To the folks who are angry that Obama doesn’t unilaterally declare victory in war:

Ask yourselves, why is it so important for you to hear the word ‘victory’, in spite of the political reality of perpetual warfare with no tangible endgame? Knowing what we know about the useless war in Iraq, Obama saved lives (civilian and military) in finding the most pragmatic way to end the war without making our nation look cowardly in doing so. And, had he not done so, there could be another thousand families mourning a lost servicemember today. If you ask me, that’s far too high a price to pay for giving warmongerers the satisfaction of measuring dicks and high-fiving over cocktails down on C Street.

Another ten years in Iraq, throwing soldiers through the meat grinder and driving ourselves further into debt, would have accomplished nothing. And,after Bush’s stunt in 2003, I could care less if I ever see a politician arrogantly declare victory in war. I care about honoring soldiers by not treating them as if their lives are meaningless political resources to be wasted for convenience.

To Obama, at least on handling Iraq, I say well done.

3 ♥ 05.28.12

Senate panel approves five-year extension of warrantless wiretapping program

sinidentidades:

The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday approved the extension of legislation that authorized a sweeping warrantless wiretapping program started under the Bush Administration.

The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 gave the government broad powers to monitor international phone calls and emails, and granted legal immunity to telecommunication companies that had participated in the wiretapping program before 2008. The law was set to expire in 2012, but the Senate bill — passed by a 13-2 vote in the committee — would extend the law for another five years.

“The bill we approved today extends critical counterterrorism and intelligence gathering tools for the Intelligence Community,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Vice Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) said in a statement. “The committee has determined that these provisions provide intelligence to identify terrorist operatives and to understand the intentions of our adversaries around the world. These authorities cannot be allowed to expire and we urge quick action by the Senate and House to enact this extension.”

The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear the case Clapper v. Amnesty International, a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the federal government’s surveillance program.

I always find it infinitely depressing that the only thing Democrats and Republicans will compromise on is torture, war, and the unquestioned need to listen to my fucking phone calls and read my goddamned emails without a fucking warrant. (A warrant that they could obtain in secret anyway.)

26 ♥ 05.26.12

It is now confirmed that the would-be bomber of the civilian jet was, in fact, a double agent working for the CIA and Saudi intelligence.

wilwheaton:

So just as virtually every “domestic Terror plot” is one conceived, directed, funded and controlled by the FBI, this new Al Qaeda plot from Yemen was directed by some combination of the CIA and its Saudi partners. So this wasn’t merely a failed, nascent plot which is causing this fear-mongering media orgy: it was one controlled at all times by the U.S. and Saudi Governments.

(via Greenwald)

404 ♥ 05.08.12

Apparently…

Criticizing Obama’s horrid stances on privacy, drone warfare, drug policy, torture, and surveillance of US citizens means that I’m equal to a Bush supporter, at least for some of the douchebag, juvenile political hacks on Tumblr. Do you idiots really think I criticized these problems any less vociferously when George Bush was in charge?

My problem is that both parties in power are supportive of anti-privacy and surveillance powers, the war on drugs, torture, and unchecked drone warfare, and as a result, it’s making it hard for me to want to support Obama in the next election.

It does not make me a Romney or a Bush supporter, it makes me someone who wants Democratic party leaders to live up to a higher standard.

5 ♥ 05.06.12

destroythegop:

To the selfish whiny firebaggers who sat out the 2010 Election because President Obama didn’t deliver your magical pink sparkle pony:

Speaking for myself, my disappointment with Obama is not that he ‘didn’t deliver a liberal utopia’, and I find it a bit insulting that my fellow progressive voters have co-opted Obama’s criticism of his own, insulting us like we’re a bunch of whiny petulant children when there are genuinely valid concerns about his administration. It’s practically impossible for a candidate to deliver on all of their promises these days, and I knew I’d ultimately be a little disappointed to some extent.

What concerns me most are the issues for which there is genuine consensus among the two parties, and it’s some scary shit. For starters, it’s perfectly legal now to deploy drones against targets that aren’t even identified. Obama also supports the police state surveillance tactics of the CIA and FBI, the failed and destructive War on Drugs, occupying foreign countries, and keeping our torture center at Guantanamo Bay open. (You know, where innocent elderly people, mentally infirm people, and freaking teenagers have been tortured?)

