Obamanation Coronation: Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Bushbama

Martin Luther King on Vietnam*
from brasschecktv.com: Bushbama is getting his second four years. Bizarrely, there are still people who equate King and Bushbama. This must be some kind of a sick joke. Instead of wasting time on the inauguration, listen to this forty five year old speech that will trump anything said today or the next four years.

ground zero lounge: big hairy inaugural balls

from clyde lewis: It takes balls to give an ecumenical prayer in front of people who threaten lawsuits. It takes bigger balls to make a racist statement during a benediction. It takes some big hairy inaugural balls to propose changing the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence in a speech.

stream (part1/part2)
download (part1/part2)

Recorded every Monday evening in front of a live audience at Dante's Inferno in Portland Oregon, the Ground Zero Lounge features Clyde Lewis in this audience participation discussion of current events as they relate to the paranormal.

obama's 1st day, 2nd oath & 3rd world war

obama's day 1: recession, war, ethics & more
from ap: In a first-day whirlwind, President Barack Obama showcased efforts to revive the economy on Wednesday, summoned top military officials to the White House to chart a new course in Iraq and eased into the daunting thicket of Middle East diplomacy. "What an opportunity we have to change this country," said the 47-year-old chief executive, who also issued new ethics rules for his administration and hosted a reception at the presidential mansion for 200 inauguration volunteers and guests selected by an Internet lottery.

obama gets to work with whirlwind 1st day & 2nd oath

day 1 for the global savior barack obama
from kurt nimmo: Now that Obama is installed in the Oval Office, the job of “saving the world” can begin. Of course, that’s what the corporate media tells us — this one-term senator, basically a man out of nowhere — will save us. In fact, Barack Obama cannot save us and that will not be his job, even though millions apparently believe it. Barack Obama is a front man for the New World Order. He is a used car salesman tasked with selling us on global fascism, that is to say transnational corporatism. As Obama wrote for the globalist Council on Foreign Relations periodical Foreign Affairs, “the security and well-being of each and every American depend on the security and well-being of those who live beyond our borders.” For the globalists, “security and well-being” translates into invading small and enfeebled countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. In order for the global elite to be secure — that is to say, for them to retain power and push their world domination agenda forward — small nations resisting globalization must be invaded and carpet bombed with depleted uranium.

video: fox's chris wallace doubts that obama is president

no bible used in obama's 2nd oath
from washington post: In golf, they call it a mulligan. A do-over. There's no formal name for what President Obama and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. did last night. After flubbing his one role on Inauguration Day - administering the oath of office to Obama - Roberts traveled to the White House to re-administer the oath. Just to make sure. "We decided it was so much fun . . .," Obama joked while sitting on a couch in the Map Room. Obama stood and walked over to make small talk with pool reporters as Roberts donned his black robe. "Are you ready to take the oath?" Roberts asked. "I am, and we're going to do it very slowly," Obama replied. After a flawless recitation that included no Bible and took 25 seconds, Roberts smiled and said, "Congratulations, again." Obama said, "Thank you, sir," and then added: "All right. The bad news for the [reporters] is there's 12 more balls." A president is required by the Constitution to say, "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." At the inauguration, Roberts instead said: "that I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully."

obama offers internationalist vision

security team could use presidential doubles
from telegraph: Security experts said doubles could be used for public photo opportunities where he is not required to speak but may be exposed to a potential threat. President Obama is understood to be against the idea of using doubles himself because the tactic is generally associated with rulers including Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong-il of North Korea, Stalin and Adolf Hitler. But following hundreds of threats to his life already some of those charged with protecting him believe it may become an option. However, the best known Obama lookalike so far, said he didn't want the job. Ilham Anas, 34, an Indonesian photographer who bears a striking resemblance to the president, said: "I don't want to get shot."

inaugural prayer slam prompts obama smile

US senate confirms clinton as secretary of state
from wikinews: The United States Senate has, in a 94–2 vote yesterday, approved Hillary Clinton as the next United States Secretary of State. She is now the 67th person to hold that position and succeeds Condoleezza Rice. During the Senate debate, the issue of the foundation of Hillary's husband, former President Bill Clinton, was again raised, as it was during the hearing held by the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Some politicians have expressed concern that foreign donations to the foundation may create conflicts of interest for Hillary, as the Secretary of State is the country's top diplomat. The foundation employs Bill Clinton as its head.

obama appoints top notch cfr & bilderberg members

senate committee approves geithner as treasury chief
from iht: The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday backed President Barack Obama's nominee to head the U.S. Treasury, Timothy Geithner, overlooking his underpayment of some $34,000 in taxes and clearing the way for a full Senate confirmation vote. As part of the confirmation process, Geithner, in written responses to questions from Senate Finance Committee members, said that the new U.S. administration believes China is manipulating its currency. "President Obama - backed by the conclusions of a broad range of economists - believes that China is manipulating its currency," Geithner said. "The new economic team will forge an integrated strategy on how best to achieve currency realignment in the current economic environment."

