Gulf Oil Disaster Politicized by Both Sides

(May 5) -- Unlike oil and water, it seems that oil and politics can't help but mix, especially in an atmosphere of media-driven hyperpartisanship.

Politicians, pundits and activists are rushing to capitalize on the BP oil rig explosion that killed 11 workers and unleashed a torrent of crude that could devastate parts of the Gulf of Mexico.  Read more...

Crime and Complicity

By Tim Case

"The punishment of the criminal is measured by the degree of astonishment of the judge who finds his crime incomprehensible." ~ Friedrich W. Nietzsche (1844–1900)

You would think that if the present administration with its adoring minions is going to rule by the Machiavellian code, as outlined in the The Prince, they would at least take to heart the admonition that "as princes cannot help being hated by someone, they ought, in the first place, to avoid being hated by every one, and when they cannot compass this, they ought to endeavor with the utmost diligence to avoid the hatred of the most powerful."

That is unless Obama et al. are convinced that all the dissention and anger is nothing more than the cries of the 'idiot du village; which seems to be the case.

Just before he died, Herodian of Antioch reports that the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius cautioned his son, Commodus, and the young man’s advisors: "…No amount of money is large enough to compensate for a tyrant's excesses, nor is the protection of his bodyguards enough to shield the ruler who does not possess the good will of his subjects. The ruler who implants in the hearts of his subjects not fear resulting from cruelty, but love occasioned by kindness, is most likely to complete his reign safely…[I]t is not those who submit from necessity but those who are persuaded to obedience who continue to serve and to suffer without suspicion and without pretense of flattery. And they never rebel unless they are driven to it by violence and arrogance…"

Peter Schiff: Government To Blame For Crisis, Not Goldman Sachs

What If?

By Gary D. Barnett

What if it happened here in America? This seems to be a question that begs an answer, so why is it so ignored? Why is it ignored by government? Why is it ignored by the mass media? And why is it seemingly ignored by the American people at large?

What if?

What if a small group of extremist Americans high-jacked passenger planes in another country and flew them into skyscrapers in a major foreign city killing thousands of innocent people? Would it then be proper and moral for that country, and with the full use of its military, to attack and occupy the entire United States? Would it then be right for that invading army to take over and demand that all U.S. citizens bow to their command? Would it be right for that country’s forces to kill and maim all who refused to comply with their demands? And would it be right for that foreign invading entity to destroy the entire infrastructure of America?

What if in this process any so-called American insurgents were incarcerated and held indefinitely? What if their rights were suspended or eliminated and no charges were forthcoming and no trial was allowed? What if they were held and psychologically and physically tortured without end? What if innocent Americans overseas were captured by this invading force and subjected to rendition where this same or even worse brutal torture was prosecuted against them? What if these foreign invaders promised thousands of dollars in bounty to any who would turn in their American neighbor for being a suspected terrorist?

Rattling the doorknob

By Sarge

On the website LANEWSLINK.com, C. B. Forgotston (Syndicated Columnist) noted a Louisiana Legislator was having his (Forgotston’s) incoming e-mails deleted. With this we see why the Pew Research Center poll offers its findings as no more than an observation than a surprise. With the not-so-unsuspected revelation of Legislators believing themselves above the people who elected them, we understand why elements like the Tea Party Movement are gaining traction.

It’s a sad commentary when pollsters record a mere 22% of the people trust their federal government. That means almost 80% of the American people are disaffected with the treatment they receive by people they employ to conduct their governmental business.

It’s because of the distances involved, the actual mileage separating the government from the governed, that we see American’s distinct and growing disaffection with the clowns running the circus. They’re simply not funny anymore. Their face-paint is running from the heat being put on them. The citizens no longer accept the smoke and mirror illusions left behind by the last act to try thrilling us with made-up nonsense masquerading as real magic. It just doesn’t seem as entertaining as it once was.

Technology is a boon, or a curse, dependent upon where you stand at the moment. It’s a wonder-tool the average man uses daily to connect with aspects of his world he was rejected from by a lack of contact with the prime movers (politicians). Now we have Internet, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and myriad other examples of instantaneous cyber-communications capable of showing, in real-time (that means as it happens) exactly what a politician said, or did. It’s all time stamped and recordable. It’s Instant History. It can become the club used to beat the tar out of a liar or the wings lifting the innocent above the fray.