Jeff, the link is a useful addition to the thread. Thanks. I have been very impressed by the courage of the Vets Against the Iraq War to stand up and tell us what is going on over there. As I said... "The Brave".

Get this straight, the war in Iraq is over. Remember? Obama ended it. Just like he closed Guantanamo Bay by executive order.

Let's spike that myth. Obama doesn't have the votes in Congress to close it. And yes, combat operations are over in Iraq. Get the memo?

The president signs an Executive Order not Congress. Congress can overturn an executive order or agreement with the vote of two-thirds of both the Senate and House of Representatives. Since most members of Congress will vote along party lines, however, it is extremely difficult to overturn a Presidential policy.

Who will challenge it Lyle? Most of us don't even know this legislation exists let alone what consequences may arise. Most respondents our blogs are unhappy, to say the least, with the government...some splitting right...some left (and a few over and under.) With minor tweaking, if any is needed, we can be detained indefinitely without knowing why and with no trial. call us the "t" word and anything done to such prisoners can be done to us. We have state terrorism...another Argentina...Columbia..Guatemala..etc. This sounds like a stretch but we have seen Vice Presidents refer to water boarding as "a little water in the face," we are not out of Guantanamo as promised, the current campaign is definitely global.... And, historically we have supported dictators, even replacing democratically elected leaders with such despots. If it smells like a fish....it probably is?

And thoughtful comments on your part JB.

But bear in mind, whose the leading support behind this march to corporate control of our government?

The Tea Party.

@Schmitz: what does the Tea Party have to do with this, being we stand for limited government and upholding the Constitution? Methinks a much greater threat is the Executive-Orderer-In-Chief who routinely trashes the Constitution. Making thousands of dissenters disappear is the province of the dictator. But hell, why worry about that stuff when you can get "free" ObamaCare?

Thank you JB. The media are illusionists...adept at mis-direction. I am beginning to think the whole two party game has evolved into a puppet show. Clearly campaign promises are largely smoke and mirrors...the trick being to gain keys to the office. But as I research who runs these guys, or who "brings them"....the corporate sponsorship...as I look into the available numbers these overlords profit from their investments....the elections look like a Punch and Judy show, set up onthe sidewalk to entertain the children while the adults do business in some nearby smoky room.

Corporations rarely think about the long term consequences of their actions. They are not great thinkers. Since they are currently running the show, i figure that we are headed for eventual anarchy.

@J.B Schmidt, hidden in the name-calling/gossip campaign, is the fact that there are now in excess of 2000 US soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Remember this was Obama's war though they all keep finger pointing at Bush. It was Obama's goal to assassinate Bin Laden. It was Obama who was finger pointing that he was to blame for 9-11. Now he's finger pointing at Syria about chemical weapons. It this going to be another stash of "weapons of mass destruction".

Because Gearhead, without corporate support, there would be big bus tours, direct mail blasts, paid staffers. The Tea Party is to grassroots like Velveeta is to cheese.

I hate seeing the bogus revolutionary war posturing when in fact these people are proving to be Tories to the corporations.

We all respect the Constitution and what did Obama issue? One executive order vs the blizzard issued by Bush. You have standing.

Your rambling pal. Not playing with a full deck as usual?

President Obama has signed 135 Executive Orders since he took office. President Roosevelt is the King of Executive Orders followed up by President Clinton. President George W. signed 291 in 8 years.

http://1461days.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-presidents-have-used-executive.html

http://1461days.blogspot.com/2009/01/current-list-of-president-obamas.html

What is dangerous about the executive privilege is what it is used for.

Like what Mau? Looking out for your self-interest?

There is no difference between the 2 parties. They are both taking this country to the same end game, just at different speeds and directions. The only one who stood out against all this garbage was Ron Paul. And look what both parties and the media did to silence him.

You have the controllers and purse handlers on the left just as much if not more. The difference is the left incites violence and hate on the ground. Where the TEA Party is a peaceful movement. There may be a handful on the right but they are so far right that they blend in with the anarchists on the left. There is no difference between the radical far left and the far right other than the beliefs they fight for.

Tea Party is a peaceful movement? Good thing they don't have metal detectors at rallies. The Democrats marginalize their radicals. In the GOP the radicals now run the thing.

so what? it is their money and their right to express themselves, I find it rather odd and fascist that you want to take away both their property(money) and their means of free speech.

"President Obama took aim at the Kochs’ political network."