this emperor has no clothes, it will all end in tears

obama’s nightmare 'green agenda' officially unveiled
from paul joseph watson: President Barack Obama’s plan to implement a cap-and-trade program that would cut carbon dioxide emissions by 80 per cent and also sink an already battered U.S. economy into a new great depression has officially been announced on the White House.gov website. However, the secondary phase of the agenda that would counter-balance such a move, the creation of millions of “green” stasi government jobs, has also been announced. According to the outline for the Obama-Biden comprehensive New Energy for America plan, the new administration will “Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.” The proposal has its roots in the defeated 2007 Lieberman/Warner bill, “America’s Climate Security Act,” which proposed a cap and trade system to reduce carbon emissions 70 per cent by 2050. If such a program was to be fully implemented, the consequences for the American economy would be devastating. The 2007 bill was rejected for a very good reason - its passage would have created economic conditions comparable to a new Great Depression and sunk America to near third world status.

obama inauguration got 35x the coverage of bush

obama sides with bush in spy case
from threat level: The Obama administration fell in line with the Bush administration Thursday when it urged a federal judge to set aside a ruling in a closely watched spy case weighing whether a U.S. president may bypass Congress and establish a program of eavesdropping on Americans without warrants. [76kb PDF]

but it's not all completely terrible...

obama orders guantanamo's closure within a year
from washington post: President Obama today signed a series of executive orders to close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year and end harsh interrogation techniques previously used on terrorist suspects, saying America will wage war on terrorism "in a manner consistent with our values and ideals." In a ceremony at the White House after a meeting with retired military flag officers, Obama said the Guantanamo facility would be closed "no later than one year from now" and that prisoners held there would be dealt with appropriately in keeping with the interests of justice and U.S. national security. The order to close the controversial detention camp, where terrorism suspects have been detained for years without trial, fulfills a promise Obama made during his presidential election campaign. "I can say without exception or equivocation that the United States will not torture," Obama said later at the State Department in announcing the appointment of two special envoys. Former Senate majority leader George J. Mitchell (D-Maine) was named Middle East envoy to seek Arab-Israeli peace, and former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke was appointed envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to deal with the resurgence there of al-Qaeda and the radical Taliban movement.

kennedy withdraws from consideration for ny senate &
source says kennedy never had a chance

obama frees bush historical records
from robert parry: When authoritarian forces seize control of a government, they typically move first against the public’s access to information, under the theory that a confused populace can be more easily manipulated. They take aim at the radio stations, TV and newspapers. In the case of George W. Bush in 2001, he also took aim at historical records, giving himself and his family indefinite control over documents covering the 12 years of his father’s terms as President and Vice President. It was, therefore, significant that one of Barack Obama’s first acts as President was to revoke the Bush Family’s power over that history and to replace it with an easier set of regulations for accessing the records. Just as George W. Bush upon taking office in January 2001 immediately delayed the scheduled release of documents from the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Obama wasted no time in reversing that policy by signing a new executive order on his first working day in office. Eight years earlier, George W. Bush initially postponed the document release and then – after the 9/11 attacks – sought to extend the cloak of secrecy over those documents virtually forever. Bush signed Executive Order 13233 on Nov. 1, 2001, granting the sitting President as well as former Presidents or ex-Vice Presidents – or their heirs – veto power over release of many documents. In other words, Bush was giving himself and his family effective control over key chapters of 20 years of American history (his father’s eight years as Vice President and four years as President, and his own eight years as President). Presumably at some point, that power would have passed to George W. Bush’s daughters, Jenna and Barbara, and to their progeny, giving the family a kind of dynastic control over how Americans would understand key events of an important national era. Self-serving myths could become a substitute for accurate history – all the better to protect the Bush Family’s interests.

and now, a few more updates from days 2 & 3...

obama orders closure of cia's secret prisons
from cryptogon: When I read Obama’s executive order to close the Guantánamo Bay prison camp, I just laughed the thing off as window dressing on a network of an unknown number of secret CIA prisons and torture facilities. In short, I felt that it was so ridiculous that I didn’t even bother mentioning it. Now, however, we have another executive order, ENSURING LAWFUL INTERROGATIONS... Don’t get me wrong, don’t put words in my mouth, don’t get too happy, BUT, this is a very big deal. This is a substantive, positive development. Now, the tendency of people in desperate situations is to think that any positive development means that the crisis is over, nothing more to see here, let’s go buy a new iPod, etc. This is what the Obama Cult is doing now. Obviously, that’s dumb. I must, however, acknowledge substantive positive developments when they occur. Since I expected no substantially positive developments out of the Obama regime at all, this is a welcome development, and after just a couple of days. Of course, Obama’s spy choice won’t call waterboarding torture, but… look, at a minimum the latest executive order is something I definitely wasn’t expecting. Like trading, however, one countertrend crank doesn’t mean a reversal of the larger trend. Maybe the Obama regime will require much more sophisticated analysis and discernment than the familiar one-way, race-to-the-bottom paradigm of the Bush era (which covers the years from 1981 to the first couple of weeks of 2009, in my opinion). This will make my work much more interesting, which I welcome. The fact that even I see this as a noteworthy positive development should be an indication of just how far off the rails the U.S. has gone. WooHoo! The U.S. is closing its secret torture facilities! WooHoo! Yes, it’s good news. But the much more disturbing issue remains the fact that it was allowed to happen in the first place, when it was obviously the work of Machiavellian people who were mostly despised. If no resistance was offered under those circumstances, what would the new regime be able to accomplish for the dark side with Obama’s cult of personality status and the sycophantic Hollywood myth makers practically experiencing glossolalia over the prospect of serving it??? Holy shit. I don’t want to think about it.

