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I’m all for a Federal Government.
I am against the criminals, liars, and cover-up artists who have been and are in high positions in that government, however. Information is only supposed to be classified to keep the enemy from knowing military plans, not to keep the American people from knowing what war criminals are doing in their name.
I follow a corollary of one of the first things they told us students in government language school: if what you think they might have said doesn’t make any fvcking sense, listen and think again before you turn that in as a translation.
I take as much time as I can find to read and research ALL the “conspiracy theories”, and as far as I’m concerned, unless I saw whatever happened with my own eyes, they ARE all “theories”.
When the official government story makes no sense whatsoever, doesn’t ring true with my own experiences, changes from day to day, and sometimes has even disappeared from the link it’s supposed to be at, I tend to disbelieve it. In my opinion, the video of old gray-bearded Bin Laden supposedly watching satellite TV in Pakistan on which he himself is on every channel he flips to (except for a brief view of the US Congress) is so stupid, it’s laughable. But, hey, it’s provided by the Department of Defense, so Americans lap it up.
I couldn’t get it to play today, though. Like I said a long time ago on old Tittie, the Bin Laden “confession” tape weirdly reminded me of Max Headroom. I think it still would remind me of Max Headroom, but I couldn’t even find it today. Maybe if I look longer, I’ll find it tomorrow.
“The news” reports what it’s told to report, and covers up what it’s told to cover up. That’s been for a long time — I’ve seen the video of Jim Garrison trying to hold up a couple of enlarged pictures of the “tramps” on the grassy knoll, on the Johnny Carson show, and Johnny would NOT allow those pictures to be seen.
My being a doubting Thomas doesn’t make me an anarchist, a communist, an anti-Federal government person, or whatever. I merely want to see the truth revealed, and I want the criminals locked up, not pardoned. I don’t accept “let’s look forward and not back” (when it comes to war crimes), but “let’s look back and punish and even torture even before accusation or trial” (when it comes to disclosing information revealing those war crimes). Obama is no liberal, with his drone killings (assassinations), and all kinds of other stuff. He has no more right to order assassinations than Bush did.
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Hey, Lloyd, good to read your response. Jo, nothing “brought this on”, it’s something I’ve been thinking about for months, maybe years, now.
I re-read my first sentence and I realize that I aimed it far too much at “the left”. It wasn’t my intention to target any specific group, much less any specific person. This demonization of our Federal government is so prevalent on “the right” that I guess I didn’t think I needed to mention them. The media does it, too. So if anyone thought I was taking a shot at them, I wasn’t. Heck, I’m even guilty of it myself, sometimes.
I say this because I don’t want to get bogged down in “who does it”. To some extent, we all do it. It’s more important to figure out how to make it stop.
I’ll give you an example; walk into a public place and proudly pronounce that you’re a socialist. I mean ANYWHERE. A grade school, a bar, an opera, ANYWHERE. People will shun you, move away from you, maybe even say something to you. Then later on they’ll get in their car and watch out for publicly funded cops while they drive on publicly funded roads, and call the publicly funded fire department if their house is on fire when they get home. The socialists.
It’s this mindset that I want to attack, not a person.
So, in keeping with Lloyd’s “it doesn’t make any fucking sense” observation, we are a nation who’s people show no interest when a POTUS selected by a SCOTUS tortures people in our names. We ask “why punish success” when we have a better chance of winning the lottery than we have of attaining the wealth of the real power brokers in our “shadow government”, and even if we win the lottery we won’t have anything approaching the amount of money any of the Waltons, Koch brothers, etc. have.
I get such a kick out of teabaggers celebrating our break from King George while they insist that any inheritance tax, even on estates worth billions, is too much. We live in a capitalist country. Money is power. And we allow families to pass power from generation to generation.
Other than handing down royalty with wealth, rather than via bloodline, how are we any different than the England we broke away from? We still have royalty. Their names are Walton, Koch, etc.
So that’s what this thread is about. I hope. Our, meaning “we the people’s”, acceptance of royalty through wealth, and the great power that comes with it, without question.
Because, in America, even grade school kids know “socialism is evil”.
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I keep forgetting to say this.
This is a “conspiracy theory” that I think I could prove. I can name names. I can provide a plausible motivation (as long as you accept the underlying premise that, for some people, “too much is not enough”). I can cite organizations funded by “the shadow government” (ALEC, anyone?).
