apparatchik noun
1. A member of a Communist apparat.
2. An unquestioningly loyal subordinate, especially of a political leader or organization
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) thinks we’d be asking too much of Obama if we demanded the President publicly acknowledge when he targets a US citizen for assassination. If President Obama wants to drop a bomb on an American with a drone in total secrecy, he should be able to do so.
In an interview with the Huffington Post, Pelosi was asked whether “the administration should acknowledge when it targets a US citizen in a drone strike.”
“It depends on the situation,” she said. “Maybe it depends on the timing, because that’s right — it’s all about timing, imminence. What is it that could be in jeopardy if people know that happened at this time? I just don’t know.”
That’s right. She doesn’t know. Nor does anybody else because all of it is secret. The Obama administration, like every administration before it, keeps secret that which is legally and morally questionable, while justifying it with practiced tropes about “protecting sources and methods.”
Pelosi is erring on the side of deference. If Obama declares he will strip Americans of the Constitutional rights and that it needs to be secret because divulging such information could “harm national security,” she grants him that prerogative because she is not an independent voice in the branch of government meant to serve as a check on the President’s power. Instead, she is an apparatchik; she’s a Party mouthpiece faced with the task of capitulating to the Party leadership.
This is more of a distinction than you might think, because not all members of Congress are like this. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has been insisting that, “Every American has the right to know when their government believes it’s allowed to kill them.”
In direct response to Pelosi’s statements during an interview with The Washington Examiner, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said, “Anytime the government willfully executes a citizen, regardless of the circumstances, it is a very serious issue. As the body that oversees executive branch actions, at the very least, Congress should have a full accounting – even if it must sometimes be in a classified setting – of the specific considerations that went into the decision.”
Pelosi also “disputed the assertion that Democrats are less critical of the drone program than they would have been if George W. Bush were still president,” Huffington Post reports. This, despite the recent study that shows liberals are more likely to approve of the targeted killing program as long as a Democrat’s finger is on the trigger.
This month’s leak of a Justice Department white paper describing the administration’s legal rationale for executing Americans has put extra emphasis on Obama’s drone war, with many critical commentators pointing out how he has appointed himself Judge, Jury, and Executioner in the war on terror. This is a status quo Pelosi seems eager to uphold.
In January, US District Judge Colleen McMahon reluctantly granted the Obama administration’s request to throw out a case brought against it by The New York Times that would have forced more disclosures about the drone war.
The since oft-quoted statement she made in her decision was the following: “I can find no way around the thicket of laws and precedents that effectively allow the executive branch of our government to proclaim as perfectly lawful certain actions that seem on their face incompatible with our Constitution and laws while keeping the reasons for their conclusion a secret.”
But, as Marcy Wheeler has pointed out, McMahon also discussed original intent of the Constitution’s framers, citing Madison:
As they gathered to draft a Constitution for their newly liberated country, the Founders – fresh from a war of independence from the rule of a King they styled a tyrant – were fearful of concentrating power in the hands of any single person or institution, and most particularly in the executive. That concern was described by James Madison in Federalist No. 47 (1788):
The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny…
The magistrate in whom the whole executive power resides cannot of himself…administer justice in person, though he has the appointment of those who do administer it.
No dice, says Nancy. I will not perform my duty to check the President’s usurpations, says Nancy. Obama can do what he wants, and I’ll be an obedient little apparatchik.
Pelosi is out to lunch. Over the edge? Out of her freaking mind?
Dear Obama can NOT execute anyone without due process. Oh sorry, I forgot about the demise of our Bill of Rights.
Well well, well.., and every one thought that she is one of the Neo Liberals and no kidding…, they were right she and Barbara Boxer, the other one and the other one……, finally they all are out of the closet.
Well put, finally we see fully what they are. They've been stringing people along for over a decade, and Nancy in particular. Oh they were so horrified by W's excesses, but of course impeachment of W was off the table for reasons noone could understand (when Clinton got impeached for less?). We can't do anything in congress they said back then … if only you give us the presidency. And people did and now 4 years into it we see we not only have a Democratic George W Bush in office but that people like Nancy are just the apparatchiks they've always been. They never actually had anything against W other than that he was a Republican, in other words he worked for a competitor corporation.
