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| America's Greatest Threat: From Within |
By Chuck Baldwin
August 15, 2008
Every time violence erupts somewhere in the world, our national leaders and
news media make it sound like that particular outbreak is America's greatest
threat. The conflict between Russia and Georgia is no exception. Almost as
soon as news of the conflict broke, the presumptive Republican Presidential
nominee, John McCain, was suggesting that the United States (or the United
Nations) should send troops to the scene. I guess two wars are not enough
for McCain; he now wants to start a third. (And with all his talk about
bombing Iran, make that four.) And talk all over Washington, D.C., was
mostly about what kind of military response the United States should take.
Have people lost their minds? Or do people really believe that the United
States is the world's--or should we say the United Nations'--policeman?
Apparently, that is what our national leaders from both major parties
believe.
Let's face it: most of America's foreign policy over the last several
decades has been more about fulfilling the U.N.'s global desires than
protecting the people and property of the United States. And, yes, that
includes America's invasion of Iraq.
Do readers not remember that soon after launching the invasion of Iraq,
President Bush appeared before the United Nations and plainly told that
sinister organization that the reason he had ordered the invasion of Iraq
was to "defend . . . the credibility of the United Nations"? Frankly, I did
not know the United Nations had any credibility worth defending.
Nevertheless, G.W. Bush was willing to sacrifice over 4,000 American lives
for the express purpose of defending the U.N.'s "credibility." Now, John
McCain appears willing to send troops to Georgia.
I will not use this column to analyze the specific events leading up to
Russia's attack against Georgia, except to say that one can count on the
fact that there is much more to the story than what NBC, CBS, ABC, and CNN
are telling us.
In addition, one of the major fallacies being perpetrated by most in
Washington, D.C., is the notion that America is somehow strengthened and
protected by aggressive meddling in the affairs of foreign countries. Such a
philosophy was considered anathema to America's Founding Fathers. They
rightly understood that such reasoning created more problems than it solved
and that it made America more vulnerable, not more secure.
Regardless of what the underlying and overriding reasons for Russia's attack
might have been, I will say here and now that the Russian-Georgian conflict
is not America's greatest threat. I will also be so bold as to say that Iran
or North Korea is not America's greatest threat, either. In fact, I will
categorically state that no foreign nation (although, of all foreign
nations, Red China should undoubtedly be our biggest concern--and none of
our national leaders seem the least bit concerned about it) is America's
greatest threat. America's greatest threat comes from within. And I am not
alone in that opinion...
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Posted by editor on Friday, August 15 @ 14:57:42 PDT (118 reads)
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| McCain and Lieberman: Perfect Together |
By Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
August 13, 2008
John McCain has zero charisma. Next to the excitement of Obama, he looks like an old man defending the status quo. Ironically, his career has embodied exactly the opposite. He is what Obama symbolizes - a person who rises above party, confronts the special interests, and wants to change the way Washington works.
Yet despite his inability to campaign effectively, polls show him tied with Obama, due largely to doubts about the Democrat not to enthusiasm for McCain.
But if he chooses the right vice presidential candidate, McCain can give his candidacy excitement and meaning, transforming the drab into the unusual and the ordinary into the spectacular.
The easiest way to do so is to name a woman. Two seem available. But Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, an attractive candidate for the future, is too inexperienced and Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is, perhaps, too experienced. Both would have difficulty navigating a presidential campaign. Hutchison might just seem like an old woman running with an old man and Palin with McCain might seem like a father-daughter team, the younger partner just learning the ropes.
Instead, McCain should choose Senator Joe Lieberman. By choosing a Democrat - the party's nominee for vice president only eight years ago -- McCain would dramatically demonstrate that his candidacy transcends the normal, vitriolic partisanship that grips Washington.
It would be the first bi-partisan ticket since Abraham Lincoln sought to transcend party and picked Andrew Johnson, the Democratic pro-union governor of Tennessee, to be his 1864 running mate. Then, as now, the system was broken and there was an evident need to overcome the narrow constraints of partisanship and act in the national interest...
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Posted by editor on Wednesday, August 13 @ 23:37:12 PDT (103 reads)
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| He Pitched Away His Future for THIS?? |
What a dumbfuck.
