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Topsail Island. Photo by joanneleon. December, 2012
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News and Opinion
Remember how people here on this site and on other progressive sites destroyed Naomi Wolf when she wrote an article about how the feds were coordinating the crackdown on Occupy?
Revealed: How the FBI Coordinated the Crackdown on Occupy
New documents prove what was once dismissed as paranoid fantasy: totally integrated corporate-state repression of dissent
It was more sophisticated than we had imagined: new documents show that the violent crackdown on Occupy last fall – so mystifying at the time – was not just coordinated at the level of the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and local police. The crackdown, which involved, as you may recall, violent arrests, group disruption, canister missiles to the skulls of protesters, people held in handcuffs so tight they were injured, people held in bondage till they were forced to wet or soil themselves –was coordinated with the big banks themselves.
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The documents show stunning range: in Denver, Colorado, that branch of the FBI and a "Bank Fraud Working Group" met in November 2011 – during the Occupy protests – to surveil the group. The Federal Reserve of Richmond, Virginia had its own private security surveilling Occupy Tampa and Tampa Veterans for Peace and passing privately-collected information on activists back to the Richmond FBI, which, in turn, categorized OWS activities under its "domestic terrorism" unit. The Anchorage, Alaska "terrorism task force" was watching Occupy Anchorage. The Jackson, Michigan "joint terrorism task force" was issuing a "counterterrorism preparedness alert" about the ill-organized grandmas and college sophomores in Occupy there. Also in Jackson, Michigan, the FBI and the "Bank Security Group" – multiple private banks – met to discuss the reaction to "National Bad Bank Sit-in Day" (the response was violent, as you may recall). The Virginia FBI sent that state's Occupy members' details to the Virginia terrorism fusion center. The Memphis FBI tracked OWS under its "joint terrorism task force" aegis, too. And so on, for over 100 pages.
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Why the huge push for counterterrorism "fusion centers", the DHS militarizing of police departments, and so on? It was never really about "the terrorists". It was not even about civil unrest. It was always about this moment, when vast crimes might be uncovered by citizens – it was always, that is to say, meant to be about you.
Boehner ally: Speaker’s style not “effective way to do business”
Ouch! A fellow Republican tells the Washington Post the speaker's not willing to break arms and get things done
A fellow Ohio Republican, Rep. Steven C. LaTourette, told the paper, essentially, that Boehner’s failure to lead with a decisive hand is what House Republicans admire about him.
“Boehner’s greatest strength is also his greatest weakness,” said LaTourette, who then contrasted Boehner with Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.
“She got out there and broke arms and got it done. Boehner has not been willing to do that. I give him high marks for that,” LaTourette told the Post. “But it’s not a very effective way to do business.”
And anyone who thinks the House will line up behind a compromise forged in the Senate by Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell might think again.
“I think most people like myself are looking for far more than what’s probably going to be able to be delivered,” said Rep. Bill Huizenga, a Michigan Republican. told the paper. “We’re going to have to evaluate it. . . . There’ll probably be some room for improvement from the House perspective.”
Taxes key as budget talks start in private
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/...
WASHINGTON — Senate leaders worked feverishly behind closed doors Saturday to avert the most painful parts of a looming fiscal crisis, debating which taxpayers could or should pay more as part of a deal that would ward off looming tax increases for everyone.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., were racing to forge a deal in time for votes Sunday night by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Their aides met privately in a nearly deserted Capitol.
Lawmakers expected to be briefed by Sunday afternoon, though some were skeptical a compromise could be reached. Most lawmakers were absent Saturday, awaiting word from their leaders.
Bernie Sanders Slams Boehner and Right Wing House Extremists for Fiscal Cliff
Cautiously Optimistic
Sanders said, “I think we have a reasonable chance to get a short term fix through the Senate. The problem that Boehner will have in the House is that his caucus is dominated by right wing extremists who are very hesitant, who do everything they can to prevent the wealthiest people in this country and the largest corporations from paying a nickel more in taxes. But I think if it goes to the House, and if the Democrats remain strong, and you get 20 or 30 Republicans, you can probably prevent the tax hike for ninety eight percent for the American people and the other dealing with the crisis of two million American workers losing their unemployment benefits and other short term issues. So I am cautiously optimistic we can get something through the Senate, we’ll see what Boehner can do with his right wing friends.”
Later Sanders swatted aside the idea that both parties are to blame for the fiscal cliff mess, “I’m not a Democrat. I’m an Independent, but here’s the point. I don’t think there’s an equivalence. People say shouldn’t the rich pay a little bit more in taxes and then shouldn’t we cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid? The answer is no! The wealthy are doing phenomenally well. Their taxes are down. The middle class is hurting. We have the most unequal distribution of wealth and income. It should not be a ‘balance’ on the middle class and the rich. The wealthy and large corporations are going to have to help us in a significant way deal with deficit reduction.”
Midnight Weddings Commence as Same-Sex Marriage Becomes Official in Maine
Mainers celebrated around the state at the stroke of midnight Saturday, December 29, 2012, when a law legalizing the marriage of same-sex couples went into effect.
Couples congregated at city hall in Portland, ME to be the first of many to be issued marriage licenses under the new law, as a large crowd of supporters cheered in the streets.
Who paid for the Log Cabin Republicans' anti-Hagel NYT ad?
The gay GOP group confirms the ad was funded by outside donors, but refuses to identify them or their cause
As it so often does, this tactic has worked magically here, as numerous progressives who do actually care about gay issues - from Rachel Maddow to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force - dutifully popped up to attack the neocons' number one public enemy. Andrew Sullivan is right that this is a classic technique of the neocon smear campaign - recruit progressives to their cause with exploitation of unrelated issues - and he's also right that Hagel's record on gay issues is hardly uncommon or unusually disturbing for DC officials (particularly given his apology and disavowal). Indeed, very few of these progressives had difficulty supporting Obama in 2008 despite his opposition to same-sex marriage on this warped ground: "I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Now, for me as a Christian, it's also a sacred union. God is in the mix." But the LCR ad is designed to rile up progressives against Hagel by making it appear that Good Liberals oppose the former Senator for reasons having nothing to do with his heresies on Israel (just as so many Good Liberals were convinced to support the attack on Iraq, and will do the same with an attack on Iran, on the ground that the war advanced their Liberal Values).
As a result, I posed several questions to LCR about the funding and motive behind this ad. In response, the group's Executive Director, R. Clark Cooper, confirmed that LCR did not pay for the ad out of its existing funds. Rather, he said, the ad campaign "is being funded by a number of donors". But he not only refused to identify any of those donors, but also has thus far refused to say whether those "donors" are from the self-proclaimed "pro-Israel" community and/or are first-time donors to LCR: in other words, whether these donors are simply exploiting gay issues and the LCR to advance an entirely unrelated agenda as a means of attacking Hagel.
Blog Posts and Tweets of Interest
Remember when progressive debate was about our values and not about a "progressive" candidate? Remember when progressive websites championed progressive values and didn't tell progressives to shut up about values so that "progressive" candidates can get elected?
Come to where the debate is not constrained by oaths of fealty to persons or parties.
Come to where the pie is served in a variety of flavors.
"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum." ~ Noam Chomsky
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