Thoughts on politics, religion, violence, inequality, social control, change, and random other things from an autonomous, analytical, adopted, anarchist, atheist who likes the letter A
The right wing, with Glenn Beck leading the charge, has been drumming up controversy over Obama’s “czars.” They claim the “czars” have powerful positions with no oversight. This is despite the fact that, as Politico reports, many of them were confirmed by congress or fill posts specifically authorized by congress.
The democrats are now jumping on board too. Robert Byrd, Russ Feingold, and Diane Feinstein want to make sure these “czars” do not upset the checks and balances in our system. (Somebody want to tell me where they were when Dubya and Darth Cheney were running the Whitehouse/world?)
I think a little history lesson might be in order here. Czars were overprivelged, hereditary royalty. The last czar of Russia, Nicholas, was adamantly autocratic, loved pogroms, and was prone to letting the people die of starvation while he lounged in his palace surrounded by Faberge eggs. His excesses and corrupted mind decimated Russia’s economic system and military.
So, let’s see, George W. Bush:
overprivileged – check
hereditary position – check
autocratic – check (he was “the decider” you know)
lets people die while he lounges/vacations – check (Katrina)
I believe this means that Rove is Rasputin. He was the mystic who advised Nicolas and is often blamed for Russia’s downfall. His alleged penis is now on display in St. Petersburg. I don’t wish violence on anyone, but Rove might want to start wearing a cup.
It’s no secret that race is the central issue for many of the people who oppose Obama (but pretend to oppose his policies). Glenn Beck has taken a lot of heat for saying that he thought Barack Obama was a racist, but Beck is not the only one. And now that conservatives are feeling nervous about a torture investigation, even the most polished organizations are getting blatant.
Yesterday’s Morning Bell from the Heritage Foundation was titled Politics Before Justice at Obama’s DOJ. Agreeing wholeheartedly with their lord and master, Dick Cheney, they claim that Eric Holder’s investigation is only an attempt to attack the previous administration. Then they go on to cite other examples of where politics has trumped justice with Eric Holder.
Example number one – Black panthers who intimidated voters in 2008 had their cases dismissed. Example number two – Bill Richardson will not be charged with any crime related to the pay-to-play scheme that was under investigation and which cost him his post in the Obama administration. Example number three – Holder was said to have pushed for pardons for members of the FALN and Los Macheteros, Puerto Rican nationalist groups.
Are we noticing a pattern here? Eric Holder dismisses charges against brown people, but goes after the good ole boys at the CIA. Now the Heritage Foundation is not quite that blunt. For the blunt version, you need to head over to Free Republic, where commenters are more than willing to spell it out.
True. Most obama advisors hate whites,
but Holder advocates violence and threats against whites,
and has and will continue to use the US Government
to protect those who assault whites
– even at voting booths.
This is the narrative that is developing over the torture investigations. It is only going to get worse. There are a lot of people out there who know they broke the law and know they have very slim protection. They are powerful and they aren’t going down without a nasty fight.
Number 1 – The black panther case that the right is in such an uproar about involved two men standing outside a polling place in Phili. One was an official poll watcher with every right to be there. Judging by the video below, the only one there scared by the black panther’s presence was the fox news correspondent sent to the polling place to sensationalize. Although I’m sure Faux News viewers were peeing in their pants at the site of an unarmed black panther.
Number 2 – Bill Richardson was investigated and the DOJ decided not to pursue the matter. They haven’t said why. Republicans and Fox News are insinuating that they are letting him off for political reasons, but they don’t know that. Moreover, as TPM reports, the DOJ isn’t exactly exonerating him. They just don’t seem to think they have a case.
Number 3 – FALN and Los Macheteros did plan bombings and I don’t condone violence. But the people pardoned by Bill Clinton (with reported pressure from Eric Holder) had not been convicted of bombings or of any crime where people were hurt. Moreover, clemency for those individuals was being pushed for by prominent human rights defenders, including Jimmy Carter. Whether or not you think the pardons were appropriate (and I personally thing presidential pardons are a bad idea), the right is leaving out most of the story when they just say Holder released terrorists.
The kicker to the Heritage Foundation’s email was this doozy of a quote.
Now, as the head of DOJ, Holder’s political decisions are undermining core rule of law concerns including the integrity of elections, ethical governance, and national security. Holder reports directly to his boss, President Barack Obama. Someone needs to be held accountable.
Can you believe those guys can actually write that? It’s like they live in a parallel universe. The people who testified before congress that the Supreme Court was right to stop the 2000 recount are worried about the “integrity of elections.” The people who insisted that human rights protections didn’t apply to people not in our territory are worried about ethical governance?
They are right about one thing. Somebody needs to be held accountable.
