Neo-Feudalism

* WaPo jumps into the Wilkes/Horizon story - much the same as the SDUT story from earlier in the month, altho they add the story about Pure Aqua Technologies, and leave out the part about Duke financier, Kontogiannis.

* "Zogby: On Bush, his overall approval/disapproval rating is 40%-60%, but he has his lowest support yet from those groups who make up his political base. Among both conservatives and those who consider themselves very conservative, 61% approve of the job he is doing. He gets only 32% of independents, and only 73% among Republicans – his lowest rating yet. Even rural voters give him just 50% approval, and 59% among those who say they are born again spiritually – marking the lowest ratings from both of these demographic groups. And Bush remains low among men, married voters and investors."

* further to our earlier discussion about cheney lying about his authorisation to shoot down planes, damien has more funkiness about the timelines that dastardly morning - rumsfeld's lack of availability that morning really is a little bit suspicious. FIrst he was outta the loop, and then he was out in front of the cameras 'helping' people and such

* Arkin: "An unfortunate contradiction about Donald Rumsfeld, and a debilitating handicap for America, is that the Secretary of Defense thinks like a futurist and acts like a Neanderthal.... Donald Rumsfeld is the Secretary of the military, and for him, a new communications strategy really comes down faster information bombs, higher technology that penetrates all of the modern modes of communication, "more rapidly deployable communications forces" -- I'm not making that phrase up -- and the establishment of a 24/7 information operation."

* emptywheel:

"And in search for a term that more accurately describes their plan, I'm settling on Neo-Feudalist...

The biggest reason I don't think they're aspiring to fascism is because they're making people a different promise. Fascism offers stability and security through the rule of law in times of insecurity. One appeal of a fascist society, for those who get suckered in, is the degree to which law--utterly overwhelming law--provides a sense of security. The order of law, and an inflated sense of self-worth attached to an imperialist project.

But these Neo-Feudalists have no intention of extending the rule of law. In fact, their project requires rolling it back. No international law. No international weapons control regimes. No national sovereignty to ensure that all people are subjects of one nation. No national control over your ports. No consistent application of laws about leaking classified information. No consistent handling of shooting accidents, not if you're in South Texas in the sphere of power of one of the Neo-Feudalists."