Chertoff Warns Of "Earth Shattering" Events

DHS Head's guts giving him trouble once more 2/11/08 Department of Homeland Security Head Michael Chertoff has repeated the same fearmongering warning he made last year - he is worried "earth shattering" terror events are likely to be carried out soon. Once again, Chertoff provides no specific details, he simply reminds Americans that they need to remain afraid of phantom terrorists: "If you're asking me what keeps me up at night or what I most worry about -- in the short term, obviously, you worry about homegrown terrorists or somebody coming in with an explosive device or the kind of act of violence or terror that we've actually seen occasionally carried out in this country by people who are simply nuts or like a Timothy McVeigh." Chertoff told WTOP news. "But in the longer run, in terms of something that would really be earth-shattering, the kinds of things I'm worried about are a nuclear or a dirty bomb attack or a nuclear or biological attack." Chertoff continued, citing the motive of toppling the already teetering US economy.. » read more

Keith Olbermann's FISA Flip-Flop

June 30, 2008 Quote of the Day: "Politicians are like bad horsmen who are so preoccupied with staying in the saddle that they can't bother about where they're going." -- Joseph Schumpeter Subject: Olbermann, Obama, & FISA Part of our strategy for combating the new FISA bill will involve doing doing some new things. One of the things we want to do is pressure Barack Obama to step-up and lead the fight against warrantless spying and telecom immunity. The other thing we're going to do is pressure Keith Olbermann of MSNBC. It appears that Mr.. » read more

Obama's FISA Opportunity (with video)

Monday 30 June 2008 Finally, as promised, a Special Comment on FISA and the Junior Senator from Illinois.     The Democratic leadership in the Senate, Republican knuckle-dragging in the same chamber, and the mediocre skills of whoever wrote the final version of the FISA bill, have combined to give Senator Barack Obama a second chance to make a first impression.     And he damned well better take it.     The Senate vote on this tortured and reckless piece of legislation has now been postponed until after the 4th of July break.     The Democrats, completing their FISA experience (a collective impression of Homer Simpson falling off a cliff and hitting every bramble on the way down), didn't exactly plan this fortuitous delay.. » read more

Senator Feingold Will Filibuster FISA

Tuesday 24 June 2008 It's being described as the most significant revision of the nation's surveillance law in three decades. The Senate is preparing to vote on rewriting the nation's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and giving immunity to phone companies involved in President Bush's secret domestic spy program. We speak with Senator Russ Feingold (D–WI), who has been the leading congressional voice against the Bush administration's warrantless spy program since it was exposed nearly three years ago. In an interview with Amy Goodman, Senator Russ Feingold said he would filibuster the FISA bill. (Photo: Lauren Victoria Burke / AP)     "One of the greatest intrusions, potentially, on the rights of Americans protected under the 4th Amendment.. » read more

'Thank or Spank' Your Congressperson

June 23, 2008 Quote of the Day: "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." ~Ambrose Redmoon (James Neil Hollingworth) Subject: More urgent action needed The Senate is likely to vote tomorrow on the bill that . . . * Legalizes warrantless spying * Grants immunity to the telecom companies that cooperated with previous illegal spying Please send a message to your Senators telling them to vote NO on this bill.. » read more

Martial Law: A License to Loot, a Permit to Plunder

Sunday, June 22, 2008 Digging up the planted axioms that litter our ordinary conversations can be a revealing exercise. We learn how deeply rooted our supposedly free society has become in collectivist and militarist assumptions. For example: How often do we hear or read language that draws a distinction between "police" and "civilians"? Breaking and entering: Where does this fit under the heading "To protect and serve"? A paramilitary "strike team" commits a felonious break-in of a home in the flood-ravaged Midwest. Digging up the planted axioms that litter our ordinary conversations can be a revealing exercise. We learn how deeply rooted our supposedly free society has become in collectivist and militarist assumptions.. » read more

FEMA: It’s Not About Floods, It’s About Martial Law (with videos)

June 15, 2008 “Indiana residents affected by Saturday’s flooding shouldn’t expect assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency any time soon, and perhaps not at all,” Michael Hampton writes for the Homeland Stupidity blog. If and when Gov. Mitch Daniels declares disaster, FEMA will "come to the rescue” by "setting up a phone number and web site for individuals to ask for assistance in the form of loans.” Short of a declaration and miles of red tape, Department of Homeland Security spokesman John Erickson told the Indy Star residents are basically on their own. Erickson said Hoosiers should “start the cleanup process and don’t wait for federal assistance at this point.. » read more

Martial Law Exercises Continue In Denver (with videos)

June 18, 2008 Pat Manning writes on the Denver Direct website: Denver, City Park West, 8:00 pm - According to a Denver Police spokesperson, the invasion of black helicopters with uniformed men hanging off of them, experienced by this neighborhood this evening, is a practice run of Navy Seals and SWAT teams, landing at the Civic Center, Childrens Hospital, and City Park, in preparation for the Democratic National Convention. Hmmmm…. The Rocky Mountain News, after an unflattering article on the Black Hawks — yes, tinfoil hatters, black helicopters — invading Denver, came back with a clarification. It’s all part of the GWOT, or Global War on Terrorism, in response to the reservations of mayor John Hickenlooper. “The federal agencies sponsoring the ongoing multi-agency training in Denver agreed to make the proper notifications regarding the exercises to prevent surprise and inconvenience to Denver residents,” Hickenlooper said.. » read more

Strike team moves through flooded Cedar Rapids, Iowa neighborhoods (video)

June 16, 2008 Strike teams, designed to inspect businesses, homes and neighborhoods impacted by flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, are shown doing their work on Monday, June 16, 2008. GazetteOnline video by Jeff Raasch. TO VIEW THIS VIDEO CLICK ON:  www.vimeo.com/1184739. » read more

What Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and Fred Hiatt mean by "bipartisanship"

Friday June 20, 2008 09:36 EDT (Updated below - Update II - Update III - Update IV - Update V - Update VI -- first ad against Steny Hoyer - Update VII -- Obama announces support for "compromise" FISA/amnesty bill - Update VIII - Update IX) It's bad enough watching the likes of Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emanuel and a disturbingly disoriented Nancy Pelosi eviscerate the Fourth Amendment, exempt their largest corporate contributors from the rule of law, and endorse the most radical aspects of the Bush lawbreaking regime. But it's downright pathetic to see them try to depict their behavior as some sort of bipartisan "compromise" whereby they won meaningful concessions: "When they saw that we were unified in sending that bill rather than falling for their scare tactics, I think it sent them a message," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "So our leverage was increased because of our Democratic unity in both cases." Not even the media establishment and the GOP can refrain from mocking this pretense they're trying to peddle.. » read more

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