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Posted by editor on Wednesday, August 13 @ 06:07:22 PDT (118 reads)
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| Doubts on Major Jill Metzger |
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by Nathan Registan.net
 Updates on the investigation into Maj. Jill Metzger’s disappearance in Bishkek have been few and far between. Newsday has a new story discussing the frustration of the Kyrgyz police investigating the case.
Kyrgyz officials said they are working closely with U.S. investigators, but voiced frustration that they are unable to pursue key points to help solve a crime committed on their territory. They said they would like to question Metzger again because their time with her was cut short, and her testimony was confusing and contradictory. Col. Oktyabr Urmanbetov, who is helping to lead the investigation, said American officials also have yet to respond to eight questions they were asked to pass on to Metzger last month.
According to Metzger’s own story which has already been widely reported, she was approached by a woman on the first floor of TsUM who gave her a note asking for help. She claims she left with the woman, and that the woman placed an object in her backpack which, according to another note, was a bomb. Metzger described her captors as European and said there was no apparent motive. The police are investigating the case as a kidnapping because Metzger insists that she was abducted. They point out though that the security tapes from TsUM show that Metzger left the building alone, only talking briefly to a bald man who appeared to be waiting for her at the bottom of the escalator. They also say that vendors outside of the building have told them that Metzger bought hair dye from them. The way the investigation is going, it looks doubtful that a definitive conclusion as to what happened will ever come out. |
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Posted by editor on Saturday, August 09 @ 08:09:19 PDT (158 reads)
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| Friction over Manas |
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August 4, 2008
Kyrgyz officials have confiscated dozens of weapons from a house rented by U.S. officials in Bishkek: Kyrgyzstan’s Interior Ministry said police seized six machine guns, 25 assault rifles, and a number of smaller firearms late on August 4 from a house rented by U.S. officials. “Illegally possessed firearms and ammunition have been found and seized,” it said in a statement. It added several embassy officials and servicemen were in the house at the time. The U.S. Embassy swiftly denied any wrongdoing, saying all the weapons had been officially registered in Kyrgyzstan.
Supposedly, the weapons were for anti-terror training operations. Which is totally believable. However, this kind of move on the government’s part has to be placed into the increasingly soured relationship between the U.S. military and the Kyrgyz government. Especially after Jill Metzger’s confusing and contradictory fable of abduction and rumored abortion, the tanker collision near Manas, and several un-prosecuted killings of Kyrgyz nationals by U.S. servicemen, the government is under growing domestic pressure to sever the close military ties with the U.S. it has enjoyed since Islam Karimov unceremoniously booted the U.S. from Karshi Khanabad in 2005...
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Posted by editor on Saturday, August 09 @ 07:47:11 PDT (124 reads)
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| US Agents Can Seize Laptops at Border |
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Posted by editor on Wednesday, August 06 @ 00:16:33 PDT (185 reads)
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| John McCain Considers Jewish Running Mate |
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By Toby Harnden in Washington
Last Updated: 8:35PM BST 03 Aug 2008
With strong backing from hard-line conservatives, Eric Cantor [right] would shore up many of John McCain's weaknesses Photo: AP
Eric Cantor, 45, would be a dramatic choice for Mr McCain, who is running almost level with Barack Obama in national polls but whose aides believe he needs to shake-up the White House race if he is to prevail in November's general election.
Aides to Mr McCain revealed that Mr Cantor, the only Jewish Republican in the House of Representatives, had been asked to submit documents as part of a rigorous vetting process to hunt out any closet skeletons.
He joins a shortlist believed to include Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor and Mr McCain's bitter rival during the Republican primaries, Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota governor, and Rob Portman, a former Ohio congressman and budget director in the Bush administration.
Of the four, Mr Cantor would be by far the most exiting - though potentially risky - choice. A prodigious fundraiser with a young, photogenic family, support from evangelical Christians and strong backing from hard-line conservatives, he would shore up many of Mr McCain's weaknesses.
Mr Cantor would be the first Jewish vice-president, an historic milestone that Senator Joe Lieberman just missed in 2000 when Al Gore lost to George W Bush by 567 votes.
