Is this dirty deed done by MI6, Mossad, CIA, NATO, or all of the above.
Another defiant Democrat
From “Steve W” at 4&20
Jill Stein is getting my vote this cycle. I live in Montana, Montana isn’t a swing state, and I’m voting like I don’t live in a swing state.
There’s that fighting spirit! It reminds me of Mel Gibson’s blue-faced William Wallace, defiantly mooning Longshanks shouting out the rebel yell “Maybe you better watch it! I might be mad at you!”
American journalism on top of its game
Please take a moment to skim the following two stories regarding the Syrian conflict, one from AP, a U.S. propaganda outlet, the other from Voltaire Network, a French propaganda outlet.
The contrast could not be more stark. AP propaganda makes no mention of NATO, the driving force behind the uprising, nor does it give any hint that the attack might be failing. It completely frames the war as a natural uprising. It refers to western infiltration of the country by western state/corporate interests as “free market reforms” in the same fashion that Pravda might once have referred to Russian state farms as “people’s” enterprises. This is an extreme example of submission to the state/corporate correct posture. American news is quite worthless, generally.
Voltaire offers an interesting perspective, framing the conflict as a NATO-inspired undertaking in retreat, sacrificing the “insurgents” to Syrian forces merely to unload them. Thierry Meyssan, the driving force behind Voltaire, also speculates that Prince Bandar, the Bush family intimate and sponsor and trainer of “Al Qaeda” insurgents, might be dead. If that is the case, I wonder of he might have to be officially “killed” in some PR spectacle down the road.
Continue reading “American journalism on top of its game”
Tape-delayed justice
The trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his “co-conspirators” is delayed now. It’s meant to be a media show, as the men have already been found guilty by our judge/jury media circus. The problem that US prosecutors are having is that elements of truth might slip through and spoil the show. So they are insisting that all proceedings be put on a tape delay system so that they can edit as they go. This is the same system that radio and TV stations use to filter their output in case someone yells “Bullshit!”
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is a basket case, probably mentally debilitated by physical and psychological torture, and maybe even a psychotic to begin with anyway. If he is insane, by means of abuse or otherwise, he’s a perfect patsy now that the biggest patsy of them all, OBL, was officially killed on a reality TV show.

But they don’t look like geniuses. Oh well, whatever they did has to remain classified, so that if they spill the beans the US national security state can intercept their words before they get out to the world. We would not want this information to fall into the hands of Evildoers
Over-thinking Gitmo

As to Guantanamo – I have always opposed its continued functioning, but as I stated before, I don’t know how to close it. Look at a list of current detainees – most of them cannot legally or morally be transferred to their home countries, as their home countries are known to practice torture or lack a reliable court system or simply don’t want them. We could maybe send back a Kenyan and a couple Kuwaitis, but the rest of them really have little hope of going home and being treated humanely or getting a fair trial (though the Afghan detainees could legally be held as POWs by the government of Afghanistan). And I doubt their lives would be improved by moving to US prisons, even if the states running those prisons could be persuaded to take them.
There are many errors and false assumptions in that statement – it’s pretty damned naive. Actually, it’s adorable! But it did force me to think a little harder about what is going on at Gitmo. I’ve taken it for granted that they were holding prisoners posing little real danger to anyone as an element of the PSYOP aspect of 9/11, our permanent state-of-fear regime.
But it is troublesome, as they are holding some of those poor schmucks for over a decade now. It costs untold millions of dollars to house, feed and abuse them, and since the world is watching, they must at times give the appearance of good behavior in their treatment. True, there could be abuse and torture whenever the Red Cross is not looking, which is most of the time. But there must be more to it than that. Under normal circumstances, these men would simply have been killed on the spot rather than detained indefinitely. There is no force of law in sub-radar U.S. military aggression. Capturing and holding these men at great expense must serve some other end.
Continue reading “Over-thinking Gitmo”
Notice: POM Now offering Democratic and Republican discussion threads
Looking over readership for the past few weeks, I have ascertained that writing about the American election produces the great volume of hits. Along those lines, I have decided to set up two discussion threads:
Obama good! Romney baaad! In this thread we’ll discuss our hatred of Muslims, advocacy of military aggression world-wide, fears that social programs are too burdensome, and minor issues like gaffes, demeanor at debates, references to cultural icons and advertising strategies and weekly football picks.
