We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Tough Guy Leaking: Iran edition

Click here to access article by Glenn Greenwald from Salon. 

Forget about this liberal blogger's emphasis on Obama. Simply replace Obama with President X because it doesn't matter who they put in office. This truism applies most definitely to foreign affairs. With domestic issues one finds mostly stylistic differences. There is a section of the One Percent ruling class that loves the way Obama has finessed imperialist policies, the continued favoring of financial institutions, and his austerity policies. The other section led by the Republican party prefers more direct attacks on working people.

Liberal bloggers are very useful when it comes to uncovering the ploys of the ruling class. This author provides evidence that political operatives of this class have found an additional way to cultivate fear in citizens in order to serve their interests of power and profit.
The primary fear-mongering agenda item for the National Security and Surveillance State industry is now cyberwarfare. The Washington cadre of former military officials who seek to personally profit by exploiting national security issues — represented by Adm. Michael McConnell and Gen. Michael Hayden — has been running around for several years shrilly warning that cyberwarfare is the greatest threat posed by Terrorists and other of America’s enemies....