And here’s the fun part. Even if I prove it, there will be people who will claim it’s me that’s nuts.
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““The news” reports what it’s told to report, and covers up what it’s told to cover up.”
Funny, last night a few others and I were discussing the Lake Superior Drug Task Force, bouncing off an article warning against the use of bath salts to get high, on Area Voices.
The Duluth News Tribune uses Area Voices as a message board, and certain stories have a “Talk About It” link.
I was relating the story about how the Task Force misused its power in 1998, by coming out to my place with lots of guns and bluster, but no warrant, then finally getting a warrant, searching the place and finding nothing, then leaving with threats, instead of apologies.
The “Talk About It” link to the story about bath salts mysteriously disappeared from the News Tribune front page overnight.
If you’re interested in reading about some little-known facts about the Lake Superior Drug Task Force as they really operate, here’s the link, which I also put on my Facebook page: http://topics.areavoices.com/2011/05/08/duluth-police-physician-warn-of-dangers-of-bath-salt-abuse/
I copied the whole web-page to my hard-drive, just in case they try to disappear the whole thing. -
ConocoPhillips, one of the world’s largest and most profitable oil companies, yesterday said it’s “un-American” to take away taxpayer subsidies from the oil industry. This wasn’t a verbal slip; the comment was put in a press release.
They don’t even try to hide their contempt for us, any more.
“Just give us your money and shut up, punks. We own “your” government.”
We have a small group of Democrats (definitely not all of them) willing to stick up for us schmucky middle-class taxpayers, and zero republicans. Which brings back the age-old question; which is worse, a corporate Democrat or a Republicant?
I’m still going with “Republicant”, because of the way they attack women, gays, and virtually anyone who doesn’t subscribe to the Liberty Baptist School of Human Suppression, but that’s not in any way meant to imply we shouldn’t whack a wing-nut Democrat whenever we get the chance.
The key is, we need to whack them (Conservadems, with a human opponent), not let the RW whack them and take one more seat for the wealthy who are out to destroy this country.
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I highly recommend this site:
http://freedocumentaries.org/sitemap.php
There’s stuff from the History Channel, the BBC and other mainstream news sources — plus a lot more from “conspiracy theorists” that you’ll NOT be seeing on the mainstream media.
There are a few dead links among the list, but they’re a small minority. -
NEW YORK – Investigators cut out a piece of carpet in a painstaking search of a penthouse suite for DNA evidence in IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s sex assault case, law enforcement officials said Wednesday as he made a new bid to get out of jail.
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One of the officials said that the DNA testing was being “fast-tracked” but that the results could still be a few days away.DNA evidence sufficient to
try, convict, sentence and executeprove to the world that it was Bin Laden they shot only took 12 hours.
WTF is up with New York?-
I’m not an expert on DNA analysis, but I can see a difference between taking a blood or saliva sample and extracting dried cum from a carpet. Not only would you be able to start with more DNA (meaning less PCR time), but you’d have a “pure” sample, where with the cum in the carpet you’d have to be careful of things like RNA (it’s everywhere!) contamination.
So maybe there’s nothing wrong with New York.
Edit: I just remembered; RNA contamination only affects RNA analysis, so you can forget that part. But I also thought about this; it could be that someone important wanted bin Laden’s results in a hurry, and someone important didn’t want that French fucker’s results in a hurry.
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“New York detectives and prosecutors believe the carpet in the hotel room may contain Strauss-Kahn’s semen, spat out after an episode of forced oral sex, the officials told The Associated Press.”
Oh, I’m starting to understand. It’s possible that she spat out the cum, and the carpet does NOT contain it.
It’s damned funny that as soon as she screamed “rape” and “forced oral sex”, the detectives didn’t go immediately to the spot where she spat out the cum, and scoop it up.
Then the DNA test would have easily been finished in a few hours, asusualin Pakistan.
But even after 2 days of drying, I would think the cum would still be visible — unless it’s a cum-colored carpet, or unless there is dried cum all OVER the carpet in that room. Cum doesn’t quickly soak into fabric and just disappear from sight — as far as I’ve heard, Monica’s dress is STILL cum-stained, after 15 years.
Why the hell would the Socialist head of the IMF go to New York and rape a 32-year-old maid (who just happens to be a French speaker) anyway? He can’t afford a prostitute? And he had the nerve to stick his dick in her mouth? What a dumb fvck.-
the Socialist head of the IMF
The head of the IMF was a socialist? I’m not saying I know either way, but that’s surprising, to me. I’d have thought an extremely wealthy guy involved in international finance would be a capitalist.
