Obama fails his first test on civil liberties and accountability resoundingly and disgracefully
Salon
by Glenn Greenwald
02/09/09
The entire claim of ’state secrets’ in this case is based on two sworn Declarations from CIA Director Michael Hayden — one public and one filed secretly with the court. In them, Hayden argues that courts cannot adjudicate this case because to do so would be to disclose and thus degrade key CIA programs of rendition and interrogation — the very policies which Obama, in his first week in office, ordered shall no longer exist. How, then, could continuation of this case possibly jeopardize national security when the rendition and interrogation practices which gave rise to these lawsuits are the very ones that the U.S. Government, under the new administration, claims to have banned? What this is clearly about is shielding the U.S. Government and Bush officials from any accountability. Worse, by keeping Bush’s secrecy architecture in place, it ensures that any future President — Obama or any other — can continue to operate behind an impenetrable wall of secrecy, with no transparency or accountability even for blatantly criminal acts...
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/02/09/state_secrets/
The real cost of the bailout
The Daily Reckoning
by Bill Bonner
02/09/09
Obama himself said we might be on the verge of ‘catastrophe.’ And Summers added, ‘If there was ever a moment to transcend politics, this is that moment.’ But what good is $1 trillion worth of boondoggle spending going to do? General Market has just erased $50 trillion assets. All together, the feds have probably been able to put back a couple trillion — at most. And most of what they are putting back is just taken from some other front … it is not really a net increase in the feds’ firepower...
http://www.dailyreckoning.com/the-real-cost-of-the-bailout/
Government officials don’t want a free economy
Hawaii Reporter
by Guy Monahan
02/09/09
The latest effort by Congress and our new administration to resolve our economic malaise is a good example of applying macroeconomic management to an economy that thrives when microeconomic management is practiced. We as Americans have been conditioned by academia and media to believe that only experts with national and international credentials have all the answers...
http://tinyurl.com/ajzndy
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
--------
The 180-Degree Reversal of Obama's State Secrets Position
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/10-6
--------
"State Secrets" Privilege Not Gone with Bush
President Barack Obama has cast doubt on his promise to put an end to secret government by allowing his Justice Department to follow a path frequently taken by his predecessor.
http://ipsnews.net/text/news.asp?idnews=45719
From Information Clearing House
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Michael+Hayden
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=DoJ
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=civil+liberties
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=rendition
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=interrogation
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=national+security
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=state+secrets
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Glenn+Greenwald
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bill+Bonner
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Guy+Monahan
by Glenn Greenwald
02/09/09
The entire claim of ’state secrets’ in this case is based on two sworn Declarations from CIA Director Michael Hayden — one public and one filed secretly with the court. In them, Hayden argues that courts cannot adjudicate this case because to do so would be to disclose and thus degrade key CIA programs of rendition and interrogation — the very policies which Obama, in his first week in office, ordered shall no longer exist. How, then, could continuation of this case possibly jeopardize national security when the rendition and interrogation practices which gave rise to these lawsuits are the very ones that the U.S. Government, under the new administration, claims to have banned? What this is clearly about is shielding the U.S. Government and Bush officials from any accountability. Worse, by keeping Bush’s secrecy architecture in place, it ensures that any future President — Obama or any other — can continue to operate behind an impenetrable wall of secrecy, with no transparency or accountability even for blatantly criminal acts...
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/02/09/state_secrets/
The real cost of the bailout
The Daily Reckoning
by Bill Bonner
02/09/09
Obama himself said we might be on the verge of ‘catastrophe.’ And Summers added, ‘If there was ever a moment to transcend politics, this is that moment.’ But what good is $1 trillion worth of boondoggle spending going to do? General Market has just erased $50 trillion assets. All together, the feds have probably been able to put back a couple trillion — at most. And most of what they are putting back is just taken from some other front … it is not really a net increase in the feds’ firepower...
http://www.dailyreckoning.com/the-real-cost-of-the-bailout/
Government officials don’t want a free economy
Hawaii Reporter
by Guy Monahan
02/09/09
The latest effort by Congress and our new administration to resolve our economic malaise is a good example of applying macroeconomic management to an economy that thrives when microeconomic management is practiced. We as Americans have been conditioned by academia and media to believe that only experts with national and international credentials have all the answers...
http://tinyurl.com/ajzndy
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
--------
The 180-Degree Reversal of Obama's State Secrets Position
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/10-6
--------
"State Secrets" Privilege Not Gone with Bush
President Barack Obama has cast doubt on his promise to put an end to secret government by allowing his Justice Department to follow a path frequently taken by his predecessor.
http://ipsnews.net/text/news.asp?idnews=45719
From Information Clearing House
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Michael+Hayden
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=DoJ
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=civil+liberties
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=rendition
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=interrogation
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=national+security
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=state+secrets
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Glenn+Greenwald
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bill+Bonner
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Guy+Monahan
rudkla - 10. Feb, 11:57
