This is the full length 90 min. version of Bill Moyer's 1987 scathing critique of the criminal subterfuge carried out by the Executive Branch of the United States Government to carry out operations which are clearly contrary to the wishes and values of the American people...
Secret Government - The Constitution In Crisis (FULL)
The ability to exercise this power with impunity is facilitated by the National Security Act of 1947. The thrust of the exposé is the Iran-Contra arms and drug-running operations which flooded the streets of our nation with crack cocaine. The significance of the documentary is probably greater today in 2007 than it was when it was made. We now have a situation in which these same forces have committed the most egregious terrorist attack on US soil and have declared a fraudulent so-called "War on Terror". The ruling regime in the US who have conducted the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, are now banging the war drum against Iran.
Video Notes:
1. You start abroad and then you bring this behavior home
2. "A look at a government in the shadows"... 'and where the government will take us if the people let it!'
3. A policy of lies got accidentally exposed!
4. 'Since our adversaries know about our covert operations the only ones fooled are the America people.'
[Continues with history of US that explains how despotism could establish itself in the US]
FIRST...
An example of a covert operation in the middle east that few in America know about... (till possibly now, with Ron Paul on his third run for President)
History of U.S. Intervention in Iran - 1953 Until Present (9 minutes)
Currently...
"The establishment beats the drums of war for Iran & silences those who dare question otherwise. One side is definitely crazy, but it's not who the spinmeisters in D.C. would have you believe."
AND
"At present Iran's forces are sufficient to deter or defend against conventional threats from Iran's weaker neighbors such as post-war Iraq, the GCC, Azerbaijan or Afghanistan but lack the air power and logistical ability to power much beyond Iran's boarders or to confront regional powers such as Turkey or Israel." -US Dept. of Defense
BUT
War has become a very profitable enterprise...
SECOND...
A clip from Air America about CIA drug involvements (Starring Mel Gibson)
Info Links...
1. Opium is gone!... U.N. drug control officers said the Taliban religious militia has nearly wiped out opium production in Afghanistan -- once the world's largest producer -- since banning poppy cultivation last summer. A 12-member team from the U.N. Drug Control Program spent two weeks searching most of the nation's largest opium-producing areas and found so few poppies that they do not expect any opium to come out of Afghanistan this year. "We are not just guessing. We have seen the proof in the fields," said Bernard Frahi, regional director for the U.N. program in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He laid out photographs of vast tracts of land cultivated with wheat alongside pictures of the same fields taken a year earlier -- a sea of blood-red poppies..
2. Opium is back!... "If international drug- and law-enforcement officials are right, the Taliban might be hiding up to $3.2 billion worth of opium inside Afghanistan, potentially causing huge complications for NATO's decision this month to attack Afghanistan's opium laboratories and smuggling networks.
3. The clincher! = "Throughout the forty years of the Cold War, the CIA joined with urban gangsters and rural warlords, many of them major drug dealers, to mount covert operations against communists around the globe. In one of history's accidents, the Iron Curtain fell along the border of the Asian opium zone, which stretches across 5,000 miles of mountains from Turkey to Thailand. In Burma during the 1950s, in Laos during the 1970s, and in Afghanistan during the 1980s, the CIA allied with highland warlords to mobilize tribal armies against the Soviet Union and China.".
THIRD
Has this "messing with The Constitution" been brought home?...
1. From PBS = Are we becoming a police state? Five things that have civil liberties advocates nervous - 1. Indefinite military detentions of U.S. citizens, 2. Targeting U.S. citizens for killing, 3. Arresting witnesses for recording police actions, 4. Using GPS to track your every move, 5. Surveillance drones spying on American soil...
2. Enemies of the Constitution: "Sheriff Richard Mack discusses the Oath Keepers, veterans and cops who swore an oath to disobey any order to disarm or detain American citizens."
"When the President can unilaterally decide you're no longer a citizen..." Judge Andrew Napolitano
Notes:
1. There are "900 bases in 150 countries"
2. From The Economist: Indeed, the one lesson that can be drawn from the data is that today's strategic priorities can shape deployments for decades to come, long after the original reason for putting G.I.s in a particular region has gone.
3. "[W]e can now remove almost all of our forces from Saudi Arabia. Their presence there over the last 12 years has been a source of enormous difficulty for a friendly government. It's been a huge recruiting device for al Qaeda. In fact if you look at bin Laden, one of his principle grievances was the presence of so-called crusader forces on the holy land, Mecca and Medina. I think just lifting that burden from the Saudis is itself going to open the door to other positive things." Wolfowitz, 2003.
