Intrepid Report: Week of April 11, 2016: FOIA documents reveal Gitmo in Chicago torture and abuse, Washington continues to destroy Latin American reformers, President Killary Would the world survive President Hillary?

Intrepid Report Newsletter
We cannot keep publishing without your help. We rely on you to help us pay our monthly expenses. So please Donate Monday Overturning inverted totalitarianism By Michael Hasty Perhaps the most important result so far of the Bernie Sanders insurgency is how starkly it has exposed the truly totalitarian nature of the 21st century American state. ‘Cherry picking’ leaked documents: a CIA art form By Wayne Madsen The US Central Intelligence Agency, rather than attempt to deter massive leaks of sensitive documents, including classified US government materials, has figured out it is much more advantageous to “cherry pick” certain information and then release it as “major news” to a corporate media eager and willing to run with what they are handed. Such has been the case with the so-called “Panama Papers.“ Neither America nor the world deserve Hillary Clinton’s inevitability By Ben Tanosborn Who, one might ask, better to understand, advocate, and take action on US interests around the world than the former secretary of state? Doesn’t Ms. Clinton’s background as past head of the State Department for Barack Obama round out her other training in domestic affairs as the perfect US Head of State, better described in our hawkish-lexicon as commander-in-chief? Isn’t that the way our forefathers did see the proper, and noble, political training demanded from anyone who aspires to become president of this nation, the United States of America? The shame of our country By Ed Dunphy Recently, I viewed a special on PBS which featured an old acquaintance. I feel more like a friend since he was such an influence during the sixties. However, I was more in tune with him then he was with me. In actuality it was honestly a very casual acquaintance. I guess in my mind it was more, since it was such brush with greatness. Here, there, everywhere, nowhere By Missy Comley Beattie Maybe it wasn’t the lure of adventure motivating my decision to sell the condo. Remember my telling you that when someone asks where I want to live, I say, “Nowhere.” I’ve been examining the simplicity (or complexity) of that response. Tuesday Trans-Atlantic & Trans-Pacific ‘Partnerships’ complete corporate world takeover’ By Paul Craig Roberts As I have emphasized since these “partnerships” were first announced, their purpose is to give corporations immunity from the laws in the countries in which they do business. The principle mechanism of this immunity is the granting of the right to corporations to sue governments and agencies of governments that have laws or regulations that impinge on corporate profits. For example, France’s prohibitions of GMO foods are, under the “partnerships,” restraints on trade that impinge on corporate profits. Should Hillary have the leading role? By Richard John Stapleton Hillary Clinton is a wonderful leader, so some memes tell us on Facebook and some pundits tell us in mainstream media. Anti-labor law protests in France By Stephen Lendman Small-scale protests last month grew to much larger ones—in Paris and numerous other French cities. ‘The most successful president in U.S. history’ By Dave Alpert The past couple of days, I’ve noticed postings on Facebook calling President Obama “the most successful president in U.S. history.” TSA mocks blind man By Lisa Simeone No matter how often we hear these stories, one after another after another after another, for years now, each new outrage is still infuriating. No matter how low you think the TSA can go, it always goes lower. Wednesday The war on savings: The Panama Papers, bail-ins, and the push to go cashless By Ellen Brown The bombshell publication of the “Panama Papers,” leaked from a Panama law firm specializing in shell companies, has triggered both outrage and skepticism. In an April 3 article, titled “Corporate Media Gatekeepers Protect Western 1% From Panama Leak,” UK blogger Craig Murray writes that the whistleblower no doubt had good intentions; but he made the mistake of leaking his 11.5 million documents to the corporate-controlled Western media, which released only those few documents incriminating opponents of Western financial interests. Washington continues to destroy Latin American reformers By Paul Craig Roberts Currently, Washington is conducting operations against Latin American presidents who tried to represent their own peoples instead of American business interests and Washington’s foreign policy. Washington is trying to unseat and indict President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, President Evo Morales in Bolivia, President Rafael Correa in Ecuador, and President Dilma Rousseff in Brazil. Washington has succeeded in getting the president of Argentina, Cristina Kirchner, out of office, and is now seeking to have her indicted. To round off its attack on Brazil’s reformist political party, Washington is orchestrating crimes with which to tar and indict Rousseff’s predecessor, Lula da Silva. America’s money controlled political