DROWNING DEMOCRACY - AN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR

• Today the US Senate will likely give their approval to Obama's pick of John Brennan to be head of the CIA.  The best way to describe him is as a "loyal operative" for the oligarchy.  He worked for George W. Bush and is well known for his strong defense of torture.  Now he works for the magician and defends drone attacks - including the killing of American citizens by drones without due process as the constitution requires.  Obama calls Brennan "uniquely qualified" for the CIA job. Drones are now being used in the US for surveillance and targeting will be the next step - likely sooner than we think.
• South Korean media is reporting a story today that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) tried to manipulate popular opinion during last December‘s presidential election giving rise to charges that the NIS interfered in the election on an institutional level. Hankyoreh reports: On Feb. 5, six civic organizations, including MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic Society and the Progressive Network Center, issued a joint statement on the matter. “For NIS employees to write posts supporting the government and the ruling party and criticizing the opposition and civic groups, and to click ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ on articles posted by others, falls outside of the bounds of the normal work of the NIS. Thus far, the NIS has treated the right to collect information related to domestic security as grounds for getting involved with politics, but this right must be revoked once and for all,” the statement said. “We must also strip the NIS of the authority to plan and alter security work, which can influence police investigations, and gradually transfer this to the office of the National Security Council (NSC).”
• This South Korea story is very bad news but not a surprise as it is a classic example of fascism which results from the wedding of corporate capital and government.  Most politicians are in the bag.  It's the same story in the US and in most other countries around the world today.  Our fight is the same.  We are all in this together now.
• In the video below Chris Hedges speaks at the 2/6/13 news conference following oral arguments made at Federal Courthouse in New York City. Hedges v. Obama challenges key provisions of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act that legalize indefinite detention of American citizens. Learn more at www.StopNDAA.org