Lost Democracy Found in Brazil

And That's the Last Trump Post You'll Get from Me

In Case You Are Nostalgic for Bushisms, Vote Perry

Sad, sad, sad.

He's Still There

Judd Legum picks the best parts out of Dick and Liz Cheney’s new book Kill ‘Em All: How Endless War Will Make America Awesome Again (not its actual title, but close enough) so you don’t have to read it. As one of the dozens of Americans who actually read Dick and Liz’s last book, I can tell you that the scars will be with Judd for some time.

  Greg Sargent

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Get Out Your Score Cards

The former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan has been quietly urging U.S. officials to consider using so-called moderate members of al Qaeda’s Nusra Front to fight ISIS in Syria, four sources familiar with the conversations, including one person who spoke to Petraeus directly, told The Daily Beast.

[…]

The idea that the U.S. would, 14 years later, work with elements of al Qaeda’s Syrian branch was an irony too tough to stomach for most U.S. officials interviewed by The Daily Beast. They found Petraeus’s notion politically toxic, near-impossible to execute, and strategically risky.

  Daily Beast

But not at all out of the question.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Katrina 10-Year Retro

In a scene that would have given Donald Trump heart palpitations, 200 flag-waving Mexican troops breached the U.S. border outside Laredo, Tex., 10 years ago and advanced unopposed up Interstate 35 to San Antonio.

It was the first time a Mexican army had marched on San Antonio since 1836 when Gen. Santa Ana massacred besieged Texas independence fighters at the Alamo.

This time, however, the Mexican soldiers were on a relief mission to feed tens of thousands of homeless and hungry Americans displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Setting up camp at a former Air Force base outside San Antonio, they distributed potable water, medical supplies and 7,000 hot meals a day for the next three weeks.

[…]

The next 48 hours were a mad scramble to get Washington to say yes, to figure out how to admit more than 200 military personal without passports or visas, and to recognize that the Mexican army, traditionally one of the most nationalistic and anti-American elements in the Mexican gvernment, was making an extraordinary gesture.

It worked. The 45-vehicle convoy crossed the border at Laredo at dawn on Sept. 8 and arrived in San Antonio later that day. The only glitch was that the USDA would not allow the Mexicans to serve the beef they had brought because they couldn’t prove it had been produced in a mad-cow-free facility. Undeterred — and un-insulted — the Mexicans bought their beef locally.

By the time their mission in San Antonio ended Sept. 25, the Mexicans had served 170,000 meals, helped distribute more than 184,000 tons of supplies and conducted more than 500 medical consultations.

  WaPo

h/t E Beane via Jean

There's an Idea

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

In Memory of Howard Zinn on His Birthday

Howard Zinn

Aug 24, 1922 - Jan 27, 2010 

Here's a tribute to Howard Zinn by Bill Moyers: http://billmoyers.com/2014/12/22/howard-zinn-joy-political-life/

And, at least for now, you can read Zinn's wonderful book A People's History of the United States online here:  http://www.historyisaweapon.com/zinnapeopleshistory.html

And here's a CSPAN special of Howard Zinn talking about history and his interest in it.

Channeling Taxpayer Funds into Rich White Guys' Pockets

I've been looking for a place to point that out for years.

Meanwhile in Egypt

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.