Chris Hedges - Why I’m Suing Barack Obama

Attorneys Carl J. Mayer and Bruce I. Afran filed a complaint Friday in the Southern U.S. District Court in New York City on my behalf as a plaintiff against Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to challenge the legality of the Authorization for Use of Military Force as embedded in the latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act, signed by the president Dec. 31.

The act authorizes the military in Title X, Subtitle D, entitled “Counter-Terrorism,” for the first time in more than 200 years, to carry out domestic policing. With this bill, which will take effect March 3, the military can indefinitely detain without trial any U.S. citizen deemed to be a terrorist or an accessory to terrorism. And suspects can be shipped by the military to our offshore penal colony in Guantanamo Bay and kept there until “the end of hostilities.” It is a catastrophic blow to civil liberties. 

Read More:

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/why_im_suing_barack_obama_20120116/

Joseph Gerson - The Grim Implications of Obama’s New Defense Plan

In early January the Obama Administration released the Pentagon’s new Guidance, Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21^st Century Defense. It is clearly designed less to cut U.S. military spending than to reorder Pentagon priorities to ensure full spectrum dominance (dominating any nation, anywhere, at any time, at any level of force) for the first decades of the 21^st century. As President Obama himself said, after the near-doubling of military spending during the Bush era, the Guidance will slow the growth of military spending, “but…it will still grow:, in fact by 4% in the coming year.”

The new doctrine places China and Iran at the center of U.S. “security” concerns. It thus prioritizes expansion of U.S. war making capacities in Asia and the Pacific and Indian Oceans, by “rebalanc[ing] toward the Asia-Pacific region…empahsiz[ing] our existing alliances.” This means Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and now Australia and India as the U.S. “pivots” from Iraq and Afghanistan to the heartland of the 21^st century global economy, Asia and the Pacific.  The implications for Okinawa and Japan should be clear: Washington will be doing all that it can to ensure that Japan remains its unsinkable aircraft carrier, including pressing for construction of the new air base in Henoko.

Read More:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/01/13/the-grim-implications-of-obamas-new-defense-plan/

Bush and Cheney Endorse Obama

Steve Benen - Victory for Internet Freedom: Obama Announces Opposition to SOPA, Congress Shelves Bill

Misguided efforts to combat online privacy have been threatening to stifle innovation, suppress free speech, and even, in some cases, undermine national security. As of yesterday, though, there’s a lot less to worry about.

At issue are two related bills: the Senate’s Protect IP Act and the even more offensive Stop Online Piracy Act in the House, both of which are generated intense opposition from tech giants and First Amendment advocates. The first sign that the bills’ prospects were dwindling came Friday, when SOPA sponsors agreed to drop a key provision that would have required service providers to block access to international sites accused of piracy.

The legislation ran into an even more significant problem yesterday when the White House announced its opposition to the bills. Though the administration’s chief technology officials officials acknowledged the problem of online privacy, the White House statement presented a fairly detailed critique of the measures and concluded, “We will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.” It added that any proposed legislation “must not tamper with the technical architecture of the Internet.”

Read More:

http://www.alternet.org/story/153776/victory_for_internet_freedom%3A_obama_announces_opposition_to_sopa%2C_congress_shelves_bill

Medea Benjamin & Charles Davis - Obama's Pentagon Strategy, A Leaner, More Efficient Empire

In an age when U.S. power can be projected through private mercenary armies and unmanned Predator drones, the U.S. military need no longer rely on massive, conventional ground forces to pursue its imperial agenda, a fact President Barack Obama is now acknowledging. But make no mistake: while the tactics may be changing, the U.S. taxpayer -- and poor foreigners abroad -- will still be saddled with overblown military budgets and militaristic policies.

Speaking January 5 alongside his Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the president announced a shift in strategy for the American military, one that emphasizes aerial campaigns and proxy wars as opposed to "long-term nation-building with large military footprints." This, to some pundits and politicians, is considered a tectonic shift.

Indeed, the way some on the left tell it, the strategy marks a radical departure from the imperial status quo. "Obama just repudiated the past decade of forever war policy," gushed Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings, calling the new strategy a "[s]lap in the face to the generals."

Read More:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/07

Daniel Strauss - Ralph Nader: White House pressured Democrats not to challenge Obama

Ralph Nader is accusing the White House of applying political pressure to stop Democrats who were considering a primary challenge against the president.

The consumer activist and former presidential candidate, who had been searching for a prominent Democrat to challenge President Obama, told The Hill he has given up his effort.

“I hate to say but it’s over,” Nader told The Hill.

Last year, Nader said there was an almost 100 percent chance Obama would face a primary challenge.

Nader explained that he had planned to organize a slate of six candidates to primary Obama on a variety of issues. The plan didn’t work out though, Nader said, partially blaming those who are working to get Obama reelected.

“The minute any name was mentioned ... they made the calls,” Nader said of the White House’s efforts. “They jumped like a cat.”

Nader said it’s understandable why pressure from the Obama administration would deter liberal candidates.

