JFK On Coming Revolutions
Posted on March 8, 2013 in Quotes
Or, if you’re the GOP you can try to deny its existence (re: leftward trends regarding social politics) as long as possible. Will it away by screeching, even.
Targeted Killing: OK If Obama Does It?
Posted on March 8, 2013 in Articles
The Article: Targeted killings: OK if Obama Does It? by Joan Walsh in Salon.
The Text: Civil libertarians have worried that some of President Obama’s comparatively hawkish national security policies are silencing “liberal” Democrats who would have opposed such measures under President Bush or another Republican. Now there’s new evidence that Obama’s support for such policies isn’t just silencing them — it’s winning them over.
That’s the finding of new research by Brown University political scientist Michael Tesler, who studies what he calls the “racialization” of political issues in the age of Obama: mainly, the way voters’ attitudes about race can make them more or less likely to support policies once they know those policies are supported by Obama. Last year he made headlines with an American Journal of Political Science article about the way racial attitudes shaped opinions on the Affordable Care Act.
Examining almost 20 years of polling going back to President Clinton’s efforts at healthcare reform, Tesler found that white voters were less likely to support reform under President Obama than under Clinton, with whites who exhibited the most conservative racial views (more on what that means below) the least likely to back the ACA. With African-Americans strong supporters of healthcare reform under both presidents, Tesler found that the racial divide between black and white opinions was 20 points greater in 2009-10 than it was during the Clinton-backed reform push in 1993-94.
Christopher Hitchens On Our Favorite “Toys”
Posted on March 7, 2013 in Videos
In a brief Q&A, Hitchens answers an “incredibly stupid question” by an atheist defending religion…and probably causes said atheist to have to buy a new pair of pants.
Gun Nut Or Mass Shooter?
Posted on March 7, 2013 in Political Cartoons
When the right to bear arms trounces upon another’s right to feel safe in a public place, something’s gone awry.
America, Where You Can Now Get Arrested For Your Politics
Posted on March 7, 2013 in Articles
The Article: Arrested for Your Politics in America? It’s Already Happening by Charlotte Silver in AlterNet.
The Text: In the US, due process – one of the defining features of a democratic judicial process – continues to be badly bludgeoned: Obama fights tooth and nail to push through NDAA [2], which would allow indefinite detention of US citizens, and the definition of terrorism has expanded its unwieldy scope, casting a widening net that ensures more and more people are captured in its snare.
The US has pursued “domestic terrorism” by practicing pre-emptive prosecution, that is, going after individuals who have committed no crime but are alleged to possess an ideology that might dispose them to commit acts of “terrorism”. Maintaining that it can -and should – be in the business of divining intent, the government decimates crucial elements of the US justice system.
Thus, in cases where terrorism is charged, prosecutors need not prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Rather, only the defendant’s potential for committing a crime need be established in order to convict.
