the latest #thepete #podcast: Obama is great but that bar is low!

In his episode if #thepetepodcast I go into how disappointed I am in President #Obama. Listen to find out how. Also: #Trump is in with the #Russians up to his neck! Again, listen to find out how and why!

Here is a direct download of the 10 minute mp3 of this week's #thepete #podcast, or you can subscribe to #thepete #podcast! ;)

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Let me know what you think of this podcast! Leave a comment here or on Twitter or where ever you found my podcast. THANKS!

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You can always find more episodes of #thepete #podcast at podcast.thepete.com!

When You've Blogged as Long as I Have... (a look back at my blogging)

I've been blogging since about 1998ish.  That was just before the word "blog" was even a thing.  In those early days, we didn't have organized blogging tools.  Blogger.com and LiveJournal wouldn't go live for another year, and Wordpress wouldn't start up for another five, but I was doing weekly updates of a web page I had laid out like the front page of a newspaper.  That web page was called "The Bitch Page" and every week, I would update it with my commentary on things that I felt needed more attention.  On April 13, 1998, I wrote this:

What is up with Titanic commercials?? The movie JUST got knocked out of first place in the US (by Lost In Space) after 15 weeks and they have the GALL to run Television Adverts telling us to "see it again". Talk about evil. Like the 3 BILLION they already have in ticket sales is not enough? TALK about GREED!!

Awww, I were so innocent back then!  Of course, this was before the smartphone, before even the iPod, before 9/11, and right on top of the Monica Lewinksky Scandal.  There was plenty to complain about but the most important stuff, I had no idea about.  I was starting to wake up, however.  I had started dating my eventual wife and had met my wife's step-mother who was a voracious reader.  She gave me some books to read.  Books about Freemasonry that, 4 years later, would inspire my novel series TheKey Chronicle (get Book 1 on Amazon!).

And then came GuerrillaNews.com.  Or, rather, then I came to GuerrillaNews.com...

Good news! No fast-track for Obama and the #TPP/#TransPacificPartnership! Now at least the Senate & House will get to debate it, I think. The whole text of the TPP needs to be public. Period.

Good news! No fast-track for Obama and the #TPP/#TransPacificPartnership! Now at least the Senate & House will get to debate it, I think. The whole text of the TPP needs to be public. Period.

A photo posted by Mr The Pete (@mrthepete) on May 12, 2015 at 12:57pm PDT

NYTimes reports on Federal Judge Rosemary M. Collyer challenging the Obama Admin's policy on drones killing Americans.

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/cPM-ueSrka/

Read the whole article (it's really good!): http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/20/us/politics/judge-challenges-white-house-claims-on-authority-in-drone-killings.html

Here's an excerpt:

Judge Collyer said she was “troubled” by the government’s assertion that it could kill American citizens it designated as dangerous, with no role for courts to review the decision.

“Are you saying that a U.S. citizen targeted by the United States in a foreign country has no constitutional rights?” she asked Brian Hauck, a deputy assistant attorney general. “How broadly are you asserting the right of the United States to target an American citizen? Where is the limit to this?”

She provided her own answer: “The limit is the courthouse door.”

SWEET! It's so nice to see someone in power have the same feelings as me. Hell, I think she should be saying this even if there had been no Americans killed. All humans are created equal, right? So they deserve a trial before they are found guilty, sentenced to death and executed, right? Just because there's an (undeclared) war on terror going on doesn't mean their are no rules.

Another gem from the article:

Mr. Hauck acknowledged that Americans targeted overseas do have rights, but he said they could not be enforced in court either before or after the Americans were killed. Judges, he suggested, have neither the expertise nor the tools necessary to assess the danger posed by terrorists, the feasibility of capturing them or when and how they should be killed.

“Courts don’t have the apparatus to analyze” such issues, so they must be left to the executive branch, with oversight by Congress, Mr. Hauck said. But he argued, as Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has in the past, that there are multiple “checks” inside the executive branch to make sure such killings are legally justified.

Judge Collyer did not buy it. “No, no, no,” she said. “The executive is not an effective check on the executive.” She bridled at the notion that judges were incapable of properly assessing complex national security issues, declaring, “You’d be surprised at the amount of understanding other parts of the government think judges have.”

