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13 Questions (and Answers) About Obama’s Secretive Drone Program

Mar. 18, 2013 6:05am Billy Hallowell

WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) — President Barack Obama promises to explain in greater detail U.S. policy on the use of armed drones. But the administration’s statements so far have only raised more questions about the controversial counterterrorism program, particularly the president’s legal authority to kill American citizens.

Frustration over the ambiguity has resulted in unlikely political alliances on Capitol Hill, with liberal Democrats like Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden joining forces with conservative Republicans like Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. And pressure from Congress is leading the White House to consider whether to disclose more information about the top-secret program, the existence of which the government only publicly acknowledged last year.

Questions and Answers About Obamas Controversial Drone Program

President Barack Obama (Credit: Getty Images)

Three Americans were killed in strikes in Yemen in 2011. The target of the first strike was U.S.-born al-Qaida leader Anwar al-Awlaki. American Samir Khan, an al-Qaida propagandist, was killed in the same attack, and al-Awlaki’s son, Abdulrahman, was killed the following month.

Here are some questions and answers about the program:

Q: Why do Wyden and Paul object to the program?

A: “Every American has the right to know when their government believes it is allowed to kill them,” Wyden said at a George Washington University panel on government secrecy. “The laws ought to be public all the time.” He said there is no stated, public law authorizing the White House to target Americans. Paul raised similar objections when he launched a 13-hour Senate filibuster aimed at holding up the nomination of John Brennan to run the Central Intelligence Agency. Brennan previously served as Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser and ran the drone program from the White House.

Q: What is the administration’s legal rationale for killing U.S. citizens overseas?

A: Administration officials say the basis for the armed drone program derives from the president’s constitutional power to protect the U.S. from imminent attack. The administration has also cited the Authorization for Use of Military Force, which Congress approved shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, as legal backing for strikes against al-Qaida and its affiliates.

Q: Where is the administration’s case documented?

A: The Justice Department, through its Office of Legal Counsel, has written memos more specifically outlining the case for targeting U.S. citizens. But the top secret memos have never been made public and were only recently shared with select congressional lawmakers.

President Barack Obama (Getty Images)

Q: So, it’s all a secret?

A: A declassified version of the OLC memos, leaked to the media last month, offered the broadest glimpse at what the administration sees as its legal case for targeting Americans overseas. The government must determine that a suspect poses an imminent threat, that capture of the suspect is “infeasible” and that the strike must be conducted according to the “law of war principles.”

Q: Are there any loopholes or conditions?

A: The memo leaves plenty of wiggle room. For example, it notes that the U.S. can determine a person poses an imminent threat even without having “clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future.”

“What appears to be limitations are in actual fact latitudes,” said Hina Shamsi of the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the leading critics of the drone program.

Q: Can the courts order the government to release information about the drone program?

A: A federal appeals court on Friday rejected the CIA’s assertions that it could not disclose any information about records it has on the drone program or even acknowledge that it has such records. However, the court did not rule that any specific information must be shared. Friday’s ruling sends the case back to the lower court, where the agency can argue that the records it has on drones are exempt from Freedom of Information Act disclosure requirements.

Credit: AP

Q: Does Obama have the authority to kill an American citizen on U.S. soil?

A: Attorney General Eric Holder, testifying on Capitol Hill, did not rule out such a possibility but said he could only foresee that happening in an extraordinary circumstance, such as the 9/11 attack or the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Q: Those are the only conditions?

A: Holder later sought to clarify, saying, as TheBlaze previously reported, in a brief letter that the president does not have the authority to use a drone to kill an American citizen on U.S. soil if that person is “not engaged in combat.” But Holder’s brief statement did not define what being engaged in combat actually means.

That leaves open a huge loophole, skeptics say. “Once you accept the battlefield is everywhere, it’s very hard to draw lines,” said ACLU civil liberties attorney Jameel Jaffer. Holder said the government has never used a drone to kill Americans on U.S. soil.

Q: How many drone strikes has the U.S. launched? And how many people have been killed?

A: The Obama administration has never publicly stated the scope of the drone program, leaving independent groups to cobble together data based on news reports and information from people living in the areas where the strikes occur.

Q. So, what do the outside groups say?

A: The New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, estimates the U.S. has launched 420 strikes in Pakistan and Yemen – the two countries where the strikes are believed to occur most frequently – since 2004. Between 2,424 and 3,967 people are believed to have been killed by U.S. drones, the majority in Pakistan.

