ROTFL

This is not a good thing, not even for the Obama administration. Half of America is gasping; the other half rolling on the floor laughing. As my waitress at breakfast exclaimed, while reading the news over my shoulder, "For what?"

It's a good question. The nomination deadline was February 1, less than two weeks after he took office. The voting for the prize reportedly took place many months ago, so the possibility exists that Obama may even have won the prize prior to the Cairo Speech, which is arguably the only significant policy change that he has even announced (although not much followed through on).

It is indeed laughable. The Norwegians have made a laughing stock of Alfred Nobel's intent, of Norway, and demeaned each deserving person who previously won the prize by deserving it.

Good Company

Obama isn't the first sitting U.S. president to win the Peace Price. The first was Teddy Roosevelt, in 1906. Roosevelt was not known as a peaceful man, but rather as one who was fond of shooting things and who established America a globe straddling empire. The second was Woodrow Wilson, in 1919, who is considered by many scholars to have be the worst of American presidents. Wilson was also the president who took America into World War I, a self-serving and decidedly non-peaceful decision that (even Winston Churchill concluded) lead directly to World War II.

If we know people by the company they keep, Obama having received this award bodes well for anything but peace. He is already the leader of a country that is waging war on two countries that did not attack his own, that is maintaining a concentration camp in contravention to the Geneva Accords, and a network of unlawful (no-longer-quite-so-secret) prisons throughout a network of host states.

One has to wonder by exactly what standards do the Scandicavians judge peace? Or did they just have a little too much Aquavit the other night? Perhaps this is some version of a drunken practical joke.

Best Actress

Kate Winslet may have gotten the Oscar, but Meryl Streep got the Award. Wow.

Love thy own son first...

Maybe if the son of the homophobic mega-church pastor had not had to spend his life hiding his sexuality from his father... Perhaps if his father had embraced and loved him, as Jesus had instructed him to... Maybe if the son had had the option of forming a loving, committed relationship, of even getting married... Perhaps if the son had been home that night with his own husband, their own children, instead of cruising a public park... 

...then Potter's House founder T.D. Jakes would not now be facing the embarrassment he now faces (but so richly deserves) as his son stands charged of trying to participate in a circle-jerk with two policeman in a Dallas park. Reverend, you reap what you sow.

And, dear reader, ask yourself this additional question... Do you really believe those two Dallas policeman had their own willies in their pants when they arrested Jermaine Jakes? (If so, I've got bridge in Alaska to sell you.) Dallas' Finest -- we hope that Jermaine wouldn't have gotten himself arrested for anything less than prime -- were breaking the law, in order to induce someone else into breaking the law. This was entrapment pure and simple. 

It only goes to prove, any fool who lives in Texas is exactly that -- most especially if you are Black and Gay.

Who is that rising star on the Israeli flag?

His name is Avigdor Lieberman -- and he makes Saddam Hussein look to have been downright humanitarian.  

He not only advocates total Apartheid, but wants to also strip non-Jewish Israelis of their citizenship. Why bother with with a two-state solution, when you can just kick them all out; let them to wonder the globe, stateless. However, that might not be quite enough of a final solution for Lieberman. He has also advocated a holocaust of sorts against the captive population in the Gaza camp, even going so far as to obliquely suggest the use of nuclear weapons to accomplish an ethnic cleansing. 

And this guy presumes to be an Israeli-Obama, the change candidate of our "nearest and dearest" ally. If the real Obama doesn't want to end up being compared to Chamberlain, rather than Lincoln, he better consider carefully our relationship with Israel. Least we forget, America considered Germany an ally at the start of WWII. The Bush family was even involved in underwriting Germany's war bonds. It would be unconscionable if we were to repeat the mistake of closing our eyes to horror, merely so we could make some money off of the devil.

Constructive Engagement

A comment found below the McClatchy story on Cliff Cornell, the young Army "deserter" (read, "Iraq protester") who was recently deported by that holier-than-thou "peace-mongering" nation to our north. 

To those in uniform who are attacking Mr. Cornell

new

Submitted by tharms on February 6, 2009 - 7:54pm.

Gentlemen, your commitment to your country, under the U.S. constitution, is limited to two years. Period. Look it up. Further, that is for the express purpose of defending this country, not for freeing other countries. Not for liberating oil. Not for making the world safe for democracy. It certainly isn't for the purpose of killing and torturing innocent civilians half a world away just because they pray to the wrong god.

So waving the flag at the disillusioned and expecting them to bow down to your sacrifice if probably not the best strategy. You joined up because you wanted a salary and because you wanted to feel good about yourself--and possibly because you really were gullible enough to buy into Bush's line of Texas bullshit. And when you come home, and are protecting New York Harbor or the Golden Gate, undoubtedly you will find each and every one of these critics respecting your commitment, but until then you shouldn't be overly surprised by their hostility. You've cooperated in great embarrassment to this country -- and you did so willing. At least Cliff Cornell had the integrity to stand up and say "no" to what he knew was wrong. He's justifiably earned some respect for that.

Serving the American nation, the American people and serving the American government are two different things. One is a group composed of your families, your neighbors, your towns, cities and states; the other is a group who used to work for the former, but who has now taken over the latter -- and their intent is to build an empire paid for with the sweat of American labor and the blood of American youth. That's you, that's your blood they intend to spill, and for what? Oil? The false hope of democracy in some foreign land? For expanded markets for corporations we're having to bailout with taxpayers money anyway? Ask yourself, is this really the way it is suppose to work? Is this really what Franklin and Jefferson intended? Is this really worth dying for?

The American people have been made decidedly less safe, less respected, and less prosperous by this misadventure in Iraq -- and the blowback will haunt us, our children, your children, for generations. If you want to talk about taking responsibility. Take some responsibility for that -- or at least give it some thought. Surprising as it might be, you just might discover that, instead of criticizing Cliff Cornell, it is far more patriotic to join him.

Faux Diversity

President Obama says his new team of economic advisors is diverse, not stacked with sycophant "yes" men (and women). So, surely we will find among the Keynesians, a few free-marketers, an Austrian economists or two, perhaps a representative of the Cato Institute, if not someone from Auburn? Nope -- not a one. 