This is what "abuse of power" looks like. Right here. When one branch of government stops another branch from doing it's job. This is also a great example of what "undermining the United States Government" looks like. The Obama Admin needs to stop trying to sabotage how our government is supposed to work.

Nice of Obama to finally remember this fact...

Just saw this in today's NYTimes.com daily top stories email:

"The idea that we would still maintain forever a group of individuals who have not been tried, that is contrary to who we are, contrary to our interests, and it needs to stop."

PRESIDENT OBAMA, announcing that he would recommit himself to closing the Guantánamo Bay prison.

It's amazing how some Americans can utterly ignore the core principles of this country until it's more convenient for them to deal with it. I mean, closing Gitmo was something Obama promised to do before his first term and here he's resurrecting that promise a year into his second term? Was his popularity in the polls dropping or something? Does he want us to be distracted from something else he's doing that goes against American principles even more?

Or is it just that a load of Gitmo prisoners are trying to kill themselves via a hunger strike right now that has actually gotten coverage by the mainstream media?

Either way, it would be nice if he could do more like this. Like stopping with the drone assassinations and the troops in Afghanistan. Yeah, that'd be nice. Seriously, why stop at acknowledging just one thing that goes against your own country's principles?

#wishfulthinking

Ballpoint Adventures for January 30, 2012: Boldly Standing Up for the Principles that are already supposed to be in place.

Nothing like the leader of the free world championing the very principles the country was supposed to be founded upon (as though they're new concepts, too).

My 2nd post for Mandommag.com is up: Is Obama Running for the Republican Nomination? http://goo.gl/9hyoH

My 2nd post for Mandommag.com is up: Is Obama Running for the Republican Nomination? http://goo.gl/9hyoH, a photo by thepetecom on Flickr.

Mind you, this is a site for adult men. Just so you know. That link once again: goo.gl/9hyoH

Hillary Clinton Over Joe Biden in 2012? Possible - Jonathan Alter - Bloomberg

Hillary Clinton Over Joe Biden in 2012? Possible - Jonathan Alter - Bloomberg

underpaidgenius:

Will Obama swap Bidon for Hillary Clinton? Interesting possibilities, and Woodward says it’s being discussed.

No, no, no way is Obama swapping Biden for Clinton.  Back in 91, there was talk of HW Bush swapping out Dan Quayle for Dick Cheney.  Ironically, Dick Cheney said he wasn’t interested in politics >_<  The point is, there’s often talk of swapping out VPs, but has it ever happened?  Seriously, I want to know, because I don’t ever remember it happening in my lifetime.

More proof that nothing you see in the media is real.. or at least it is questionable.. the White House tipped off the AP of Michelle Obama's Target trip before she went

More proof that nothing you see in the media is real.. or at least it is questionable.. the White House tipped off the AP of Michelle Obama's Target trip before she went

So, whether it’s a story on protesters getting entrapped only to be rewritten 20 minutes later to be a story on protesters getting arrested, or even  the little, unimportant things like the above, the media isn’t representing reality.  This whole “paying attention” thing is getting pretty tedious.

Then again, I suppose the idea is to get us to stop caring. >_<

Another Example of How You Shouldn't Trust the Media: Even on the Little Things

From Coalspeaker.com:

More proof that nothing you see in the media is real.. or at least it is questionable.. the White House tipped off the AP of Michelle Obama's Target trip before she went

So, whether it's a story on protesters getting entrapped only to be rewritten 20 minutes later to be a story on protesters getting arrested, or even  the little, unimportant things like the above, the media isn't representing reality.  This whole "paying attention" thing is getting pretty tedious.