It was probably Mr Lieberman's presence on the ticket that enabled Mr Gore to get so close in Florida, where Jewish voters are an important factor. Mr Lieberman has since left the Democratic party and joined forces with Mr McCain. Campaigning by both Mr Lieberman for a McCain-Cantor ticket in Florida could give the Republican a powerful advantage in the swing state... |
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Posted by editor on Tuesday, August 05 @ 01:28:08 PDT (177 reads)
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| John McCain Doesn't Have a Prayer |
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by Matt Taibbi Rolling Stone posted July 28, 2008 Phoenix, July 13th--Sunday morning. Thank God John McCain has declared that he wants to wallpaper the continent with new nuke plants, because now the chances are better that this wretched slab of hot, birdshit-covered asphalt they call a state will be blown to hell in an accident someday. I hate this place. Once the sun comes up on an Arizona weekend, nothing moves except the occasional elderly-piloted Buick floating boatlike in the direction of some hideous megachurch. This morning I've come to one of those monstrosities, North Phoenix Baptist Church, to witness John McCain's halfhearted offensive in his battle to win over the Christian right. On the stump, McCain talks about God less than any Republican politician in recent memory -- certainly less than any Republican I've ever seen. The guy pitches a tent visible from a mile off whenever anyone so much as mentions the military; you can almost hear the dopamine surging into his bloodstream every time someone stands up in a town hall and begins a question by saying, "Hello, Senator, my husband was a Navy pilot. . . ." And he seems positively tumescent when talking about such horrors as Al Qaeda or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But his basic stump speech doesn't contain a single line about God or religion. McCain is probably the first Republican in modern history to talk more about "green technology" than about his personal relationship with Jesus Christ. While Barack Obama gives regular addresses at churches, where he comes off very like a preacher (right down to his natty blue suits and his lilting oratory), McCain's chosen stump locations are invariably VFW halls or factory sites -- where he tries to win over working-class crowds by telling them that their jobs aren't coming back. As the nominee of a party that has swept two straight elections by hawking cheap pieties and ramming one preposterous lie after another down the public's throat, McCain's agnostically bummerific public-speaking strategy is a curiosity, to say the least. Here's the thing about John McCain, and it's never easy to tell whether this is a good quality or a bad one. He's a shitty liar. He may be willing to change his position on anything from immigration to torture to campaign finance at the drop of a hat to win votes, and he may have no problem aiming below the belt -- below the knees even -- to impugn an opponent's patriotism. But this is not a guy who can get up in front of a churchgoing crowd in Asscrack, Arkansas, and start weeping to Jesus. In fact, he appears to deeply resent the implication that he needs to genuflect to the baby savior at all. As in, "Hell, I already lived through five years of torture! You want me to do more?"... |
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Posted by editor on Tuesday, July 29 @ 07:35:44 PDT (253 reads)
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| John McCain undergoes new skin cancer scare, biopsy |
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. speaks to reporters during a tour of the Red Ribbon Ranch Oil Lease, San Joaquin Facilities Management Inc., Monday, July 28, 2008, in Bakersfield, Calif. Three-time melanoma survivor John McCain had a spot of skin removed from his right cheek early Monday that he said would undergo a biopsy as a precaution.
(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) |
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Posted by editor on Monday, July 28 @ 20:13:42 PDT (237 reads)
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| McCain backs off his no-new-tax pledge |
By Charles Babington
July 28, 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain drew a sharp rebuke Monday from conservatives after he signaled an openness to a higher payroll tax for Social Security, contrary to previous vows not to raise taxes of any kind.
Speaking with reporters on his campaign bus on July 9, he cited a need to shore up Social Security, saying: "I cannot tell you what I would do, except to put everything on the table."
He went a step farther Sunday with his reponse on a nationally televised talk show to a question about payroll tax increases.
"There is nothing that's off the table. I have my positions, and I'll articulate them. But nothing's off the table," McCain said. "I don't want tax increases. But that doesn't mean that anything is off the table."
That comment drew a strong response Monday from the Club for Growth, a Washington anti-tax group. McCain's comments, the group said in a letter to the Arizona senator, are "shocking because you have been adamant in your opposition to raising taxes under any circumstances."
Indeed, McCain frequently has promised not to raise taxes...