Mr. President, your openness to a diversity of economic opinion is about as authentic as your openness to sexual diversity -- in short, you are a puppet of the old corporate financial elite, dressed up in a nice Africa-American suit. You are just as white and bigoted and as opposed to true equality for the disadvantages as those limousine liberals from the other Hyde Park were 75 years ago.

A message from Treasury

Life moves on...

Who'd of thunk it?

Today the Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project released a new study investigating where Americans want to live.

Among its findings: Denver is the most desirable place in the country to live -- which any Coloradan could easily have told you. No study needed. Another discovery: People who live in cities -- as well as people who want to live cities -- are more open than others to the idea of living with immigrants and neighbors of different races. Whoa, stop the presses!

We can all be grateful to Pew for investing in a study that provides the shocking, absolutely shocking, news that country hicks are bigots. Who could have imagined that?

Man, 72, knocks out whole group of gang bangers

Jack get's it...

The stimulus package is not going to be a walk in the park either. Republicans are yelling it's too costly and doesn't stimulate enough. And they might have point. It's at $825 billion now and could go higher. Hundreds of millions for condoms and other contraceptives doesn't belong in there either, unless it's for what's about to happen to the American taxpayer. (Jack Cafferty, 1/26/09)

Where is Edmond Dantes when you need him?

Why we are where we are...

We didn't listen.

Congratulations, President Obama!

This has been reprinted in several places today, and for good reason. It is an an acerbic and appropriate observation. Thanks to Rob Wicks:

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2009
Congratulations, President Obama!

I just wanted to congratulate President Barack Obama in his performing that grand rite of passage for American Presidents. No, not any such silliness as his first bill or executive order. I meant something much more important. Today, President Obama ordered his first murder.

So, while you can look into the loving eyes of your own beautiful daughters, somewhere in Afghanistan, a grieving family will never look into the loving eyes of three children again.

Where is the change?

With one hand President Obama is standing in front of the television cameras waiving executive orders announcing "change," while with the other he is dropping Bush's left-over missiles into the territory of a friendly, ally nation. The illegal attacks on Pakistan today only drive Pakistan's northwest border region further from its own government and further into militancy--and thereby undermined the authority of a U.S.-friendly Pakistani government in the process.

There is great potential here for coalition of Democrats, Libertarians, Constitutionalists, Greens and other Progressives to reinforce President Obama's mandate for change by opposing today's missile strikes into Pakistan -- and they should so forthwith.

Contact the White House website to voice your displeasure, and let your Congressional delegation know your views as well. It is easy to do:

• http://www.whitehouse.gov
• http://www.senate.gov
• http://www.house.gov

Hmmmm...

The First Minority Executive

Barack Obama is not the first partially non-European American to achieve an executive office position in American government. That distinction belongs to Charles Curtis who was the 31st Vice President of the United States (under Herbert Hoover) and a member of the native-American Kaw nation. It is of interest that, like President Obama, Curtis was raised by his grandparents. Perhaps of more interest, at least to constitutional scholars, should be that fact that Curtis was not born in the United States, but rather in the Kansas Territory prior to statehood. If anyone can explain why this did not present an obstacle to his election, please post the details.

To the swift

In what will hopefully establish a precedent pace, President Obama acting quickly on Wednesday to begin the process of shutting down the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center by issuing an executive order halting all prosecutions of detainees for 120 days.

Comment of the week...

No. 35 · Arrogant Bastard Ale

"I thought you had to be 21 to drink in Oregon, this kid turns 18 and first thing he is sucking down a Sam Adams?"

Reader comment regarding the breaking sex scandal involving Portland's newly elected Gay mayor, Sam Adams.

Record Turnaround in Government Reporting!

The Bush Administration accomplished a phenomenal piece of government investigating at a record pace. Never before in the annals of flight accident investigation history has a case been closed so quickly. The very last thing President Bush did, as he left the White House, was to leave a classified report on the cause of the U.S. Air Flight 1549 accident laying on the president's desk for Barack Obama's attention. The report is classified, but the Snarkmeister has been able to obtain a copy. In the interest of the public's right to know, he is disclosing it today, at great personal risk. The Bush administration, of course, concluded that the accident was caused by terrorists. The photographic evidence is a bit grainy, but unlike with the weapons of mass destruction, their proof this time appears incontrovertible:

U.S. Air Flight 1549
Confidential Report
For Eyes Only
National Security Clearance Required

U.S. Air Flight 1549 was brought down by radical Islamic geese, likely owned, trained, and smuggled into the country by Osama bin Laden. Supporting this conclusion is the fact that small bit of turban were found in the remains of both engines.

Brown or Lincoln?

John Brown was hanged by the State of Virginia on December 2, 1859, on the very day that Victor Hugo's letter was printed prophesying that Brown's death would result in a civil war. The predicted American Civil War would begin within 18 months and cost the lives of roughly 3% of the American population, including an extraordinary 18% of the male population of the South.

Presently, John Brown is pariah to history, labeled a radical and a terrorist, for having been judged indirectly responsible for the killing of (almost all in self-defense) fewer than 30 radicalized slavery advocates in his efforts to free African Americans from their bondage. On the other hand, the racist Abraham Lincoln, who cynically exploited John Brown's cause for political gain and who was directly responsible for the deaths of well over a million Americans, is held out this very day by Barack Obama as a role model.

That choice, from a highly educated African American who would presume to lead this country on issues of unity, should give all Americans pause.

And interesting historical detail...

It is of interest to note that none other than the great Victor Hugo publicly predicted that the State of Virginia's murder of John Brown would result in an American civil war, and of course, he was correct. And for those who think that Barack Obama, or even Martin Luther King, speaks eloquently on the subject of equality, consider this, and weep for the century and a half that our country lost by its deafness:

To the Editor of the London News:

Sir: When our thoughts dwell upon the United States of America, a majestic form rises before the eye of imagination. It is a Washington!

Look, then, to what is taking place in that country of Washington at this present moment.

