Slaves To Debt... And To Death

Did you love Bryan Ferry's song Slave to Love? Me too. You can watch it at the link-- but not at the embed above. That one's much scaried; it's about the essence of the banking industry-- making us all slaves to debt, if not as individuals, then as citizens of countries. And the way they do it is, as President Eisenhower warned us in 1961, through the octopus-like Military-Industrial Complex. The video clip is worth watching.

This week 8 Members of Congress concerned about this kind of thing more than many of their colleagues-- Barbara Lee (D-CA), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Keith Ellison (D-MN), John Conyers (D-MI), Donna Edwards (D-MD), Mike Honda (D-CA), Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Jim McGovern (D-MA)-- demanded to see the full, unclassified release of information surrounding the Obama administration’s drone policy. The letter they sent requests a formal report to Congress explaining the scope and legal justification for the drone program. “Authorizing the killing of American citizens and others has profound implications for our Constitution, the core values of our nation, our national security and future international practice,” they wrote. “The executive branch’s claim of authority to deprive citizens of life, and to do so without explaining the legal bases for doing so, sets a dangerous precedent and is a model of behavior that the United States would not want other nations to emulate.”

The letter cites several problems with current drone policy, including its “unbounded geographic scope; unidentified high-level officials with authority to approve kill-lists; a vaguely defined definition of whether a capture is ‘feasible,’ [and] an overly broad definition of the phrase ‘imminent threat,’ which re-defines the word in a way that strays significantly from its traditional and legal meaning.”

Although Rand Paul's 13 hour filibuster of John Brennan as CIA Director was useful in drawing attention to the drone problem, it just scratched the surface as was made into a joke when he was joined by some of the most drone corrupted members of the Senate, senators who have done the drone industry's bidding for hundreds of thousands of dollars in legalistic bribes, particularly Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Miss McConnell (R-KY), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and Calgary Ted Cruz (R-TX). In the end Rand Paul, who-- unlike his co-filibusterers-- does not take bribes from drone manufacturers, voted to confirm Brennan anyway. The only senators who voted against Brennan-- aside from the worthless pack of obstructionist Republicans who vote NO on everything (rendering their votes meaningless and useless) were progressives Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Pat Leahy (D-VT).