Showing posts with label drones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drones. Show all posts

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Julian Assange Says Libertarians are the "Only Hope" For America

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Complete Transcript of Julian Assange's Interview Here

. . . Matt Drudge is a news media innovator and he took off, I don't know, about 8 years ago in relation to the Monica Lewinsky scandal is when he first became famous by publishing information that the establishment press in the United States would not. It is as a result of the self-censorship of the establishment press in the United States that gave Matt Drudge such a platform and so, of course, he should be applauded for breaking a lot of that censorship.

. . . In relation to Rand Paul: well, I'm a big admirer of Ron Paul and Rand Paul for their very principled positions in the U.S. Congress on a number of issues. They have been the strongest supporters with the fight against the U.S. attack on WikiLeaks and on me in the U.S. Congress. Similarly they have been the strongest opponents of drone warfare and extrajudicial executions.

And so, that's quite an interesting phenomenon in the United States. The position of the Libertarian Republican, or a better description Right, coming from a principle of non-violence which is the American Libertarian tradition. That produces interesting results.
So, non-violence: well, don't go and invade a foreign country. Non-violence: don't force people at the barrel of a gun to serve in the U.S. Army. Non-violence: doesn't extort taxes from people to the federal Government with a policeman. Similarly, other aspects of non-violence in relation to abortion that they hold.

. . . now there's an extreme center in the United States where the Democratic Administration and a large chunk of the Republican Party have come together and are pushing for, very fast, in a dangerous position which compromises the future of U.S. democracy.

That is not a conservative movement. A conservative movement says hold onto what you've got, don't change what's working, be cautious about all changes in society.

So, the Republican Party, insofar as it is coupled together with the U.S. War Industry is not a conservative party at all. And the Libertarian aspect of the Republican party is presently the only useful political voice, really, in the U.S. Congress. It will be the driver that shifts the United States around. It's not going to come from the Democrats. it's not going to come from Ralph Nader. It's not going to come from the co-opted parts of the Republican Party.
The only hope, as far as electoral politics are concerned in the United States, presently, is the Libertarian section of the Republican Party




























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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Obama's Critics of Color ~ Smiley, West and Malco

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Previous Posts:
The President's Amazing Impromptu Speech About Race and Trayvon Martin
Obama Speech Brings Out Haters, Concern Trolls and Emotopians

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AMY GOODMAN: But President Obama, speaking about his own life experience, going from saying, "Trayvon Martin could have been my child," to "Trayvon Martin could have been me"?

CORNEL WEST: Well, no, that’s beautiful. That’s an identification. The question is: Will that identification hide and conceal the fact there’s a criminal justice system in place that has nearly destroyed two generations of very precious, poor black and brown brothers? He hasn’t said a mumbling word until now. Five years in office and can’t say a word about the new Jim Crow.
And at the same time, I think we have to recognize that he has been able to hide and conceal that criminalizing of the black poor as what I call the re-niggerizing of the black professional class. You’ve got these black leaders on the Obama plantation, won’t say a criminal word about the master in the big house, will only try to tame the field folk so that they’re not critical of the master in the big house. That’s why I think even Brother Sharpton is going to be in trouble. Why? Because he has unleashed—and I agree with him—the rage. And the rage is always on the road to self-determination. But the rage is going to hit up against a stone wall. Why? Because Obama and Holder, will they come through at the federal level for Trayvon Martin? We hope so. Don’t hold your breath. And when they don’t, they’re going to have to somehow contain that rage. And in containing that rage, there’s going to be many people who say, "No, we see, this president is not serious about the criminalizing of poor people."
We’ve got a black leadership that is deferential to Obama, that is subservient to Obama, and that’s what niggerizing is. You keep folks so scared. You keep folks so intimidated. You can give them money, access, but they’re still scared. And as long as you’re scared, you’re on the plantation.
~ Dr. Cornel West in an interview with Democracy Now


. . . we must never kill innocent people in the name of self-defense. But then I thought about our drone policy, which makes us the George Zimmerman of the world in terms of killing innocent folk in the name of self-defense.
. . . I applaud his words, but I'm still waiting for action.
~ Cornel West on CNN






TAVIS SMILEY (21 July 2013): What's your sense of how the media and not just Fox News, but beyond that your read as you've been watching this, how the media handled this case?

 CORNEL WEST: I think that it's been decrepit though brother. You get a focus on some of the upper middle class folks or what I call the Rent-a-Negro phenomenon on MSNBC.

 TAVIS SMILEY: Ha ha ha ha ha!

 CORNEL WEST: And how this affects them personally and what they can say to their kids and they feeling distant and alienated from the state. Well many of us have been feeling alienated an over against the state for forty something years.


























TAVIS SMILEY: I appreciate and applaud the fact that the president did finally show up. But this town has been spinning a story that's not altogether true. He did not walk to the podium for an impromptu address to the nation; he was pushed to that podium. A week of protest outside the White House, pressure building on him inside the White House pushed him to that podium. So I'm glad he finally arrived.
But when he left the podium, he still had not answered the most important question, that Keynesian question, where do we go from here? That question this morning remains unanswered, at least from the perspective of the president. And the bottom line is this is not Libya, this is America. On this issue, you cannot lead from behind.
What's lacking in this moment is moral leadership. The country is begging for it, they are craving it. And I disagree with the president respectfully that politicians, elected officials, can't occupy this space on race. Lincoln did, Truman did, Johnson did; President Obama did. He's the right person in the right place, at the right time. But he has to step into his moment. I don't want him to be like Bill Clinton, when he's out of office, regretting that he didn't move on Rwanda. I don't the president to look back, David, and realize that he didn't do as much as he could have in this critical moment.
~ Tavis Smiley on Meet the Press, July 21, 2013
















