A silent coup d'etat has already happened in the US--DKos

[Louisiana1976]

I call it silent, and not bloodless, since it has been anything but bloodless. To the contrary, the brutal efficiency of this Coup has resulted in countless casualties in the U.S. heartland.

It's sad to see so much confusion out there. People don't understand how's possible for Obama to appoint scores of Goldman Sachs (and other Wall Street bankers) to government positions. The same people responsible for creating ponzi schemes to steal trillions of dollars from the country's coffers (the taxpayers). How is it possible to keep the country in a perpetual state of war for the direct benefit of war profiteers?

If people reflect and take off their ideological blinders, it's possible to see that our entire government (Congress, the Executive, and the Judiciary) has already been taken over by Oligarchs here in the U.S. And none of this happened by coincidence. And it's going to get worst.

snip

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/6/811233/-A-Silent-Coup-dtat-Has-Already-Happened-in-the-U.S.

[Fumesucker]

1. I recced this back up to zero..

Painful truth is not popular, just ask Cassandra.

Edited to add: And I see it's been unrecced again..

[intheflow]

3. The good news is,

by the time I read the short blurb and rec'd it, it went from 6 votes to 12. :)

Of course the bad news is in the OP. :(

[arcadian]

47. It's at 99

at the time of this postting. The can't keep us silent.

[Ghost Dog]

58. Recced to 109; one minute later at 108... 3 minutes later at 112...

An oligarchy (Greek Ὀλιγαρχία, Oligarkhía) (oligocracy) is a form of government in which power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royal, wealth, intellectual, family, military, or religious hegemony. The word oligarchy is from the Greek words for "few" (ὀλίγος olígos) and "rule" (ἀρχή arkhē ). Such states are often controlled by politically powerful families whose children are heavily conditioned and mentored to be heirs of the power of the oligarchy.

Oligarchies have been tyrannical throughout history, being completely reliant on public servitude to exist. Although Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as a synonym for rule by the rich, for which the exact term is plutocracy, oligarchy is not always a rule by wealth, as oligarchs can simply be a privileged group. Some city-states from ancient Greece were oligarchies. The combination of the words plutocracy and oligarchy make the word plutarchy.

/... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligarchy

...

Corporatocracy or Corpocracy is a form of government where a corporation, a group of corporations, or government entities with private components, control the direction and governance of a country.

Corporatocracy is that type of politics,wherein a country is run by a corporation or a group of corporations or governmant entities with privatisation. This is sometimes considered to be a form of fascism.

/... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatocracy

[unc70]

226. This thread shows how to reclaim DU first, then reclaim the Party

This is a good example of a thread that overcame the "Unrec" problem I see at DU, increasingly used to prevent threads ever reaching the Greatest and its wider audience, threads that previously might have received 5-20 recs and spent some time on the greatest-sorted-by-time list before dropping off the first page. BTW this thread had about 70 unrecs when I last checked.

Most times, all it takes to keep a page off the Greatest is to have a couple of replies that misrepresent the OP, dismiss them some way, or otherwise hijack the thread. If the thread is somehow seen and starts getting recs, then the unrecs return. If an LBN thread can be kept from the greatest page and since any post to LBN of a similar article are treated as dupes and merged with the earlier one which few might have seen and is soon too old to rec.

There are a couple of clear examples of this currently on the Top Tens. One started by babylonsister in GD about the NYT article of soldiers becoming teachers now has 171 replies and 53% unrecs vs 47% recs. I earlier noticed it had been at +3 for a while, so I made it +4. I don't know if it ever reached +5 because when I check in a few minutes it was already <0 implying that it had received at least five unrecs in the middle of the night! One or two, maybe; but five seems suspect.

What is going on here at our beloved DU? Did some feed trigger an alert? But why that thread? Why all the unrecs for that topic? I can see why some of the topics might get unrecs, I have no clue why my example and several others get unrecs.

Until they find a way to tweak the current system at DU, I plan to look through all posts in Latest made since I last looked and not just those at the top of the first page. I usually have not done many recs, but that is changing. If enough of us start doing this, I suspect that we will see a change of topics and in tone at DU.

Let's see what happens when more of us start "voting", this time using Recs at DU.

[pscot]

267. Metapost

Well done.

[theFrankFactor]

285. I Hope Liberals Unite to Overthrow the Unitary Corporate Cabal That is So Obvious Now!

[Tansy_Gold]

2. Recced this up to 6. I know how Cassandra felt n/t

[HubertHeaver]

4. I rec'd it to +3

We really need to understand this.

[mbperrin]

5. k&r

Certainly worth a look.

[rhett o rick]

6. r 19

[cali]

7. yawn. I can't tell you how many times I've seen that

over the last few years, both here and over at kos. Literally, hundreds of times.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

16. yawn

Can't tell you how many times I see your name attached to snide remarks...

[bobbolink]

122. .

:applause:

[AllyCat]

135. My thoughts exactly HCE

This is the first time I've seen this post. But at least the 20th bit of nastiness from cali.

[Ishoutandscream2]

167. Double applause from me as well

Bullies on here need to be knocked down a notch or two. Good job!:applause:

[Lorien]

189. ...

:thumbsup:

[ooglymoogly]

244. +1000 Makes you wonder what planet cali is living on. nt

[SlowDownFast]

260. +1001. n/t

[Raster]

270. No shit. One trick: snide, shitty comments.

[Name removed]

41. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ima_sinnic]

105. pffft.

how dreadful. must suck to be you.

[Subdivisions]

126. Here's one for you too

:hug:

Merry Christmas!

[Butch350]

294. You know, it's really the individuals who say, "It must suck to be you"...

THAT ARE THE REAL ONES WHO SUCK!

[tblue37]

129. I have never said anything before, but I have often wondered--what is your problem? nt

[donheld]

164. Does that make it less so?

[Enthusiast]

207. Oh yes, it's a crazy fringe left

wing idea that has no merit.



















:sarcasm:

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

252. really? that's the best ya got???

what an incredibly thoughtful, nuanced response. No wonder our nation is on the fast-track to the top!

[harun]

258. Shouldn't that tell you it is important?

[Leftist Agitator]

276. Weren't you the same one who made fun of the "doomsayers" who predicted the collapse in 2008?

Quite a track record you've got there.

:eyes:

[Canuckistanian]

8. K&R

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. Just call me Cassandra

I was right about

NAFTA
Welfare reform
No Child Left Behind
The IWR
The Patriot Act
The bank bailout (the money should have gone to the banks only under stringent conditions, including rolling back interest rates on all mortgages and credit card balances and reinstatement of the usury laws)
Obama as a fake liberal

On each of these points, I was challenged and taunted by DLCers.

I bet I'm also right about

Afghanistan as Vietnam with rocks and mountains
The complex, booby-trap ridden passive-aggressive bit of corporate welfare that the current health reform bills will be
Lots of Dems either refusing to vote or voting third party in 2010 or even 2012

[Jane Austin]

10. Well, then,

You need to run for President!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

21. I'm neither qualified for nor interested in the job, but

I wouldn't mind being an adviser, and I am trying to persuade a fellow DUer to run for Senate. :-)

[Morning Dew]

136. I hope it's a Minnesota DUer - Amy is a disappointment. nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

144. It is, and if YOU are a Minnesotan, please come to our gathering

(See the MN Forum for details).

[bvar22]

23. Lydia would be a welcomed improvement!

She has my vote.

[dflprincess]

143. I'd vote for her too!

I also know who she's talking about trying to get to run for Senate and yes, it would be against Klobuchar, and he'd be a very good choice.

[Individualist]

35. I'd vote for her

[GCP]

62. Snark

Pure and simple.

[readmoreoften]

139. Oh, good god. Ever heard of a red herring? A false dilemma?

If a Bush supporter said "Well, why don't you run for president?" it'd be laughed off the forum. Criticizing anti-worker and anti-soldier policies doesn't mean the solution is the criticizer running for g-d president. Idiocy.

[Umbral]

183. Having read a bit of Jane Austen, all I can is...

Never has so little been said with so few words.

[placton]

32. Lydia Lydia

don't you understand? Being right makes you a naysayer, a party pooper and worse. Best to just pretend.

[defendandprotect]

74. Of course you're right about those things . . .

Anyone would have to be blind or desperate not to see it --

Which is why you shouldn't take the DLC-corporate-noise here too seriously --

and trust your instincts --

:)

[earcandle]

134. love your moniker and your points!

[closeupready]

286. I think you are exactly correct about all three of your predictions.

n/t

[leftstreet]

11. K&R

[earth mom]

12. So glad there are still people around here that give a damn about the truth!

:kick:

[xiamiam]

254. not many however...its the lite version of what it used to be...nt

[HughMoran]

13. Musing about civil war - let's hope he's wrong...

"In fact, I'm convinced that it is likely that just when things start to look a little better, and that the economy is improving, and people start feeling a little hope that things will get better, there is going to be a massive and unprecedented collapse of the economy which will create panic, and will create shock in our citizenry, already reeling from the current economic depression.

This could create social disruptions, starting with the armed right-wing whack-jobs which have already been incited by the likes of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and the other corporatist tools.

We may see some localized riots, and some armed skirmishes between groups that have been incited by demagogues. Violent crimes, like robberies would also escalate quickly, as the economy goes into a tailspin.

...

Let me finish by stating that these writings are mainly musings, and that I know many of these things sound outlandish. I'll be very happy if one day in the near future I say to myself "Gosh, talk about going off the deep end with all this conspiratorial stuff." I'll just shake my head about how wrong I was, and go on to continue living in a free, fair, and democratic society."

[Mojorabbit]

22. This is a big worry of mine

I don't believe for a moment we are out of the woods financially in this country and I don't see most of the lost jobs coming back anytime soon. Once the unemployment benefits run completely out, then there will be trouble starting.

[defendandprotect]

77. The conspiracy is certainly there . . . capitalism, itself, is a conspiracy vs the masses ...

Unregulated capitalism is merely organized crime.

They've knocked over the New Deal -- and have bankrupted the Treasury.

That's a good start on knocking out democracy which has always been a prime target.

Lots of people don't get all of this because they recognize that it is so destructive --

including to those involved in bringing it about -- however, patriarchy is indeed suicidal.

It's a bird flying with one wing--!!

[JDPriestly]

172. In Aurstria, after the failure of the Creditanstalt, ther was a "revolution"

of sorts in which the government killed many people who were left-wing or at least were assumed to be left-wing (alleged to be Communists, but I don't know whether they really were). Some years later, you know what happened.

When Credit Anstalt, Austria's biggest bank, failed in the spring of 1931, Germany was badly affected as well. This resulted in the strengthening of the anti-democratic Fascist and Nazi movement in Austria and Germany respectively.

http://library.thinkquest.org/27629/chronicle/1931.html

[Techn0Girl]

14. Too much truth .... can't handle it !

Just because Obama is "Our Guy" doesn't mean what's happening is right.

[winyanstaz]

15. K & R....

There is no longer a two party system in America...it has been for a long time now...a ONE party. They play "good party/bad party with us and they also take turns being the "good" or "bad" party...and yet the bad legislation and crappy laws that keep stealing from the poor and the middle class and giving to the mega rich...marches on.

[Th1onein]

18. I agree.

I also think, though, that most Presidents tend to move to the middle during their first term. And Obama is doing that. Then, during their second term, they move whichever way they really are. I'm hoping that Obama moves far to the left during his second term.

[HughMoran]

93. no no no!

You expressed a slight bit of optimism that things might get better "in the future"!

There is no future.

:spank:

[bobbolink]

125. Riiight. FDR, in similar circumstances, "moved to the center"

Nope, doan think so.

Look, Obama made his choices, and he doesn't need us to make excuses for him.

The guy does very good speeches.

If you need more than speeches, you're pretty much SOL.

[tblue37]

131. He might not get a second term if he doesn't stop appeasing the RW

and throwing progressives under the bus.

[Enthusiast]

209. He might not get a second term if he does stop appeasing the RW

as they are more closely aligned with corporate interests. And the PTB have likely already made this clear.

