by Larisa Alexandrovna
Something very questionable is happening in Obama’s Department of Justice. I don’t know if it is simply institutional loyalty that is the reason for a once admired office of justice to simply abdicate from its official duty. Whatever the reason, there is one question that no one will answer and this question only grows more urgent as new developments are made public.
Why is no one being held accountable? It is one thing to overlook a series of bad choices made in good faith. But the issues at hand have nothing to do with good faith or even bad choices. The allegations of criminal activity and extreme and willful abuses of power by officials of the Bush administration fall directly under the very definition of high crimes. The crimes are not small ones either.
The Watergate break-in, for example, appears insignificant against the backdrop of the Bush-Cheney legacy. No, the crimes are not small or even limited to a single genre or type of crime. From the outing of a CIA officer for political payback, to the massive illegal domestic surveillance program, to a policy of torture that resulted in multiple homicides; high crimes were committed and more startling, no one has been held to account.
Why?
The Manipulation of Language
In all other times in the past, when a crime occurred involving officials in the highest positions of government, no one thought to dare argue the necessity for committing the crime or how truly patriotic the crime was. Now we are told that we were spied on for our own good, that torture saves lives, that outing a CIA officer is okay, that starting an illegal war was just a series of decisions based on bad intelligence.
The debate over these various crimes has been drawn in such a way as to make it seem too complicated for the average American, too steeped in national security for the average American to understand, and missing in important details because those are too classified for the average American to see.
What of the domestic political prosecutions then and the victims who were targeted for political reasons? Why is no one being held accountable? Worse still, why is Obama’s DOJ seemingly engaging in payback given the latest news? Have you seen the latest news?
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Federal prosecutors have recommended that former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman be sentenced to 20 years in prison when he receives a new sentencing hearing in federal court in Montgomery.
That's a much longer sentence than the more than 7-year prison term Siegelman originally received for his 2006 conviction in a federal government corruption case. The recommendation comes after a panel of 3 appellate judges dismissed 2 of the seven charges the former governor was convicted of and ordered a new sentencing hearing.
Don Siegelman
Here you have a case that is so visibly flawed, so visibly unethical and possibly even criminal on the part of the prosecutors, and so visibly implicating the Bush White House, that it calls into question everything the DOJ did during Bush’s 8 year reign (yes, you read that right).
Attorney General Holder stepped into former Senator Ted Steven’s corruption case on the grounds that federal prosecutors behaved unethically and possibly in a criminal way. This was the right decision, but why Stevens and no one else? Why are federal prosecutors demanding harsher sentencing in a case where the prosecutorial misconduct was far worse than it was in the Stevens’ case?
Why are we getting no answers to any of this?
Siegelman’s case is not remotely related to national security nor are we missing important details because those are too classified for us to see. We know a good deal about what happened and yet we are still unable to get any answers to the basic question: why is no one being held accountable?
Consider that this is a case where it has been demonstrated beyond any shadow of doubt that a man was targeted for political reasons, the main witness against him was coached and intimidated, and the US Attorney directed the case despite recusing herself because of her conflicts of interest. Yet Holder does worse than nothing.
To make my point more clear, let me provide but a few highlights of what we know to be true with regard to Siegelman’s prosecution.
- The US Attorney who prosecuted Siegelman is married to William Canary, a business associate of former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and prosecuted Siegelman during the latter’s employment at the White House. Moreover, the US Attorney’s husband was an advisor to Siegelman’s opponent in the 2002 gubernatorial elections while his wife was investigating Siegelman.
- This US Attorney, Leura Canary, has claimed publicly time and time again that she had recused herself due to the conflict of interest. Time Magazine, however, uncovered emails from Canary to her team in which she detailed to day-to-day objectives of the prosecution.
- As Siegelman was being investigated and prosecuted by Leura Canary, Karl Rove was actively running the Alabama gubernatorial campaign with Bill Canary for Siegelman’s opponent. In addition, he had clandestine meetings on street corners with Alabama GOP operatives.
Remember, that his business partner in Alabama is married to the US Attorney who prosecuted Siegelman while also acting as an advisor to Siegelman’s opponent in the election. All of this alone would be enough to throw Siegelman’s case out entirely. Why then is his case instead being pushed through with harsher terms?
- Yet another remarkable development is the direct communication between the prosecutors and the jury, DURING jury deliberations. That raises questions of jury tampering and any such activities on the part of the prosecution usually result in a mistrial. The prosecutors not only engaged in this conduct, but failed to inform both the defense and the court. That alone should have been enough reason for throwing out Siegelman’s case entirely.
- The judge in the case, Mark Fuller, claims to have investigated the issues and found no evidence of jury tampering. Yet despite having a long-standing grudge against Siegelman, Fuller did not recuse himself from the case.
- More astounding are the allegations from Republican whistle-blower Dana Jill Simpson, who swore under oath that Fuller was selected/appointed to be a judge in order to “hang Siegelman.” She also testified that Rove was directly involved in Siegelman’s prosecution.
Why is this not enough to demand the DOJ’s full intervention as with the Stevens’ case?
These are but a few examples of the many issues around this case and the facts that are now well established and known. But let me provide you with one more example relating to this case that rather clearly illustrates that something is terribly wrong at the DOJ.
During the trial and sentencing, the targets of two allegedly political prosecutions – Siegelman being one – as well as their attorneys experienced 8 break-ins and two cases of arson.
Simpson, the whistle-blower in the Siegelman case, was another victim. She was run off the road by a former police officer and her house was set on fire. Yet no one has been investigated for these series of crimes individually or collectively. Why?
The Watergate scandal began with a single break-in. Why is no one investigating these break-ins, arson, and other strange crimes that have plagued Siegelman, his attorney, and the whistle-blower in the case?