Then again, I suppose the idea is to get us to stop caring. >_<

 

 

thereisnogod:christiannightmares:Christian heckler calls Obama the Antichrist (For a related post, click here http://christiannightmares.tumblr.com/post/995097248/tea-party-sign-the-antichrist-is-living-in-the)Fuck your god.While I didn’t hear in there the specific accusation that Obama is the anti-Christ, I’d like to just come out and say it:I’m anti-Christ.…But I’m not THE anti-Christ. I feel that while some of his alleged teachings sound great, I think you’d be better off reading the words of Superman or Spider-Man to look for wisdom. They’re just as reality-based as Jesus, in fact, I think modern super-heroes are more relavant than some ancient super-hero who fictionally lived 2000 years ago. It’s sort of like when people tell me I’m going to go to hell or that I won’t get into heaven both because I’m an atheist. I usually respond “Ok, I guess.”“But aren’t you afraid?”“Um, of something that doesn’t appear to exist? No.”

Obama (O-bomb-a?) OKs the sale of bunker-buster bombs to Israel #SIGH #WTFObama?

From a 9/23/11 article at Ynetnews.com:

'Obama sold special bombs to Israel'
New report claims US secretly approved transfer of 'bunker buster' bombs that could be used in attack against Iran just months after Barack Obama took office, even though Bush administration had previously blocked deal

Well, at least we're not going to war against Iran ourselves.  And I suppose using bunker-busters against Iran is better than using them against Palestinians.  Regardless, I'm getting tired of this whole "war" thing.  Remember the 90s?  There was almost no war that we were directly involved in.  Our economy was booming and the worst thing going on was Monicagate.  Seems like war doesn't always help the economy.  Maybe, once again, we should give peace a chance? ;)

Still, I'll never understand the whole Israel thing. I'm not against the country existing, but I'm just completely confused at how it's policy of occupation and continuous need for support from the US is acceptable to so many.  I mean, how long have they been a country?  Can they not stand on their own by now? And what the hell are they doing with Palestine? What's their goal?

coalspeaker:

His turn: 

OBAMA: PASS JOBS PLAN RIGHT AWAY

jobs…. tax breaks.. infrastructure.. 

Obama promises a detailed plan Monday, September 12, 2011..

So now it’s time for football………………..

I can’t pay attention to this stuff any more. I know what they’re going to say generally, if not specifically and the specifics just don’t matter any more. Anything he suggests will be cosmetic at most and will ultimately do nothing to get us anywhere.  This is just my prediction not based on having heard his address, but based on years of following politics.  None of this shit is going to change and I’m having a hard time putting up with people who don’t see it at least similarly to the way I do.

You must have a job or something.

If not, I fail to see how being “unregulated” (as a corporation or as an individual) could possibly provide a stimulus to the economy at large or one’s personal economy.

I’m so sick of all this shit. Politicians = untrustworthy, corrupt, greedy assholes.

If Mr. Smith had gone to Washington, it wouldn’t be Claude Rains killing himself, it’d be Smith—he’d have blown his brains out on the Senate floor.  When 911 first responders can’t get free health care you know something is deeply, deeply fucked with the system.

“Liberty” won’t pay for those first responders’ cancer treatment.

underpaidgenius:

Congressional caucus leaders want actual jobs for actual unemployed people, not tax breaks for corporations.

1) “Being bold” and saying that “jobs need to be created” is easy. The hard part is actually getting the jobs created. Why do we never see actual A+B=jobs style solutions for job creation?  I feel like everyone should get off Obama’s back about not being some sort of job-inspiring magic man and find someone else to go after for not creating jobs—but who?

2) Why does no one ever point the finger at corporations?  

a. They’ve caused all of the worlds problems that aren’t religion-related.  The number one polluter isn’t houses with incandescent bulbs owned by people who don’t recycle, it’s giant factories and cars with 100 year-old tech made by corporations. 

b. They’ve been dodging taxes for decades using offshore tricks and keeping money from the USG and the American people.  No wonder our infrastructure is a joke, our government was so incompetent it let 911 happen, left New Orleans to drown and our economy pretty much to die—the USG can’t afford to pay smart people to build roads, repair bridges and evacuate people when huge storms hit.

c. Illegal immigrants often come here for jobs that corporations are willing to hire them for. Why? Because immigrants will work for less than minimum wage. ANY company who hires illegal immigrants isn’t willing to pay an American (or any human) what they are worth. Why do corporations get away with this? And why, for decades, have we been told that the Mexicans are here to steal our jobs and not that the greedy corporations refuse to pay us what we’re worth? Isn’t that the true dynamic at work?

d. They’ve been shipping jobs overseas for decades, too.  What’s the best way to rob an economy of its money? Pay workers outside of said economy.  I buy a DVD here in NYC and some worker in another country gets paid.  He then buys things in HIS community and pays taxes that benefit HIS community and we never see the money again.  How is this corporation pro-American when they’re helping some other country’s economy??