[Canuckistanian]

150. Obama almost got whiplash heading for the "middle"

He headed for the middle microseconds after securing the election.

And once there, he "reached out to the right".

Meanwhile, we're still waiting for our "hand up".

[fasttense]

217. It didn't happen with FDR. He started from the left and moved even more to the left.

But I guess it was too much to hope for in Obama - another FDR would have been too much like a miracle.

[tomp]

234. he's not going to have a second term...

...if i have anything to say about it.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

313. Wow. Brazen, are we?

I assume you're not only going to sit out or vote third party, but actually vote for the Republican?

[bridgit]

17. Yeah, but I think it happened some time before Kos was born

[Enthusiast]

210. I believe you are correct. nt

[Major Hogwash]

229. How dare you say that about that little bugged-eyed former CIA informant!

I can't believe you don't know he wasn't born, he was created.
In a lab.
In the middle of Cheyenne Mountain.

Haven't you ever heard of the $6 dollar man?

[tomp]

235. yes, a long time ago. nt

[bvar22]

19. K&R

"During the last several years there has been a relentless, calculated, and well-financed effort to undermine the U.S. Constitution, remove financial regulations that protected against fraud by large institutions, undermine the labor movement, and remove restrictions on media conglomeration, and antitrust regulation."

It is important to notice that these have occurred unabated since the Reagan Administration under BOTH Political Parties.

"If it is true that there was a massive looting of our entire financial system, in a normal society we should be seeing perhaps hundreds of Wall Street insiders' perp-walks on TV news, and reported on newspapers. Instead, not only there aren't scores of indictments, these same people continue to receive billions and billions of dollars in compensations.

And to top it off, they are planted within the halls of government by the current president.

To many people it is obvious that the rationale for the escalation of the war in Afghanistan does not make sense, and yet, the president is escalating the war."

The DLC New Team
Republican Lite ONLY!
Working Class Democrats Need NOT Apply

(Screen Capped from the DLC Website)
The founders of the DLC are signatories of PNAC (Project for a New American Century)

”I am a New Democrat!”---Barack Obama
http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=254931&kaid=85&subid=900184

"As it is today, many people have been saying that both major political parties are just the face of the Oligarchs, of the corporatists. I do believe they are, but that there are many elements within that are trying to do the right thing, but have been marginalized."

You can witness the work to marginalize voices that still speak for the people right here on DU.

"Message Discipline"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeremy-scahill/rahm-emanuels-think-tanke_b_185203.html


My wife and I saw the signs in the 90s and began taking steps to protect ourselves.
In 2006, we Cashed Out of the American Economic System, moved deep into The Woods, planted a Big Garden, began raising Chickens, and keeping HoneyBees.
We are learning to live well on a very low taxable income, no mortgage, no credit, and buying almost nothing NEW.

We sincerely hope that the scenarios of collapse speculated about by the author do NOT occur.
WE are NOT "Survivalists", but merely Old Hippies attracted to an independent, sustainable lifestyle.
However, we have given up "HOPE" that the Democratic Party will ever again speak for Working Class Americans, and are content with our decision to take care of ourselves.

Our focus has become local Humanitarian Issues and developing methods of denying funding to Corporate America and their bought politicians.

We are no longer Good American Slave Consumers.
Next year, we will consume even less.

[laughingliberal]

51. I was seeing it in the 90's also but nothing to cash out. Like watching a freight train heading

right at you and not being able to jump off the tracks.

[bobbolink]

128. That's exactly what us homeless people who are aware of this are feeling.

We know our days are definitely numbered.

We also know it doesn't matter one tinkers damn.

[eilen]

225. Us too, we voted for Perot. We were young and just starting out.

Life was too much about surviving every month paycheck to paycheck to do anything but hope for the best. At the time gas was a little over a dollar a gallon, milk below $2, coffee about 99cents/can. The idea of going back to school was still alive and somewhat affordable if we could pay off our credit cards and our junker car kept going.

The taxes-- that is when my in-laws began their turn to the right. My step-FIL was a broker and was upset about not being able to write off his expenses over 3 years to balance out up/down business cycles. He ended up unemployed and foreclosed on before the end of the decade.

Now our baby from 92 has 1.5 years left before graduating HS and I don't know what to advise him to do. College is so expensive and I can help him only so much-- I can't afford $40,000 worth of tuition and don't want him graduating in major debt. OTOH, don't want him ending up in a draft and sent to die for the pipeline.

[dixiegrrrrl]

68. When you say those people were signatories of PNAC..

Which part of PNAC are you talking about?

I can't find their names on the PNAC Statement of Principles or on the
"Signatories or contributors to other significant letters or reports"

The PNAC signatories can be seen at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century

Please post a source of Clinton, etc. signatures so I can add it to my PNAC files. I have been tracking PNAC closely since the beginning.

thanks....

[bvar22]

138. I had some DU threads bookmarked....

...that thoroughly documented the links between DLC and PNAC, but they seem to have been "disappeared". I believe that poster is no longer at DU....hence the absent threads.

Here are a couple I found with Google (PNAC DLC)

"Will Marshall, co-founder of the DLC, is involved in the Project for a New American Century (PNAC). That's right - he is a signatory on documents issued from the same organization founded on the ideals of the likes of Rumsfeld, Cheney, Bolton, Perle and company!"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2034958



Here is a another interesting link:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x117679


I may have saved some of the earlier files as text, but will have to search.

[defendandprotect]

142. Yes, I recall reading that here quite a while back . . .

One of the things that really amazed me in '08 was the support for Hillary Clinton

here at DU though she was obviously part of DLC leadership!!!

Frightening!!!

Clinton and Gore were both founding members . . .

Gore moved on after he took DLC advice and cut his populist speeches in 2000 --



In rethinking 2000, we might be grateful that Lieberman didn't become VP . . .

something just might have happened to Gore -- and presto -- theocracy!!!

Of course, he would have liked converted to Christianity!!



:evilgrin:

[fasttense]

222. I think the support for Hillary was that she was a fighter.

Obama is a compromiser. It was why I supported her, at first. I think we on the left might have been able to push Hillary to the left. I don't think any amount of pushing will change Obama's preference for compromise and finding a middle ground. It is in his make up to compromise and NOT fight.

But this pattern of a fascist, dictatorial regime followed by a compromising leader who ignores the crimes of the previous regime can be seen in a lot of underdeveloped countries. Sometimes, the compromiser is followed by a fighter and eventually the criminal regime is held accountable. But sometimes the compromiser is followed by another compromiser and this eventually leads to the resurgence of power of the dictatorial regime.

It will be curious to see what Obama will be like in 2011. I suspect he will be no different but I hope his intelligence will show him he needs to change.

[defendandprotect]

300. Really, I'm not aware of ....

Hillary as a politician --

I was quite enthused with her when Bill first became president -- but not for long.
I had no idea she was part of DLC leadership until she ran for President.
Overall, I was slow figuring out the DLC-corporate wing!

While I'm worn out with Obama . . . I have to say that too much has been ignored by
Democrats over the years -- from the JFK coup which was the first really out in the
open right wing violence that I was aware of -- to Watergate, Iran-Contra and now 9/11
and this imperialistic war profiteering.

Obama certainly isn't the first --
And I used to at least have some sympathy for Carter -- but recognizing what he did
in Afghanistan is mind-blowing!
All while so nobly and righteously removing the US from the Russian Olympics!!!

I will say that a lot was going on there -- I've fairly recently come to understand that
Oliver North was running Cater's hostage rescue missions!!
And Secord was also helping to run the show!!

No wonder the rescue missions never got off the ground!!

"October Surprise" --

[Dragonfli]

103. You are doing the smartest thing you can do. I am stuck in the city

due to health reasons that are only getting worse without treatment.
It is unfortunate I had not thought of it like you in the 90's before I lost my wife, we could have done it then, and who knows, perhaps she would not have contracted the cancer that the insurance companies turned into an unnecessary death sentence trying to save money.

I rather like you and commend you for your foresight, it appears I learned the same things only a bit too late to matter.

I hope you continue as you have, I wish you luck to go with that rather prudent plan of yours my friend.

[FirstLight]

261. I would love to hear more about how you transitioned

and wonder if you have any advice for those of us who would like to go sustainable, but haven't anything for initial investment.
Kinda hard to go solar when you are a renter

I wish i could just move to my ranch in the country and get busy with the dirt... far from the things of man. *sigh* someday

Definately getting tired of trying to 'fit in' and be part of the rat race. I have never had credit and can barely keep a bank acct open. Unfortunately i am still working on that "independent/residual income"...if only i could get around to writing that Great American Novel ...

anyhow...i think you are spot on by choosing to disengage from the consumerism. bravo

[theFrankFactor]

289. Bravo! My Wife & I Have Been Unplugging for Years Now...

You are securing your freedom and I applaud you for it and for your independence of mind. The masses are stoned on consumerism and fear. This nation's health care casino is now one of this family's biggest obstacles.

I am so heartened to see this level of awareness on DU! We really and truly need a citizens revolution!

Some of you may find my last show interesting regarding the face sucking the US is doing with China. China is the model for the US! Corporate fascism!

Click this link to check it out:
http://thefrankfactor.podOmatic.com/entry/2009-11-30T16_37_38-08_00

[OHdem10]

20. More truth than poetry.

[xchrom]

24. recommend

[burning rain]

25. Glad to give you a rec to compensate for the efforts of the blind faith gang.

Poor blighters are drowned in denial.

[cali]

28. One can find fault with this rather torrid

without being either blindly faithful or in denial. Just as one can blindly rec it without any critical thought whatsoever.

[Subdivisions]

43. Well, since you un-recced it, I guess you're incapable of critical thought as well.n/t

[cali]

45. I unrecced it for it's tedious conspiracy crap

I think greed and institutional behavior are far greater contributors to the state of affairs than any conspiracy. And unlike, I'm willing to bet, at least half the people on this thread, I read the entire thing.

That's critical thought, honey. Do try and familiarize yourself with it.

[Subdivisions]

53. So, anyone whose opinion bothers you is incapable of critical thought? Okaaayyyyy. n/t

[cali]

60. you offered no substantive opinion whatsoever.

When you do- if you do- I'll be glad to respond substantively.

[laughingliberal]

55. I read the whole thing and whether or not there are those who planned ahead to get our country here

or it is just an amazing set of coincidences does not change the fact that the situation is drastic and likely to be more drastic. We can argue if those who have reaped wild benefits from the current state of the nation had a plan or were just incredibly lucky that legislators mostly saw things their way for 30 years. I don't think it matters. Result is the same. We're screwed...

[Subdivisions]

67. I can't believe the whole matter is still being debated. n/t

[cali]

78. it's not really about coincidence

and there's nothing amazing about this pattern of human behavior. It has masses of historical precedent. And really, it's hardly just the last 30 years that Congress has been responsive chiefly to its wealthiest and most powerful constituents, though it's gotten worse over the past couple of decades.

Are we screwed? Well, ultimately, of course we are. Humans are not now, and never have been, very good and harnessing our worst impulses. But it's not just us. Not that that's any consolation. I don't know whether things will completely collapse within, say, a decade, I do know that the dystopic predictions made over the past few decades that our society is about to suffer a complete collapse, have not been accurate. Society is both fragile and resilient. The when is unknowable.

In the meantime, I prefer not to do the woe is us thing. I think it's fairly pointless. I prefer to concentrate on what I can do personally and collectively within my community on a mostly local level.

Oh, one more thing; humans have been doing the apocalyptic thing for a very long time, whether it's swathed in religion or of the more modern secular variety.

[laughingliberal]

86. I suppose it's a good thing there are still those with the energy to work to effect change

This last debacle took us down. We kept picking ourselves up after each downturn and starting over. Kept working to try to get the plight of workers raised. But we went down with the economy this time and are a little too old to get back in the game, now. We're left hoping we can continue to scrape up enough to keep some form of shelter, even if it winds up being one vehicle which still runs and some food. Suppose I am doing the whole woe is us thing but woe really is us. Glad there are some still able to keep up the good fight.

