Then we have the most influential people deemed so by their peers on and from the web.

Let's start with the pioneers of documented, critiques of government, law and media from a US Constitutional framework--

Here, here, Glenn Greenwald.

There is a special place in literary heaven for such minded, diligent people. Credos.

Thank the gods for the wealth of knowledge on the web and for those you mention who make it more credible.

that is the final determinate of who owns original thoughts, words and deeds (be they for good or bad)--I hope.

Glenn, you are right in the symbiotic relationship and I might add--the WWW has opened the universe of free thought to the extent of who-got-there-first-gamesmanship of the cosmic order.

(attributions from a song?)

...if the talking points creators in the political think tanks, lobbyist basements and PAC conference bastions were properly attributed?

Think how differently the Dowd(s), Gregory(s) and Blitzer(s) would untangle their stenographic, framed repetitions of what clearly is not their own, non/analytical reporting on any given issue.

The swirl of gossip and party points as manufactured news might shrivel enough to fulfill the beauty of what journalism could be.

It is a much forgotten and disregarded tool to enclose sentences/paragraphs/quips/witticisms with quotation marks after one finds these gems among the plethora of pages constituting blogs/comments.

It would be more relaxed to assume when words are posted to papers, books and web pages that the absence of quotes and attributions mean non-plagiarized thoughts and words are guaranteed.

Alas, it is woeful to for any creator of letters to see his unique, pure, (elucidations truly without quotes), attributed to some lackluster thinkers with limited means, because it is easier.

The inflammation (outrage) should be upon the American people for the cover-up, lies and betrayal perpetrated from the officers elected to uphold the honest reputation of US law.

The world has long been inflamed by our foreign initiatives for our self-interest. President Obama is not helping that by backtracking on this and other issues.

Glenn's post samples a few of those recent reasons why the photos are symbolic of American arrogance.

I love it when the Rumsfeld, Cheneys, and all-around-war-apologists can see so far into their crystal sphere of legal strategy planning so effortlessly their ultimate success.

America is better for their neoconservative, 21st century insight and fortitude, as you point out.

May the force be with them and all such accidental warriors.

"How do you know that the practice of torture has ended under Obama? He says we do not torture. So did Bush."

Bingo.

Mr. Begone didn't you read anything about that Watergate scandal?

Seriously, that Reagan god-like figure did get it right--

"Trust, but verify."

No one is more embarrassed than a President who has to cover up for not only his lies, but for the other guy's, too. (Clinton?)

@The Notorious W.E.S.

We're the emboldened para-military police force and high-tech soldiers of war/violence against the unempowered world/citizens.

Notice how for example, the cops are permitted more brutal tactics in everyday practices to make the homeland more compliant, terrorist-free and 'safe".

Our new heroes are super heroes notched up by supra patriotic tasers, bombs, computers and bloody flags.

Another post logically amplifying the unreasonable, tortured, contortions necessary to defend the indefenses of brutal distortions.

Were his exposure of hypocrisy, rhetorical double talk and American exceptionalism pandering read by all, we may yet have a return to clear thinking among the masses.

How bout that populism?

A thinking man like our President knows his assurances that our government only discloses what atrocities we commit when it is politically viable/advantageous to the "parties" involved is the only thing presently transparent to the informed.

His assumption that enough left/right rule-of-law complainers don't notice how flimsy his appeals to-- don't besmearch-our-image-further-and-foment-more-anger-against-our-

noble-efforts-in-the-GWOT is reckless.

The further damage our President is doing to what's left of our once unique, American conscience of owning honest failures is truly sad, insulting and irreparable in its political disenfranchisement of campaign promise.

This move or removal to disappear incriminating photos (the worst according to Rumsfeld four years earlier never to be seen) demonstrates who really dictates the war policy in the US. It rarely has in the past been the President. It would be political/literal suicide to ignore or not comply to their "requests".

The intelligence and pro-war swagger is so blatant, most Americans seem to think those institutions are endorsed by Cheney and Pelosi, they being our 21st century founders-of-the- government-by-the-stupefied-post"9-11"-justifies-everything America.

We salute the hardened warriors of might to be right, but slap the face of reasoned words from those peaceful wronged.

If this "collapse" is a significant sea change in our political structure, what does it leave us with?

Sad, as always that it took the impending collapse of the country's financial ravagers to get the people awakened to the various crises.

Still, the people vote for more funds, to wage more war while they dance to the fiddled lies coming from their President and Congress.

The Dawn Johnsen(s) are too reasonable a figure to be voted serious, because these military pissing contests and the extortion-bailout madness has gripped the nation by the areas that dare not speak their name.

"Why has the Right collapsed?"--Glenn

Glenn, you're too kind. Collapse suggests a logical, human-identified structure (unless evolved). Actually, their collapse could have been evolved not from the pure struggle of time and convenient ingredients, but an ideology that is derivative of baseness found within the deep rage of not reconciling the fear-of-mortality-driven-hate--more base than tools acquired for analytical advantage sorely missed by these radio and political champions.

Collapse of what was never decent or humane deserves no memorial and no respect.