GOP's UNBALANCED BUDGET HAIRCUT

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It’s grand Kabuki theater in Washington, DC these days with both parties politically posturing, our Appeaser in Chief President straddling the middle and everyone ignoring the two elephants in the room ~ tax cuts for the rich and out of control defense expenditures: Allen L Roland

In yet another last minute agreement ~ the Democrats and their appeaser in chief President Obama gave the Republicans more than they asked and averted a government shut down for a week. This most recent budget deal gives Republicans more in spending cuts than House Speaker John Boehner had asked for while funding for Planned Parenthood and women’s health issues were spared ~ but major questions remain in this Kabuki dance of political posturing.

The real question about our unending unbalanced budget is Can it go on forever and the answer is obviously NO ~ but both parties continue to kick this political can versus face the reality that the Government cannot continue to spend more than it makes indefinitely.

Fortunately there are some clear minds trying to answer this question as revealed on the Dylan Ratigan show where Dylan interviews Karl Denninger. Denninger was the original voice of the Tea Party before it morphed into its present confused state. Denninger confirms that this budget debacle can’t go on forever and that the Government covered up a normal 15% economic contraction in 2007 and 2008 with bailouts and is now facing the reality of a 30% contraction if something isn’t done relatively soon. Six minute Video ~ http://www.realecontv.com/videos/us/q-can-this-go-on-forever.html

Both Ratigan and Denninger agree that there are honest voices out there like Ron Paul, Tom Coburn and Bernie Sanders who could form a Coalition of the Willing to approach this problem in a non partisan manner. Here’s an excerpt from a recent Coburn editorial ~ “Congress and the White House are ignoring many blatant warning signs. Just last month Pimco, the world’s largest bond mutual fund, sold all its holdings of U.S. Treasury bills, the financial tools that allow us to pay Social Security benefits and fund our military. Bill Gross, who runs Pimco, sent a clear signal to investors that he expects rates on our Treasury bills to go up and prices to go down. Gross also expressed concern that the Federal Reserve, as part of its money-printing program, had bought 70 percent of all Treasury bills. When the government becomes the best customer of its own debt that’s called a Ponzi scheme, and it is only a matter of time before interest rates skyrocket. Any increase in interest rates when we are running massive deficits puts us in a deeper hole. In 2011, interest payments to service our debt are expected to reach $225 billion. If interest rates return to their historic average of 6 percent, interest payments will more than double, if not triple. Even if rates stay reasonably low, the interest-payment trap is dreadful. By 2022, tax revenue will cover only the cost of Medicare, Social Security and interest payments on the national debt. Everything else, including our defense budget, will be paid for with borrowed money, including money borrowed from potential adversaries adversaries. “ http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/editorialsopinions

Both Ratigan and Denninger also agree that we must stop corporate handouts or welfare, address an unrealistic tax code and deal with out of control defense expenditures ~ where half of all defense spending goes to defend access to foreign oil.

Coburn correctly summarizes our economic plight in terms of the upcoming vote on the debt limit “ The best catalyst for forcing Congress to tackle our debt crisis will be the upcoming vote to raise the debt limit. We can either appease like Chamberlain or prepare like Churchill. Appeasement means avoiding the real issue and pandering to the debt-dodgers and dogmatists in both parties who define purity not on the basis of principle but partisanship and power. I’ve confronted the phony purists on my side and need partners on the left to confront the same on theirs. We will never address these challenges without putting everything on the table and making choices that may end careers. Of my Republicans friends I would ask: What good is a Republican Party without a republic? And of my Democrat friends: What good is your commitment to the poor without an economy to sustain your commitments?”

Representative Paul Ryan’s unbalanced budget haircut is a non-starter but it has indeed brought some important budget issues and questions to the table. My favorite question is how can we justify expanding and protecting Bush era tax cuts for the rich while protecting and expanding defense spending for two illegal and unnecessary wars and occupations?

It would be very helpful if our President was both asking and answering this same question ~ instead of gearing up for his re-election campaign.

