Saturday, January 31, 2009

I’m Looking For A Kosher Pig And An Honest Politician And I May Have Found One Or Two?


Im Looking For A Kosher Pig And An Honest Politician And I May Have Found One Or Two?

 

 

Ouster of Governor Spurs (the Latest) Calls for Political Reform ...
New York Times - United States
“That’s the scary thing — this is just the beginning,” said State Representative Jack D. Franks, a Democrat who served on the 
impeachment investigation ...
See all stories on this topic

 

"The action I am taking is no more than a radical measure to hasten the explosion of truth and justice. I have but one passion: to enlighten those who have been kept in the dark, in the name of humanity which has suffered so much and is entitled to happiness. My fiery protest is simply the cry of my very soul. Let them dare, then, to bring me before a court of law and let the enquiry take place in broad daylight!"

- Emile Zola, J'accuse! (1898) –

 

Anarchism is founded on the observation that since few men are wise enough to rule themselves, even fewer are wise enough to rule others.
 - Edward Abbey-

 

And Todays Winner Is!

 

White House Daily Briefing Jan 30, 2009

 

Oblivious on the stimulus (Viewsday) - Newsday.com
Then there are the 
congressional Republicans, who occupy an entire wing in the Forgetfulness Hall of Fame. There’s legitimate room for debate on what the stimulus package should look like. But there’s not much room for argument over ...
Viewsday - http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/opinion/viewsday/

 

Bill O'Reilly, in last night's Talking Points Memo, wonders if MoveOn.org's support for Obama's stimulus plan makes the whole package suspect. As if we couldn't see this coming. Bill, why don't you just skip the phony excuses and come out against it?

 

After O'Reilly plays an Americans United for Change ad tagging House Republicans for kissing Rush Limbaugh's feet, he chimes in:

 

O'Reilly: Sounds a little like Tokyo Rose, doesn't it?

 

Now, that group is associated with MoveOn, and they're both so radical and so hateful that anything they support has to be scrutinized all day long. Why do these far lefties want so much government spending? There's got to be an ideological component to it.

 

First he says they sound like traitors, then he makes them sound like a front for MoveOn -- that eeevil "far left" group.

 

Well, if you look at SourceWatch's rundown on AUC, you'll see that they've had various dealings with MoveOn, mostly secondary, but it's certainly not a front for them. Moreover, as to MoveOn's "far left" positions, judge for yourself just how radical they are. They sound pretty mainstream American to me, especially judging by the polling on these positions.

 

But then, one suspects that O'Reilly would consider Dwight Eisenhower a far-left radical too.

 

 

The letter to Iran

 

Iran's view of Obama Pt.1

 

Iran's view of Obama Pt.2

 

Will Obama negotiate with Iran

 

 

 

"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man -- brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot."

 

I just signed a petition asking my member of Congress to sign on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 104 -- I hope you will too. Please have a look and take action.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/accountability_commission/?r_by=-1827819-5tK5O8x&rc=paste

 

Bush officials authorized torture of US citizen, lawyers say

By John Byrne, RawStory

 

Attorneys for US citizen Jose Padilla — who was convicted of material support for terrorist activities in 2007 — say that high-level Bush Administration officials knew their client was being tortured during the time he was held an enemy combatant in a South Carolina brig, because of the command structure and that then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld employed in approving harsh interrogation tactics.

 

Rumsfeld approved the harsh interrogation techniques early in Bush’s presidency. In Iraq, a cheat sheet titled “Interrogation Rules of Engagement,” revealed that some of them required the Iraq commanding general’s approval.

 

Among those requiring approval are tactics Padilla’s mother and lawyer say he was the victim of: “Sleep adjustment,” “Sleep management, “Sensory deprivation,” “isolation lasting longer than thirty days” and “stress” positions.” It wouldn’t be a shock if military guards went beyond the traditional treatment of a US prisoner, given Rumsfeld’s approved techniques and that Padilla was is legal limbo as an enemy combatant and eligible to be held for years without charge.

 

Padilla and his mother filed suit against the US government last year alleging a litany of harsh interrogation practices they said were tantamount to torture. His lawyer also says he was held in isolation for years while held at the South Carolina brig.