process By Stephen Lendman From inception, America was never beautiful or democratic. Rich and powerful interests run things exclusively for their own benefit, ordinary people entirely shut out. Are you ready for President Paul Ryan? Why we desperately need a Plan C By Harvey Wasserman The Democratic party is teetering on the brink. The green/peace/social justice community needs a Plan C. The Republicans have one. The Democrats don’t. The impacts could be catastrophic. It’s not £30,000 in Cameron’s offshore account, it’s at least £2 million By Wayne Madsen British Prime Minister David Cameron tried to fend off criticism of an offshore trust maintained in the Bahamas by his father Ian Cameron and which he inherited upon his father’s death in 2010. The details of the trust were contained in the massive tranche of documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which were leaked to the media by the dubious International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), an operation funded by George Soros, the CIA-connected U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Ford Foundation. Thursday President Killary Would the world survive President Hillary? By Paul Craig Roberts Hillary Clinton is proving to be the “Teflon candidate.” In her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, she has escaped damage from major scandals, any one of which would destroy a politician. Hillary has accepted massive bribes in the form of speaking fees from financial organizations and corporations. She is under investigation for misuse of classified data, an offense for which a number of whistleblowers are in prison. Hillary has survived the bombing of Libya, her creation of a failed Libyan state that is today a major source of terrorist jihadists, and the Benghazi controversy. She has survived charges that as secretary of state she arranged favors for foreign interests in exchange for donations to the Clintons’ foundation. And, of course, there is a long list of previous scandals: Whitewater, Travelgate, Filegate. Diana Johnstone’s book, Queen of Chaos, describes Hillary Clinton as “the top salesperson for the ruling oligarchy.” Freedom Rider: Barack, Hillary and the Libya crime By Margaret Kimberley Barack Obama’s last nine months in office will provide plenty of opportunity for him to spoon feed his scribes in the corporate media. Under the pretense of writing history, they will serve as one collective pro-Obama mouthpiece between now and January 20, 2017. The process is a delicate one however. The president will also have to explain those policies that did not produce the outcomes he wanted. Such is the case with any discussion of his role in destroying Libya. Rove backing Cruz and Hillary at same time By Wayne Madsen According to longtime Republican Party insiders, chief GOP strategist Karl Rove, dubbed “Bush’s brain” during his long service for George W. Bush, is providing campaign advice for both GOP candidate Ted Cruz and leading Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Rove, who backed the aborted campaign of former Florida governor Jeb Bush, is doing everything necessary to deny the GOP nomination to Donald Trump. FOIA documents reveal Gitmo in Chicago torture and abuse By Stephen Lendman London’s Guardian published information gotten from its FOIA lawsuit, documented evidence of “how Chicago police used punches, baton blows and Tasers at [its] off-the-books (Homan Square) interrogation site”—largely terrorizing Blacks. Pharma giant Pfizer blocked from tax evasion New Treasury Department rules helped scrap the alleged tax-dodging giant's attempt to merge with overseas firm. By Martha Rosenberg Big Pharma received $127 billion of our tax dollars in 2014 through the federal programs Medicare, Medicaid, VA, and TRICARE. But just because they live on our tax dollars, doesn’t mean Pharma companies want to pay taxes. Increasingly, they seek tax inversions, reincorporating in countries like Britain, Ireland or the Netherlands, often merging with a European entity to duck U.S. taxes. Friday Is our citizens learning? By Bev Conover Okay, I paraphrased George W. Bush’s awful grammar in this surrealistic electoral season of the Republican clown car and the Hillary & Bernie fracas. Is reform enough or do we need a revolution? By Dave Alpert Bernie Sanders calls his candidacy a “political revolution;” hundreds of people get arrested while demonstrating in Washington, DC, to get the money out of the electoral system and to make the election process more democratic. Canadian politicians controlled by the transnational oligarchy? By Mark Taliano Canada is being colonized by a Washington-led, transnational oligarchy. As with any colony, we are losing our political and economic self-determination and sovereignty. If Americans elect Hillary president, the One Percent’s control will be complete By Paul Craig Roberts Richard C. Cook thinks that Bernie Sanders could become the next president. Fleecing the American taxpayer: The profit incentives driving the police state By John W. Whitehead If there is an absolute maxim by which the federal government seems to operate, it is that the American taxpayer always gets ripped off.