Sheesh. Didn't you get the memo?

Mexico tortures. They "disappeared" people, put them in stress positions, beat them, dunked their heads in water, put plastic bags over their heads, stuck bamboo up their fingernails, tazered them, and even murdered them.

And we are outraged....outraged, I say!

We are considering economic sanctions. Well, that's according to an AP report.

Now, all sarcasm aside, here's what the spin will be: first off, the alleged victims are Drug Dealers. And everyone knows Drug Dealers Deserve to Die.

Never mind the fake War on Drugs being the sole purpose of this surrealism.

I think we're all Alice, and Obama is in danger of becoming the Red Queen.

I think that we're all Alice and that Obama is in danger of becoming the Red Queen.

I wrote:

... Some day we will not have all the biggest guns and some other people will teach us the truth about the nature of America. (the hard way)

Which is a sentence concerning the American Military and the vast superiority of American weapons. It is not controversial that we are the best weaponised military in history.

Then some functional illiterate wrote:

I have some difficulty compreheanding your simple equation, guns=liberty. Has it ever occured to you that of the approximately 15,000 American citizens who were killed by firearms last year none found this to be a route to "liberty" unless as means of suicide?

I can only hope he was drunk or doing hash when he decided that yet another anti-military post from me could be read as a post concerning personal firearms ownership. But, even Glenn has to continually correct the functionally illiterate posters here on his posts; so I guess an amateur like me should expect it.

Morrison, you beat all.

Another of these "Obama is so complicated" posts from one of his supporters. Can we put that BS to rest? Barack Obama is NOT a complicated person.

Where did I say I excused the President's actions, or dismissed the matter as "so complicated"? Perhaps I should have just stated it in third-grade english so there's no ambiguity.

President Obama is a complicated individual, just like the rest of us human beings. I don't place much faith or expectation in ever learning what his 'motives' are/were for pursuing this counterproductive strategy, because I'm all to aware they're almost impossible to hammer down to a clear-cut statement.

Doubtless there's political calculation, as well as emotional investment, as well as historical reactions, as well as worry over his career, family, and general well-being. There's also his tendency towards 'bi-partisanship', his tendency towards moderation, the Court-style politics and atmosphere of the Beltway Washingtonians, the semi-mythical responsibilities of his office, and so on and so on.

Do any one of these drive his decisions? Do all of them? Which has precedence over the other? Which are conscious considerations versus unconscious drivers?

I am a supporter of parts of the President's agenda. I am an opponent of other parts of the same. I admire the man personally, even as I disapprove of some of his conduct and decisions. Does that make me a patriot or a traitor, a supporter or opponent? Am I motivated in this by love of my country or love of my children, respect for the man or respect for the office, hope for the present or security for the future?

You and NotOrbitBoy ask "what's his motivation?" You seem to think its the dark side of our nature, writ slightly larger than the rest of us, while NotOrbitBoy doesn't appear to have the vaguest clue. To you and the rest I say you're asking the wrong question and expecting impossible answers.

As Paul Daniel Ash put it so eloquently, ultimately his motivations are of secondary concern. What should concern us most is what the clear consequences of his decisions are to us, and in turn making it clear as possible to both the President and his staff and his supporters what is, and more importantly is not, acceptable or popular policy.

True, results will be slow and possibly non-existent. Or we might actually force them to sit up and take notice. That's life in a republic: the elected have to reminded, constantly, that they serve at the pleasure of the citizenry, not the other way around.

If, however, you prefer just presuming the worst in everyone, Walfisch, you'll neither be surprised nor any better than that assumption. Myself, I'll look and work for the good in others, possibly making the future a little cleaner for my children.

I am sure that our ruling elite is the envy of every dictatorship in the world, from China's around the globe to Russia in the north. Is is our perverted and unworkable Constitution that has brought us to this, the stupidity of our fellow citizens, or can it all be blamed on the schools and the media? In no other authoritarian land are the people so convinced that they are free and living in an albeit, somewhat imperfect, democracy.

I haven't caught up with comments yet, so apologies if this has already been mentioned:

Democrats Say Panetta Admits CIA Misled Them

By SIOBHAN GORMAN

WASHINGTON -- Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon E. Panetta has told lawmakers that the agency "concealed significant actions" from Congress, according to a letter released Wednesday from seven Democratic lawmakers.

CIA Director Leon Panetta in a June 11 photo.

The letter also contends that Mr. Panetta said CIA officials have misled Congress since 2001.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes sent a separate letter on Tuesday to the top Republican on his committee saying that Mr. Panetta's appearance led him to conclude that the CIA had "affirmatively lied" to the committee. Mr. Reyes, a Texas Democrat, said the issues Mr. Panetta disclosed to the committee may lead to a full committee investigation....

Now if only "full committee investigations" led to something more significant than hand-wringing and stentorious pontification.....

as soon as I posted I saw that RMP had already been on it like moss on a rock last night.

Better late than never and I'm waddling through as fast as my little legs will carry me!