Now consider the news today that the DOJ is seeking a 20-year sentence for Siegelman against the backdrop of the above facts. Consider too that 54 former state Attorneys General of both parties filed several letters with the DOJ demanding a full investigation into the prosecution of Don Siegelman. What had initially gotten roughly 30 of them interested in the case was the extreme sentence imposed on Siegelman – a seven-year term. By the way, the number of former state Attorneys General of both parties demanding a full accounting in the Siegelman case is now 70.
Yet even after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals dropped two of the charges, Siegelman’s sentence appears to be growing rather than dwindling in the DOJ’s version of reality.
Why? Is this payback for embarrassing the DOJ? What possible reason could account for the prosecution seeking an unheard of 20-year prison term? Most importantly, why does the Obama DOJ appear to be covering up Bush administration crimes, including those against American citizens prosecuted for political reasons?
##
If you are not familiar with the Siegelman case or the other cases of political prosecution, I urge you to read the links below and view snips from a new documentary. Incidentally, the producer/director of the documentary, John McTiernan, has now also been indicted. No, I am not joking.
- Part 1: Political Prisoner
- Part 2: Siegelman's Daughter Speaks Out
- Part 3: Running Elections from the White House
- Part 4: Mississippi Prosecutions
- Part 5: Interview with Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver E. Diaz, Jr.
- Part 6: Break-Ins Plague Targets of Political Prosecutions
- Part 7: Justice for Sale
- Judge who denied Paul Minor's release protoge of Karl Rove
- DOJ Investigating 2 US Attorneys in alleged political prosecutions
- 60 Minutes signal dropped in Alabama only during Siegelman portion
- Interview with Dana Jill Simpson on Karl Rove's alleged smears
- Karl Rove's next move: A Million Dollar House in Florida
- Abramoff said he had agreement with White House aid regarding communications
- Treasury Department investigating US Attorney for sharing private income tax returns of a case target
Project Save Justice:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Tags: DOJ, Don Siegelman, Eric Holder, Karl Rove, Larisa Alexandrovna, Leura Canary, Political Prosecutions, US Attorney Scandal
Thanks, Larisa.
More and more, I'm thinking that Obama's brief has been to cover up or whitewash every crime that Bushco committed. Torture, perversions of justice, murder, lying the country into war, illegal surveillance--it's all being buried by Obama's administration, and therefore by the man himself. I'd like to know what the bargain is between Bushco and the Dems.
The obvious answer is that Don Siegelman not only has enemies on the Republican side of the aisle, but he also has enemies on the Democratic side. Siegelman was too liberal for many Democrats. With a proposed state lottery and lawsuits against ExxonMobil and the tobacco industry, He threatened to shake up a system that lined the pockets of moderate and conservative Southern Democrats as well as Republicans. It's time to ask President Obama for a pardon.
If you folks get a moment, please digg this
"Holder does worse than nothing"
Here you have it. Holder works for Obama, so this is all about Obama. Why is the "change" here negative change instead of positive change, you ask?
Because when it comes to the serious political and economic issues Obama, just like Bush, takes his orders from the Plutocracy.
There is no chance for positive change until the enemy, the Plutocracy, is destroyed. We must [REMOVED] them before they succeed in [REMOVED] us. If this sounds too overwhelming and impossible, then you had best start drinking now and stay drunk because there is no other way out of this cage.
I agree that Siegelman is a victim of injustice. I am not indifferent to his suffering. I also believe two wrongs don't make a right. However, I cannot forget that despite the pleas of Pope John Paul II and former President Carter, Siegelman allow the execution of Brian Baldwin to occur. Brian was framed by torture extracted confession. Holly Sklar wrote an excellent piece on this. I would appreciate Siegelman seeking atonement for his action.
Obama is a product of the same forces that created Bush. The sooner this is realized the better. Of course he is covering Bush's crimes, because they aren't "Bush's crimes" they're the crimes of the underlying forces, which paid for Obama's campaign.
The New American Salute - Cover your eyes and open your wallet
America is not a country to admire as long as it ignores the horid crimes of its politicians!
Take to the streets!! Kill the empire to save the Republic!!!
BTW
I forgot to mention - AMAZING article! These things need to be heard so that maybe someone will stand up and hold the Bush and Obama people accountable. If Obama allows even one Bush crime to go unpunished he should be charged with obstruction!
Oh I forgot to mention. Brian Baldwin had been a juvenile delinquent before he was framed for murder. So don't take your eye off the ball. Brian is just a bump in the road in the martyrdom of Saint Siegelman.
Larisa,
In these dark times of American history, all of these crimes have been committed in the context of September 11, 2001. Indeed, eight long years later, the former high officials who are responsible for these many crimes, and the continuing injustice and unaccountability for them, are still citing that terrible date as the reason, excuse, for why they did what they did. And they have also willfully, and successfully, avoided responsibility and punishment for allowing Sept. 11 to even occur.
The only reason I can understand why this has been allowed to happen, is that the American people are afflicted with an ignorance as a result of inherent Ultra-Patriotism. This is the belief instilled in every American, from birth to death, that there is no greater citizen, no greater country, and no greater way of life than America.
Thus, the American public, and by extension high officials, have been unconsciously conditioned to view the peoples of Third World countries with low regard, allowing for the terrible abuses such as torture seen in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. It is alright when it happens to them, but not to an American. On a daily basis, body count numbers in the news become just that - numbers, with no real meaning behind them for the average citizen.
The criminal Bush "administration" deviously and immorally seized upon this inherent Ultra-Patriotism, and unified it with intense propaganda to manipulate the public's perception into supporting its illegal aggressions and other numerous crimes. Anyone who spoke out against their policies was labeled unpatriotic, a dissident or even a domestic terrorist. Cheney, Rice, Graham, Lieberman and many others are still playing the Ultra-Patriotism card. Thus they are, and have been, guilty of waging terrorism upon their own fellow citizens, all the while gambling that the public will absolve them for it.
