The irony should not be lost on us that our congressional district is represented by Ron DeSantis, the sort of fanatic who had no trouble advertising his brief service in Guantanamo’s kangaroo courts as a badge of honor while leaving silent his employment with a more legitimate Florida corporate law firm. With political charlatans like that in Congress, it’s no wonder Guantanamo endures.
barack obama
Obama’s Free Press Problem: Why Reporters in the U.S. Now Need Protection
The Obama administration has made the most concerted effort since the Nixon years to intimidate officials from talking to a reporter. Paul Steiger, Paul Steiger recipient of this year’s the Burton Benjamin Memorial award from the Committee to Protect Journalists, argues for a response.
1963’s Familiar Bloodstains: Far Right Politics from JFK to Barack Obama
John F. Kennedy was called treasonous and was the target of a relentless far-right campaign to vilify and demolish his presidency by demagogues and media barons whose ideological descendants have unleashed the same tactics on Barack Obama, writes Steve Robinson.
Favoring Defense Industry Over Human Rights, Obama Loosens Restrictions on Arms Exports
The United States is loosening controls over military exports, in a shift that former U.S. officials and human rights advocates say could increase the flow of American-made military parts to the world’s conflicts and make it harder to enforce arms sanctions. In 2011, the U.S. concluded $66 billion in arms sales agreements, nearly 80 percent of the global market.
Loretta Lynn, Just Named Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient, at Peabody on Sept. 13
Last month President Obama named Loretta Lynn, alongside Gloria Steinem and Bill Clinton, among others, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. The 81-year-old country star will be at Daytona Beach’s Peabody Auditorium for one show on Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Unemployment Falls Slightly, Job Rolls Grow Slightly, Austerity’s Anemia Persists
There’s nothing terribly bad about the July unemployment report, released this morning. There’s nothing terribly good about it, either: the economy added just 162,000 jobs, and the 7.4 percent unemployment rate is the lowest since December 2008, but improvements are at a crawl.
Obama in Jacksonville Thursday in Economy Tour as GOP Ridicules Visit
President Barack Obama plans an appearance Thursday in Jacksonville to talk about economic issues, and the Republican Party of Florida has already launched a counter-attack.
Obama on Stand Your Ground and Zimmerman Aftermath: “Trayvon Martin Could Have Been Me 35 Years Ago”
As protests have continued and grown, President Obama Friday afternoon spoke on the stand your ground law, the Zimmerman trial aftermath, Trayvon Martin and race more expansively and in more personal terms than he had since his speech on race from Philadelphia as a presidential candidate in 2008. The full text and video are included.
The Undoing of Barack Obama
President Barack Obama is no longer on a roll. We have become a laughingstock in the international community, writes Donald Kaul, obstructionist House Republicans are treating the immigration bill as their favorite hostage, and many more landmines await.
President Barack Aux Scandals
The Benghazi story is a bogus scandal. IRS targeting of conservative groups and the Justice Department’s hacking of reporters’ phones is not. The Obama presidency is getting derailed, and that’s without going down the path of even more serious scandals Washington and the electorate are accepting as business as usual.