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

Thursday, May 14, 2015

'Fake' Reform: Little to Celebrate as USA Freedom Act Passes House

Click here to access article by Jon Queally from Common Dreams.

The article which provides a critical examination of how an extension of the Patriot Act was approved by the House of Representatives in a very deceptive way to appear that they were supporting civil liberties. This is an excellent illustration of corporate-controlled democracy in action. 
Though the overwhelming and bipartisan passage of the USA Freedom Act in the House of Representatives on Wednesday portends the end of the NSA's mass collection of Americans' private telephone records, civil liberties groups found little else to celebrate as the ultimate passage of the bill, which now heads to the Senate, would re-authorize a number of worrisome programs by extending the life of the controversial Patriot Act.
Another excellent illustration was provided recently by Sen. Harry Reid in an article entitled "Harry Reid’s Orwellian Doublespeak About The Patriot Act" by Lou Colagiovanni from AntiMedia. Colagiovanni compares what Reid recently said in opposition to an extension of the Patriot Act with his actual votes over the past 14 years of its existence.

In collaboration with these games that Congress people play, the media always gives wide coverage that serves to hide their ruses.