Honestly, I don’t have the background on this thing, and haven’t cared before your post, but now I’m curious. Seriously, it was just background noise, to me. I know that someone somewhere is saying he was “set up by Sarkozy”, but didn’t pay much attention. I mean, I thought it was possible, because they were political enemies and I’d never deny that the rich and powerful play dirty, but I didn’t think Sarkozy had much influence over the NYPD.
Frankly, I was surprised to see a “lowly” maid’s charge of rape stick against a rich guy, but I’ve also heard (again, it was background noise, it’s not burned into my consciousness) that he had a history of this kind of thing.
But I gotta tell ya, if I ever become a rapist, I’m not sticking my dick in my victim’s mouth. Go ahead. Try and rape ME in the mouth. You’ll walk away without your dick.
I’ll grant ya this is a weird one, Lloyd, but I’m not sure I have enough time to care about it any more than I do already. Which is not a lot. I just thought I’d throw in a couple of pennies and see what happened. I can believe that the prosecutor doesn’t want a rich, connected guy from another country making bond. Gee, do you suppose he’s a flight risk?
Edit:
PS – How will they know WHICH cum stain in a hotel room to cut out of the carpet?
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The head of the IMF was a socialist? I’m not saying I know either way, but that’s surprising, to me. I’d have thought an extremely wealthy guy involved in international finance would be a capitalist.
I’ll be damned.
Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn (French pronunciation: [dɔminik stʁos kan]; born 25 April 1949), often referred to in the media as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, and politician, and a member of the French Socialist Party. Strauss-Kahn became the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 28 September 2007, with the backing of his country’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and served in that role until his resignation on 18 May 2011.
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What’s a socialist in Europe since Bliar, Schroeder and company adopted the “third way”?
There’s a big backlash these days over here against what had been the social democrats in Europe. In Spain it’s the “15 March” group, but virtually everywhere, including the UK, the center-left is going against the center-right that had taken over the socialists.
DSK is a neoliberal and thus his position in the IMF. Thus Sarkozy’s support. And thus the financial institutions’ support of the third way politicians on either side of the Atlantic.
We were sold out and it shows.
Nuff said.
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Hey Alvy, how ya been?
So, do you think this guy was set up, or was he a pervert?
Last I heard he was saying he had hired a hooker to come in dressed as a maid and it was simple confusion when a real maid came in.
Yeah, right.
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I haven’t the foggiest.
He could be a perv, he might be a victim. The American justice system isn’t gaining points on this side of the Atlantic, that’s for sure – the perp walk is usually reserved for people who have been found guilty, and details aren’ usually made so public until trial… but it’s a different world.
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I was confused by the link at the top of the page and thought it was a different blog.
Things are OK, hot as hell, been travelling alot. Hope all’s OK with you and yourn.
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So, do you think this guy was set up, or was he a pervert?
News this morning says he was set up and is innocent.
Wonder if we can hold him hostage to exchange for Amanda Knox. See how bad Europe wants him back.
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The same Madame who accused Eliot Spitzer of using prostitutes’ services, getting him in hot water and forcing him to resign, is in on this case too. She says that Strauss-Kahn used her girls’ services, and one of the girls complained he was rough.
Eliot Spitzer, of course, is the former Attorney General of New York, who was actually starting to seriously clamp down on Wall Street criminals. Strauss-Kahn was trying to reform the IMF.
Could be just coincidence, but I wouldn’t put anything past Wall Street and other fascists. Something smells fishy about the whole thing, to me, starting with the millionaire head of the IMF “running out of a bathroom naked” to rape a maid he hadn’t even seen yet … and then “forced oral sex”. ???-
I have to admit, my curiosity is piqued. I’m still scratching my head at the head of the IMF being a socialist. I’d have thought only a
RW extremistcapitalist would have a shot at that job. You already know my opinion on “forced oral sex”.So, what do “we” know about that Madame?
Prior to her work in prostitution, she worked in the back office of a hedge fund operation.
Edit to add: According to the link she’s a libertarian, and was likely to attract funding from Ron Paul supporters when she ran for NY Governor.
Davis indicated she will not return to politics unless Spitzer pursues public office again.
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What do Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn have in common?