many bush officials held over at homeland stupidity
from washington post: Obama Administration Makes the Unusual Move to Ensure Continuity... Wary of being caught short-handed in case of a domestic crisis, the Obama administration has asked nearly two dozen Bush administration officials in the Department of Homeland Security to stay in their jobs until successors can be named. The attempt at continuity is unusual in presidential transitions between parties, which typically lead to wholesale purging of politically appointed personnel. At the Justice Department, for example, almost no Bush holdovers remain beyond Deputy Attorney General Mark R. Filip, who is acting as attorney general pending confirmation of Obama nominee Eric H. Holder Jr., and Filip's two top aides. By contrast, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has retained the department's second-ranking official, Deputy Secretary Paul A. Schneider, and its top border security official, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner W. Ralph Basham, as well as its operations director and the assistant secretaries responsible for policy and private sector coordination. The heads of the Coast Guard and Secret Service, who are not political appointees, and DHS Undersecretary for Management Elaine C. Duke, whose tenure is set by law, also remain. Napolitano acted "to assure a smooth and effective transition in a department whose responsibility for the security of the American people is paramount," spokesman Sean Smith said. "People were exercising prudent caution."

why obama must insist on prosecution of bush for capital crimes

obama's orders leave torture & indefinite detention intact
from global research: On Thursday, President Barack Obama issued executive orders mandating the closure of the Guantánamo Bay prison camp in a year’s time, requiring that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and military personnel follow the Army Field Manual’s prohibitions on torture, and closing secret CIA prisons overseas. While the media is portraying these orders as a repudiation of the detention and interrogation policies of the Bush administration, they actually change little. They essentially represent a public relations effort to refurbish the image of the United States abroad after years of torture and extralegal detentions and shield high-ranking American officials from potential criminal prosecution... This followed Tuesday’s request for a stay from the Federal District Court in Washington in similar appeals that could affect the cases of more than 200 Guantánamo prisoners. Thus, the immediate effect of the new administration’s moves is to halt civilian trials that could prove immensely damaging to the government by revealing systematic torture of the detainees and could potentially entangle high government officials.

obamessiah & the inauguration ad nauseum

from christopher ketcham: The American presidency in its outward show and innermost tendency has since World War II increasingly shown all the markings of monarchy. The president is hovered over and catered to by hundreds of aids and sycophants, his every whim answered at notice. He enjoys a private army in the guise of the paramilitaries in the intelligence agencies. He lives in a “White House” that is itself a court contained in a bubble where the troubles of the average man cannot penetrate. He certainly does not walk often among the people, but when he does, he allows the people to touch him as they would a king, the black-suited guard walling him off, his contempt expressed in direct proportion to the ceremony, noise, trumpets, curtains, light, music, and entertainments meant to ensure that we understand this is no mere man but an ur-expression of power itself.

Hence, the pomp of the presidential inauguration, which now, under Barack Obama, is expected to become the most expensive in US history. One estimate is that the total cost for the festivities of January 20, and in the days running up to it and after, will rise above $150 million. (By contrast, the 2005 swearing-in of George W. Bush, as profligate an executive as ever imagined, cost $42 million.) Of the $150 million budgeted to handle the millions of people who will descend on Washington, and to finance the lavish parties, the assignations in backrooms, the dying lobsters and the champagne uncorked, just $45 million - an obscene sum alone - has been offered up by private donors. The rest, which includes an emergency $75 million requested from the federal government by the city of DC for transportation costs and for the ever-effective bugaboo of "security," will be drawn from the pockets of taxpayers. We the people will also fund a mass prayer service as the cherry on top.

Oh happy day! Thus doth Change descend among us in the same old purple raiment and with the smiling largesse that the peons pay for. January 20 is a historic wasted opportunity. Obama might have signaled real change from the outset by canceling the whole rotten affair as the waste and silliness and ostentation that it is. Instead, a simple address, televised or better yet on radio, would have sufficed. Something like the following: “My fellow Americans, this is no time for frivolity. The country is falling down around our ears! The reason is mostly because we have blown our money in bad investments, whether it be in war or on Wall Street or on Main Street. Let’s not flush millions of dollars more down the toilet in self-congratulation and the flatus of long speeches. Nuff said. See you tomorrow when the work begins.” Click.

obamessiah coronation: yay! we're out of the frying pan!

new commander-in-chief sworn in
from ap: Stepping into history, Barack Hussein Obama grasped the reins of power as America's first black president on Tuesday, saying the nation must choose "hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord" to overcome the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. In frigid temperatures, an exuberant crowd of more than a million packed the National Mall and parade route to celebrate Obama's inauguration in a high-noon ceremony. They filled the National Mall, stretching from the inaugural platform at the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial in the distance. With 11 million Americans out of work and trillions of dollars lost in the stock market's tumble, Obama emphasized that his biggest challenge is to repair the tattered economy left behind by outgoing President George W. Bush.

inauguration security tight after threats received

as security envelopes capital, def sec robert gates hides out in a 'continuity of government' scheme as 'designated successor'
from danger room: As the crowds descend on the National Mall to hear President-elect Barack Obama take the oath of office, security in Washington is tighter than ever. Over 10,000 National Guard troops are on duty, part of a task force orchestrated by the Secret Service that includes uniformed police, plainclothes officers and representatives of dozens of government agencies... Perhaps the most important security precaution, however, is being taken by the Pentagon. As part of a "continuity of government" scheme, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will go to an undisclosed location, where he will ride out the inaugural festivities as Obama's designated successor in the event of some catastrophe. The White House announced the plan on Monday; Pentagon spokesman told Agence France-Presse that Gates "will be spending the day at a military installation outside the national capital region."

