(via JBS HQ)
Category: Big Government
Liberal media get a taste of the Government that they advocate for all the time
I have written about this story already; But, I found this story here a bit amusing. Liberals advocate for big Government; but when they get a taste of that big Government, they are the first ones to gripe and complain about it!
Note to the liberals: If you do not like big Government, do not advocate for it.
The Story:
Reporters from The Washington Post and the Huffington Post were arrested in Ferguson, Mo., on Wednesday night while covering the protests that have rocked the St. Louis suburb.
Wesley Lowery, a Washington Post political reporter, and Ryan Reilly, a Huffington Post justice reporter, were arrested in a McDonalds shortly before 8 p.m. ET. Police entered the restaurant and told patrons there to leave, the reporters wrote on Twitter after their release. The police then asked Lowery and Reilly for their identification and, according to the reporters, arrested them because they weren’t packing their bags fast enough.
Lowery also said the police officers “assaulted” him. “Officers slammed me into a fountain soda machine because I was confused about which door they were asking me to walk out of,” he wrote on Twitter. Lowery also said that he and Reilly were released without paperwork or charges, and that the officers refused to provide the reporters with their names.
(via Memeorandum)
Videos: More out of control Government at work
First, The FDA is out to war…..over cheese: (H/T Reason Magazine)
Also too, Northern California just wants to be….Jefferson: (H/T Reason Magazine)
Can I make any more obvious that big Government is simply not working?
Video: Imperial Decay
Some thoughts here before I post this video. I want it to be publically known; that this video is NOT intended to be a slam against the United States Military As the Miltary simply takes it’s orders from the Government leaders. It is, I feel, a very valid criticism of the United States Government. It is also a legit criticism of both political parties; both of whom have bankrupted this Country. They have done this by wars, ripping out banking regulations which brought on the crash of 2008 and many other things too many to list here.
As this video does state, the jig is up, the game has changed; and more people are paying attention to what the Government is doing. This was clear when the American people protested the idea of going into Libya.
Some people might disagree with some of the opinions expressed in this video; but I believe one thing that we can all agree on, is that the United States Government has become terrible large and overreaching; especially in this day of the Obama Presidency.
Enjoy the video:
John Podhoretz gets exposed for the intolerant Trotskyite that he truly is
This is great; a Trotskyite Zionist goes for a debate; and the minute he sees that he is losing the debate — he storms off the stage, takes his marbles and goes home.
I am referring to the greatest Trotskyite, Zionist, Neoconservative of them all — John Podhoretz.
See here, here, here and here.
Money quote:
Bottom line: I’d had a long day and I didn’t see the point in spending more of it getting booed and shushed. So I left. So sue me.
If only we could sue you and your family for all the trillions of dollars — and the 4000+ lives that were wasted in the Iraq War —- which you and your satanic Father were cheerleaders for, after 9/11. Actually, I would very much like to see criminal charges filed against you and few of your Trotskyite friends as well. However, as we realists know; that will never happened to a protected class as yourself.
You want to know what got wrong with Conservatism? You want to know why the GOP is in the shape that it is in? Look no further than this man here and his idiotic Trotskyite magazine that he runs. They are the true enemies of America; they are the ones who put us in the war that almost broke this Nation and ruined its standing in the world.
It is a pity that there is not true justice in this Nation of ours; otherwise, this man and his friends would be sitting in jail cells.
Hmmmmm: NSA Director Alexander Admits He Lied about Phone Surveillance Stopping 54 Terror Plots
Looks like the Obama administration is continuing with the same stuff that the Bush administration did.
Quote:
The head of the National Security Agency (NSA) admitted before a congressional committee this week that he lied back in June when he claimed the agency’s phone surveillance program had thwarted 54 terrorist “plots or events.”
NSA Director Keith Alexander gave out the erroneous number while the Obama administration was defending its domestic spying operations exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden. He said surveillance data collected that led to 53 of those 54 plots had provided the initial tips to “unravel the threat stream.”
But Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Wednesday during a hearing on the continued oversight of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that the administration was pushing incomplete or inaccurate statements about the bulk collection of phone records from communications providers.
“For example, we’ve heard over and over again that 54 terrorist plots have been thwarted by the use of (this program),” Leahy said. “That’s plainly wrong,” adding: “These weren’t all plots and they weren’t all thwarted.”
Alexander admitted that only 13 of the 54 cases were connected to the United States. He also told the committee that only one or two suspected plots were identified as a result of bulk phone record collection.
New lies for old. There is no difference anymore. Hence why I am not voting Republican come 2016, unless something changes drastically on that side of the fence; and I know darned well I am not voting for a Democrat, ever again. 😡
Good Reading: Bipartisan Corporate Welfare by Veronique de Rugy
This is some seriously good stuff here:
On June 7, the Senate Banking Committee voted to back Fred Hochberg’s second term as president of the U.S. Export-Import Bank without bothering to ask the Obama administration about the future of that expensive, inefficient New Deal–era agency. The vote, in which 28 Republicans joined 54 Democrats in supporting Hochberg, was not a good sign for anyone hoping that the GOP’s latest promises of fiscal restraint would prove more trustworthy than all the broken promises before.
The bank, also known as “Ex-Im,” provides taxpayer-backed loans, loan guarantees, and insurance to foreign companies, such as Air China, to buy products from some of the richest U.S. exporters, such as Boeing. It is a textbook example of Washington’s bipartisan corporate welfare. Yet only two Republicans, Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), voted against Hochberg. In an online statement Toomey explained his reasons for withholding support. “I opposed his nomination due to serious concerns that the Ex-Im Bank is using taxpayer-backed loan guarantees to help some companies at the expense of other U.S. companies,” he said. “The way to help U.S. exports is to reduce the tax and regulatory burden on businesses, not to pick winners and losers.”
Read the rest at: Bipartisan Corporate Welfare – Reason.com.
Missouri Christians temporarily barred from performing Baptisms in State Park
(H/T to Gateway Pundit, Mr. Conservative)
Todd Sterns at Fox News Channel reports:
In a stand-off between Baptists seeking to exercise their religious rights and the National Park Service, the National Park Service just blinked, backing off of a requirement that churches get a permit (a two day process) before baptizing people in public waters.
…In Missouri, where this matter came to a head, people gather together on river banks to witness baptisms. As choir members sing hymns, the preacher leads the new believer into the water for a full immersion baptism. In terms of environmental impact, this temporary plunge into the river is about as minimal as one can get, an impact that is equal to, or even less than, the effect from swimmers, fisherman, or weekend frolickers who head out to the same waters for fun and sport.
…Nevertheless, the Park Service recently began a new policy requiring churches that wished to hold baptisms in public waters to apply for a special permit at least 48 hours in advance of the baptism. The Park Service justified this recent demand by saying that the permits were necessary to “maintain park natural/cultural resources and quality visitor experiences, specific terms and conditions have been established.”
…In Missouri’s Ozark Mountains, the Park Service went one step further: it closed the road that led to a sandbar abutting a popular baptism site. And when we say closed, we mean closed. The Park Service didn’t just put up a “No Access” sign on the roadway. Instead, it blocked the road with boulders. While young and healthy people can still hike to the sand bar, elderly people, whether they are congregants or new believers, can no longer get there.
…On August 21, Rep. Jason Smith (Missouri, R) heeded the complaints of his constituents and wrote a letter to the NPS asking what the heck was going on…
…Between citizen outrage and Rep. Smith’s threat to bring the matter before the full Congress, however, the Park Service quickly reversed its new policy, writing to the Congressman that, “As of today, the park’s policy has been clarified to state that no permit will be required for baptisms within the Riverways. I can assure you the National Park Service has no intention of limiting the number of baptisms performed within the park.”
As Government gets bigger, this sort of stuff happens. Christians should be beware and vote differently.
A Liberal Blogger bemoans the police state of Washington D.C.
