OMG . . .

FABIUS MAXIMUS: "With a stroke of his pen President Hope and Change erased much of America".

Now comes the great leap forward as Obama signs a new Executive Order on National Defense Resources Preparedness. It’s a horror show of unconstitutional power; here are a few highlights.

Before we start: This Order gathers together, systematizes, and expands existing powers. Note the open-ended nature of these provisions — broad in scope, with no stated limits in dollars or time. This goes far beyond preparation for war and disaster. It’s everyday tyranny. Like most of our post-9/11 new order, probably operated in secret and beyond effective judicial review.

Fraud as a business model . . .

WASHINGTON'S BLOG is a relatively new blog, wherein contributors anonymously post articles of some probity without being flamed personally. Probably a Good Idea. Why? Well, the article, "Government Says No to Helping States and Main Street, While Continuing to Throw Trillions at the Giant Banks" is a ghastly lay-out of the Great Rip-Off. I knew it was bad, but this is appalling. Well worth the read. An amazingly detailed article with all manner of links, just have a bottle of Scotch or something to take the pain away. H/T to Helmut, who sometimes uses this sage piece of advice as an e-mail signature:

If you see a game going on
and you cannot figure out
who the patsy is,
you are it.

How Is America Going To End?

SLATE HAS A MULTI-SECTION FEATURE, "How Is America Going To End?". It's worth the read, especially given the increasing divide between the red minds and the blue minds, and the win-at-any-price mentality of the conservative fundamentalists. There's even a "Choose Your Own Apocalypse" section, for those who want extra cheese or anchovies.