They voted with W to start wars that Paul Wolfowitz planed and Dick Cheney(Halliburton) stole the money.
Ms. Pelosi is a an uberzionista, as is VP Biden. Bush impeachment was "off the table" because
georgie was mesmerized by Ariel Sharon, and was captive of the neocon junta.
"The greater the state, the more wrong and cruel its patriotism, and the greater is the sum of suffering upon which its power is founded" – Leo Tolstoy
"When rich people fight wars with one another, poor people are the ones to die." – Jean Paul Sartre 1905-1980 French philosopher
Terrorism is the price of empire. If you do not wish to pay the price, you must give up the empire" – Patrick J. Buchanan – Where the Right Went Wrong
"It's not right to respond to terrorism by terrorizing other people. And furthermore, it's not going to help. Then you might say, "Yes, it's terrorizing people, but it's worth doing because it will end terrorism." But how much common sense does it take to know that you cannot end terrorism by indiscriminately dropping bombs?" – Howard Zinn – Terrorism and War
The White Letter from The White House Smells not like a White Rose & it Stinks to High Heaven
by michael hall
First obama murdered children inside of foreign nations
so the people shopped at walmart to show their displeasure
then obama assassinated children in countries we were not war with
so flags & troops were honored at every sports game around the land in gratitude
Some lawyers screamed foul as did the few with conscience like Chomsky, Hedges & Blum
but their voices were drowned out by the silence of the bored & apathetic, the meekly submissive
still the good loyal citizens did scream for more guns as their constitutional right
& american idol worship tonight is supposed to be a killer so guess which takes priority?
Then obama & the exalted mighty military murdered an unarmed american across the pond
so what did the stout people then do you ask?
they swallowed a blue pill sunk their head deeper into the rabbit hole and breathed patriotically
hush hush now little children its all a transparent secret nothing to see here just move along
While a depressed american teenager with his cousin out looking for his murdered father
stopped along a dirt road in the middle of a vast desert praying for his dad at dusk
in the middle of a cookout sitting around the fire alone these two american kids
without warning silence was broken by terrorism & they were subsequently droned to smithereens by the us military
Ah but some fires did light up more intensely this time
so obama & his bunch of hooligans had to reluctantly crawl out of their dark dungeon
they argued with legal thickets of sharpened stakes, moats, pickets, shielded by secrets & lies atop turrets no one could reach
through a tapestry of intricate semantics innuendos & bizarre definitions they declared they were upholding the constitution oxymoronically tagging this odium as wise and ethical
Claiming that the research was so sensitive & so secret that it could not be revealed
our divine heroes would then be exposed to violence & that would be quite unamerican
if that happened whistleblowers then would be scapegoated & we know what happens to them
do you really think that renditions & retaliatory vengeance are just deeds of the recent past?
Cattle mooed meekly as they contentedly chewed the crass cud of american idol worship
embedded sheep bleated reverently to the wolves in wool via indoctrination by years of cognitive brainwashing and dissonance bleaching
the superbowl was a commercial success & beyonce lip-synced flawlessly again
& the flags, ah, the flags flew so high & piously, almost above it all, but did i see, a bloodstain, a tear or was it smoke?
I like it! Well done!
