Liberty Links – 12/8/15

Below are links to some of the more interesting and important reads I came across today, but will not be publishing on in detail. This post will be updated with new links throughout the day. The Liberal Case for Allowing Suspected Terrorists to Buy Guns (Must read of the day, New York Magazine) Justice Dept. Sued Over Deleted Clinton Emails (Washington Examiner) … Read more

Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton on Freedom of Speech – A Side By Side Comparison

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In effect, he believes that he is running to be the CEO of the country — not just of the government but of the entire country. In this capacity, he believes that he will make deals with other countries that cause the U.S. to come out on top, whatever that could mean. He conjures up visions of himself or one of his associates sitting across the table from some Indian or Chinese leader and making wild demands that they will buy such and such amount of product else “we” won’t buy their product.

What’s distinct about Trumpism, and the tradition of thought it represents, is that it is non-leftist in its cultural and political outlook and yet still totalitarian in the sense that it seeks total control of society and economy and places no limits on state power. The left has long waged war on bourgeois institutions like family, church, and property. In contrast, right fascism has made its peace with all three. It (very wisely) seeks political strategies that call on the organic matter of the social structure and inspire masses of people to rally around the nation as a personified ideal in history, under the leadership of a great and highly accomplished man.

Trump believes himself to be that man.

He sounds fresh, exciting, even thrilling, like a man with a plan and a complete disregard for the existing establishment and all its weakness and corruption. This is how strongmen take over countries. They say some true things, boldly, and conjure up visions of national greatness under their leadership. They’ve got the flags, the music, the hype, the hysteria, the resources, and they work to extract that thing in many people that seeks heroes and momentous struggles in which they can prove their greatness.

– From Jeffrey Tucker’s brilliant article: Trumpism: The Ideology

If you want to support Donald Trump go right ahead. Just be honest with yourself about who and what you are really supporting.

Angering the corrupt and incompetent status quo with hateful commentary demonizing minorities does not make you a lover of freedom and liberty. Indeed, as Jeffrey Tucker so accurately noted earlier this year, Trump isn’t about restoring America’s heritage. He’s about “Making America Great Again.”

So what does that mean exactly? If you listen to him, it’s pretty straight forward. “Making America Great Again” means putting someone “great” in charge of America, and Trump thinks he has discovered such greatness in himself. It has nothing to do with going back to what actually made America great for a couple of centuries, which is America’s founding principles. No, such talk is for egghead intellectuals who won’t defend America from the barbarian hordes stampeding at our doorstep. Trump, on the other hand, promises to protect you like that powerful billionaire daddy you never had. Some sacrifices will need to be made of course, such as the outdated and increasingly irrelevant Bill of Rights, but they’re kind of gone anyway, right?

If you support Trump, you are consciously or unconsciously turning your back on everything that actually did make American great. He will be no different than George W. Bush, Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton when it comes to the U.S. Constitution. He loathes it for the same reason they did and do; it restrains their dictatorial abilities as President. The only difference, is that Trump will convince his supporters to ignore that inconvenient truth, because as he destroys civil liberties with one hand, he will use his increased power to abuse helpless minorities with the other. The “red meat” that he will throw to his supporters will consist of going after the weakest and most vulnerable segments of the U.S. population (Mexicans, Muslims), while leaving the rich and powerful elite criminals untouched (Wall Street, the military-industrial complex). As I noted yesterday on Twitter:

If you still don’t get how anti-Constitution and disdainful of liberty Donald Trump truly is, let’s take a look a portion from one of his speeches yesterday.

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Liberty Links – 12/7/15

Below are links to some of the more interesting and important reads I came across today, but will not be publishing on in detail.

This post will be updated with new links throughout the day.

Shameless Government Propaganda Being Published by the Associated Press (EmptyWheel)

Talking Productively About Guns (My must read of the day, Popehat)

The Brazilian Billionaire Living in a Rat-Infested Jail (Bloomberg)

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How Obama is Using the Grossly Unconstitutional “No Fly List” to Push Gun Control

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The faux “liberal” who holds the White House was at it once again last night. As he’s accustomed to doing, he presented a radically undemocratic and unconstitutional practice as a common sense appeal to the American public to accept gun control. What I am referring to specifically is the following passage from last night’s speech:

To begin with, Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun. What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semi-automatic weapon? This is a matter of national security.

Obama is not stupid. He knows exactly how shady the no fly list is, yet he’s pushing it on national television as a way to enact gun control. The effectiveness of his bullshit depends on an unbelievably ignorant voter base, as well as the cultish, thoughtless devotion from what’s left of his zombified supporters.

To explain what I mean, it’s important to understand what the “no-fly” list actually is. As relates to a lawsuit it filed against the government on behalf of veterans placed on the list without notice, the ACLU notes the following:

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Former Congressman Joe Walsh Goes on Anti-Islam Rant, Dares Loretta Lynch to Prosecute Him

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How about the fact that it was America, a country with a sordid history of slavey and virtually no limits on free speech, which elected a black man President. Twice. Similarly, why is anti-Semitism so much more entrenched in parts of Europe than in the United States, despite all the “hate speech” laws across the pond. I’ll tell you why, becausefree speech works and censorship doesn’t.

– From the post: Speechless – UCLA Engages in Absurd, Anti-Intellectual and Dangerous Attack on Campus Free Speech

Before I get into this piece, it’s very important for me to state how little respect I have for anyone who judges people based on anything other than the actions of that specific individual. I think most readers of this site are enlightened and intelligent enough to understand this position. Not only do I find such generalizations to be ignorant and foolish, but I’m also well aware that the status quo intentionally pushes such divisions so that the citizenry remain too busy fighting amongst themselves to unite and take on the real cancer that is the elite established oligarchy.