Ironic when he has his hand out to the Chicago Mob (Rezko) and the likes of the socialist Hollywood Elite.

So Koch is evil and the Rockefeller, Kennedy, Soros....... dynasties are not?

"I find it rather odd and fascist that you want to take away both their property(money) and their means of free speech."

Their "free speech" is smothering ours. You see meg, if you read history, fascists are the one's who accumulate property, and if you notice in this country it is being done at our expense.

You really aren't able to pick up on distinctions can you may?

Soros, the Kennedys, Buffett and others are smart enough to recognize that when not just a select few prosper, we all prosper. As far as the Hollywood types and even sports figures, they don't get rich by making others poor. That's the big difference.

As far as your Rezko fixation, he hardly has the money the Brothers Grimm have. The Kochs are the eighth and ninth richest people in the world, depending what day it is.

my husband and I are incorporated within our business model so I guess I am pro-corporation as well.

I don't think just operating as a corporation is a negative or evil; I too, operate my bushiness as corporations'. Unfortunately the word corporation, as its being tossed about, is becoming a pejorative. One needs to delineate and clarify further. The the more tightly defined term for the activity of 'buying or undue influencing of government favors and/or legislation is 'crony-capitalism'.

You're right Jay, it needs to be defined. There are corporations like Costco that are not in the smash and grab mode. Then there are others that are run like mob families.

But hey. Us progressives know the difference. Wish the right possessed that subtly of mind.

And really, mom and pop shops have more in common with working people. Sad thing is many of these people get caught up in the whitewashing.

Better yet ask all of the employees of Oshkosh Truck, and their families who puts food on the table.

Let's blast some myths about defense spending http://tinyurl.com/8tob8oy.

And really using the workers as human shields when there are executives making millions is bogus.

okay Keith Schmitz, I hope you enjoy taking food from the mouths of the Oshkosh workers children.

Once we start cutting this defense spending we'll see better jobs for more people. As much as I like Oshkosh Truck, defense spending is not a good use of our money and Oshkosh can make trucks for other purposes from what I know about this country -- repairing our D-rated infrastructure.

Agreed. We both see the same thing from both sides. Problem is not enough do. The TEA Party movement was grassroots. To be honest I was not comfortable with it when it was hijacked. But I think there are still some local groups who truly believe in their cause. But that is the same with any organization that they get taken over, politicized and polarized.

To be honest I don't see a politician from either party who I really feel is looking out for the good of the country. If they want to go up the ladder they have to sell their soul for the money.

Thanks David....many good thoughts. I like the point about both liberal and conservative ideology having some merit. However, if both sides are co-opted by powerful funding sources....it doesn't matter much what you or I think. We need to protect, zealously, our right to speak freely... Our right to dissent. Apparently, not many of are aware that that right hangs by a thread right now... The tenth amendment is the one I am concerned about.

FYI off topic but another example of how Obama's interests and actions are for the elitist ruling class. it seems Obama is picking up where Clinton left off. Regulating and controlling our food supply.

"In 2009, in a classic revolving-door move, President Barack Obama appointed former Monsanto VP and head lobbyist Michael Taylor as Deputy Commissioner for the FDA — the board tasked with regulating Taylor’s own industry."

"Obama has appointed Monsanto chief lobbyist as senior advisor to the commissioner of the FDA. This is the same man that was in charge of FDA policy when GMO's were allowed into the US food supply without undergoing a single test to determine their safety. He had been Monsanto's attorney before becoming policy chief at the FDA [and then] he became Monsanto's Vice President and chief lobbyist. This month he became the senior advisor to the commissioner of the FDA. He is now America's food safety czar."

After the legislation cleared Congress, the ACLU commented that signing the bill “will damage both his legacy and American’s reputation for upholding the rule of law,” while executive director of the Human Rights Watch blasted the President for being ‘on the wrong side of history,’ noting that “Obama will go down in history as the president who enshrined indefinite detention without trial in US law.”
Presidential candidate Ron Paul went even further, declaring that the NDAA bill begins the official establishment of martial law in the United States (see video).w

Again, this is FYI. Up to this point we still have quite a diverse selection of garden seed. You can still purchase Heritage seed and save your own for your own use. In fact the US has quite stock pile of seed. And Seed Saver's Exchange has kept this practice going. But if Monsanto and other seed producers have their way, that will be a thing of the past. My brother who is a farmer told me what a problem it is already to buy corn and soy bean seed from other sources.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2009-12-14-monsanto-practices_N.htm

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_21049.cfm