 

“They knew what was going on at the brig and they permitted it to continue,” Tahlia Townsend, an attorney representing Padilla, told the Associated Press Thursday. “Defendants Rumsfeld and [Deputy Paul] Wolfowitz were routinely consulted on these kinds of questions.”

 

The Justice Department is attempting to get the case dismissed. Padilla’s suit alleges mistreatment and that Padilla’s being held as an enemy combat was unconstitutional.

 

Dismissal might quietly shut the door on a troubled case that drew broad attention because the Bush Administration had deemed a US citizen an enemy combatant, the quasi-legal terminology used to hold suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay.

 

Padilla, a US citizen, was arrested in 2002 and accused of plotting with al-Qaida to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb” in a major U.S. city, but those charges were dropped. He was declared an enemy combatant after his arrest, and held at the brig from June 2002 until January 2006, again without charge.

 

In 2008, Padilla and his mother, Estela Lebron, filed a lawsuit accusing the government of mistreating and illegally detaining Padilla while he was held near Charleston, South Carolina. Padilla suffered “extreme isolation, sensory deprivation, severe physical pain, sleep deprivation, and profound disruption of his sense and personality, all well beyond the physical and mental discomfort that normally accompanies incarceration,” according to the lawyers’ claim. Such treatment bears the hallmarks of harsh interrogation techniques approved by then-Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and used by interrogators of other enemy combatants held at the US’ Guantanamo Bay and Iraqi prisons.

 

In particular, they singled out then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and then Undersecretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.

 

Padilla has alleged he was shackled in painful “stress positions,” a technique used at Guantanamo Bay that a bipartisan U.S. Senate panel ruled last year was the direct result of Bush administration detention policies, not individual guards or interrogators.

 

The original charge leveled at Padilla when he was arrested in 2002 was that he was part of a “dirty bomb” al Qaeda plot. By the time he was charged five years later, government lawyers had dropped the charge.

 

The following are excerpts from Padilla’s 2006 motion (PDF link) which describe the claims of torture in more detail:

 

A substantial quantum of torture endured by Mr. Padilla came at the hands of his interrogators. In an effort to disorient Mr. Padilla, his captors would deceive him about his location and who his interrogators actually were. Mr. Padilla was threatened with being forcibly removed from the United States to another country, including U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he was threatened his fate would be even worse than in the Naval Brig.

 

He was threatened with being cut with a knife and having alcohol poured on the wounds. He was also threatened with imminent execution. He was hooded and forced to stand in stress positions for long durations of time. He was forced to endure exceedingly long interrogation sessions, without adequate sleep, wherein he would be confronted with false information, scenarios, and documents to further disorient him. Often he had to endure multiple interrogators who would scream, shake, and otherwise assault Mr. Padilla. Additionally, Mr. Padilla was given drugs against his will, believed to be some form of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or phencyclidine (PCP), to act as a sort of truth serum during his interrogations.

 

It is worth noting that throughout his captivity, none of the restrictive and inhumane conditions visited upon Mr. Padilla were brought on by his behavior or by any actions on his part. There were no incidents of Mr. Padilla violating any regulation of the Naval Brig or taking any aggressive action towards any of his captors. Mr. Padilla has always been eaceful and compliant with his captors. He was, and remains to the time of this filing, docile and resigned B a model detainee.

 

In sum, many of the conditions Mr. Padilla experienced were inhumane and caused him great physical and psychological pain and anguish. Other deprivations experienced by Mr. Padilla, taken in isolation, are merely cruel and some, merely petty. However, it is important to recognize that all of the deprivations and assaults recounted above were employed in concert in a calculated manner to cause him maximum anguish. It is also extremely important to note that the torturous acts visited upon Mr. Padilla were done over the course almost the entire three years and seven months of his captivity in the Naval Brig. For most of one thousand three hundred and seven days, Mr. Padilla was tortured by the United States government without cause or justification. Mr. Padilla=s treatment at the hands of the United States government is shocking to even the most hardened conscience, and such outrageous conduct on the part of the government divests it of jurisdiction, under the Due Process clause of the Fifth Amendment, to prosecute Mr. Padilla in the instant matter.


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Bill Moyers Journal: Bombing Civilians + The Cost of Ignorance ...