With regards to the Iraqi conflict (and the torture of so-called "detainees"), the U.S. leadership has effectively transported the public's fear as an American form of state terrorism onto the innocent Iraqi civilians, to exploit anger and retribution for 9/11, while fueling the fires of inherent arrogance and ignorance. Most of the general public will not recognize or accept their exploitation as fact.
How were they able to accomplish all of this?
Because they made the U.S. mainstream news media complicit to their many crimes by anesthetizing the public to the horror of Iraq and to waterboarding. They turned it into entertainment and ratings. But more than that, they conspired to collectively manipulate U.S. public opinion instead of maintaining their journalistic code of objective neutrality. Ultra-Patriotism is absolute, while ethics and morality are out of fashion. In this way, the media, the Congress, and the so-called Bush "administration" all failed the innocent citizens of America and Iraq, in whose blood their hands are soaked with.
As is now apparent, the real truth of why the Democrats didn't push for impeachment is because it threatened to reveal the full extent of their own complicity in the government's abrogation of the Constitution, those set of laws which Bush called 'just a goddamned piece of paper'.
This is obviously not just a conspiracy theory anymore. The evidence of this complicity has been there for all to see, right from the beginning, but only those who chose not to look with their eyes wide shut could see it.
I believe Bush and Cheney will suffer no repercussions because they, and their enablers, are strongly pushing to have themselves viewed as Americans having done their best to lead their country in a time of so-called "war". Simply put, Ultra-Patriotism will save their asses.
Patriotism is one of America's greatest strengths, but as we have all seen - it can also be it's greatest weakness. I think that the real strength of America has always been the foundation of truly noble laws and ideas set forth in its Constitution. To continue to trample on and ignore those cherished laws now in the republic's time of need, is a crime in itself, and indeed it may even be a greater one.
Obama has let himself be led by the forces of status quo. Geitner is simply oriented to funneling middle class wealth to the moneyed elites. That is what our system is designed to do. It is trickle down economics for the new century. Change? No, simply more bulls***. Obama has forsaken any concept of rule of law, of defending the constitution, or the bill of rights. I hope he changes.
Until then, I am unsubscribing to any Obama-related mailing list, and will refuse to support his campaign. It is the only way I know to make my disappointment known.
I agree that the Siegelman case is hard to understand.
My only assumption in all this is that he is sacrificing everything for one or 2 big legislative accomplishments.... torture, war crimes, DOJ corruption... nothing matters except health care and maybe energy/Afghanistan and the Supreme court.
In that scheme of things, "the past" and Siegelman and war crimes are inconvenient.
He's not willing to risk launching a war (politically, in the US) that blows up the agenda.
How will I judge him if he is successful in addressing health care, energy and the economy, but lets war crimes slide?
Hmmmm.
Obama Justice Department continues to cover up Bush-Era crimes...
Why is no one being held accountable? It is one thing to overlook a series of bad choices made in good faith. But the issues at hand have nothing to do with good faith or even bad choices. The allegations of criminal activity and extreme and willful ab...
Larisa, how is this any surprising to you?
I don't know if you were still in USSR in your youth, but EVERYTHING going on around here REEKS of Communist Manifesto. I'm sure I don't need to elaborate, even Naomi Wolf is catching on. And remember, the banksters funded both socialists and fascists, with the intent of establishing world governance; like letting two controlled opposition duke it out to see what will work faster and better. They failed with neocons, now they back oBUSHma & neoliberals.
oBOMBa is a TrojanHorse for the globalist elite, that once used to call anyone who actually referred to them as conspiracy theorist are now OPENLY calling themselves the "New World Order," aka NWO.
oBOMBa, like dubya before him, is simply a puppet for the NWO. STOP making excuses for HIM. How many times have we heard FakeNews idiots and neoCON hacks and liberal enablers let the village idiot off the hook with, 'oh, he's really a nice guy, he just has bad people around him, like cheney.'
Irony of ironies. And, you all laughed when the village simian couldn't properly tell the "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me," joke. Well, the jokes on AmeriKa! HOPE is for dopes & dupes.
oBUSHma is NOT closing down Gitmo. Torture still goes on at Bagram. We now have a THREE theater war: Iraq, Afghanistan, and now PAKISTAN. ALL three wars are UNCONSTITUTIONAL, as they are all UNDECLARED by the US Congress.
oBOMBa is still maintaining National Sekurity Letters, in fact INCREASED and accelerated bush policies. Habeas corpus has NOT been restored. 'patriot' actS are NOT repealed, illegal NSA wiretaps are STILL going on; in fact he VOTED FOR telecom immunity after bragging he'd filibutster if they included such provision. PD51 in which the Pres can declare ANYONE a terrorist, bypass ALL branches of govt, consolidate National Guards, without Governors' approval, and declare MARTIAL LAW for any irrational reason the Executive deems hunky dory, aka FUHRER precept. Sibel Edmonds still has gag order against her. BlackBox voting still goes on; hey oBOMBa 'won' so there must NOT be ANY vote fraud, right?