transcript of president obama's inaugural address

inaugural inanity
from lew rockwell: Ten thousand National Guardsmen, 7,500 active-duty soldiers, 25,000 cops from "99 federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies." A city "honeycombed" with "communication command centers" spying on supposedly free Americans with 5,265 surveillance cameras. And, as if we aren’t already up to our eyeballs in goons, an entire brigade of the US Army on call. The cost for this hyperbolic hysteria? Hundreds of millions at a time when many taxpayers can’t scrape together the next month’s mortgage. All for an inauguration that has attracted no "specific threats." 'Critics' contend that this is overkill. Go figure... You can say this for the TSA and the millions of Americans cheering an emperor who has no clothes: they certainly deserve one another.

shoe-bombers strike washington

'goodbye bush': chant in crowded washington metro
from dpa: Washington thrummed with excitement Tuesday morning as tens of thousands crowded into subway cars and poured through the streets to celebrate the end of one era and the beginning of another. In just four hours, Barack Obama will take the reins of US power from George W Bush, and Metro riders at L'Enfant Plaza, stalled by train problems, began to sing. 'Goodbye Bush, Goodbye Bush,' over and over and over they chanted. The mood was as much an outpouring of support for the country's first African-American president as it was a celebration of the Republican president's departure after eight increasingly unpopular years in the White House.

bush commutes sentences of ex-agents

cheney finally wheeled away
from raw story: Outgoing Vice President Dick Cheney will attend President-elect Obama's inauguration in a wheel chair, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said on Monday. Cheney was moving boxes into his new residence in McLean, Va., when he pulled a muscle in his back. Cheney's doctor said he will need to travel by wheelchair for several days, according to a published report.

limbaugh: 'i hope obama fails'

how obama is wooing the military
from time: Amid all the pomp and solemnity surrounding his arrival in Washington, Barack Obama found time to perform a couple of quiet salutes to an important constituency. On Sunday morning, he and Vice President–elect Joe Biden placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. On Monday morning, the President-elect slipped over to Walter Reed Army Medical Center for an unannounced visit with troops wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq. Much of the country may have missed those brief visits, but the men and women of the U.S. military didn't... And so, as far as the courtship is going, Obama is getting a solid salute back from the rank and file.

video: obama’s national day of service
(or, obama's day of national service)

martin luther king on war: silence is betrayal
from brasscheck tv: Yesterday was Martin Luther King day. Today, the US inaugurates a new president who happens to be black. Some people connect the two events. They can't be serious. Even after the "cease fire," civilians in Gaza are still being slaughtered and Obama's silence is deafening. Like McCain, Obama went to AIPAC on bended knee to get their blessing. It's an insult to King and his memory to compare the two. Obama needs to earn the comparison and he's far from it right now.

obama's hbo/disney/verizon inaugural celebration attracts 400k

obama to defend telecom spy immunity
from threat level: The incoming Obama administration will vigorously defend congressional legislation immunizing U.S. telecommunication companies from lawsuits about their participation in the Bush administration's domestic spy program. That was the assessment Thursday by Eric Holder, President-elect Barack Obama's choice for attorney general, who made the statement during his confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

and the overflow of updates...
obama sworn in as 44th US president*
order of the inaugural parade down dc's pennsylvania avenue*
'i, barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear…'*
obama's inaugural address: humility, gratitude, sacrifice*
obama succeeds bush as 44th president of the US*
bush bids goodbye at capitol, begins trip to texas*
'change has come': 1st post on whitehouse.gov announces*
fact check: obama goofs right off the bat*
obama speech censored in china*
video: exuberant at inauguration, msnbc's matthews gushes about 'change'*
record masses of 2million meet obamessiah on mall*
media unleash round-the-clock obama-mania*
hardly in office and already obama makes a mistake*
few protesters at inauguration*
slideshow: barack obama's inauguration*
oprah & obama share 'top secret' dinner steps from white house*
video: alex jones on russia today: obama inauguration*
audio: alex jones analyzing obama*
obama’s rise due to 'blueblood' ancestry or power of american dream?*
kennedy taken out on stretcher from luncheon after experiencing convulsions*
obama seeks halt to legal proceedings at gitmo*

video: cnn says roberts 'screwed up' oath of office

media execs prep for 'news emergency'

from politico: Media executives must have been paying attention last week when President Bush declared a state of emergency for Tuesday's inaugural. CNN's Washington bureau chief David Bohrman, for one, issued a "news emergency" of his own... "It's the biggest event any of us have ever had to cover," Bohrman said. While there have been several massive Obama events this past year — Berlin, Denver, and Chicago's Grant Park — the inaugural is proving to be the most complicated. Covering it requires dealing with a vast number of moving parts, among them the challenges for camera crews of literally moving around to cover the sprawling event. Much of Washington will resemble an occupied city, complete with closed streets, checkpoints, and a 40,000-plus security force... An extra million people on Tuesday significantly increases gridlock and cuts down on the ability to move television correspondents, camera operators, newspaper reporters, photographers and bloggers. Even seasoned professionals, accustomed to the crowds and pomp and circumstance of inaugurals past, express disbelief at the sheer crush of attention surrounding the moment Barack Obama plants his right hand on the Bible... Chris Isham, CBS's Washington bureau chief, said that Inauguration Day is "a much broader, multi-range circus," than Obama's large campaign events in '08, given the sheer number of positions to stake out... So covering the inaugural is shaping up to be either a giant slumber party or entering a war zone. Or a little bit of both. ABC political director David Chalian, mentioning that the inaugural will be "an all-hands-on-deck kind of event," spoke a bit more ominously about staff heading out of the bureau on Tuesday morning. "You're literally going out into the wilderness to some degree," Chalian said. "There will be no home base."