With that out of the way, I still think what former U.S. Congressman Joe Walsh did is noteworthy. Although I find his commentary revolting, I would defend his constitutional right to do so to the grave.

Just in case you aren’t aware of what he’s referring to in his dare to Loretta Lynch, the following should get you caught up.

From Mediaite’s article: AG Loretta Lynch Promises to ‘Take Action’ Against ‘Anti-Muslim Rhetoric’

In remarks before the Muslim Advocates Dinner Thursday night, Attorney General Loretta Lynch told attendees that the Justice Department will take action against “anti-Muslim rhetoric” and “violent talk.”

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Here Come the Cronies – Buffett and Blackstone President Launch $33,400 a Plate Hillary Clinton Fundraiser

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All you need to know about Warren Buffett can be gleaned from this one sentence he uttered in a Bloomberg interview earlier this year:

Clinton has a vision for America that’s very similar to mine.

Indeed, and that vision is one of crony capitalism and oligarchy. Two things both Buffett and Hillary have a long history of supporting.

As such, he’s busying running a $33,400 a plate fundraiser for this faux populist, along with the President of private equity giant Blackstone. Blackstone, of course, is one of the firms that benefited most from the Obama administration’s banker bailouts, by quickly buying up all the foreclosed homes only to turn around rent them right back to the peasants who were evicted. Here are a few articles on the topic to get caught up.

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Ex-Goldman Banker Who Profited from Housing Crash and Subsequent Bailout Donates $100k to Hillary SuperPAC

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Hillary Clinton is so completely owned and captured by Wall Street, she recently decided the only way to defend such blatant ties is to shamelessly say she helped them because of 9/11.

In case you need further evidence of how confident financial cronies are that she will do their every bidding, we learn the following from the Intercept:

The fact remains that the Clinton campaign is fundraising heavily from Wall Street. Contributions from the securities and investment industries comprise her fourth-largest pile of campaign money, totaling $2,044,471. Commercial banks have given $443,519 directly to her campaign.

One major donor to her Super PAC, Priorities USA, is Donald Mullen, Jr., a man who was singularly able to profit from the financial crisis both before and after the crash of the housing bubble.

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The Worldwide Terror Incubator – San Bernardino Shooters Had Extensive Links to Saudi Arabia

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The terror attacks of September 11, 2001 came and went, with the dimwitted American public immediately being informed that the “Axis of Evil” had been identified by government. We were told it consisted of Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Mind you, a total of zero terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks came from these three countries, while 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens. Naturally, this raised a total of zero questions from the status quo, which has only solidified its alliance with the barbaric Kingdom in subsequent years.

This continued alliance persists despite mounting evidence of additional disturbing links between the Saudis and the 9/11 attacks. It also comes despite a seemingly never-ending string of human rights abuses. Additionally, with almost every new terror attack or emergent terror network, some sort of Saudi-link is almost always right there at the scene of the crime. The latest example relates to the San Bernardino shooters.

Multiple mainstream media outlets have reported on these links. First, from Reuters:

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Indian Government Fails to Get Citizens’ Gold, So it Shifts Focus to Temple Stash

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The scheme has only attracted about one kilogram in a month, prompting the government to nudge temples through banks to hand over their treasures, the sources said, but at least one temple said it was still unconvinced by the plan.

“Convincing retail consumers is not an easy task, it takes time,” said a senior official with a state bank, who declined to be named. “We’re planning now to focus on institutions like temples.”

A finance ministry official said if banks fail to win over temples, the government could intervene directly by talking to the temples as it is looking for a big boost to the scheme to keep both imports and the current account deficit under control.

– From the Reuters article: India Targets Temple Gold Hoard to Rescue Monetization Plan

The Indian government has been trying to get its citizenry to relinquish its gold to the bankers for a very long time. I’ve covered this saga periodically over the past several years, most recently in last month’s post, A Warning to Indian Citizens – Your Government Wants Your Gold. Here’s an excerpt:

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U.S. Military “Task Force” Wasted $150 Million on Luxury Hotels, Private Guards and 3-Star Meals in Afghanistan

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The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) is asking why a small Department of Defense task force charged with developing the Afghan economy spent nearly $150 million on private villas, security guards and luxury meals while operating in the country between 2010 and 2014.

In its letter, SIGAR said that task force employees had solicited military contractor Triple Canopy to provide rooming for them that included “Western-style hotel accommodations,” such as flat-screen televisions, mini-refrigerators and DVD players. Contractors were also hired to provide food service that was “at least 3 stars,” specifying that each meal contain “at least two entree choices and three side order choices.” Triple Canopy was also instructed to ensure that three-course meals were available for “special events.”

Triple Canopy is one of the firms that have financially benefited the most from post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning roughly $2.2 billion in government contracts since 2003, according to the Project on Government Oversight. The company has continued to receive lucrative government contracts despite being at the center of several controversies related to the killing of civilians in Iraq by its employees and providing falsified documents for its private security guards.

– From the Intercept article: Pentagon Task Force Spent Nearly $150M on Villas and 3-Star Meals in Afghanistan

For all its failings, one thing the U.S. government has achieved in Afghanistan is a tremendous enrichment of military contractors and warlords on behalf of the American taxpayer.

Of course, today’s story is only the latest in a series of stories related to taxpayer fraud and theft which have been unveiled in the past year alone. Let’s revisit some prior examples.

First, the following is from July’s post, How the U.S. Government Squandered $1 Billion in Taxpayer Funds on “Ghost Schools” and Warlords in Afghanistan:

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