They all said, “Fvck the US dollar.” -
According to this Daily Beast article, written by feminist Newsweek reporter and editor Jesse Ellison, if the maid had accused a poor nobody of attempting to rape her, the police never would have listened.
It’s only because Strauss-Kahn is rich and that this is a high-profile case that the police took the maid seriously.
I guess the fact that police don’t take it seriously when the poor are accused, is why jails are filled with the rich, and the poor skate. Or something.The woman who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempting to rape her reportedly didn’t know who he was when she told her supervisors, and then the police, about the assault. She surely couldn’t have predicted the international attention the incident would receive. But advocates for hotel employees hope there might be a silver lining here, for housekeepers as a collective, if not the accuser herself.
“High-profile cases like this bring the issue to the surface,” Gonzalez [director of the advocacy group, Domestic Workers United] says. “It brings these workers literally out of the shadows and it sparks conversation. And hopefully, it will also spark action and communicate to other workers doing this kind of work in this industry that they have the right to come forward and reclaim their dignity.”
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Here’s a little more on this and I can’t find the story were her husband might have been the person shoot 40 times by NYPD and of course they were found not guilty. The other strange thing was how fast the high powered lawyer showed saying he was a family friend.
http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney05162011.html
http://www.commondreams.org/further/2011/05/26 Read comments, this one has a couple of links one of witch I provides. Posted by Lucitanian
May 26 2011 – 5:51pmI’m sure it just looks like a tin-foil hat thing, of course he isn’t running for president of France any more.
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This was hilarious, this morning (or about 8:00 last night, there in the US), but I can’t find any link to it, now.
The story I saw this morning was a story linked to Yahoo News front page “Top Stories” saying a 74-year-old millionaire Egyptian banker had run out of a NYC luxury hotel bathroom stark naked, grabbed the 44-year maid around the waist, held her tightly so she couldn’t get away, moved his hands up and down her body, and rubbed his crotch up and down her leg … until he finished. He did this despite her loud protests.
Or something to that effect, anyway. I was just about to cut and paste a couple of paragraphs of it to this board, which would have caught the original wording exactly — but all of a sudden, the power went out here.
Then I’ve been busy all day. When I got back to the computer tonight, all I could find by searching both Google and Yahoo, was this link, and this one, which tell part of the story, but have left out the part about the guy holding the maid tight around the waist and upwards, and humping her leg. That part must have been scrubbed.
Somebody hacked it all the way to the “Top News Stories” on Yahoo’s front page, and I’m not making this up! Hilarious! I wish I had a link to what I originally read this morning. Maybe I’ll still find one. -
http://www.observer.com/2011/daily-transom/we-should-all-be-ashamed-ourselves
I found this, this morning, but it still isn’t what I originally saw. But it does use the word “gyrated”, which is what the Yahoo story said the guy allegedly did against the maid’s leg while he was holding her tightly.
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Today every American who fills up their gas tank is going to pay an extra $.70, Seventy cents per gallon, as a tribute to speculators on Wall Street. That’s right seventy cents a gallon is due to hedge fund speculation, derivative and commodities speculation on Wall Street.
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Hmmm.
The GOP wants Obama to resign the Patriot Act extension.
That’s what we voted for, along with Goldman Sachs economics, another abuse of war powers, increased government secrecy, increased persecution of whistle-blowers, etc.
Remind me – how is Obama better? If I’m going to get sodomized by the right, I’d rather have it directly and without it being from a right winger disguised as a center-rightest.
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The GOP didn’t even have to ask. Obama was in Europe when it passed, and he found it urgent enough that he got up in the middle of the night and signed it virtually from across the Atlantic the moment it passed:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/dailyfray/how-a-bill-becomes-a-law-with-an-autopen-20110527
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Welcome back, BTW.
There was an interesting “breakdown of the American political spectrum/test to see where you are on the spectrum” a few weeks ago.
http://www.timbuk3.com/discuss/?p=5993
You might find it interesting. This one was a lot more accurate than usual, probably because it came from the Pew Research Center. It correctly pinned me as a conservative Democrat.
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I wasn’t too impressed by the Pew test – I prefer the political compass one, it’s a little more universal and certainly less issue-oriented.
FWIW, “solid liberal”.
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I doubt that I’ll be posting much – I’ve pretty much given up on the US political/party system, the US press and the US electorate.