In the Southern States of the Union there are slaves; and this circumstance is regarded with indignation, as the most monstrous of inconsistencies, by the pure and logical conscience of the Northern States. A white man, a free man, John Brown, sought to deliver these negro slaves from bondage. Assuredly, if insurrection is ever a sacred duty, it must be when it is directed against Slavery. John Brown endeavored to commence the work of emancipation by the liberation of slaves in Virginia. Pious, austere, animated with the old Puritan spirit, inspired by the spirit of the Gospel, he sounded to these men, these oppressed brothers, the rallying cry of Freedom. The slaves, enervated by servitude, made no response to the appeal. Slavery afflicts the soul with weakness. Brown, though deserted, still fought at the head of a handful of heroic men; he was riddled with balls; his two young sons, sacred martyrs, fell dead at his side, and he himself was taken. This is what they call the affair at Harper’s Ferry.

John Brown has been tried, with four of his comrades, Stephens, Coppic, Gree and Copeland.

What has been the character of his trial? Let us sum it up in a few words:—

John Brown, upon a wretched pallet, with six half gaping wounds, a gun-shot wound in his arm, another in his loins, and two in his head, scarcely conscious of surrounding sounds, bathing his mattress in blood, and with the ghastly presence his two dead sons ever beside him; his four fellow-sufferers wounded, dragging themselves along by his side; Stephens bleeding from saber wounds; justice in a hurry, and overleaping all obstacles; an attorney, Hunter, who wishes to proceed hastily, and a judge, Parker, who suffers him to have his way; the hearing cut short, almost every application for delay refused, forged and mutilated documents produced, the witnesses for the defence kidnapped, every obstacle thrown in the way of the prisoner’s counsel, two cannon loaded with canister stationed in the Court, orders given to the jailers to shoot the prisoners if they sought to escape, forty minutes of deliberation, and three men sentenced to die! I declare on my honor that all this took place, not in Turkey, but in America!

Such things cannot be done with impunity in the face of the civilized world. The universal conscience of humanity is an ever-watchful eye. Let the judges of Charlestown, and Hunter and Parker, and the slaveholding jurors, and the whole population of Virginia, ponder it well: they are watched! They are not alone in the world. At this moment, America attracts the eyes of the whole of Europe.

John Brown, condemned to die, was to have been hanged on the 2d of December — this very day.

But news has just reached us. A respite has been granted to him. It is not until the 16th that he is to die. The interval is a brief one. Before it has ended, will a cry of mercy have had time to make itself effectually heard?

No matter! It is our duty to speak out.

Perhaps a second respite may be granted. America is a noble nation. The impulse of humanity springs quickly into life among a free people. We may yet hope that Brown will be saved.

If it were otherwise, if Brown should die on the scaffold on the 16th of December, what a terrible calamity! The executioner of Brown, let us avow it openly (for the day of the Kings is past, and the day of the peoples dawns, and to the people we are bound frankly to speak the truth) — the executioner of Brown would be neither the attorney Hunter, nor the judge Parker, nor the Governor Wise, nor the State of Virginia; it would be, though we can scarce think or speak of it without a shudder, the whole American Republic.

The more one loves, the more one admires, the more one venerates that Republic, the more heart-sick one feels at the contemplation of such a catastrophe. A single State out not to have the power to dishonor all the rest, and in this case there is an obvious justification for a federal intervention. Otherwise, by hesitating to interfere when it might prevent a crime, the Union becomes a participator in its guilt. No matter how intense may be the indignation of the generous Northern States, the Southern States force them to share the opprobrium of this murder. All of us, no matter who we may be, who are bound together as compatriots by the common tie of a democratic creed, feel ourselves in some measure compromised. If the scaffold should be erected on the 16th of December, the incorruptible voice of history would thenceforward testify that the august Confederation of the New World, had added to all its rites of holy brotherhood a brotherhood of blood, and the fasces of that splendid Republic would be bound together with the running noose that hung from the gibbet of Brown!

This is a bond that kills.

When we reflect on what Brown, the liberator, the champion of Christ, has striven to effect, and when we remember that he is about to die, slaughtered by the American Republic, that crime assumes an importance co-extensive with that of the nation which commits it — and when we say to ourselves that this nation is one of the glories of the human race; that, like France, like England, like Germany, she is one of the great agents of civilization; that she sometimes even leaves Europe in the rear by the sublime audacity of some of her progressive movements; that she is the Queen of an entire world, and that her brow is irradiated with a glorious halo of freedom, we declare our conviction that John Brown will not die; for we recoil horror-struck from the idea of so great a crime committed by so great a people.

Viewed in a political light, the murder of Brown would be an irreparable fault. It would penetrate the Union with a gaping fissure which would lead in the end to its entire disruption. It is possible that the execution of Brown might establish slavery on a firm basis in Virginia, but it is certain that it would shake to its centre the entire fabric of American democracy. You preserve your infamy, but you sacrifice your glory. Viewed in a moral light, it seems to me that a portion of the enlightenment of humanity would be eclipsed, that even the ideas of justice and injustice would be obscured on the day which should witness the assassination of Emancipation by Liberty.

As for myself, though I am but a mere atom, yet being, as I am, in common with all other men, inspired with the conscience of humanity, I fall on my knees, weeping before the great starry banner of the New World; and with clasped hands, and with profound and filial respect, I implore the illustrious American Republic, sister of the French Republic, to see to the safety of the universal moral law, to save John Brown, to demolish the threatening scaffold of the 16th of December, and not to suffer that beneath its eyes, and I add, with a shudder, almost by its fault, a crime should be perpetrated surpassing the first fratricide in iniquity.

For — yes, let America know it, and ponder on it well — there is something more terrible than Cain slaying Abel: It is Washington slaying Spartacus!

Victor Hugo

Hautville House, Dec. 2d, 1859.

Alas, America was not the noble nation that Hugo imagined, although perhaps it is a bit closer today than it was even eight years ago.

John Brown can rest

Old John Brown’s body lies moldering in the grave,
While weep the sons of bondage whom he ventured all to save;
But tho he lost his life while struggling for the slave,
His soul is marching on.

John Brown was a hero, undaunted, true and brave,
And Kansas knows his valor when he fought her rights to save;
Now, tho the grass grows green above his grave,
His soul is marching on.

He captured Harper’s Ferry, with his nineteen men so few,
And frightened "Old Virginny" till she trembled thru and thru;
They hung him for a traitor, they themselves the traitor crew,
But his soul is marching on.

John Brown was John the Baptist of the Christ we are to see,
Christ who of the bondmen shall the Liberator be,
And soon thruout the Sunny South the slaves shall all be free,
For his soul is marching on.