REAL torture prosecution of ALL those involved from the authors, to executioners, to enablers on both sides of the aisle, is NOWHERE to be seen. We still have renditions, secret and indefinite detentions. Not to mention the unCONSTITUTIONAL "guilty until proven innocent" no-fly list, which is based on maritime admiralty law, NOT common law.
oBOMBa is NOW bombing innocent Pakistani civilians and calling their murders "high-value Taliban targets" and "collateral damage," JUST LIKE BUSH DID. I mean really how many No.2 of Taliban, or Al-CIA-da must they keep saying, before we all acknowledge that the entire "global war on terror," which oBUSHma got rid of it, in name only, as a complete and utter sham, by the military industrial complex? They had to convict mentally challenged kids in Chicago to legitimize the Feds case. How many manufactured or tortured confessions of Moussaui is it gonna take, before EVERYONE admonish the Federal Gvt for this SHAM and color of law illegality? If the terrorism is such a concern why are our border WIDE open? The Fed.Gvt. has not convicted one, zero, zip, NADA, under terrorism charges that would stand up in a courtroom in Arkansas. All they have is tortured confessions, manufactured evidence, and entrapment. What degenerate retard raised these gutless morons?
I mean really, how many more lies is it going to take? After 8yrs of BushCrimeFamilia and neoCON reign of terror, we do NOT have the luxury of 'Oh, he's only been on the job for merely three months." He's done more in three months to put this REPUBLIC on an ACCELERATED path of destruction than bush ever did in his entire 8yrs of stolen Presidency. Only difference is, for now, oBUSHma still has some political capital. He could get things done that dubya could only dream of.
Really you think we got this far as a nation by having the gvt, like corporations or not, dictate central planning and daily minutiae of private business affairs? Not the only reason, but a significant culprit why USSR FAILED is due to central planning. It NEVER works! Capitalism can be painful, but these economic corrections MUST be ALLOWED to happen. But what is oBOMBa doing? Is he lending money to the people? NO. He's given away 12.7 TRILLION DOLLARS (BloombergNews' latest lawsuit against the Fed.Reserve) ! 11 of which in one month alone, to unaccountable banks by taking money from productive sector and businesses operating under sound practices to thieves who gambled away ALL their clients' money, often simply STOLE them! And AIG? What a sham! oBOMBa FULLY understood what he was doing when he signed off on the bailout bills. If he didn't he gave away TRILLIONS of OUR money without even reading the bill! Sorry, we already HAD an illiterate Pres., don't need another.
And the money given to the banks ARE NOT LOANS! Don't you get it? You are watching an engineered collapse of the dollar, the destruction of the American Republic but to be used as an engine for global domination by ruining our granted twisted bloody past, but nevertheless the best image of a powerful nation the world has ever seen morphed into pre-emptive war/invasion/occupiers and torturers, so the NWO can bring in a single global reserve currency, and world gvt. and act like a savior. Just listen to Gordon Brown at G20.
We have NORTHCOM assigning 55,000 US Army troops in preparation for 'civil unrest,' in case sh*t really hits the fan, in FULL VIOLATION of the Posse Commitatus Act. The Fusion Center/MIAC/DHS "rightwing extremist" memos were created in 2007, but continues. Power amassed WILL be used and abused. It works both ways; whoever is in power they'll target their enemies. Except this isn't so much of vengeance. If you really are awake, throughout American history in the 20th Century, you'd notice that when GOP is in power they target foreigners and use xenophobia as an excuse to increase the power of the State. When Dems are in power, they ALWAYS target domestic groups to increase the power of the State. But it's just passing of the baton of taking away a little bit of OUR rights and liberties, every 4yrs.
You think it is any accident that the power elite are ALWAYS intent on taking away Second Amendment rights and vilifying vets and gunowners? Who amongst us can mount a most successful resistance? Veterans! They know how to defend themselves and others in an organized manner, and can give and follow orders and know how internal gvt systems work. There is a reason why the gvt ALWAYS trash its veterans after it's done with them. They don't want them getting pissed at the right people, capice? Like Hitler's Night of Long Knives, the Vets and rats who helped the tyrants in initial phases of a coup will ALWAYS be targeted for elimination, first.
Really, you honestly think Mao and Stalin would have been able to get away with it, if his victims fought back with more than pots and pans and pitchforks? Gun registration has been used throughout history to track-down early opposition before a tyrant makes a move. First Amendment is MOOT without the checks and balances put on the tyranny of gvt. be it foreign or domestic, in nature, by the Second Amendment. You cannot be for Civil Rights unless you are for ALL 10 of Bill of Rights, along with the ENTIRE CONSTITUTION.
The free humanity is under assault, now with the aid of 21st century techno-panopticon. Just look at endless surveillance technology being instituted without debate, without efficacy analysis. And for what? It's all about control and acclimating the populace to comply and police themselves. A tyrant can only control a populace with a prison with VISIBLE bars for so long. He MUST convince his 'subjects' to police themselves, ie. a 'prison without bars.'
Look at all of us. Bickering, defending political labels and ideology NO ONE was born with, or tattooed on our foreheads. And yet, look at you all, listening to ''experts" to make your case in 'intellectual' debates, instead of doing some firsthand research and nurturing a more organic personal view. Wasn't Madoff an "expert," too? So you're all so content listening to morons who got us into this mess in the first place, and when the smoke clears, proclaim themselves the saviors, again?
WHY IS THIS CON SO HARD FOR MANY OF YOU TO FIGURE OUT?
What CHANGE? I mean really, how gullible and stupid does one have to be to CONTINUE to buy into such mindless 2nd-Grade level propaganda as "HOPE" and "CHANGE?" Especially after 8 years of BushCRIMEfamilia and neoCON propaganda, we have NO excuse to submit ourselves to such ridiculous CON!
I think it's time my fellow liberals revisit history and finally learn once and for all, that Trotsky, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, were ALL funded by NYC-London banksters. This is mainline history. You may wonder why most "-isms" of the last two hundred years were ALL a creation of the Banksters and actively funded by them; how and why it is that even as tyrants and sovereigns when they've waged wars, they actually "owe" money to someone, always; one would think it is a nation's right to coin its own currency, yet even the European monarchs of yore "owed" money after raging wars to someone. To whom and why would Kings owe money to? Ask yourselves...