[cali]

89. You're the one saying it's hopeless and we're screwed

I live a very just scraping by existence myself these days, so I understand how hard it is. I think we're talking about different things altogether.

[laughingliberal]

100. I didn't think I was unclear that I think it's hopeless and we're screwed

I just said I'm glad there are some there not quite at the giving up point, yet. I know why you think we are talking about different things. But, I see all the elements that went into the catastrophe that is now my life as the culmination of all the pro-corporate, anti-worker legislation and policies being ramped up since Reagan.

[Subdivisions]

98. Now THAT's more like it! A substantive and worthwhile post in place

of a snark. Congratulations! And, I don't mind saying that I agree on each point. But, I also think we need to be reminded CONSTANTLY of the message the OP and Kos diarist are delivering.

[HughMoran]

158. Good post

We really can only do our little part on a local level, vote for who we think is best and hope that others around us are as sensible as we are.

[defendandprotect]

81. Capitalism is a ridiculous "King-of-the-Hill" System . . .

as long as it's in play we will have a transfer of wealth and natural resources

from the many to the few --

Capitalism has brought that about all over the world -- and now in America, as well.

It's just beginning to get rough here --

[laughingliberal]

107. I'm afraid you're correct. I believe we are in danger of seeing it get much worse

I think of the times when I lived in Texas and visited Juarez. I remember seeing the poor, thin children there begging on the streets. I remember seeing a woman with the swollen, distended abdomen of the malnourished sitting on a sidewalk nursing an undernourished infant. I remember my shock at the conditions and I wonder how long before these images become common in America?

[tom_paine]

233. Such images will NEVER become commonplace in Americcca - because the M$M won't allow them to

The M$M is without a doubt the greatest RW propaganda machine in all of history, far outstripping Hitler & Goebbels.

PLUS, UNLIKE the pikers, Hitler and Goebbels, ours has high levels of "plausible deniability" worked into it to further keep the peasantry docile.

Two counterpoints: 1) Hitler & Goebbels did not have access to the 80 years of intervening progress in psychology, advertising, PR and the overall science of lying, deceit and manipulation, which may be Americcccca's sole remaining cottage industry

2) Our national Founding Myth, like that of the Romans, requires a much higher level of "plausible deniability" that the German culture of that era did not require of Hitler and Goebbels, though any reading of their history showers one with little echoes of our own present (minus the direct and obvious evil, which has been nixed as "bad PR") as Hitler and Goebbels did indeed use a much more unsophisticated and minimal level of "plausible deniability".

But only in a Free Country with a Free Press would such images be anything other than 98-100% censored, and Americcca certainly has NONE of the requirements.

As for us, the sciences of PR, psychology and advertising states clearly that so long as we are kept from the National Dialogue and inside the false hologram of lies that constitues nearly every aspect of American society now, then we don't matter as individuals, much like the rest of the Americccan peasantry.

As things gets worse our M$M-Infoganda machine will gt more frantic reminding how good things are, how timelsss our freedoms and our nation...

:puke: (sorry, the stench of totalitarian lies makes me a bit nauseous - lol)

[fascisthunter]

249. they should be so proud to implement nazi-like propaganda

to keep their fellow americans in the dark. A sign that the media really cares about it's democracy.

[defendandprotect]

302. It always seemed clear to me that you move ahead when you are the wealthy and

strong nation ...

and we didn't do that --

In fact, the reverse was true -- the right wing was able to stop the women's movement

at the border --

Nothing was really done for the poor and impoverished in the world --

And same in Afghanistan today re women --

Unions? Rather our own unions have been attacked -- !!

Benefits -- health care -- vacations -- insurance -- dental care -- pensions --

every bit of it has been attacked and underminded.

[HughMoran]

85. I think this thread should be promoted to the top of Greatest for all to see

The more exposure, the better; those who see things differently should want this front and center.

[Little Star]

101. agree! n/t

[burning rain]

124. That's a very fine perpective.

Indeed it doesn't pay to be an ostrich.

[NoPasaran]

26. Recycled pseudoleftist pablum

[Jim Sagle]

120. So says a five buck an hour DLC hogwash dispenser.

[readmoreoften]

140. ...that happens to be true!

golly that!

[tomp]

236. really? care to elaborate? nt

[Hydra]

27. "You would have a pliant and subjugated citizenry...

...You would have a pliant and subjugated citizenry working at a subsistence-level, afraid of uniting in protest (or creating alternate political parties, or creating strong unions)."

Check!

[laughingliberal]

57. Check, indeed nt

[Hannah Bell]

205. mate.

[DBoon]

29. Democrats represent financial capital

Republicans represent extractive industries and low-wage sweatshops.

We've traded crooks at Enron for crooks at Goldman

Without powerful labor organizations or other popular movements of equal strength, what else do you expect?

The crushing of organized labor by Reagan was for political reasons as much as economic.

Organized labor is what made the US Democratic party a de-facto labor party from the 1930's through the 1960's

The stark decline of organized labor has left a vacuum in our politics

[leftstreet]

34. +1

[jwirr]

59. You are so right. I would favor a third party if I did not think it is too late

for that in 2010. And one of the problems I have seen in my 68 years of watching the elections is that there is never enough strength to win - just to make a dent in the party you most resemble.

Exactly how do we create a viable third party that can win? I have said in the past I would never vote anything but Democratic but the only other option was repug. I still feel that way - unless we can create a winner.

As to the truth. I think we are seeing only the tip of the iceberg. This article tells the general truth. We need to include John Kerry's book The New War, Kuntsler's The Long Emergency and a whole lot of other data on what is really happening here and now.

The more I read the more afraid I get even though we are also working to set up our own old hippie security.

[truedelphi]

202. If the third party does not materialize

Then we will see a l9ot of strife.

And even if the third party does materialize, it may take decades to provide any relief.

[defendandprotect]

303. I can't picture how that might happen . ..

I've sometimes thought that Kucinich, Howard Dean and a few others might break away . . .

Maybe Michael Moore lending support -- ???

The right wing doesn't wait for leadership to rise any longer before killing them --

they kill them before they get started now--!!!

[Jim Sagle]

123. Union busting is not just for economic and potlical but physical.

When the working class is weakened and shrunk, the capacity for physical resistance is crippled.

[Enthusiast]

211. Excellent point.

And anti labor propaganda has been going full tilt for decades until they achieved their ends. That and the wholesale loss of essential manufacturing while using labor as a convenient scape goat.

[dgibby]

173. And in order to get Boeing to move another plant to SC,

the workers in the existing plant had to vote out the union.

[treestar]

30. Why are Americans so overdramatic?

Makes me ashamed of my own country.

[Deja Q]

50. Dunno. I'll admit it's easy to do.

:(

[girl gone mad]

92. We live in dramatic times.

Near 20% unemployed and underemployed, two unending wars, multi-trillion dollars in debt, a massive collapse in housing prices that has wiped out billions in "wealth", out of control inflation in medical and education costs, an out of touch political class, the failure and subsequent bailout of crony capitalism, climate change, a reactionary right wing party gone mainstream, the erosion of constitutional protections, an empire in rapid decline.

Your shame is misplaced.

[Skittles]

118. you know it, girl

[bobbolink]

132. Could you please include very poor and homeless people?

We do get very tired of being ignored.

Thank you.

[dgibby]

174. Europeans would have been in the streets by now. n/t

[defendandprotect]

304. Agree -- but we don't seem to have the same common sense or gumption . ..

working for us somehow?

We sere dazzled by our post-WWII results -- believed that we would never do wrong!!!

Too many of us didn't know the real history of this nation --

We have been very busy consumers of garbage --

Europeans seem to still be more surrounded by nature and meaningful options, somehow?????

Also -- America was famous as a place to NOT discuss politics and religion !!!

And as we can see now those are two of the most important subjects to be discussed!!!

Europeans have always been more politically aware --- ?????

Americans, way not so much!!!

???

[Lydia Leftcoast]

310. For the most part, Europeans still live in cohesive neighborhoods

often the same neighborhoods their ancestors lived in 200 years ago.

Their range of acceptable political discussion is also wider than ours. Most of these countries have Socialist or Communist parties that regularly win seats in their national legislative body.

They also have a significant (although rapidly dwindling) number of people who know what it is like to live under a tyrannical government, so they are sensitive to any such moves in that direction.

[Enthusiast]

212. Amen!

And how would we characterize outspending the entire rest of the world on the military?

And once the specter of the USSR was gone the PTB created another even more exaggerated threat.

[readmoreoften]

141. Or such mindless followers and brand loyalists?

:shrug:

[peacetalksforall]

192. If we are overdramatic it's in response to dramatic things done to our country. Being done to us.

The baron level has declared war on us. I believe the declaration was made decades ago, but accelerated dramtically in the last decade. There doesn't seem to be any worry about revealing it now. There are some in this country who have seen it for years. When Bernanke, Geitner, or any of the other facilitators attempt to quell the rising drama, they are only speaking to those who haven't paid attention - ever. They don't really want to call out the mercenaries yet because enough of them haven't been trained.

Yes, the coup came, but we don't all know it yet. We're stupid to play their dramatic game.

Preaching flag, pledge, patriotism, sacrifice of sons, forgiveness of white collar crime has been a dramatic strategy for decades. Dramatic music. Dramatic film. Dramatic marches. Dramatic holidays. Dramatic gun salutes. Dramatic fly overs. Yes dramatic.

We're hearing some pretty dramatic monetary forecasts.

I don't even believe that they can't figure it out. I think they know exactly what they are doing. I believe they have accounted for every penny payout to those on their team. Looking at the totals of money stolen must be dramatic. Some bank balances of the players must be dramatic. Some forects must be dramatic or they wouldn't we warning us about more thefts.

Wall Street Mafia. That's kind of dramatic concept.

Who do we trust? That's a dramatic question.

Tell us where YOU will be financially a year from now. And where most people will be?

'Hope'n' your answer will be soothing.

[treestar]

265. there's always somebody claiming this

There was a book out in the 90s I think it was about the Great Coming Depression. We should all be living under the bridges by now.

Always someone declaring the end of the world.

Yet this country is more stable than most. That kind of coup may have happened in a third world country, yet it does not happen here. that seems to bother some people. They'd rather have the drama and the suffering.

[tomp]

237. what the hell are you talking about? nt

[Dinger]

31. Rec # 77 Here : )

:)

[Swamp Rat]

33. *ahem*...

[MadLinguist]

130. Amen!!!

A coup out in the bright light of day, bold and blatant as bull's balls! Didn't even have the courtesy to try and lie about.

[bvar22]

184. AND...

..an appeasing and groveling "Opposition Party" only too happy to accommodate the usurpers.
So "accommodating" they might as well have been participants.

[Swamp Rat]

190. YES!

Litebyte Bandit is getting angry. :mad:

[pleah]

36. K&R

[Subdivisions]

37. Tinfoil hat conspiracy bullshit!!! n/t

[defendandprotect]

83. Here's some tin foil for you --

[Subdivisions]

99. Bwaahahahhahah! It's great to see you ma'am! Hope your giving them hell in the Dungeon! n/t

[defendandprotect]

146. Well, ma'am . . . that much tin foil would give anyone hell anywhere at DU . . !!

[FarCenter]

38. A coup would imply a change in power -- something which has not occurred

The same folks are in power as before the election.

[Subdivisions]

39. And it's frustrating as hell that there are still those here who just don't get it. n/t

[FarCenter]

48. Party politics are designed to ensure that no candidate unacceptable to the establishment can win

[defendandprotect]

84. And that the leaders we get to vote for are those they give us . . .

[flyarm]

213. absolutely! thanks..eom

[Lydia Leftcoast]

278. Yes, and in 2007 they gave us Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton

and rigged up a fake, hysterical horse race based on the question, "Are you a racist or a sexist?"

Way too many DUers fell for it.

I knew Hillary Clinton was a thorough-going corporatist, and I suspected that Obama probably was, too, given that he never actually said anything of substance in all his fiery rhetoric.

[defendandprotect]

306. And remember how "others" were suddenly out of the debates???

Debates run by private corporations!!!