Q: Were the people killed all suspected terrorists?

A: The New America Foundation estimates that roughly 21 percent of those killed are believed to be nonmilitants.

President Barack Obama (Credit: AP)

Q: Do the families of those killed in drone attacks have any legal recourse, especially those who were not the targets of the strike?

A: The relatives of the three Americans killed in Yemen have filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court arguing that the government violated the Constitution and international law when it authorized the strikes. The Obama administration has urged the court to dismiss the lawsuit, saying the issue is best handled by the government’s political branches, not the courts

Q: What does the American public think of the drone program?

A: Americans are supportive of the use of drones on foreign soil. A Fox News poll conducted in February found that 74 percent of registered voters backed the use of drones to kill suspected terrorists in a foreign country. The level of support dropped to 60 percent when voters were asked whether they would support a strike against a U.S. citizen overseas.

The same poll found Americans were more skeptical about the use of drones in the U.S. About 54 percent backed drone strikes on suspected foreign terrorists in the U.S. Forty-five percent of registered voters said they approve the U.S. using drones to kill a suspected terrorist who is a U.S. citizen on American soil, while 50 percent disapproved.

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Comments (48)

aPatriot0311
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 10:47am
ing that is happening to the country that I love I am scared. I am scared that in the coming days we will no longer have a since of pride, a since of duty or a since to do the right thing for the right reason. The people are becoming mindless sheep and do as they are told and forget what common sense is.
The first amendment allows us to speak what is on our minds within reason, as long as we are tactful in how we say it. The second amendment provides us with a means to defend ourselves if the government tries to infringe on our rights. The third protects our homes from the military during peacetime. The fourth protects our privacy.
These are the rights of human beings set forth long before any of us drew our first breath. Yet these are the rights that are being beaten to death slowly with the hammer and cut to pieces by the sickle held in the hands of the man you above all else is supposed to defend them.
Our enemies no longer wear uniforms and call a single country home. Our enemies are as numerous as the stars in the sky. Our enemies are those who wish ill will to our people. Wish to destroy what our forefathers fought and died for. Wish to dismantle the beacon of hope that we call the American dream.
I swore an oath, as I am sure some of you did as well, and for those that haven’t you pledged your allegiance to the flag of this great country. So I beg you with all my heart. Do not let the enemies of this country win and do not think your voice does not matter. E

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aPatriot0311
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 10:27am
The life we live is one of short and sweet fractured moments in time. What do we remember? The first kiss we had? The last high five? The moment we got high score at the arcade? Is any of this important in our lives? No, it is not. So why are these trivial moments so important to us? The reason for this is that memories are attached to emotions, scent and taste. This is the reason when you bite into a caramel covered apple from the fair you remember the days past when you were but a child. When you smell the gym you remember the pain, sweat, and tears that you left on the mat in high school, and when you feel sad you can close your eyes and see that very moment that brought you so much misery.
So what do I remember? I remember swearing an oath of fealty to this country. The country that gave me everything I needed, and for that I would gladly give my life to defend at any cost. In this oath I swore to God on high that I would protect this country from all enemies foreign and domestic, and what we have is an infestation of both. When the president stops caring for the people that give him the power he no longer is the president, he is a dictator. When congress would rather stab each other in the back then work to an agreement to help curb a madman’s spending problem, we have civil unrest. The people of this great nation lost faith in the very people who are supposed to embolden the great American philosophy; Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. With everything th

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A-S1y-Fox
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 10:24am
I think all of us need to place large signs on the roof of our homes with personalized messages to the eyes watching up from the sky…

“DEAR GOVERNMENT, IF YOU ARE READING THIS, YOU HAVE OVERSTEPPED YOUR GRANTED CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.”

or…

“THIS HOUSEHOLD DISAPPROVES OF YOUR UNCONSTITUTIONAL ACTS.”

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TRSFrancisco
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 9:58am
Oh, but this is America, it can’t happen here! Gotta love the normalcy bias. Take everything into account at the same time. http://wp.me/p30zk7-bD Billions of rounds, APC’s, targets, drones that can track you, killing Americans without due process. What has the country turned into and what is DHS gearing up for? If they decide to follow through with what it appears they are getting ready for, they better pack a lunch.