I give Obama credit for what he has done, particularly in keeping the economy from collapsing, but I don’t know who I’ll vote for at this point. Honestly though, if I vote for Obama, I’ll be holding my nose as I do it.

140 ♥ 05.06.12

The United States has begun launching drone strikes against suspected al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen under new authority approved by President Obama that allows the CIA and the military to fire even when the identity of those who could be killed is not known, U.S. officials said.

Read that again:

The United States has begun launching drone strikes against suspected al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen under new authority approved by President Obama that allows the CIA and the military to fire even when the identity of those who could be killed is not known, U.S. officials said.

We don’t even care if we know what or who the target of a drone strike is anymore. To me, that seems like a degree of careless warmongering that is entirely inconsistent with the ideals of the United States and our presumed moral authority, but sadly, entirely consistent with our hypocritical foreign policy and international bullying tactics.

Despite all of the good he’s done, it’s shit like this that really makes me want to vote against Barack Obama. How can I support a man in good conscience that isn’t even remorseful or ashamed of the fact that our military is targeting innocent people?

2 ♥ 04.30.12

Regarding TSA harassment of 4 year-old children and their parents

Unilaterally empowering TSA to sexually assault elderly people, children, and anyone they choose is disgusting and unnecessary. People like to point at the ‘underwear bomber’ as an example, but ask yourself how he was apprehended? It wasn’t the TSA. We the passengers have always been and remain our own best chance at surviving any incident that may occur on a plane.

As many people have pointed out, TSA agents are largely underqualified and untrained to properly deal with people and keep them safe, as evidenced by the hundreds of reported incidents we’ve seen demonstrating their lack of judgment and the horrid policies they’ve pushed upon travelers. They still let weapons through, and always have. Due to incompetence, carelessness, and poor judgment cannot keep us 100% safe, so the trade-off they promise for us willingly giving up our rights is a lie.

Besides, it would be cheaper, more effective, and less invasive to find bombs and other incendiary weapons by keeping bomb sniffing dogs at each terminal. Why don’t we do this instead?

1 ♥ 04.26.12

canisfamiliaris:

Portrait of former US President George W. Bush made from photos of soldiers who have died in Iraq. Fucking bastard. (high res)

(via postmortemdecay666::christiantheatheist)

1365 ♥ 04.22.12

ohmisskay:
To everybody who says Obama inherited Bush’s “mess”. Your argument is invalid.

It’s cute when conservatives set aside their coloring books and crayons and try to make a point about politics. With that said, I can’t believe I have to counter this bullshit, but here goes:
Obama has no control over the national credit rating, and it’s a consensus that our national credit rating was lowered because of Republican gamesmanship regarding the debt ceiling negotiations. It’s a rather risky proposition to try and force the country to default on its bills, as the Republicans attempted to do.
Secondly, unemployment. Smear Obama’s job record all you want, but unemployment is directly correlated with the dismal economy that resulted from the Bush Administration, and Obama’s done something neither Bush did, he’s created jobs in energy and manufacturing throughout his entire presidency. As much as you want to blame Obama, he doesn’t own a recession that resulted directly from his predecessor’s actions.
Gas, yes. Both parties love to use this to smear the other, but as others have pointed out, the President has little to no affect on gas prices. The high gas prices we’re currently experiencing are the result of rampant speculation in the market.
$15 Trillion in debt. Can’t argue it, we’ve spent a shitload of money. However, we can argue that the spending has actually saved our economy, given the fact that the United Kingdom and other European countries that enacted ‘austerity’ policies are experiencing record unemployment and disastrously putrid economic activity. We should have spent more, but the Republicans fucked that up too.
Three wars? Really? Iraq is over, and you should be thankful to the president for cleaning up that god-awful mess. The Libyan operation is over, and the US strategy shortened that conflict and saved us billions of dollars. Afghanistan is winding down, and hopefully, that other mess Bush left us will soon be concluded.
99 weeks of unemployment: First off, BOTH PARTIES signed off on this, and secondly, I see nothing wrong with workers who spent decades in the work force receiving value for the taxes they paid in the form of unemployment. As you might recall, Republicans signed off on it because doing so gave them tax breaks that benefit the wealthiest classes the most, the tax cuts we’re driving ourselves further into debt to finance.
No annual budget: Call me when the Republican Party is willing to negotiate like fucking adults. Until they are, it isn’t happening.
Further, I should add that this bullshit is unnecessary. Mitch McConnell has already admitted, on national television no less, that all they care about is getting the black fella out of the White House, and they’ve demonstrated that they’re willing to destroy the country to do it, as evidenced by their attempt to force the government not to pay its fucking bills