Kucinich and John Edwards -- just elbowed out --

But, mainly I remember 2004 when Kerry was the bottom of the barrel as we entered

primaries -- and zoom, suddenly he was as the man -- !!!

Believable? No.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

308. Yes, I campaigned in Iowa for Kucinich, and while I didn't expect him to win

what I saw based on yard signs and talking to people made me expect that the top three would be Edwards, Dean, and then Kerry a distant third.

Another funny thing in 2008 was NPR's coverage of the New Hampshire primary. When announcing the results of the Republican race, they gave a detailed analysis of every candidate, including their percentages and where they were strong. When it came to announcing the Democratic results, they spoke for 20 minutes, but ONLY about Obama and H. Clinton. I waited and waited for them to tell me how Kucinich and Edwards did. Even when Edwards beat H. Clinton in Iowa, the focus was on her.

That's when I knew that the MSM had picked their favorites for the horse race.

[defendandprotect]

309. I don't think that was only NPR . . .

because I seem to recall that, as well --

And, IMO, this has been going on over decades.

In fact, the computers began coming in during the mid and late 1960's --

We have paid some attention to the individual voting computers but not much to the

LARGE computers used by MSM which began in the early 1960's --

That began the process of permitting the MSM not only to report the total votes, but

to PREDICT votes and to PREDICT winning candidates -- and then finally to CALL winners

and CALL states/Electoral Votes --!!

That substantially increased the power of the MSM until we saw how that was used to

create a steal for Bush in 2000.

At this point, I'm questioning every GOP win back to Nixon/Humphrey--!!

Coincidentally, the computers began to come in just as America was passing

The Voting Rights Act -- !!

I think 2004 was the most heartbreaking time re Dean --

My son gave a lot to the campaign in many ways and at this point, I can't get my

son to vote anymore.

[laughingliberal]

63. I think it has occured. I believe there was a time when power resided in the hands of the voters

I believe there was a time when voters had the information they needed to vote in officials who had their interests at heart.

Today, the power seems to be concentrated in the hands of those who can contribute huge money to lobbying and political campaigns. Throw a few candidates at them who are committed to advancing the cause of the few against the many. Add in the takeover of what we once called the free press by corporatists assuring the people never really know who's behind the misery they are experiencing and it is obvious the power has changed hands.

[FarCenter]

82. Be specific -- when was this golden age? Who were the candidates not beholden to the establishment?

Most of the conflicts between the parties have been because of competition between different factions of the establishment or because of geographic regional establishment interests.

I think somone said "money is the mother's milk of politics".

[defendandprotect]

87. JFK ... and, of course, to a large degree FDR who stymied them . . .

incidentally, both of them victims of assassination or attempted assassination --


Others made compromises with them which have harmed us -- Ike, Carter, Clinton ....

even if we presume they would have preferred to be on the side of the people but just

couldn't manage it, the harm was done.


LBJ, highly questionable, of course -- the civil rights thing confuses many about who

he really was -- but certainly one of the primary conspirators in the coup on JFK.

[FarCenter]

108. FDR and JFK were both very much establishment men

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt

FDR was a scion of a old New York Dutch family. His fifth cousin Theodore had been president. He was educated at Groton, Harvard, and Columbia Law School. He was first a Wall Street lawyer. State Senator and then Assistant Secretary of the Navy during WW I. Governor of New York from '29- '32, following his partial recovery from polio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy

JFK's father was Joseph P Kennedy, educated at Boston Latin and Harvard. Liquor importer and movie financier, and Wall Street speculator, he later became the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and then Ambassador to Britain. JFK was schooled at various private schools, finally Choate and then Harvard. Elected to the House in '46 and Senate in '52, largely on the basis of his maternal grandfather's political connections and his father's money. Short and undistinguished presidency that includes many failures. One of them was the overthrow of the Iraqi government and the installation of the Ba'athists by the CIA. The Ba'ath party included one Sadam Hussein.

[defendandprotect]

127. They "were" . . . .

however, evidently the inoculation against democracy and socialism wore off . . .

It was said of FDR that "he betrayed his class" and those on the left said that he

didn't go far enough in that he "saved" capitalism by regulating it.

I agree with them.

Otoh, the elites certainly considered him their enemy and plotted to kill him --

forestalled by Brig. Gen. Smedley Darlington Butler.


Joe Kennedy, Sr. would have been an influence on JFK, obviously . . . but he had a

stroke and JFK pretty much was --- from where we are standing now politically -- a flaming

liberal.

Obviously, the challenge to Segregation, Inc. here set off other challenges to colonialism

and holding "blacks" inferior all over the world.

And to perpetual wars -- however, that seems to be a lesson that America quickly forgot in

the glories of invasions on Panama, Grenada -- and the Gulf War I ... !!

Remember that the Democratic Platform which JFK ran on called for NATIONALIZING the oil

industry! JFK's response to US Steel, as I recall caused tremors among capitalists.

And, finally, they did kill him.


Just a PS on this to also comment on RFK who by the time he died was also a flaming liberal --

anti-war and anti-poverty . . . etal. And, of course, they killed him, as well.


And, MLK, Jr. who also offered a tremendous challenge to the Vietnam War --

Also killed -- in a conspiracy by government.

[flyarm]

214. +1

[clear eye]

275. Yes, but like Zelaya in Honduras they "betrayed" their class

and were hated by them for it.

[laughingliberal]

94. At the risk of getting into an endless demand for more specifics if I answer this...

I will say the decades after Roosevelt were, somewhat, better for us in terms of less disparity of wealth between the haves and have nots. There were candidates and legislators who, I think, were actually pro-union. There were limits to how egregiously the financial institutions and banks were able to game the system against workers and consumers. An analysis of working class wages during those years does show the average workers' wages increasing at a fair clip. We see no such thing since the 70's. Perhaps those who were leading during the post-depression, post WWII era just forgot to get rid of the protections we had during those decades. Of course money has always figured in politics. I don't believe it has been as blatant as it is now since before the depression.

I also believe there have been times, in my lifetime, when we had a free press. There were such things as investigative journalists. The news anchors saw their job as more than just refereeing 2 sides of a fight. They actually did, on occasion, clarify the facts of an issue for us.

Can you see us trying to get the Civil Rights' Act passed today? Social Security? Medicare? If it was never different than it is now, how did they do that? There must have been a few who put the moral obligation above their own aspirations to do such a thing. There must have been a time when the elected officials had some fear of the electorate.

[FarCenter]

109. After WW II, the unions became only concerned about their membership and lost interest in workers

As union membership declined further, they doubled their efforts to see that their own members were taken care.

Now they are heavily oriented towards government employees, and the taxpayers (upper, middle, and lower) be damned.

[laughingliberal]

116. Even when their focus shifted to their own members, a lot of workers still benefitted from the

presence of unions in their areas. I only ever worked in one city that had any unionized nurses and it was just the LPN's at one hospital in town. Every time their contract came up for negotiation, they got a raise and some benefit increases. Following this the hospital would then have to raise the RN's salaries and up their benefit packages, too. Within 3 months every hospital in town would upgrade nurse's pay and benefits-every time in the years I lived there that happened. After I moved it took me a long time to figure out why I didn't see things improving much for nurses anymore. It finally hit me a few years later that the presence of that one union in town helped us.

These days, they don't seem to work so much for the benefit of workers. But the few union workers I know are still doing better than the non-union workers I know. With union membership down to around 8% from highs of 35.7% in 1953.

[defendandprotect]

137. It is often said that union wages set a floor under other wages . . .

[defendandprotect]

133. The unions were attacked and co-opted in every way including by organized crime . . .

The highest numbers we ever reached on unionization was 39% --

We're now down to something like 13% . . . 9% . . . ???

And they expect the huge teachers union here in NJ to be roughed up by Christie --

Remember that organized crime serves the elite -- they exist at their pleasure.

And they are frequently used to deal with problems -- unionization was a problem.

Later, they used Mafia members to intimidate and move negotiations into mandated

arbitration -- think that was during the Reagan years.

But, pretty much, unions are still under constant attack -- and dwindling.

[laughingliberal]

153. Yes, sad nt

[defendandprotect]

154. What we have to remember is that the right wing can only rise by lies and violence ....

[Enthusiast]

218. But many can't recognize the lies.

Control of the M$M has enabled the entire transformation. We can hear the lies every day and on every TV channel. Some are just more subtle than others.

[defendandprotect]

299. That's a tough one because right wing propaganda is quite successful . . .

"Welfare Queen" . . . "Partial birth abortion" . . .

In the Nixon administration they began to go back to the old Nazi propaganda films . . .

restudying them!

I don't know why some people just don't have a BS Meter???

From the time I was a kid I could never watch the Sunday morning BS shows --

and over the years we've had about twelve hours of real TV -- that was when Bobby Kennedy,

JFK, Malcolm X, MLK, Jr. and some others came on the scene.

We are not at the final stages of this where we have almost total control of all media --

from news agencies to networks, from publishing houses to newspaper ownership.

Certainly the Russians knew they were being lied to --

Most people do know -- eventually!!!

AND, keep in mind that they do have to control ALL of that because one bit of truth getting

through can be very dangerous to them . . .

Truth is like a small pebble hitting a mirror -- it can totally shatter it.


:) :) :)



Just adding a PS because my first response has to be that you can track VIOLENCE . . .

People have to wake up to that -- yes, there are conspiracies in the world and our own

right wing government and CIA are largely responsible for most of them.

People cannot ignore the political violence -- the assassinations -- Watergate which was

widespread corruption and crime -- Iran/Contra -- and, of course, the latest -- 9/11 . . .!!!

Where there is violence you will find the right wing!!!

[Enthusiast]

307. I'm awaiting the day when the people wake up.

I'm afraid it will come too late.

[Enthusiast]

216. Right again, defendandprotect. nt

[truedelphi]

204. Having the wonderful privilege of seeing the new Daniel Ellsberg documentary

I have to agree that we did have a free press. Without the free press, the "Pentagon Papers" leak would have never occurred. It not only remains historical fact that the New York Times of that era stepped forward to print the highlights of the first segfment of the seven thousand pages that Ellsberg smuiggled out of the Rand Corp, but that after the newspaper was served an injuntion to cease and decease in publishing more of the information, then the Washington Post stepped in. And then when the WP was served an injucnction, another news paper stepped in.

In the end, a total of seventeen newspapers printed protions of the highlights of the Pentagon Papers.

In today's Huge Corporate Conglomerate, none of thsoe pspers would have done that.

the M$M is fully owned by the Corproate Masters, and sserves only them.

[Enthusiast]

219. Thanks for the historical reminder.

It's hard to believe the press even operated that way, at one time.

And imagine, the FCC will allow ever further consolidation of the media. I have heard nothing against the NBC-Comcast merger on the M$M, nary a word of descent.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

279. The corporate media today are dedicated to dumbing down the American people instead of

informing them.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has for years put sports gossip and other trivia on its front page. Local newscasts are 10 minutes of sports, 10 minutes of weather, 5 minutes of actual news if you're lucky, and at least 5 minutes of corporate promos and trivialities.

[truedelphi]

283. And so often the small amount of "actual news" is something like

Man finds two headed fish at the end of his fishing pole.

Or child's pet pony has the Virgin Mary portrayed in markings on its flanks.

Anything but real news. Since it is expensive to have reporters go to the state capital or even to the mayor's office, there are stories about "recipes being favored by home cooks" or how to save twenty bucks on your next shopping trip...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

287. Or the "real news" may be nothing more than a verbatim press release

or a corporate press release.

When I volunteered for a radio station, I fielded calls from private corporations offering "free news reports," which were actually 5-minute commercials for their latest product or service. Since the station was an all classical music station that got its news off the wire services, I gleefully turned them down (with some choice words).

Even with the wire services, the news varied depending on who was reading it. One announcer invariably focused in on the trivia, the cute animal stories and things like that. At the other extreme was an announcer whom I knew to be a leftist activist. The stories he found on the same news wire were quite different. Not an animal anecdote to be heard.