4. Economics perspective: Manufacturing jobs have become more specialized requiring less labor and more technical expertise - i.e. small companies making big ticket items such as fighter jets; this means less people are employed, smaller number of people make huge profits and these huge profits make the economy look like its growing when actually its just a few companies making huge profits benefiting a small group of people. Senator Bernie Sanders also thinks sending manufacturing jobs abroad is bad economic policy.
5. Comedic perspective: Colbert Report: Solutions to America's Financial Worries - World War III
6. Millions of jobs vs hundreds, possibly thousands of jobs, created by small companies with big ticket items.
7. Article: 11 Ways That Amerika Is Becoming More Like North Korea .
8. Interview: Ben Lowy describes his photographic work in Iraq and Afghanistan. Arresting people just because someone says so with any due process of law.
9. "The Pentagon needs to conduct a "serious inquiry" into the Air Force for letting a retired general turned Boeing executive participate in a war game for a $51 billion aerial tanker contract Boeing was competing to win, Sen. John McCain said Thursday in a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta."
10. Remains of 274 Soldiers Dumped in Virginia Landfill - Fox News Video [Original article here.]
11. "They've taken all the heat they want to," Barr said. "They paid a lot of money for an aircraft that doesn't work."
12. "How do you break an internet? Easy. SOPA." Judge Andrew Napolitano
13. Comedic perspective: At last, the U.S. government brings swift justice to hardened criminals on YouTube.
14. Interview: Colbert Report: Stop Online Piracy Act - Danny Goldberg & Jonathan Zittrain.
15. Comedic and serious perspectives on "The Power of Corporate Money."
--------------------------------------------
"What if they ruled through fear? What if there was too much FEDGOV?" Judge Andrew Napolitano
Second Amash Letter Opposing Indefinite Detention of Americans Without Charge or Trial
Sanders Statement on Defense Authorization Bill:
"The bill continues to authorize heavy spending on defense despite the end of the 9-year-old war in Iraq. Ironically, the Senate vote came on the same day when Defense Secretary Panetta was in Baghdad officially declaring that our military mission there has ended and that virtually all of the combat troops will leave Iraq by the end of the year. At a time when we have tripled defense spending since 1997 and spend more today on defense than the rest of the world combined, I get concerned that my deficit-hawk friends say we've got to cut Social Security, Medicare, education, health care and other programs that help working families, but when it comes to defense spending the sky is the limit.
"This bill also contains misguided provisions that in the name of fighting terrorism essentially authorize the indefinite imprisonment of American citizens without charges. While we must aggressively pursue international terrorists and all of those who would do us harm, we must do it in a way that protects the Constitution and the civil liberties which make us proud to be Americans."
Read in full here.
"You made an oath to protect the Constitution" Father Nathan Monk of the St. Benedictine Orthodox Church in Pensacola Florida
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Newt Gingrich - Consistently Inconsistent (A Quick Introduction)
"Do not be duped by the establishment GOP. Do not exchange your values and principles for electability...or we'll keep heading down the same path." Glenn Beck
Bill O'Reilly: Does Obama Want to Run Against Gingrich or Romney?
Fox News: New Criticism of Gingrich's Conservative Credentials
From video above:
1. Gingrich hasn't held statewide office since he was kicked out by his colleagues in 1998!
2. "Most talented politician of his generation" (compared to Bill Clinton!)
3. "He got 1.6 million from Freddie Mac"
New Ron Paul Ad Blasts Newt Gingrich for 'Serial Hypocrisy'
"The new Paul ad takes aim at a few of Newt’s more garish about-faces."
Forbes Magazine: Whether you disagree with Ron Paul or not, one thing is certain: it’s impossible to lay the mantle of hypocrite at his feet. The congressman from Texas has changed his mind about things over the course of his career – for instance, he once believed in the death penalty but no longer does – but they’ve changed out of a change in belief, not political expediency.
The same cannot be said for many of his GOP rivals. People often accuse Mitt Romney of flip-flopping for political gain, a true enough charge. But then why has the Republican Party turned to Newt Gingrich, a man whose own flip-flops are manifold and glaring?
(Indeed, why did the GOP turn its back on Herman Cain for his extramarital activities when Newt’s own are now famous?)
Compare: About Herman Cain... "If these allegations prove true, that means you are only one extramarital affair behind Newt Gingrich." -- Stephen Colbert.
AND
Behind the scenes of the attack add above = 1.Ron Paul: I'm Reluctantly Doing the Media's Job in Exposing Newt Gingrich - , and 2. Ron Paul: I Wish We Could Just Debate the Issues.