obamessiah coronation: such a big party for so little change

obama's inauguration financed partially by bailed-out wall st execs
from abc: The country is in the middle of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, which isn't stopping rich donors and the government from spending $170 million, or more, on the inauguration of Barack Obama. The actual swearing-in ceremony will cost $1.24 million, according to Carole Florman, spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. It's the security, parties and countless Porta-a-Potty rentals that really run up the bill.

wall street becomes top obama donor

obama reaches out for mccain’s counsel
from nytimes: Not long after Senator John McCain returned last month from an official trip to Iraq and Pakistan, he received a phone call from President-elect Barack Obama. As contenders for the presidency, the two had hammered each other for much of 2008 over their conflicting approaches to foreign policy, especially in Iraq. (He’d lose a war! He’d stay a hundred years!) Now, however, Mr. Obama said he wanted Mr. McCain’s advice, people in each camp briefed on the conversation said. What did he see on the trip? What did he learn? It was just one step in a post-election courtship that historians say has few modern parallels, beginning with a private meeting in Mr. Obama’s transition office in Chicago just two weeks after the vote. On Monday night, Mr. McCain will be the guest of honor at a black-tie dinner celebrating Mr. Obama’s inauguration.

obama 'has 4 years to save earth'

big party, small change: baby, we were born to run...the empire
from chris floyd: I understand there's a big party going on in Washington this week, where hundreds of thousands of people are gathering to celebrate Bob Gates' retention as Pentagon chief. I mean, that is what this shindig is all about, isn't it? Hope and.... continuity? [See Arthur Silber for more.] We've got Bush's man still driving the war machine, we've got Bush's generals still waging the "War on Terror" all over the world. We've got a president who is eager to spend his "political capital" on slashing "entitlements," because everyone must sacrifice, everybody's "going to have to have some skin in this game" - everyone, that is, except for the president's Wall Street backers, who are about to receive yet another tranche of billions of taxpayer dollars in what they are now calling openly - and rightly - "opportunity funding." We've got a president honoring homophobic right-wing preachers who urge their followers to imitate the mindless zeal of Nazis and Bolsheviks in doing "whatever it takes" to establish Christianist dominion. We've got a president whose education chief believes in turning over the teaching of America's children to corporations -- and the military. We've even got a president who follows Dick Cheney's "good advice" on interrogating Terror War captives. It seems like the only place you can find "change" in Washington these days is in the cup of a street beggar, left homeless and jobless in the great bankrupting of the nation by Wall Street and the war machine.

chavez says obama has stench of bush

obama’s web wasteland
from sitepoint: Tomorrow, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States and the first African-American chief executive of the country. That is indeed a historic moment in American politics and race relations, and Obama’s campaign certainly had a good deal of significance, especially in terms of how it utilized the Internet. The Internet will play a huge part in tomorrow’s inaugural festivities, but what has happened to the vast social networks that Obama built during that campaign? What will happen to them?

high school censors 'inappropriate comments' about obamessiah

ny councilman proposes mandatory public service for students
from epoch times: Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Queens) and representatives from City Year, New York Cares, Common Cause NY, and Big Brothers Big Sisters gathered at the Church of St. Francis Xavier on Sunday, Jan. 18. Gioia proposed that New York City create a requirement of 20 hours of community service for high school graduation, inspired by President-Elect Barack Obama’s calling the nation to service in his Inauguration and Mayor Michel Bloomberg’s pledging to encourage public service at the State of the City address delivered last week.

washington goes into security clampdown for inauguration

update: starbucks 'are you in' music video ad


celebrities make service pledge videos to obama on myspace
from raw story: On the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration more than 50 celebrities have teamed up on MySpace to record videos making a "pledge of service" to the next president of the United States.

350,000 conservatives pledge to block obama's socialistic agenda
from raw story: A conservative group, Grassfire.org, announced on Monday that its online petition pledging "patriotic" opposition to President-elect Barack Obama has gathered 350,000 signatures. (By presstime, the groups website was claiming a total of 371,453.) Grassfire's founder, Steve Elliot, stated, "This is not a personal attack on Barack Obama. On the contrary, this is a call to action for conservatives who profess love for our country and respect for our institutions. Our disagreements with the President are based in ideology and public policy only. From this firm foundation we are mounting a patriotic, resilient, conservative resistance to Obama's agenda."