I might not agree with this site’s political stance; but I do give them credit for realizing that police state tactics are simply wrong and Anti-American.
Quote:
The day was symbolized for me on multiple levels by seeing DC Park police seize 200 professionally printed placards from activists that were distributing them for free. The placards read, “Stop Mass Incarceration. Stop the new Jim Crow.” Police said that it was “unlawful solicitation”, even though they were clearly giving them away. When those having their signs seized complained, they were threatened with fines or arrest. I heard one DC police officer say, “Hey, you can get them back at the end of the day. On second thought, given your attitude you cannot. “
I have never seen free placards confiscated at a national gathering by DC police. Then again, I’ve also never seen a demonstration so thickly monitored, with park police, the Department of Homeland Security and the military on every corner.
Today, those “triplets of evil” King warned us about 1967 still strangle this country. If we are not talking about the New Jim Crow, Wall Street and militarism, then what are we doing? King said, “If an American is concerned only about his nation, he will not be concerned about the peoples of Asia, Africa, or South America. Is this not why nations engage in the madness of war without the slightest sense of penitence? Is this not why the murder of a citizen of your own nation is a crime, but the murder of citizens of another nation in war is an act of heroic virtue?” Given US foreign policy, how can one say that they stand in King’s legacy and not raise these issues?
I would ask those who find this objectionable to ask themselves, “What would Dr. King/Ella Baker/Fannie Lou Hamer/Malcolm X think about today’s march?” I don’t presume to know the answer to that question, but I know that we only honor their memory by asking it.
via Seeing ‘New Jim Crow’ Placards Seized by Police & More From the March on Washington | The Nation.
Now, if I were a cynical smart aleck, I would say something like “Well, this is what liberals want, right?” But, I know better, most American progressives simply want responsible Government. They do not want repressive Government. In other words, they want European-style socialism in America, with American freedoms; and not Soviet-style repressive Communist rule. Those on the right argue that European-style socialism cannot be obtained without the loss of personal freedom.
What progressives do not get, is that we are right at the stage now here in America, of corporatism or the corporatization of America. Many on the left and some on the right bemoan this fact greatly. This is one stage away from Soviet-style repressive Communist rule. The seizure of these signs, ought to be a clear sign of that moving towards a Soviet-style of oppressive Government.
Liberal progressives need to wake up and realize that the sort of new left and neo-left form of progressivism, that was promoted from President Johnson till President Clinton and now the neo-leftism promoted by President Obama is not the classic liberalism of the old left. New-leftism, and Neo-leftism is nothing more than diluted soviet-style of oppressive Government and militarization of the police force. It is textbook Fascism in it’s rawest form.
Bad Optics on David Miranda detention
The left and some on the right are howling about the detention of Glenn Greenwald’s “partner” David Miranda.
The Story via Guardian:
The partner of the Guardian journalist who has written a series of stories revealing mass surveillance programmes by the US National SecurityAgency was held for almost nine hours on Sunday by UK authorities as he passed through London‘s Heathrow airport on his way home to Rio de Janeiro.
David Miranda, who lives with Glenn Greenwald, was returning from a trip to Berlin when he was stopped by officers at 8.05am and informed that he was to be questioned under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The controversial law, which applies only at airports, ports and border areas, allows officers to stop, search, question and detain individuals.
The 28-year-old was held for nine hours, the maximum the law allows before officers must release or formally arrest the individual. Accordingto official figures, most examinations under schedule 7 – over 97% – last less than an hour, and only one in 2,000 people detained are kept for more than six hours.
Miranda was released, but officials confiscated electronics equipment including his mobile phone, laptop, camera, memory sticks, DVDs and games consoles.
Greenwald understandably is not amused:
At 6:30 am this morning my time – 5:30 am on the East Coast of the US – I received a telephone call from someone who identified himself as a “security official at Heathrow airport.” He told me that my partner, David Miranda, had been “detained” at the London airport “under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act of 2000.”
