A Perfectly Suited New Title: "The Supreme Corp"

Sad and miserable beyond words.

More than enough to make a grand lady weep.

If things weren't already bad enough, now the Supreme Court has just slam-dunked its approval for an even more thorough corporate whoring of our political process.

"The most radical and destructive campaign-finance decision in the history of the Supreme Court," said Fred Worthheimer, president of Democracy 21, about the court's decision last Thursday striking down a major portion of a campaign finance reform law.

"It returns us to the days of the robber barons," said Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause.

As if we weren't there already, Bob, with the scandalous plundering of our strained treasury by Wall Street's crooked, insatiably greedy oligarchy.

President Obama said it best, commenting this was a “major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans.”

And just wouldn't you know it--that House of Sleaze called the Republican Party just looooved it!

But why not? All five gowned cretins that made the majority vote were, that's right, exclusive gifts of that democracy-nurishing GOP:

* Justice Kennedy: Appointed by Ronald Reagan.
* Justice Roberts: Appointed by George W. Bush.
* Justice Alito: Appointed by George W. Bush.
* Justice Scalia: Appointed by Ronald Reagan.
* Justice Thomas: Appointed by George H. W. Bush.

Thanks so much, fellahs.

Scalia, it must be said, appears much better suited to run the Gambino Family, considering his gangsterish opinions on civil liberties.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was ecstatic, calling this “monumental,” while Texas Sen. John Cornyn crowed, “These are the bedrock principles that underpin our system of governance and strengthen our democracy.”

Oh, yes of course, Johnny. I imagine you're salivating all over yourself at the thought of how much more corporate largesse will be flowing into your deep pockets.

All in the cause of "strengthening our democracy," along with all those bulging CEO stock porfolios.

Run along now to the Crawford ranch, Cronyn, and pound down a few beers with your Texas crony, Dubya, who's guilty (among other things) of installing some of those lame brain justices on the High Court. The two of you can reminisce about the good ol' days when the Oval Office phone had a forest of corporate speed dials.

As always, the Daily Show's Jon Stewart had a stupendous take on this sorry spectacle, which at the minimum blesses us with laughs to dry away the tears.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
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www.thedailyshow.com
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Say it loud: "We Will Survive." Many times.

GOP Waterboards Massachusetts and The Rest Of The Nation This Week

Yep, America, those adorable Faux Trolls continue to radiate and bloviate!

As the new red stain begins oozing all over Ted Kennedy's perenially blue senate seat, they've gotten almost as giddy as the night their Official GOP Network christened a Texas village idiot's installation in the White House a decade ago.


Bully for Senator-elect Scott Brown in following his corporate insurance masters' commands. He's ready to run to Washington to help put the coup de grace to the last hope of humane health care for tens of millions of Americans, while the medical-industrial complex CEO's continue popping their champagne corks like profit margins.

But wait, our Scotty has still more to offer. This devout Christian Reformed Churchman is mighty enthused with that thing called "enhanced interrogation" for anyone getting nabbed by bounty-hungry Middle Eastern warlords & drug traffickers.

There are numerous first-hand accounts of the victims of this "enhanced interrogation." The following passage is taken from a story in the Independent, a British newspaper:

Henri Alleg, a journalist, was tortured in 1957 by French forces in Algeria. He described the ordeal of water torture in his book "The Question." Soldiers strapped him over a plank, wrapped his head in cloth and positioned it beneath a running tap. He recalled: "The rag was soaked rapidly. Water flowed everywhere: in my mouth, in my nose, all over my face. But for a while I could still breathe in some small gulps of air.

I tried, by contracting my throat, to take in as little water as possible and to resist suffocation by keeping air in my lungs for as long as I could. But I couldn't hold on for more than a few moments.

I had the impression of drowning, and a terrible agony, that of death itself, took possession of me. In spite of myself, all the muscles of my body struggled uselessly to save me from suffocation. In spite of myself, the fingers of both my hands shook uncontrollably. 'That's it! He's going to talk,' said a voice.

The water stopped running and they took away the rag. I was able to breathe. In the gloom, I saw the lieutenants and the captain, who, with a cigarette between his lips, was hitting my stomach with his fist to make me throw out the water I had swallowed."

And beyond this is the appalling realization that too often many victims will make up anything to stop the torture. That means, of course, too often all that "high value intel" is little more than hogwash, produced by stupid, sadistic zealots.

Despite the Obama Administration's torture ban, it's still critical keeping the heat on any and all deluded policy makers who justify going medieval and inflicting a relentless wave of destruction on the world. The closest and loudest example of another torture fan is Scott Brown's fellow cover boy that THANK GOD ALMIGHTY followed the Texas village idiot out of power.