The conflict that he heralded he looks from heaven to view,
On the army of the Union with its flag red, white and blue.
And heaven shall ring with anthems o’er the deed they mean to do,
For his soul is marching on.

Ye soldiers of Freedom, then strike, while strike ye may,
The death blow of oppression in a better time and way,
For the dawn of old John Brown has brightened into day,
And his soul is marching on

--William Weston Patton

Good Riddence

Sound Money Sound

iWobble

As we end another eight disastrous years of straight men running the world, with the most impressive thing to show for it being a little device that lets you run a program called Wobbles which animates a "wobble" onto photos of women with overly large breasts, I have to wonder -- what in the hell are we thinking?

Clearly these guys have impaired judgment. They can't run financial institutions, or auto companies, or governments; at least not without causing bankruptcies, frauds, and wars, so why are we letting them run things? Sure they are great in the sack, or so I'm told, but that doesn't mean we have to hand them the keys to the kingdom.

If you have at your disposal an entertaining source of propagation, but who can't balance a column of numbers, who can't tell the truth, and who can't talk to the neighbors with getting into a fight, well, then the rational solution is to just keep them at home, naked, and chained to the bedpost. What's wrong with that? After all, that's essentially what they did with women for, like since -- FOREVER.

Really, what could it hurt?

Would it really be all that damaging to run companies at a fair profit without the goal of destroying every competitor by any means, and without bilking investors and taxpayers out of billions of dollars? Would it really hurt to let us "creative types" actually run things, like car companies, rather than to just design their interiors? How exactly would the world be worse off if it was run by guys who would rather make love with each other than to kill each other?

I wobble at the concept, and so should you, because if you think a straight black guy with power is going to be any saner than a long line of straight white guys with power, than I have a nice deal on a mortgage for you: no money down, no points, zero interest for the first five years until the rate adjusts up with inflation -- and you don't even have to qualify! Just sign here: _______________________________.

Blair House 3.0

Today is the 15th, the day that the President Elect is traditionally supposed to have access to Blair House. So, do we yet know who was in Blair House all this time? Who was it that was occupying this entire 14 bedroom complex, such that it required the Obamas to run up a taxpayer-paid bill in the millions for hotel and security charges at the Hay Adams Hotel?

A Dream for Some, but not for others

Writes Andrew Sullivan...

What Equality Looks Like

When I came to America from Britain, the gay rights movement was way ahead here of the old country. No longer. Here is a list of the most powerful openly gay people in Britain. The whole list is a staggering contrast with the US. At the top:

1. Spencer Livermore, 32, Director of Political Strategy, 10 Downing Street
2. Nick Brown, 57, Deputy Chief Whip, MP for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend
3. Peter Mandelson, 54, EU Trade Commissioner. He's back in the cabinet as Business secretary and Brown's main spin doctor.
4. Angela Eagle, 46, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, MP for Wallasey
5. Ben Bradshaw, 47, Minister of State for Health Services, MP for Exeter
6. Andrew Pierce, 46, Assistant Editor, Daily Telegraph. Julian Glover, Matthew Parris partner, is opinion editor al The Guardian.

The bigotry that infects the Republican party and the cynicism and cowardice that dominates the Democrats on this issue prevent such success and integration in America. And yet many of the causes that have prevailed in Britain - marriage equality and military service, for example - were pioneered on this side of the Atlantic.

Gaza Update...

Rather than attempt to rewrite an excellent piece, I'll merely point you to Andrew Sullivan's entry today on Gaza: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/12/the-siege-of-ga.html#more

With Allies like Israel, Who Needs Enemies?

Yet another case of Israeli spying on the United States is in the news today. It was discovered back in the spring that for six years, from 1979 to 1985, U.S. Army mechanical engineer Ben-ami Kadish had been letting Israeli agents photograph classified documents that he snuck home from work. Kadish's handler back then was Yossi Yagur, who also directed Jonathan Pollard.

Pollard was caught while committing his crimes and as such, is serving a life sentence in Butner Federal Correctional Institution in South Carolina. Israel granted him retroactive citizenship in 1995 and now lobbies for his release. [Ed. Don't be surprised if Pollard is on George Bush's last minute pardon list.]

Kadish's crime however was not discovered until years after the fact. He retired in 1990. The now 85-year-old Kadish has this week negotiated a non-prison time plea agreement with U.S. Magistrate Judge Theodore H. Katz and Assistant U.S. Attorney Iris Lan.

Quite a cozy deal: treason, espionage, no death sentence, not even prison time. Great work if you can get it, especially since a passport and a luxury condo on the beach in Tel Aviv are probably already ready and waiting.

Constituent Parts

If you think you are safer because the government is now handling security at the airports, read this...

http://wildbee.org/2008/12/09/carrying-gunpowder-through-airport-security/

Surprise, well not really...

Amazon has announced that Ron Paul's, "The Revolution: A Manifesto" (hardcover), was the most highly customer reviewed book of 2008. Too bad the customers weren't given a fair chance to vote on Dr. Paul at that polls. If they had, maybe we could be projecting an end to the country's economic crisis, rather than expecting it to only get worse.

Israel Tries to Assassinate U.S. Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney

Yes, that's spin, but it's no less spin than the U.S. and Israeli press have been putting on their their version of the atrocities that Israel has been committing against the Palestinian people over the last six decades. Today's incident is beyond the pale though, and should be a wake-up call to the world.

The basic facts, as commonly reported so far, are as this: A Gibraltar-registered private vessel named Dignity, with a CNN correspondent on board, was attempting to ferry medical supplies and 16 passengers -- physicians from Britain, Germany and Cyprus, along with human rights activists, including former U.S. House Representative from Georgia and U.S. Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney to Gaza to perform humanitarian aid. The CNN correspondent, Karl Penhaul, reports that the Dignity was shadowed by Israeli military patrol boats without contact for approximately half an hour.

After that time, and while the Dignity was still in international waters, one of the Israeli patrol boat rammed the Dignity, apparently attempting to sink her. McKinney stated that the patrol boat rammed the Dignity three times. The captain of the Dignity told Penhold he received no warning, which the Israeli are denying, as are they denying that they intended to ram the boat. (Ed.: Nonetheless, they apparently did not bother to offer any help of assistance either, which is quite possibly against a number of international maritime regulations.)

