Get ready for it. The sociopath is going to get us into the biggest disaster ever.

Just pray that there are officers who take their oath to uphold the constitution and the law seriously. If we go into Iran, the entire mideast will hate America. If you are afraid of 'turrists', be very very afraid of this mental midget with Cheney's hand up his ass.
Nicole Belle at Crooks and Liars

I've had a knot in my stomach for weeks as the rhetoric out of Washington amped up against Iran. As others have pointed out, this is deja vu, all over again. Sean-Paul Kelley at The Agonist pulls it all together and it paints one very scary picture.

The drumbeat for an attack on Iran is getting louder and louder.

Fears of Iranian economic dominance in Iran are being stoked, although the story is already weeks, if not months old. We've also been told the Iranians are cooperating with the North Koreans in their bid for nuclear weapons. Never mind that the North Koreans use plutonium in their reactors and the Iranians use uranium. Ooops.

...A parade of administration officials from the President on down inform us that Iran is aiding and abetting the chaos in Iraq by providing weapons to Iraqis. Never mind that there is little or no proof that the Iranians are supplying weapons to groups in Iraq actively targeting American forces.no evidence found.)

Arthur Silber at Once Upon a Time says the time is now . We must take control of our government NOW, or face complete disaster at the hands of a disinterested puppet.

If ... the Democrats showed some leadership, there is one other issue they desperately need to address: Iran.

They should rescind the Iraq authorization of force resolution (Lindorff's reference is to the earlier one, passed right after 9/11 -- both should be burned to a crisp), since Bush uses the authorizations to maintain that he already has authority to attack Iran (and anyone else he chooses). And they should pass resolutions stating that, if Bush attacks Iran in the absence of a Congressional Declaration of War (remember those?), that will be grounds for immediate impeachment.

And they should draft articles of impeachment NOW, just in case they need them. And they should publish them in every major newspaper, and read them on television every night.

FBI 'Hoovering' the internet. What kind thoughts have you expressed about Chairman Dubya lately?

After reading this, you might want to re-read this post.

Declan McCullagh at CNet News

The FBI appears to have adopted an invasive Internet surveillance technique that collects far more data on innocent Americans than previously has been disclosed.

Instead of recording only what a particular suspect is doing, agents conducting investigations appear to be assembling the activities of thousands of Internet users at a time into massive databases, according to current and former officials. That database can subsequently be queried for names, e-mail addresses or keywords.

Such a technique is broader and potentially more intrusive than the FBI's Carnivore surveillance system, later renamed DCS1000. It raises concerns similar to those stirred by widespread Internet monitoring that the National Security Agency is said to have done, according to documents that have surfaced in one federal lawsuit, and may stretch the bounds of what's legally permissible.

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Do you really think that this DOJ under this AG, in this (mis)Administration cares if it's not legally permissible?

As he takes you away, in the night, with no witnesses, the cop said " got yer Habeas Corpus right here!"

This is as plain as it gets. You really need to reflect on this one. You could easily end up in Syria with wires connected to your genitals and needles under your fingernails. And. No. One. Need. Know. Anything. At. All.

Larry Beinhart in Huffington

"Don't really care who you claim to be, and the charge is none of your business," says the more talkative of the two officers, or soldiers, or whoever is grabbing you.

"Wait, let me tell my family and call my lawyer," you say.

"Not a chance," says the friendly police person, cuffing you and throwing a bag over your head.

"Blouff, blouff, blouff," you cry through the hood.

"That'll teach you to sneer at the president," says the talkative officer, kicking you to make you move. "And undermine his War on Terror!"

"It's not against the law to sneer," you try to say, but they can't hear you. And neither will anyone else, because you have no right of Habeas Corpus.

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It's good to know that there will always be Commissars. Dubya has created a new crop!

Steven D at Booman Tribune

You remember the Commissar from old Cold War era movies, don't you? He or she was a political officer attached to a department of the Soviet government (including the Soviet military) to ensure compliance with the official dictates of the Communist party by all government employees and soldiers. Well, guess what Mr. Unitary Executive has just gone and adopted by executive order, straight out of the Stalinist-Leninist handbook (via The New York Times):

In an executive order published last week in the Federal Register, Mr. Bush said that each agency must have a regulatory policy office run by a political appointee, to supervise the development of rules and documents providing guidance to regulated industries. The White House will thus have a gatekeeper in each agency to analyze the costs and the benefits of new rules and to make sure the agencies carry out the president’s priorities.

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