The highly malignant Dickie Cheney can now only take to the airwaves to caterwaul his evil ways, arm-in-arm in the ranks of right-wing stooges at Faux News and elsewhere.

At the same time, never, ever assume life could not return to the Dark Ages we experienced in the eight long years after America's rigged 2000 election.

Think it couldn't happen here?

Again??

Just imagine the wonderland of fresh, enlightened leadership.....

Secretary of Defense -- Ann Coulter

Secretary of State -- Rush Limbaugh.

Secretary of Education -- Pat Robertson.

U.N. Ambassador? But of course: Bill O'Reilly.

And swimming somewhere in all this nourishing soup would be none other than "Cosmo Scott" Brown. After all, he surely would be deserving of some of the spoils in the Palin/Beck Empire.

Meantime, I'll sit back and watch a cathartic "Hitler Finds Out...." episode concerning the more immediate problem of another wretched Republican stealing the thunder.

Tragedy Is Clear--It Was That "Swore A Pact With The Devil" Syndrome

One of the most horrific things in the aftermath of unspeakable carnage, whether man-made or natural, is the sight of animals slowly devouring the corpses.

Usually they're vultures, sometimes wild dogs. Of course they are nature's scavengers. They don't know any better. They need a meal.

At other times, though, beasts of a different breed show up at the scene. They roar, flash their own powerful jaws, and start feeding on the victims with the same ferocity as their fellow predators.

But the meal they're after is an altogether different kind of sustenance.

For this species, it's simply a matter of generating enough shock and awe over the airwaves. All they need is a devoted audience of assorted cretins, reactionaries, and bigots to lap up their toxic drivel, day after day after day.

And make no mistake--bottom feeders such as Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson can sniff out a juicy ratings feed in virtually any manner of people & places. They engorge themselves on actors stricken with Parkinson's Disease. Or, when especially voracious, a monumental terrorist attack. Like 9/11.


Sometimes they can't resist even the most unlikely targets. Take for instance last Wednesday's heart-breaking calamity in Haiti, one of the most tragic places on earth.

It didn't take more than moments for the ravenous Komodo Dragon from within each to start salivating joyfully.

The corporate media continues keeping right-wing reptiles on display for the just the same reason for the endless parade of stomach-churning reality shows.

The bottom line, folks. Ethics, schmethics.....whatever you can get away with, just do it.

Thank God for the few precious antidotes counteracting the poison (also brought to us by our fearless corporate media.) Like John Stewart's "Daily Show." Keith Olbermann is another welcome relief. He doesn't ever pull punches--a critical skill when dealing with the broadcast troglodytes.

Fired-up Keith's take on the matter:



Bravo, Mister O! May your tenure on air be long and vigorous.

Meanwhile, we'll pray for these tortured people of Haiti. Considering these current scenes from Haiti, let our thoughts be light years away from the utterly deplorable vein as "pundits" Rush & Pat.

Uproarious "Saturnalia," One And All!

When did this all begin??

Some historians say our New Year's revelry started with the ancient Roman observance "Saturnalia," carried out in honor of the winter solstice.

Whatever this crazed night's roots, they surely have long branches that now cover the globe.

The haunting melody of "Auld Lang Syne" rings out tonight, a custom dating to the 18th century British Isles where guests ended a party by standing in a circle and belting out the tune. The custom is traced to Scotland because "Syne's" lyrics were written in 1788 by none other than their most celebrated folk poet and party animal, Mister Robbie Burns.

In Scottish dialect, the song is a heart-felt appeal to just forget the past and look to the new year with hope.

But considering how especially rough 2009 has been for so many, I think 19th century poet Thomas Hood's soulful prose is a much better fit:

"And ye, who have met with Adversity's blast,
And been bow'd to the earth by its fury;

To whom the Twelve Months, that have recently pass'd
Were as harsh as a prejudiced jury -

Still, fill to the Future! and join in our chime,
The regrets of remembrance to cozen,

And having obtained a New Trial of Time,
Shout in hopes of a kindlier dozen."

"Cozen," eh? Anybody below Word Merchant rank know exactly what Hood was talking about? I had to look it up--means "to cheat, deceive, or trick."

As in, for instance, the kind of things that recently ran even more amok on Wall Street?? God almighty, Hood was positively psychic.

Let's all shout, rattle, pound, and whistle, then; the ancients said the noise scares away evil spirits. May 2010 indeed comprise a "kindlier dozen."

Gauisus Novus Annus, barbarus!

On The Anniversary Of Its Holocaust......Gaza Still Weeps

Does the world see it?