man charged with threatening obama on website

masonic rituals live on in inauguration
from washington times: President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in Tuesday will incorporate several elements out of America's Masonic past. One-third of the signers of the Constitution, many of the Bill of Rights signers and America's first few presidents (except for Thomas Jefferson) were Freemasons, a fraternal organization that became public in early 18th-century England. Although it became fabulously popular in America, at one time encompassing 10 percent of the population, Pope Clement XII condemned Freemasonry in 1738 as heretical. The latest pronouncement was issued in 1983 by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - now Pope Benedict XVI - who called Masonic practices "irreconcilable" with Catholic doctrine. Still, as the first president, George Washington had to come up with appropriate rituals for the new country. He borrowed many of them from Masonic rites he knew as "worshipful leader" of a lodge in Alexandria. His Masonic gavel is on display at the Capitol Visitor Center. Until this inauguration, Washington's Masonic Bible - on which he swore his obligations as a Freemason - was used for the presidential oath of office. President-elect Barack Obama will use Abraham Lincoln's Bible.

new 9/11 brochure for obama inauguration
from 9/11 blogger: DC 911Truth has produced an attractive new brochure to be distributed at the Obama Inauguration and surrounding events. On the cover, President Obama is asked to "help America learn the truth about 9/11," (160kb PDF) but the interior is aimed at general audiences who may not be aware of problems with the official account, or who may be quick to dismiss any questions as conspiracy theories.

audio: alex jones on the new puppet obama

video: obama’s first official usaf flight*
obama considering government-run 'bad bank' for decaying assets*
black history illuminates inauguration*
obama commemorates mlk day with service*
what was barack obama like in 1990? (eerily prophetic)*
video: obama comments on US air pilot*

obamessiah coronation: the flock is led to the slaughter

obama’s mass movement gets a new mission
from kurt nimmo: “People don’t remember what fascism was, I am afraid. A lot of people think, especially here in the U.S. where people are ignorant, people believe that fascism is a purely top down phenomenon,” author Webster Griffin Tarpley told the Dutch journalist Daan de Wit during an interview on May 11, 2008. “Fascism is the march on Rome; fascism is the storm troopers fighting in the streets. It is a gutter and street level movement; it is a grass roots movement that has anti-authoritarian cover, anti-parliamentary, anti-congress cover. It has left cover. Mussolini of course was a revolutionary socialist and a lot of people in his movement were left wingers, you now, extreme trade union activists, syndicalists and stuff like this.” ... In order for the banksters and ruling elite behind Obama to realize their political agenda and wipe out all effective opposition in the process, the Obama mass movement — initially described as merely a grassroots political movement organized to get Obama elected — will now become “Obama 2.0,” or officially “Organizing for America,” a “new group… that aims to continue the grassroots advocacy that the former Illinois Senator began in his presidential campaign,” according to the Washington Post.

celebrations begin as obama's inauguration nears
from mcclatchy: President-elect Barack Obama rolled along Saturday from Philadelphia to the nation's capital on a four-stop train tour that drew thousands along the way and paid homage to the arduous inaugural journey made by his political hero Abraham Lincoln, 148 years ago.

obama’s inaugural train ride

americans flock to dc to be part of obama's inauguration
from mcclatchy: Judi Wortham, of Nashville, Tenn., saw the fleece hat and had to have it, shiny and bedazzled as it was, decorated in a sparkly copy of Shepard Fairey's iconic painting of president-elect Barack Obama. "Anything that goes like this, 'bling, bling,'" she said, making blinking motions with her hands before she sat down to lunch at Old Ebbitt Grill near the White House. "Anything that's shiny. So of course I love the new president."

going overboard with obama souvenirs

nation's hopes high for obama, poll shows
from washington post: Even as they express deep concern about the current direction of the country, Americans are overwhelmingly optimistic about Barack Obama and are pinning their hopes for recovery from a massive economic collapse on the president-elect, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Nearly eight in 10 of those surveyed say the country is headed seriously off course. Seven in 10 worry about their family's finances, and 94 percent say the country's economy is in "not so good" or "poor" shape, the most negative assessment in more than 23 years of Post-ABC polling. Obama will take office Tuesday as the most popular incoming president in a generation. He also will enter the White House with a broad mandate to act that was missing when George W. Bush was elected by the narrowest of margins in 2000.

obama's train journey describes arc of US history

obama inauguration to generate over a half-billion pounds of co2
from business & media: Here’s an environmental impact story you’re not likely to see in the mainstream media. Neither NBC’s chief environmental affair correspondent Anne Thompson, nor ABC correspondent Bill Blakemore nor CBS “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley – all of whom have been eager over the years to expose so-called crimes against the environment – have rushed to report on the massive carbon footprint of the Obama inauguration. But a comprehensive new study by The Institute for Liberty (527kb PDF) (IFL) took an in-depth look at each component of the Jan. 20 inauguration in Washington, D.C., and estimated that 575 million pounds of carbon dioxide will be emitted in the atmosphere for the inauguration – which is roughly equal to what the average American household would produce in 57,598 years.

obamessiah coronation: the police state celebrates 'change'

inauguration is climax to 2yrs of increasing security around obama
from washington post: As jubilant Democrats nominated Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president in a Denver convention hall in late August, the U.S. Secret Service in Washington placed its largest ever order for bulletproof glass. The service requested about 5 tons of "transparent armor," laminated with four layers of virtually unbreakable plastic to resist chemicals, flames and multiple gunshots. When Obama is sworn in as the nation's 44th president Tuesday, the ballistic shield will provide a final layer of safety in a massive exercise in presidential security, the culmination of two years of a steady ratcheting up of the protection around Obama to a level unseen for any of his predecessors.

