Perhaps rladlof can hand me some sour grapes to grouse on while I wallow.

re: Obama: Yeah, I didn't really expect him to be able to make meaningful change, i think only public campaign financing and breaking up the media panopoly will do that; but i didn't expect to be considering him just another war criminal at this point.

Also, Maxrot, as I posted yesterday, Eric Holder has now indicted whistleblowers, Bradley Birkenfeld USB, and also Thomas Drake for revealing the illegal NSA wiretapping.

What the Whistleblower Prosecution Says About the Obama DOJ

by Glenn Greenwald

The more I think and read about the Obama DOJ's prosecution of NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, the more I think this might actually be one of the worst steps the Obama administration has taken yet, if not the single worst step -- and that's obviously saying a lot. During the Bush years, in the wake of the NSA scandal, I used to write post after post about how warped and dangerous it was that the Bush DOJ was protecting the people who criminally spied on Americans (Bush, Cheney Michael Hayden) while simultaneously threatening to prosecute the whistle-blowers who exposed misconduct. But the Bush DOJ never actually followed through on those menacing threats; no NSA whistle-blowers were indicted during Bush's term (though several were threatened). It took the election of Barack Obama for that to happen, as his handpicked Assistant Attorney General publicly boasted yesterday of the indictment against Drake.

Aside from the indefensible fact that only crimes committed by high-level Bush officials -- but nobody else -- enjoy the benefits of Obama's "Look Forward, Not Backward" decree, think about the interests being served by this prosecution. Most discussions yesterday suggested that Drake's leaks to The Baltimore Sun's Sibohan Gorman were about waste and mismanagement in the "Trailblazer" project rather than controversial NSA spying activities, but that's not entirely accurate.

Of all the disappointments of the Obama Administration, Holder is one of the most egregious. I mean, no one could expect any differences from Robert Gates, he's a holdover war criminal. Holder is a fresh apologist for aggression and torture.

Information is King and getting the "right" information to people is easy. Here are some basic steps how the Super rich control:

- Create an environment in which speculation eventually raises the price of everything (housing, etc.)

- Get people to spend more time working to earn enough to live thus taking away their time to think independently.

- Tell the people that it is the Administration's fault that they have to work so hard and earn so little

- Have perfect controllable low information voters to do your bidding.

It is truly unfortunate how the masses are being hoodwinked.

Has Eric Holder done anything?

It seems that I only hear about what he isn't prosecuting.

Thom Hartmann

The Lovebaot with Louise and Higgins

Portland, Oregon

America’s worst nightmare is no longer president. George W. Bush is a perfect example of turds rising to the top.

His years in office brought me continuous BOHICA days. From these BOHICA days I have now a chronic hemorrhoid illness. When I sit, I am in pain from the swollen hemorrhoids that have surfaced through my continuous bending over to be jammed by the Republicans.

Lying down in bed does ease some discomfort from my chronic hemorrhoid condition.

I hope that you and your listeners do not have to suffer as much as me from my chronic hemorrhoid illness.

Sincerely, gerald

Thom Hartmann

The Loveboat with Louise and Higgins

Portland, Oregon

Dear Mr. Hartmann,

I have been critical of your optimism for America’s future. I disagree that our nation has any future. I must give you credit for being objective in assessing both Democrats and Republicans.

I voted for Clinton twice and he fooled me. How can a person vote for either Democrat or Republican candidates who give us nonsense? We need decent, honest, and truthful candidates but they are all bought with money.

Personally, as I look back on the Clinton years, he was a disaster for average and middle class Americans.

Please keep being objective in assessing both the Democrats and the Republicans.

Sincerely, gerald

I had to flag my last comment, that was just over the top.

I've been working as a critical care nurse for almost 10 years at THE major University Hospital one hour from the canadian border and worked for a further 3 at the neighboring teaching hospital here in Syracuse NY.

I have yet to meet ONE canadian who came here or there to get care that couldn't be had in a timely fashion in Canada.

Their system has it's issues too. But it's a far bet fairer and more efficient than ours. Their system has enormous logistical issues. 33 million people in a land mass that is second only to one other nation. If you're in a big city you're fine. If you live in rural Nova Scotia (like my friend's mom) or Nunavut or northern Saskatchewan you may have a problem seeing specialists.

The same is true for Alaska, rural Montana, or rural upstate NY for that matter. We ship people 3 hours to get to my facility since we have 24 hour trauma services or simply services the other hospitals don't provide on off hours (opthomology, neurosurgery etc.).

Still, no canadians running here for care.

I'll find out soon enough since I"m moving my family up there this summer since we got our permanent resident status there.

@RANDY WINN: Your Link Wins Today:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-best-fake-teabagger-signs-at-the-boston-common

Kucinich: White House Assassination Policy Is Extrajudicial

by Jeremy Scahill

One of the few Democrats to publicly address the issue of government-sanctioned assassinations is Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich. "I don't support it--period," he said in an interview. "I think people in both parties that are concerned about the Constitution should be speaking out on this. I can't account for what anyone else doesn't do."

Kucinich told The Nation he has sent several letters to the Obama administration raising questions about the potential unconstitutionality of the policy, as well as possible violations of international law, but has received no response. "With all the smart people that are in that administration, they've got to know the risks that they're taking here with violations of law," he says.

Targeted killings are not a new Obama administration policy. Beginning three days after his swearing in, President Obama has authorized scores of lethal drone strikes, including against specific individuals, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, surpassing the Bush era numbers. The elite Joint Special Operations Command maintains a list of individuals, including US citizens, which it is authorized to assassinate. In January, Dana Priest reported in the Washington Post that the CIA had US citizens on an assassination list, but the Post later ran a correction stating that only JSOC had "a target list that includes several Americans." The policy of the CIA targeting al-Awlaki, a US citizen, for assassination, therefore, appeared to be a new development, at least in terms of public awareness of approved government assassinations.

"In the real world, things don't work out quite so neatly as they seem to in the heads of the CIA," says Kucinich. "There's always the possibility of blowback, which could endanger high-ranking US officials. There's the inevitable licensing of rogue groups that comes about from policies that are not strictly controlled and that get sloppy--so you have zero accountability. And that's not even to get into an over-arching issue of the morality of assassination policies, which are extra-constitutional, extra-judicial. It's very dangerous from every possible perspective."

He added: "The assassination policies vitiate the presumption of innocence and the government then becomes the investigator, policeman, prosecutor, judge, jury, executioner all in one. That raises the greatest questions with respect to our constitution and our democratic way of life."

Kucinich remains one of the few members of congress actually concerned with the rule of law. Crimes remain crimes regardless of administration.

@Robert S.: do you remember this old joke from National Lampoon?

"How is the Starship Enterprise like a wad of toilet paper?....they both circle Uranus searching for Klingons!"