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Posted by editor on Monday, July 28 @ 19:59:59 PDT (208 reads)
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| Sources: McCain May Declare VP Pick This Week |
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by FOXNews.com Monday, July 21, 2008   July 21: John McCain at the Maine Military Museum in South Portland, Maine. (AP Photo) Very well-placed sources told FOX News late Monday that John McCain’s campaign has had discussions in the recent past about the merits of the expected Republican presidential nominee unveiling his choice of a running mate this week while rival Barack Obama is overseas. One source with direct knowledge of the senator’s thinking and of the campaign’s machinations said no announcement will be made Tuesday morning but another top insider suggested the media not throw cold water on the idea that McCain could announce his vice presidential pick this week. Still a third source said unless McCain wakes up in the next two days with a decision, chances are “remote.” Asked about the odds of announcing a vice presidential pick on Tuesday, McCain brushed off the question during a plane ride with reporters to New Hampshire, only giving a mischievous grin. McCain did tell reporters that he wants to make a choice as early as possible and make sure that the person doesn’t detract from that ticket. He separately noted former rival and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s success in the battleground state of Michigan, in which he beat McCain by 9 points. But traveling Press Secretary Brooke Buchanan said no announcements would be made late Monday. Senior adviser Mark Salter said he had “no comment and he is not authorized to say anything” regarding the number two pick.”... |
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Posted by editor on Tuesday, July 22 @ 00:48:41 PDT (259 reads)
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| Iraq Leader Maliki Supports Obama's Withdrawal Plans |
June 19, 2008
Der Spiegel
'AS SOON AS POSSIBLE'In an interview with SPIEGEL, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Barack Obama's 16 month timeframe for a withdrawal from Iraq is the right one.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki supports US presidential candidate Barack Obama's plan to withdraw US troops from Iraq within 16 months. When asked in and interview with SPIEGEL when he thinks US troops should leave Iraq, Maliki responded "as soon as possible, as far as we are concerned." He then continued: "US presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."  REUTERS Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says he agrees with US presidential candidate Barack Obama's plans for withdrawing US troops from Iraq. Maliki was careful to back away from outright support for Obama. "Of course, this is by no means an election endorsement. Who they choose as their president is the Americans' business," he said. But then, apparently referring to Republican candidate John McCain's more open-ended Iraq policy, Maliki said: "Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic. Artificially prolonging the tenure of US troops in Iraq would cause problems." Iraq, Maliki went on to say, "would like to see the establishment of a long-term strategic treaty with the United States, which would govern the basic aspects of our economic and cultural relations." He also emphasized though that the security agreement between the two countries should only "remain in effect in the short term."... |
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Posted by editor on Sunday, July 20 @ 06:22:47 PDT (257 reads)
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| Seven years on, no answer from White House on anthrax attacks |
by Eric Brewer
Published: Wednesday July 16, 2008
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 It's been almost seven years since — in the weeks immediately following 9/11 — anthrax powder sent through the mail killed five people, threatened the lives of two Democratic senators, terrorized the entire nation, and helped prod a panicky Congress into passing the so-called Patriot Act.
In the intervening years, not only has the killer remained free, but missteps in the investigation have had major negative consequences. Just last month, in fact, the Department of Justice agreed to pay $4.6 million to former bioweapons expert Stephen Hatfill to settle a lawsuit Hatfill brought against the Justice Department, the FBI, and former Attorney General John Ashcroft for destroying his reputation and career by publicly implicating him in the case. And Glenn Greenwald has pointed out that in 2001, ABC News was fed false information by several "well-placed sources" (presumably officials in the Bush administration) suggesting an Iraq-anthrax link. That imaginary link was widely cited by pro-war cheerleaders.
At Monday's White House briefing, I asked if President Bush was satisfied with the progress of the investigation into the attacks. Press Secretary Dana Perino told me that she didn't even "know if he has had an update on it."
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Posted by editor on Wednesday, July 16 @ 17:13:17 PDT (304 reads)
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| Conservatives deeply depressed over McCain campaign |
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by Richard Viguerie
July 14, 2008
(Las Vegas, Nevada) Conservatives are so depressed over the state of the McCain campaign--particularly its failure to include and enthuse the Republican base--that they are preparing themselves for a monumental GOP defeat in November, Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, said in a speech to FreedomFest.
“You even have some conservatives who are considering voting for Barack Obama, because they fear McCain as president would destroy what’s left of the Republican brand and would finish off the conservative movement,” said Viguerie. “Their mood is that of the fatally ill patient who says ‘Let’s get this over with’.”
