Not A Dime’s Worth Of Difference

Matt Drudge Breaks Up With Republicans, Joins Libertarians

"Matt Drudge, the founder of the enormously popular conservative news aggregator DrudgeReport.com, tweeted today that since there are no real differences between Democrats and Republicans the only two real political parties are Authoritarians and Libertarians. 'It's now Authoritarian vs Libertarian,' Drudge tweeted. 'Since Democrats vs. Republicans has been obliterated, no real difference between parties...' Drudge also asks his followers why anyone would still vote Republican. 'Who are they?!' he asks. 'Raised taxes; marching us off to war again; approves more NSA snooping.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMatt Drudge Breaks Up With Republicans, Joins Libertarians

David Stockman: The End of U.S. Imperium—Finally!

"Next week Congress can do far more than stop a feckless Tomahawk barrage on a small country that is already a graveyard of civil war and sectarian slaughter. By voting 'no,' it can trigger the end of the American Imperium—five decades of incessant meddling, bullying, and subversion around the globe that has added precious little to national security but left America fiscally exhausted and morally diminished. Indeed, the tragedy of this vast string of misbegotten interventions is that virtually none of them involved defending the homeland or any tangible, steely-eyed linkages to national security. They were all rooted in ideology." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDavid Stockman: The End of U.S. Imperium—Finally!

Sheldon Adelson Becomes Obama Ally as Jewish Groups Back Syria Strike

"Lobbying on Syria has inspired coalitions of the unlikely, aligning President Barack Obama with Sheldon Adelson, the Republican billionaire who spent about $70 million trying to defeat him last year, in the push for a military response to the use of chemical weapons. The support Obama is getting from pro-Israel groups in the U.S. is important because of their history of political influence. The pro-Israel community contributed $14.5 million to federal campaigns for the 2012 elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That’s more than the $11.1 million in donations by the defense aerospace industry, one of the biggest and most consistent political contributors." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSheldon Adelson Becomes Obama Ally as Jewish Groups Back Syria Strike

Rep. Cantor Steals Condi Rice’s Iraq Lines for Syria

"Today House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) directly channeled then-President Bush’s National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, spouting the same lying propaganda to get us into Syria that Rice spouted to get us into Iraq. Leader Cantor today: 'No one wants to be asking why we failed to act if the next time Sarin is used it is in the Paris or New York subway.' Condoleeza Rice, Sept 8, 2002: 'The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRep. Cantor Steals Condi Rice’s Iraq Lines for Syria

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 →

Continue ReadingTop U.S. Republicans back Syria strike as refugee crisis mounts

A Century of Lies: The Rationales for Engaging in Foreign Wars

"If President Barack Obama and his administration are not lying in the lead-up to a probable bombing campaign of Syria it will be a rare exception among US Presidents, particularly since their public duplicity concerning war dates to at least the early twentieth century. Indeed, being forthrightly dishonest to the American people concerning the rationales for engaging in foreign wars has become a century-old White House tradition. The historical record of past presidents’ prewar and wartime hucksterism is unambiguous, greatly contributing to the immense bloodshed and destruction that continues under the country’s reckless international leadership to this day." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Century of Lies: The Rationales for Engaging in Foreign Wars

Former Cheney aide demands Syria ‘exit strategy’ from Obama

"Mary Matalin, a Republican strategist and former advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney, on Sunday said that Americans had become “war wise” after the Iraq war and demanded that President Barack Obama produce an exit strategy before launching an attack on Syria. President George W. Bush and Matalin’s former boss, Vice President Dick Cheney, were criticized for not having a post-war plan after invading Iraq in 2003. Even after Iraq held democratic elections in 2005, Bush said in his State of the Union address that he would 'not set an artificial timetable.' for leaving. That same year, Vice President Dick Cheney argued that the Iraq insurgency was in its 'last throes.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer Cheney aide demands Syria ‘exit strategy’ from Obama

Joe Biden’s Case That Waging War Without Congress Is an Impeachable Offense

"He reflected deeply on the law for almost two decades, through numerous presidencies, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee; consulted a whole group of constitutional scholars; taught constitutional law classes on the separation of powers; and went on national TV while running for president to declare unilateral executive-branch war-making a high crime! But now that he's part of an administration openly pondering strikes on Syria without Congressional approval -- even as dozens of legislators demand to be consulted -- Biden doesn't have any public objections, and the position he and his constitutional experts once asserted is treated as a naive curiosity in the press." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJoe Biden’s Case That Waging War Without Congress Is an Impeachable Offense

White House faces high bar on Syria after Bush Administration’s Iraq lies

"The White House will likely argue that since its proposed action in Syria will be 'limited' it does not require Congress to wield its constitutionally granted power to authorize a declaration of war. But the more time that passes before US military action, the more restive the domestic political scene becomes. A growing number of lawmakers have concerns and polls show Americans wary of another foreign entanglement. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy meanwhile said on MSNBC that cruise missile attacks may make people 'feel better, but it may not actually make the Syrian people safer or advance US national security interests.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhite House faces high bar on Syria after Bush Administration’s Iraq lies

Obama administration hints it could act alone on Syria

"The United States hinted Thursday it could act alone to punish Syria for a chemical weapons attack. The Obama administration also denied that public skepticism dating to an Iraq war intelligence debacle was complicating its effort to justify possible military action against Syria. Obama, who came to power criticizing his predecessor George W. Bush’s go-it-alone approach on foreign policy, was confronted Thursday with a choice over whether to wait for allies or launch unilateral US action. Obama aides stress they envisage only 'limited' punitive action in Syria and dismiss comparisons with the US invasion of Iraq, which the president built his political career on opposing." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama administration hints it could act alone on Syria