Neocons: "Opposition To Bush Was Irrational"
Lew Rockwell - Burlingame,CA,USA
Obama will continue the time-honored tradition of abusing power followed by Clinton and
 Bush. AsCheney put it, if he isn't impeached, all of Obama's abuses ...

 

Bankers Asset Grab Around the World Will Spark Global Rioting in ...
911 Add new tag bankers bankers rule bilderberg meeting bohemian grove bush bush impeachmentcern cern black hole cern problems chaney chemical chemtrails end of world evil Federal Reserve federal reserve bank fiat currency hadron ...
News Worldwide - http://newsworldwide.wordpress.com/

 

TH - National/World Article
Tom Daschle, picked by President Barack Obama to lead his health reform efforts, recently filed amended tax returns to report $128203 in back taxes and $11964 in interest, according to a Senate
document obtained by The Associated Press. The White House acknowledged Friday that "some tax issues" had emerged in connection with the nomination, but a spokesman said the president is confident the former Senate Democratic leader will be confirmed as the new ...
TH Online RSS Feed - http://www.thonline.com/

 

2nd Cabinet nominee runs into tax troubles - Breaking News ...
... during a news conference in Chicago. Daschle recently filed amended tax returns to report $128203 in unpaid taxes and $11964 in interest, according to a Senate document obtained by The Associated Press. ... The White House acknowledged Friday that "some tax issues" had emerged in connection with Daschle's nomination, but a spokesman said the president is confident the former Senate Democratic leader will be confirmed as the new health secretary. ...
Centredaily.com: Breaking News - http://www.centredaily.com/126/index.xml

 

Obama Abandoning 'War On Terror' Catchphrase
By webmaster@huffingtonpost.com 
Surely we can find another name that doesn't reek of
 Bush and Cheney's storm trooper delusions . Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:40 PM on 01/31/2009. - + New larry278 See Profile I'm a Fan of larry278 I'm a fan of this user ...
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/feeds/verticals/politics/index.xml

 

Olbermann Has Nadler On: No Talk of Inherent Contempt, Just ...
Impeach the President: The Case Against Bush and Cheney," edited by Dennis Loo and Peter Phillips, with an introduction by Howard Zinn, a wonderfully well written collection of essays organized around a list of 12 grounds for ...
AfterDowningStreet.org - Convict... - http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/

 

Holder Expected to Win Strong Bipartisan Confirmation in Senate
CQPolitics.com - Washington,DC,USA
15 confirmation hearing, he told the Senate 
Judiciary Committee he would abide by that ruling. The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a Feb. ...

 

Fox News Is Using the Obamas to Perfect Its Racist Attacks on Black America

Very few readers are shocked to hear that Fox News hates the first family, and black people in general. Over the years, but most intensely within the last two, the Roger Ailes-controlled cesspool has unabashedly spewed, propagated and transmitted the most repugnant lies ever heard about President Barack Obama, his family and background.

Common Cause


http://www.democracycorps.com/

 

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/

 

Daily Presidential Approval Index

 

Gallup Daily: Obama Job Approval

 

Rep: Foreclosed owners should squat in their own homes

David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster

If you're poor and the bank is coming for your home, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur has a plan for you.

Just squat, she says.

Yes, this Ohio Democrat is actually encouraging her financially distressed constituents whose homes have been foreclosed upon, to simply stay put. 

In a Friday report, CNN's Drew Griffin explored the case of Ohioan Andrea Geiss, whose home was foreclosed upon in April. 

"Behind in payments, out of work, a husband sick, she had nowhere to go," said Griffin. "So, she decided to follow the advice of her Congresswoman and go nowhere."

In Lucas County, Ohio, over 4,000 properties were foreclosed upon in 2008, reports CNN. 

"So I say to the American people, you be squatters in your own homes," said Congresswoman Kaptur before the House of Representatives. "Don't you leave."

She's called on all of her foreclosed-upon constituents to stay in their homes and refuse to leave without "an attorney and a fight," said CNN.

"If they've had no legal representation of a high quality, I tell them stay in their homes," Kaptur told Griffin. 

Kaptur is a high-profile advocate of an increasingly popular mode of fighting foreclosures best known for it's key phrase: "Produce the note."

By telling a bank to "produce the note," a homeowner can delay foreclosure by forcing the lender to prove the suing institution is actually the same which owns the debt. 