The Beast
It’s very difficult to recognize the beast
for he is usually dressed in a wrap-around flag seemingly righteous shining brightly & quite glorious
he sparkles brilliantly studded with seemingly flawless justice & untarnished virtue, proclaiming protection for the helpless & mercy for one and all
so very honorable & is most humbly pious boasting of his merciful means
good intentions that the complacent churches proclaim as well-blessed
for his glorious constitution is the pinnacle of principles & probity at a master freemason level
Ah, but you see the devil is wrapped in deception for his core is corruption
many names does he go by for he is quite exceptional
numerous laws does he develop for he is above them all
all worship & adore him so he believes is the best that’s ever been
Clichés & simple minded maxims he spews forth aplenty
for he supports the troops as he demands that you do & of course it is a faultless force for good as he wars for peace by total terror
all are in wonder &awe shocked by his militarized magnificence
who can dare stand against him in war or peace
Swollen with pride & self-worship he is quite comfortable with his xenophobic vanity on steroids
above all reproach & criticism none care to complain or subject to rendition
the best before & the greatest that will ever be for he is above all, quite incomparable
who would dare not acknowledge such grandeur or criticize his ever cracking whip
Born of fire but such a noble birth
none have ever seen the like or ever will to match its pinnacle of pride
for this path is golden & soars as an eagle above any & all that's even been or ever will be
carved by the gods into perfection from global girth a whole continent cannot contain this hunger
No stranger to violence, terrorism nor war
a day has not gone by that was absent of the three
the city on the hill calls for peace as it wars against friend & foe alike
e'er with patriotism & nationalism his hubris jingoism
When your the biggest, baddest & bawdiest kid on the block anything goes
who could stand up to you when you will bribe, hector or instill regime change anytime anywhere
Your desire is absolute domination & utter global subjugation
as you swallow your youth by indoctrinated brainwashing & turn them into war hoes to tour the foreign sites with a gun in your hand & elitist ego as your demeanor
Freedom is a eves-dropping cage while bravery is propaganda fear
a totalitarian police state of democracy you've'e built on the sheeple’s back into a plutocracy
a house of cards shaped into a tiger roaring rabid rants of diatribes & rage
but one day coming soon the emperor will be shown to have no clothes…
As the eagle has morphed into a vulture
the united states of sparta is a land of mammonistic locust whose ethos is to consume it all
and though no man is no island i have heard
what was once grandiose and manifested to be destined
is now to perfidy to become Easter island as it then consumes itself…
The Slaughter of the Children Drones On & On & On & On
When the drones are slaughtering innocent children in your name
do you bother to get concerned even when on your knees on Sunday?
or do you just stick your head in the sand blindly support the troops & just not think about whose to blame
if you care, i have list of their names and ages i could give you from the depths of an odious jingo game
Do your wonder if your joystick violence is really doing any good
or do you get the feeling that something is very wrong & your getting spun & fooled
how can you support exported terrorism when your sworn to defend against it
how can you donate freedom &democracy when its getting stolen from under you by E/O
Every bullet bought is a loaf of bread stolen from the belly of the hungry
& your self-praising charity checkbook fad doesn't seem to dent the starvation
for if you spent 2.2 million everyday since Jesus was born
you would have spent what your nation purchased on the military just in one year
Do you wonder why your schools don't have books & pencils
why your bridges are crumbling down & the roads are potholed like Swiss cheese
while your politicians live in mansions with 5-star chefs lapping at life-long luxury
then again today they announced another bone-cut to the needy, homeless and disabled
How could anyone with a shred of conscience bow before a flag without bending over with nausea
knowing underneath it the killing of the innocent is a weekly act in nations we are not at war with
that after a mob- hit, the gang fires off another drone when medics & rescuers come to the scene
we've forgotten what we stand for by the very deeds we toe-tag and their is no justification
Now we know by special executive decree memo called a 'white paper'
the Nobel Peace prize holder president has the power to murder americans beyond the law
it is solely up to the president when it comes to life and death and it is all a hush-hush secret
change we have been deceived by has shown the articulate wooly sheep to be but a child-eating wolf
Anyone who murders children by drone and then jokes about it is a sociopath
a leader who becomes a serial killer validated by secret edicts he wont share with his employers is a despot
expansion and consolidation of extreme consolidated power will one day target you and yours
For what goes on abroad in your name will backblow as it comes around to get you and yours tomorrow
Just south of key west at Guantanamo every law, principle and value you hold dear is smashed
across the pond the most nefarious crimes are done in your name only with your support
and yet at home you bury your head deep in the sand far from the massive contradiction
your heart bleeds for Newton yet when your troops do the exact same thing you raise a flag & a stiff arm
For what profits an empire when it can envelop the world and dominate it
yet in the process they loose their values, principles and in so doing their very soul
still atonement must be rectified somewhere at some time
and this is the vision that i dream someday will come to be;
For all the innocent children who've been the victims of the american military machine
i would willingly witness each and everyone of them walk by in front of every war supporter and soldier
to deeply gaze into their eyes to say with conviction
The Silver Drone with Starbucks Clusters
by michael hall
What courage it must take to set yourself apart from those who serve in the trenches
for a kid gangsta of capitalism to sip a cold coke on one hand
while his other hand is stroking a joystick & with just a gentle press
8000 miles away human beings that have never done him or his harm are now droned into bugsplat
What exceptional bravery this act of aggressive violence must demand
for s/he might suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome or worse a blister on the finger
with nerves of steel ne'er to complain for lives are at stake so s/he carries on & pushes the button of terror
careful, what if the soda spilled thereby rendering the keyboard useless? oh the horror
To wreak out death upon terrorists in the making sheep-herding children, ah the bravery
to slaughter dangerous pregnant women at a bridal shower, what pluck & heroism
to kill medics and first-responders who dare to help the wounded from your previous kill, such courage
what gallantry and valor one must exhibit to slaughter mourners at a funeral procession
So to show recognition to the brave souls who kill at command at the press of a knob 1/2 a world way a distinguished 'warfare' medal of honor has been created to award those who have no honor
announced with grandiose fanfare & full flags a' flapping just the other day by war criminal DS Panetta
this will outrank the bronze star and the purple heart and what a triumph is that america?