The other thread is
Romney good! Obama baaad! In this thread we’ll discuss our hatred of Muslims, advocacy of military aggression world-wide, fears that social programs are too burdensome, and minor issues like gaffes, demeanor at debates, references to cultural icons and advertising strategies and weekly football picks.
Please chime in. Also, for those who are less astute politically, I offer a third thread:
Offbeat issues: Military aggression, attacks on social programs, dumbing down of political debate, campaign finances, Citizens United, Wall Street crime and no punishment, erosion of civil liberties, political campaigns as a distraction from real political issues.
I expect the latter thread to have few participants.
Weekend world news roundup
A summary of news headlines from around the world:
- Afghan AOPP News: Insiders report that American President Obama, troubled by sagging poll results, has suggested to his campaign staff that they arrange for Osama bin Laden to be killed again. His staff has came up with a number of possibilities:
- He drifted ashore;
- He reappeared as a zombie, since the original Navy Seal raid forgot the need for a double-tap;
- He was found drifting in a life raft;
- And the most likely choice, that he was not actually killed in the first raid. Under this plan, Obama would assert that the Seals had mistakenly killed one of his Dopplegangers used as stunt doubles in the various short films credited to him over the years.
Faced with the possibility that the American public would not buy a second staged killing of the same man, Obama’s campaign chief, Jim Messina, said that they were not worried about all of public opinion, and only had to fool Democrats, “…quite an easy task, actually.”
- Jerusalem אפרטהייד: Polls show that African Americans far harder to fool than whites. A recent poll offering phrases such as
- “You wanna buy this car?”
- “We are an equal opportunity employer;”
- “No, seriously, Democrats really care about you” and
- “We’ll meet you at the apartment for a showing at 1:00 PM, don’t be late”
most often elicited the answer “Sheeeeit – you makin me a fool?” from the list of choices.
- Tehran Times: “Americans are just fuckin’ liars,” says a government official after President Obama announced that the US was seeking peaceful resolution to the current crisis. “There’s nothing to resolve,” said Nazim Abdullah, head of the Iranian State Bureau to Cut Through Western Bullshit. “What the fuck is there to resolve?” said Abdullah. “We’re just sittin’ here chillin out, and like pow! Scientists get knocked off, battle ships in the harbor … Holy Crap!” The general consensus on the ruling council, as put forth by Mullah Mohammed Omar, is “Get us a fuckin’ bomb, and soon!”
- Damascus Gaspro headline:
“Yeah, like all this shit goin’ down, and we like just go and shoot some Turks. Yeah. We’re that stupid.”
Election forecast
Obama will probably win, but Romney might. Both have powerful factions behind them.
Nothing else changes except …
If Romney wins, the Democratic base will assume the old pre-Obama posture of opposing the very things they are now supporting.
Oh yeah, almost forgot: If Romney wins, Republicans will stop talking about deficits. Blessed relief!
Obama Democrats: War hawks, tax cutters and terror monkeys
Craig, down below, offered insight on the inner workings of my mind regarding the presidential election:
… it’s the old “lips so no but the eyes say yes.” An accountant like Mark can do the math and see which candidate advances the bottom line of Mark’s agenda. He’s not stupid, just arrogant.
I’ve been somewhat troubled by the comment. First, as an accountant, I do not do math. I do arithmetic.
Secondly, when I think about the election outcome, I do get a fearful tinge when I think of a Romney victory. Craig’s got a point. But it’s an emotional response. Bush, after the stolen election in 2004, announced that he had “political capital” and immediately attacked Social Security. That was upsetting, but the attack failed*. Democrats rallied against him. Even Sen Max Baucus (D-MT) came to the program’s assistance. It was a situation where the institutional appearances overrode shared underlying goals. Democrats carefully gauged public opinion before responding. Seeing the attack would fail, they championed the program.
Continue reading “Obama Democrats: War hawks, tax cutters and terror monkeys”
Why Obama lost in Denver, maybe
There’s been chatter around since the debate in Denver that Romney won, or failed to lose less than Obama failed to win. It’s a moot point to me, but important, I suppose, in a land where the only confrontation allowed without paid ads are the so-called debates.
One question is why did Obama not attack? There are several possible answers:
- Angry Black Man: There are still racial undertones, and Obama succeeds because of his smooth-spoken command of the English language, and his beautiful wife and children. He’s half white, and that is the part that many white people vote for.