INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE WITH BASEBALL CARDS - IT'S JUST A GAME

• The New York Times revealed Tuesday how Obama “has placed himself at the helm of a top secret ‘nominations’ process to designate terrorists for kill or capture, of which the capture part has become largely theoretical.” He insists “on approving every new name on an expanding ‘kill list,’ poring over terrorist suspects’ biographies on what one official calls the macabre ‘baseball cards’ of an unconventional war.” The Times described how more than 100 members of “the government’s sprawling national security apparatus” meet in a video conference to go over potential nominees for the death list and “recommend to the president who should be the next to die.” The nominations then go to the White House where Obama, guided by his top counterterrorism adviser, John O. Brennan, approves names added to the list.
•  Lisa Savage from Solon, Maine writes, "President Obama's signature warfare method, the use of unmanned drones for extrajudicial killing, is a game changer. The warrior ethos which sustained commitment on the part of young men through the ideals of courage and manliness is waning. On Memorial Day a friend wondered if we should also honor the drones, since they do so much of the killing these days.  No one can predict the spiritual toll this will take on Americans who deploy drones against civilians, including many child victims. Aerial bombing by the U.S. is nothing new, but a bomber pilot did his job at considerable risk to his own safety. For drone operators at their joysticks, where every kill is a 'bugsplat,' the search for their own courage will be challenging."
• A Florida friend wrote this week:  "A thought on our discussion of the Republicrats (same party -- America needs a 2 party system!!!!). I am going to start calling the 2 candidates 'Obombney' -- it combines their names to show that there is no difference between the 2 parties and also shows their propensity and desire for bombing the crap out of all countries that they can and keeping our defense [military] budget inflated."