While many liberals do the Krugman rah rah, refer to this economist, "expert" this, and expert that, rarely do I see anyone cognizant of how the Federal Reserve actually creates notes. Or how DESTRUCTIVE Keynesianism is. Our Dollar is NOT money, but credit, a note, an I.O.U. Everytime the Fed prints money, 10% interest is tacked on. Thus it is designed so that the national debt can NEVER be paid off. Why do you think that is, by design?
Is it NOT incumbent upon you to find out and really let your readers know how it is that we can continue to have a welfare-warfare state? And as is, the military industrial complex and the "socially mandated" Welfare State are joined at the hip via the same fractional reserve banking system, NOT created by the Congress but hijacked by private banksters in 1913. Press your Congressmen/women to sponsor H.R.1207 the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009.
You really want to see "CHANGE?" First you have to know who is really pulling the strings here. Money affects all of us; it controls all of us. But more importantly, those who print money, controls everything.
-Time to take the hard RED Pill. But pain is only temporary, NEO.
Asking the tought questions again and again. Nice work, Larissa. Respect.
Leo Donofrio
"In all other times in the past, when a crime occurred involving officials in the highest positions of government, no one thought to dare argue the necessity for committing the crime or how truly patriotic the crime was."
except for robert mcnamara, gordon liddy, oliver north, richard nixon, franklin roosevelt, etc etc
It's absurd when Obama says he won't prosecute torture because he wants to "look forward".
ALL CRIMINAL prosecutions NECESSARILY look backward in time for culpable conduct. You don't prosecute people for things that will occur in the future, you prosecute them by LOOKING BACKWARD at what was done in the past.
If we ONLY looked forward, we would NEVER prosecute any crime.
Because ALL crimes that are prosecuted occurred in the PAST.
Who the hell does Obama think he's kidding?
Look forward my ass.
I've been wondering a lot myself about the current admin's moves in the legal arena, and have concluded over the last month that one needs a 10 million power magnifying glass to TRY to discern any real differences between this admin and the previous one, particularly in the legal, constitutional and financial / central bank arenas.
As for promised health care reform - forget about it. Nothing will be done to lower real costs or improve coverage for the average person. The bubblings you now hear are nonsense - particularly this insane 'decrease' of 1.5-percentage points in the INCREASE in health care costs over the next so many years. This approach is both meaningless, and vicious. Legislation will only make vested interests wealthier, at everyone's expense, until, since the dropout rate is geometric, not linear, the entire health-care system collapses 4-10 yrs from now.
My only explanation for this admin's actions and direction is one of two possibilities -- either they are being effectively blackmailed, or they are hardened fascist piranha, who have adopted a goldfish public face. My inclination is to conclude the latter.
Israel-first dual-national AIPAC Bankers need extra profit for extortion, blackmail, & bribery.
The 911 Cover Story is falling apart
(we have monsters among us)
Accept nothing less than prosecution for all the Bush crime family's torturers. And torture is just the tip of the iceberg of treachery.
We voters need to get the attention of our politicians. The only way to do that is to either prosecute when they break our laws of vote them out of office en mass.
Why is no one being held accountable?
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITIONS For A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR For Bush, Cheney & Appointee Lawyers AT:
http://ANGRYVOTERS.ORG
Over 250,000 have Signed, Join Us and
Pass This Url to all your friends & Groups.
.
Weshallremain is right on target. It is a criminal enterprise now. Stop funding it.
Even before his inauguration, Obama told Bush there would be no prosecutions. Why? Because for there to be a prosecution, there would have to be an investigation. Such an investigation would very likely expose the hidden reality of the "deep state", the government within the government. We may want to blame Bush for all the crimes of his administration, but many of these crimes were done in pursuit of "deep state" objectives. The Bush administration took its orders from the deep state elite who are pursuing a "globalist" (one world government) agenda. These elite controllers are divided into rightist and leftist camps. Cheney is a leader within the rightist camp that seeks a one world government in the form of a US global empire run by corporations. Obama is from the left camp that seeks a global federation of more socialistic governments. The two sides tend to dislike one another, sometimes fiercely. The primary objective of both the Bush and Obama administrations has been to pursue the policies of the global elite, our real leaders. As much as Obama may hate what the Bush administration did, Obama cannot allow the deep state and its agenda to be exposed. All real power politics "deep politics" is done in the deep state, and as Kennedy and his brother learned, you do not question or undermine the orders you are given. And you definitely don't speak at Columbia University about exposing these powers. An investigation into Bush crimes would inevitably point to higher-ups, and prosecution of even one would put them in the position of being able to expose the truth. This is not allowed. If Siegelman were allowed to walk, he would file suit, and such a suit would ultimately involve Rove taking the stand. He knows way too much, and would not likely be willing to take the fall. In the 1980s, the day before Bill Casey was to testify about Iran-Contra, he collapsed and was taken to the hospital where he had his speech center cut out. The truth remained safe from the public. If you are interested in knowing the truth, google Rockefeller, Brzezinski and Kissinger. And remember to verify. Happy travels
If Obama continues to block prosecution of war criminals, then I will turn from a solid suporter to someone who is not only NOT going to vote for Obama again, but I'll call for his impeachment and a criminal trial for his complicity in the cover-up of Bush/Cheney high crimes and misdemeanors. You're not THAT popular, Mr President.
Thanks Rick G., for the compliments.
And dearest Larisa, don't know if you check from time to time, on your own pieces and read the comments section. And excuse my previous lengthy verbosity, but I truly honestly believe it's high time We the FREE HUMANITY come together against the only ENEMY we've ever had, throughout history: the Financier Oligarchs/BankSters/International Banking Coterie that are now openly calling themselves the NWO, and their sycophantic-minion turds.