What a propaganda coup d'état by the bureaucrats in subterranean dusty think tanks
such a wonderful way to legitimize a most immoral and illegal act that defines odium
as they flim-flamed & came up with this 'combat' decoration for a most nefarious deed
and i wonder what lucky american school kid will be the first to touch one or to toss it down a toilet
Back at home in the united states of mordor
a great cackle of cheering and applause droned at every school church & walmart throughout the land
to praise & pay tribute to those daring war-idols who earned such a distinguished medal
the much coveted and respected; 'Silver Drone with Starbucks Clusters'
For who else could earn by total disregard of personal safety with such displays of video gallantry & virtual valor
who else should deserve such a high honor & recognized award squealed Leon Panetta from atop a pile of splattered blood & broken bones
these extraordinary actions by lightening slight of hand upon a joystick of death
to murder anywhere anytime anyone for any reason is now the definition of American Hero
Not much more we can say in response to that, michael. Well done!
thank you guest…
Dude, you should publish your writing. I would buy it. Great job! I haven't seen this heap of crap of a government summed up more effectively anywhere else.
thanks for the praise.. i do have 5 books out but i do not sell too many…
Everything the Nazi German government did was legal, or made legal, under German law. The Repubs and Dems are in a circle of cowardice to do the same here.
It was not reported whether she agreed with the White Paper memo, or with the killing of al-Awlaki or his son, or the circumstances and determinations behind those killings. In other words, either she says she can't say she agrees because she doesn't know- in which case something is very wrong, or, she says she agrees even if she doesn't know because she trusts the judgment of the President, even though "due process" within the flawed meaning of the Administration (i.e., Congressional oversight was not exercised), in which case something is VERY, VERY wrong.
Well, she isn’t lying as she did support and help Dubya pass anything he wanted while she was speaker of a Dem House majority after 2006. So, when she says the Dems aren’t giving Obama more of a blank check than they gave Dubya, she’s probably technically telling the truth. But that just points out what an apparatchik she was as the fake opposition leader.
The wonder is that the people of San Francisco of all places keeps re-electing this Reagan Democrat to represent them. Come on San Fran, show your colors and boot her out of Congress in 2014!
Where is the ACLU in all this?
Mostly fighting the good fight, filing countless lawsuits to get the secrets of the killings and other secret laws brought out into the open etc.. The ACLU does great work, not at all a sell-out organization like so many have proven to be. But is the ACLU enough alone to defend against this nonsense with corrupt politicians, often corrupt courts and a mostly indifferent citizenry, no they aren't enough. A friend makes the prediction in a few years there will be no ACLU, I don't think so, but they are fighting a defensive battle, and if even the courts are corrupt what can they accomplish with all their lawyers?
gw bush, to saddam
My dear fellow, I'm so sorry,but I'm afraid we've just destroyed your country
saddam, to GW
That's all right,because it is your country that you are destroying
(with apologies to dad's army film 1971
Nancy Pelosi is a depraved fraction of a human being (as are all of the war criminals infesting Washington DC and elsewhere).
Personanongrata, I agree with you 100%; Nancy Pelosi is depraved; has been for years.
Michaelgaia, I couldn't have said it better; your poetry says it all.