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To be brutally honest, the only reason people are even aware of Trayvon Martin is because it became a topic within mainstream news and pop culture. Meaning: News directors saw it as a profitable, sensational story. Hundreds of blacks die annually in South Side Chicago without even a blurb. Trayvon isn't in the mainstream news for any reason other than ratings and profit. The news coverage on the Zimmerman case almost implies that the killing of this young black man is somehow an anomaly and I resent that.
In this country, if it isn't streamlined through mainstream media and pop culture, it doesn't seem to warrant national debate. Our "government" continues to wreak havoc on our civil liberties and there is little to no protest from the black community because of media diversion tactics that keep such pertinent issues out of mainstream media. But if Jay-Z or Rihanna were to make mention of it, we'd suddenly be jolted out of our sugar comas and protesting on freeways.
. . . If we really wanted to ensure Trayvon Martin's killing was not in vain, we'd stop perpetuating negative images that are now synonymous with black men in America. We'd stop rapping about selling drugs and killing niggas.
. . . So before going back to popping molly and getting Turnt Up, I urge you to consider the implications of your actions. Your child's life may depend on it.
~ Romany Malco on Huffington Post















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Thursday, March 7, 2013

When McCain and Graham Diss Rand's Filibuster - GOP calls them "Yesterday's Mashed Potatoes"

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If Mr. Paul wants to be taken seriously he needs to do more than pull political stunts that fire up impressionable libertarian kids in their college dorms. He needs to know what he's talking about.
~ John McCain quoting an editorial from Wall Street Journal, via Business Insider

McCain specifically objected to Paul saying that a future president as evil as Nazi leader Adolph Hitler could one day come to power and use drones to kill political opponents like actress and peace activist Jane Fonda.
“To allege that the United States of America, our government would drop a drone hellfire missle on Jane Fonda, that, that is… that brings the conversation from a serious discussion about U.S. policy to the realm of the ridiculous,” McCain said.
. . . if someone is an enemy combatant, that enemy combatant has nowhere to hide: not in a cafe, not anywhere.”
"We’ve done, I think, a disservice to a lot of Americans by making them believe they’re somehow in danger from their government: they’re not,” he added. “But we are in danger from a dedicated, longstanding, easily replacable leadership enemy that is hell-bent on our destruction, and this leads us to having to do things that perhaps we haven’t had to do in other more conventional wars.”
~ John McCain via RawStory

To my Republican colleagues, I don’t remember any of you coming down here suggesting that President [George W.] Bush was going to kill anybody with a drone. They had a drone program back then. So what is it all of a sudden that this drone program has gotten every Republican so spun up? What are we up to here?
. . . What is it, all of the sudden, that this drone program has gotten every Republican all spun up?
. . . To my party, I’m a bit disappointed that you no longer apparently think we’re at war. Not Senator Paul, he’s a man to himself. He has a view that I don’t think is a Republican view – I think it’s a legitimately held libertarian view.
~ Lindsey Graham via Mediaite



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Press Release Young Adults for Liberty
#StandwithRand or #DiewithMcCain
Sen. John McCain's snide remarks about 'libertarian kids' are exactly what's wrong with the GOP Establishment
WASHINGTON, DC — Taking the Senate floor today following Sen. Rand Paul's historic 13-hour filibuster on Wednesday, Sen. John McCain speedily placed himself and his fellow Establishment Republicans like Rep. Lindsey Graham on the wrong side of history, and on the wrong side of the future of the GOP.
"Senator McCain's ideas are literally a dying breed in the Republican Party," said Young Americans for Liberty Executive Director Jeff Frazee.
"These 'libertarian kids' are the future. It's just a matter of whether or not the GOP will stand with Rand and remain relevant; or turn their backs on the next generation and die with McCain," Frazee continued.
~~~More Here at Link~~~




















Senator McCain just went to the floor of the Senate and blasted Senator Paul saying the filibuster was not helpful. Senator McCain, and I tell you, this illustrates the contrast between the new stars of the Republican Party and yesterday’s mashed potatoes. McCain said that Paul’s filibuster (imitating McCain), “Let me tell you what’s wrong with it, Limbaugh. It’s gonna give ammo to those who think the rules of the Senate have been abused.” Senator McCain, there’s not a person in the world who cares about the rules of the Senate right now. And if the rules of the Senate were abused last night for the American people to hear the truth, then so be it.
~ Rush Limbaugh, via PoliticusUSA











Petition Demanding Apology from John McCain to Rand Paul
While Senator Rand Paul was filibustering John Brennan’s nomination for CIA Director over the Obama Administration’s implicit assertion that it can kill American citizens on American soil without charge or trial, Senator John McCain was schmoozing with President Obama over dinner.
Millions of people, from all political backgrounds, showed support for Rand Paul’s courageous filibuster on social media. Rand Paul was eventually joined by 14 senators, including Sens. Lee, Cruz, Toomey, and Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden.
Instead of joining this important filibuster, Senator McCain mocked Rand Paul and made condescending statements towards libertarian young people. "If Mr. Paul wants to be taken seriously he needs to do more than pull political stunts that fire up impressionable libertarian kids in their college dorms."
These comments are rude and out of line. Senator McCain should apologize for insulting tens of millions of Americans who rightly assert that they cannot be killed by the President.
The U.S. government has zero constitutional authority to kill a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil without a trial or due process. That’s plain and simple.
Sign the petition telling Senator McCain to apologize to Rand Paul and his supporters for his inappropriate comments!
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