Constitution

By Adam Quinn | (The Conversation) | – – Those who’ve been wondering when Donald Trump would switch from the wild bombast of his primary campaign to the sober mode traditionally demanded by a general election now have their answer: never. The dreadful gun massacre at the Pulse club in Orlando, Florida on June 12 […]

BDS Occupied Territories

Israel-First McCarthyism: Cuomo’s vow to spy on, punish BDS Activists in long Tradition

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – After New York governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order directing the state to monitor and sanction activists in the Boycott, Sanctions and Divest Movement (BDS) against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, critics complained that the order is McCarthyism. They objected that […]

Bill of Rights

Dear Mr. Holder: Why Ed Snowden can’t get a Fair Trial in your National Security State

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Former US Attorney General Eric Holder said in an interview that what NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden did was illegal but added “”We can certainly argue about the way in which Snowden did what he did, but I think that he actually performed a public service […]

Bill of Rights

Snowden on Torture Report: “When the CIA destroys s.th., it’s never a Mistake”

contributors

TeleSur | — After the CIA inspector general admitted it destroyed a 6,700 page report on torture, the famed whistleblower said the CIA does not destroy by “accident.” Edward Snowden commented this week on the CIA inspector general office’s “mistaken” destruction of its only copy of a top secret torture report: ““When the CIA destroys […]

Bill of Rights

The late great Fourth Amendment: Feds, Police and Intrusive Technologies

contributors

By Matthew Harwood and Jay Stanley | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – Can’t you see the writing on the touchscreen? A techno-utopia is upon us. We’ve gone from smartphones at the turn of the twenty-first century to smart fridges and smart cars. The revolutionary changes to our everyday life will no doubt keep barreling […]

CIA

Murdering Civilians: US Drone Whistleblowers Step Out of the Shadows

contributors

By Pratap Chatterjee | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – In a trio of recent action-packed movies, good guys watch terrorists mingling with innocent women and children via real-time video feeds from halfway across the world. A clock ticks and we, the audience, are let in on the secret that mayhem is going to break loose. After […]

Bill of Rights

Jailed without trial for Life? Guantanamo’s Lawlessness may outlast the Obama Administration

contributors

By Karen J. Greenberg | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – Can you believe it? We’re in the last year of the presidency of the man who, on his first day in the Oval Office, swore that he would close Guantánamo, and yet it and everything it represents remains part of our all-American world. So many years […]

Bill of Rights

The Young Turks’ Cenk Uygur ARRESTED At Democracy Spring Protest In Washington D.C.

contributors

Ben Mankiewicz, Ana Kasparian, and John Iadarola | (The Young Turks Video) | – – “The Democracy Spring rally was held today in Washington, D.C. to protest government corruption and money in politics. What began as a march from the Liberty Bell to the nation’s capitol ended in civil disobedience and mass arrests. Our own […]

Constitution

Unconstitutional: How the Imperial Presidents went to War all by themselves

contributors

By Andrew J. Bacevich| ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – Let’s face it: in times of war, the Constitution tends to take a beating. With the safety or survival of the nation said to be at risk, the basic law of the land — otherwise considered sacrosanct — becomes nonbinding, subject to being waived at […]