Webster G. Tarpley
www.tarpley.net

In the aftermath of the Massachusetts Senate vote last Tuesday, we now have a concrete fighting chance to block the reappointment of Wall Street puppet Ben Bernanke as the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors by preventing his Senate confirmation next week.  This afternoon, Bernanke’s support was eroding hour by hour. The defections from the Bernanke camp feature Democratic senators who are up for reelection this coming November.  They have read the tea leaves from Massachusetts, and they know the pitchforks are out, so their response is a mad rush to acquire economic populist and anti-Wall Street cover.  The obvious way to do this is to turn against Bernanke and defeat him in the upcoming confirmation vote.  Leading the charge late today were Senator Barbara Boxer of California and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, both endangered Democrats.  GOP Senator Corker of Tennessee is now waffling about whether or not he will support Bernanke.  The pressure is building on self-styled Democratic economic populists like Sherrod Brown of Ohio to prove that they are worth something.  What will Senator-elect Scott Brown do? If he votes for Bernanke, he will have betrayed his voters in less than a week, and will not survive his own re-election campaign in 3 years. Democratic majority leader Harry Reid, succumbing to overwhelming pressure from the Obama White House, announced late this afternoon that he will fall on his sword for Helicopter Ben, but this self-destructive pledge may not survive a weekend in Nevada, where the economic populist pitchforks are as finely honed as anywhere.  It is therefore time for all responsible citizens and all persons of good will to mobilize in the days ahead to secure the defeat of Bernanke.  Such an event would symbolize the turn of the tide against Wall Street in the struggle to decide who will pay for the current depression -- the people or the bankers and hedge fund hyenas.

by Austin Hill

Breaking news: Barack Obama is human.

He is not a “messiah,” he is not omniscient, and he is not capable, all on his own, of “fixing everything” that is wrong with America.

Here’s another bit of “news” that is beginning to “break:” The President’s repeated attempts to fix everything can actually make matters worse instead of better. And given the results of a poll released last week by Bloomberg news service – according to them 77% of American investors view the President as “anti-business”- it seems that this painful reality of “presidential fixes” is hitting-home.

For those who are surprised by Obama’s heavy-handed, big-government, “anti-business” policy proposals, I respectfully ask “why?”  Were you watching and listening carefully during the last presidential election cycle?  Or were you, perhaps, just caught-up in the “style” of the Obama experience, and ignoring the “substance” of his rhetoric?

In case you missed it, let me assure you – what we know today as “Obamanomics” is quite consistent with the themes and ideas upon which Senator Obama campaigned for the presidency.  The difference, perhaps, is that it apparently “sounded so good” (at least to some people) as campaign rhetoric,

Michel Collins

The appointment of former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush as key players in Haitian relief should cause the people of Haiti grave concern, if they weren't otherwise preoccupied with survival. These former presidents' records as pro-life advocates on the international scene is tarnished by real world outcomes.

During his eight years as president, Clinton was responsible for sanctions on Iraq that resulted in the deaths of 170,000 children under five. Former President George W. Bush exceeded that death toll by invading Iraq.   That  caused civil chaos and conflict among Iraqis leading to the deaths of over one million citizens in that tragic nation. When you see these two coming, their record speaks for itself.  (Image)

What will happen in Haiti? What can the citizens of that nation expect? It's instructive to look at the post Katrina rescue effort with a focus on New Orleans as a prototype.

"The  Cleansing of New Orleans"

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, more than 200,000 citizens of New Orleans were transported  to cities around the United States.  Houston and Atlanta were major centers for congregating survivors.  Shortly after the involuntary exodus, 43% wanted to return to New Orleans, and 44% wanted to stay in their new homes, and 12% were unsure of their choice.

Little did Katrina's survivors know that they would never have a choice.  The state of Louisiana sent a message right away.  Procedures were established to make sure that none of the refugees would be able to vote by absentee ballot unless they first returned home and voted in person.  Of course, most lacked the resources to do that.  Through a variety techniques and excuses, the survivors were turned into permanent non residents of their former home, without regard to their preference.  The politics of relocation has whited out the city's former political make up.

The combined class and ethnic cleansing has continued in New Orleans.  The evidence is the eviction of poor people from structures not harmed by the hurricane, and the re-zoning of areas where survivors could return into enclaves for the wealthy.  It's called progress.

