Clippings for 12 July 2009

Obama's Tortured Democracy
Henry A. Giroux writes for Truthout: "By refusing to release photos of those tortured by US forces, Obama sadly continues yet another element of the Bush regime, organized around an attempt to regulate the visual field, to mandate what can be seen and modify the landscape of the sensible and visible. And equally important, as Judith Butler points out, the Obama administration's application of the state-secrecy privilege grants it the power to determine 'which lives count as human and as living, and which do not.'"

Cheney Linked to Secrecy of CIA Program
Greg Miller, The Los Angeles Times: "The CIA kept a highly classified counter-terrorism program secret from Congress for eight years at the direction of then-Vice President Dick Cheney, according to sources familiar with an account that agency Director Leon E. Panetta provided recently to House and Senate committees."

Inspectors General Confirm Bush Admin Carried Out Massive Illegal Surveillance, More Than Previously Known
Faiz Shakir writes for Think Progress: "A congressionally-mandated report by Inspectors General of five separate intelligence agencies confirms that the Bush administration carried out “unprecedented,” massive surveillance activities beyond the warrantless wirteapping program that had previously been revealed. The Bush administration authorized the program without fully notifying Congress:"

More Democrats Call for Investigating the CIA
Alex Isenstadt reprots for The Politico: "Calls for an investigation into the Central Intelligence Agency intensified this weekend amid revelations that former Vice President Dick Cheney ordered the concealment of a covert agency spy program from Congress. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) said that the Senate Intelligence Committee should 'absolutely' investigate the program."

CIA's History of Lying to Congress
Lisa Pease writes for Consortium News: "On TV this week, with a measure of disbelief in their voices, the pundits ask, did the CIA lie to or deliberately mislead Congress? How is that not a rhetorical question?"

Recommended Audio: Rethink Afghanistan (Part 5) - Women of Afghanistan


When Will The Recovery Begin? Never.
Robert Reich on Robert Reich's Blog: "In a recession this deep, recovery doesn't depend on investors. It depends on consumers who, after all, are 70 percent of the US economy. And this time consumers got really whacked. Until consumers start spending again, you can forget any recovery, V or U shaped."

Block Report Breaks the Blockade on Coverage of Cynthia McKinney Kidnapping


San Francisco Bay View reports: "Minister of Information JR caught up with former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party’s 2008 presidential candidate, upon her return to the U.S. from a week’s incarceration in an Israeli jail. She and the Free Gaza 21 – the crew and passengers, including political leaders, human rights workers, Nobel Peace laureate Mairead Maguire among them, and journalists, of the boat “Spirit of Humanity” – had been boarded, assaulted and kidnapped while sailing in international waters by a fleet of Israeli warships."
Recommended Audio: McKinney Interview on Block Report Radio

Some Choice Words for "The Select Few"
Bill Moyers and Michael Winship comments for Truthout: "If you want to know what really matters in Washington, don't go to Capitol Hill for one of those hearings, or pay attention to those staged White House 'town meetings.' They're just for show. What really happens - the serious business of Washington - happens in the shadows, out of sight, off the record. Only occasionally - and usually only because someone high up stumbles - do we get a glimpse of just how pervasive the corruption has become."

Recommended Audio: Bill Moyer's Journal for 10 July
Wendell Potter on Profits before People
With almost 20 years inside the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter saw for-profit insurers hijack our health care system and put profits before patients. Now, he speaks with Bill Moyers about how those companies are standing in the way of health care reform.
Health Care Reform on the Table
Health care reform is coming. Both Congress and President Obama have made it a top priority. Now comes the tricky part — designing and funding a plan. Politicians are jockeying for the lead in structuring the final plan. And lobbyists and interest groups are spending lots of money making their case on the Hill and in the media.

Don't Enshrine Discrimination in Health Care Reform
Deepak Bhargava writes on The Huffington Post: "Finally, the country seems serious about reforming health care. But with discussions about a public option, cost control and competition raging, one aspect of achieving true universal coverage is being left out: what to do about immigrants who lack coverage?"

Howard Dean: "This Is Ridiculous. We're 60 Years Behind the Times" on Fixing Health Care
Joshua Holland writes for AlterNet: "During the 2004 presidential primaries, the conventional wisdom among Howard Dean's energized supporters was that the over-the-top conservative attacks on the Vermont governor reflected the degree to which the right feared his nomination. With his blunt, plainspoken populism, the argument went at the time, Dean represented a threat to the Bush administration's prospects for re-election that his more polished Democratic opponents lacked."

Let Them Eat Tax Cuts
Ellen at New Hounds writes: "On yesterday’s (7/11/09) Forbes on Fox, much of the mostly-conservative panel argued with a straight face that poor people would be better off with more corporate tax cuts instead of food stamps. Out of seven people, only panelists Quentin Hardy and Evelyn Rusli saw the mean-spirited ridiculousness of the suggestion. With video."

Massachusetts to Challenge US Marriage Ban
Nandini Jayakrishna and Jonathan Saltzman report for the Boston Globe: "Massachusetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, yesterday became the first to challenge the constitutionality of a federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman, contending that Congress intruded into a matter that should be left to states."