Dear President Obama: “By What Authority?” by Bruce Fein and Ralph Nader + Barack Obama’s Notice: Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Yemen

Image by SS&SS via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
May 13, 2013

Dear Mr. President:

As a former lecturer in constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School, you know that the federal government, including the Office of the President, does not enjoy limitless powers.  As President, your powers are limited to those conferred either by the Constitution or federal statutes. 

Noam Chomsky: Drones Come Home To Roost + Jeremy Scahill: Dirty Wars

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Dandelion Salad

Akshay Pahilajani on Apr 29, 2013

Noam Chomsky in a discussion on “Dirty Wars” talks about drones coming home to roost.

Jeremy Scahill: Dirty Wars: Terror Begets Terror

Dandelion Salad

breakingtheset on Apr 29, 2013

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

On this episode of Breaking the Set, Abby Martin talks to Jeremy Scahill, investigative journalist and author of the new book and upcoming film ‘Dirty Wars’, an exposé on the expansion of American covert wars fought by US intelligence agencies and the Joint Special Operations Command. They talk about covert operations happening in countries like Somalia, Yemen, and Pakistan, where drone strikes and targeted assassinations are creating resentment of the US, and how the decline of journalism has prevented the American public from seeing the full story.

Don’t Ignore How Others See Us by Ralph Nader + Nader’s Provocative Question

Dandelion Salad

Updated: May 2, 2013

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
April 25, 2013

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

In watching the massive media coverage and the reaction to the brutal bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, the wise poem “To A Louse…” composed in 1785 by the Scottish poet Robert Burns came to me:

“O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us/ To see oursels as ithers see us!”

English translation:
“And would some Power the small gift give us/To see ourselves as others see us!”

Two Obamas, Two Classes of Children by Ralph Nader

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
April 11, 2013

Image by watchingfrogsboil via Flickr

An Associated Press photograph brought the horror of little children lying dead outside of their home to an American Audience. At least 10 Afghan children and some of their mothers were struck down by an airstrike on their extended family household by order of President Barack Obama. He probably decided on what his aides describe as the routine weekly “Terror Tuesday” at the White House. On that day, Mr. Obama typically receives the advice about which “militants” should live or die thousands of miles away from drones or aircraft. Even if households far from war zones are often destroyed in clear violation of the laws of war, the president is not deterred.

What Religious Leaders Want to Tell Obama on Easter

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

bravenewfoundation·Mar 27, 2013

How can we hold our heads high when remote-controlled, killer aircraft are raining death and destruction on populations half a world away?

I Personally Believe That Hugo Chávez Was Murdered By The United States by William Blum

by William Blum
Writer, Dandelion Salad
www.killinghope.org
March 11, 2013

Image by ¡Que comunismo! via Flickr

Anti-Empire Report

Hugo Chávez

I once wrote about Chilean president Salvador Allende:

Washington knows no heresy in the Third World but genuine independence. In the case of Salvador Allende independence came clothed in an especially provocative costume – a Marxist constitutionally elected who continued to honor the constitution. This would not do.

Establishing Dictatorships: Lessons from History by Steven Jonas

by Steven Jonas, MD, MPH
Writer, Dandelion Salad
crossposted on truth-out.org/buzzflash
March 11, 2013

Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

Admiral Miklos Horthy of Hungary is generally acknowledged to have been history’s first fascist dictator (that is an authoritarian ruler who was not royalty). Following the overthrow of a Hungarian Communist government by Romanian royalist forces in 1919, with the acquiescence of his own King he was appointed “Regent” (for the King) in 1920. He held that post until he himself was displaced by the Nazis in 1944.

Obama’s Attorney General Backs Drone Strikes On US Soil + Rand Paul’s Senate Filibuster of Brennan Nomination

Dandelion Salad

Updated: Mar. 8, 2013

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RTAmerica·Mar 6, 2013

US Attorney General Eric Holder released a statement in which he says he doesn’t rule out the possibility of using military drones on Americans in the US. Holder’s statements have drawn even more attention to America’s drone program and some senators have continued to opposed the possible use of drones against Americans on US soil. Mike Riggs, associate editor for Mike Riggs, sounds off on Holder’s position.