David had spent the last week in Berlin, where he stayed with Laura Poitras, the US filmmaker who has worked with me extensively on theNSA stories. A Brazilian citizen, he was returning to our home in Rio de Janeiro this morning on British Airways, flying first to London and then on to Rio. When he arrived in London this morning, he was detained.
At the time the “security official” called me, David had been detained for 3 hours. The security official told me that they had the right to detain him for up to 9 hours in order to question him, at which point they could either arrest and charge him or ask a court to extend the question time. The official – who refused to give his name but would only identify himself by his number: 203654 – said David was not allowed to have a lawyer present, nor would they allow me to talk to him.
A few things that are not being reported; one, the Guardian paid for the trip. Two, this here, which is being reported by the NYT:
Mr. Miranda was in Berlin to deliver documents related to Mr. Greenwald’s investigation into government surveillance to Ms. Poitras, Mr. Greenwald said. Ms. Poitras, in turn, gave Mr. Miranda different documents to pass to Mr. Greenwald. Those documents, which were stored on encrypted thumb drives, were confiscated by airport security, Mr. Greenwald said. All of the documents came from the trove of materials provided to the two journalists by Mr. Snowden. The British authorities seized all of his electronic media — including video games, DVDs and data storage devices — and did not return them, Mr. Greenwald said.
Some people are calling him a “Mule”, and that might very well be true too.
Here is my take on the situation: This is very bad optics, not only for the British Government, but for the United States as well. However, as someone who believes in rule of law. If you are a person, who is well-known or somehow or another related to this person who is well-known and you are carrying stolen documents that rightfully belong to a major Government and you intend on delivering them for illegal distribution; you should expect stuff like this to happen.
This is one of my major gripes with the libertarians of all stripes. They do stuff like this here; and then, when they get arrested, they act like somehow or another their rights have been somehow violated. The truth is, Snowden broke the law and when you break the law, you have to answer for your crimes. Whether abuse happened or not, in Snowden’s claims is totally irrelevant and nothing more than a distraction to the fact that the man was trusted with the secrets of the United States Government and he chose to break the law by revealing them.
If anything, Greenwald, Poitras, and Miranda ought to be charged in accessory to releasing stolen classified documents. Again, this is not about whether the United States made mistakes, this is about someone, who was trusted with classified documents and chose to release them, thereby breaking the law.
Again, let me be absolutely clear, I am not a supporter of the NSA spying program and some of it’s abuses that is being reported. What I am a supporter of, is rule of law and protecting the United States of America, and protecting classified information from getting into the hands of those who want to destroy this Country. Snowden and Greenwald obviously do not share that feeling and as a result, Snowden broke the law and Greenwald is helping him. For this, both of these men should go to jail for a very long time.
Related:
- Andrew Sullivan / The Dish: Cameron Proves Greenwald Right
- Associated Press: Partner of reporter at center of NSA leak detained
Blogger roundup: The Switch, Business Insider, 99GetSmart, The Daily Banter, CANNONFIRE, The Week, War Is A Crime .org, Techdirt, Firedoglake, Spectator, Daily Mail, Hullabaloo, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, The Moderate Voice, Informed Comment, The Huffington Post, Taylor Marsh, Crooks and Liars, Gawker, Washington Monthly, Just An Earth-Bound Misfit, I, The Reaction,The Agonist, Mediaite, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Towleroad News #gay, The Hinterland Gazette,TechCrunch, TalkLeft, Pat Dollard, emptywheel, msnbc.com, Philly.com, Crooked Timber, Balloon Juice, The Hill, Alan Colmes’ Liberaland, Little Green Footballs, The Raw Story and Unqualified Offerings, Guardian, Balloon Juice, National Review, Smartypants, Guardian, Booman Tribune, Little Green Footballs, Hit & Run, Business Insider, Smartypants, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, CBS DC, Telegraph, Gay Star News, Boing Boing, Booman Tribune, Hot Air, The Week, Twitchy and Seeing the Forest — more at Mediagazer », more at Mediagazer » (via Memeorandum)
Update: Fixed rather funny typo in third paragraph after quotes. More coffee! 😛