There is no Left vs. Right. It's a Hegelian dialectic, a false paradigm, a feces filled sandbox that THEY created and provided for us to play in. Classic divide and conquer, and controlled opposition.
We do have to remember that our ancestors were only able to free their minds en masse, via education, as well as via public indoctrination centers, only in the last 60yrs post WWII and GI Bill. The globalist financier oligarchs had CENTURIES to hone their social engineering craft. Just remember that.
BUT we NOW have the tools to fight them and effectively awaken more of our fellow citizenry than ever before. Unless, these old geezers like Jay Rockefeller, and fresh off the farm-crypto globalist sycophantic moron Rep.Sanchez from Cali, who are using whatever excuses to shut down the Net and control freespeech in the name of preventing insult, "hate speech," child porn, arbitrary 'emotional distress' and whatever other bullsh*t they can come up with, to chip away at our CONSTITUTIONAL rights.
I really do believe it is incumbent upon you, Larisa and your RAW crew, more than ever, more over those paid hacks at Kos, or now tabloid HuffPost, could ever match, with your deeply passionate and entrenched liberal readership, to truly educate them on the origins of the PRIVATE Federal Reserve. What it is, and why the Military Industrial Complex Warfare and the Welfare State NEEDS the frational reserve banking system of the Fed.Res. to do what it does; if the nation had to TAX the citizenry for all these endless wars and unfunded "mandates" and social programs that NEVER do what they say it's designed to do, these morons in District of Criminals will see a nation come together under the Second Amendment like no other time in history, and there will be more than just tar and feathering in the streets, everywhere.
If my fellow liberal/progressive compatriots want to have ANY honest debate over the future path for the American CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC, and her economic prowess, you MUST address the Federal Reserve. And NOT mindlessly resort to using Krugman, or any other unsubstantiated arguments of the so called "experts" and "nobel laureates." NONE of those Keynesian morons saw the collapse coming. So why should we continue to listen to the wrong advice, analysis, diagnosis, and proposed solutions, against our own better instincts?
I understand that the issue of money and economic theories put off a lot of liberals. But if you truly want to win an intellectual argument for effect and a possible applicable solution, ESPECIALLY if you DISAGREE, you must at least first know what it is that you're are debating against your intellectual adversaries. So time to google Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin, for starters.
I personally believe the economic solution lies somewhere between what Lyndon LaRouche is suggesting as (liberals would LOVE this) the FDR's "American System," of high protective tariffs, and protectionism, and what the Austrian School of TRUE FreeMarket Economics (genuine paleo-conservatives and libertarians, with a small "L" would love this) is suggesting. They are somewhat disparate, but at the core, is based on a FULL RESERVE banking, without the Federal Reserve under the ownership of private bankers. We both agree that at the least, they should be run by the Treasury, as the Constitution intended. But certainly NOT Keynesianism, which is the TOOL of the Anglo-American Empire and the NWO.
Please, research and learn and develop organically, an independent view of the world. This is precisely what the powers that be, DO NOT want you to do: we live in a world of specialization, and "expert" opinions. This is how they've systematically taken away your human instinct to view things holistically and acclimated you to only looking at the trees, and not the forest, because those solutions will be handed to you by the "experts" that they own and train, via thinktanks like Rand and CFR. I mean really at this juncture in history, are any of you NOT willing to admit that 99% of the bills that Congress passes are written by a congressional aide that were supplied by god knows what NGO, PAC, or thinktanks?? Is it any wonder that NO bill that come out of DC actually EVER reflect the interests of the People?
Too many "expert" hacks, and not enough independent minds. This is what collectivism is precisely designed to breed. Mindless drones who defend an illusory ideology that neither originated from them, nor belong to them, but are willing fight to the death defending them, like liberalism, conservatism, or even libertarianism, etc. A bunch of Cyphers, from the Matrix, who loved the virtual taste of the steak. Hell, and most "-isms" of the last 200 years were all created and funded by the bankster oligarchs.
But there was and still is ONE man who talked about it, and WARNED you all, while you ridiculed his 'quaint' notions of sticking to the Constitution. There is a reason WHY even Jim Rogers, the non-NWO, non-globalist, non-neoCON corporatist-fascist U of Chicago meme, but REAL FREE-Market Capitalist billionaire investor, the better more humane half, former Quantum Fund business partner of George Soros, has STATED time and time again, that the ONLY presidential candidate of 2008 who actually knew ANYTHING about the economy and business cycles is RON PAUL. SO please press your public servants and YOUR EMPLOYEES, aka congressmen/women to sponsor H.R.1207 The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009. It's time to open their books and audit the FED. We need to see what corporatist crony abroad these bastards have been laundering the tax payers' dollars to.
When mistakes happen due to malfeasance, fraud, or sheer incompetence, is it NOT prudent to actually listen to people who got it right, like Ron Paul, Jim Rogers and Peter Schiff, and NOT as we often do so well in our Republic, allow douchebags who caused the mess in the first place, to fail upwards and give them more power, so that they can fulfill their delusional fantasy of playing the savior, in a crisis that they engineered?
Rubin, Summers and Geitner, along with Greenspan in mid-1990's ARE the reason why we're in the derivative induced mess that we're in. Those goons are precisely the reason why we now DON'T the FDR-era REGULATION of The Glass-Steagall Act (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass-Steagall_Act) that separated speculative investment banks from using YOUR bank accounts for them to gamble in the stockmarket and mount up derivative debt that currently stand, globally, at damn near SEVEN HUNDRED TRILLION DOLLARS, which can NEVER ever be paid back. Check that number with BIS.org the Bank of International Settlements, the clearing house for the world's central banks in Switzerland. Google it. Heck, they posted that number on their own website.