“The retaliation is incredible,” Nader said.

For example, he said if former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) had opted to run against Obama, his future in the Democratic Party would be finished.

Read More:

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/202877-nader-white-house-pressured-dems-not-to-challenge-obama-in-primary

Phil Rockstroh - Secrets of Empire And Self-Deceptions Of Partisans

It is laughable (in a weeping outright sort of way) that Obama and his fellow Democratic Party supporters and apologists can't find a more resonant campaign theme than, "We carry out the agendas of the national security/bankster/militarist state (i.e., the one percent) while appearing to be less crazy than Republicans."

The notion of even possessing a preference as to whom should be president of this crumbling, faux republic...is a bit like asking what color uniform one would prefer that the crew tasked with rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic should don as they go about their duties.

In times such as these, when escaping into one's comfort zone is no longer a viable option, one is advised to evince the audacity of hopelessness, because the act leaves one desperate enough to embrace this daunting proposition:

Read More:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/05-2

Robert Scheer - Arms Dealer Obama Will Win by Default

Barack Obama will be re-elected not as a vindication of his policies but because the Republicans are incapable of providing a reasonable challenge to his flawed performance. On the central issue of our time—reining in the greed of the multinational corporations, led by the financial sector and the defense industry—a Republican presidential victor, with the possible exception of the now-sidelined Ron Paul, would do far less to challenge the kleptocracy of corporate-dominated governance.

As compared to front-runner Mitt Romney, who wants to derail even Obama’s tepid efforts at regulating Wall Street, and who seeks ever more wasteful increases in military spending, the incumbent president appears relatively enlightened, but that is cold comfort.

Not only has Obama been a savior of the banking conglomerates that so generously financed his campaign, but he also has proved to be equally as solicitous of the needs of the military-industrial complex. He entered his re-election year by signing a $662 billion defense authorization bill that strips away some of our most fundamental liberties and keeps military spending at Cold War levels, and by approving a $60 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

Read More:

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/arms_dealer_obama_will_win_by_default_20120105/

Jonathan Turley - Final Curtain: Obama Signs Indefinite Detention of Citizens Into Law As Final Act of 2011

President Barack Obama rang in the New Year by signing the NDAA law with its provision allowing him to indefinitely detain citizens. It was a symbolic moment to say the least. With Americans distracted with drinking and celebrating, Obama signed one of the greatest rollbacks of civil liberties in the history of our country . . . and citizens partied only blissfully into the New Year.

Ironically, in addition to breaking his promise not to sign the law, Obama broke his promise on signing statements and attached a statement that he really does not want to detain citizens indefinitely.

Obama insisted that he signed the bill simply to keep funding for the troops. It was a continuation of the dishonest treatment of the issue by the White House since the law first came to light. As discussed earlier, the White House told citizens that the President would not sign the NDAA because of the provision. That spin ended after sponsor Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.) went to the floor and disclosed that it was the White House and insisted that there be no exception for citizens in the indefinite detention provision.

Read More:

http://jonathanturley.org/2012/01/02/final-curtain-obama-signs-indefinite-detention-of-citizens-into-law-as-final-act-of-2011/

Video - Obama Christmas Carol

Animated musical look at the first 3 years of the Obama presidency with a Christmas-y twist.

Read Lyrics Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMCOwq_JzHE&feature=player_embedded

On his first day in office, Obama gave to me
A federal spending spree.
On his second day in office, Obama gave to me
Tax-cheating cronies and a bailout of AIG
On his third day in office, Obama gave to me
Czars in the Whitehouse, quantitative easing, and a free-falling currency
On his fourth day in office Obama gave to me
Government motors, posthumous voters, scandalous payoffs, private-sector layoffs
And my very own EBT
On his fifth day in office, Obama gave to me
Green energy, four-dollar gas, three years of economic gloom
And a tax on my Christmas tree
On his sixth day in office, Obama gave to me
Record unemployment, Libyan deployment, big NO to drilling, illegal killing
And a lack of transparency
On his seventh day in office, Obama gave to me
Double-dip recession, free-speech repression, New World Order, wide open border
And assault on democracy
On his eighth day in office, Obama gave to me
Socialized healthcare, corporate welfare, stock market tanking, printing presses cranking
And welfare dependency.
On his ninth day in office, Obama gave to me
Oil covered beaches, long-winded speeches
And a desperate craving for tea.
On his tenth day in office, Obama gave to me
Joe Biden gaffing, world leaders laughing
And an end to civility.
On his eleventh day in office, Obama gave to me
Garofalo shrilling, Chris Matthews thrilling, Oprah endorsing, Damon discoursing, Alec Baldwin tweeting, George Clooney bleating, ex-Beatle crooning, View ladies swooning, Maher getting madder, Moore getting fatter
So I'm canceling my cable TV.
On his twelfth day in office, Obama took from me
The last of my liberty.

Read Lyrics Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMCOwq_JzHE&feature=player_embedded