The Dignity managed to escape into Lebanese waters and to reach the Lebanese port city of Tyre, with severe damage to the port side of the craft and with her roof collapsed. There were no reports of causalities.

Ms. McKinney is no longer a member of Congress, but were she, it still would not have been the first time that the Israeli government had attempted to murder U.S. citizens or even U.S. federal employees. In 1967, the Israeli air force and navy attacked and attempted to sink the U.S.S. Liberty, while she was in international waters, apparently because she was accidentally in a position to expose Israel's staging to attack Egypt prior to the supposed justification for their doing so in the Six-Day War.

As with the Dignity, Israel claimed the attack on the Liberty was a mistake, even though the Liberty was clearly flying, not one but, three U.S. flags. The Liberty escaped under its own power and only received help from a fellow U.S. navy vessel the next day, which was too late for many. Thirty-four men died and 170 crew members were killed.

Admiral John McCain Sr. was part of the team investigating the incident, which was closed in just over week, without taking a single statement from a single Israeli. Indeed, very few men from Liberty were even interviewed. The U.S. government's official position was officially a rubber stamp of the Israeli position -- that it was an accident. In the intervening years though, memos and affidavits have surfaced showing that this was whitewash. Nonetheless, John McCain Jr. has on many occasions during his years in the Senate fought the efforts the U.S.S. Liberty survivors as they have, for over forty years now, plead for justice and recognition from their own government -- which might explain some of his failure at the polls this past fall.

את חזקה של תקווה

It is easy to paint all Israelis with the same brush, however Westerners should remember to treat others as individuals as well, even those who don't always view themselves as such. It is therefore refreshing to see reports of Israeli students in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem protesting the atrocities their government is committing in Gaza.

Of course, there were protesters protesting the protester, shouting things like, "Take their identification cards away," and they more typified the (ironically) fascist Israel that has formed under the Star of David.




Rightists in Jerusalem. 'May your village burn' (Photo: Ahiya Raved)

[Ed.: Replace the star with an ugly little swastika and the mood looks oddly familiar.]

Prop 8 Redux

For those who think that the Proposition 8 hullabaloo is all over and done with, and the Gays lost, you might want to think again. The issue is anything but dead. Several law suits have been filed, the California Attorney General has changed his position, and the California legislature is likely to weigh in again before the issue is returned to the courts. The possibity of the case going all the way to the Federal Supreme Court is very real, as there are argueably Constitutional issues in play. The subject is still making editorial pages throughout California (and elsewhere) quite lively.

Not all of the discussion is on the Left either.

One surprising side effect of Prop 8, is that many are rediscovering that the issue of Gay Marriage as a viable political goal didn't even originated from the Left. In fact, the first national political party to openly call for complete gay equality was the Libertarian Party, with a plank in their platform, first inserted in 1975. The marriage issue itself first arose to national prominence in a 1998 Slate article by a prominent libertarian who called, not for Gay marriage, but for the privatization of all marriages, as a means of both removing government from the sphere of religion and as way of achieving marriage equity for Gays. Soon thereafter, seeing that the issue had finally become politically viable, the New Left jumped onto the issue and claimed it as their own (sort of as they did with racial equality, which was also originated by libertarians.) The rest is, as they say, history, or at least the history so far...

For some enlightening, and non-New Left, perspective, I recommend visiting the Independent Gay Forum (http://www.independentgayforum.org), which has dozens of articles on Same-Sex Marriage, many of them presenting intelligent post-analysis discussion of the failure of the No on Prop 8 campaign.

WWJD? -- Indeed.

As the slaughter of innocents continues in Gaza and the death count climbs today above 300, the only thing more appalling than Israel's actions are a CNN poll showing that 61% of Americans approve of this carnage. Shameful. These so-called "Christians" in their "Christian Nation" only three days ago celebrated the birth of a man who taught peace and preached turning the other cheek. What a nation of hypocrites America has become. American's Christians should spend a little more time reading their Bibles, and a little less time thumping them. Perhaps they should start with the Book of Isaiah, 5:15:

And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.

America and Israel are indeed in the process of being brought low, and the arrogance of the theocrats and the pious are not without guilt in bringing down the rafters upon all of our heads. Hopefully those that survive will remember this unfolding history and never again allow such people to gather similar power in future societies that would presume to remain free.

Come Home, America

The Israeli butchers are at it again. Less than three years after killing over a thousand Lebanese civilians in southern Lebanon, they are using the full might of Israel's high-tech military technology to slaughter Palestinian civilians in Gaza today -- all because a few Palestinian criminals lobbed a couple of stolen rockets into the no-man's-land between Gaza and Israel, and because a few angry teenagers threw stones at Israeli soldiers. As with Lebanon, the response is so out of proportion to the instigation as to be morally indefensible; indeed it is barbaric.

It is high time that the United States cut off all foreign and (especially) military aid to Israel, as well as to the Palestinian and Arab states. We should not have a dog in this fight. It is none of our business. Let these petulant child theocrats work it out between themselves. It is time for America to come home.

As further justification for withdrawal, it has been those with extremely close ties to Israel who have brought Wall Street to brink of financial catastrophe over the last year.  If you are not sure, go back and look at the roster of names of those individuals who have been responsible for the government agencies and corporations that created this mess. If it weren't for the billions of U.S tax dollars that are transferred to Israel annually, and Israel's professed ally status (despite its long history of spying on us), one would have to wonder if the collapse of the United States economy was really any accident. 

Likewise, it is equally hard to believe that the Arab states, and their corrupt American partners, had no inside knowledge or hand in manipulating the oil prices last summer that created record profits for themselves, while weakening the American economy right as it verged on the brink of collapse.

The U.S. shouldn't be subsidizing its own destrustuction. Let the both of these corrupt "allies," with their inflated sense of superiority and their oil, rot. The U.S., and the world, will find a way without them. If they can't learn to get along, then let them bomb each other back to the stone age so that the rest of us can get on with the future. 

It would also seem a fair trade at this point, to let money managers and the oil executives decide which passport they want to hold -- and we should be glad to pay for the airfare of the ones who will agree to migrate to whichever country they hold dearest, whether that be Israel or Dubai. In the meantime, we should keep our U.S. dollars here in the United States, by backing them with solid assets like gold, and where they can be then be used to rebuild our own failing infrastructure and economy -- and where we can be sure they won't be used to bomb innocent children just because they prey to the wrong god.