IRS lets Newt Gingrich go but he DOES have to foot the bill!
"Leading in the polls, Newt Gingrich finds himself fielding questions about an ethics violation investigation in the 90s."
More Information:
1. Quote: Nor are quotes like this one, spoken by Newt Gingrich on September 19, 2001: "If we don't use this as the moment to replace Saddam after we replace the Taliban, we are setting the stage for disaster." Vice President Dick Cheney certainly felt the same way.
2. In an interview with Fox News, Paul criticized former House speaker Newt Gingrich for his lack of military service and his aggressive militaristic tone, as CBS News reported. "He supports all of the wars in the Middle East, a thousand times more than I would, but you know in the 1960s when I was drafted in the military he got several deferments. He chose not to go. Now he will send our kids to war. But at that time he said that one person wouldn't make a difference. He didn't know how he could make a difference. So I see that as important information. People should know that. And it reflects on him," Paul told Fox News. Read more here.
3. Quote from Glenn Beck! : "If you have a big government progressive, or a big government progressive in Obama… ask yourself this, Tea Party: is it about Obama’s race? Because that’s what it appears to be to me. If you’re against him but you’re for this guy, it must be about race. I mean, what else is it? It’s the policies that matter."
4. Note = One "Tea Party" Response to Glenn Beck
"It's very wrong to pull the race card on this side of the aisle," said Gina Loudon, an Alabama-based Tea Party activist and radio host who also helped found the St. Louis Tea Party.
Loudoun rejected that notion that racism is a factor, claiming many of Gingrich's newest supporters had been backing Herman Cain, who is black, before he suspended his campaign.
"So saying it's a race issue is positively disproven," Loudon said.
(Note: Supporting Herman Cain for a short period proves nothing.)
5. Comedic perspectives: Larry Wilmore analyzes Newt Gingrich's janitorial solution to America's poverty problem.
6. Comedic Perspectives = Newt Gingrich - Topic: Weirdness.
More later.
Bill O'Reilly: Does Obama Want to Run Against Gingrich or Romney?
Fox News: New Criticism of Gingrich's Conservative Credentials
From video above:
1. Gingrich hasn't held statewide office since he was kicked out by his colleagues in 1998!
2. "Most talented politician of his generation" (compared to Bill Clinton!)
3. "He got 1.6 million from Freddie Mac"
New Ron Paul Ad Blasts Newt Gingrich for 'Serial Hypocrisy'
"The new Paul ad takes aim at a few of Newt’s more garish about-faces."
Forbes Magazine: Whether you disagree with Ron Paul or not, one thing is certain: it’s impossible to lay the mantle of hypocrite at his feet. The congressman from Texas has changed his mind about things over the course of his career – for instance, he once believed in the death penalty but no longer does – but they’ve changed out of a change in belief, not political expediency.
The same cannot be said for many of his GOP rivals. People often accuse Mitt Romney of flip-flopping for political gain, a true enough charge. But then why has the Republican Party turned to Newt Gingrich, a man whose own flip-flops are manifold and glaring?
(Indeed, why did the GOP turn its back on Herman Cain for his extramarital activities when Newt’s own are now famous?)
Compare: About Herman Cain... "If these allegations prove true, that means you are only one extramarital affair behind Newt Gingrich." -- Stephen Colbert.
AND
Behind the scenes of the attack add above = 1.Ron Paul: I'm Reluctantly Doing the Media's Job in Exposing Newt Gingrich - , and 2. Ron Paul: I Wish We Could Just Debate the Issues.
IRS lets Newt Gingrich go but he DOES have to foot the bill!
"Leading in the polls, Newt Gingrich finds himself fielding questions about an ethics violation investigation in the 90s."
More Information:
1. Quote: Nor are quotes like this one, spoken by Newt Gingrich on September 19, 2001: "If we don't use this as the moment to replace Saddam after we replace the Taliban, we are setting the stage for disaster." Vice President Dick Cheney certainly felt the same way.
2. In an interview with Fox News, Paul criticized former House speaker Newt Gingrich for his lack of military service and his aggressive militaristic tone, as CBS News reported. "He supports all of the wars in the Middle East, a thousand times more than I would, but you know in the 1960s when I was drafted in the military he got several deferments. He chose not to go. Now he will send our kids to war. But at that time he said that one person wouldn't make a difference. He didn't know how he could make a difference. So I see that as important information. People should know that. And it reflects on him," Paul told Fox News. Read more here.
3. Quote from Glenn Beck! : "If you have a big government progressive, or a big government progressive in Obama… ask yourself this, Tea Party: is it about Obama’s race? Because that’s what it appears to be to me. If you’re against him but you’re for this guy, it must be about race. I mean, what else is it? It’s the policies that matter."
