Category: American Empire

Michael Moore / Sept 8, 2011

“I”m thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I’m wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it … .” – Glenn Beck, live on the Glenn Beck show, 17 May 2005

Wishes for my early demise seemed to be everywhere. They were certainly on the mind of CNN’s Bill Hemmer one sunny July morning in 2004. Holding a microphone in front of my face on the floor of the 2004 Democratic National Convention, live on CNN, he asked me what I thought about how the American people were feeling about Michael Moore:…

By Noam Chomsky / TomDispatch.com / Sept. 6, 2011

Was There an Alternative?

We are approaching the 10th anniversary of the horrendous atrocities of September 11, 2001, which, it is commonly held, changed the world. On May 1st, the presumed mastermind of the crime, Osama bin Laden, was assassinated in Pakistan by a team of elite US commandos, Navy SEALs, after he was captured, unarmed and undefended, in Operation Geronimo.

Join with the San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice and San Diego Veterans for Peace on Sunday, September 11, 2011, 2-4 pm Park Blvd and President’s Way Balboa Park, San Diego.

On September 12th, 2001, hundreds of us gathered to develop our collective response to the tragedy in New York City. Together we formed the San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice – and we have met ever since.

On September 11th, 2011 we are calling on 100 organizations and hundreds more of us to gather to mark the day and to learn the lessons resulting from 10 years of war.

Last week, Rep. Steven Chabot (R-OH) banned ordinary citizens from bringing cameras into a town hall meeting — even having police confiscate cameras from citizens who dared to violate this rule . Bizarrely, Chabot still allowed reporters to bring in cameras and record the event.

Coincidentally, just four days after Chabot took this extraordinary measure to prevent embarrassing clips of him from appearing on YouTube, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit handed down an opinion saying citizens have a right to film police engaged in their official duties.

by Jeanne Mirer and Marjorie Cohn / CommonDreams.org

The debate about the debt ceiling should have been a conversation about how to create jobs. It is time for progressives to remind the government that it has a legal duty to create jobs, and must act immediately – if not through Congress, then through the Federal Reserve.

With official unemployment reaching over 9%, the unofficial rate in double digits, and the unemployment rate for people of color more than double that of whites, it is nerve wracking to hear right wing political pundits say the government cannot create jobs.

Too much yelling, not enough listening.

Facing organized, often raucous confrontations at political events, some members of Congress this summer abandoned the long-time tradition of open meetings with the folks back home.

It was goodbye to one of the few remaining opportunities for voters and lawmakers to talk face to face.

Some cited security in the aftermath of the shooting that severely wounded Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords at a meet-and-greet event in January. Others blamed grass-roots groups for commandeering the town halls. Still others opted for smaller, sometimes private or paid events.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department filed suit Wednesday to block AT&T’s $39 billion deal to buy T-Mobile USA on grounds that it would raise prices for consumers. The government contends that the acquisition of the No. 4 wireless carrier in the country by No. 2 AT&T would reduce competition.

By John Lawrence / Will Blog For Food / August 30, 2011

Grover Norquist has never been elected to office yet Republican politicians are pledging their obeisance to him. Norquist is one of the most powerful unelected men controlling US politics.

His motto is “I want to shrink government down so small that I can drown it in the bathtub.”

Some of the country’s best-known multi­national corporations closely guard a number they don’t want anyone to know: the breakdown between their jobs here and abroad.

So secretive are these companies that they hand the figure over to government statisticians on the condition that officials will release only an aggregate number. The latest data show that multinationals cut 2.9 million jobs in the United States and added 2.4 million overseas between 2000 and 2009.

The County of San Diego has just released a video to warn all of us of the “Eight Signs of Terrorism”, in preparation for the tenth anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks, as part of their “See something, say something” campaign. We would like to add to this watch our additional Eight Signs of Republican Extremism.

To report suspicious activity, email the OB Rag at obragblog@gmail.com.

People who do the following might be plotting Republican extremist acts:

* Under the guise and rhetoric of “small government”, order all welfare and other poor people who receive public assistance to submit to monthly drug tests, as clearly the poor use illegal drugs much more than the rest of us….

By John Lawrence / Will Blog For Food / August 23, 2011

The Tea Party wants to get “government off ‘our’ back.”

But is government really on our back or is the case really that corporations and wealthy interests are on government’s back? There are 40,000 or more lobbyists in Washington, DC. They are there for the purposes of extracting taxpayer money for their corporate sponsors’ benefits and for no other reason.

Bernie Sanders : It’s Time for Them to Pay up and Share the Sacrifice

While hard working Americans fill out their income tax returns this tax season, General Electric and other giant profitable corporations are avoiding U.S. taxes altogether.

With Congress returning to Capitol Hill on Monday to debate steep spending cuts, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said the wealthiest Americans and most profitable corporations must do their share to help bring down our record-breaking deficit.