"During the lending boom, most mortgages were flipped and sold to another lender or servicer or sliced up and sold to investors as securitized packages on Wall Street," 
explains the Consumer Warning Network. "In the rush to turn these over as fast as possible to make the most money, many of the new lenders did not get the proper paperwork to show they own the note and mortgage. This is the key to the produce the note strategy."

And Friday's segment on this growing foreclosure fighting "movement" was not the network's first. 
Earlier in January, CNN explored one person's strategy in demanding her bank "produce the note," only to find that the lender had "lost or destroyed" the evidence of debt ownership. Such a revelation can significantly strengthen a homeowner's position when asking to renegotiate a mortgage.

That these banks, many of which received billions of dollars in government bailout funds, continue to boot defaulted owners from their homes, makes them "vultures" says Kaptur.

"They prey on our property assets," she said. "I guess the reason I'm so adamant on this is because I know property law and its power to protect the individual homeowner. And I believe that 99.9 percent of our people have not had good legal representation in this."



This video is from CNN's 
American Morning, broadcast Jan. 30, 2009.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Rep_Foreclosed_owners_should_squat_in_0130.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

News Views And Issues Round Up By The Existential Patriot And Existential Cowboy

News Views And Issues Round Up By The Existential Patriot And Existential Cowboy

 

 

 

 

 

Stop Talking; Stop Rearranging The Deck Chairs On The Titanic; Rebuild America; Keep People In Their Homes And...



 

Stop Talking; Stop Rearranging The Deck Chairs On The Titanic; Rebuild America; Keep People In Their Homes And Send A Few Financial Criminals To Jail Along With Bush, Cheney And Friends.

 

 

Click here>>> Don’t miss this!  I took a little walk in the freezing cold this morning and put my Nikon to work under The New Woodrow Wilson Bridge to document the sort of thing we could be doing all over America to put Americans back to work rebuilding this nation, literally.  Now that is a real infra structure project!


 I Prefer Super Structure Over The Super Bowl.


"The action I am taking is no more than a radical measure to hasten the explosion of truth and justice. I have but one passion: to enlighten those who have been kept in the dark, in the name of humanity which has suffered so much and is entitled to happiness. My fiery protest is simply the cry of my very soul. Let them dare, then, to bring me before a court of law and let the enquiry take place in broad daylight!"

- Emile Zola, J'accuse! (1898) –

THE 2009 INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT CARD

2009 GRADES

Aviation

D

Bridges

C

Dams

D

Drinking Water

D-

Energy

D+

Hazardous Waste

D

Inland Waterways

D-

Levees

D-

Public Parks & Recreation

C-

Rail

C-

Roads

D-

School

D

Solid Waste

C+

Transit

D

Wastewater

D-

http://www.asce.org/reportcard/2009/index.html

Produced by the American Society of Civil Engineers

The Report Card is an assessment by professional engineers of the nation's status in 15 categories of infrastructure. In 2009, all signs point to an infrastructure that is poorly maintained, unable to meet current and future demands, and in some cases, unsafe. Since the last Report Card in 2005, the grades have not improved. ASCE estimates the nation still stands at a D average. Deteriorating conditions and inflation have added hundreds of billions to the total cost of repairs and needed upgrades. ASCE's current estimate is $2.2 trillion, up from $1.6 trillion in 2005.

 

A healthy infrastructure is the backbone of a healthy economy. In these challenging times, infrastructure is essential to reviving the nation's fortunes, and in maintaining our high quality of life.

 

  • Find out 5 Key Solutions for raising the grades.
  • Take action today! Ask your legislator to support infrastructure.
  • Watch ASCE's Report Card announcement, joined by Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell. Click here.
  • View and read a CNN report on the Report Card and its findings here.
  • See previous Report Cards.
  • Need more information? Contact ASCE.


Build America so America Works: The Petition to Build America

 

America was the first to put a man on the moon, to build a super-highway system, to create unrivaled air and rail transportation, and first-class public spaces. But today, we can no longer be assured of crossing the Mississippi River safely, of protecting our families from failing dams or levees or of providing a transportation system that works.

 

Add your voice to the petition and urge Congress to make building America a national priority.

