It’s Okay To Assassinate the Families of Suspected Terrorists, Just Don’t Waterboard Them First

4 Jun 201219 Nov 2018 ~ Chris Cocca ~ 8 Comments

From June, 2012. It’s interesting for me to re-read this in post-2016 Democratic primary world.

June 4, 2012:

What do we do with Obama’s drone war?

Mr. Obama is the liberal law professor who campaigned against the Iraq war and torture, and then insisted on approving every new name on an expanding “kill list,” poring over terrorist suspects’ biographies on what one official calls the macabre “baseball cards” of an unconventional war. When a rare opportunity for a drone strike at a top terrorist arises — but his family is with him — it is the president who has reserved to himself the final moral calculation.

“He is determined that he will make these decisions about how far and wide these operations will go,” said Thomas E. Donilon, his national security adviser. “His view is that he’s responsible for the position of the United States in the world.” He added, “He’s determined to keep the tether pretty short.”

If you thought for one hot second that the NYT piece is calling Obama out for the covert drone war or his decision that he is fit to decide when to kill the families of suspected terrorists, Charles Krauthammer is here to tell you:

The article could have been titled “Barack Obama: Drone Warrior.” Great detail on how Obama personally runs the assassination campaign. On-the-record quotes from the highest officials. This was no leak. This was a White House press release.Why? To portray Obama as tough guy. And why now? Because in crisis after recent crisis, Obama has looked particularly weak: standing helplessly by as thousands are massacred in Syria; being played by Iran in nuclear negotiations, now reeling with the collapse of the latest round in Baghdad; being treated with contempt by Vladimir Putin, who blocks any action on Syria or Iran and adds personal insult by standing up Obama at the latter’s G-8 and NATO summits.

The Obama camp thought that any political problem with foreign policy would be cured by the Osama bin Laden operation. But the administration’s attempt to politically exploit the raid’s one-year anniversary backfired, earning ridicule and condemnation for its crude appropriation of the heroic acts of others.

Who gets to live and die in Yemen? Don’t worry, world, it’s in the hands of Barack Obama, Decider.

Barack Obama, The Decider. Did you ever think it would come to this?

Since the president is comfortable likening these decisions to game-play, let’s play a game of our own, shall we? A political and ethical Mad Libs of sorts. Take every “Obama” out of these pieces and replace it with “George W. Bush.” Makes you want to vomit, right? Barack Obama better fly from your gullet just as fast. Jeremy Scahill doesn’t mince words.

Mad Libs. Hey, see what I did there? Obama’s a mad liberal, and you know this because he’s a tough drone warrior now. He’s the concierge at Guantanamo Bay. But shouldn’t other liberals be mad that the Peace Prize President is doing these things? No, Timmy, you’re thinking of progressives.

If only ending these campaigns were as easy as electing Mitt Romney. But does anyone think Romney wouldn’t do the same thing? Now listen, liberals, don’t go saying “well, Obama is doing it less that Romney, and he’s keeping us safe, so it’s um, er, okay.”

This is what happens when establishment incumbents face no challenges from within their own party or purported ideology. Oh, for a credible challenge to Obama from a progressive. Oh for an Obama 2008 to run against Obama 2012.

- Drone wars and state secrecy – how Barack Obama became a hardliner (guardian.co.uk)

- Jeremey Scahill: Obama Drone Strikes in Yemen are ‘Murder’

- Krauthammer: Obama, the drone warrior (denverpost.com)

- Former CIA official slams White House for halting waterboarding, other techniques (politico.com)

- Obama’s “kill list” and presidential power to murder at will (antonyloewenstein.com)

Jeremy Scahill Says Obama Strikes In Yemen Constitute ‘Murder’ – Huffington Post (huffingtonpost.com)

The New York Times Exposes Apple, Foxconn, and the 2 Percent

27 Jan 2012 ~ Chris Cocca ~ 1 Comment

In this case, the 2 percent refers to this:

Fortunately for the bottom line, the touch-screen hungry public doesn’t seem to mind: “In a national survey conducted by The New York Times in November, 56 percent of respondents said they couldn’t think of anything negative about Apple. Fourteen percent said the worst thing about the company was that its products were too expensive. Just 2 percent mentioned overseas labor practices.”

So, 2 percent of people responding to that November survey had the dangerous conditions in the Apple production line on their radar. Hopefully, that’s starting to change. Unfortunately, conditions on the ground in China aren’t. Read the NYT‘s huge, detailed portrait of these conditions, published yesterday, here. Thanks to New York Magazine for the heads up. Thanks to Mike Daisey for putting this on America’s moral agenda. We’ve been talking about it here for over a year. When I wrote an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook on The Huffington Post after Steve Jobs’ passing, I didn’t know that one of Cook’s former gigs at Apple was “guy in charge of finding the cheapest production lines possible” and “guy who found Foxconn.” Still, Tim, the challenge stands. Change Apple’s ethics abroad, and create your own Apple legacy now.

10 Disturbing Apple Revelations (thedailybeast.com)
Dirty Money (techcrunch.com)
Apple in China: The New York Times goes for the Pulitzer (nextlevelofnews.com)

Paul Krugman and Leonard Cohen on Depression and Depression

14 Dec 201114 Dec 2011 ~ Chris Cocca ~ 5 Comments

Paul Krugman Mellencamp has finally uttered the words. We’re in a Depression. His Sunday NYT piece, “Depression and Democracy,” is here.

Elsewhere, Leonard Cohen has shared about Depression and Depression:

LC: Well, you know, there’s depression and depression. What I mean by depression in my own case is that depression isn’t just the blues. It’s not just like I have a hangover in the weekend… the girl didn’t show up or something like that, it isn’t that. It’s not really depression, it’s a kind of mental violence which stops you from functioning properly from one moment to the next. You lose something somewhere and suddenly you’re gripped by a kind of angst of the heart and of the spirit…

– Leonard Cohen, French interview (trans. Nick Halliwell)

It’s hard to be hopeful about the world economic situation. But Cohen’s kind of depression — God, he’s right on, isn’t he, about there being different kinds? — the kind of mental violence, the kind that stops you from functioning properly from one moment to the next, the kind that grips you and won’t be shaken off without time and effort and help…maybe you see yourself in that. Unwanted thoughts, irrational compulsions, excessive guilt.

For years, I looked to Cohen’s quote and thought, well, shit, this is the condition of artist. I found out later that it’s also the condition of millions of people who, in addition to being sensitive, winsome, and artistic, also happen to not produce enough serotonin on their own. For many, such is the biology of general anxiety, OCD, and other depressions. If that’s you, please know there is help. If you don’t know if that’s you, please see a trusted physician and find out. A friend of mine said it best: “no one should have to suffer because of their biochemistry.” We’d never suggest a diabetic go without insulin. We’d never expect a diabetic without the right help to function in healthy ways, let alone thrive. Any physician worth her salt will tell you it’s the same with the way our brains process the presence or death of chemicals our bodies are making as best they can. Beloved, God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. A righteous mind.

Just In Case You Thought I Was Kidding About Stripmalls and Greenspace in the Suburbs

29 Jun 2011 ~ Chris Cocca ~ Leave a comment

You didn’t, did you? My good friend Joe just sent this along from the New York Times: 101 Uses for a Deserted Mall.

I didn’t use the word “retrofitting” in my discussion, but that’s what we’re really talking about, here, isn’t it? Retrofitting in the present and redesigning the future?

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