The missing seat

Barack Obama has already built the most diverse cabinet in the history of the presidency: 5 women, 4 African-Americas, 3 Latinos, 2 Asians, 2 from the opposition party, a Nobel laureate -- and yet there are complaints, perhaps legitimate, that he has not done enough to include those who made his election possible. Certainly, without the large numbers of women who were willing to abandon Hilliary Clinton, he could never have secured the nomination, and yet Obama has so far appointed no more women than Bill Clinton did 16 years ago.

It can't be ignored that after almost two decades this isn't much of advance for women. Further, Obama's victory was only possible through the hard work of young idealists and progressives, both of whom are notably missing from his appointments so far. If anything is notable about his appointments it is that they are mostly status quo retreads, Washington insiders, Clintonistas, internationalist, predictable, boring.

Most disappointing rhough, not only has Obama not only NOT thrown a single crumb to the Gay community, he has deeply offended them by asking a fundamentalists supporter of Proposition 8 to partake in his inaugural activities. Many Gays naively supported Obama, believing that they would finally be granted a seat at the table of an African American administration. Prop 8's cross tabs and Rick Warren's invitation appear to have put to death that hope.

Until Gays grasp political reality and forsake their own partisan fundamentalism, this is not going to change. Power is something that you take, rather than something that you have given to you. Gays are not going to be given a seat at the table in Washington, by a Black president, or a Liberal president, any more than they are by a White president, or a Republican president, unless they can demonstrate a show of political power and influence -- in short, unless they kick down the White House door and march in with their own chair.

The mass reaction to Prop 8 was a good start, but I fear it has lost momentum sufficiently fast that Obama can afford to ignore it. With the holidays fast approaching, we can expect even less to happen. Certainly there is no risk of any doors being kicked in -- not even in California, let alone in Washington.

The Savagery of Nations

December 21st is a happy day for the Snarkmeister, but one that is also sadly marred as a tragic anniversary that always dampens the otherwise bright spirits of the day. It has been 20 years now since 259 happy travelers lost their lives while journeying home for the holidays on Pan Am Flight 103. Eleven unfortunate souls also had flaming death rain down on them in their homes in the tiny town of Lockerbie, Scotland.

The country of Libya eventually took the blame and provided compensation to the victims' families, but there is ample evidence that they did so, not because they were guilty, but because they desperately needed to get international economic sanctions removed from their country. It is entirely possible that those responsible for the Lockerbie slaughter remain free and unpunished to this very day.

Certainly, it could have been Libya, or it could have been another country. State-sponsored mass murder is nothing new, not even in the history of civil aviation. Most people would find it surprising to see a complete list of civilian airliners that have been shot out of the sky by governments and to know which countries were responsible for those atrocities.

Here is a list of the (so-called civilized) nations and not-so-civilized nations that have shot down large commercial civilian airliners:

• Bulgaria (Soviet Union) -- El Al Flight 402 -- 1952 -- 58 dead
• Israel -- Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 -- 1973 -- 108 dead
• Russia (Soviet Union) -- Korean Air Lines Flight 902 -- 1978 -- 2 dead
• NATO (disputed) -- Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 -- 1980 -- 80 dead
• Russia (Soviet Union) -- Korean Air Lines Flight 007 -- 1983 -- 269 dead
• United States -- Iran Air Flight 655 -- 1988 -- 290 dead
• The Ukraine -- Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 -- 2001 -- 78 dead

[Numerous additional incidents that occurred during wartime, in which terrorism was involved, or in which the aircraft was not clearly a commercial passenger carrier have been excluded. See The Wikipedia for a complete list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airliner_shootdown_incidents]

Majel Barret, RIP

The wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, Majel Barret has passed away. She will be missed. We knew her first as the beautiful Nurse Chapel and later Dr. Christine Chapel in the original Star Trek, but perhaps loved her best as the vivacious, joyful and incorrigible Lwaxana Troi on Star Trek, The Next Generation. She was also the voice of the ship's computer in almost every Star Trek production.

The line

Reaching across the aisle is one thing, across the line another. Obama's invitation to one of the most bigoted, homophobic ministers in America to take a principle role in his inauguration is unacceptable.

Obama says he is for equality, but so far he hasn't taken a single solid position or action to support that claim, either in Illinois or as a national candidate.

Talk is cheap. Where is the change?

Blair House 2.0

I can't recall where I read it, but I couldn't help laughing at someone else's recent snarky comment that the reason Blair House wasn't available for the Obamas was because George Bush hasn't yet found a new place to stash Osama bin Laden. Funny, only because there is so much possibility that Bush's failure to find the guy was purely intentional.

And before you put up that Christmas tree... (more insight from the "Christian nation")

You might want to give this a little thought:

2 This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations 
or be terrified by signs in the sky, 
though the nations are terrified by them.

3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, 
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.

4 They adorn it with silver and gold; 
they fasten it with hammer and nails 
so it will not totter.

Jeremiah 10:2-4 (New International Version) [emphasis added]

As recently as 150 years ago, Christmas trees were considered a heathen, pagan practice. In 1851, Pastor Henry Schwan of Cleveland, OH was threatened with harm by his own congregation for having set up a Christmas tree in their sanctuary. Of course, you can't sell ugly socks and unneeded plastic toys without a tree to put them under, so commercialism soon pushed aside sanctity and the trees that the Lord forbade snuck into the homes of capitalist "Christians."

The ways of nations indeed.

One down, Gaia only knows how many more to go

Paul M. Weyrich dead at age 66

Paul M. Weyrich, one of the early founders of the Heritage Foundation and a leading force in the conservative movement, died Thursday morning at age 66, the foundation reported.

Bernie made off with billions, without any help

What Bernie Madoff did privately to his investors is no worse than what Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke are doing publicly to the U.S. taxpayers. In a sad way, Madoff should be admired for having been able to accomplish such a swindle without the help of the U.S. Congress.

More signs of Bush's resounding popularity

Too bad that Iraqi journalist has more guts than aim. 