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/gops-unbalanced-budget-haircut.html

About the Author: Allen L Roland is a Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist. Allen is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations. Dr. Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website www.allenroland.com . He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

OBAMA / THE BILLION DOLLAR CANDIDATE WITH NO HALO OR BASE

President Obama will become the first Billion dollar candidate running on a Platform of Corporate Welfare You Can Believe In ~ but the hard reality is he has no halo, no base and a raft of broken promises which no amount of money can cover up: Allen L Roland

Having run over and all but dismissed his progressive base, which elected him in 2008, an increasingly arrogant President Obama has consummated his marriage with his new base ~ Wall Street and the global financial elite ~ and has announced his re-election with e-mails and text messages to his supposedly loyal supporters. Obviously, this would allow him to start campaigning and tap into potentially a billion dollar war chest from big money corporate donations he has often criticized in the past.

Obama will inevitably lose many of the individual donors who backed him four years ago, said Anthony Corrado, a professor of government at Colby College and expert on campaign fundraising."That's something that we're not going to see this time around, that level of excitement about the Obama candidacy that we saw last time, from people who are not traditional donors or traditional Democratic primary voters," he said.

As a former Obama supporter I received his email message and two minute video http://www.barackobama.com/ which announced “President Obama’s campaign is just kicking off ~ We're opening up offices, unpacking boxes, and starting a conversation with supporters like you to help shape our path to victory. 2012 begins now, and this is where you say you're in.”

And this is where I am proud to say, along with millions of disappointed Americans who drank the Obama Kool Aid of broken promises that I’m Out and will actively work to not only promote an alternative progressive Democrat or Independent candidate in the Presidential primaries but will also actively work against Obama’s re-election.

Obama has no idea that the millions of volunteers, which included me, who supported his first run for office in 2008 were energized by the desire for true change and saw Obama as an agent for that fiercely desired change from the Bush/Cheney decade of sleeze and ineptitude. It was an organic home grown movement that began in 2007 and continued to gather momentum through the campaign but that coalition of African Americans, Latinos, young people, women, college educated white voters, Seniors and progressives atrophied when it realized that the change they voted for rapidly became the status quo or Bush lite. Campaign promise after campaign promise was broken by Obama who arrogantly dismissed his progressive base and revealed that his true allegiance had always been with Wall Street and Main Street be damned.

It was a betrayal that his progressive base and Main Street will never forget but Obama still is seemingly basking under a non-existent halo of change we can believe in ~ while the hard reality is he is a billion dollar candidate running on a platform of corporate welfare you can believe in.

A new IBOPE Zogby Survey finds a majority of likely voters are ready for someone new in the White House, as just 38% say Obama deserves to be re-elected and 55% say it is time for someone new. The poll of 2,125 voters was conducted from April 1-4, 2111. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27835.htm

For the last time, Barack ~ it’s not a halo you’re wearing and that hard reality along with your broken promises and non-existent base will soon become obvious to you and your corporate minders.

A recent Rasmussen Poll confirms that persistent anger from an increasingly economically oppressed and frustrated electorate ~ On energy policy, a topic with significant economic implications, just 38% believe the president is doing a good or an excellent job. With gas prices rising dramatically, opposition to his continuing ban on oil drilling off the Eastern seaboard and in the eastern portion of the Gulf of Mexico is up to 55%. As for the president's signature initiative, a majority of voters have consistently favored repeal of the health care law since it was passed by Democrats in Congress over a year ago. Not only has the president’s agenda to date done little to move the economy, but after two years of unpopular bailouts, stimulus proposals and the national health care plan, 69% of Likely U.S. Voters remain at least somewhat angry with the current policies of the federal government. That figure has run as high as 75% since September 2009.”

Jon Stewart hilariously and rightfully lampoons Obama’s re-election announcement in this 4 minute video ~ Jon Stewart on Obama 2012 Campaign: "How Did We Go From 'Yes We Can' to 'Ya Know, Whatever'?"

Stewart mocks the "stunning" news that President Obama will run for reelection in 2012 and critiques Obama's first campaign video. "Those were the best people you could come up with for your opening campaign video? They're all exhausted," Stewart joked. "How did we go from 'Yes we can' to 'Ya know, whatever'?"