[Enthusiast]

215. Very perceptive, laughingliberal. nt

[Syntheto]

40. Explain how things are different now...

...than, say, the Civil War? JP Morgan paid his $356 dollars to get out of serving on the Union side in the Civil War. How many Irish boys just off the boat were able to afford that? Tick....tick...tick.

Reagan called it 'trickle down economics' that's what it is - whatever trickles down the elitists' legs is what we, the people, as most of us understand it, are left with.

So, here we are, on DU, fighting over the scraps, just like the furtive little animals who desperately try to get a piece of dead giraffe that the lion was too satiated to finish off, or maybe coughed up because it was too full, or maybe just overlooked.

Nobody really wants to know what the real deal is; I, as a White man, have more in common with a Black man working 9 to 5 than I do with Bill Gates, Nancy Pelosi or any of those people.

Yes, it is class warfare in America, just like anywhere in the world, but there is no alternative; there will always be an elite.

[laughingliberal]

71. I think what we are seeing now is a degree of disparity not seen for a few generations now

Yes, there will always be an elite but the disparity in wealth between the haves and have nots has been kept to a level with which the masses could live since the time of Roosevelt. Past 30 years the institutions and laws which kept things in a livable balance have been systematically dismantled.

[FarCenter]

110. The great middle class was a mostly urban phenomena in a few cities

This equality of which you speak did not apply to rural areas, where farmers were being economically driven off the land. Nor did it apply to southern cities, especially the black population.

[laughingliberal]

182. Well, I guess we truly have acheived equality for all. Now it does not apply to anyone nt

[Enthusiast]

220. Zactly! nt

[Quantess]

42. I see the people at Daily Kos argue at least as much as DUers, if not more.

That was the first time I read comments on the DK. Those people like to argue!

Anyway, I didn't find much to argue about in the article itself. Sadly, I think it's true: "We would wake up one day under an true neo-fascistic Plutocracy: A political system governed by the wealthy people."

[defendandprotect]

61. I also read some of the comments . . .

Really tiresome to see the "but it's only been xxx number of months since Obama was

elected" ideas floating around there as well. The direction Obama moved in immediately

was obvious -- sadly obvious.

Also, the seeming ignorance of capitalism as a system which is intended to move wealth

from the many to the few. It is structured to do that -- and it does it quite successfully.

Unregulated capitalism is merely organized crime!

This is a system which needs to be overturned -- and I think most Americans are waking up

to that reality. Certainly not what we are taught in our schools -- but it is flashing a

neon billboard of "CORRUPTION" and "CRIME" now so it seems unlikely anyone could miss it?

[defendandprotect]

44. This was a process put in play OVERTLY when they killed JFK . . .

Not that the tendency towards imperialistic and fascist government wasn't visible before

that -- impeded for a time by FDR's regulating of capitalism and the New Deal.

Looking back, it seems that Dag Hammarskjold and Adlai Stevens may be two additional victims

of this right wing coup -- and I'm sure that many other names could be added.

9/11 was more of the same -- MIHOP -- to gain control over Middle East oil and for war profiteering.

And, most of this current awakening should have been obvious the moment Obama began to make his

appointments. The farce became very clear at that time.

Meanwhile, here we are again --

What in the hell is Plan B, folks???

[cali]

46. deranged ranting

but funny.

[arcadian]

49. Leave it to you to defend the power elite.

Sickening.

[cali]

52. I'm not in any way shape or form defending the power elite, dear.

Leave it to you to be intentionally obtuse.

That post is loony. As I said in an above post, greed and institutional behavior have more to do with the corporate stranglehold than any cabal of conspirators.

[Name removed]

65. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Enthusiast]

223. It's a cabal of conspirators.

This is clear to anyone with open eyes.

[laughingliberal]

79. Okay, non-deranged ranting

Some powerful people, having nothing to do with the death of the last President with the will and popularity to stand up to the power elite saw the coincidence of his death as the perfect opportunity to start capitalizing on the fear and grief of the American people. No candidate since his time has had the will or the political capital to, effectively, stand up to them.

As I said, upthread, makes no difference to me if it was a systematic plan enacted, over time, as corporatists took over the media and gave large sums of money to get those who supported them elected or if they got here through a set of happy coincidences (for them). Result is the same however we got here.

In other words, It matters not to me if it was 2+2 or 3+1 or 4+0 that led us to the answer of 4. It's still 4 however you got there.

[Enthusiast]

224. +1

[Enthusiast]

221. Accurate is more like it.

"Nothing to see here, move along."

[704wipes]

54. How was Adlai Stevens(on) a victim?

Because he lost 2 elections? No one was going to beat Eisenhower. Eisenhower considered becoming a democrat too before his first run. I think the Dems figured might as well let Adlai lose a second race rather than sacrifice someone new in '56.

[defendandprotect]

66. Some time back . . .

I read something which cast suspicion on his death --

and I looked into it --

The feeling of those who are suspicious about it -- and I can only remember vague

details at this point -- was that it was a "heart attack" which was triggered or induced

for him.

I don't think I saved anything on it, but you will probably find some info on the internet

about it.

That's also said of the J. Edgar Hoover "heart attack" --

Many Americans aren't fully aware of how long we've had weapons and delivery systems to

create these "heart attacks" and "cancers."

[Andronex]

76. agreed...

This is a slow motion coup that started in Dallas in 1963, and it will be completed soon when an openly fascist regime is put in place as the whole economy finally collapses. On a brighter note this will also signal the end of the American Empire.

[Neecy]

56. Just one question

When this huge collapse comes, to the point that the military and the mercs have to patrol the streets to keep us from rioting - how does this benefit the oligarchs? Why would they bring the system to such a collapse? If there's this level of anarchy and violence, their profits disappear and their very lives would be in danger.

I think it's a little overwrought, and I'm one who believes that corporate influence has destroyed our democracy. But this is a little paranoid for my taste.

[EFerrari]

64. You may be right but NOLA is the obvious model.

They brought in mercs and let people die and shipped others out and simply sat it out because they could.

[Neecy]

70. True...but that's a pretty small scale example

When we're all paupers with nothing better to do than riotin' and such, how will they get us to buy their made-in-China crap? Or insure our cars/homes/lives? Or purchase any other kind of goods or services that keep them afloat?

I tend to think they'll just keep us poor and stupid, working for ever-lowering wages and skimming just enough from us to make it worth their while. Large scale economic collapse doesn't really help them, unless they pick up and cross the border to gut Canada like a fish.

[laughingliberal]

104. I don't think they need us as much as you seem to think they need us

I think their focus is now on something I hear a lot about which they call 'emerging markets.' Not sure what that means but I suspect it means new places they can find customers.

Oh, they're still out there scrapping for the few pennies we have left. Mandated private health insurance ought to take care of that, nicely.

[EFerrari]

195. I thought about this for a while and finally think, they don't need us

to buy anything. The very few people we're really talking about have the flexibility of a global marketplace. We're pretty much obstructions to them. What happened in NOLA is small scale but I think it's a good figure for the way they think, for the way they are buffered and for the impunity they have. :shrug:

[rudy23]

199. And ate cake.

I don't think that photo was unintentional. I think it was a certain portion of the elite's biggest fantasy. They didn't quite get the riots they wanted to watch on TV, though.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

280. FILM SUGGESTION: Executive Action

It's a theory about the JFK assassination, made in 1973, and yet it has the conspirators talking about implementing the shock doctrine, although they don't call it that.

Whether the film's assertions about the assassination are true or not, it's striking to see the portrayal of the wealthy right-wingers casually talking about "culling the herd." In a film made in 1973.

[EFerrari]

298. I saw that with my future husband in the Turlock Theater.

It was chilling and perhaps prophetic.

[defendandprotect]

69. How did the Jewish Holocaust in Germany benefit them . . . ???

Resources move into different hands ---

In the end, of course, we recognize that they war on one another --

Capitalism is, after all, a ridiculous King-of-the-Hill System --

Evidently, Howard Huges wanted to own America --

Figure out why patriarchy is suicidal and then we'll all know!

[Octafish]

80. Fewer people, longer the planet can support ''Them.''

A "top Texas scientist" suggested the planet needed to reduce human population by 90-percent, preferably by a virus. His colleagues applauded.

http://tcrnews2.com/Popcontrol1.html

[liberation]

96. I don't think people were cheering for him

and I don't think these people are happy about having to educate the world population about exponential growth functions.

Either we as a species get our act together, or carrying on living gracing at our navels while expecting a planet of finite resource to support our need for infinite growth will lead to disaster when mother nature bitchslap us down into the ground. We need to stop pretending we can have it all both ways, that may be a hard compromise for the average American, since well... we sort of made that into an art (wanting to have everything both ways that is).

[dgibby]

176. Wasn't it Kissinger who espoused the "useless eaters" theory? n/t

[readmoreoften]

145. Looking at history, martial law and captive audiences has never harmed a plutocrat.

You'll work for less. What makes you think their profits will disappear? Capitalists made bank even in WWI with massive devastation, death, and starvation.

[Octafish]

72. It's gotten a lot more open about it.

That MI-Complex Thing is filled with banksters, mass murderers, warmongers and traitors.

[dysfunctional press]

73. silent...??? it was in ALL the papers.

december 12, 2000?
bush v. gore?
fat tony and the supremes?

[defendandprotect]

90. And we did nothing . . we should have all been out in the streets . . .

but we were waiting for our government, Democrats, courts to act --

what we finally got was an open GOP sponsored fascist coup to stop the vote count --

and like 9/11 . . . most of our systems were AWOL!!

Most of our leaders are highly compromised and will cling to those with power --

Great post -- :)

[defendandprotect]

91. K+R ---

[dysfunctional press]

95. some of us were...

[defendandprotect]

113. I didn't know that . . . where was this?

I was in NJ listening to Pacifica and trying to react with telephone and snail mail

to Congress -- etal.

I've heard that Al Gore sent Jesse Jackson home from the demonstrations that had got going

in Florida -- the area where they had the butterfly ballot.

It was all preposterous --

Congratulations to you for doing what we should have all been doing!! Gumption!!



:)

[newspeak]

314. some probably don't remember what happened after * got selected

because MSM didn't make a huge deal about it. * started out doing the traditional walk to his swearing in, but had to get in his vehicle because of being pelted by the crowd. Because the MSM didn't make a "Tiger Woods" stink about it, most people don't know that. I remember one man who was interviewed that day-he stated that he hadn't voted for Gore, but what he saw of the election results, the voters were screwed and it was unamerican for the supreme court to decide the leader of the country-he was there with the others protesting *'s illegal claim to the throne.

I remember Chaffee (R) on television stating that the first thing Cheney did was gather all of the repug critters and telling them that they were in charge there would be no caucusing with the democrats. I think that during the * years, it was their intention to fracture this country--to divide us.

The teabaggers listen to those who carry water for the corporate elite. The whole teabagger thing is one big corporate sponsorship and they don't even know it. I believe they would do their master's bidding with the aid of a very complicit corporate MSM, It's sad really, that they think they're really protecting America and the Constitution; yet, they cared nothing when * was trashing the constitution. It was so easy to have the insurance lobby PR use the teabaggers for their anti-health care agenda--pro-corporate all the way, baby!!!! Their type of insurrection will be at the whim and will of their corporate sponsors to maintain the status quo.

[WilliamPitt]

75. "And it's going to get worst"

Worse.

[Greyskye]

277. Thank you.

I just searched the thread to see if that was bugging anyone else.

[FarLeftRage]

88. K & R!!

Fuck the dlc, they are the new repuKKKe "left" and "centrist"....

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

97. If we're going to share paranoid fantasies

I can do a lot lot better than the OP

I see the same world of Big Brother control, surveillance, data mining, GPS locating, etc. It will be easy to identity the "enemies of the state and then to "neutralize" them. They will find:

Their identities stolen
Their bank accounts drained
Their income tax returns audited ( remember when the private contractors were collecting party affiliations?)
Their computers loaded with child porn
Their cars filled with drugs
Their properties confiscated- either through drug seizure laws or more seizure laws to come
Their properties sold to private developers ala Kelo
Their credit ratings ruined
No jobs when a background check reveals them as "liberals" - those people that our Radio Rwanda hosts "jokingly" advocate killing or
talking to with baseball bats


IF they somehow persist in organizing, protesting, etc.,- while protesting they will be microwaved or have their eardrums shattered with sonic cannons. Then they will be labeled "domestic terrorists" and shipped off to the giant private prison holding tanks being built where they can then rot for years since we think its okay to hold a terrorist indefinitely forever without charges.

