Wikileaks Heroes Pfc. Bradley Manning and Julian Assange

Obviously the government was keeping things secret for far too long that did not need to be secret. If it's over 10 years old and it doesn't reveal details of military weapons/plans or the identity of a US agent it should not be secret. Period.

Is this a democracy or not? Does the public have a right to know what the hell it's government is up to or not? Can the public be trusted to govern or not? YE,S YES, YES.

There's no half way here. Pfc. Bradley Manning and Julian Assange are heroes. Nothing less.

If the government doesn't want secrets released it shouldn't create them.

Agreeing with Ted Rall

Every so often I find myself agreeing with some what of Ted Rall has to say.

First and foremost, the economy. 60 percent of Democrats and 63 percent of Republicans told exit pollsters that the lack of jobs was their number-one issue. Obama never proposed a jobs program. He gave trillions of taxdollars to thieving banksters who ought to have been arrested instead, then tried to pass off this outrageous giveaway as economic stimulus. To make things worse, he stuck with an impossibly absurd argument: more people would have lost their jobs without it.

Even if the phony stimulus stopped things from getting worse--and it didn't--people don't care. They want the 20 percent of Americans who already lost their jobs--their friends, spouses, children and parents--to find new ones. Obama never addressed that.

He didn't even try.

...

The takeaway is anger, not ideology. People are pissed. They hate the bailouts, but the bailouts aren't the main point. More than anything else, the American people are angry that their government doesn't even pretend to give a damn about them.

Some of my friends disagree with the view that giving banks money instead of arresting the criminals (both political and corporate) responsible for this mess was the right thing to do. I can't but disagree, paying of the mortgages of Americans, even speculators would have been far preferable to throwing people out of work and re-enriching the rich and irresponsible.

Me, I wanted people (1) - PUNISHED, and (2) - THE ECONOMY FIXED. Instead we got (1) - BAILOUT, and (2) SCREW THE PEOPLE.

No wonder people are pissed.