4. Note = One "Tea Party" Response to Glenn Beck
"It's very wrong to pull the race card on this side of the aisle," said Gina Loudon, an Alabama-based Tea Party activist and radio host who also helped found the St. Louis Tea Party.
Loudoun rejected that notion that racism is a factor, claiming many of Gingrich's newest supporters had been backing Herman Cain, who is black, before he suspended his campaign.
"So saying it's a race issue is positively disproven," Loudon said.
(Note: Supporting Herman Cain for a short period proves nothing.)
5. Comedic perspectives: Larry Wilmore analyzes Newt Gingrich's janitorial solution to America's poverty problem.
6. Comedic Perspectives = Newt Gingrich - Topic: Weirdness.
More later.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Why is the US so low on the corruption charts?
[Note 11 Dec '11: The examples and explanations of corruption in the US continue at this link.]
On December 5th CNN reported: "The United States ranked 24th least corrupt on a "corruption perceptions index," the fifth-best in the Western Hemisphere. Canada ranked 10th, Barbados is 16th, the Bahamas is 21st and Chile is 22nd."
These charts are complied by the following organization...
From Transparency.Org
Transparency International, the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption, brings people together in a powerful worldwide coalition to end the devastating impact of corruption on men, women and children around the world.
TI’s mission is to create change towards a world free of corruption.
Transparency International challenges the inevitability of corruption, and offers hope to its victims. Since its founding in 1993, TI has played a lead role in improving the lives of millions around the world by building momentum for the anti-corruption movement. TI raises awareness and diminishes apathy and tolerance of corruption, and devises and implements practical actions to address it.
Transparency International is a global network including more than 90 locally established national chapters and chapters-in-formation. These bodies fight corruption in the national arena in a number of ways. They bring together relevant players from government, civil society, business and the media to promote transparency in elections, in public administration, in procurement and in business. TI’s global network of chapters and contacts also use advocacy campaigns to lobby governments to implement anti-corruption reforms.
Politically non-partisan, TI does not undertake investigations of alleged corruption or expose individual cases, but at times will work in coalition with organisations that do.
TI has the skills, tools, experience, expertise and broad participation to fight corruption on the ground, as well as through global and regional initiatives.
Now in its second decade, Transparency International is maturing, intensifying and diversifying its fight against corruption.
[Note that the TI does not undertake investigations of 'alleged' corruption, so I'm sticking with only a small sample set of mainstream sources.]
The following is some information that suggests that the US doesn't deserve the extremely high ranking it has on the Corruption charts/scales...
The structure of Obama's government;
[Note that the structure of Obama's government is relevant because of the scale of inefficiencies of several of his implemented plans (of which we know about so far, for example this video and this one. Also, Goldman sacks is the same company that lied to its investors and bet against them and the same ones that postponed dealing with the Greek Crisis).
Insider Trading in Congress;
Insider Trading is what Martha Stewart went to prison for! ...
'Basically the banks were being lent money at no interest (by the government) and then the government was borrowing it back and giving interest!' What a sweet deal!
(Note: Bloomberg report referred to above is here... also note that Social Security is doing well so many politicians are constantly diverting it or its funds, explanation by Senator Bernie Sanders is here and part of the reason for the Social Security political nonsense is explained here.)
The uselessness of the EPA and lack of social justice;
Lack of transparency in some investigations;
Previously immoral and illegal activities are being promoted and accepted among a large number of GOP supporters (read GOP candidates facebook posts on Iran);
More examples of corruption and influence being used in ways that corrupt:
Echo Chambers 1 and 2.
The GOP
Debt Ceiling debate
Political influence in the courts
The problem of prisons for profit and other weird shit (that has a very long historical precedent, you would know if you lived in the South... in the meantime, read 'To Kill A Mocking Bird'. I've actually seen the scene of arguing over scripture between a fanatic and normal person in real life, so the book is like living history to me!)
The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy ["No 3 was the most clarifying: draft laws against the little-known loophole that currently allows members of Congress to pass legislation affecting Delaware-based corporations in which they themselves are investors."]
The Financial Crisis screams of corruption and some investigations have begun.
The only politician running for the Presidential election is Ron Paul... and he is the only one telling the whole truth. Full explanation is here.