Do you hear it?

Just outside.....barra, barra.



For the 400 children.

Assalam aleikum....

Reflection: This Terrible Anniversary Of Israel's Ignition Of The Gaza Blitzkrieg

Jeremy R. Hammond, editor of the online Foreign Policy Journal, is the author of the book, "The Rejection of Palestinian Self-Determination." He provides a eye-opening perspective on the Gaza Holocaust:

"One year ago today," writes Hammond, "Israel launched 'Operation Cast Lead', a murderous full-scale military assault on the small, densely populated, and defenseless Gaza Strip. The operation resulted in the massacre of over 1,300 Palestinians, the vast majority civilians, including hundreds of children.

This includes only those killed directly by military attacks. The actual casualty figure from Israel’s policies towards Gaza, including the number of deaths attributable to its ongoing siege of the territory, is unknown.

The official pretext for the operation given by Israel and parroted unquestioningly in the Western media is that Israel had to respond with force as an act of self-defense against to an onslaught of rocket attacks against southern Israel from Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza.

Even if this were true, nations acting in self-defense against armed attacks must respect international law designed to protect civilians in time of war. Israel flagrantly violated the Geneva Conventions and other relevant treaties governing the use of force during the course of its operation, committing numerous war crimes.

But the stated pretext itself does not stand up to scrutiny. Six months prior to the assault on Gaza, Israel and Hamas had agreed to a cease-fire. Under the terms of the truce agreement, Hamas would end its rocket attacks against Israel and Israel would similarly cease attacks against Palestinians in Gaza and lift its siege on the territory.

Hamas, for its part, lived up to its obligations under the truce. It fired no rockets into Israel and actively pressured other groups to similarly refrain from launching attacks.

Israel, on the other hand, never lived up to its obligations under the truce. From the beginning, Israel declared a “security zone” on Gaza’s side of the border and Israeli soldiers repeatedly violated the truce by firing at Palestinians, guilty of merely trying to access their own land.

Israel also never eased its siege of Gaza. Israel controlled (and continues to control) the borders of Gaza, its airspace, and its coast, and implementing a near total blockade, including preventing by force the delivery of humanitarian goods into the territory.

Rather than easing the siege, Israel continued to let in only minimal amounts of humanitarian supplies (a practice that also continues today), just enough to prevent a total humanitarian catastrophe, thus keeping the population of Gaza in a state of despair and on the verge of human limits, with untold consequences on the health and mental well-being of the Palestinians.

The complete breakdown of the truce agreement came on November 4, when Israel launched airstrikes and a ground incursion into Gaza, killing four Palestinians. This violation of the cease-fire resulted in its effective undoing.

Israel’s official reason for the attack was its claim that militants were digging a tunnel under the border. The more credible explanation, however, was that Israel wanted to provoke Hamas into launching rockets and thus to claim a pretext for the full-scale military assault that Israel had, at that time, by its own account, already been planning.

Indeed, from the beginning of the truce, it appeared Israel’s intent was to provoke a violent response in order claim a pretext for its military assault. While Hamas scrupulously observed the cease-fire, Israel took deliberate actions to undermine it. Besides those already noted, Israel also stepped up operations against Palestinians in the West Bank, such as the assassination of members of Islamic Jihad shortly after the announcement of the truce.

Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza responded to that incident by firing rockets into Israel, but Hamas criticized the attacks and pressured Islamic Jihad to cease, including with the threat of arrests, and the tenuous truce continued to hold, for a time.

A greater and more provocative action was necessary in order to completely undermine the truce, and Israel’s November 4 attack proved to be that action. From that day forward, the so-called “cease-fire” consisted of tit-for-tat attacks on a daily basis, with Israel launching repeated attacks on Gaza and Hamas and other militant groups launching rockets into Israel.

Israel had achieved the pretext it was looking for in order to gain the political cover necessary to wage its assault on the civilian population of Gaza.


And make no mistake; Operation Cast Lead was a war on a civilian population, an extremely murderous act of collective punishment.

The death toll itself stands as an undeniable testament to that, but the manner in which Israel waged its operation also leaves no doubt as to its true objective.

As already noted, Israel claims its operation was designed to end rocket attacks. In truth, it was Israel that deliberately violated and undermined the truce.

Israel also claims its operation was aimed at militants. As evidence of its respect for international law and extraordinary efforts to prevent the loss of innocent life, Israel notes the fact that it dropped thousands of leaflets on Gaza prior to its operations warning civilians to flee the oncoming assault.