Obama’s broken campaign promises are almost endless ( Google Obama’s broken promises ) but the sheer political hypocrisy and arrogance of these betrayals is accurately captured by this one ~ HEALTH-CARE NEGOTIATIONS ON C-SPAN

OBAMA STATEMENT: “These negotiations will be on C-SPAN, and so the public will be part of the conversation and will see the decisions that are being made.” January 20, 2008, and seven other times.

EXPIRATION DATE: Throughout the summer, fall, and winter of 2009 and 2010; when John McCain asked about it during the health-care summit February 26, Obama dismissed the issue by declaring, “the campaign is over, John.”

Obama is ripe for a primary challenge which is why he has announced his candidacy early in hopes of scaring away a serious challenger ~ but he underestimates the anger of his largely ignored former base. Michael Moore sums up these feelings in his comments delivered and relayed at yesterday’s “ We Are One” rally at the state capitol in Honolulu ~ “ I want to thank you for turning out today to make your voices heard ~ and they ARE heard, even across ocean and land. Today, hundreds of thousands of Americans are joining with you to honor Dr. King by standing up for working people all over America. It was what he was doing in Memphis when he was killed 43 years ago today, supporting sanitation workers on strike. Today everywhere is Memphis, and it's not just sanitation workers being attacked. It's teachers and firefighters and social workers -- yes, all those greedy public workers who caused the Great Recession we are in! No, my friends, it wasn't! It was the top 1% of the country who did this. THEY brought on the mortgage crisis. THEY made off with billions of dollars from our economy. THEY have systematically destroyed the middle class. And THEY have bought and sold the very people elected to represent us!
America is not broke! It's just that the wealthy have absconded with the money! They've removed it from circulation and left us begging for school supplies and fire trucks and libraries. Even the Wall Street Journal admits that the uber-rich are currently just sitting on almost $2 trillion of cash. They're not creating jobs with it. They're not re-circulating it. They're just hanging on to it hoping to make more money off it by continuing their casino games in the stock market, the derivatives market, the credit default swaps market and any other crazy scheme they can invent. This has to stop. But it won't stop unless we make it stop. 400 wealthy Americans now have more wealth than 150 million Americans COMBINED! But what they don't have is the right to vote 150 million times. They only have 400 votes! Are we going to allow 400 bullies destroy the lives and livelihoods of 150 million of our fellow Americans? The time to act is now!” READ MORE

Every seat in the House will be up for grabs again in 2012, as well as one-third of the seats in the Senate. The time to act is now and begins by insisting that we have a presidential candidate, Representatives and Senators who truly represent the people and will deliver on their promises ~ regardless of their party affiliation. That Presidential Candidate is not Barack Obama for I predict a successful primary challenge from someone on his left ~ someone like Russ Feingold.

The only Republican I would vote for now for President, without hesitation, is Ron Paul.

“We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both” : Louis Brandeis
Supreme Court Justice,1916-1939

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/obama-billion-dollar-candidate-with-no.html

About the Author: Allen L Roland is a Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist. Allen is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations. Dr. Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website www.allenroland.com . He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.ne

A FEARLESS WISCONSIN TRUTH TELLER / KEVIN BARRETT

Dr Kevin Barrett is a voice of truth in a sea of deceit and his lonely battle with the University of Wisconsin represents the universal battle of the truth against the embedded forces of political power and hypocrisy: Allen L Roland

Dr Kevin Barrett is a truth seeker as well as a 9/11 Truther ~ and is also a highly regarded instructor of Islamic Studies at the University of Wisconsin. There is a famous plaque at Bascom Hall, University of Wisconsin, which reads:

"Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere, we believe that the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found."