Witnesses at a Drone Hearing by David Swanson

Dandelion Salad

by David Swanson
http://warisacrime.org
23 February 2013

Image by watchingfrogsboil via Flickr

This coming Wednesday the House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a hearing on “Drones and the War On Terror: When Can the U.S. Target Alleged American Terrorists Overseas?”

This is odd for a number of reasons.

1. Congressional committees usually don’t do anything at all on such matters.

America’s Disappeared by Andy Worthington

by Andy Worthington
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
www.andyworthington.co.uk
February 23, 2013

Image by Shrieking Tree via Flickr

Injustices do not become any less unjust the longer they are not addressed, and when it comes to the “war on terror” launched by President Bush following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, those injustices continue to fester, and to poison America’s soul.

One of those injustices is Guantánamo, where 166 men are still imprisoned, even though 86 of them were cleared for release by a task force established by the President four years ago, and another is Bagram in Afghanistan (renamed and rebranded the Parwan Detention Facility),

Chris Hedges: Obama Has Carried On All the Policies of Bush in Terms of Imperial War and Worse on Civil Liberties (#NDAA)

with Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
February 24, 2013

Image by Shrieking Tree via Flickr

KontextTV·Feb 22, 2013

With Chris Hedges, Senior fellow at the Nation Institute, former foreign correspondent for the New York Times, Pulitzer Prize in 2002. His latest book is “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt” with illustrator Joe Sacco.

In his book “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt” Chris Hedges describes “sacrifice zones” in the U.S. which have been exposed to unlimited economic exploitation: former industrial centers like Camden, New Jersey which is one of the poorest and most violent cities in the country or the coal mines of West Virginia where nature and communities have been devastated.

Jill Dalton: NDAA, The Kill List, A Corporate-Military-Complex-Mafia. Yes, It Is Fascism!

by Jill Dalton
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
recoveringarmybrat
February 19, 2013

We Cannot Be Silent
with Phil Restino and Larry Pinkney
www.wolfspiritradio.com
Feb. 18, 2013

Image by pameladrew212 via Flickr

On tonight’s live 2-hour call-in broadcast of We Cannot Be Silent with co-hosts Phil Restino and Larry Pinkney, author/activist Jill Dalton of NYC will be the featured guest on the program.  Jill’s recent article “NDAA: Hedges v. Obama: Did the Bill of Rights die today?” has been getting a lot of attention and re-posts on websites and blogs all over the Internet.  Click here to read the article as posted on the website Dandelion Salad: http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/ndaa-hedges-v-obama-did-the-bill-of-rights-die-today-by-jill-dalton/

The American Manifest Destiny by Clive Hambidge

by Clive Hambidge
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
February 3, 2013

Image by Madison Guy via Flickr

Killing from afar

Americans and their European poodles coiffeured red white and blue in American power salons are unlawfully targeting, and killing from afar, suspected militants innocent bystanders, and helpers, labelled “collateral damage,” whilst avoiding more politically toxic body bags containing returning American “heroes” to military bases and more lachrymose wailing from American politicians. Today, this day, men and women with “games console mentality” can kill your brothers and sisters and mine, by pressing a button caressed by their dutiful hands in America, for a drone strike against suspected militants and thereby international law, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, then take a burger lunch without fear of reprisal? I don’t think so.

Julian Assange on Obama’s Kill List

Image by a.powers-fudyma via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

Note: I did find a partial transcript. http://rt.com/news/assange-drone-killing-leak-813/.

Replaced video; watch while available.

kryptos973281·Feb 8, 2013

Julian Assange to Bill Maher: ‘You Can Be Killed By Someone in White House For Completely Arbitrary Reasons’ and that’s why we need Wikileaks.