Michaelgaia, I would like to republish some of your poetic work on my blog. If interested please reply via contact info at http://www.stirlingwattscs.com
white roses flutter from above…
Just another day in der loyal homeland
when the unfaultable troopers are, without a figment of dissent, honored as untouchable gods
in every school at all the churches awash in perpetual patriotic self-praise at the pied piper parades
at each & every sporting event every time over & over, piled upon more &more until you snap to nationalistic attention automatically
& its always the same self-deluding gratuitous perpetual grandstanding xenophobic bs
Stars will be spangled & the band will be playing as tears gush from pious eyes
eloquent speeches full of bravado & glory for amoral hired guns who execute the bidding of the opulent oligarchy
tears streaming with prideful gratefulness amplified by thunderous clapping
just as the stiff warriors arrive mechanically clutching their soldiers hearts
stoic & resolute as toy soldiers always are
red-eyes raised high to the flag whilst under crackling boots broken little bodies called bugsplat crunch
the little school children set up in the front row like cannon fodder bowling pins lined up for the next frame
as one synchronized complicit machine good obedient citizens stand to pledge
and it looks so mechanically precise very snake-oiled shined indeed
waving majestically untouched above the rule of law the red & white and blue so pure & true
the monotone response with never a dissent or discord as they speak as one
they pledge incessantly blind obedience to a most cruel deception
just as the patriotic explosion reached its climatic crescendo
something happens that no one could foresee nor anticipate
a horn sounded from high above, then white pieces of paper start fluttering from the blue sky
they shimmered as they twinkled & spun like stars on a dark night
gently, quietly spun and descended
each & everyone a name of a victim of a child that these heroes killed
Hundreds came down
thousands upon thousands
a rolling blizzard of papyrus and silk as it slowly piled to the ankles to rise higher and higher
every forgotten name from every decimated nation, every Mexican who was murdered defending his land every freedom fighting flillipino,every Viet, every afghan, Iraqi, Yemenis, Paki kid slaughtered for freedom
so many kids from so many lands & they kept falling as they kept expanding from the floor
every non soldier from every land where the American military has slaughtered for profit, plunder & policy for national interests every child, every orphan, every crippled son & daughter
names in blood as red as red could be
upon each & everyone a photograph of each and every kid
every child, mother, sister brother father cousin uncle & aunt of those who suffered from the military
silence hushed the crowds as the horn note played on an on was never faltering, never wavering
Then as the last piece fell, as a great silence screamed from the past into the present
you could just discern the gentle sobbing of a school girl
a cry of shame, horror, pain for all the victims that surrounded her, reached for her, touched her
as she slowly laboriously raised her head and looked out the school window
a blue sign caught her eye and she read; ‘war is not the answer’
she softly moaned more….she wept for the children, she wept for the solders, she wept for the victims of militarism, she wept for the cost of the colossal lie she now saw through with the lucid sight of a child
then without fanfare she gently prayed for a better day when people would war no more & especially worship no more the warrior and the violence they initiate
but she sniveled & prayed quietly for she was afraid of what others would say
Next day the newspapers headlined; ‘Great Terrorist Attack from the Sky’
the president called for heads to roll of course as usual congress rolled too but on its back
anyone caught with any of the notes was subject to indefinite detention by secretive executive order
all the notes were assembled confiscated shredded then burned in a great bonfire at the white house
for homeland security, for national interests & to protect and ensure the American way of life
the military was sent all over the world to bomb terrorize, rendition, imprison & drone those responsible
But one little school girl named Sophie talked with her friends as they hid in secret
they stared at their crumbled notes with the names of the innocent murdered children
in the dark with a flashlight hidden in the closet they whispered, sniffed and conspired
they made a pact that one day some day as they grew up
all the notes they could gather would be in every school book, in every locker, in every pew in the land…..
on each and every note in the upper corner
the emblem of the white rose next to the child’s photograph…the pledge of a schoolgirl named Sophie
This is truly a great read for me. I have bookmarked it and I am looking forward to reading new articles.venus factor workout
Pelosi is out to lunch. Over the edge? Out of her freaking mind?
Dear Obama can NOT execute anyone without due process. Oh sorry, I forgot about the demise of our Bill of Rights.
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