But the fact is this is not evidence of Israel’s respect for innocent life, but rather strong evidence that its killing of civilians was deliberate and intended. For starters, civilians, told to flee, had nowhere to go. No place in Gaza was safe from Israel’s attacks. Furthermore, in some cases civilians were told to go to city centers, and, after many had done so, those same locations were then purposefully bombed by Israel.

Israel’s claimed respect for innocent life is also belied by its means of indiscriminate warfare. Israel heavily bombarded civilian population centers. It deliberately and systematically targeted civilian locations with protected status under international law, including schools and hospitals.

Israel also used indiscriminate weaponry, including white phosphorus munitions. The use of white phosphorus is permitted under international law for illuminating the battlefield or creating smokescreens. However, its use as an incendiary weapon (it is also a chemical weapon, in that its incendiary effect is the result of a chemical reaction) is a violation of international law and a war crime, particularly when used indiscriminately against populated areas and civilian locations such as schools, as it was in Gaza.

Moreover, Israel, demonstrated extreme contempt for and defiance to the United Nations and the international community by deliberately targeting U.N. sites within Gaza. It targeted U.N. clinics, schools, and other compounds.

Israel attacked humanitarian convoys attempting to deliver much needed supplies to the desperate people of Gaza, and in other cases prevented medical teams, including from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from reaching victims of its assault, also a war crime.

Israel also deliberately targeted a U.N. warehouse where humanitarian supplies were being stored, attacking the site with white phosphorus munitions, resulting in the warehouse and goods inside catching fire and nearly burning to the ground.

All of these actions by Israel, all well documented and incontrovertible, constitute grave war crimes under the Geneva Conventions and other relevant treaties of international law.

The U.S. Role

Israel’s contempt for innocent life, for the international community, and for international law is perhaps matched only by the U.S. willingness to support Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people.

Simply stated, without U.S. support, none of this could go on.

The U.S. supports Israel financially. Aid to Israel is on the order of $3 billion a year. This money is given, unlike aid to other countries, with no strings attached, and with little to no oversight about how it is to be used.

Even if it is not used directly to finance Israeli policies and activities in violation of international law, such as its ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories, construction of settlements in the West Bank, construction of a its “separation barrier” within the West Bank, destruction of Palestinian homes and other property, killing of Palestinian civilians, etc., U.S. financial support allows Israel to free up other funding for these illegal activities. It effectively rewards Israel for criminal actions.

The U.S. supports Israel militarily. And military equipment provided by the U.S. is used by Israel for actions constituting war crimes under international law. The massacre in Gaza was carried out with the help of U.S.-provided Apache helicopter gunships, U.S.-provided F-16 fighter bombers, and U.S.-provided munitions, including white phosphorus and cluster munitions.

This military support to Israel is not only a violation of international law and relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions calling on member states not to provide material support for Israeli crimes, but it is also a violation of U.S. law. Besides international treaties such as the U.N. Charter and the Geneva Conventions constituting “the supreme Law of the Land” under the U.S. Constitution, U.S. law forbids the exporting of military equipment to countries that routinely violate international law and commit offenses against human rights. Yet U.S. military support for Israel continues unabated.

The U.S. supports Israel diplomatically. The principle means by which the U.S. does so is through the use of its veto power in the U.N. Security Council. While Israel was using U.S. military hardware to murder innocent Palestinians, the U.S. was actively trying to stall a cease-fire resolution to give Israel more time to carry out its assault.

A watered-down version of the resolution was finally found acceptable to the U.S., which reportedly was ready to vote in favor, but after receiving a call from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, while not going so far as to cast a veto, instead abstained rather than casting a vote for a resolution rightfully critical of Israel."

Well-said, Jeremy. Now if only enough of the American public finally wakes up to the fact that they can help put a stop to the Israeli bloodletting & destruction of the remains of Palestine, if they'd just send a loud, consistent message to each of their congressmen.

And don't lose faith. That brutal Apartheid South African Regime finally crumbled, to be replaced by a birth of new freedom. So, too, will its even more brutal cousin, Apartheid Israel.

A free Palestinian nation can emerge from the ashes. And it will, if Americans armed with the truth just say no to tax contributions for any more of this appalling oppression, murder, and mayhem.

In the meantime, the brave people of Gaza--like those South Africans that once shouted "Cry Freedom!"--will not go down, no matter how many of their children the Israeli storm troopers slaughter.



“No one can take my identity
Away from me,
Not tanks or guns or bombs
Meant to desecrate me and kill me.
My country lives in me.

I am the cry of liberty
No matter what they take from me,
They can't take away my identity
Or my dignity.
Palestinian am I.”