It is these inspiring words which are apparently being ignored by the University of Wisconsin ~ when a right wing political opportunist, Wisconsin Assemblyman Steven Nass (R), assailed the credentials of Dr. Kevin Barrett and called for his removal from the University. Dr. Barrett's political views on 9/11 were the focus of this personal attack and ensuing media attention, which featured mischaracterization of his actual course curriculum. In spite of being a highly qualified and competent instructor, he was refused re-hire and apparently blacklisted with no debate. Not one academic from the U.W. accepted the History Club's request to debate Dr. Barrett. Lost in this debacle was the concern for truth and academic freedom necessary for the survival of a healthy democracy and in particular this University.

It is Dr Barrett’s strong assertion, along with myself and millions of Americans, that after nearly a decade of reviewing all publicly available forensics evidence, 1450 Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth are formally questioning the government's official story about what destroyed the three high rises at the World Trade Center on 9/11, and calling for a new, independent investigation. Their concerns are based on strong evidence for explosive controlled demolition of the buildings. These brave people, whose love of country is greater than their fear of ridicule, risk their reputations, their jobs, and their livelihoods in attempting to bring this evidence to light.

Kevin Barrett is one of these millions of Americans who do not buy the 9/11 official story and has issued an urgent plea, in an open letter to the University of Wisconsin, to research and debate these issues ~ asking the faculty and students to attend the presentation by architect Richard Gage on April 7th to see evidence which has been generally ignored by mainstream sources.

It is this type of individual action and dissent that identifies true patriots and keeps Democracy alive and relevant or as Lewis H Lapman once wrote "Dissent is what rescues democracy from a quiet death behind closed doors."

And it was William Allen White who wrote ~ "If our colleges and universities do not breed men who riot, who rebel, who attack life with all the youthful vision and vigor, then there is something wrong with our colleges. The more riots that come out of our college campuses, the better the world for tomorrow."

The University of Wisconsin would be advised to live up the words on its famous plaque and let Dr Kevin Barrett share his views on 9/11 or bow to political power and hypocrisy and throw away the plaque as well its own cherished reputation.

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/fearless-wisconsin-truth-teller-kevin.html

About the Author: Allen L Roland is a Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist. Allen is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations. Dr. Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website www.allenroland.com . He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

VETERANS RESPOND POSITIVELY TO HEART CENTERED APPROACH

The clinical documentation of the healing The Wounded Heart Workshop for combat veterans with PTSD has been completed for Band Of Brothers #5 and the average improvement for PTSD symptoms before and after the workshop was 58% ~ with a 70% improvement in dealing with anger issues and feelings of inner peace and 75% improvement in feeling joy: Allen L Roland

I have long felt and have now proved that PTSD is really Post Traumatic Heart Disorder for a common symptom of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is the inability to give or receive love ~ which can obviously apply to non veterans who have also suffered significant loss or emotional childhood and/or adult pain.

I have demonstrated that only after the heart is opened can true self healing occur for only then does the client (veterans or otherwise) truly want to heal. Using the premise that what is deepest within us is love ( not anger ) and utilizing an action oriented approach to face and go through their fears ~ my clients, including veterans, soon discover that beneath their pain, anger and shame is not only love and joy but most importantly their true authentic self.

The purpose then of the Healing the Wounded Heart Workshops is to penetrate the grey zone of guilt, aloneness and unworthiness, that many War Veterans diagnosed with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) experience, and this is done within a supportive group setting through heart centered self exploration, group sharing, guided visualization and action oriented homework ~ where love and joy eventually overcome fear and separation.

Using Band of Brothers #5 as an example ~ 21 PTSD symptoms were included on the survey and the veterans were asked to rate their level on the 1-10 scale ( with 1 being “ Very Poor “ and 10 being “ No Problem” for each of the conditions Before and After the workshop. Here are the results ~

Symptoms After workshop Improvements

Sleep Problem 67%

Nightmares 62%

Trouble breathing 15%

Avoidance 63%

Isolation 69%

Emotional Numbing 74%

Irritability/Anger 70%

Anxiety 53%

Depression 65%

Suicidal Ideations 41%

Intrusive Memories 58%

Super alert issues 58%

Concentration issues 55%

Energy 57%

Feeling Joy 75%

Fear of intimacy 63%

Physical pain 36%

Emotional pain 65%

Love 59%

Peace 69%

Compassion 41%

The figures speak for themselves but the one that leaps out at me is the same one I see with my individual clients ~ and that is the 75% improvement in Joy for these veterans who have not only survived the ultimate firefight of battling fear on the journey to their heart but are now experiencing the delight of not only being themselves but the joy that they are truly healing themselves.