unprecedented security as obama set for white house
from afp: An unprecedented security blanket has been draped over the US capital for Barack Obama's inauguration next week, and the threat level to the country's first black president is expected to remain high well beyond his swearing-in. More than 12,500 active troops and military reservists, thousands of metropolitan police as well as personnel from 57 departments around the nation are descending on Washington to protect against any potential terrorist attack during Tuesday's historic ceremony, according to officials.

downtown dc becomes the green zone
from danger room: In addition to a record number of houseguests and an explosion of kitsch, Washington, D.C., is witnessing an unprecedented surge in security for tomorrow's presidential inauguration. A force of 20,000 police officers, National Guard troops, and plainclothes agents will be on the streets tomorrow to watch over the inaugural festivities. F-16 fighters and Patriot missile batteries will be on alert to defend the capital's airspace.

chertoff: officials searching for ‘bigoted’ threats
from raw replay: NBC’s Pete Williams reports that the Inauguration will the most secured event in U.S. history. This video is from NBC’s Today Show, broadcast Jan. 19, 2009.

washington mobilizes 42,500-strong security force for inaugural
from bloomberg: When senior FBI official Joseph Persichini takes his 5 a.m. jog down Washington’s National Mall, he imagines everything that could go wrong at Barack Obama’s inaugural next week. He said he thinks about the possibility of a sleet storm, bombing, chemical attack or - perhaps hardest to guard against - the lone gunman bent on turning a celebration into a national tragedy.

inauguration counter-snipers intend to be seen
from raw replay: CNN’s Jeanne Meserve reports on the “men in black” that will be protecting the Inauguration. This video is from CNN’s American Morning, broadcast Jan. 19, 2009.

washington assembles largest inauguration security force ever
from foxnews: Two million people? Four million? Bring 'em on. If, as expected, a record crowd turns out for Barack Obama's inauguration, Washington will be ready with the largest number of security people ever assembled in the nation's capital. The U.S. Secret Service is overseeing a security force of more than 40,000 people, including 7,500 active duty soldiers, 10,000 National Guard troops and 25,000 law-enforcement officers. That surpasses the 31,000 troops serving in Afghanistan.

capital to be virtually locked down for inauguration
from washington times: The estimated crowd of more than 1 million for the inauguration in the District will also bring thousands of law-enforcement officers and military personnel from across the country in an unprecedented security effort. "It's clear that this is a historic event, and we understand the kinds of crowds that have come out to see President-elect Obama on the campaign trail," said agent Malcolm Wiley, a U.S. Secret Service spokesman. "We believe this crowd may be larger than we've seen during past inaugurations."

obamessiah: inaugural emergencies & the end of the beginning

'state of emergency' declared for inauguration
from nytimes: It is true, President Bush sounded alarms about Barack Obama during the campaign season. On Tuesday, Mr. Bush went one step further: He declared Mr. Obama’s inauguration an actual emergency. The declaration, though, was not a political statement about Republicans being run out of town. Rather, it was a bureaucratic move intended to provide additional federal money to help Washington cope with the huge crowds that are expected to turn out for the ceremony next Tuesday that will make Mr. Obama the nation’s first black president. The government has set aside $15 million to help pay for security and medical personnel. But Mayor Adrian M. Fenty asked for more money, citing possible crowds of 1.5 million to 2 million and “the associated stresses that it would place on the city’s capabilities, particularly the medical community,” said Scott Stanzel, a spokesman for Mr. Bush. Mr. Bush granted the request as “a precaution,” Mr. Stanzel said; if Washington needs the money, it can apply for reimbursement through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The declaration will also allow federal public health workers to join in the public safety effort. The president’s power to declare a state of emergency is typically used after natural disasters, although Mr. Stanzel said presidents had occasionally declared emergencies before an anticipated event. But never before, he said, has an advance declaration been used for a “non-disaster.”

nasa to show off new lunar module at inauguration
from rogue government: NASA is sending a prototype of its new lunar rover to appear in the Presidential Inauguration Parade in Washington, D.C. The six-wheeled Small Pressurized Rover, or SPR, will provide the big, geeky finish to the line of floats and marching bands scheduled to head down Pennsylvania Avenue on Jan. 20. The hope is that the new Obama Administration will support NASA's current plan to return to the moon, on or around 2020. The battery powered, lunar SUV will be piloted by astronaut and SPR project manager Mike Gernhardt. When it reaches President Barack Obama's box at the end of the parade route, spacesuited astronaut Rex Walheim will detach from the vehicle, carrying the American flag. He will take several step towards toward the reviewing stand, stop, and salute the new President, ending the parade.

obama to face nuclear crisis in 1st yr

'arrest bush 2009' plans inauguration day protest
from raw story: A group calling itself "Arrest Bush 2009" has announced its intention to hold a "Yes We Can Arrest Bush" event in front of the FBI Building in Washington, DC during the Inaugural Parade. However, coordinator Jose Rodriguez insists, "It's not a protest; it's a celebratory event." Arrest Bush 2009, which is sponsored by the Washington Peace Center, After Downing Street, and Shoes For Bush, is demanding that Bush be arrested for war crimes and for lying to the American people.

