Bulletin N° 684

 

 

Subject: The US Electoral Process and What it Produces . . . .

 

23 February 2016
Grenoble, France

  

Dear Colleagues and Friends of CEIMSA,

 

The final episode of Oliver Stone’s documentary, “The Untold History of the United States”, serves as prologue to the primary elections that are now underway in the U.S.

 

Bush & Obama: Age of Terror

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=untold+history+of+united+states+stone&&view=detail&mid=748E26E7FEAB24B7C118748E26E7FEAB24B7C118&rvsmid=5E2CFEF1E2E632821A585E2CFEF1E2E632821A58&FORM=VDQVAP&fsscr=0

 

 

Also, see the 12 items below for a review of important issues in the trajectory of contemporary American politics.

 

Sincerely,

Francis Feeley

 

Professor of American Studies

University of Grenoble-3

Director of Research

University of Paris-Nanterre

Center for the Advanced Study of American Institutions and Social Movements

The University of California-San Diego

http://www.ceimsa.org 

 

 

 

a.

Ralph Nader: A Cover for Corporatism in Scalia's "Originalism"

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=15702
Ralph Nader says Scalia interpreted the constitution hypocritically as he extended the bill of rights from persons to corporations

 

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b.

The American Century
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6139.htm
by Henry R. Luce (Feb. 1941)

 

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c.

The Century of the Common Man

http://www1.american.edu/epiphany/CCM.htm

by Henry Wallace (May 1942)

 

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d.

The Project for the New American Century (PNAC)

https://web.archive.org/web/20130112203305/http://www.newamericancentury.org/

William Kristol, Chairman (1997)

 

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e.

University of Arizona Students Hurl Insults, and Litter, at Mosque in Tucson

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/17/us/mosque-near-university-of-arizona-endures-scorn-of-students-next-door.html?emc=edit_th_20160217&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=30100672

By Fernanda Santos

 

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f.

Computer Voting and Stealing Democracy

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=14545
Larry Wilkerson says, that computerized voting has increased the capacity of cheating with precision, consistency and efficiency without any forensic evidence -

 

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g.

A Dramatic Escalation Appears Imminent
Week Eighteen of the Russian Intervention in Syria
http://www.unz.com/tsaker/week-eighteen-of-the-russian-intervention-in-syria-a-dramatic-escalation-appears-imminent/
The Saker

The situation in Syria has reached a watershed moment and a dramatic escalation of the war appears imminent. Let’s look again at how we reached this point.

 

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h.

The Syrian Sea of Hostility

http://sputniknews.com/columnists/20160212/1034661819/syria-crisis-munich-conference-lavrov-kerry.html

by Pepe Escobar

 

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i.

What Turkey & Saudi Arabia Aim to Gain with Possible Ground Invasion in Syria

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=15678
Col. Larry Wilkerson says Turkish and Saudi officials may be bluffing, but the prospect nevertheless is a calamity reminiscent of pre-World War I conditions -

 

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j.

Skin in the Game: Poor Kids and Patriots

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=14763
Larry Wilkerson says Gen. Dennis Laich's book - Skin in the Game - demonstrates that an all volunteer military force is no longer sustainable, morally nor fiscally -

 

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k.

VOTE SMART

https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/27110/bernie-sanders/47/military-personnel#.VsrMZeavPh5

Project Vote Smart provides free, unbiased, in-depth information about current officials, candidates, issues, legislation, and voting. Non-partisan and nonprofit ...

 

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l.

From: "Kristin Brown" <feedback@lcv.org>
Subject: JUST RELEASED: LCV's 2015 National Environmental Scorecard

Find out if your senators stood up for the environment or fell way short — and check out how your representative did, too! Visit our newly released 2015 National Environmental Scorecard »

LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard is here! See how your members of Congress did in 2015 »
Francis — The 2015 National Environmental Scorecard numbers have been crunched, tallied, and posted. Let’s be honest: It wasn’t pretty.

This past year, the new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wasted no time getting to work on behalf of his polluter allies, pushing through legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline as his first order of business. And by the end of the year we can say with confidence that the extreme leadership of both the Senate and the House had made this the most anti-environmental Congress in our nation’s history.

We scored 60 votes — the most we have ever included! Here are just five of the votes we saw in the Senate — click one of the links below then search for your senators’ names to see how they voted:

  1. Blocking the biggest step the United States has taken to fight climate change: Just months after President Obama and the EPA finalized the Clean Power Plan, Congress used an extreme and rarely used legislative maneuver to try and permanently block it. See if your senators stood in the way of the biggest step our country’s ever taken on climate change.
  2. Extreme Attacks on Drinking Water Protections: This vote sought to permanently void the EPA’s new drinking water protections for millions of Americans. See if your senators stood up for clean drinking water.
  3. Acknowledging Climate Change: This amendment called on Congress to acknowledge the reality of man-made climate change and take action to cut carbon pollution. See if your senators accept the reality of climate change.
  4. Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline: This vote tried to automatically approve the dirty and dangerous Keystone XL pipeline. See if your senators voted to transport the world’s dirtiest oil through America’s heartland.
  5. Reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund: This vote would have reauthorized LWCF, America’s premier conservation program. See if your senators took a stand to protect our public lands.
The whole 2015 National Environment Scorecard is also available in Spanish!

The first step to getting more environmental policies passed is letting our members of Congress know that we’re paying attention, and that’s exactly what LCV’s Scorecard has done since 1970. Help us continue this important work with a special Scorecard gift of $5 »

Thanks,
Kristin Brown
Director of Digital Strategy
League of Conservation Voters

P.S. Want to get your senators’ scores directly to your phone? Text SCORECARD to 877-877 and we’ll send them your way!