As they say on Law and Order - all ripped from today's headlines.

The funny thing is, this is exactly the same paranoid fantasies right wingers have. The acknowledgment is that we have set up these laws or lack of laws or perversions of law that have the same effect to anyone on the losing side - whichever side that turns out to be.

This is why the BIGGEST MOST GIGANTIC FAILURE of the Obama administration is the failure to acknowledge and return to the Rule of Law
and to seek out, investigate and punish the people who turned our world upside down. Why aren't they doing that? They don't want to.
If anything, their role is to preserve the status quo. Which leads right back to the premise of the OP - we HAD a revolution, we just don't know it yet.

[RagAss]

114. ..........and I see cities burning to the ground.

[winyanstaz]

152. K & R......

"The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls...and tenement Halls..."
(and sometimes in blogs)

Finally the words of the small voices crying in the www wilderness to "Wake the fuck up!"...are being heard.

[bvar22]

242. You can add the failure to address Black Box Voting...

...and election rigging.

After 2000 & 2004, you would think this would be a hot, front burner issue for the Democratic Party.
Over 90% of Americans (Democrats & Republicans) support Transparent, Verifiable Elections.

92% of ALL Americans support TRANSPARENT, VERIFIABLE elections!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x446445

THIS would be an easy WIN for the Democratic Party,
but NOT A PEEP from OUR Party about this.

There can be only one reason why.
"THEY" prefer a Non-Transparent unverifiable system.

"Its NOT who votes that counts. Its who counts the votes that matters."---You know who

[tblue]

102. I want my country back! (But was it ever ours?)

I had to explain to my mom, who is not a native English speaker and who generally sees things in black and white, that Obama, who she wholeheartedly supports, is something between a Democrat and a Republican. He is not a liberal, I had to tell her. It hurt to say it, but it's the truth. I'm trying to think of when we've ever had a real liberal as president. I don't know if we ever did.

[defendandprotect]

115. "Was it ever ours?" ...

Well, if you were female, a male without property, a native American, AFrican enslaved here

-- on and on -- no it wasn't.

Unfortunately, too little challenge goes on in our schools re what we are taught.

Hope we all find a way out of this --

:)

[FarLeftFist]

106. Glenn Beck feel's proud now.

[ProgressOnTheMove]

111. I'm not that pessimistic that I accept an Alex Jones scenario. Positive things are happening we're..

getting caught up in a lot of detail. The bigger picture is looking just fine to me. :)

[readmoreoften]

149. Well then you don't know how to read a chart.

Or you're wealthy. One thing's for sure: you're not a soldier with PTSD. When nothing changes, nothing changes. Your "positive psychology" ain't gonna help. And the idea that this has anything to do with right libertarian nutcases like Alex Jones is pretty ridiculous.

[G_j]

112. we've known this, at least some of us,

it's one of those things that it is just too awful and depressing for some to get their heads around.

[Skittles]

117. yup they toss a few bones and - VOILA! like the post before yours

:o

[G_j]

162. most of us, I think, are hard wired for optimism,

where once it may have helped us survive, it may be just the opposite today.

[pjt7]

119. Daiky KOS shouldn't have banned disussion on 9.11

This could have clued many more people in to the evil bankers & war mongers.

[defendandprotect]

121. They did?

Agree -- mistake and so true here at DU...

[Raster]

272. Yes they did. Oh yeah, and Kos banned discussion of electoral theft.

Numerous posters were banned from Kos for daring to suggest that 2000 was stolen.

[defendandprotect]

305. Wow -- why would they do that . . .

do they even have a very big forum?

I thought it was mostly blogs -- only see it occasionally.

Very, very odd -- !!!

[bluesmail]

147. I haven't always thought that the Sept 11 attacks on the WTC's were the

MultiNationalCorporation(s) behind it, I'd say in the last year that's what I've been wondering about, seriously thinking, I mean who benefits? The New World Order aka One World Government. Sickening that so many people ARE distracted with their money/health issues, they don't have the time or the will to see what's really going on. (Till the lights go out). And all the put options, huh Wall Street. The missing GOLD. So much the * years took from us with their GWOT. The Constitution, RIP.

[Cartoonist]

148. Why do they vote that way?

I feel that democracy died, and that the people lost their representation, when a large group of poor and middle class people were duped into voting republican and against their own interests. I cannot believe the opposition to health care by people who don't have any. What will it take to convince the Palinites that they are shooting themselves?

[Vidar]

151. K&R.

[HughMoran]

155. Oh, and bookmarked

This is too delicious not to add to my collection!

[Nikki Stone1]

156. Two books that explain what is happening:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Shock-Doctrine/Naomi-Klein/e/9780312427993/?itm=1&USRI=shock+doctrine


http://globalresearch.ca/globaloutlook/GofP.html

[Karmadillo]

178. Thanks. Was not familiar with the second one.

nt

[Nikki Stone1]

187. Read the second one first.

A real eye opener.

[Ghost Dog]

201. I'd considered a lot of Chossudovsky's analysis

to be accurate, until I saw him recently on the side of the anthropogenic climate change deniers.

But I guess it's all to easy to make mistakes when you approach the evidence predisposed from an ideological perspective.

So, as regards the subject of the OP, it's interesting to observe that both left and right broadly agree that this is so.

[truedelphi]

203. Know Klein's book almost backwards and forwards,

But didn't know about the Globalization of Poverty

Thanks!

[The Wizard]

157. Theocratic Oligarchy

just like Saudi Arabia.

[HughMoran]

159. That's exactly what we have in the United States!

Precisely!

[David Zephyr]

160. #224 Rec from me.

Wake up and smell the coffee.

[boppers]

161. This is why WiFi should be banned from coffee shops.

"musings" is right, a few seconds of careful thought would have blown this out of the water.

[BREMPRO]

163. reads more like a sci-fi conspiracy novel than an op-ed

writers laundry list of conspiracies weaved together are WAY over the top assuming deep coordinated conspiracies where there is only widespread greed, too much corporate influence over politics, prior administrations incompetence, corruption and irresponsibility. Obama is not a part of any secret conspiracy of oligarchs taking over our lives- that's absurdity. It would be more responsible to discuss and debate real problems and solutions instead of cooking up and spreading these wild conspiracy theories.

Lets get real. All americans, american dream prosperity culture, are responsible in some way for the situation we are in, not just some evil secret conspiracy by the rich to make us slaves. Many individual americans are just as responsible for the economic collapse by living beyond their means, using their houses as ATM machines and falling for get rich quick schemes and prosperity gospel faith to believe they deserved wealth without working for it. The mortgage brokers, the investment bankers, those who work for defense contractors- all responsible for their choices and their action- they are americans too. It was so easy to criticize Bush for all our problems. Lets look in the mirror.

[Bluesbreaker]

177. How do you explain the extensive Goldman Sachs connections?

Please watch Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story" or, if you don't have time for that, just watch the interview clip of Matt Taibbi, investigative reporter for Rolling Stone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4it-Fs8RLw

Judging from the image on your post, you may be too personally invested as an Obama apologist to listen to any criticism of his policies and method of operations. But if you don't agree with the contention made in the sources cited above, what would it take for you to admit that the guy we voted for cares more about maintaining good relationships with Wall Street and the corporatocracy (PHARMA, CITI, GS, et al.) than fighting for working and middle-class families?

[BREMPRO]

194. better than non committal with no avatar. i'm a supporter, but not without objectivity

my avatar has been many things over the 5 years i've been posting here- van gogh, gore, dean, evil nazi bush, kerry, and ted kennedy. Obama is relatively new so enough with the accusations about my objectivty based on my current avatar.

Moore makes some good points in his movie, but goes too far in criticizing capitalism as "evil".
i've read Taibbi's work, he's a relatively inexperienced reporter and not an economics expert (he was an athlete and sports and humorist reporter before getting into politics 5 years ago. He has done some good reporting regarding commodities insider trading but this piling on of goldman sachs and rubin protege's and insider quid pro quo is way over the top and doesn't take into account the change in policy since the infamous public testimony of Greenspan admitting his libertarian, no regulation economic world view was completely wrong.

Goldman happens to be just about the only financial wall street institution standing after the collapse- and has a better reputation for integrity than the other firms that ran the casino and they didn't get involved with sub-prime and mortgage backed securities and therefore were in a better position financially (not just because of insider support as is often claimed), so it's not surprising that some of their former employees are involved in the White House economic team. Paulson was a Goldman Sachs shill and terrible treasury secretary, but he's gone now, and Geithner and Bernanke are much more independent and never worked for Goldman. the guilt by association and the fact that they bailed out banks prevent a global financial meltdown have led to the conspiracies that they were acting purely in wall street's interest, but appearances can be deceiving. They did it because they had no choice- the failure of Lehman x 1000 if they didn't act quickly to shore up financial institutions. you have to put out the fire before you can design a better fire escape. Both are on record calling for much stricter regulation of banks and institutions to prevent future failures and moral hazard.

Regarding oversight- from NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/business/economy/02regulate.html

"Mr. Bernanke outlined several ways in which he would subject these institutions to tougher oversight.

He called for imposing higher capital requirements, not just to provide more cushion against possible losses but also to penalize companies for becoming too big to fail.

“Enhanced requirements are needed not only to protect the stability of individual institutions and the financial system as a whole, but also to reduce the incentives for financial firms to become very large in order to be perceived as too big to fail,” he told lawmakers.

Mr. Bernanke said that giant financial players might be forced to adopt “contingent” capital — selling bonds that would automatically convert into common stock if a company had trouble.

The idea of contingent capital has been gaining popularity within the Fed; officials contend that it would expose bondholders to more risk and therefore make them more reluctant to let giant banks finance their growth with debt.

As a practical matter, most government bailouts have wiped out ordinary shareholders while partly or entirely rescuing bondholders and other creditors.

<snip>

Mr. Bernanke conceded that the central bank had failed to prevent the explosion of no-document mortgages and other exotic practices at the heart of the mortgage bust, though he said the Fed was “competent” at protecting consumers and had adopted much tougher rules in recent years.

Mr. Bernanke also said the Fed would gladly support another part of the regulatory overhaul that would reduce its power to bail out financial institutions in the event of “unusual and exigent circumstances.”

If Congress gave the government new power to shut down troubled financial giants, Mr. Bernanke said, he would be happy to give up the power to bail them out.

“No one is more sick of bailouts than I am,” he said.

[boppers]

198. More demonizing of corporations... Oh, that'll help. Lots.

Since almost all of the working and middle class *depend* on corporations being healthy, perhaps I am missing your point... you don't like the corporations that are influential? You don't like law about corporations? You don't like measures where the government maintains large businesses' health?

You want the poor and middle class to suffer, in order to bring down corporations? (That doesn't seem right)...

As for me (though I was not the one challenged), I would "admit that the guy we voted for cares more about maintaining good relationships with Wall Street and the corporatocracy (PHARMA, CITI, GS, et al.) than fighting for working and middle-class families"... if he let GM fail, if he let the market self-immolate, if he thought that letting massive capital entities be destroyed, and put millions out of work, in order to "help" people by letting their jobs vanish, so other corporations could win, was a good idea.


edit: grammar cleanup

[eilen]

228. That is not every one

There is a large percentage of people who did not do those things-- who lived within their means, did not refinance or purchase in the bubble and who actually saved. I used to put 15% of my pretax income in a retirement 401K. My husband is in a union and counted on his pension -- which lost 15% to Bernie Madoff. I refuse to blame the victims, the American People. There are always some spendthrifts out there but I think the majority just worked their jobs and paid their bills.

