berkeley

If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. – James Madison

I agree to this Constitution with all its faults because I think a general government necessary for us, and believe further that this is likely to be well-administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other. -- Benjamin Franklin

If you were free of self interest... and very few of us can make that claim... the world would look like a seething madhouse of runaway appetites. -- les visible

Submitted Comments (422)

What Obama didn't say »

• here is an even stronger disappointed voice:
  
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/0...
  
  obama has a long way to go, especially with rahm still in ...

  6 months, 4 weeks ago 0 replies View »

• 1 comment from 1 member total

David Ignatius - Obama's Hard Choice: Settlements »

• this link
  
  http://www.fmep.org/analysis/analysis/israeli-sett...
  
  is a collection of u.s. policy statements on israel. it is only for the strong of heart, ...

  6 months, 4 weeks ago 1 reply View »

• 3 comments from 3 members total

Judge Tosses Telecom Spy Suits »

• this is another really dark mark on the obama/holder record.
  
  and it protects bush and cheney. yuk.

  6 months, 4 weeks ago 0 replies View »

• 3 comments from 2 members total

Robert Fisk: Police state is the wrong venue for Obama's speech »

• we've given egypt piles of money for decades. has that helped the people of egypt? there is little evidence that it has, and a lot ...

  6 months, 4 weeks ago 0 replies View »

• 12 comments from 8 members total

May God Forgive America - Time for Military Desertions »

• the concept of individual responsibility is a necessary and critical part of what it means to be human. letting military discipline completely override that has ...

  7 months ago 0 replies View »

• 3 comments from 3 members total

Grand Theft Auto: How Stevie the Rat bankrupted GM »

• seems like this would be easy to challenge in court, that is, if one could find an honest judge.

  7 months ago 0 replies View »

• 2 comments from 2 members total

Obama's support for the new Graham-Lieberman secrecy law »

• this is really unbelievable. i never thought i'd say that again, but i can't find a better word.

  7 months ago 0 replies View »

• 4 comments from 4 members total

Why the Pentagon Is Probably Lying About its Supressed Sodomy and Rape Photos »

• this raises other questions: how many stashes of photographs are there? how many photographs total? who has custody of them? what time periods do they ...

  7 months ago 0 replies View »

• if obama doesn't release the photos, they will continue to leak out over time. he won't really be able to avoid them.
  
  if he ...

  7 months ago 1 reply View »

• here is scott horton's perspective:
  
  http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/200...
  
  obama and the pentagon are going to regret their stupidity quite soon.

  7 months ago 0 replies View »

• 11 comments from 9 members total

Critics Assail British Police for Harsh Tactics During the G-20 Summit Meeting »

• the police have no defense here.

  7 months ago 1 reply View »

• 2 comments from 2 members total

Gov't refuses to release documents in wiretap case »

• the position of the DOJ in this case is bad law and even worse politics.
  
  when will they learn?

  7 months ago 0 replies View »

• 5 comments from 5 members total

The real threat to our liberties »

• the quality and clarity of the entire article matches the excerpt.
  
  electoral politics is quickly moving into a dead end. the only alternative is ...

  7 months ago 1 reply View »

• 3 comments from 2 members total

FBI planning a bigger role in terrorism fight »

• this article is an excellent example of "tunnel vision."
  
  the bad cop is being partially replaced by the good cop, so we can all ...

  7 months ago 0 replies View »

• 2 comments from 2 members total

Abu Ghraib abuse photos 'show rape' »

• i think the proper term would be "suicided." his handlers were never comfortable with what he might say.

  7 months ago 0 replies View »

• my list has about a dozen things like this that the DC insiders won't touch with a barge pole. but you're right, this goes near ...

  7 months ago 2 replies View »

• 134 comments from 47 members total

SIBEL EDMONDS: Announcing 'Project Expose MSM' »

• the fact that sibel edmonds is still under a court-order to not speak about what she knows, and that congress has not allowed her to ...

  7 months, 1 week ago 0 replies View »

• 1 comment from 1 member total

Have We Already Lost Iran? »

• the nytimes headline is absurd. is this code? we have no role in iran. the u.s. is a different country from iran.
  
  since it ...

  7 months, 1 week ago 1 reply View »

• 8 comments from 7 members total