Blair House

Both the Reagans and Clintons moved into Blair House a full month before their inauguration -- the "five day tradition" claim is not true. As well, of course, any such "tradition" couldn't even be very old, since Blair House was privately own property until 1942. It's of further interest to note that Blair House is actually a complex of four separate townhouses with a total of 14 bedrooms and over 70,000 square feet of living space -- making it larger than the White House. It hardly seems likely that the Obama family couldn't be squeezed in.

By the way, under normal circumstances, I would agree with many here who suggest a presidential suite at a nice hotel. However, the security threat to the Obamas is very real. Just read some of the veiled racist comments made below the San Francisco Chronicle's article on this issue -- on the website of one of the most liberal newspapers in America. There is a high risk to ignoring the reality of white supremacist nut cases and the threat they represent. It is most especially morally irresponsible to put those two young girls in a public hotel and on the public streets of Washington, DC.

(So why? I remain concerned that there is a remote possibility that George W. Bush doesn't plan on leaving office or going anywhere. All George would need is a few "threats," a bomb here, a plane crash there, to justify executing one of his martial-law executive orders and democracy in America is over.)

The same ol' same ol'

Thanks to Reason Magazine...

HOW MUCH HAVE WE SPENT? THE NEXT GENERATION OF MARKET PATERNALISM BEGINS TO TAKE THE REIGNS

Obama's first press conference (Nov. 7) highlighted a few of his economic priorities:

• A new stimulus package for the economy. This doesn't come as much a surprise, he has previously advocated for another stimulus package around $175 billion.
• An extension of unemployment benefits.
• Make auto industry a priority.

And thus it begins, a new era of market paternalism and new progressivism. Bring on the Brand New Deal, Keynesianism, and pseudo-socialism are back in vogue.

In reality, these policies of market paternalism aren't much different from the outgoing administration. Obama's call for more unemployment benefit spending was mirrored by President Bush today. We've already handed out cash from the Treasury a couple times under Bush. And the auto industry has already received special treatment from the GOP-led executive office as well.

Recently, The Big Three, soon to be come The Big Two, began asking for an additional $50 billion. Note that they got $25 billion in September to cover increased costs of meeting the CAFÉ fuel efficiency standards. And GM has asked for $10 billion so it can buy Chrysler. This money would be $25 billion to cover healthcare costs, and $25 billion for general liquidity issues.

Just a few months ago it seemed like we operated on a general principle in America: if you couldn’t make enough money to cover your costs, then you went out of business. But now with unemployment at 6.5%, the argument is that jobs are so critical we must protect our industries. Keep in mind that this is how Europe operates and they are over 10% unemployment… so, maybe the logic isn’t right.

To get your blood boiling a bit, here is some news from MSNBC on how the bailout money has been spent thus far:

“As if the economic bailout by U.S. taxpayers isn't enough to make you sick to your stomach, new information has come to light that several banks are planning to pay billions of dollars in year-end bonuses from the bailout funds they received. Investigations are beginning into the nine banks that took in the first $125 billion -- the same $125 billion that was supposed to be used to unclog the credit system which was preventing banks from providing much needed funds for individuals and businesses.”

And don’t forget that lovely $440K that AIG spent on a spa for sales people.

Lets recap the amount of money spent thus far this year. A word to the wise, get some duck tape to wrap around your head, cause these numbers all together is gonna make it explode… if it hasn’t already:

• $29 billion for Bear Stearns
• $143.8 billion for AIG (thus far, it keeps growing)
• $100 billion for Fannie Mae
• $100 billion for Freddie Mac
• $700 billion for Wall Street, including Bank of America (Merrill Lynch), Citigroup, JP Morgan (WaMu), Wells Fargo (Wachovia), Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and a lot more
• $25 billion for The Big Three in Detroit
• $8 billion for IndyMac
• $150 billion stimulus package (from January)
• $50 billion for money market funds
• $138 billion for Lehman Bros. (post bankruptcy) through JP Morgan
• $620 billion for general currency swaps from the Fed
• Rough total: $2,063,800,000,000

Yes, over $2 trillion dollars. That $8 billion for IndyMac doesn’t even seem big anymore. Oh, and keep in mind that this doesn’t include the hundreds of billions the fed has and will buy up in commercial paper and lend out to other financial firms. The deficit is nearly $440 billion this year, and the national debt is $10.5 trillion. If these numbers don’t shake the next Congress into becoming more fiscally responsible, nothing probably will.

The original article is here, which has lots of links and citations for facts and figures.

The Rest of the Story

Pierre Joseph Proudhorn is famously quoted as stating that, "Property is theft," but did you know he also stated, "Property is liberty"? And no, he wasn't confused. He meant what he said. It's both. There are two kinds are of property. (At least to the Mutualists point of view.)

Blago

Yeah Blago is a sleaze bucket. What politician isn't (other than our illustrious Dr. Paul)? No one gets funded for higher office unless the power brokers already have the goods on you. That's how they control things. So, it's not surprising that he's corrupt; it's surprising that he was arrested for it.

What we have to do now is ask ourselves, why is he being thrown to the wolves?

The long and short of it is, Obama, Emmanuel, Paulson and others, right up to the very top, knew exactly what Blagojevich was doing and went along with it -- until he threatened their banker friends. Ironically, this rain of shit came down on Blago for trying to do a good thing for once, when he demanded that BofA bailout a small Chicago factory that couldn't meet payroll two weeks before Christmas.


Note, it is Larry Sinclair, the guy who claims to have had sex and done drugs with Obama 20 years ago, who really asks the pertinent questions in the last entry below. It's interesting that one of his commenters (bolded below) calls Obama a "cardboard cutout" figure. Aren't they all?

----

Why the Feds Arrested Illinois Governor Blagojevich

Posted by Lew Rockwell at 11:22 AM

When the feds arrest the governor of a state, you know it can't be over corruption. After all, government is corruption. In fact, as Ken Langston points out, it was his threat against that Paulson-Bernanke fave, Bank of America, that sealed Blagojevich's fate.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/

----

Illinois Threat to Bank of America Is Dangerous, Critics Say

By David Mildenberg and Brian Louis

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s threat to halt the state’s dealings withBank of America Corp. over a shut-down factory in Chicago extends a “dangerous” trend of politicians meddling with commerce, a former general counsel of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said.

