Thoughts


From Glenn Greenwald

The way things are supposed to work is that we are supposed to know virtually everything about what government officials do: that is why they are called public servants. They are supposed to know virtually nothing about what we do: that is why we are called private individuals. This dynamic - the hallmark of a healthy and free society - has been radically reversed. Now, they know everything about what we do, and are constantly building systems to know more. Meanwhile, we know less and less about what they do, as they build walls of secrecy behind which they function. That is the imbalance that needs to come to an end. No democracy can be healthy and functional if the most consequential acts of those who wield political power are completely unknown to those to whom they are supposed to be accountable.

2016-04-18 at 13:51:28

More From Paul Craig Roberts

Hillary Clinton is proving to be the "teflon candidate." In her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, she has escaped damage from major scandals, any one of which would destroy a politician. Hillary has accepted massive bribes in the form of speaking fees from financial organizations and corporations. She is under investigation for misuse of classified data, an offense for which a number of whistleblowers are in prison. Hillary has survived the bombing of Libya, her creation of a failed Libyan state that is today a major source of terrorist jihadists, and the Benghazi controversy. She has survived charges that as Secretary of State she arranged favors for foreign interests in exchange for donations to the Clintons foundation. And, of course, there is a long list of previous scandals: Whitewater, Travelgate, Filegate. Diana Johnstones book, Queen of Chaos, describes Hillary Clinton as "the top salesperson for the ruling oligarchy."

Hillary Clinton is a bought-and-paid-for representative of the big banks, the military-security complex, and the Israel Lobby. She will represent these interests, not those of the American people or Americas European allies.

2016-04-13 at 14:43:02

From John W. Whitehead

If there is an absolute maxim by which the federal government seems to operate, it is that the American taxpayer always gets ripped off.

This is true whether you are talking about taxpayers being forced to fund high-priced weaponry that will be used against us, endless wars that do little for our safety or our freedoms, or bloated government agencies such as the National Security Agency with its secret budgets, covert agendas, and clandestine activities. Rubbing salt in the wound, even monetary awards in lawsuits against government officials who are found guilty of wrongdoing are paid by the taxpayer.

2016-04-12 at 04:34:07

From Martin Luther King Jr

In that dramatic scene on Calvary hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime - the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps - the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

2016-03-25 at 19:43:08

From John T. Flynn

Fascism will come at the hands of perfectly authentic Americans who have been working to commit this country to the rule of the bureaucratic state; interfering in the affairs of the states and cities; taking part in the management of industry and finance and agriculture; assuming the role of great national banker and investor, borrowing billions every year and spending them on all sorts of projects through which such a government can paralyze opposition and command public support; marshaling great armies and navies at crushing costs to support the industry of war and preparation for war which will become our nations greatest industry; and adding to all this the most romantic adventures in global planning, regeneration, and domination, all to be done under the authority of a powerfully centralized government in which the executive will hold in effect all the powers, with the United States Congress reduced to the role of a debating society.

2016-03-24 at 11:46:11

From Chris Hedges

There were once radicals in America, people who held fast to moral imperatives. They fought for the oppressed because it was right, not because it was easy or practical. They were willing to accept the state persecution that comes with open defiance. They had the courage of their convictions. They were not afraid.

2016-03-24 at 02:46:13

From Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren

They can call me Darth Vader or Voldemort or the Wicked Witch of Massachusetts for all I care--but I will not be neutered. I will not be muzzled. And I will not stop fighting to level the playing field for working families.

2016-03-19 at 08:43:21

From Edward Luce

For decades, key Republican strategists have used a dog-whistle to play upon racial fears. It should come as no surprise that someone like Mr. Trump would one day swap it for a megaphone.

2016-03-07 at 10:53:27

From F.A. Harper

If man is to continue his self-improvement, he must be free to exercise the powers of choice with which he has been endowed...He must be free to either enjoy or endure the consequences of each decision, because the lesson it teaches is the sole purpose of experience -- the best of all teachers.

2016-03-01 at 00:34:05

From Paul Craig Roberts

In the United States journalists receive awards for lying for the government and the corporations... Once a journalist sacrifices Truth to loyalty to a government, he ceases to be a journalist and becomes a propagandist.

2016-03-01 at 00:31:36

From Hunter S. Thompson

The main problem in any democracy is that crowd-pleasers are generally brainless swine who can go out on a stage and whup their supporters into an orgiastic frenzy - then go back to the office and sell every one of the poor bastards down the tube for a nickel apiece.

2016-02-29 at 14:50:52

From Ms Camille Paglia

A vote for Bernie Sanders is a vote against the machine, the obscenely money-mad and soulless juggernaut that the Democratic Party has become. Perhaps there was a time, during the Hubert Humphrey era, when Democrats could claim to be populists, alive to the needs and concerns of working-class people. But the party has become the playground of white, upper-middle-class professionals with elite-school degrees and me-first values. These liberal poseurs mouth racial and ethnic platitudes, acquired like trophy kills at their p.c. campuses, but every word rings hollow, because it is based on condescension, a patronizing projection of victimhood onto those outside their privileged circle. There is no better example of this arrogant class bias than Wellesley grad Hillary Clinton lapsing into her mush-mouthed, Southern-fried dialect when addressing African-American audiences.

2016-02-25 at 16:11:36

From Mario Savio

There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart that you can not take part! You can not even passively take part! And you have got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you have got to make it stop!

2016-02-25 at 15:56:58

From James Jackson

We must confine ourselves to the powers described in the Constitution, and the moment we pass it, we take an arbitrary stride towards a despotic Government.

2016-02-22 at 14:30:13

More From Cousin Lucky

By the time November comes around will any republican be able to win the presidency?? If Hillary crashes can Bernie Sanders win the general election?? A pragmatist might ask if these United States will still exist on election day!! This political chaos just might end these United States of America!!

2016-02-17 at 19:14:58

As You Traverse This Life Please Try To Remember That There Are No Absolute Mistakes; There Are Only Errors In Your Perceived Judgement As To The Likely Outcomes Of Your Actions!!!