Here are two participants comments from their evaluation* "I have progressed farther in the workshop’s 8 weeks than I have in 25 years of on-and off private therapy. I've been given a very informative look at myself. I understand much more about my own experiences. So many answers to so many questions. I feel alive! Gaining a different perspective on life helps me to see my true self. It's nice to feel love and a sense of self-worth"

"My quick temper and bouts with anger are gone. My dreams are no longer violent and I have not flown out of bed since the workshop. I am able to fall asleep and remain asleep. My relationships with my wife and family have improved immensely. The comradeship that grew with the other participants was wonderful. I feel very strongly that the “ Healing The wounded Heart “ workshop should be added to the VA’s inventory of most effective tools used in re-adjustment counseling to combat the life destroying effects of PTSD.”

* Contact me for full final evaluation.

There can be no more excuses for the VA ( which moves slower than a glacier ) to not fund a heart centered approach to working with Veterans with PTSD which is now being privately funded by a Veteran support foundation, legion Posts such as Jack London Post 489 in Sonoma, California and local Vietnam support groups like VVA Chapter 702 in Napa, California.

If combat veterans are responding positively to these once a week eight week action oriented heart centered workshops ~ it’s time for the VA to open the door to alternative healing methodologies which the rest of the country is already acknowledging, supporting and experiencing.

As Rumi wrote ~ It is love that holds everything together, and it also the everything ~ and without it we cannot fully heal as these veterans would most assuredly attest.

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/veterans-respond-positively-to-heart.html

About the Author: Allen L Roland is a Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist. Allen is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations. Dr. Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website www.allenroland.com . He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

LIBYA ATTACK IS A SHOW OF FARCE

Obama’s show of force in Libya is actually a show of farce whereas no one seems to know whose in charge, what’s the mission and just what is the strategy ~ which leaves only two possible answers for this Abbott and Costello routine ~ Regime Change and Politics: Allen L Roland

Let’s get something straight ~ The United State’s recent preemptive attack on Libya, while flying the flag of NATO, is all about Regime Change under the guise of a Humanitarian intervention. Certainly there was no real attempt to negotiate with Gaddafi ~ like Iraq, the decision was made to attack and events were tailored to justify this action. This is the ongoing formula for western imperialistic change you can believe in ~ particularly if the natives are getting restless.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced on Thursday that the U.S. will turn over command of the no-fly zone but will retain control of the ground attacks. Since there is no effective Libya air force ~ that means that the U.S. is still in charge and most likely is already in the process of providing advisors for the Libya ground rebel forces. NATO’s normal command procedure is to have a U.S. officer in charge and that still appears to be the case. President Obama has already said he wants Gadhafi gone so the whole question of whose in charge is mute ~ Obama is in charge but he doesn’t want to advertise that truth since he does not have Congressional approval and he most certainly does not have a mandate for regime change from the UN.

Obama is already teetering on a tight rope of obvious hypocrisy but he has taken a dramatic politically revealing step, with this decision, of being the titular voice of the New World order which could care less about American congressional approval and uses the UN and NATO to justify its illegal preemptive and self serving military and financial imperialistic interventions.

During the first four days of this imperialist assault, more than 160 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from U.S. and British naval vessels in the Mediterranean, and more than 150 sorties were flown by U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bombers, F-15 fighter jets, Marine Harrier jets, as well as French and British warplanes.