Theories: 1. TI either doesn't like to read, Or 2. Compiles it charts using other peoples charts (an old cartographers trick), Or 3. Is controlled by someone or some group (or coalition of groups) that opposes the release of this information, Or 4. This is an effort to defame one side for the purposes of power, control or manipulation, Or 5. Is biased against third world countries (which means they are probably elitists and racists/bigots in some way. It's easy to determine, by an expert, when looking at the researchers and decision makers as a whole, as to which theory or combination of theories is correct).
---------------------
Breaking News Dec 6 2011 -
From BBC - "Organised crime poses an "open threat" to democracy in Mexico, President Felipe Calderon has warned."
From Judge Andrew Napolitano:
Above video is from here.
---------------------
On December 5th CNN reported: "The United States ranked 24th least corrupt on a "corruption perceptions index," the fifth-best in the Western Hemisphere. Canada ranked 10th, Barbados is 16th, the Bahamas is 21st and Chile is 22nd."
These charts are complied by the following organization...
From Transparency.Org
Transparency International, the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption, brings people together in a powerful worldwide coalition to end the devastating impact of corruption on men, women and children around the world.
TI’s mission is to create change towards a world free of corruption.
Transparency International challenges the inevitability of corruption, and offers hope to its victims. Since its founding in 1993, TI has played a lead role in improving the lives of millions around the world by building momentum for the anti-corruption movement. TI raises awareness and diminishes apathy and tolerance of corruption, and devises and implements practical actions to address it.
Transparency International is a global network including more than 90 locally established national chapters and chapters-in-formation. These bodies fight corruption in the national arena in a number of ways. They bring together relevant players from government, civil society, business and the media to promote transparency in elections, in public administration, in procurement and in business. TI’s global network of chapters and contacts also use advocacy campaigns to lobby governments to implement anti-corruption reforms.
Politically non-partisan, TI does not undertake investigations of alleged corruption or expose individual cases, but at times will work in coalition with organisations that do.
TI has the skills, tools, experience, expertise and broad participation to fight corruption on the ground, as well as through global and regional initiatives.
Now in its second decade, Transparency International is maturing, intensifying and diversifying its fight against corruption.
[Note that the TI does not undertake investigations of 'alleged' corruption, so I'm sticking with only a small sample set of mainstream sources.]
The following is some information that suggests that the US doesn't deserve the extremely high ranking it has on the Corruption charts/scales...
The structure of Obama's government;
[Note that the structure of Obama's government is relevant because of the scale of inefficiencies of several of his implemented plans (of which we know about so far, for example this video and this one. Also, Goldman sacks is the same company that lied to its investors and bet against them and the same ones that postponed dealing with the Greek Crisis).
Insider Trading in Congress;
Insider Trading is what Martha Stewart went to prison for! ...
'Basically the banks were being lent money at no interest (by the government) and then the government was borrowing it back and giving interest!' What a sweet deal!
(Note: Bloomberg report referred to above is here... also note that Social Security is doing well so many politicians are constantly diverting it or its funds, explanation by Senator Bernie Sanders is here and part of the reason for the Social Security political nonsense is explained here.)
The uselessness of the EPA and lack of social justice;
Lack of transparency in some investigations;
Previously immoral and illegal activities are being promoted and accepted among a large number of GOP supporters (read GOP candidates facebook posts on Iran);
More examples of corruption and influence being used in ways that corrupt:
Echo Chambers 1 and 2.
The GOP
Debt Ceiling debate
Political influence in the courts
The problem of prisons for profit and other weird shit (that has a very long historical precedent, you would know if you lived in the South... in the meantime, read 'To Kill A Mocking Bird'. I've actually seen the scene of arguing over scripture between a fanatic and normal person in real life, so the book is like living history to me!)
The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy ["No 3 was the most clarifying: draft laws against the little-known loophole that currently allows members of Congress to pass legislation affecting Delaware-based corporations in which they themselves are investors."]
The Financial Crisis screams of corruption and some investigations have begun.
The only politician running for the Presidential election is Ron Paul... and he is the only one telling the whole truth. Full explanation is here.
Theories: 1. TI either doesn't like to read, Or 2. Compiles it charts using other peoples charts (an old cartographers trick), Or 3. Is controlled by someone or some group (or coalition of groups) that opposes the release of this information, Or 4. This is an effort to defame one side for the purposes of power, control or manipulation, Or 5. Is biased against third world countries (which means they are probably elitists and racists/bigots in some way. It's easy to determine, by an expert, when looking at the researchers and decision makers as a whole, as to which theory or combination of theories is correct).
---------------------
Breaking News Dec 6 2011 -
From BBC - "Organised crime poses an "open threat" to democracy in Mexico, President Felipe Calderon has warned."
From Judge Andrew Napolitano:
Above video is from here.
---------------------
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