"We are nothing to them."

[autorank]

Health Care Reform DOA! Triumph of the Money Party
Why the Surprise? They Did what they Always Do

Link: http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/25538 OR
http://agonist.org/michael_collins/20091216/triumph_of_the_money_party OR
http://www.apj.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2736&Itemid=2

Michael Collins

The Money Party is a small group of enterprises and individuals who have most of the money in this country. They use that money to make more money. Controlling who gets elected to public office is the key to more money for them and less for us September 30, 2007

Dr. Howard Dean, MD, just said pull the plug on the current health care reform effort. The cure is worse than the disease according to the good doctor.

Why the surprise?

SNIP

Throughout it all, not one member of Congress or the financial elite will miss a meal, worry about their health care, lose their house, or ever face prosecution for destroying the economy of the United States.

Their Ponzi scheme is literally too big to fail. If there were ever the least bit of concentrated scrutiny on the various wars and financial rip offs over just the past decade, it would be the end of all of them.

But The Money Party is a permanent fixture in our lives. It dominates politics, the media, and the economy. It's a self fulfilling prophecy that is always accurate. Rig the game so only those with money can run for office. Hold elections with invisible ballots on electronic voting machines that nobody really understands. Allow all sorts of legal bribes for legislators. And never allow the term election fraud to be mentioned anywhere but on a few internet web sites.

Marginalize the poor, ethnic groups, immigrants, and anyone who protests the system. Kill the unions. Then intimidate those who have the courage to show up and protest with SWAT Teams decked out for a serious beat down.

Take all you can from the middle class to support the big casino in banking and on Wall Street. Make husbands and wives work two jobs and be grateful for the opportunity. Provide children a lousy education that costs more every year while you talk about how much you love education.

Create false issues that pit one group against another --race against race, class against class -- so that the great horror is never realized -- a unified public movement to demand freedom, dignity, and respect in our personal and public lives and a chance to earn a decent living in return for our hard work.

The Money Party has no ideals or goals other than to take as much as they can, at every turn, all the time and never let up.

Blame citizens for the fraud committed by the financiers.

Turn a blind eye as people lose their homes, savings, health care, and jobs.

Blame humanity for pollution when it's just a few industries that create the filth that's threatening us daily.

Create side shows not worthy of a second rate carnival that you call politics and never mention that changes in administrations are really cosmetic and stylistic, not substantial. Meet the new boss, not exactly the same as the old boss, but close enough.

It's all good if you're at the top or on the take. The river keeps flowing, filthy as it is, in your direction with more and more based on the real work and the real economy of citizens who, despite all of this, strive to improve their lives and contribute to the larger good.

If things get too hot, you can just stage a big drama, get everybody upset, and make people feel grateful that they have the opportunity to be perpetual victims of the most rapacious, relentless, and callous scheme around to transfer wealth from the many to the very few.

It's only class war when we fight back and they're ready with their distracting dramas and debates on issues where the two sides are separated by just a few degrees of difference. Then demand bipartisan solutions where compromise is routinely used to break major campaign promises.

They don't care if we live or die although they do want us to be as productive as possible up to the end, as long as we don't expect to retire or enjoy the fruits of our labor.

We are nothing to them.

END

This article may be reproduced in whole or in part with attribution of authorship and a link to this article.

Link: http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/25538 OR
http://agonist.org/michael_collins/20091216/triumph_of_the_money_party OR
http://www.apj.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2736&Itemid=2

[EFerrari]

1. K&R

[autorank]

9. OLA

Those Money Party guys or as formercia says it, "the boys," can never get enough.

[EFerrari]

16. It's an addiction with them.

For sure.

[autorank]

19. and it's not like they don't have it all, well close to all of it

[dgibby]

22. Actually, it's a blood sport, as long as it's our blood being spilled. nt

[autorank]

26. They see our supply as endless

Just a bunch of suckers who roll over for anything they say and do. But they don't realize that
their censorship and intimidation is the reason they hear limited response. It's there, like those
1.1 mil Obama voters who failed to show up in in the 2009 gov election in our state. Issues matter,
even if they're just perceived issues. You're so right.