And guess who's on oBUSHma's economic recovery team? Geitner, Summers, Rubin, et al. Letting culprits and failures mess up things, AGAIN! Is this any different than letting Kissinger continue to influence our foreign policy? Hell, he's still on the State Dpt's payroll, not only as a forever-"special envoy" and consultant, but in reality, actually DICTATING our foreign policy.
We might as well call the oBUSHma administration the DC branch of Goldman Sachs. Be honest now, he got more money from Wall St. than bush's 2000 & 2004 campaign, plus McCain's 2008 campaign fund COMBINED. This whole notion that oBOMBa is some "grass-roots" campaign is a MYTH. He's a Wall St. Bankster stooge, through and through. In fact, EVERY SINGLE action taken in an effort to "recover the economy" has only benefited Wall St. HIS ACTIONS TELL YOU AS MUCH. Please STOP making excuses for him.
Problem, Reaction, Solution. They cause and create the problem. YOU the sheeple react, call for solutions, regulations, or whatever. Then they offer you a pre-made and pre-designed solution, just in the nick of time, you know like a 1000+pages ready made "Patriot Act" only to be offered at midnight without debate to vote on? So they can act like they're the savior. This is how dependency and group-collectivist think works. And the globalists sure know how to play this concerto like a maestro. This is their bread and butter.
Hell, even Kucinich admitted publicly on CSPAN '...and we all know the Federal Reserve is as Federal as the Federal Express.' It's not an independent quasi-gvt agency. It is PURELY PRIVATE. They are NOT 'Nationalizing' businesses and banks, in the "socialist" paradigm as the GOP and mindless dittoheads delude. They are PRIVATIZING and consolidating their business interests by intentionally collapsing businesses and economy and buying REAL assets, pennies on the dollar. As in, what a Fascist-Corporatist would do.
Please watch Aaron Russo's America, Freedom to Fascism:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1656880303867390173&hl=en
And look for further interviews with him, Wille Nelson, Dennis Kucinich, Russell Means, Jesse Ventura, and more: youtube.com/watch?v=W3cfQq5AXJ0 and at this guy's channel at: youtube.com/user/infodocurama
-DO NOT LET THEM DIVIDE and CONQUER us. The Time, is truly of the essence. We cannot wait for the majority of the sheeple to begin to wake up 4 or 8yrs later and allow bitter betrayal and indignance to takeover and turn into apathetic pessimism. I do not have, nor claim to have all the solutions. First step is to allow ourselves to TRULY wake up from the stupor. If any of these facts and revelations ring TRUE deep down in your soul, I am certain an organic and appropriate solution will prompt you to follow your own path to applicable solutions.
-GOOD LUCK, and keep up the great work, RAW!
Larissa,
There is a criminal conspiracy going on. That is the bottom line.
Google FMR, LLC.
FMR LLC owned by statement of beneficial ownership: Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom.
FMRLLC owned by statement of beneficial ownership the following: Countrywide Mortages, Circuit City, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, GM, Chrysler and AIG.
FMR LLC owns by beneficial statement of ownership the following banks requiring capital infusions: New York Bank Melon, American Express, Wells Fargo, GMAC, SunTrust, Regions, KeyCorp, Morgan Stanley and Fifth Third.
FMR LLC owns all Medicare Part D prescription drug plans except possibly Envision Rx. Not enough information has been dug up on Envision yet.
FMR LLC owns Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Investments received fifteen years of stolen Social Security in my name through an * INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNT" established at some point prior to 1991.
FMR LLC owns Unum Provident Insurance Company therefore Colonial Life Insurance Company.... two of the nation's largest disability insurers.
FMR LLC is receiving all the TARP funds albeit indirectly.
FMR LLC is CLOSING AMERICA UNDER OBAMA"S WATCH>
CAN WE PLEASE PLEASE TALK ABOUT THIS?
FMR STOLE THE SSA MEDICARE TRUST FUND AND IT WAS LOST IN THE AIG OFFICE>
FMR: PROVE ME WRONG> SHARE SOME REAL INFORMATION PLEASE>
Watch. Listen. Learn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNACwaLw
http://www.whitehou se.gov/contact/ President Obama is committed to creating the most open and accessible administration in American history. Really?
Dear Barack Obama
For several months now I have been submitting comments on a variety of topics, with one being health care. I have seen absolutely no indication that you are listening to We The People on any topic.
Here's another topic Barack........ the corrupt U.S. Attorneys who still squat in the office they were appointed to by the squatter, George Bush.
I know that dozens of former U.S. attorneys have contacted you asking that you look into these vile Republican led prosecutions. You have done NOTHING!
Don Siegelman, a life long Democrat was one of the victims of this malicious prosecution. This man has spent months in prison for a non-crime. If what he was accused of is a crime then you too, should be in prison President Obama as should every member of Congress and most of the previous presidents.
More: http://grandmamaggies.blogspot.com/
The 2 Bush Rove US Attorneys are still Obama US Attorneys
Alice Martin
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/aln/attorney.html
Leura G. Canary
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/alm/
and also still a US Attorney
Jeff Taylor
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/dc/US_Attorney/index.html
This man should be accused of cover up, he MUST be taken to trial along with bush (it) and cheney.
Larisa,
Could you connect the dots with the info out in recent weeks that the current TX governator and former governator Bush, as well as most governators, do the same legal appointments of supporters/contributors to similar boards which the evildoerSiegelman is being sentenced to 20 years?
Thanks,
Mick
"Why are we getting no answers to any of this?"
Could be the mobster-in-the-White-House factor . . .
The Bush Administration wiretaps blackmail still intimidates members of this administration and will continue to fuel multiple cover-ups.
Democrats cover for Republicans on the big crimes. How can this come as any sort of surprise to the author?
From day one it was clear to anyone paying attention that Obama is just a bought and paid for front man for our shadow government.