Tell me more

 

Full Petition Text:

The United States is the nation that has achieved the most advanced engineering pursuits to benefit its people and the world. We are the first to put a man on the moon, to build a super-highway system, to create unrivaled air and rail transportation, and first-class public spaces, such as schools. But today, we can no longer be assured of crossing the Mississippi River safely, of protecting families from failing dams or levees or of providing a transportation system that works.

* Americans spend 3.5 billion hours a year stuck in traffic on our highways, which due to years of neglect now require $94 billion a year in maintenance and improvement costs alone - more than double what is currently allocated, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. If we maintain and upgrade our highway system, we can save significantly and get to work or pick up our children on time.

* At least 31 percent of our country's bridges are structurally deficient leading to tragedies such as the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis. We can prevent these kinds of tragedies by repairing our bridges.

* Approximately $30 billion is needed to renovate, repair and build new classrooms in our public schools. We can invest in future generations by taking care of our schools.

* Across America there are 3,500 unsafe dams and 50 percent of waterway locks are functionally obsolete leading to deadly breaches such as what occurred in New Orleans. We have identified problems and we have the ability to fix them so that natural disasters aren't exacerbated.

* Upgrades to the nation's electric transmission system are occurring at only a third of the rate of increased demand, according to the Consumer Energy Council of America. To increase domestic energy production by 30 percent, we can invest in traditional energy sources and biofuel refineries, wind turbines, ethanol production and clean coal technologies.

* Demand for railway shipping is expected to increase 50 percent in the next 12 years, far outstripping our nation's current rail capacity and threatening to divert rail shipping to our already congested highway system. We can free our highways by rebuilding our railways.

For the sake of America's competitive place in the world, for our economy and good jobs, in order to reverse the downward slide in our lifestyles and as an investment for future generations, I want to add my voice to that of the half-million working men and women of the Laborers' International Union of North America in urging Congress to make building America a national priority and redirect our nation's resources to doing so. 

Signed by:
[Your name] 
[Your address]

 

Stop Rearranging Deck Chairs on the Titanic and Nationalize the Damn Banks

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet

 

Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: It's the best possible course to rescue our economy at this point; all the other options would be disastrous.

 

Bloomberg is reporting today that the wealthiest 400 Americans had their incomes double during the Bush presidency.  The average for these poor souls is a measly $263,300,000 per year.  Times are hard indeed.

 

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/index.cfm

 

 

 

 

Almost $350 billion in bailout money is now in the hands of banks, but how is that money being used? No one's talking, and the banks are refusing to say how our tax dollars are being used.

 

Tell the top banking bailout recipients that we have a right to know how our money is being spent! »

 

As beneficiaries of the bailout, they have an obligation not only to help struggling homeowners, but also to use our taxpayers dollars in an open and transparent manner.

 

A little transparency is not too much to ask.Please take action today! »

 

The Take Action link: http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AE6PH/YtGl/AnGbV

 

The Existentialist Cowboy: Bush's Last Heist: the Meltdown and ...
By Len Hart 
Both retired FBI officials asserted that the
 Bush administration was thoroughly briefed on the mortgage fraud crisis and its potential to cascade out of control with devastating financial consequences, but made the decision not to give ...
The Existentialist Cowboy - http://existentialistcowboy.blogspot.com/

 

Democracy 101; a Call for InvolvementOpEdNews - Newtown,PA,USA
by DC Rapier Page 1 of 2 page(s) For some time I have been advocating bringing
 Bush, Cheney and members of their administrations to justice for what has ...

 

OpEdNews » Are We Civilized Enough to Hold Our Leaders Accountable ...
It is not necessarily
 Bush or Cheney or any one or two or three particular people, but the foul deeds that need to be investigated in an objectively meaningful and fair manner, if we are to preserve our Republic and our values and to ...
OpEdNews - OpEdNews.Com Progressive,... - http://www.opednews.com/

 

No Republicans | Democrats.com
Prosecute
 Bush & Cheney! Visit the Democratic Party ... Ten Reasons to Impeach Bush & Cheney. 64.3%. Ten Reasons to Impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney. Goal: 250000. Now: 160674 ...
Democrats.com - The Aggressive... - http://www.democrats.com/

 

Will Bush's Secret Legal Memos Be Released?

Chisun Lee, ProPublica

 

Rights and Liberties: An interactive guide to the Bush administration's classified legal opinions in the 'War on Terror' reveals how much we still don't know.

