And in other news...
Jun. 7th, 2008 04:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdOkay, so, remember Iraq? That place with, you know, the war? The Independent reports on the Bush administration's plan for a "security plan" that pre-empts Iraqi sovereignty and keeps US forces in the country indefinitely. In a separate article, The Independent also has a story on the Bush plan to blackmail Iraqi P.M. al-Maliki into accepting the plan by withholding US$20 billion in Iraqi assets. There have been protests against the plan in Baghdad; the plan includes immunity from Iraqi law for both US military forces and all US "contractor" mercenaries. Here's Juan Cole's commentary noting that P.M. al-Maliki really has no allies left except the Bush administration, with links to further articles.
The New York Times's recent hire from the Boston Globe brings forth coverage of Senator McCain's embracing of the Bush administration's theories of unlimited executive power. The coverage is unusual in that it's actual coverage of the issue; by contrast, Glenn Greenwald holds out David Broder of the Washington Post as yet another example of everything that's been wrong with the political media over the last decade or more. (C.f. this Wall Street Journal piece calling Gitmo a "model prison", which includes this amazing example of back surgery - not mentioning that the surgery was necessitated after "an IRF team cuffed his wrists to his ankles and jumped on his back after immobilizing him."
Meanwhile, the Obama-is-a-secret-Marxist meme on the batshit-crazy right is ramping up a bit, with Tom Delay contributing to it. Of course, that's only a follow-up to the "moderate" Senator Joe Lieberman thinking that's a very good question to ask. Christ, this is stupid.
The surveillance state in Britain now includes local councils snooping on, well, everyone; busybodiness has a new set of tools. In reality, of course, I'm posting this to highlight how far down the surveillance state will inevitably extend.
Finally, in better news, a clear majority of American citizens now think gay marriage is a private choice, with a majority now opposing laws against it. Those numbers will, of course, get worse in the privacy of the voting booth, but it's still good news. That isn't stopping one clerk in the California Central Valley to refuse to marry anyone in protest, on advice from the anti-gay fundamentalist legal group, the Alliance Defense Fund, but w/e, since she will issue the license, which will still allow people to get married. Someone else will have to perform the ceremony.
The New York Times's recent hire from the Boston Globe brings forth coverage of Senator McCain's embracing of the Bush administration's theories of unlimited executive power. The coverage is unusual in that it's actual coverage of the issue; by contrast, Glenn Greenwald holds out David Broder of the Washington Post as yet another example of everything that's been wrong with the political media over the last decade or more. (C.f. this Wall Street Journal piece calling Gitmo a "model prison", which includes this amazing example of back surgery - not mentioning that the surgery was necessitated after "an IRF team cuffed his wrists to his ankles and jumped on his back after immobilizing him."
Meanwhile, the Obama-is-a-secret-Marxist meme on the batshit-crazy right is ramping up a bit, with Tom Delay contributing to it. Of course, that's only a follow-up to the "moderate" Senator Joe Lieberman thinking that's a very good question to ask. Christ, this is stupid.
The surveillance state in Britain now includes local councils snooping on, well, everyone; busybodiness has a new set of tools. In reality, of course, I'm posting this to highlight how far down the surveillance state will inevitably extend.
Finally, in better news, a clear majority of American citizens now think gay marriage is a private choice, with a majority now opposing laws against it. Those numbers will, of course, get worse in the privacy of the voting booth, but it's still good news. That isn't stopping one clerk in the California Central Valley to refuse to marry anyone in protest, on advice from the anti-gay fundamentalist legal group, the Alliance Defense Fund, but w/e, since she will issue the license, which will still allow people to get married. Someone else will have to perform the ceremony.
