Here’s a fascinating conglomeration of hucksterism, right-wing paranoia, secular eschatology all from one pasty dude selling something called the “Patriot Survival Plan.” It’s like the ur-document that brings together so much of today’s neo-gold-buggism, Prepperism, paranoia about Obama’s impending martial law, gun hoarding, the coming descent into urban warfare, food shortages and crazed mobs of dark people. How you can survive and thrive after total societal collapse. It’s all in a video, which is epically crazy and yet hard to stop watching. Just watch and let me know what you think. Seriously, you’ve got to see this.
A couple of hours ago, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) issued a statement that, among other things, asserted that the White House told her that it would no longer continue to surveil allied foreign leaders.
Coming from Feinstein, who is chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, that’s a pretty big deal. The exact wording of her statement: “The White House has informed me that collection on our allies will not continue, which I support.”
So we, and others, asked the White House if that was true. In response to that question, a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council has issued a statement … declining to comment.
Late Update: An senior administration official now tells TPM that Feinstein’s statement was not accurate.
FreedomWorks, the leading Tea Party pressure group, has endorsed the Mississippi Tea Party primary challenger who attended a recent Neo-Confederate conference and has other neo-Confederate ties. FreedomWorks called McDaniel “the clear choice for fiscal conservatives and lovers of liberty across the state of Mississippi.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, declares: “Unless the United States is engaged in hostilities against a country or there is an emergency need for this type of surveillance, I do not believe the United States should be collecting phone calls or emails of friendly presidents and prime ministers.”
A judge sentenced former Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) to three years in prison for corruption and money laundering.
Breaking News: Federal Judge rules Texas anti-Abortion law unconstitutional.
A new study finds that approximately 7500 children are brought to US hospitals each year after receiving gunshot wounds. About 500 die.
Flagging gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli brought in Tea Party demi-god Sen. Rand Paul for a campaign event today in Virginia. And Paul warned of a future, presumably helped along by Terry McAuliffe in which science would lead to the destruction of whole classes of non-perfect people …
Tea party hero Rand Paul warned scientific advancements could lead to eugenics during a Monday visit at Liberty University, looking to boost the political fortunes of fellow Republican Ken Cuccinelli’s bid for governor.
A few days ago I was looking through the Board of Directors list at Freedom Works and happened across the bio of board member Mary E. Albaugh. Here’s the bio.
“When our daughters were born, my husband and I envisioned an ever-expanding world of opportunity and continued prosperity. But the government grew faster than our children, shrinking their future prospects and each person’s ability to flourish through his own efforts.”
Churning through countless domestic phone calls is one thing – that has very real constitutional implications. It may be a similar thing with doing that in Spain or other countries in Europe and the Middle East, though the constitutional questions are very different. But please, please spare me the shock and surprise that the US spies on foreign leaders, even allies, even close allies. These countries spy on our leaders too. The only real exception is within the special club of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand where, for a variety of historical reasons, a pretty different set of rules and integration apply.