The Bush administration is developing a parallel legal system in which terrorism suspects -- U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike -- may be investigated, jailed, interrogated, tried and punished without legal protections guaranteed by the ordinary system, lawyers inside and outside the government say.

Welp... kiss your freedom goodbye.

OMG! Break out the jack boots!!!

Originally from Moon Pie...

This passage caught my eye:

It has always been good to have a rich or powerful father. Last week my Princeton colleague Alan Krueger wrote a column for The Times surveying statistical studies that debunk the mythology of American social mobility. "If the United States stands out in comparison with other countries," he wrote, "it is in having a more static distribution of income across generations with fewer opportunities for advancement." And Kevin Phillips, in his book "Wealth and Democracy," shows that robber-baron fortunes have been far more persistent than legend would have it.

The country is in the hands of the elites in the society and you aren't invited. You could, theoretically, claw your way into that circle, but it's not going to be easy and it would take the kind of success that someone like Bill Gates has had.

Your average American still doesn't get this country is run by Blue Bloods and pretty much has been since it's inception. Rich White Folk (TM) wrote the constitution and instituted the initial U.S. government, not your momma or your daddy. . .

RE: The Sons Also Rise

Decius wrote:
] ] Henry Kissinger ... "a troubling signal ...
] ] that this is the person who is going to lead this effort."
]
] I think this guy is just plain too controversial
] to be responsible for something like this.

Tom, the New York Times agrees with you:

] "His affinity for power and the commercial interests
] he has cultivated since leaving government may make him
] less than the staunchly independent figure that is needed
] for this critical post. Indeed, it is tempting to wonder if
] the choice of Mr. Kissinger is not a clever maneuver by the
] White House to contain an investigation it long opposed."

The Kissinger Commission

] Last week, a member of Congress asked Federal Reserve Chairman
] Alan Greenspan to assess investors’ views about the
] administration’s long-term fiscal plan. His answer: “That there
] isn’t one.”
] "Republican regime could swiftly launch us back into an
] era of seemingly permanent structural deficits, just when
] the baby boomers are set to retire. "

From deficit hawk to GOP hack - Greenspan & the Republican regime

Jonathan Peterson provides line by line facts in response to Peter Chernin's talk, which I discussed here a few days ago.

Way.Nu: Breaking down Peter Chernin's Comdex Keynote

] "Casting doubt on a basic principle of U.S. anti-drug
] policies, an independent study concluded on Monday that
] marijuana use does not lead teenagers to experiment with
] hard drugs like heroin or cocaine.
]
] The study by the private, nonprofit RAND Drug Policy
] Research Center countered the theory that marijuana acts
] as a so-called gateway drug to more harmful narcotics, a
] key argument against legalizing pot in the United States.
]
] "

Study: Marijuana May Not Lead to Hard Drugs

] "Michael Posner, executive director of the Lawyers
] Committee for Human Rights, citing as an example Mr.
] Kissinger's role in the secret bombing of Cambodia.
] "People in this country need reassurance that they are
] getting the truth and that issues of our security are
] being publicly vetted. It sends a troubling signal that
] this is the person who is going to lead this effort.""

I think this guy is just plain too controversial to be responsible for something like this.

Kissinger Returning to Political Stage With 9/11 Post

] "But since Sept. 11 and the government's expansive
] campaign of monitoring and detention, people are turning
] to the 82-year-old organization to help safeguard their
] liberties. Among them are conservatives who made the
] phrase "card-carrying member of the ACLU" a political
] insult, but who are signing up. "

This is good to hear... Conservatives spent a decade talking smack about the ACLU because the Christian right likes perpetuating misconceptions about the first amendment with the goal of establishing religion. This obviously conflicts with the general conservative notion of upholding "individual liberties." This is the most central contradiction in modern conservative thought. Of course the Libertarians have been saying that for years.

ACLU Membership up

] I know you’ve been thinking it. And if you haven’t, you probably
] haven’t been paying attention. The art we once called hip hop has
] been dead for some time now. But because its rotting carcass has
] been draped in platinum and propped against a Gucci print car, many
] of us have missed its demise.

Fuck Hip Hop

] "This year, I'm thankful for the blessing of Total Information
] Awareness."

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