“John McCain has had the Republican nomination sewn up for five months and has done little to convince conservatives they should come off the sidelines and fight for him,” he said.
Viguerie said, “Personnel is policy and if Senator McCain won’t surround himself with conservatives during this campaign, when he desperately needs them, why should we think that he will have conservatives making critical decisions in his administration?”
“Senator McCain has never been a conservative, is not one now, and will not govern as one. From McCain-Feingold to cap-and-trade, he is a supporter of one Big Government scheme after another. History shows that, in the Oval Office, where almost all the political pressure comes from supporters of Big Government, he would only get worse.”
Viguerie has also called for the resignation of the Republican leadership in Congress.
“After this year’s expected blood bath in the November elections, the voters will bring about a massive housecleaning of GOP leaders in favor of principled conservatives,” he said.
Freedom Fest, at which Viguerie spoke, is a gathering of prominent advocates for free markets. Other speakers this year include Steve Forbes, George Gilder, Bob Barr, Dinesh D’Souza, Christopher Hitchens, and Congressman Ron Paul...
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Posted by editor on Wednesday, July 16 @ 11:56:23 PDT (283 reads)
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| McCain Touts Free Trade, Defends Immigration Stance at La Raza |
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by Associated Press
Tuesday, July 15, 2008  SAN DIEGO — Republican presidential candidate John McCain, in one of his strongest endorsements of free trade, called himself “an unapologetic supporter of NAFTA,” an agreement that many Americans feel has cost them jobs.
“I reject the false virtues of economic isolationism,” McCain told the National Council of La Raza, a major Hispanic organization. “Any confident, competent country and its government should embrace competition,” he said. “It makes us stronger.”
The Arizona senator has often defended free trade, but Monday’s speech was among his most detailed and full-throated commentaries.
“Lowering barriers to trade creates more and better jobs, and higher wages,” he said. “It makes goods more affordable for low- and middle-income consumers.”
Citing his recent visit to Colombia and Mexico, McCain said he understands “how vitally important it is to the prosperity and security of our country to strengthen our trade, investment and diplomatic ties to other countries in our hemisphere.” He said he fully supports the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Central American Free Trade Agreement and the Colombian Free Trade Agreement.
Congress approved the NAFTA agreement with Mexico and Canada in 1993, and the agreement with six Central American nations in 2005, but has blocked the agreement with Colombia.
“I believe a hemispheric free trade agreement is a worthy and necessary goal whose time has come,” he said of a proposal he unveiled during the campaign.
Acknowledging that some Americans do lose jobs “to foreign competition,” McCain said he has proposed “a comprehensive reform of our unemployment insurance and worker retraining programs.”
“And for workers of a certain age who have lost a job that won’t come back,” he said, “if they move rapidly to a new job we’ll help make up the difference in wages between their old job and the new one.”...
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Posted by editor on Tuesday, July 15 @ 04:35:29 PDT (290 reads)
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Don't have an account yet? You can create one. As a registered user you have some advantages like theme manager, comments configuration and post comments with your name.
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The reasoning behind these decisions is clear to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, as shown in a piece published last month in USA Today. "...the most dangerous contraband is often contained in laptop computers or other electronic devices." Searches have uncovered "violent jihadist materials as well as images of child pornography," he wrote. However, others think differently: "They're saying they can rifle through all the information in a traveler's laptop without having a smidgen of evidence that the traveler is breaking the law," said Greg Nojeim, senior counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology. "The policies . . . are truly alarming," stated Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who vowed to introduce legislation requiring reasonable suspicion before a search could be performed.
Recent court cases have ruled that only noninvasive border searches are permitted without reasonable suspicion under US law. Whereas body cavity searches and x-ray scans would go beyond the line, suitcase searches are deemed reasonable. The problem, therefore, boils down to whether a search of a laptop's contents constitutes an invasive search, which is what most privacy experts claim. "A laptop can hold [the equivalent of] a major university's library: It can contain your full life," says Peter Swire, a professor of law at Ohio State University in Columbus. "The government's never gotten to search your entire life, so this is unprecedented in scale what the government can get." Advocates of the policy, on the other hand, claim that a laptop is no more than a suitcase, and that requiring probable cause could result in massive delays.