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SamIamTwo
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 9:24am
Look how long it takes Obama to reply…weeks if not months later.

He is a puppet and could never answer the 3AM call…

He kills the missle defense deployment in the US back in 2009, and he how rushes (MORE COSTS) to now deploy due to NKorea. And the thing is suppose to be up and running in 2017? Hey thanks for telling everyone that…a day late and a dollar short.

Obama re-elected by the low information voters and those who thought Mitt Romney was not good enuff so they did not vote…Fools. Clowns. You internet privileges are hereby revoked. You have no skin or say on politics, so stop posting. If the situation is the same in 2016, you all will do the same thing…fools and clowns.

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Banter
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 9:15am
Who the he!! are the 45% that actually think killing Americans on American soil is OK?

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- Leerm
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 1:49pm
  At first I thought, wll if there are planning an attack from inside the US just take them out. But, to drone them you have to know where they are just go and get them instead.
  
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SGT Rock
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 8:55am
Instead of whining and crying about it we need to take action. Support those that speak out, speak out yourself in your circles. Be like a pebble cast into water, the ripple is small but goes a long way. Get enough ripples we can casue a tidal wave to take back our Country from this designed chaos. People will look at you funny, but challenge them to do some research, give them the leads so they can find it, when that light bulb comes on in their head there is no going back to sleep.

We need to find a way to defeat the drones from the ground just like our foes do in the War. They are a low tech army and yet they can fool the drones. Some medium to high tech citizens should be able to put up a defense from teh drones. Heck buy camo nets and put them up just to mess with em. Just because you use camo does not mean you are a bad guy. We as citizens vote people in to govern us not to rule us, we are in an agreement with the government, they get taxes and power to govern us correctly. When they break the contract then we don’t have to allow them to govern us any more. It is time for peaceful resistance, do not lay down and take the lumps and hopeit will pass over you. It only allows them to grow more bolder and to take bigger bites of your freedom away. The world embraced Occupy Whatever Street but mkes fun of Tea Party. Maybe we should blend the two for a broader spectrum movement, use the strength of both movements to force out the tyranny before it is too late!

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progressiveslayer
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 8:51am
The audacity of the carnival barker in chief is truly amazing,we have a man who knows nothing of capitalism free markets or the constitution or bill of rights. Yes I know we’re told he’s a constitutional scholar but I disagree with that based on the fact that he’s a Marxist. All you have to do is read his writings and see how he’s ruled these last four years. He thinks the government can kill U.S citizens without due process and this is the constitutional scholar? Progressives have controlled what was written in our history books for far too long and when this POS fraud is done doing his damage the truth about what he has done will not be buried it’ll be exposed because it must be to prevent another worthless fraud like that to ever step foot in the oval office again.

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TWO BITS
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 8:51am
When the clock is ticking down on another Oklahoma City type attack, I vote for a more potent response than a filibuster. Drone operators are highly skilled professionals, just as SWAT teams. Why is one more acceptable than the other? The obvious answer is that one is civilian and one is military, but debating whether it is a terrorist operative or a criminal matter will get people killed.

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- termyt
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 11:38am
  So al-Awlaki was a dirt bag and his son chose the wrong father (??), fine. I’m really not one for defending dirt bags.
  
  But aren’t you the least bit nervous the government thought it was OK to murder US citizens who were not in the act of attempting murder themselves without a conviction, or even an indictment? Was it then OK for the government to hide that they did it, not even bothering to acknowledge that it murdered three Americans, let alone defend why that action was necessary?
  
  There are obvious situations where the government can sanction the death of Americans without due process, but there are no cases where the government can do so and then cover it up, deny they did it, and once cornered with irrefutable evidence, refuse to defend what they did.
  
  In short, we are guaranteed due process. In extreme cases, the process can come due after the fact, but it still must come.
  
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Brian_Damage
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 8:21am
A secret government represents no one. Oust them all.

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SpankDaMonkey
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 8:17am
.
I say we keep the Drone Strike option open, after all he won’t be in office for ever…..

