Rolling Back the National Security State, Just a Tad, Maybe. Or Not.

A federal judge has ruled that the Sooper-Seekrit No-Fly List is unconstitutional. Ever since the No-Fly List came into existence, there have been complaints that there was no way to find out if your name was on it and no clear way to appeal being listed on it. Now, maybe, there will be.

But don't hold your breath. The Nixon Obama Administration is obsessed with secrecy. They finally released the "We Can Kill You Anywhere" memo, though under great pressure. One writer commented that what was in the memo pales in comparison to the damage that was done by withholding it from the public.

I've never been a fan of the 2001 "The Universe is Our Battlefield", bureaucratically named "the Authorized Use of Military Force". It is pernicious and evil. By its terms, one could argue that the Administration could have designated Clive Bundy as a terrorist, said that it was impractical to capture him, and then attacked that bunch of Nevada thugs with drones. In practical effect, it's limited to the Arabian Peninsula, Afghanistan and Somalia, for anywhere else, sending in military forces on another nation's soil would be viewed rather unfavorably.

The AUMF should be repealed. It is little more than legalizing murder. It is an embarrassment to any civilized nation.

On the other hand, a different judge thinks it's peachy for the NSA to be rooting through your emails, so long as you've sent at least one to somebody in another land.

On a different note, Eli Wallach has died.