Abusive corporations are the real problem here.  If anyone wants to see “bold” action from Obama, they shouldn’t be demanding anything short of a barrage of insults aimed squarely at corporations.  Obama needs to make it socially unacceptable for corporations to continue to put their own survival above our ability to feed ourselves. 

These cowardly, greedy, selfish, literally super-human entities have the power to create immense good in the world and yet all they can do is hold their wallets with a death-grip, desperately, as though one lost dollar would mean their utter and complete ruin.

Obama needs to come out critical of corporations and make them look bad by calling them on all they have done to harm the American people and humanity at large.  

Just my ¥2, which is about all I’ve got in the bank right now. O_O

hesspartacus:

Yes we can’t.

I like that!  ”Barack—oh, bummer.”

Well no one can say black folks are different from white folks anymore. They can be just as lame and corrupt as any white man, it would seem.  

And here I was secretly hoping they were better than us.  Oh, that would have been great…

btx91:

bombasticgentleman:

Nailed it.

This comic is a fail.

Democratic campaign: we get shit done when everyone else is squabbling.

How do you think they get shit done?  …by comprOmising.  Sad but true.  Obama and pals are getting *some* things done, but none of the big stuff he promised—like Single Payer Health Care, closing Gitmo and a few other things… 

Time to Get Pissed About the USG Again: Scahill Reveals Secret Prisons in Somalia

In case you missed it, back on July 13, 2011 DemocracyNow reported:

Jeremy Scahill Reveals CIA Facility, Prison in Somalia as U.S. Expands Covert Ops in Stricken Nation

In a new investigative report published by The Nation magazine, independent journalist and Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill reveals the CIA is using a secret facility in Somalia for counterterrorism as well as an underground prison in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Scahill says the CIA is training a new Somali force to conduct operations in the areas controlled by the militant group, Al Shabab, and in Mogadishu. While a U.S. official told The Nation that the CIA does not run the prison, he acknowledged the CIA pays the salaries of Somali agents.

Seems like the only change Obama has brought to the United States Government is skin color.  Read the rest at DemocracyNow.org.

666cast episode 53: Jeb Bush, Factory Farms, MORE political hypocrisy, why Obama is wrong and 100% sure fire job creator.

Lots of stuff this week, but be sure to listen until the end to hear my suggestion on how we can solve WITH 100% CERTAINTY the job crisis. Seriously. I’m not even kidding.

OK, this week, I referenced a lot of online stories, so here are the links:

Jeb Bush “consulting” with other states on their education systems (NYTimes)

Making “hidden camera” videos/photography of factory farms illegal (NYTimes)

Republicans play hypocritical games by making voting harder (NYTimes)

Obama’s in town kissing the ass of Wall Street donors because he thinks he can’t get elected again without them (NYTimes) [I may have paraphrased a bit with that headline!]

Episode 53 of the 666cast is hosted at Archive.org!

Please subscribe to the feed.

Don’t forget to visit webstore666!

Hey, Robbie Gibbs--you say Obama isn't like Bush? When look at this!

officialssay:

“I hear these people saying he’s like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested.”

—

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, responding to criticism of President Obama from disappointed liberals.

OH YEAH??  Well look at this:

(found here)

But seriously, he’s a black guy, cool. But Gitmo is still open, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are still going, and didn’t I hear something about Obama saying it was OK to assassinate certain Americans if they were terrorists? (And who decides who terrorists are? Hmmm?)  Seriously, WTF, Gibbs? 

Obama IS like Bush.  Not a LOT like Bush, but in really depressing, disappointing ways.

So, under Bush, people like me were unAmerican.  Under Obama, people like me need to be drug tested.

God Bless America!