--Edna Yaghi

Israel's "Cast Lead": The Art Of Murdering Unarmed Women Bearing White Flags

In one of the final days of Israel's blood-thirsty rampage in Gaza last January, a Jewish member of the British parliament rose from his seat to urge an arms embargo on Tel Aviv.

But MP Gerald Kaufman, brought up as an orthodox Jew and Zionist, said something else that caught world attention.

"My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town," railed Kaufman, "a German soldier shot her dead in her bed. My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza. The present Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploit the continuing guilt from gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians."

Tomorrow will mark the official one-year anniversary of the start of the 22 days of Israel's mayhem and massacre on Gaza's 1.5 million men, women, and children. It is hoped that not only will the world take note, but also never release the Israeli regime of war criminals from their accountability.

Insidious and utterly evil it was. And they pulled off day after day of massacres by tossing aside their "purity of arms" facade and replacing it with rules of engagement turning the world's largest open air prison into a free fire zone.

And what, precisely, is meant by "free fire"?

It's really very simple. Just shoot, blast, burn, or demolish anything at will, be it a school, home, or hospital, along with the men, women, and children that go with 'em.

An exaggeration, perhaps? Arab propaganda, maybe??

Not exactly. Here's some chilling testimony from an Israeli soldier and Gaza Massacre vet, who explained the dynamics of their "standing orders."



One of the many international human rights groups monitoring Israel's violations of international law is Human Rights Watch. In their official report on Gaza, they meticulously documented case after case of war crimes, including the fate of the Abd Rabbo family:

"According to all three family members, around noon the family heard the tank outside their house and then a soldier on a megaphone calling on them to come outside. Afraid to send out any men, two women and three female children gathered at the door, at least three of them holding pieces of white cloth.

They stepped outside and saw an Israeli tank about 10 meters away with its turret pointed at the house. On the front steps stood Khalid’s mother, Su’ad, 54, his wife, Kawthar, 26, and their three girls, Su’ad, 7, Samar, 4, and Amal, 2.

Khalid’s mother, Su’ad, explained what happened next:

'We saw one tank and we saw others behind. We were with the white flags in order to make them see that we were civilians. We spent seven to nine minutes waving the flags and our faces were looking at them.

And suddenly they opened fire and the girls fell to the ground. Su’ad fell and when I saw her, I turned to my right and when I turned, I got hit....The shooting came from where the tank was but I don’t know who shot.

Su’ad was wounded in the neck and chest. Amal was hit in the chest and abdomen and her intestines came out. Su’ad died immediately. We took Amal inside and she died in
there because the ambulance could not come. Samar was injured in the chest and the shots exited her back, leaving large holes and damaging the spine. She is now paralyzed...

We had stood there for maybe ten minutes. The soldiers were sitting on top
of the tank. The area was quiet. We saw no people. There was no shelling.
We heard no fighting. They had full control of the area since the first day of
the ground invasion. They had the area and also [nearby] Kashef Hill.'

Interviewed separately, Khalid and his brother, who had both remained inside the house, confirmed this version of events. According to Khalid, the women and girls were outside for about five minutes when an Israeli soldier emerged from the top of the tank and without warning opened fire with automatic gunfire.

The women and girls managed to scramble back inside the house, some of them bleeding badly, he said.

In Brussels, Human Rights Watch interviewed Khalid’s brother Hasan, where he was tending to the wounded Samar in a hospital. His recollection of some details varied slightly from his brother and mother, but his general account was the same.

According to Hasan, the IDF soldiers ordered the family to come outside and then opened fire on the women and children. 'The area where we lived was under Israeli control, it was a safe place for them,' he said. 'There were no fighters.'

....Khalid ‘Abd Rabbo said he cannot understand why an Israeli soldier opened fire on unarmed women who bore white flags, and then destroyed his home:

'I only want one thing. I want to understand whether I did something wrong to
Israel to be punished like this. I want this to be the last crime committed
against Arabs and against Palestinians because we want peace. Hopefully
I’ll be the last one who suffered. I lost my children and house.'"

Sadly, Kahalid, the blood just keeps flowing. Today six more Palestinians were mowed down by Israeli gunmen.

No Palestinian or his family is safe in this hellish world of occupation, humiliation and confiscation. Clearly Israel's "Cast Lead" crew didn't hesitate at outright annihilation--at will--either. The following example shows just how perilous things are, even for a compliant, law-abiding, non-terrorist Palestinian such as Israeli-educated Dr. Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish.

He's also a peace activist. But that didn't slow down one bit the "purity of arms" bearing Israeli tank that deliberately blasted a shell into the family home, obliterating al-Aish's three daughters and a niece.

Anyone care to guess if any of their murderers were sporting a "one shot two kills" t-shirt that day?