The Colorado Independent

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

National Security

Hitchens dies, leaves craven people in power to sigh with relief

By | 12.16.11 | 10:58 am

Christopher Hitchens died yesterday of cancer. He was a learned and caustic cultural critic who wrote for the popular press and who was at his best when eviscerating the hypocrisy and pretense of people in power. He famously hated organized religion. It’s easy to imagine that, had Hitchens ever trained his talents on Colorado politics, he might have reserved his best stuff for the small-town Christian moralizing and persecutorial grandstanding that erupts in regular intervals from certain corners of the state capitol.

Homeland Security severs ties with Arpaio

By | 12.16.11 | 8:09 am

The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday it is immediately terminating its immigration-enforcement agreements with the office of Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz.

Gay Texas veteran blasts Perry for anti-gay ad

By | 12.14.11 | 8:05 am

The now notorious and highly controversial political ad by Texas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry ignited uproar among voters and caused fissures in the candidate’s own campaign staff. Seen as a last-minute pandering to the religious right as the Iowa caucus nears, Perry’s ad is under fire for its shot at openly gay servicemembers and what some are calling a fictional War on Christianity.

U.S. dogged as ‘immoral’ at Durban climate conference

By | 12.07.11 | 6:48 am

As the United Nations climate talks in Durban progress, they are becoming increasingly combative, offering a soft preview of the kind of political atmosphere destined to prevail in a world where agriculture in vulnerable regions of the planet begins to succumb to catastrophic drought and flooding. The United States and Canada have drawn intense criticism here during the first two days of the conference.

Homeland Security to prioritize deportations

By | 11.19.11 | 5:39 am

The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday it will begin reviewing about 300,000 deportation proceedings to implement prosecutorial discretion measures laid out in a June 2011 memo issued by John Morton, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (aka ICE).

Iowa Republicans: Cut military before Medicare or Social Security

By | 11.11.11 | 6:35 am

Likely Republican caucusgoers sent a strong message to GOP presidential candidates in an Iowa AARP survey released Thursday, showing they’re strongly opposed to cuts to Social Security and Medicare and would much rather reduce military spending to address the federal deficit.

In newly released grand jury testimony, Nixon leaned on familiar national security tropes

By | 11.10.11 | 1:04 pm

Richard Nixon is perhaps the best-known outed liar in history. In 1975, the year after he resigned in disgrace and was lifted away from the White House in a helicopter, the ex-president gave testimony before a grand jury investigating his administration. University of Wisconsin professor Stanley Kutler recently persuaded a federal judge to release the transcript for its public educational value. A quick scan of the trove of documents reveals a Cold War defense of secrecy, where Nixon leans on his idea of America’s special role as defender of freedom in the world to lie to his questioners. The line of argument will strike a familiar note to critics of Bush-Obama national security policies that have run over concerns for government accountability, civil rights and individual liberties.

Senator Udall calls for firing and prosecuting those responsible for Dover atrocities

By | 11.10.11 | 12:33 pm

Today, Senator Mark Udall called for the prosecution and/or firing of those involved in the improper handling of the remains of service men and women by the Dover Air Force Base. His comments were in response to news reports that the mortuary at Dover Air Force Base – the point of entry for most American troops killed overseas – for years disposed of the remains of service members by cremating them and burying them in a Virginia landfill.

Department of Justice retreats on controversial FOIA rule

By | 11.03.11 | 2:15 pm

Faced with increasing push-back from the public, the media, government watchdogs and a bipartisan list of lawmakers, the Department of Justice Thursday agreed to drop a proposed regulation that would have allowed government agencies to lie to members of the public seeking records through the Freedom of Information Act.

Udall to Holder: ‘Don’t try to protect citizens by lying to them’

By | 11.03.11 | 9:42 am

Colorado U.S. Senator Mark Udall, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has been a champion in the post-9/11 era of the need to balance tough national security measures against concerns for civil liberties and privacy protections. Wednesday he sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder expressing “deep concern” over a plan to rework a key regulation tied to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The new regulation, known as 16.6(f)(2), would allow the government to lie to citizens seeking sensitive information.

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