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Nobody’s posting much, any more, for basically the reason you’ve given. DU’s OK on occasion. Kos is moving toward all gay all the time, and you’d better not use the word “pussy”, BTW. Or even “wussy”, because some posters there really can read your mind.
Although, when I think about it, it may not be so much “the US political/party system” as the very real possibility that our government has become permanently dysfunctional. For example, the GOP is so firmly entrenched on “no new taxes” that there’s ZERO hope of ever balancing the budget, unless, of course, you accept TOTAL shutdown of the Federal government as an option. I surely don’t. So, I’m 54 and just waiting for the Medicare I’ve paid into for my entire life to go away, then be forced to buy health insurance. And, I suppose, SS will be cut so much it won’t quite cover the premium.
But never fear, hedge fund managers contributing exactly zero to the country are secure in their 15% tax rate.
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An overview of my prophesies of 3 years ago:
- If there’s no real change, the backlash amongst 1st time voters will increase our already tremendous political apathy.
- If half-measures, voodoo economics or neoliberal policies disguised as “progressive” are ineffective in remedying the economy, “progressive” policies will lose any remaining support. A package mostly relying on tax-breaks has plainly shown itself to be insufficient to turn around the economy, leaving the door open to the GOP.Things do not bode well, and the infamous “change I can believe in” is the shortchange from our efforts.
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I’m not admonishing you. This thread is a more or less open thread that was at one time linked on the sidebar with the title “conspiracy theories” so you’re welcome to post just about anything that fits EITHER subject line, including previous “prophecy”. But, this post of yours may have been more appropriate on the front page, especially if you wanted it to get read.
If you read the post and my first comment you’ll understand that the gist of what I’m doing here is trying to get people to stop saying “politician so-and-so is the root of all evil” or “the Federal government is the root of all evil” and start saying “WE need to do something because the Federal government is the only thing we have that can stand up to the monied interests” and by extension “and that means we’ve got to figure out ways to get red states to stop electing such assholes”.
“You” can point out that “Obama’s not a far-left liberal socialist” or that “there are politicians to the left of Obama (who will never be POTUS)” until the cows come home, but it’s not getting us anywhere. What we need to do is (a) work with what we have, and (b) try to make what we have better over time (by making those further left politicians electable to POTUS, for example.)
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A little more:
The RW extremists have been working diligently to end SS, Medicare, abortion (you know the list) since they were first made the law of the land. They don’t give up, and they get closer and closer to “winning” all the time, for at least the two following reasons; It’s a LOT easier to work against something than for something, and undermining people’s faith in the Federal government is easy to accomplish when you’re in the minority by not letting the majority get anything done, then blaming them when it all goes to shit.
So, what is “the left” willing to work toward for the next few decades, to “start” or to “preserve”? What are they willing to do, or give up, to get it?
Cuz ya ain’t gonna get it from some politician in the next election.
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Well, the problem are the corps. They drive the GOP and the drive our DLC-types in the DNC. They control the media. And until that problem is addressed, there’s nothing that can be done.
Without an ideological divide between the parties, what we have over here and over there are political classes. They diverge in how they sell virtually the same policies and platforms (aka rhetoric) in order to reach office. But otherwise the “differences” are superficial and the policies remain the same.
Spain’s having problems with its sovereign debt. The “usual suspects” (IMF, WB, EU Central Bank, etc.) push the socialist government to make painful budget cuts, make firing people easier, and the usual junk that neoliberal economists and their ilk desire. The socialists have pretty much taken on all the “reforms” as their own, including an increase in the VAT tax – which hits the poor and middle class without harming the wealthy and business. The “opposition” loudly complains… that the reforms aren’t fast enough or go far enough. And thus we’ve had a grass-roots movement that is only supported by the commies and the greens, which had taken over city squares all around Spain after the recent municipal elections.
No need to mention Papandreos’ problems in Greece, where another Socialist government is losing all credibility as it also assumes the most extreme neoliberal “remedies”.
The more progressive talking heads have rumbled about the failure, the disasterous failure, of the Third Way as applied to social democrats throughout Europe since Bliar. The European left is in a shambles and will lose its last governments in the near future. And the European right (well-supported by the AEI, I might add) is rubbing its hands together, seeing how European politics are becoming almost American in being a give-and-take between rightwing and center-rightwing parties.
The European left sold rw policies as lw ones, and has lost its credibility. Sound familiar?
