(more) Eye Drops

just a couple recent pieces--other blogs, tweets, etc--that caught my eye today. Feel free to jump into the comment section.
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Drones and War

John Brennan: we are very, very careful about whom we- in total secrecy & with no overesight- order killed. Trust us (& the next Presidents). (Glenn Greenwald Twitter)
--I'll admit, just a little part of me wouldn't mind a Romney Presidency--if for no other reason than Democrats and Liberals will work actually break a sweat in trying to hold that President accountable for how we wage war now. 


To justify War on Terror, US govt *always* make 2 claims: 1) we're winning aginst AQ!! - 2) AQ is still super strong & dangerous!! (Greenwald tweet)
--calls to mind the discussion that Beavis and Butthead have on their couch about fame--Beavis asks Butthead why is Tom Petty always on MTV; Butthead replies: "b/c he's famous." Beavis follows up: "Why is he famous?" Of course, Butthead, replies w/ perfect circular reasoning: "b/c he's on TV." And so on . . . 

Steve Hynd ‏ @SteveHynd

DroneLogic: OK to wipe out entire evangelist camps to get at one abortion clinic bomber. (from GG)
--pretty good evidence and corroboration that our government--against the Geneva Convention, btw--is targeting first responders after US drone attacks. And then targeting funerals of suspected "terrorists" with another drone attack. / US drones in Yemen are killing indiscriminately--tell me again how this keeps Americans safe? How does this provide a moral high ground in human rights discussion/debate? 


Why can John Brennan give a speech purporting to describe drone attacks, but WH can't release documents verifying if those claims are true? (more GG)
--When the State becomes this opaque, we're all in trouble, eventually . . . 


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lulz* (new word to me--plural of lol; also, noun for good internet content. I'm just oozing hip.)

from the Daily Kos:

FL-18: Just passing along this latest bit of Allen West insanity for the lulz:

"This is so reminiscent of the Twilight Zone episode 'To Serve Man,'" West wrote. "Obama and his liberal progressive disciples are the modern day Kanamits."

For those of you not intimately acquainted with insults taken out of television episodes from 1962, the Kanamits were a race of nine-foot-tall aliens that come to Earth and cure famine, blight, and nuclear warfare. They also bring in advanced technology to solve the world's energy problems. In other words, the Kanamits were acting like dirty, rotten progressives.

The problem, though, is that the Kanamits don't have noble intentions -- their kindness is really just a not-very-elaborate ruse to fatten up the human race so they can be carted back to the Kanamit home planet to be eaten. A Kanamit book called To Serve Man that was discovered by the humans turns out not to be about helping man at all—it's a cookbook. (Get it? Serving man?)

West also added that he thinks there are 78 to 81 Kanamits serving in Congress today.

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 Austerity and Posterity  
couple blog posts from Paul Krugman (quick reads). Ron Paul fans and austerity freaks (warning: some overlap may occur) may want to give a gander . . .

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/dont-know-much-about-ancient-history/#

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/austerity-fantasies/ 

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How Government Can Impact Lives Positively
--both parties are really, really bad right now w/ foreign policy. Nobody but Ron Paul, it seems, has any courage when it comes to debating/discussing our broken foreign policy/endless wars. Domestic policies and potential judicial appointments should break the tie for most folks, though. 
 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/why-the-violence-against-women-act-is-a-lgbt-issue/2012/04/30/gIQAe34qrT_blog.html

 *from Ezra Klein’s Wonkblog, a piece by Suzy Khimm

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Sen. Sherrod Brown new campaign ad (30 secs.)

http://youtu.be/yCwSq1b4jHk

--our local paper has been carrying pieces about the cronyism allegations w/ Josh Mandel, Sen. Brown's opponent this fall. (you'll see plenty of Mandel's ads before November 6--lots of outside money coming after Brown, one of the Senate's most progressive members. See: Sen. Russ Feingold)