous Bigots for McCain

Thanks to the General.

more ugliness from the GOP base

2008-10-18T13:55:00.004-04:00

These folks are from those, you know, pro-American places Sarah likes to visit. Notice that one of these Repugs recites the line that "the only difference between Obama and Osama is BS". Wonder where that came from?

More here on the racism that is surfacing in this election.

In my dreams

2008-10-17T14:57:00.003-04:00

If the liberals win the upcoming election, America as we have known it will no
longer exist. This country that we love, founded on Judeo-Christian values, will
cease to exist and will be replaced by a secular state hostile to Christianity.

Reverend Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association

Yeah, baby! Where do I sign up?

Olbermann is pissed off about McCain's poison

2008-10-16T16:08:00.004-04:00

"You are not only a fraud, sir, but you are tacitly inciting lunatics to violence."

McMean and the RNC spread the poison

2008-10-16T15:45:00.007-04:00

Hello. I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home and killed Americans. And Democrats will enact an extreme leftist agenda if they take control of Washington. Barack Obama and his Democratic allies lack the judgment to lead our country. This call was paid for by McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee at 202-863-8500.

Apparently, robocalls like this have been reported a number of states (including Ohio, where our friends in the video below are). It's not just an accident that the GOP faithful speak from this script.

Thanks to Ben Smith and Daily Kos for posting this.

UPDATE: Audio here; listen for yourself.

More right-wing phantasms of fear here.

McBush

2008-10-16T13:31:00.002-04:00

Oh yeah.

Rethugs

2008-10-16T08:31:00.006-04:00

This image was posted on the official web site of the Sacramento County Republican Party.

What does the Republican party have to offer America? Character assasination, racism and fear.

And more torture. Did they mention more torture?