Hopefully, the vocal, grassroots, movement will provide an actual opposition in the near future. If it doesn’t, we too will only have to choose between government managers from “either” party instead of differing and divergent ideas of how, and in which direction, governments should be run. Unfortunately the “political class” (outside the greens and commies) have universally slammed the 15M movement, and the subservient press echoes their dismissals.
I reiterate that this problem is worldwide. Democracy is losing any of its remaining credibility as parties become a ruling chaste.
So what can be done? Outside boycotting and trying to show people how they’re being misled, we’re back to where we before quite awhile ago. Only when we lose enough to begin to contemplate real opposition – and perhaps contemplate some sort of revolution – will we collectively overcome our political apathy. An apathy that has been fostered, IMHO, by the parties themselves.
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“You” can point out that “Obama’s not a far-left liberal socialist”
Actually, as far as economics are concerned, he’s a little to the right of Bubba, and perhaps, of Reagan. Perfectly willing to write off the left in order to attract the fence-sitters and independents, counting on the increasingly untrue idea that by running as a Dem he can count on Dem voters shunning anything GOP or independent REGARDLESS.
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“Oh, yeah. I’d have given your post a thumbs up if it weren’t for the useless shot at Obama. I still don’t see the upside in tearing down the ONLY alternative to RW batshit craziness.”
That’s our basic difference. I see the putative difference of what is being based on rhetoric and see rw policies as being sold as progressive. You seemingly choose to see a real difference because the rhetoric is different and close your eyes to the similarities between what the GOP and semi-DLC sell.
One side is batshit crazy in its rhetoric while selling neolib policies. The other side SOUNDS somewhat reasonable as it sells virtually the same policies. You see the former as being more dangerous than the latter, I see the latter as being FAR more dangerous inasmuch as it undermines the future of progressive thought.
Nothing personal – and perhaps you disagree with my postulation. I am, as always, open to discussing the matter.
But PLEASE look at the “recovery package” or whatever they call it, look at what is sold as progressive and remember what the GOP wants. Taxbreaks? Privatization? “Updating the workforce” without giving the workforce any negotiating tools?
If I was IBM, Goldman Sachs, Exxon or Coors, I’d have spent a bundle on passing that package.
Waitaminute… I did! While simultaneously supporting the Tea Party, the GOP and the DLC.
Get the picture?
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“sells virtually the same policies”
Bullshit. Their problem is they don’t sell anything. They just react. They need a Frank Luntz.
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“Bullshit. Their problem is they don’t sell anything. They just react. They need a Frank Luntz.”
Au contraire.
I postulate that there’s a “political class”, a chaste, that is solely interested in sinecures. They don’t “believe”, they’ve sold themselves out to the highest bidder.
That means corps, and corps have been pushing neolib economics for over half a century.
As a member of the “political class”, politicians position themselves in order to be more attractive to the few people who actually vote. That means that they search for, find, and adapt to, the rhetorical positioning that they see as their best opportunity to get a job as a lackey to corporations and the revolving door.
They DO sell something – smoke. Until people realize this, forget about change.
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Nothing personal – and perhaps you disagree with my postulation. I am, as always, open to discussing the matter.
BTW, you’ve known me long enough that you should know that “bullshit” wasn’t said in anger, or to incite, but meant as “that’s incorrect”. As long as I came back to this…
See, this sort of thing I see as a personal attack:
“You seemingly choose to see a real difference because the rhetoric is different and close your eyes to the similarities between what the GOP and semi-DLC sell.”
You’re telling me what I believe? Or stating that I don’t recognize some similarities between the parties? Or, more accurately, between some members of the Democratic party and the TeaOP?
One of my senators, Tom Carper, is a turd. I tell anyone I talk to we need to get rid of him. Joe Manchin makes Carper (and even Ben Nelson) look like a prized, shiny turd. So, DE is a state that kept a Senate seat Democratic and turned an R house seat into a D seat. The two southern counties hate it, but the northern county is big enough to tell them to sit down and shut up. There’s at least a chance we can get rid of Carper, although to be honest DE politics is REALLY, um, I think “colloquial” is the word. Carper’s “someone we know” so we’re probably going to keep him.
But, how do I, a DE resident, get rid of someone like Manchin or Nelson? Fact is, I don’t, and what I’ve said all along is “I wish those seats would go ‘R’ so we can stop with the charade that the Dems are in control.”