Democrats and Republicans are just smoke screens to confuse the people and allow them the illusion of choice. The actions of Obama clearly show this choice to be a big lie.
Why Larissa continues to participate in this big lie is anyone's guess.
[...] 13 May 09 | Raw Story [...]
So the "NWO" mastadon is sitting on our head and we have to "do something"? Hey, if they are THAT organized, we're done for. But I don't think they are. The "power" they have is a holograph of a chimera.
Dear Larisa,
Can't tell you how upsetting it was watching those video clips. I've read about Siegelman and Schlozman but was unfamiliar with all those other cases. We're becoming the U.S. of Kafka. I believe there are many, many forces at work contributing to the approach/avoidance behavior of the Obama Administration. The only possibility for redemption/salvation, I believe, resides in WE THE PEOPLE. It's completely overwhelming but I think it's all up to us. Learning/pursuing the truth and speaking out to friends, family, strangers, Washington, and the media again and again and again. Doing whatever we can, wherever we can. Being unyielding in the defense of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Your work is invaluable.
much love and appreciation,
David Lasagna
The fall of the will of the US citizen to stand up to injustice is rooted in one thing, one drug, that everyone consumes daily; FLUORIDATION.
American soldiers who entered Germany at the end of World War II made the liberating of POW camps a priority. Camp after camp, they found stockpiles of fluoride stored near the water supply. When they asked what the fluoride was used for, they were told that the Germans used the substance as an additive to the prisoner’s water, to make them docile and inhibit the questioning of authority. This is the first known incidence of intentionally fluoridating drinking water.
It is a very liberating thought to think that Stanly Kubrick's "Dr. Srangelove", holds more meaning than just learning to love the bomb.
For conclusive evidence that fluoridation is mentally and physically distructive, check out this website: http://www.loveforlife.com
America is a country of laws, but the laws are not for everyone. For the masses, not for the rich, not for laws makers. Republicans want 2 classes, the rich and the working poor. Guess who the laws are for? To keep you people in line.
What a horrible, complex mess. I, too, want Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rummy, Rice, Addington, Gonzo, etc., etc., etc., prosecuted for treason (among other things). But, if you take the time to watch the documentary, part of the whole point is how deeply corrupt Rove managed to make the judiciary...you know, all of those LIFETIME APPOINTMENTS to the federal bench!
If there are going to be prosecutions, we at the very least need unequivocal assurances that trials will not be conducted under the rule of Bush's Federalist Society inJustices. These judges will either A) throw out the charges, or B) manage to rule in favor of Bush officials (and Republicans, in general). Not to mention that there are plenty of "investigators" throughout the government who have already demonstrated what good, loyal, patriotic soldiers they are.
You left out the crime that made the Bush nightmare possible. That crime is Bush's theft of the 2000 election with his broad daylight coup d'etat in Florida that was rubberstamped by 5 republican crooks on the U.S. Supreme Court. No investigation of the many Bush crimes will ever be complete that doesn't include Bush's theft of the 2000 election. Excluding it would be the equivilent of trying to shut the barn door after the horse has already gotten out. Had all of the uncounted votes been counted as Florida law clearly required in 2000, Bush would've spent the last 8 years back in Texas where we the people had voted for him to be and none of this nightmare would've happened. The Congressional democrats abandoment of Al Gore and their refusal to defend the peoples right to vote in 2000 and their roll over and play dead strategy since is an appeasement of a monster that only Neville Chamberlin could love.
No 9/11, no Iraq war, no profiteering, no PATRIOT [sic] Act, ...
Why wouldn't they, Larisa?
Why wouldn't they carry out a new version of old plans?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods
9/11 = Operation Northwoods 2K1
[...] Obama Justice Department Continues to Cover-Up Bush-Era Crimes [...]
[...] Read more. Related Posts:If Obama refuses to investigate BushCo's crimes...A must-see documentary on Rove's political prosecutionsBush and his gang MUST be prosecuted: Scott HortonVOTE FOR SPECIAL PROSECUTOR ON OBAMA SITESPECIAL PROSECUTOR QUESTION IS NOW #1 ON THE OBAMA SITE SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title:'', url:''}, {button:true} ); Tweet This! [...]
[...] Read more. [...]
Good to know. I think Obama does not want to look like he's running a political vendetta, but the Siegelman case is ridiculous on its face. GW Bush did far worse as governor of Texas in trading appointments for contributions to his campaign, --
By the way, I can't get to your stories on RawStory by clicking links. An uncloseable advertisement gets in the way and I can't see your stories unless someone else links to them, as in this case.
Don't fall into the trap of blaming Obama. This thing is too big for one man, even if he wanted to be Superman. This is going to take a majority, a big majority in this country to stand up and demand independent investigations and convictions for the crimes of the Bush Justice Department.
Stop whining and get to work. Send this to everyone you know and let's start a class action.
I personally know a young mother who is sitting in a Federal Prison for a crime she didn't commit so a Federal Prosecutor could score some points.
We need numbers, not analysis of what THEY did wrong.
I'm a 44 year Democrat and an Obama supporter,
BUT I am very worried that Obama is going to
Fail to Enforce our US Federal Law on Torture
and Fail to Protect Our Constitution.
Only extreme pressure from voters will move Obama to do the right thing.
Prosecution is the only thing that will deter anyone who favors Torture.
Would you support Torture after being forced to watch your wife or daughter being tortured or threatened with their rape?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/26/mi5-jamil-rahman-torture-bangladesh
I refuse to wait until it comes to that.
If you do nothing else for your Country today,
SIGN THE PETITION To Prosecute Them For Torture
http://ANGRYVOTERS.ORG
Over 250,000 have signed
Join them and call yourself a Patriot
.