Please take note of what has been unleashed by our Nobel Laureate Peace prize winner president Obama when he attacked Libya ~ courtesy of David Watson, Stop The War Coalition~ “ In the first 24 hours of the Libyan attack, US B-2s dropped forty-five 2,000-pound bombs. These massive bombs, along with the Cruise missiles launched from British and French planes and ships, all contained depleted uranium (DU) warheads. DU is the waste product from the process of enriching uranium ore. It is used in nuclear weapons and reactors. Because it is a very heavy substance, 1.7 times denser than lead, it is highly valued by the military for its ability to punch through armored vehicles and buildings … An impacting DU missile burns at 10,000 degrees C. When it strikes a target, 30% fragments into shrapnel. The remaining 70% vaporizes into three highly-toxic oxides, including uranium oxide. This black dust remains suspended in the air and, according to wind and weather, can travel over great distances. If you think Iraq and Libya are far away, remember that radiation from Chernobyl reached Wales…Once the dust has vaporized, don't expect the problem to go away soon. As an alpha particle emitter, DU has a half life of 4.5 billion years… In the 'shock and awe' attack on Iraq, more than 1,500 bombs and missiles were dropped on Baghdad alone. Seymour Hersh has claimed that the US Third Marine Aircraft Wing alone dropped more than "five hundred thousand tons of ordnance". All of it DU-tipped “.

President Obama obviously does not want to take responsible for this radioactive carnage so we have a NATO cover for an illegal regime change under the guise of humanitarian crisis and intervention. But the NATO shield appears to be fragmenting before our eyes ~ On March 23rd; The Daily Mail revealed Deep divisions between allied forces worsened as the German military announced it was pulling forces out of NATO over continued disagreement on who will lead the campaign. A German military spokesman said it was recalling two frigates and AWACS surveillance plane crews from the Mediterranean, after fears they would be drawn into the conflict if NATO takes over control from the U.S. A war of words erupted between the U.S. and Britain after the U.K. government claimed Muammar Gaddafi is a legitimate target for assassination. U.K. government officials said killing the Libyan leader would be legal if it prevented civilian deaths as laid out in a U.N. resolution. But U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates hit back at the suggestion, saying it would be 'unwise' to target the Libyan leader adding cryptically that the bombing campaign should stick to the 'U.N. mandate'. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1368693/Libya-war-Germans-pull-forces-NATO-Libyan-coalition-falls-apart.html#ixzz1Hfl9L6AS

The politics are obvious ~ Obama does not want to appear politically weak during a re-election bid and what better method than another preemptive war to stir the patriots and keep his military-Industrial funding complex happy ~ and all under the banner of a humanitarian intervention.

Bob Herbert, retiring NY Times columnist, adds his frustration with these words ~ “So here we are pouring shiploads of cash into yet another war, this time in Libya, while simultaneously demolishing school budgets, closing libraries, laying off teachers and police officers, and generally letting the bottom fall out of the quality of life here at home…Arthur Miller, echoing the poet Archibald MacLeish, liked to say that the essence of America was its promises. That was a long time ago. Limitless greed, unrestrained corporate power and a ferocious addiction to foreign oil have led us to an era of perpetual war and economic decline. Young people today are staring at a future in which they will be less well off than their elders, a reversal of fortune that should send a shudder through everyone.” http://www.readersupportednews.org/off-site-opinion-section/83-83/5416-losing-our-way

Gerald Celente sums up this Libya show of farce with this short video interview where he asks the pertinent question ~ Would the United States be involved with Iraq and now Libya if its principle export product was broccoli? Instead of Libya’s sweetest and most inexpensive crude oil? Six minute video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0wNjm4nJOs

If you’re not angry, you’re on life support.

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/libya-attack-is-show-of-farce.html

About the Author: Allen L Roland is a Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist. Allen is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations. Dr. Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website www.allenroland.com . He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

ATTACK ON LIBYA / ANOTHER OBAMA BROKEN PROMISE

On December 7, 2007 Barack Obama said "The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation” ~ another broken promise thrown into the trash can of history as President Obama orchestrates regime change in Libya under the guise of humanitarian intervention: Allen L Roland

Robert Greenwald, Reader Supported News, nails our current illegal pre-emptive action in Libya perfectly ~ “ President Obama's decision to participate in the strikes in Libya has already cost US taxpayers "well over $100 million," according to the National Journal. The Journal also relayed that, "the initial stages of taking out Libya's air defenses could ultimately cost ... coalition forces between $400 million and $800 million." The administration launched this new war (and yes, it is a war) with no official congressional authorization, little public debate and with a vague, possibly even non-existent, endgame in mind. It's as if the lessons of the last decade are completely lost on policymakers in the United States.” http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/289-134/5364-day-one-obama-drops-100-million-dollars-on-libya