 

Greg Craig Is One Powerful White House Counsel
The Washington Independent - Washington,DC,USA
Craig was an aide to President Clinton, helping direct the team combating the 
impeachmentproceedings, and a senior State Department official during ...See all stories on this topic

 

Obama to Face Test on Executive Privilege After Rove Subpoenaed ...
Should Obama prosecute 
Bush and Cheney? Towards An Even-handed Foreign Policy in the US Congress? Rep. Dennis Kucinich leads a new trend · Countdown: Wiretapping, Torture and Rove Subpoena + Ghost Detainees ... Rove previously refused to appear before the panel, and former President Bush upheld his legal position. Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, said he would consult with President Obama’s White House counsel to determine the Obama administration’s stance. ...
Comments for Dandelion Salad - http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

Obama Signs Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
Democracy Now - New York,NY,USA
Congressmembers Dennis 
Kucinich of Ohio and Ted Poe of Texas are demanding ... Former President George W. Bush twice vetoed similar measures but President ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANOTHER TIME; ANOTHER REMINDER

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/search_results.html?q=oppenheimer&x=16&y=12

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/oppenheimer/introduction

 

 Robert Oppenheimer was brilliant, arrogant, proud, charismatic — and a national hero. Under his leadership during World War II, the United States succeeded in becoming the first nation to harness the power of nuclear energy to create the ultimate weapon of mass destruction — the atomic bomb. But after the bomb brought the war to an end, in spite of his renown and his enormous achievement, America turned on him, humiliated him, and cast him aside. The question this film asks is, “Why?”

 

“The country asked him to do something and he did it brilliantly, and they repaid him for the tremendous job he did by breaking him.” 


— Marvin L. Goldberger, Los Alamos scientist and former director, The Institute for Advanced Studies

 

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE presents The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer, featuring Academy Award-nominated actor David Strathairn (Good Night and Good LuckThe Bourne Ultimatum) as Robert Oppenheimer. From multiple Emmy Award-winning producer David Grubin (RFK,LBJAbraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided), The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimerfeatures interviews with the scientist’s former colleagues and eminent scholars to present a complex and revealing portrait of one of the most important and controversial scientists of the twentieth century. The two-hour film traces the course of Oppenheimer’s life: his rarefied childhood, his troubled adolescence, his emergence as one of America’s leading nuclear physicists, his leadership of the Los Alamos laboratory, and his tragic humiliation.


In 1939, the discovery of nuclear fission launched an international race to build the atomic bomb. In England, Germany, France, Japan, and the Soviet Union, the world’s best scientists were working covertly to create a weapon of awesome destructive power. In the United States, the man leading that race was J. Robert Oppenheimer, the atomic scientist handpicked to head up The Manhattan Project’s top-secret laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

 

America got there first. On July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb was tested in the Alamogordo desert. Less than a month later, on August 6 and 9, the United States exploded two atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, putting an end to World War II. Overnight, Robert Oppenheimer was transformed into a national hero. But his newfound fame did not relieve his personal anguish over the destructive power he had helped unleash.

 

“He was a great supporter of using the bomb. But he understood all along that he was on the cusp of a new terror,” says historian Martin J. Sherwin in the film.

 

After the war, Oppenheimer recommended putting control over atomic energy into the hands of an international agency. Appointed a key advisor to the newly created Atomic Energy Commission, a position that offered him an important voice in Washington and a top-secret security clearance, he spoke out for moderation as tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States began to escalate. He advised against the development of thehydrogen bomb, a device with unlimited destructive power, and took a stand against building nuclear powered aircraft and submarines. But to powerful Washington insiders, Oppenheimer was standing in the way of America’s ability to defend itself, and they wanted him gone.

 

He was already under a cloud of suspicion because of his connections to Communists when he was a professor at the University of California at Berkeley in the 1930s. Although Oppenheimer himself never joined the Communist party, many of those close to him had, including his wife and brother. Both Army Intelligence and the FBI considered the eminent scientist a security risk, and at Los Alamos, his phones were tapped, his office was wired, his mail was opened, and his comings and goings were closely monitored. In 1953 his past connections to Communists became a pretext to revoke his security clearance. It was the height of the Red Scare, and a group of powerful Washington insiders built a case against him. When he insisted on a hearing to regain his reputation, they made certain that he wouldn’t stand a chance.