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pookieamos
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 8:13am
For what purpose do we need drones in America ,they have their satellites to spy on us , they have helicopters, what they don’t have are objects in the skies that can kill us , now they do. I have a couple of excellent books called ,” The Planned Destruction of America ” and “Enroute To Global Occupation ” by Gary Kah written in the early 1990′s . Reading these books from 20 years ago was like a prophetic warning of today , they are frightenly correct and even name the players behind it all. WAKE UP America , the SHITZ going to hit the fan. Maybe it’s time to flee , but where you going to go, it’ll be everywhere ?

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nzkiwi
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 7:43am
It seems that President Obama is losing favour across the board according to this Wenzel Strategies poll, and the drone issue is only one of his problems…

http://www.wnd.com/2013/03/americans-getting-serious-about-impeachment/

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- jcldwl
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 7:58am
  The really scary part is this part of the last sentence. ” Forty-five percent of registered voters said they approve the U.S. using drones to kill a suspected terrorist who is a U.S. citizen on American soil,”
  
  45% approve. My God this country is so screwed. They have sufficiently created enough sheeple. I have got to win the lottery so I can buy an island and get off this sinking ship.
  
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- nzkiwi
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 8:12am
  I would welcome you over here but I think that we will all end up suffering through the next few years together…
  
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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 9:07am
  NZKIWI, Thanks for that link. I also think that you are right that we will all suffer through this mess together.
  
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Max jones
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 7:39am
We have crossed a threshold into previously unknown territory…..into a dimension, where treachery and lies are the norm. Never before in the history of the world has there been such evil on this planet. Nimrod himself would recoil, in the face of such evil.
Our Lord wiped the known world clean in Noah’s day, to protect his children from the nephilim, hybrid monsters. sired by devils. Scripture tells us, it is happening again. They are more difficult to recognize than the nephilim were, for, they look like us, It takes discernment to see them, this time. Keep watching. Stay in prayer.

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- msconstrue
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 8:40am
  @max…..precisely so…..it breaks my heart for those who can not, or will not see what has happened to us. people have become Evil and that Evil has become normal. greed, self centeredness, apathy and self rightuousness, these all decay the human spirit.
  
  i dont normally prostelyze, but i think that as a society we are doomed with out God in our lives….people dont need to go into a Church to find God, only quiet your mind and open your heart, God will come find you!!
  
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willbedone
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 7:31am
The drones are nothing more than a military weapon. It is how the government is using it that is the issue. It is plain to see that all three branches of government are in a confederacy against the American people. The burning question is how much of this abuse is the American people going to take, and what will the response look like. I am sure that the military colleges have developed their strategies to counter any uprisings.

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- Max jones
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 7:48am
  Ostentatious military ops are occurring in cities all over the country….partly for practice, and mostly for intimidation…..We are ruled by devils in thousand dollar suits……
  
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johnpaulkuchtajr
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 7:22am
When will the American people rise up, arrest the whole damn bunch in the Obama administration, have them tried in a federal court for treason against the US (Fast and Furious, Benghazi, et all) and watch therm crop their pants when the judge declares that they should all be “hung by the neck until dead?”

I’ll buy the rope if I have any money left.

“Remember Benghazi and ALL the Traitors!”

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blissdesignz
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 7:04am
Lastly, (promise lol), here’s a video link people reading this may care to check out…
“For the Historical Record: Holder Testified About “Legal Authority” To Use Drone Strikes Against Americans On US Soil – Full Senate Testimony”
http://sgtreport.com/2013/03/fir-the-historical-record-holder-testified-about-legal-authority-to-use-drone-strikes-against-americans-on-us-soil/

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blissdesignz
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 7:02am
Oh one other thing..
Lindsay Graham said not too long ago the number of casualties was up to 4,900 people. If he wasn’t such a RINO I would believe him outright because Obama’s admin are always such deceptive liars & pull many ‘statistical strings’ with info to make themselves more appealing to the public…
That aside, either way, its a hell of a lot of people!

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HOOT_OWL
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 7:00am
So, they want to take out the enemy . OK What if they live in a high-rise apartment .?
Sucks to be tenant in that building.

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shorelineliz
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 6:55am
Aren’t Drones Bush’s Fault?

Steve Bridges as George W. Bush:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4N93jLVPIA

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- Zipit
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 7:53am
  Thanks Liz, a good laugh on Monday morn!!!
  