[BREMPRO]

248. I agree that it was not everyone

but the statistics of underwater mortgages (1 in 4) bear out that many bought more house than they could afford, made unwise investments, and got caught up in the housing casino. I've would NEVER buy a house with a no equity and a balloon mortgage, but many did. Some of that was fraud on the part of mortgage brokers, some was a lack of financial education,some was exploiting "prosperity gospel" church goers, and some was get rich quick greed. My point was that it's fair to blame the institutions for part of the problem, but unfair to blame the entire crisis on them. Many Americans were complicit.

[Douglas Carpenter]

165. the tone sounds excessively conspiratorial,,but I cannot deny that in the big picture much of it is

happening. I certainly don't believe there is some secret illuminati behind it. Simply raw financial power is producing some dangerous results that do not bode well for the future of democracy.

[valerief]

166. +1 sadly

[CANDO]

168. For proof look no further than this...

absolutely no one in positions of leadership in congress or the MSM are willing to give us the real reason for being in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are ALL in on the LIE! Petroleum Resources!!! Access to it and control of it. Pipelines to get the product to market.

[snagglepuss]

301. +1

[defendandprotect]

169. k i c k

[mistertrickster]

170. Wow. Even more irrational than usual. Obama has almost reversed the Bush recession, but still the

Obama Derangement Syndrome continues unabated.

On edit--give the thread enough time, and Obama will be "no better than Bush." Another half a day, and he'll be "another Hitler." Obama started the Reichstag Fire, stole the Lindberg baby, and shot JFK.

I regret I can only unrecommend this once.

[Bluesbreaker]

186. Almost reversed the Bush recession for whom?

It's a recovery for the rich and corporate America, not the middle class and the blue-collar workers who are stilling losing their homes, their pensions, and their jobs. The financial sector and Wall Street are making a comeback, and why shouldn't they. Obama's Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Ben Bernanke, whom he just nominated for another term as Fed Chair, are giving them all the taxpayer money they want. Unemployment at 10 percent doesn't sound like much of recovery to me.

Bernanke and Geithner are providing an infinite supply of money to the banks most directly responsible for our current economic problems with no strings attached. As Dylan Ratigan noted, "Dropping the future wealth of America from the sky is a pretty easy way to put out almost any economic fire, but in this case our superstar fireman also happens to be one of the primary arsonists.

"So what does Bernanke's failure to be a proper steward of our nation's banks have to with jobs? Unlike any other business, banks and insurance companies are the only companies that do business with the wealth of others. Banks are also the only business granted a list of special privileges and responsibilities. This was done to encourage banks to take the savings of others and lend it out to American businesses and individuals, with the goal of helping grow new ideas and businesses that serve the current and future needs of society and, in the process, create jobs that help fulfill those needs.

"But our banks haven't been serving the interests of the broader economy for quite some time. Instead of being incentivized by the government to lend money to all the innovators, investors and workers in this country, our banks are either hoarding cash, playing the spread between low interest government loans and higher yields or just flat-out gambling through the giant and ongoing insurance fraud that is the derivatives market.

"The Federal Reserve and other government programs are literally pouring a potential $23.7 trillion of taxpayer money into bucket with a giant hole in the bottom and wondering why there are no jobs.

"Would you work if you could steal money without consequences? Would you do the hard work of lending money to the small businesses of America if you could just make more gambling it in swap markets of New York and never have to worry about the losses?

This economic model is not geared towards jobs. This is not capitalism. This is not American. This is a crime. So when Obama proclaims, as he did, at the so-called "jobs summit" that, by golly, they really want to try and come up with some ideas to help you get a job, tell them a good place to start would be to deal with the recent job performance of one of our economy's chief arsonists.

[bertman]

171. Reccitty rec rec.

[BrklynLiberal]

175. K&R

[Rosa Luxemburg]

179. One would think it was just the USA

the whole thing is global not the US. It is naive to think that this is just an American thing. We deal with China, Europe, India, the middle east. The markets are associated and so are the big corps. Di I hear the name Rockefeller?

[ecstatic]

180. So how should this Coup d'etat be handled? With violence?

Maybe join forces with the teabaggers to overthrow the illegal government? :eyes:

[democracy1st]

181. K & R

[davidwparker]

185. K&R

[femrap]

188. Never depend on the gov't

for help. They are leeches and take from us. I do believe that as we leave this horrid Age of Violent Pisces that the world will heal. The Age of Aquarius is close and the paradigm will change. The Evil will be destroyed. Those who want to share and cooperate will survive.

[Lorien]

191. The question is; what do we do about it?

It seems like the teabaggers are ready to go third party. Perhaps we should as well. Organizing will be tough, but it has to start somewhere-and the sooner the better.

[bvar22]

245. The scary thing....

...is I'm finding common ground with my very RED neighbors.
As long as the Wedge Issues are put aside, everyone agrees that America NEEDS:

Economic Justice for the Working Class.

It was relatively easy to get even the most hardcore Right Winger to agree that people should be allowed to BUY Medicare if they wanted it after pointing out that their parents or grandparents were on it.

The Democratic Party really FUCKED UP on Health Care Reform.

[NYC_SKP]

193. kick.

[northamericancitizen]

196. K & R

[Raine]

197. K&R TOTALLY on point! nt

[CrunchMaster]

200. Nothing changes in Amerika until we do something about the American traitors...

who let the terrorists into the U.S. in order that they could start up a war in Iraq and Afghanistan. A war they have been raking in bank on for almost 10 fucking years while the country goes down the tubes. Which FBI and CIA superiors blocked their agents from stopping the terrorists? What defense contractors and security services people are profiting off of this "Forever War?" What did Eric Prince and Blackwater really do in Iraq and Afghanistan? Are they and their damn Muslim Brotherhood buddies behind some of the bombings in those countries that have totally destroyed the governments so we have to fucking stay there forever??? Who are the pricks who promoted the Ft. Hoot shooter and paid no attention to his communications with Al-Qaeda? Who the fuck are these people? Give us their fucking names? Enough is fucking enough. These wars are killing the USA!

[Enthusiast]

206. I have considered this and

mentioned it on DU several times.

[flyarm]

208. REC & KICK ! I just returned from a long multi city trip..it is already happening folks..

Los Angeles drive into the airport and there are check points of cops stopping cars at random entering the airport, same in Phoenix. We are now numbed down to removing belts and shoes and bags are limited like never before, and yet when i was just in Italy they never even looked at our passports or had to remove shoes or anything! I felt free in another country while in my own I was made to feel like a criminal because I had shoes on or earrings and a headband on.My own passport made the machines go off in LAX!! I now travel domestically with no bra on, no watch , no jewlery..my shoes were taken and hand checked because I have removable medical inserts in them.

I also witnessed TSA agents at the gates checking with dip sticks drinks people took onto the aircraft, on several flights I made in and out of LAX.

And yet I sat next to an emergency window exit that the panel below the window exit was broken and displaced and the the wiring was exposed as was the hydraulics for the window exit exposed and a large circular hole was exposed and anyone could have poured liquids into the area and caused severe damage to the aircraft, right over the wing, as well wires were exposed that could have been cut by anyone sitting at that exit, I was just very happy it was me sitting there, a retired former flight crew ( of another airline) I made the cockpit very aware of the severity of the panel missing upon landing and I am sure the aircraft took a major delay on it's next leg, as the CAPTAIN SEEMED VERY UPSET THAT THIS WAS NOT CAUGHT ON THAT PARTICULAR LEG OF THE TRIP BY THE CABIN CREW..but the flight crew never noticed it or it was ignored..but don't you worry , they were stopping cars entering LAX!

I am writing up what I witnessed to the FAA and that particular airline. There was no excuse for that to have been missed, on aircraft inspection by the crew, prior to passengers being boarded on that aircraft.

What is happening , as I see it..there is the fear factor still in place, as we witnessed during the Bush years..keep you afraid ..of nonsence ..when real SERIOUS POTENTIAL problems are being utterly ignored.

These Police road "check points" are a total joke...it is nothing but intimdation and police state actions!They are dumbing and numbing down the American people to accept police actions.

Oh and by the way, while our US DOllAR sinks to all time lows, and just buying dinner costs US citizens a fortune, the Russians are buying up everything they can in the Southern parts of Italy. REAL ESTATE, JEWLERY,ALL THE MOST EXPENSIVE STUFF..WITH CASH.. and having a ball eating at the most expensive retaurants that we can only afford to look into, not eat at! Ahhh how tides have turned...and very ugly for Americans!
We even get warned when entering into a store, what the cheapest things are in the store with our $$conversion!! I and my traveling companions noted how we were totally ignored, while the Russians were catered to both in stores and in restaurants, and hotels.

[waronbanks]

227. And so I ask again

WTF will it take for Americans to stand up and demand an end to the Oligarchy? There are millions unemployed due to the criminal acts of the moneyed interests. The middle class has been held down and strangled by these gangsters,our president keeps 'em in power and we just shrug our shoulders and hope the unemployment check doesnt stop.

Credit card tricks being used to steal more and more money from those who can least afford it. People going broke and dying because we have an evil healthcare system being kept in place by our elected officials. Our children being sent overseas to be maimed and die for a corrupt government whose main income is through the heroin trade. Highways falling apart, no public transportation to speak of. an education system that is criminal in its negligence and its costs for higher learning. An oil industry hell bent on keeping this nation dependent on their earth killing product. A media that is clearly bought and paid for by the Oligarchs. And on and on.

STAND UP AND FIGHT AMERICA. Fight the powers that be. We need a march to Washington and an OCCUPATION of the capitol and White House grounds...tents set up, speaking podiums, protest concerts and 2 million people demanding an end to this. It IS CRIMINAL and it IS EVIL. Our president is either incapable or unwilling to stop it...either of which is UNACCEPTABLE. He either lied to us in his campaign rhetoric or he is being held hostage...again either of which is unacceptable.

The real war is right here on American shores...the Wall Street Gangsters, Banks and Military Complex marauders against the middle and lower classes. That is the war that needs to be fought. That is the GOOD WAR. And it can be won nonviolently by an occupation and refusal to leave until it stops. Hell its not like we have jobs we have to take leave from.

[midnight]

230. Citi still owes $45 billion in TARP money and it has not made any announcement about its plans to pa

The Treasury is anxious to end the TARP program as a demonstration that the credit crisis has ended. But, the aftertaste of the bailout will not be gone until all the TARP funds are repaid.http://247wallst.com/2009/12/03/why-hasnt-citigroup-c-repaid-tarp-funds/

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

231. Civil unrest or riots is exactly what "they" want

Because then all the rest of our liberties could be taken away, in an effort to protect us from ourselves.

I feel the country will erupt in violent protest(s), People are pissed with a feeling of no recourse to correct the perceived wrongs.
We have been set against each other. I long for the days when I could talk and hash things out with my fellow citizens, Democrat
or Republican. We would have an interesting discourse, either agree or agree to disagree, and still leave as friends.
Not today for the most part.

If widespread unrest is allowed to happen we will then see the demise of the Constitution (as we know it).
We must protect ourselves, ready ourselves, that is just prudent.

But in the larger picture we must not allow unrest to happen, we must try to stay peaceful.

Easier said then done.

[EnviroBat]

232. My girlfriend and I decided to venture out of the house yesterday.

Think of it a a "social field-trip" if you will. We went to the mall. A giant mecca of retail consumerism. What I saw there, I really couldn't believe. People were lumbering about like zombies. People will body slam you as you pass them without so much as a grunt of apology. Your senses become bombarded by light, sound, and smells. Everywhere around you is "BUY, CONSUME, FINANCE, PAY NO INTEREST"!!! I became sick to my stomach. I couldn't breathe. We went home, and it occurred to me that there are more commercials on television now than content! The fucking stupid GAP commercials, and the AT&T ad's about coverage area. They are being played on a constant loop! I wanted to kick my TV screen out at one point. It's only a matter of time before the very books we read will have advertisements interlaced with the pages. I'm hating what we are being subjected to. We are becoming dumber as a society by leaps and bounds. The fascism is growing roots, and so many of us are playing along faithfully. You don't realize it until you take a trip to your local mall around the holidays. When you begin to hope for a cataclysmic natural disaster to come along and scrub most of this away, you really start to desire such a thing in your heart, it's time to get away. But to where? I tend to think we're fucked. I did see Santa Claus though. He was pretty convincing, and he winked at me...