See, I don’t disagree (at all) that corporate money is brain-washing America, but I see other factors. Factors like “there are more D’s than R’s in congress so this (fill in the blank) problem is the D’s doing.” THAT is bullshit. While the R’s are unified behind Mitch McConnell’s pledge to “making Barack Obama a one term President is at the top of my agenda” come true, the D’s AREN’T unified. There’s always some fucker like Manchin ready to vote with the regressives. And the people who put him in office LIKE him. They’d vote for an R before they’d vote for a “progressive”, regardless of party.
Am I getting through?
There’s DEFINITELY a difference in political philosophy between BO and ANY GOP candidate. Same for Rand Paul and Chuck Scheumer, or pretty much ANY TeaOPer and 70% of the Dems.
So, what I’m wondering is, do we want more Dems like Manchin, cuz that’s what we’ll get from those deep red districts? Or, do we want ONLY “progressive” (a relative term, see my post about angry gays, for example) Democrats and the minority? Note that I’m NOT saying “we’re a center-right country”. I’ve noted before that votes count as more or less, depending on what state you’re in. A vote in CA or NY is worth FAR less than a vote in Arkansas or Utah or Wyoming or SD. So, and I may be able to find the proof if I have to, a minority of voters elects the majority of seats in the Senate, and the POTUS. If you can’t get votes in OH and IN, you can’t be POTUS, and those are some backwards-ass states.
I dunno. When something seems clear to me I sometimes have a hard time getting it across to people. It’s like “I can’t believe you’re this dumb” when the reality is I’m dumb for not coming up with a clear explanation. Knowing my audience, if you will.
Our political system is broken. One reason IS corporate controlled media. FOX “news” being the worst offender, ever. Another is unchecked corporate money funding pro-corporate candidates, which you pooh-poohed as “nothing’ when that heinous Citizens United came from the corporate court. Then there’s the disparity in how much a vote for Senate or POTUS is counted in a populated state vs a state where no one wants to live (and this affects the Senate more than the POTUS, but see Bush 2000).
All that aside, the RW looks for ways to unify different blocks of voters, while the left mostly likes squabbling amongst themselves when they think they’re “in power”. Example; attacks on public schools. Fundie nutbags love it because they don’t want their kids learning about stuff like evolution and sex. Libertarians love it because they generally hate government and taxes, period. Corporate types love it because (a) they can see “for profit” schools looming and (b) because it’s another way to undermine unions. Damned spoiled teachers and their pensions, anyway.
But the left? Obama’s not “leading” on … the list is endless. Tax hikes on gazillionaires, gay marriage (even though he celebrated the end of DOMA), abortion/funding for planned parenthood, and as I said, the list is endless. Whatever “your number one issue” is, there’s someone else with a different “number one” and *BAM*, we’re gonna have to duke it out because candidate so and so is FOR mine and, although (s)he supports yours, is in no hurry to get it done.
What would be cool is if we could find issues that unify teh gays, the DFH’s, the socialists, the anti-war folks, etc, to rally around. Like the right wing has done so successfully. And it can’t just be “protective” issues like public schools or SS. It’s got to be forward thinking stuff. Like green energy (jobs, better air even if you don’t believe in global weirding, re-building infrastructure, “no nukes”, etc.). But of course the corporate media won’t promote that, and most people have the attention span of a gnat, so they forget that if they PUSHED this (issue) on their politicians they’d get it. Hell, they forget what the issue WAS because Anthony Weiner posted weiner pictures, or Michelle Bachmann said something stupid. Just the last thing about MB is going to be weekly news, for a while.
So, I’m as disgusted as you are, but for different reasons and with different “culprits”. Capiche?
Parting shot: we re-elect the entire House every 2 years. Most if not all reps are then in campaign and fund-raising mode beginning the day they’re elected. Term limits aren’t the answer, because if you have a good rep you should be able to keep him/her. So, what’s the solution if you want to remove the influence of money on the House? I can tell you right now that forcing those greedy bastards to walk their district shaking hand on their breaks from congress by limiting their ability to place ads would work, but then there’s that pesky first amendment and Citizens United decision that “money is speech”. So, whatareyougonnado?
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I fixed this. You should be able to edit again.
I had demoted you from “editor” to “author”, mostly because you weren’t posting, anyway.
One warning (that I’ve given to others). If you delete or alter anyone else’s post my new policy is I WILL BAN YOU if I find out about it. Of course, you’re free to delete or otherwise alter your own.
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