ohmisskay:

To everybody who says Obama inherited Bush’s “mess”. Your argument is invalid.

It’s cute when conservatives set aside their coloring books and crayons and try to make a point about politics. With that said, I can’t believe I have to counter this bullshit, but here goes:

Obama has no control over the national credit rating, and it’s a consensus that our national credit rating was lowered because of Republican gamesmanship regarding the debt ceiling negotiations. It’s a rather risky proposition to try and force the country to default on its bills, as the Republicans attempted to do.
Secondly, unemployment. Smear Obama’s job record all you want, but unemployment is directly correlated with the dismal economy that resulted from the Bush Administration, and Obama’s done something neither Bush did, he’s created jobs in energy and manufacturing throughout his entire presidency. As much as you want to blame Obama, he doesn’t own a recession that resulted directly from his predecessor’s actions.
Gas, yes. Both parties love to use this to smear the other, but as others have pointed out, the President has little to no affect on gas prices. The high gas prices we’re currently experiencing are the result of rampant speculation in the market.
$15 Trillion in debt. Can’t argue it, we’ve spent a shitload of money. However, we can argue that the spending has actually saved our economy, given the fact that the United Kingdom and other European countries that enacted ‘austerity’ policies are experiencing record unemployment and disastrously putrid economic activity. We should have spent more, but the Republicans fucked that up too.
Three wars? Really? Iraq is over, and you should be thankful to the president for cleaning up that god-awful mess. The Libyan operation is over, and the US strategy shortened that conflict and saved us billions of dollars. Afghanistan is winding down, and hopefully, that other mess Bush left us will soon be concluded.
99 weeks of unemployment: First off, BOTH PARTIES signed off on this, and secondly, I see nothing wrong with workers who spent decades in the work force receiving value for the taxes they paid in the form of unemployment. As you might recall, Republicans signed off on it because doing so gave them tax breaks that benefit the wealthiest classes the most, the tax cuts we’re driving ourselves further into debt to finance.
No annual budget: Call me when the Republican Party is willing to negotiate like fucking adults. Until they are, it isn’t happening.

Further, I should add that this bullshit is unnecessary. Mitch McConnell has already admitted, on national television no less, that all they care about is getting the black fella out of the White House, and they’ve demonstrated that they’re willing to destroy the country to do it, as evidenced by their attempt to force the government not to pay its fucking bills

96 ♥ 03.17.12

I guess to the U.S. military, four deployments -- three to Iraq and one to Afghanistan -- over more than a decade doesn't sound like a lot. Until a soldier kills 16 people.

Our culture with regards to our military is so incredibly hypocritical. On the one hand we essentially worship the military as a civic religion, and on the other we treat our troops as if they are mindless automatons or plastic game pieces on a chess board.

66 ♥ 03.16.12

Ryan's Dirty Trailer

To the folks who are angry that Obama doesn’t unilaterally declare victory in war:

Senate panel approves five-year extension of warrantless wiretapping program

It is now confirmed that the would-be bomber of the civilian jet was, in fact, a double agent working for the CIA and Saudi intelligence.

Apparently…

The United States has begun launching drone strikes against suspected al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen under new authority approved by President Obama that allows the CIA and the military to fire even when the identity of those who could be killed is not known, U.S. officials said.

Regarding TSA harassment of 4 year-old children and their parents

I guess to the U.S. military, four deployments -- three to Iraq and one to Afghanistan -- over more than a decade doesn't sound like a lot. Until a soldier kills 16 people.