Welcome to OpEdNews, Brad. There's a lot riding on the special election in Massachusetts for Sen. Ted Kennedy's replacement.   It should have been a cakewalk for Martha Coakley. What's going on?

I'll leave the politics of the matter to those more closely involved in them. It's gonna be a tough slog this year for all Democrats, particularly in light of their "play it safe" positions on…well, just about everything.

That said, on the eve of the important special election where their "filibuster-proof" majority hangs in the balance, my top concern is to make sure that the candidate who receives the most votes actually gets to WIN this time, and that the citizens of both MA and the U.S., know for a fact that that person has actually won!

That won't be easy given the easily hacked voting machines, sold and serviced by a private company with a criminal background, that will be used in the race. I detail all of that, and why both Democrats and Republicans (and even Independents) should be VERY concerned, in my report today on all of this at the right-leaning Gouverneur Times: http://tr.im/KvUb

By Mary Starrett
January 1, 2010
NewsWithViews.com

As another year comes to a close and a new decade beckons I’m looking past my frivolous resolve to exercise more and eat less. Instead, I imagine a wish list compiled by Americans who yearn for a return to government bound by the limits of the Constitution. What would such a list look like? When a minority of colonists stood up to a tyrant king over two centuries ago they did so because they believed that freedom didn’t look anything like Red Coats quartered in village homes rifling through papers at will. Likewise, I’d like to see hordes of citizens resolve to refuse to have their bags turned inside out while they are groped and prodded at airports by bloated TSA agents. Agents who’ve been given the authority to intimidate Americans while open borders invite dangerous foreigners in with impunity.

By Sheriff Jim R. Schwiesow, Ret.
January 10, 2010
NewsWithViews.com

This nation is riding an ominously prophetic swell that foretells the end of a decade-long precipitous slide to a jumping off point into a crescendo of ever-ascending calamitous events preceding a final plunge into devastation and oblivion. I continue to receive mail from those who advocate for the salvation of this country via a political route. Will we ever understand that the afflictions that are upon the nation have their roots in a deep and abiding spiritual sickness? The futility of looking to corrupt politicians and fallible men for answers ought to be evident. Everything the politicians and their bureaucratic minions turn their hands to moves the nation deeper into a morass of fiscal insolvency, non-winnable wars, societal conundrums and moral abasement. It is truly the devil’s course that these arrogant cretins follow, and his seeds that they sow.

White House Reaction To Ersatz Bomber

Also posted here and here

The underpants bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is a curious terrorist.  He became disillusioned with his privileged life as the son of a bank chairman and member of the Nigerian elite, it would seem.  Rather than pursuing his studies in London, he retreated to Yemen to learn the ways of al Qaeda inspired terrorism.

Farouk was so indiscreet that his father reported him to the U.S. Embassy as a potential terrorist in November.   A month later, he managed to get on a jumbo jet headed for Detroit to complete a terror mission.   Despite his training in engineering at the prestigious London School of Economics, Farouk failed in his mission.  He couldn't  mix his explosives to achieve the desired effect.  He apparently forgot to detonate the explosive device in mid flight, waiting until just before landing in Detroit to start his task.  He retrieved and set off the chemicals to create the explosion in full view of passengers.

What kind of terrorist is this?  He doesn't know when, how or where to conduct his criminal enterprise.

Is this the best al Qaeda can do?

Is this the justification to for a media manufactured scare-a-thon about the danger Farouk poses to our "freedoms?"

Or is this guy some sort of ringer in yet another moronic master plan ?

Pardon my cynicism about the  perpetual power structure but there is a spectacular history of lying by those in power to further their own endeavors:  Operation Northwoods; the Gulf of Tonkin incident; the perjured testimony about babies thrown out of incubators used to justify Gulf War I; the lies about WMD before Gulf War II; and so forth.

Few are willing to discuss deep conspiracies either as a real phenomena or as an influence on our nation's history.  The inquiring mind that wanders into that minefield is labeled a "conspiracy theorist" and shoved to the sidelines of public discourse.

But Judith Miller changed all that.  She was the ultimate bogus conspiracy theorist who was  endorsed and headlined by the New York Times.  Who could tell bigger lies better than Miller.

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