Blagojevich, a Democrat, yesterday said the biggest U.S. retail bank won’t get any more state business unless it restores credit to Republic Windows & Doors, whose workers are staging a sit-in. John Douglas, an attorney with Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker in Atlanta, said Blagojevich and Senator Christopher Dodd -- who called on General Motors Corp. to fire Chief Executive Rick Wagoner -- can’t tell companies how to run their business.

“This is a very dangerous thing,” said Douglas, who was at the FDIC from 1987 to 1989 and has since represented financial institutions including Bank of America. “There becomes an expectation that these government officials have some say over what the institution does,” he said in an interview.

The Illinois governor met Republic Windows & Doors employees who remained at the factory since Dec. 5, after Bank of America canceled a credit line. The members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers Union have won support from politicians including President-elect Barack Obama, who said the 250 workers are justified in demanding benefits and pay.

“They’re absolutely right,” Obama, who gave up his U.S. Senate seat from Illinois last month, said over the weekend. “These workers, if they have earned these benefits and their pay, then these companies need to follow through on those commitments.” (more)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=home&sid=agOFtufX.FXQ

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Tuesday, December 9, 2008

OBAMA SUPPORTERS/SURROGATES NOW CLAIMING OBAMA VICTIM OF BLACKMAIL AGAIN?

by Larry Sinclair

(Updated @ 5:34pm 12-9-08) Obama transition team now officially stating that Obama senior adviser David Axelrod "simply misspoke" when in a November 23, 2008 interview Axelrod stated Obama and IL Governor did discuss Obama's senate replacement. If Axelrod told the truth, then Obama would be on tape in that discussion with the IL Governor. These tapes need to be ordered into protective custody.

Obama supporters/surrogates are now claiming that Illinois Governor was in fact trying to extort Barack Obama and claim that Obama Chief of Staff Rahm "Dead Fish" Emmanuel turned in the Governor. What is it with the Obama camp always claiming they are the victims? Obama's former classmate was accused by the Obama campaign of trying to extort money from Obama but never reported it to law enforcement, instead they reported it to the Chicago Tribune! Then Robert Gibbs claims I or someone claiming to represent me, attempted to extort Obama out of $100,000 which never happened and the campaign never made any such report to any law enforcement.

Now, the Governor of Illinois, who Barack Obama this very day claims he has had NO contact or discussions with for some time, is arrested and Obama camp claims the Governor was trying to extort Obama? Oh and Barack Obama might want to explain why David Axelrod said Obama and Illinois Governor had a lengthy phone conversation less than a month ago about Obama's Senate seat replacement.

So which is it Barack, you did or you did not discuss the filling of your senate seat with Illinois Gov?

But will the media report this conflict of statements from the Obama camp?

Posted By Larry Sinclair at 3:37 PM

http://larrysinclair-0926.blogspot.com/2008/12/obama-supporterssurrogates-now-claiming.html#comment-7296944627074747821

6 COMMENTS:

Norman Christian Hoffmann said...
Great site! Good luck with your book. BTW your copyright does not extend to software. I suggest you drop your feeds down to teasers etc. I use your feed alot on my website but then I am a loyal and dedicated fan.

Good luck with the future, Larry.

Sincerely yours,

The Editor of
NewsMediaMagazine.com
Norman Christian Hoffmann

December 9, 2008 7:09 PM
Watchmanonthewall said...
Yes they are reporting it on Dobbs but the Obama camp decided to let Axelrod take the hit and claim he misspoke. The media is in full protect Obama mode. It's idiotic. How can they arrest a Gov and charge him selling Obama's Senate seat without Obama knowing about it or even discussing it? They have the Gov on tape saying Obama refused to cough up the money!!! Pretty pathetic lying by both Obama and the media. And why would Obama come out and lie saying he had no spoken to the Gov at all. Because he had discussed it and now he has to lie. Corrupt - you betcha!

NewsMax asks what did Obama know and when did he know it. A good question the rest of the media is not asking.

I think Clinton is behind this OP to take Obama out. Look at the Fitzgerald connections - you will find the link.

December 9, 2008 7:22 PM
Anonymous said...
The more this sordid saga unfolds, the more I believe your story to be 100% true Mr. Sinclair.

December 9, 2008 7:59 PM
Anonymous said...
The government is bringing the charges against the Il. Governnor.
He is being thrown under the bus. He stuck up for the workers at the Republic Window and Dooor Co. Plant and said that the Bank of America should be boycotted by the Il. Legislature and other branches of government in the State of Il. 24 hours later he was arrested. Obama is funded by the largest operators on Wall Street and they are pushing for the bailout of their derivatives debts, so why should Obama be party to a blackmail conspirace. It sounds like a smokescreen and another false scenario. But they are living in a fantasy world so in the words of the Beatles "Nothing is Real" unless you're standing outside a closed down factory with no job and Christmas just around the corner. Obama doesn't celebrate Christmas so he can ignore that part of the tragedy too. He is apparently a cardboard cutout.

December 9, 2008 8:55 PM
EA said...
Mr. Sinclair.

You Sir are a fine Human Being. Willing to loose everything in the way of privacy to stand up to corruption.

We are out of time unfortunately, but maybe, just maybe there will be a wild card in the deck.

Either way keep well and safe, and know that many are behind you all the way.
Peace and Love to you and yours!

December 9, 2008 11:22 PM
Anonymous said...
Obama is bringing change you guys ought to be ashamed of yourselves Obama is bringing change for every American 3 cents for every dollar change

December 10, 2008 12:19 AM

Transparancy

Regarding the ongoing issue of Obama's birth... the simple matter is, we don't know for sure where he was born. (And yes, Snopes can be wrong in cases where there is a question of nuance. They clearly have a Left-wing bent on many issues.)

What Americans should be more concerned about, both on the Left and the Right, is the sudden lack of transparency in government and candidacies. There existed not only questions regarding birth, but also regarding health, that remain unresolved to this day, because candidates from both parties refused to release various academic, medical and financial records.

This appalling lack of sunlight on politics, in what is supposed to be a free and fair democracy, should offend us all -- no matter whom we supported. It is most especially appalling to see those on the Left defending this "secrecy" in government and candidacies.

Private citizens have an expectation of privacy; public officials do not. That is the price they pay, and should pay.