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- nzkiwi
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 8:08am
  Another fun clip, Liz. Thanks for the moment of levity in all this mess…
  
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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 9:19am
  I don’t see a problem with the development and use of drones. And, there is certainly nobody to “blame” in my opinion for just that. What I find scary is the proliferation of their uses by this administration to spy on our day to day lives. Along with this debate regarding what is nothing more than a preemptive strike on Americans that person or persons within the admin merely decide are dangerous. Not at all in accordance with the Constitution. Once we have slid to the bottom of that slippery slope, who is next? Why not the Top Ten on the FBI’s Most Wanted List?
  
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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 9:21am
  LIZ, Geez, I did forget to mention how hilarious the video clip was. Having seen it in the past, it was well worth watching again.
  
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blissdesignz
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 6:50am
“The New America Foundation estimates that roughly 21 percent of those killed are believed to be nonmilitants.”
What you mean by ‘nonmilitants’ is women & small children because all males are designated militants.
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-05-31/us-labels-all-young-men-battle-zones-%E2%80%9Cmilitants%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%A6-and-american-soil-now-cons
Also, that number is laughable. They have a habit of droning weddings, cafes & family events. The majority of people killed in drone strikes are not ‘rebels’ or ‘jihadists’.

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ThunderBoldt
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 6:47am
They are moving full speed ahead with domestic drones so now is the time to speak up if you don’t like it.

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shorelineliz
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 6:40am
The Late Great Comedian Steve Bridges as Barack Obama;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rot1yguplr8

I recommend laughing. Vodka Martinis. Seven husbands.

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- nzkiwi
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 7:39am
  Thanks, Liz, that was very funny
  
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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 10:40am
  Prosthetic ears.
  
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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 6:40am
Translation – the administration will do with the drones what it wishes, when and where it wishes and against anyone it deems appropriate; including American citizens on US soil or abroad irregardless of them being terrorists or not.

Recall as well that Obama has signed the ‘unlimited detention w/o due process’ of any US Citizen he deems it necessary to grab off the streets and ‘vanish for good’ into a dark hole. We have a completely amoral president who cares nothing for US Citizens; just holding onto his own power.

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- Max jones
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 7:19am
  snow …..All is ultimately for the glory of God. There has to be a clear contrast, a delineation, between what is good and bad, holy and un-holy. Human beings, having been in a process of spiritual de-evolution for a century, or more, need a lot of help to recognize truth. The LORD, in his mercy, has protected many of his children, with ignorance of evil. These “innocents”, are the proverbial ‘babes in the woods’, who are so pure of heart that they could never recover knowing how evil this world has become. He, in His wisdom, has set a veil over their eyes, In many ways these babes are our responsibility. because we HAVE seen and understood.
  As the time gets shorter, and the contrast becomes more apparent, these pure hearts will be broken, and you and I must find ways to re-assure them of their security in the blood of Christ.
  
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- msconstrue
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 7:43am
  this country has become unrecognizable to me. i guess in truth, the world has become unrecognizable.
  
  i marvel daily at the complaining we all do here about our government, yet each and every election cycle we place the same politicians ( or their clones) back in office. its enough to make one wonder if we even elect our officials any more. and if we are not getting what we truly deserve.
  
  i am not a quitter, but i have truly given up hope on the whole govenmental process. it is what it is. i spend more and more time putting my hope and faith something more divine……maybe thats the best we can hope for anyway.
  
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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on March 18, 2013 at 11:29am
  @Max and MSCon: absolute truth. God is revealing his mighty work for the nation and all of his people within it. We are approaching an end game that will shake the world to its foundations; and it is up to us to decide what will come from it – for good or bad.
  
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shorelineliz
Posted on March 18, 2013 at 6:16am
What Obama and His White House Really Want to Tell You About the Drones:

“Listen all you white pecker head crackers I don’t want any interference from any of you white slave masters in my plan to redistribute the wealth of this country so if any of you MOFO get in my way I am going to send what looks like a small aircraft to take your white ******* behinds out of existence because I ain’t going to stand for no crackers getting in the way of my fundamental transformation of these here United States into my own personal paradise for me and the Muslim Brotherhood are you feeling me right now? Now put on some J-Z and Beyonce and Gangsta Rap cause I want to get my groove on and dammit woman! Where is my sweet potato pie with mini marshmallows and somebody get me a 40 and my weed and dammit! Where are my golf clubs I have a date with Tiger this afternoon. Dam white ******* pecker heads! “

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