MEDIA ROOTS — The function of the U.S. presidency, essentially, is to give a human face to the empire, to offer a humanizing appeal to barbarism abroad and domestically—at least under our rigged de facto two-party dictatorship. A point Obama doesn’t deny: “People have a sense the game is rigged…” Enter Obama, to assure them otherwise. So, when uncritical corporate … Read More
MEDIA ROOTS — Glenn Greenwald gave a lecture recently in Canada’s capital, Ottawa, entitled “Canada, America, Together Into The Storm: Secrecy, War and Civil Liberties,” hosted by long-time Greenwald reader Bill Owen with an introduction by Maher Arar. (See transcript and video below.) Recently, Media Roots noted the UK’s drive toward PATRIOT Act-style policies. Here, Greenwald discusses the common mindset … Read More
MEDIA ROOTS — Five years ago, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling courageously asserted USA’s military generals were failing in their duty to provide policymakers with candid appraisals of war. Unfortunately, generalship has only deteriorated since then. Today, Pentagon leaders lie directly through euphemism, omission, and talk of progress. Euphemism Generals euphemize in order to shape public discourse in their favor and … Read More
MEDIA ROOTS — Duplicitous White House policy continues to metastasize under Obama, as it has with Reagan, the Bushes, and Clinton. For the past 30 years, the government has consistently enacted policies that give more power to Washington D.C. in the name of bettering the lives of regular Americans. The current regime pulls our attention away from this practice with … Read More
MEDIA ROOTS — Many well educated and politically aware people in the United States would like to believe that the so-called ‘War On Terror,’ a false war against a tactic, will have no effect on their personal lives. As long as it’s not affecting you, it’s not a problem, right? Well, the problem is that many people who have chosen to … Read More
