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Kerry After Syria Hearing Protest: ‘I Once Had Very Similar Feelings’

“‘The first time I testified before this committee when I was 27 years old, I had feelings very similar to that protester,’ Kerry said after order was restored. ‘I would just say that is exactly why it is so important that we are all here having this debate, talking about these things before the country and that the Congress itself will act representing the American people. And I think we can all respect those who have a different point of view. And we do.’ Kerry said a Syria strike would ‘unequivocally’ make the U.S. more secure, and Hagel said there are U.S. allies in the region ready to support any U.S. action.” Continue reading →

Protester crashes Syria hearing: ‘The American people do not want this’

“CODEPINK co-founder and anti-war activist Medea Benjamin interrupted a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the possibility of a U.S. military strike in Syria on Tuesday. Video posted by Talking Points Memo shows Benjamin ‘We don’t want another war,’ before being grabbed by security and led out of the hearing. In 2012, Benjamin protested a speech by another Obama administration official, counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan, saying the White House’s use of unmanned attack drones was ‘making us less safe by killing so many innocent people around the world.'” Continue reading →

Top U.S. Republicans back Syria strike as refugee crisis mounts

“John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor both pledged their support for military action after the meeting. The chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee said on Tuesday he was confident after talking with Obama that the United States would step up its support for ‘vetted’ elements of the Syrian opposition. Senator Carl Levin said he urged the president, a fellow Democrat, to arm the Syrian rebels a day after two influential Republican senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, sought similar assurances from Obama.” Continue reading →

GOP Help Pass Medicaid Expansion in the House

Michigan Citizens, Unfortunately, as many know by now the Medicaid Expansion bill HB 4714 passed the House, the same way it passed the Senate, with help from GOP “leadership” and members of the House and Senate. State Rep. Greg MacMaster, R-Kewadin, was the only member to change his vote from June, going from a …

Syria and the Perpetual War Economy

“The end of the Cold War did not bring a dismantling of the war apparatus. It found new enemies and new causes. Today, the unwinnable War on Terror virtually guarantees plenty of reasons for more military spending for years to come. The point of this discussion is not necessarily to rail against the military-industrial complex, as much as I hate it. Instead, I want you think about a more radical idea: That the military-industrial complex is now typical of how the American economy works across a breadth of industries.” Continue reading →

U.S. denies missile test in the Mediterranean linked to Syria

“A missile test in the Mediterranean carried out by Israel and the United States on Tuesday had no connection to possible US military action against Syria, the Pentagon said. The joint military exercise, which came as Washington weighed punitive strikes against the Syrian regime, had been previously scheduled and was designed to assess Israel’s missile defenses, Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement. He added that the United States and Israel cooperate on various ballistic missile defense development programs ‘to address common challenges in the region.'” Continue reading →

Hagel and Kerry make case to Congress for attacking Syria

“In what will be one of the most high-profile political set pieces in Washington in weeks, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel will testify to the Senate Foreign Relations committee, on Tuesday. America’s top military officer, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will also go before the panel. Kerry will argue that failing to act in Syria ‘unravels the deterrent impact of the international norm against chemical weapons use,’ a senior State Department official said on condition of anonymity. Inaction also ‘endangers our friends and our partners along Syria’s borders… and risks emboldening Assad and his key allies – Hezbollah and Iran,’ the official warned.” Continue reading →

Drudge Poll: 91% Say “Stay Out of Syria.”

“This is not a scientific poll, but Obama’s spinmeisters had better pay attention to it. Obama drew a macho-man line in the sand with his vow to take action if Syria used chemical weapons. What’s a would-be macho guy to do? Go to Congress? Yes, say the voters. What will Congress do? It will put its collective finger in the wind. The general public seems split. As long as American missiles kill innocent Syrian women and children from on high, half of the voters are content. After all, Assad’s weapons killed innocent women and children. Half the voters think the proper response is an eye for an eye: more dead women and children. That will show Assad who is in charge.” Continue reading →