It was Oscar Wilde who once said that "the true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity" and President Obama has become the master of hypocrisy who not only lies with sincerity but obviously chooses not to perceive his massive deceptions. Nobel Peace Laureate Obama has not only become Bush light but has now slid to the dark side and become Cheney light by endorsing the failed Cheney/Bush neo con imperialistic agenda which now flies under the Obama banner of humanitarian intervention. But what we really have here is Regime change under the guise of humanitarian intervention.

Make no mistake about this, imposing a No-Fly zone in Libya is an act of war entailing sustained military action as we are already witnessing. So now we have an illegal war and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan joined to an illegal war and most probably an eventual occupation of Libya ~ where an impatient and greedy BP is already getting ready to drill for oil off the Libya coast.

But not everyone is drinking the Obama kool aid ~ CLG reports that a hard-core group of liberal House Democrats is questioning the constitutionality of U.S. missile strikes against Libya, with one lawmaker raising the prospect of impeachment during a Democratic Caucus conference call on Saturday. Reps. Jerrold Nadler (NY), Donna Edwards (MD), Mike Capuano (MA), Dennis Kucinich (OH), Maxine Waters (CA), Rob Andrews (NJ), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX), Barbara Lee (CA) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC) "all strongly raised objections to the constitutionality of the president's actions" during that call, said two Democratic lawmakers who took part.

Former progressive Congressman Alan Grayson rightfully calls it A Tactic in Search of a Strategy and writes ~ “But a no-fly zone? In the case of Libya, that’s a tactic in search of a strategy. The Yiddish word for it is “shmei,” roughly translated as aimless strolling around. A no-fly zone is basically just looking like you’re doing something to remove Gaddafi, at the cost of $60 million in a day (which was the cost of the first day’s worth of cruise missiles launched).The last time we tried this, in Iraq, we had to sustain it for 12 years. At enormous effort and expense. And it didn’t bring down Saddam at all. More fundamentally, a no-fly zone in Libya feeds the dangerous fantasy that every problem has a military solution. That the answer to the use of force is the use of more force. That if a hammer doesn’t drive that nail in, try a howitzer.”

Mathew Rothschild, The progressive, calls Obama’s Libya War Unconstitutional, Naïve and Hypocritical and writes “Our founders would be appalled that a President of the United States could launch the country into an armed conflict half a world away without a formal declaration of war by Congress, much less barely any discussion of it by the House or by the Senate….There is no consistent humanitarian standard for Obama’s war against Libya. None whatsoever. Obama has now pushed the United States to a place where we are now engaged in three wars simultaneously. He’s a man, and we’re a country, that has gone crazy on war.'' Read article ~ http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/21-8

And lastly we have our straight talking Congressman, and soon to be Presidential candidate, Ron Paul telling the truth about our latest affront to the constitution and asking the pertinent question of why are we spending over one trillion dollars a year to maintain a fading empire which still relies on military force versus cooperation to impose its will and values? Five minute video ~ http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/1060.html

Unfortunately, the successful hypocrite and their ignorant audience often go hand in hand. The only one who doesn’t get hurt in these continuing and costly misadventures is the Military Industrial Complex as Robert Greenwald reminds us ~ “ But hey, just remember the silver lining: Every time a Tomahawk cruise missile blows up a building in Libya (and everyone inside it), war-profiteer Raytheon makes $1.5 million.”

Or watch Jon Stewart appropriately reveal America's ongoing hypocrisy in the Middle East ~ See Video http://www.mediaite.com/tv/jon-stewart-pitches-us-hypocrisy-in-freedom-packages-infomercial/

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/attack-on-libya-another-obama-broken.html

About the Author: Allen L Roland is a Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist. Allen is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations. Dr. Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website www.allenroland.com . He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net