By Fred Wertheimer, The Hill, 6 February 2012

The Supreme Court’s disastrous decision in the Citizens United case has done enormous damage to our political system.

In striking down the ban on expenditures by corporations in elections, the high court, along with subsequent lower court decisions, has opened the door wide for the super rich, corporations and other groups to pour unlimited money and secret contributions into federal elections.

Click here to continue reading “Citizens United more radical than realized” by Fred Wertheimer.

Related:
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer on Legality of Super PACs Supporting Mitt Romney and President Obama

By: Radwan Mortada

Published Monday, February 6, 2012

Members of the Free Syrian Army in an house in Wadi Khaled. Photo: Al-Akhbar

Part (I): On Patrol

The freezing cold bears down heavily, deadening the footsteps of passersby and turning their breath into vapor clouds that rise into the air like chimney-smoke.

This is a typical winter morning in Wadi Khaled, the valley in Lebanon’s far northeastern corner named – depending on who you ask – after the forebear of a clan of the Aneza tribe, or the Muslim conqueror of Syria Khaled Ibn al-Waleed, who is said to have passed through here after the battle of Yarmouk in 636 A.D.

Click here to continue reading “Wadi Khaled: The Free Syrian Army Base in Lebanon (I)” by Radwan Mortada.

A. G. Noorani
7 February 2012

If anything, the pursuit of regime change is hurting the international community’s ability to end the crisis.

President Bashar al-Assad’s government has used brute force to crush a genuine popular upheaval against his regime. The death toll is nearly 6,000. Human rights have been systematically violated. But the crucial question is how and what steps can international society lawfully take to bring an end to the crisis.

Click here to continue reading “Syria needs diplomacy, not intervention” by A. G. Noorani.

Related:
Syria to call referendum; West, Gulf recall envoys

Uploaded to YouTube.com by nextleftnotes on Feb 5, 2012

NEW YORK — February 4, 2012. Does the U.S. need to initiate a third war in the Middle East? Debra Sweet of the World Can’t Wait — and 500 of her closest friends — gathered in Times Square on Saturday to offer an emphatic “No.”

Sweet’s mic check is the centerpiece of this video clip but the surrounding footage is also interesting.

In one segment a National Lawyers Guild (NLG) Legal Observer (LO) and an NYPD officer discuss the First Amendment — the outcome might surprise you.

“Democracy promotion” and regime change in the Middle East

by Justin Raimondo, February 06, 2012

The arrest and pending trial of foreign “democracy activists” in Egypt on charges they violated laws prohibiting funding by foreign governments of NGOs has caused an uproar in Washington. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton has publicly warned Cairo this endangers the $1.55 billion in aid the US is supposed to shell out this year, but the Egyptians don’t seem all that impressed. “The government will not hesitate to expose foreign schemes that threaten the stability of the homeland,” said Ms. Abu el-Naga speaking on behalf of the Egyptian government. Al Ahram, the state newspaper, reporting on this, added “she is betting on the true essence of the Egyptian people to come together during crisis.”

Click here to continue reading “The Syrian Crucible” by Justin Raimondo.