 

“It was the worst kind of kangaroo court,” says Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes in the film.

 

Throughout the hearings, the FBI bugged Oppenheimer’s lawyers’ offices, home, and nearly everywhere he went, and delivered information, even the defense strategy, to the prosecutor bent on bringing him down. A parade of forty witnesses testified on both sides, including Edward Teller, a scientist who resented Oppenheimer from their days together at Los Alamos. Teller’s testimony would drive the final nail into Oppenheimer’s coffin. On June 29, 1954, the security board ruled two to one that although Oppenheimer was a “loyal citizen,” and was owed a “great debt of gratitude” for his magnificent service, his security clearance should be permanently revoked.

 

“The Oppenheimer hearings had a tremendous impact on the nuclear arms race,” says Mark Samels, executive producer of AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. “Once Robert Oppenheimer’s voice of moderation was silenced, the U.S. began building an arsenal of tens of thousands of nuclear weapons, and the Soviet Union followed suit. The result was a standoff between the world’s two largest superpowers that lasted for nearly fifty years.”

 

“There are so many ways to look at the Oppenheimer story,” Grubin says. “For me, the idea that the loyalty of one of our most distinguished scientists could be called into question and the rules of justice set aside, all justified because we were in a war against Communism, is a tragic reminder of how staunchly we must protect our freedoms, especially in perilous times.”

 

 

 

 

 

 Tune  In The Rachel Maddow Show

 

 Wrapping Up The News

 

DHS’s first-ever evaluation of mass-transit security shows that more than 75 percent of the nation’s major rail and bus systems aren’t meeting voluntary guidelines, USA Today’s Thomas Frank recounts. Flamboyant Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio’s planto transport prisoners to jail via Metro light rail — accompanied by two armed deputies — is arousing predictable security concerns, The Arizona Republic’s Tyler Lockman reports.

 

Homies: The Washington Post’s Spencer Hsu details the rough jockeying over who gets to run FEMA under the new order — while AP’s Eileen Sullivan has DHS’s Janet Napolitano saying that if you’re a criminal and you’re not entitled to be here, she wants you out of the country. Gearing up to fill 11,000 positions, the CBP is sponsoring 15 job fairs across the country tomorrow, The Seattle Times’ Jack Broom relates. After four years at Louisville’s airport as a CBP sniffer dog, Manny, a “hard working” black lab, got his gold watch this week, The Imperial Valley News notes — while The Yuma (Ariz.) Sun has a CBP officer and his wife being charged with bribery in a scheme to pass more than 600,000 fake Ecstasy pills. Havingheld them since Jan. 12, ICE has allowed a Palestinian high school track captain and his mother to return to their Alabama home, The Shelby County Reporter’s Chris Megginson recounts.

 

Feds: Major contributors say they were surprised to find what they viewed as porous security surrounding President Obama the day of his swearing in, the Post’s Aaron C. Davis relates. A military judge yesterday denied an administration request to delay proceedings against a USS Cole bombing plotter, the Post’s Peter Finn also reports. The White House has tapped Clinton-era arms negotiator Gary Samore as its new WMD control czarFOX News’ Judith Miller learns — and see ABC News’ Jake Tapper. (Richard E. Besser, who formerly directed terror preparedness at the CDC, has been named its acting director, CIDRAP says.) While phasing out Guantanamo, lawmakers “will probably be looking at a rehabilitation program in Saudi Arabia that focuses on religious re-education for captured jihadists,” CNN’s Nic Robertson notes.

 

First Hundred Days: The ACLU hopes “a kinder, gentler Obama administration” will disclose secret documents related to Bush-era torture and warrantless surveillance, Threat Level’s David Kravets recounts — and check Pro Publica. The chances of harsh interrogation advocate John Yoo facing a war crimes investigation are increasing, The East Bay Express’ Robert Gammon relates — while Politico’s Josh Gerstein says Obama’s lawyers will be defending Yoo. “Obama’s next step . . . should be ending use of the propaganda terms, ‘terrorism,’ and ‘war on terror,’” The Edmonton Sun’s Eric Margolis asserts. “In his first White House televised interview President Obama buried the lead: The war on terror is over,” The New York Times’ Roger Cohen leads.


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