No, Obama Will Not Execute You With a Drone

Here's something you might want to chew on:

John Brennan Sworn in as CIA Director Using Constitution Lacking Bill of Rights

According to the White House, John Brennan was sworn in as CIA Director on a “first draft” of the Constitution including notations from George Washington, dating to 1787.

"Vice President Joe Biden swears in CIA Director John Brennan in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, March 8, 2013. Members of Brennan’s family stand with him. Brennan was sworn in with his hand on an original draft of the Constitution, dating from 1787, which has George Washington’s personal handwriting and annotations on it."

That means, when Brennan vowed to protect and defend the Constitution, he was swearing on one that did not include the First, Fourth, Fifth, or Sixth Amendments — or any of the other Amendments now included in our Constitution. The Bill of Rights did not become part of our Constitution until 1791, 4 years after the Constitution that Brennan took his oath on.

I really don’t mean to be an az-ole about this. But these vows always carry a great deal of symbolism. And whether he meant to invoke this symbolism or not, the moment at which Brennan took over the CIA happened to exclude (in symbolic form, though presumably not legally) the key limits on governmental power that protect American citizens.

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Elisabeth Hasselbeck Leaving 'The View'? Us Weekly Reports Co-Host Is Being Ousted

I think it sells because it's all that's offered.  Like fast food, it's cheap and convenient.  If there were more appealing alternatives, people would choose the quality program over the schlock.  

That's the theory behind premium channels, and it works.  The real issue to me is how having to pay for quality programming has a broader effect on our culture that is eroding the overall quality of our lives and the continuing of human civilization on the planet.
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Rand Paul Filibuster Leaves Senate Democrats Struggling To Explain Absence

The real question is why are YOU supporting Obama in everything he does?  That's the same thing as what you're accusing Paul of doing (opposing everything Obama does).  

I, an authentic liberal, opposed it when Bush-Cheney did it and now that Obama is doing it, he merits the same condemnation.
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Apple Picking: How The iPhone Became An Object Worth Killing For

Actually killing during the commission of a robbery has increased over the years.  There used to be "honor among thieves", and it's something that old-time thieves in prison used to talk about, and how they couldn't relate to the "new breed" of thief they were encountering in prisons (late 1980s).

The more we limit people's opportunities to earn decent livings, the more desperate people become in their quest to survive.
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Apple Picking: How The iPhone Became An Object Worth Killing For

Individuals make decisions based on their life's circumstances.  

Those circumstances are directly influenced by government policies.  You may not see them directly, but if you stand back and look back over the course of the past 30-40 years and see the effect that government's policies have had on the shift of wealth from the 99% to the 1%, the cutting of assistance programs to families, the privatization of America's resources and cutting of public education, you might appreciate how "a thief" comes to be.  How "a murderer" who finds his own life has so little value, might not have any value for anybody else's, and how that "anybody else's" $400 IPhone is all that stands between him and another night sleeping on the pavement.  

Check this out.
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Rand Paul Filibusters John Brennan Nomination

You can't possibly be serious, comparing the Philippine-American and Civil Wars with a president declaring himself the judge, jury and executioner, all done in secret, of non-combatant American citizens ANYWHERE in the world.  
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Paul Ryan Floating Change To Medicare Age

At this point it must be said that Obama’s insistence on making SocialSecurity a budget deficit issue shows that he has always intended to make drastic cuts to the program. One of the reasons SocialSecurity has long been thought of as “untouchable” is because PresidentFranklinRoosevelt and his NewDealDemocrats purposely insulated it from the conventional budget process. However, PresidentObama has largely neutered SocialSecurity’s traditional congressional defenders, who know perfectly well what their president is up to, but will not directly oppose him. That’s why we at BlackAgendaReport call Obama “the more effective evil”; he can accomplish what Republicans only dream about.

Obama’s scheme to cripple SocialSecurity is to change the way inflation is measured, resulting in a drastic scale-back in cost-of-living increases in recipients. According to DeanBaker, of the CenterForEconomicAndPolicyResearch, the cuts would amount to 3 percent over 10 years, 6 percent over 20 years, and 9 percent over 30 years. In dollar terms, BlackMinneapolisCongressmanKeithEllison says retirees would lose $6,000 in the first 15 years of cuts and $16,000 over 25 years.

And that’s just the beginning. Once the untouchability of SocialSecurity has been breached, it becomes just another social program to be carved up on austerity chopping blocks. PresidentObama’s true legacy will be to have begun the destruction of the crown jewel of what’s left of the nation’s social safety net.

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