chief justice john roberts meets obama in private

feds cite racist chatter for 'higher state of alert' in inauguration
from nydailynews: Federal agents are on “a higher state of alert” because of hate talk by white supremacists about Barack Obama’s inauguration, officials told the Daily News on Tuesday. “That chatter is out there, no doubt about it,” one senior FBI agent in Washington said this afternoon, adding that no credible plots against the 56th Presidential Inauguration have been detected. The Bureau has ordered agents in all 56 field offices to “shake the trees” in advance of the Jan. 20 swearing-in of the 44th President, who will become the first African-American to occupy the Oval Office. “They’re talking to sources to determine if there is any threat information in regard to the Inauguration,” the FBI source said. “Everybody in law enforcement dealing with that particular (white supremacist) ‘clientele’ is on a higher state of alert,” a senior agent at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told The News. The ATF has expertise infiltrating white supremacist groups. A classified threat assessment for the Inauguration by the FBI and Homeland Security Department citing agitated hate groups was sent to police agencies this week. Counterterrorism officials have also picked up chatter from Islamic militants, but the agitated domestic hate groups are “the big concern,” said another FBI official. But Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told reporters at a briefing with local officials: “We have no credible intelligence to suggest a credible threat (to Obama’s Inauguration).” During Obama’s campaign, white racists in Colorado and Tennessee were charged in separate plots against the candidate. Local officials from D.C., Maryland and Virginia cited security concerns Tuesday for new restrictions on those attending the ceremonies - a throng estimated between 1.5 and 3 million. The historic ceremonies will be the largest National Special Security Event ever. At least 20,000 cops, federal agents and National Guard troops will be deployed.

online threat to kill obama leads to arrest

obama's high-tech inauguration day
from techradar: Washington DC will be the focus of the world's media next Tuesday for Barack Obama's Inauguration as the 44th President of the USA - and that means it will also be home to some cutting edge technology. The Department of the Interior is responsible for all streets but one entering the downtown Mall area where the parade and ceremony will occur. It plans to oversee the event using a wall-sized display of flat-screen LCD monitors called the OptiPortal, made by the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) at the University of Chicago. The OptiPortal takes ultra-high-resolution images backed by supercomputer power to provide expansive, razor-sharp, eagle's eye aerial pictures of the inauguration site.

'molotov' mitchell strikes again: obama's not an american!

geithner faces tough questions on taxes & housekeeper
from dpa: President-elect Barack Obama's pick for treasury secretary could face tough questions in his confirmation hearing after problems arose Tuesday with his taxes and the immigration status of his former housekeeper.

big govt is back as obama pledges that US will give a lead to the world

obama's intel adviser involved in security breach
from newsmax: Obama’s top terrorism and intelligence adviser, John O. Brennan, heads a firm that was cited in March for breaching sensitive files in the State Department’s passport office, according to a State Department Inspector General’s report released this past July.

obama's support among republicans grows

obama's neocon dinner
from mcclatchy: This could ruin their reputation: President-elect Barack Obama Tuesday evening attending a dinner party at the home of conservative columnist George Will, attended by fellow conservatives William Kristol and David Brooks. The press pool following the president-elect reported that he left his temporary home at Washington’s Hay-Adams hotel Tuesday evening and arrived a short time later at Will’s home in the Maryland suburbs. A press pool photographer shot a photo of Kristol, an editor of the Weekly Standard, and Brooks, a columnist at the New York Times. No other scribes noted.

farmers wary of obama administration

obama picks cfr president to be foreign policy advisor/envoy
from lefemineforlife: U.S. President-elect Obama has chosen president of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Richard Haass, along with senior CFR-member Richard Holbrooke, and CFR-member Dennis Ross as special Foreign Envoys/ Foreign Policy Advisors, reporting directly to Obama (as reported by CBS News). Richard Holbrooke has also been a CFR director three times, as he is presently. Richard Haas is also a CFR director. Even the CBS Evening News (reported by CFR-member anchor-propagandist Katie Couric) identified Haass as the president of the Council on Foreign Relations. Not surprisingly, CBS did not bother to mention that both Richard Holbrooke and Dennis Ross are also members of the Council on Foreign Relations.

video: cfr prez richard haass on colbert

senate approves $350bn in bail-out funds requested by obama
from guardian: A divided US Senate has approved president-elect Barack Obama's request for $350bn in unspent financial bail-out funds. The 52-42 vote releases the money in the midst of rising foreclosures and a worsening climate for US banks. It marked Obama's first legislative victory, days before he assumes office. The vote today came amid strong opposition from critics of how the first $350bn has been spent. Obama has said he wants to use the money to unclog the credit markets and extend loans to consumers, small businesses and municipalities. Obama's transition team said he also would use $50bn to $100bn of the money to reduce the number of house foreclosures.

video: yes we can... make real change

starbucks: 'are you in' obama’s civilian national security force?
from infowars: Starbucks wants to make it easy to join Obama’s proposed paramilitary brown shirt volunteers. “Starbucks will honor each person who pledges with a free tall brewed coffee beginning Wednesday, Jan. 21 through Sunday, Jan. 25. The goal of the effort is to raise pledges in excess of one million hours of service from all over the country,” a Starbucks press releases states. Starbucks wants to “make it easy to participate in the President-elect’s call for national service.” Back in September, the Christian Science Monitor reported that Obama plans to “leverage volunteerism in communities across the country” and make government “cool again.” Fortunately, a lot of people are beginning to realize government is never cool, as the founders warned a couple hundred years ago. In the months ahead, these folks will likely clash with Obamatron zombies, maybe even in the street.