Bankocracy

John Kerry, 1971: ‘I Don’t Think U.S. Can Apply Moralism Around The World’

"Taped on Nov 2, 1971. Five months before this show, WFB had taken as his text, for a commencement address at West Point, Mr. Kerry's sensational testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the barbarism of our activities in Vietnam. Neither host nor guest has changed his views since, but there is light as well as heat generated on Vietnam in particular and morality and foreign policy generally." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry, 1971: ‘I Don’t Think U.S. Can Apply Moralism Around The World’

UN seeks Syria peace talks amid military strike threat

""The United Nations is making a desperate new push for a Syria peace conference even as the United States prepares a possible military strike, according to diplomats. UN Under Secretary General Jeffrey Feltman discussed a possible conference during a landmark visit last week to Iran, a key backer of President Bashar al-Assad, UN officials and diplomats said. The prospect of a military strike and Syria’s divided opposition, which has demanded that Assad be kept out of any transitional government, bears heavily on the prospects for talks however. Some western leaders believe there can be no conference until Assad has been punished for his alleged use of chemical weapons." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUN seeks Syria peace talks amid military strike threat

Jon Stewart to McCain: Does war with Syria interrupt video poker time?

"'Is this possible global conflagration interrupting your video poker time?' Stewart mockingly asked McCain, pointing out that the senator has been pushing for the U.S. to attack Syria for a year, only to devote the moment to picking up an imaginary winning hand. Stewart also pointed out that the U.S. has tried seemingly everything with regards to the Middle East: dialogue (every 8 years or so), sanctions, explicit and not-so-explicit rewarding of coups. 'It’s like, even though we’re a superpower, we haven’t figured out that we don’t actually have superpowers,' Stewart said. 'But we just keep jumping out of the building, thinking we’re gonna fly.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJon Stewart to McCain: Does war with Syria interrupt video poker time?

Judge Napolitano: Can America bomb and kill for bragging rights?

"President Obama’s request for express congressional authorization for a limited aerial invasion of Syria raises profound legal and constitutional questions. For starters, there is simply no legal basis in international law to support an American invasion of Syria. Yet, notwithstanding that, federal law permits the president to commit U.S. military forces anywhere he wants for up to 90 days, without express authorization from Congress. So, why did Obama ask for the authorization he surely knows he already has?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJudge Napolitano: Can America bomb and kill for bragging rights?

‘Credibility’

"The US must bomb Syria, we are told, to maintain its 'credibility' on the world stage. I don’t get it. The US government invaded, occupied, and destabilized Afghanistan and Iraq. The US military uses cluster bombs, white phosphorus, and depleted uranium shells, all banned or discouraged by international treaty or convention. The President endorses extrajudicial execution, extraordinary rendition, and torture, all prohibited by the Geneva Conventions. The NSA spies on its own citizens, in violation of US law, and denies it until caught. What credibility could the US government possibly have?" Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Credibility’

Obama’s Syrian Allies Bombard Christian Village

"Obama’s allies in Syria — those who will directly benefit from the coming US airstrikes — stepped up their genocide against Syrian Christians today, attacking Maaloula, a Christian village, indiscriminately using mortar shells fired from a hilltop above the village. According to the press report: 'Maaloula, a mountain village some 40 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Damascus, is home to about 2,000 residents, some of whom still speak a version of Aramaic, the ancient language of biblical times believed to have been spoken by Jesus.' Will American Christians support a war for the genocide of Christians in Syria?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama’s Syrian Allies Bombard Christian Village

Pentagon in 2012: 75,000 troops needed to secure Syria chemical weapons

"Securing Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles and the facilities that produced them would likely require the U.S. to send more than 75,000 ground troops into the Middle Eastern country, MailOnline learned Wednesday. That estimate comes from a secret memorandum the U.S. Department of Defense prepared for President Obama in early 2012. U.S. Central Command arrived at the figure of 75,000 ground troops as part of a written series of military options for dealing with Bashar al-Assad more than 18 months ago, long before the U.S. confirmed internally that the Syrian dictator was using the weapons against rebel factions within his borders." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPentagon in 2012: 75,000 troops needed to secure Syria chemical weapons

Reporter Asks Obama if Nobel Peace Prize ‘Dilemma’ on Syria Attack

"President Barack Obama flew to Sweden on Wednesday for a diplomatic meeting ahead of a two-day G20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. Obama held a wide-ranging press conference in Sweden relating to the White House's effort to build support for a strike on Syria in the wake of that government's use of chemical weapons on civilians. One Swedish reporter cornered Obama on the contradictions contained in the fact that a Nobel Peace Prize winner is planning to launch his second war against a sovereign nation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReporter Asks Obama if Nobel Peace Prize ‘Dilemma’ on Syria Attack

Senators Authorizing Syria Strike Got More Cash From Military-Industrial Complex

"Senators voting Wednesday to authorize a Syria strike received, on average, 83 percent more campaign financing from defense contractors than lawmakers voting against war. Overall, political action committees and employees from defense and intelligence firms such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, United Technologies, Honeywell International, and others ponied up $1,006,887 to the 17 members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who voted yes or no on the authorization Wednesday, according to an analysis by Maplight, the Berkeley-based nonprofit that performed the inquiry at WIRED’s request." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenators Authorizing Syria Strike Got More Cash From Military-Industrial Complex

Who is the real big bucks bully in the gun control debate?

"For many years, the gun ban lobby has portrayed the National Rifle Association as the big money bully in the gun control debate, but stories published today and yesterday suggest that the real big spender is anti-gun New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has dumped a wad of cash into thwarting a Coloradorecall election in defense of two Democrats who could get the boot for backing that state’s new gun control laws. Today’s reports say Bloomberg has spent $350,000 against an estimated $100,000 put up by the NRA in the Colorado battle." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWho is the real big bucks bully in the gun control debate?