[KansDem]

238. It's "Corporate Communism"

Lately I have been using the phrase "Corporate Communism" on my television show. I think it is an especially fitting term when discussing the current landscape in both our banking and health care systems.

As Americans, I believe we reject communism because it historically has allowed a tiny group of people to consolidate complete control over national resources (including people), in the process stifling competition, freedom and choice. It leaves its citizens stagnating under the perpetual broken systems with no natural motivation to innovate, improve services or reduce costs.

Lack of choice, lazy, unresponsive customer service, a culture of exploitation and a small powerbase formed by cronyism and nepotism are the hallmarks of a communist system that steals from its citizenry and a major reason why America spent half a century fighting a Cold War with the U.S.S.R.

And yet today we find ourselves as a country in two distinctly different categories: those who are forced to compete tooth and nail each day to provide value to society in return for income for ourselves and our families and those who would instead use our lawmaking apparatus to help themselves to our tax money and/or to protect themselves from true competition.

--more--
The Cost of Corporate Communism

[ChiciB1]

256. I've Heard Ratigan Saying This Over & Over! He Keeps Saying It I suppose

as his only means of making us "more aware" of a certain REALITY, of which all too many citizens simply don't WANT TO SEE!

Tea-baggers may be sinister and totally out of sync with their ranting, but unless those of us who sit and watch THEM while they act out don't organize and get mobilized ourselves, then we will most likely fall prey to what the OP is stating!

I don't think we can just sit by and blog, sign petitions, write letters, make phone calls or any of the usual ways to make our voices heard because I DON'T think anyone in POWER is listening! They don't really have to, THEY HAVE THE MONEY, THEY HAVE THE MEANS... AND THEY HAVE THE CONTROL! Both Parties and the Executive BRANCH seem to be working in tandem, even it it appears they aren't! They may be taking a different approach, but the end result seems the same. And it's not one that "we the people" should think is in our best interests!

I've said it many times, and many times I've been shouted down, but REVOLT seems to be the only answer! What ELSE can we do? If it's big enough, it can't be ignored! If the Wing-Nuts get all this coverage, we just can't sit back and laugh at them! Truth is, THEY ARE getting attention and THEY ARE forming coalitions that are growing! Over the week-end a man who was heading "Freedom Works" was actually on C-Span taking questions!! You don't get there without getting a lot of attention, and their voices are getting heard!

We really MUST take the same action in an alternative way! Laughing at them and calling them crazies ISN'T going to make them go away! Ask yourself, WHO & WHAT is getting all the attention and what is MSM covering!

There MUST be some way we can MOBILIZE with a greater force than them and get this show on the road!! We are fractured and coming apart at the seams, and this inaction and APATHY may well be our undoing. And if I sound like "chicken little & the sky is falling" then so be it! We are fast reaching a crisis and it seems arguing ISN'T going to win the day!!

For me, it's not longer what Obama does of doesn't do, it's about what "we the people" are willing to do to have our voices REALLY HEARD! Congress surely doesn't seem to care what we have to say. There are "some" who are willing to go to bat for us, but VERY FEW, and it takes more than a VERY FEW!!

I don't know how to get things mobilized, I live in a very Red County and that makes it even worse. Surely there MUST be people out there who know how to get something going. To me, IT MUST BE DONE! I'm tired of my family and people around me saying, "what can you do, they'll do what they want and I can't do anything about it!" I think it's wrong headed, but I hear it so often and people tell me that I'm just getting myself upset FOR NOTHING!

I heard them, but in my GUT, I don't BELIEVE them! There MUST be SOMETHING we can do! It just needs a real grass-root movement, like the one the "tea-baggers" have tapped into!

JMHO!

[clear eye]

295. Sorry, but I strongly disagree.

I think that term is a euphemism for what it really is--fascism, w/ all its totalitarian frills. Google around and read the political science definitions for "fascism". Then think about the overwhelming weaponry brought to large peaceful political demonstrations, the continuing surveillance of our online communications including our email and more importantly the communications of journalists and gov't employees in order to derail stories before they are published, the denial of access to journalists who don't toe the corporate line, the subversion of our vast military/industrial-crony complex and the majority of our Treasury to pursue wars for resources to profit the mega-corps. This is more than the corporate welfare you are making it out to be. This is gov't of, by and for the corporations--fascism. I don't think it should be sugarcoated.

[Krashkopf]

239. Rec #400

Re-Reading Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine." It is quite clear that the Corporatists are in charge.

[Echo In Light]

240. Phony democracy, phony war$ = All American

[bvar22]

243. LOL

"A uniquely American Solution"

[WI_DEM]

241. Like this hasn't happened through out our history? even FDR appointed Wall Streeters

[PHIMG]

246. 1912 - FEDERAL RESERVE - that's the coup n/t

[Lost-in-FL]

247. Overly dramatic title

But then, that is exactly how its is happening and we are allowing it. It is hard to believe that we are being taken for fools in this country.

[edogawa]

250. As a new poster but long time lurker,

I am finding this most interesting discussion. In my country (Japan) the highest in government and private industry often cooperate together for the good of the nation. I think, perhaps that what is different here is that you Americans cannot agree what is best for all people. In Japan we recognize that business can make for improved life for all and government cooperates to make doing business easier. It seems here that many people do not like business. I think business can be greedy, and government can be tyranical, but together they can be like a husband and wife and cooperate to help the kids (us). What do you think of my ideas?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

282. Hajimemashite. DU e yookoso!

I'm a translator, and I think that Japanese businesses still have a bit of a sense of social responsibility. Judging from the corporate reports that I translate, they are actually thinking about the future, as is the Japanese government.

For example, every report contains a section about the company's efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, eliminate waste, and reuse or recycle materials. Local governments are considering ways to deal with the aging population.

Our governments and businesses seem to think that everything can and should continue the way it always has.

[clear eye]

296. I think that is a lovely picture.

I have read others saying about Japan that citizens have long accepted that government officials will be corrupt. It is said that this is accepted as an unavoidable part of the system but not necessarily liked.

Perhaps, as in the U.S., there is more than one point of view?

[showpan]

251. rec # 412

It's just the New World Order, and they have been at it for years.
There are different forms of fascism, ours being corporate. If we don't unite and take our country back peacefully, then we will be subjected to our own military mite.

Just look through our past and recent budget requests by our "respected" congressmen/woman and senators. It looks like they are planning something for us under the guise of another terrorist attack.

http://www.defense.gov/osd/

[AspenRose]

253. #420.

And it's a damn shame.

K&R

[patrick t. cakes]

255. #423

the fix is indeed in.

[harun]

257. I don't think it was so much as a coup d'etat but the light was shown

very brightly on who the REAL bosses are. People saw where the real power lies, some still choose to deny it.

[valerief]

259. A Cuckoo Coup, baby. We are officially scum under their feet. nt

[pecwae]

262. 430 Recs-damn!

Is this a record?

[SlowDownFast]

263. K&R!!! n/t

[Moochy]

264. Oligarchy Underground

Go Empire! Go War Party! Hooray for "Insurgent Bodies Stacked like Cordwood"!

[Raster]

268. Cue the cheerleaders with the big "O" on their tight sweaters...

How 'bout this change, eh? Let's see: more troops to the Middle East, more money for Wall Street, health care reform turns out to be a big ol' giveaway to the "for profit" bloodsucking leaches, not one dime went to help the ordinary folks about to lose their houses... welcome to the audacity of NOPE!

And don't think for one minute things would have been any different if HRC had won the election. Wake up and smell the cordite. Government of the people, for the people and by the people is no longer an option in the good ol' U-S-of-A.

And as the planet careens toward disaster, with wholesale extinction definitely in the cards, the Texas-American Petroleum Cartel and the Military-Industrial Complex want to make sure they can wring every possible dime and drop of blood out of the good citizens.

[ecstatic]

269. So Obama is responsible for the Coup?

[Raster]

271. Never said that. The "O" on the sweaters can stand for the oligarchy.

However, I'd say he's an accessory.

[inna]

266. +440!

Awesome.

People are starting to wake up.

[democrank]

273. K & R

Thought-provoking read. Thank you, Louisiana1976.

[clear eye]

274. I highly recommend reading a related DU post on the agenda of the oligarchs.

and a little background on their rise.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7160260&mesg_id=7161786

It's really quite a magnificent, clear analysis in a relatively small space.

[clear eye]

297. The post I rec'd isn't mine, BTW. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

281. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Louisiana.

[onehandle]

284. I knew Obama was in on it! Here's who he reports to --->

Bigfoot. King of the Oligarchists.

[robertpaulsen]

288. "It's a big club - and you ain't in it!"

"The real owners are the big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions. Forget the politicians, they're an irrelevancy. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They've long since bought and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the statehouses, the city halls. They've got the judges in their back pockets, and they own all the big media companies, so that they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They've got you by the balls. They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying – lobbying to get what they want. Well, we know what they want; they want more for themselves and less for everybody else.
But I'll tell you what they don't want. They don't want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don't want well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking.
They're not interested in that! That doesn't help them. That's against their interests. That's right! You know something? They don't want people who are smart enough to sit around the kitchen table and figure out how badly they're getting fucked by a system that threw them overboard 30 fucking years ago. You know what they want? They want Obedient Workers – Obedient Workers. People who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork but just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, reduced benefits, the end of overtime and the vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it. And, now, they're coming for your Social Security money. They want your fucking retirement money. They want it back, so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street. And you know something? They'll get it. They'll get it all from you, sooner or later, because they own this fucking place. It's a big club - and you ain't in it! You and I are not in the big club. By the way, it's the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long and they tell you what to believe...All day long, beating you over the head in the media, what to believe, what to think and what to buy...The table is tilted, folks! The game is rigged! And nobody seems to notice, and nobody seems to care! Good honest, hard-working people! White collar, blue collar... Doesn't matter what color shirt you have on! Good honest, hard-working people continue...These are people of modest means!...continue to elect these rich cocksuckers who don't give a fuck about them! They don't give a fuck about you! They don't give a fuck about you!They don't care about you! At all! At all! At all! Yeah! You know? And nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. That's what the owners count on. The fact that Americans probably will remain willfully ignorant of the big red white and blue dick that's being jammed up their assholes every day. Because the owners of this country know the truth - it's called the American Dream: because you have to be asleep to believe it."

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

[Raster]

290. This is truth! Thanks for posting!

:kick:

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

291. This post should never be taken off The Greatest !!

WE need to email the article, get non-DUer's to read everything, comments included.

I have changed my mind from my previous comment above. How?

I don't know, but staying silent is not gonna work.

[Raster]

292. This thread may be off the Greatest, but we can keep it kicked to the top of GD!

:kick:

[Butch350]

293. Nice thread - Howevah the silent coup d'etat started way before Obama's admin.

[clear eye]

311. Yes it did.

Although the robber barons of the 1890's ran roughshod over the public, that was before much of the regulations that promoted the rise of the middle class were enacted, so it can't really be said that they "overthrew" anything.

After labor laws and the social safety net of the New Deal came into being, some balance of power between the classes was restored. Then the inheritors of the robber barons flexed their muscles regarding the VietNam War. They were relatively satisfied w/ their power during the Nixon Presidency, and plotted Carter's demise, but settled for a covert veto when their expansionist plans were thwarted. I'd say the coalition for the coup gathered in earnest w/ the group backing Ronald Regan's first Presidential campaign. These were the elites who found segments of the Republican Party willing to carry out it's agenda to "drown {gov't} in a bathtub", as one of its members later said--the purpose of course being to let those mega-corporatists in private power run things their way w/o the pesky interference of a publicly elected gov't and the programs designed to keep the public from the ignorance and poverty of the old robber baron era.

What's coming home to many folks now is that even after much of the public woke up and strongly repudiated that orientation, and elected a President and Congress nominally committed to reversing course, the course can't seem to be reversed.

[Divine Discontent]

312. K& quasi-rec!