Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Obama's 'independent' NSA review board staffed with administration insiders

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Obama's 'independent' NSA review board staffed with administration insiders

Click here to access article from RT.

President Barack Obama said in August that an independent panel will review the United States’ surveillance capabilities in the wake of damaging NSA leaks. One month later, though, that group’s game plan is being called into question.

This is always the strategy of choice in dealing with potentially damaging issues facing the directors of the ruling class--they appoint an "independent commission" to investigate. Such commissions are used to fulfill some pre-determined goal. This is done by stacking them with the right people and/or limiting their budget, time to work, ability to work, and authority. We saw this with the Warren Commission and the 9/11 Commission, and now this commission.