Has Ukraine happened before?

What would happen if we got involved militarily in the Ukraine? I think it's safe to say the same thing as would happen if the Russians got involved militarily in a country on our border. And we don't need to imagine that. It was called the Cuban missile crisis, and it is the closest we have ever come to nuclear war. 

Wouldn't it be insane to expect the Russians to act differently than we would in the same situation?

The symbolism of Cory Remsburg

In Obama's State of the Union address, he brought out a wounded soldier, Cory Remsburg, at the end of the speak to exemplify how America does not quit or give up. It was a very symbolic gesture.

Like Cory's ten tours in combat, we have been in Afghanistan much too long, over ten years.

Like Cory's disabling wounds, we have suffered disabling wounds to our freedom. He struggles on his left side, like we struggle to board a plane without being physically violated or questioned based on charges which are kept secret from us.

He is blind in one eye. We are partially blind in both eyes when we think that giving up our freedom, our privacy, and our right to know what the government is doing, will someone make us safer.

He had shrapnel in his brain, which required many surgeries to remove. We will require many painful surgeries to remove the cancer which has infested our highest centers of government.

It is sad indeed to see our leaders take pride in the incredible suffering their unjust wars have caused, both to Americans and to the people in the countries they have invaded.

Only crimes can take place in darkness

Found a good quote today:

"Only crimes could take place in darkness. Punishment had to be done in the light."  -- Samuel Vimes 

Guantanamo Bay's secret trials, black sites, secret kill lists for unmanned drones, NSA's secret surveillance programs, and "National Security Letters" (requiring libraries and communications providers to turn over records under a gag order).  These are all done in secrecy and darkness.  They are not punishments, and they cannot lead to punishments.  They are crimes.

 

US foreign policy toward Iran revealed

CIA documents recently declassified state:

"The military coup that overthrew Mossadeq and his National Front cabinet was carried out under CIA direction as an act of U.S. foreign policy, conceived and approved at the highest levels of government."

Just another acknowledgement of the role the US plays in overthrowing elected governments, and installing military dictatorships in their places.

Do a people have a right to be a nation?

On Nov 18, Pres. Obama stated, "There is no country on Earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on from outside its borders. We are fully supportive of Israel’s right to defend its borders."

On Dec 3, UN Ambassador Susan Rice stated, "This resolution does not establish that Palestine is a state, ... nor does passing any resolution create a state where none indeed exists or change the reality on the ground."

So the U.S. position on Palestine is that they are neither part of Israel nor an independent state, thus denying them any status at all as an organized nation or an organized people.  According to the Declaration of Independence, "to secure these rights [i.e. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness], Governments are instituted among Men."  So denying the Palestinian people the right to be a part of any government also denies them the right to secure life, liberty, and pursue happiness. 

What should a people appropriately do when placed in that situation?

All men are created equal

Jefferson wrote in our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, "all men are created equal."  It is one of the most fundamental principles of democracy.

He did not write "all Americans", "all citizens", or even "all non-terrorists". All men means all men.  (And women too, since English lacks good neutral pronouns.)  When we distinguish between different classes of men, based on income, citizenship, religion, race, etc., and treat them by different rules, we are actually setting up a tyranny.  We may give it different names depending on who is in the position of privilege, such as oligarchy or monarchy or imperialism, but they are all forms of tyranny.

This is not a deep or mysterious concept.  It is self-evident and intuitively grasped by any poor farmer or third world factory worker.  They may not be able to put their feelings into the sophisticated words of the highly educated elite, and they may even be immune to the sophisticated smokescreen of politically correct rhetoric.  But they can look at our actions in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Guantanamo Bay, and elsewhere, and judge for themselves whether we are spreading democracy or tyranny in the world.

Another Juxtaposition

A few months ago, Obama defended the use of drones for targeted killings (assassinations), saying "This is a targeted, focused effort at people who are on a list of active terrorists... It is important for everybody to understand that this thing is kept on a very tight leash."

This week, none of that is true any more, as Obama has approved drone strikes based solely on patterns of behavior (called "signatures") without knowing who the victims are.  The leash is off.