The Spirit Of Legitimate Conservatism

Jan 24th, 2012

Kelley Vlahos' column from last Sunday, firing back at supposedly "conservative" apologists for the blatant war crime of body desecration recently captured on video in Afghanistan, is arguably the finest critique in months of what has gone so horribly wrong with the right in our country:

"Writers at The Weekly Standard, National Review, The Washington Times and Commentary have been ruthless non-apologists for the indiscriminate killing of non-whites as a means to their ends, from the “shock and awe” invasion of Iraq and the flattening of Fallujah to the ethnic cleansing of Baghdad, today’s drone strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen, and all of the wars’ human repercussions (death, disease, displacement). In their world, these are always treated as time-wasting, politically motivated afterthoughts that merely muddy their own paper-white narrative."

Government Contractors And The Big Fix

Oct 7th, 2011

Ordinary Americans react to the Project On Government Oversight's recently released study exposing shocking waste and abuse in the government's deals with private contractors. The unnecessary cost to taxpayers is in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

About That Cop Having Sex In Public...

Sept. 2nd, 2011
NSFW

You might have heard about the New Mexico police officer who was filmed recently having sex with a woman while in uniform, on duty, in broad daylight and on the hood of his car.


The website Gawker picked up on Albuquerque's local news channel KOB's story and, pardon the implications, this sex act went viral. You might have perhaps thought, just as I did, that there were going to be serious and immediate repercussions.

Not so much. AP reports:

"State police spokesman Tim Johnson said the investigation has been completed and the case is currently in the disciplinary process. He said investigators don't believe any criminal acts occurred but that the officer will be held accountable for his actions." EMPHASIS OURS

The "Abusive" GOP?

August 4th, 2011

Writing for the Chicago Examiner, Julie Driscoll draws some frightening parallels between the behavior of the Tea Party driven GOP during the debt ceiling debate and that of abusive individuals:

"The behavior of the Republicans, in general, and most recently around the debt ceiling debate, reminds me vividly of the abusive personality that I engaged with daily, for years, until my divorce. No compromise was ever allowed - it was his way, or his other way. He never talked about the many ways in which he was wrong - it was "look what you made me do." In his mind, the only one whose behavior needed changing was mine. Any abusive behavior of his was justified because, in his warped thinking, I provoked him. He used bullying and fear tactics and threats and intimidation to get his way; in the end, although never abusive to them, he used my kids as pawns in his abusive game. He refused to share responsibility in any part of our relationship breakdown; I owned it, lock, stock and barrel."

I recommend the reading the full piece.

GOP Budget Insanity, ctd.

Feb 9th, 2011

James R. Horney writes for The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities providing an analysis of the GOP's proposed spending cuts announced last week:

"Under the plan, non-security programs would shrink, on average, by 15.4 percent below current funding under the continuing resolution (which expires on March 4) and 19.4 percent below what President Obama proposed for fiscal year 2011.  Programs and activities that face the risk of such cuts include funding for K-12 education, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Centers for Disease Control, and food safety inspections, and a number of programs that serve low-income children, seniors, and people with disabilities."

Take a very close look at their plans for defense. Their intention is to raise it. The one department of government which literally misplaced 2.3 trillion dollars just before the 9/11 attacks will get higher funding without any greater oversight. The one government agency which awarded over 280 Billion dollars in contracts between 2007 and 2009 to private contractors convicted of defrauding the American taxpayer is the only body that will have it's purse increased without any new demands for accountability. 

The TSA And Mother's Milk

Dec 1st, 2010

In the wake of the recent ginned up controversy over the TSA's "scope or grope" guidelines, it is worth observing that the "outrage" served to entrench the invasive and un-American policies foisted upon domestic travelers rather than the opposite. Forgoing the national debate over the Patriot Act that our country has never properly had, the real abuses of the system continue to involve the targeting of citizens who speak out not only against TSA policies, but also those who simply have had the nerve to demand that TSA employees adhere to those policies.

The Continuing Rebuttal of Marc Thiessen

March 10th, 2010

Matthew Alexander, a former senior military interrogator who publishes under a pseudonym for security reasons, has written a caustic review of Marc Thiessen's recently released and garishly pro-torture manifesto:

"My gut reaction on reading Marc Thiessen's new book, Courting Disaster, was: "Why is a speechwriter who's never served in the military or intelligence community acting as an expert on interrogation and national security?"

Certainly, everyone is entitled to a voice in the debate over the lawfulness and efficacy of President Bush's abusive interrogation program, regardless of qualifications. But if you're not an expert on a subject, shouldn't you interview experts before expressing an opinion? Instead, Thiessen relies solely on the opinions of the CIA interrogators who used torture and abuse and are thus most vulnerable to prosecution for war crimes."

As Thiessen continues his attacks on not just the rule of law but traditional morality as well, another voice has added itself to his growing chorus of detractors. This one is conservative author and editor, Conor Friedersdorf who argues that it is irresponsible for editors to even publish his work for it's lack of quality:

"The readers who propelled him onto the New York Times bestseller list can be forgiven if they’re not knowledgeable about United States law, the military code of conduct, or devastating counterarguments that require a bit of outside knowledge. But the editors who willingly publish this man again and again, despite the poor quality of his work and his inability to answer his strongest critics, are being negligent and unprofessional."

Thiessen, on The Daily Show last night, was skewered:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Marc Thiessen Extended Interview Pt. 1
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It's Called Torture

March 6th, 2010


In a case that could prove to be dynamite in the Torture Debate,  US District Judge Wayne Andersen ruled that the torture claims of two US citizens who served as contractors in Iraq may go forward in their suit against former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Again, the allegation is that two United States citizens, one a Navy veteran, were tortured by our own forces.


From the linked story:


"The men claimed they were subjected to sleep and food deprivation, threats of violence, actual violence (emphasis added) and prolonged solitary confinement, according to yesterday’s ruling. Andersen said if those claims were true, “a court might plausibly determine that the conditions of confinement were torturous.” "

There Aren't Different Versions Of The Truth

Feb 19th, 2010

by F. Grey Parker

On Friday November 12th 1948, General Kenji Doihara, Baron Kōki Hirota, General Seishirō Itagaki, General Heitarō Kimura, General Iwane Matsui, General Akira Muto, General Hideki Tōjō were sentenced to death for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Primary amongst the actions for which they had been convicted were the torturous methods with which they interrogated prisoners. One of the principle tools was called the "water cure" otherwise known as waterboarding.