July 6, 2013

Let's rename the Fourth Amendment to the Paul/LaRouche Amendment

Americans need to know what the Fourth Amendment is all about. They need to know if they stand for the Fourth Amendment, they stand for the Pauls and for LaRouche.

The Fourth is a menace to our way of life. Time for it to go!

Who's with me on this?

Regards,

Third-Way Manny
(writing from an undisclosed transit zone)

July 6, 2013

Getting Snowden out of Russia will be very difficult, I think

To put this in perspective: I had lunch today with a friend of mine who's a Republican (I'm moving him to our side, but it'll take a while to complete the move). He was blown away by what the White House pulled on Morales: "Dude, Obama didn't pull a Bush. He pulled a Cheney! That's an act of war!"

Serious stuff. The WH really, really, really wants Snowden.

The WH is not going to pull a Cheney one day then let Snowden fly off into the sunset a few days later. This will be a challenge.

July 6, 2013

Venezuela's assylum offer: linked to screwing with Morales' flight?

July 5, 2013

Suppose a foreign leader had Osama bin Laden in her plane

taking OBL to a country for asylum. Back when OBL was alive, and after 9/11.

Would the US be justified in grounding that plane and snatching OBL?

July 5, 2013

It's so, so simple. Just tell us it's bullshit.

Our president is accused of orchestrating a series of extraordinary international events to force down the plane of a head of state, to search for a US whistleblower.

Why has the US government not denied that it did this?

A strong rebuttal, and a re-affirmation that the US will follow international law, would go a long way towards building confidence that our country is not simply the biggest bully in the playground.

The world is waiting.

July 4, 2013

On this Independence Day, I'm thankful for Edward Snowden

I don't know why he did what he did. Perhaps out of patriotic duty. Perhaps for money and fame. Hero or scoundrel, I'm not yet certain.

Whatever the reason, I'm glad that we now know just how invasive and pervasive our government of the 1% has become. Add Spy on Everyone to the other new American policy initiatives of torture, and the suspension of habeas corpus and due process, and it's difficult to not conclude that we are transitioning to a police state.

If Paul Revere did not have advance information (gathered by espionage, incidentally) that the British were heading out to raid Lexington and Concord, he'd have been too late to start the chain of riders which fanned out to warn the countryside, and brought help. It would have been too late, the colonials would have been neutered.

We now have advance warning. Like the Minutemen, we must help before it's too late, or we'll fulfill the prophecy of Ben Franklin's closing words at the Constitutional Convention:

"I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other."

Happy Birthday, America. May we enjoy many, many more as a free people under the rule of law.

July 4, 2013

Third-Way Manny has run off, you swine

Left a note saying that he can't possibly write anything better than some of the stuff that's already showing up on DU these days. The high bar has become too damned high.

@#$%. I hope he doesn't do anything impulsive.

If he shows up straddling a drone headed toward Sheremetyevo International Airport's transit zone, whoopin' and wavin' a cowboy hat around, I will hold all of you personally responsible.

July 3, 2013

Evo Morales: I was "being held hostage" in unplanned Vienna stop

I'm reading on DU that this hostaging of a world leader never happened, or something to that effect. But The NY Times and the rest of the world seems to believe that it did.

Also, the rest of the world seems to believe that the plane was searched for Snowden.

Who to believe? Very puzzling.

As I wrote yesterday, the only saving grace is that Snowden is totally full of shit and knows nothing. Given the stunts that the US is pulling around the world to catch His Insignificance, I tremble to think what we'd do if he actually knew anything. Yikes.

July 3, 2013

I'm mighty relieved to know that Snowden is full of shit

and knows zip.

Given our government's extraordinary global bridge-burning actions to stop him:

Pres Morales: "NO You can NOT inspect my aircraft!" Emergency UNASUR meeting. Hague Tribunal?

I tremble to think what they'd do if he did actually know something!

July 2, 2013

I have to say...

No war is more bitter than a civil war. Even amongst us keyboard warriors, who sleep safely (for now) in our beds each night.

An interesting side effect of this war: I've seen some of the best writing ever on DU in the past week or so. This tribulation has so many of us reaching deep within, feeling around to see who we are.

What we're made of.

Mr. Snowden's adventure is, I think, the third watershed in our country's return to functionality.

Occupy succeeded in getting the conversation going - after 30 years of unrelenting war by the 1% against a clueless 99%, the 99% finally realized: "Oh! We seem to have a problem."

The WikiLeaks situation was our second wake up call. Until then, we had thought that denial of due process and humane treatment was something just done by a single Republican administration, against people from very foreign places. We now know they are the ways of Democrats too, and may be applied against anyone should those in power want to set an example. And they are here to stay unless we take our country back.

For many of us, Snowden's revelations shocked us into understanding the adversary - it is more omnipresent and sneaky than we thought. Thanks to our age's extreme connectivity, the enemy now permeates almost everything we do. Every byte goes through a gate, and every gate is manned by the 1%.

So here we are. It's bad, but we're starting to understand the task at hand. Righting ourselves will be tough, but we can do it.

Ben Franklin said this at the Constitutional Convention (the bold text is my own emphasis):

Twice before our country has faced its end in despotism, in the 1860s and 1930s. But both those times Americans were able to open up, to "heed the better angels of our natures" and to pull back from the abyss. And both were followed by an amazing American rebirth with new prosperity and new freedom. Never perfect by any means, but always better, better, better.

We can do it again, I know we can. But it will take work.

Excelsior!