Does anyone on this site believe that the long-running horrors of the Middle East are about anything other than some rich and powerful people fanning the flames of ethnic tensions, maneuvering to make even more money from oil?

America has been involved in the deaths of millions, at a cost of trillions, for oil. Fueled by the broken bodies and empty pocketbooks of our 99%.

For oil.

Now it seems our dear friends, the House of Saud, may be financing ISIS, the newest-worst people on the planet, to cause murderous mischief. And more American blood and gold is being committed to the stew.

When do we declare that enough is enough? That it's time to stop suckling the black liquid from Earth's teat, time to wean ourselves to a future both cleaner and less bloodthirsty?

Do we throw more logs in the fire, or put the thing out? We must decide.

Well, we're back in the saddle again in Iraq, turning evildoers who hate us for our freedoms into Freedom Mist. We're doing good: who can argue against doing good?

Those on the Left, that's who. The same moonbats who, might I remind everyone, have complained about the many successful military interventions we've taken in the last half-century or so.

Ok, moonbats, let's get a few things straight. First off, these will be highly-targeted pinpoint attacks. The targets will be selected by the same intelligence-gathering methods that have enabled our drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan to miss many wedding parties. In fact, our mission will rely heavily on brand new evildoer-seeking missiles, produced by the same folks who have developed the magnificent F-35 all-purpose plane, the first plane to truly perform equally-well in any conditions, even when disassembled. What could go wrong?

And in the unlikely event that the wrong people get mistified, we've got that covered, too. The Espionage Act allows us to effectively prosecute anyone who leaks this information in an attempt to "inform" the lumpenproletariat. Like that #%^* Kiriakou who spilled the beans on our top-secret enhanced interrogation program.

So it's time to get real: this time it's different. It will work. Americans understand this. In fact, based on phone call and email analysis conducted over the past 24 hours by our NSA, we know that only a tiny fringe group of far-left Libertarians think otherwise. And don't think we won't remember who you are, you Ayn-Rand-worshipping commies.

Regards,

Realistic-Democrat Manny

Cross posted from:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025349779

Please go there for the info, thanks!

IMPORTANT: PLEASE SEE DISCLAIMERS AT BOTTOM

Our future not-president took a big bite out of Janet Yellen a few weeks ago (see video at bottom) and now we have results to show for it.




IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS, PLEASE READ!
1. Any opinions stated in the referenced article are not necessarily mine.
2. Anything presented as "fact" in the referenced article may be utter bull%^&#. Please assume that it is.
3. The author of the referenced article might, or might not, be a notorious horrible person - I haven't done any research.
4. The web site I linked to may well be involved in all sorts of disturbing activities. I have no knowledge that they are, but who knows?
5. Elizabeth Warren is not running for president, as several people really, really, really need you to know. Out of respect for her wishes, please don't use her name and the word "president" in the same paragraph.
6. I have been outed on DU as a Purity Democrat, a paid Republican rat#$%@er, an acolyte of Ron and Rand Paul, the owner of conservativecave.com, a Firebagger and worse. Indeed, I am likely all of these. Do yourself a favor and don't read this post, it's a menace to society. Please proceed to your safe room, and await further instructions.


Warren discusses "living wills" with Yellen:

"Gee, in a perfect world we'd prosecute confessed torturers for their crimes, but... it's kind of difficult to prosecute a president and his associates, not really practical. And since we don't torture anyone ourselves anymore, we only have secret extrajudicial renditions to countries that do torture, it shouldn't be a problem anymore."

How much of this do we hear, even on DU?

Listen up: a person who runs the country and who is immune from prosecution is called a king. If he controls the military and the rest of government, and he can do whatever he wants without repercussions, he is a king. (Or queen, of course.)

Moving from a king to a Democratic Republic 200 years ago was a damned fine idea that served Americans well. Worked so well that much of the rest of the world picked up the idea, and went with it too.

Seems like a bunch of folks want to go back to a king. "We can't hold a president responsible... The sky would fall!"

Hear this: When we don't hold the powerful responsible for their actions, that's when the sky falls. Equality under the law is the cornerstone of Democracy: without it, the whole thing falls apart.

Only the NY Post, but an entertaining thought if it happens to be true. It *does* totally make sense that the Kennedys would want an FDR Democrat at the top of the ticket.

I'm told that many DUers are mad about our President using the word "torture" today.

Are you mad? If so, why?

And after the CIA's director told us that this could not possibly have happened... turns out it happened, they 'fessed up today. But why would Mr. Brennan tell the truth? In this White House, liars like Gen. Clapper keep their jobs while truth tellers like John Kiriakou go to prison.

And the CIA also threatened to throw Congressional staff in jail for doing their job. Classy!

In any case: could there be any greater challenge to our Constitution than the Executive spying on, and threatening Congress?

Suppose we read a story about a banana republic, that described how the head of the intelligence service (promoted to his position after being involved in torture) was spying on and threatening members of the legislature who were investigating his agency.

Well, that's us.

Let's talk a little more about why the CIA was 'spying' on the Senate Intelligence Committee
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025320097

The C.I.A.’s Reckless Breach of Trust

In March, John Brennan, the C.I.A. director, was indignant when Senator Dianne Feinstein charged that the agency had broken into computers used by staff investigators from the Senate Intelligence Committee, which she leads. “As far as the allegations of C.I.A. hacking into Senate computers,” he said, “nothing could be further from the truth. I mean, we wouldn’t do that. I mean, that’s just beyond the scope of reason.”

But reason seems to have little to do with the C.I.A.’s operations, as Mr. Brennan apparently discovered far too late. On Thursday, the Central Intelligence Agency admitted that it did, indeed, use a fake online identity to break into the Senate’s computers, where documents connected to a secret report on the agency’s detention and torture program were being stored. Mr. Brennan apologized privately to Ms. Feinstein and to Senator Saxby Chambliss, the vice chairman of the intelligence committee, and promised to set up an accountability board to determine who did the hacking and whether and how they should be punished.

The accountability and the apologies, however, will have to go much further. It’s not just two senators that the C.I.A. has offended by this shocking action. It is all of Congress and, by extension, the American public, which is paying for an intelligence agency that does not seem to understand the most fundamental concept of separation of powers. That concept means that Congress is supposed to oversee the intelligence community and rein in its excesses. It cannot possibly do so effectively if it is being spied on by the spy agency, which is supposed to be directing its efforts against foreign terrorists and other threats to national security.

The committee has been working since 2009 on a comprehensive history of the agency’s antiterror program during the George W. Bush administration, which involved illegal rendition to other countries, detention, and torture of suspects, all producing little useful intelligence. It has been frustrated at many points by stonewalling from the agency, which provided misleading information, hid important facts inside a blizzard of excess documents, and forced endless delays in the declassification process. The 6,300-page report still has not been made public, though parts of it may be released later this month, and it is expected to undercut the Bush administration’s claims that its actions were both legal and effective.

From today's NY Times:


I guess smoking pot is more of a threat to society than war crimes and lying to Congress.