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Who
…benefits from GOP’s Midterm win?
According to former Republican Congressman Ron Paul, it is the NeoCons. Once the GOP officially won a majority in the Senate, Paul tweeted: “Republican control of the Senate = expanded neocon wars in Syria and Iraq. Boots on the ground are coming!”
To wit, the GOP victory means perennial hawk Sen. John McCain will become Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and, perhaps, also means the end of defense budget sequestration. One key loss for the Democrats on the Armed Services Committee was Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado, who was also one of the Senate’s leading critics of the NSA’s bulk data collection program.
The ascendancy of McCain to the SASC chairmanship gives foreign policy hawks new leverage to force President Obama’s hand on Syria and the war on the Islamic State. As an analysis in Stars and Stripes points out, McCain is “on record saying the U.S. should more heavily arm the Free Syrian Army, and should create both a no-fly zone and a buffer zone to protect and replenish fighters and refugees.”
Whether or not this election victory exposes a growing rift among Republicans over foreign intervention or leads to a “Battle for the soul of the GOP,” there is little doubt that defense policy, the defense budget and foreign policy will shift in favor of Washington’s more belligerent voices.
What
…happened in the NSA court case?
On Tuesday, a U.S. appeals court “grilled opponents of the U.S. government program that collects millions of Americans’ phone records, casting doubt on whether it would uphold a lower court ruling that found the program was likely unlawful.”
Although the three-judge panel—all Republican appointees—appeared to “struggle” with the program’s legality, the track record of those judges after 9/11 has decidedly favored government secrecy and the national security state over civil liberties.
One problem with the case against the government is lead plaintiff Larry Klayman, who, according to The Intercept, is known for his bombast and litigiousness. He just happened to file one of the first post-Snowden lawsuits.
Meanwhile, there are growing concerns over “supercookies”—a new internet tracking system used by Verizon and AT&T to monitor 100 million mobile phone customers.
Why
Why did Alabama outlaw Sharia law and what potential problems will it cause?
Why does the National Interest think it is time to end the war on drugs … in Afghanistan?
Why was a Kuwaiti detainee released after being held for 13 years at Gitmo?
Why is the military-industrial complex determined to make drones more like insects?
Why is “corporate television” the biggest winner of the 2014 Election?
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