[BeHereNow]

2. Recommended...

It's what many of us have been saying here for years.
They called us crazy.
Not so much anymore.
BHN

[autorank]

10. Harbinger

Sow the wind and you'll reap a bad ass whirlwind.

The game's up. Who cares about the details, the whole system needs a rebuild.

I remember when just 20% of the public thought that there had been election fraud in 2004.
Then by 2006 over half the people doubted the outcome of that election.

It has to start somewhere. Why not here?

[DJ13]

3. Link doesnt work

Page not found

[autorank]

7. Fixed 'em both. GRACIAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:)

[Octafish]

4. We are nothing to them.

The Money Party uses us as slaves and mopes.
The War Party uses us as cannon fodder.
What that makes them is devils.

Thank you for the Michael Collins essay, autorank. Agree with every word; count me marginalized.

[autorank]

11. I'm him, that Collins guy;)

And you're very welcome!

[mod mom]

93. One big f-ing Money Party!

got your snow shoes ready? :hi:

[Goldstein1984]

83. "I smell sulfur"

Marginalized and radicalized.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

5. I don't know about you other frogs

But the water seems to be getting seriously hot to me.

[autorank]

14. Yeah

We're just supposed to be lulled in to a final deep sleep.

But they got too greedy. Like a horse headed for the barn at the end of the day, they're in full
gallop and that's what's waking us up.

It's a big jolt but the people are smart, they know it's all bull shit at this point.
In fact, the people are much smarter than the 'leet ... my chart;)

[arcadian]

79. You know what that means?

Another big distraction headed for us down the pike. What will it be this time? Embassy bombing? Iran? Who knows, but I'm sure it's in the planning stages as I type this.

[inna]

84. interesting post, to say the least. what's your estimated timeframe?

[Goldstein1984]

86. Next: "The War on Godless Socialism"

Defend the empire!...errrr...Homeland!!

[diva77]

112. yep, just like on "who wants to be a millionaire" - the audience always gets

the answer right when polled!!:think:

[truedelphi]

34. Rivet!

It's been hot so long it feels like COOL to me!

[autorank]

36. That's because you are cool!

It's like The Matrix; every once in a while they adjust the temperature. That would be elections - to make us think that we actually have a say in how things are run. We know how that works. There are other thumbs in the dike but it's really over now. You don't give people hope of health and then yank it away in a fashion that shows you were not serious in the first place.

[knowbody0]

6. all an illusion

it really cracks me up that they are actually soliciting donations so we can keep this going. yep it is indeeeeeedie time for the streets. 300 million living in the land of make believe. we're number 1 !






hi

[autorank]

21. "Soliciting" is an apt term for

professionals in the money accumulation business.

We are #1. They'd better read the memo and soon.

[Goldstein1984]

87. The call it the American Dream because...

you have to be asleep to believe it. ~ George Carlin

[autorank]

117. What a gift he was and his insights and power remain! n/t

[leftstreet]

8. K&R

[scarletwoman]

12. We are nothing to them, just herd animals.

They like having lots of herd animals sporting their brand -- "See how big my herd is?" All those cattle sporting Ds or Rs on their butts. It's a fun competition.

Really, it IS just for fun, because it doesn't really matter all that much. What matters is the Money Guys; and as long as you're in the Game, the Money People are there, fattening your bank accounts.

Pulling together a decent sized herd helps, of course -- it shows the Money Guys that you're in the Game. But a few more or less head of cattle sporting your brand isn't much of an issue; you're in D.C., you're a big time cattle rancher, that's what counts.

[autorank]

23. And we know what happens at the end of the big cattle drive

Do you deserve to die?

[Usrename]

44. I think the word is chattel.

:hi:

Without our ability to organize we are nothing but chattel.

[autorank]

105. Human bondage comes to mind

We're yoked to someone else wagon on a toll road going nowhere and we're supposed to be grateful
for the opportunity. It's really too much.

Great to see you. :hi:

[peace frog]

72. "Useless eaters"

that's what we are to them. Just ask Henry Kissinger.

[autorank]

124. May he be prosecuted soon! n/t

[old mark]

13. Rec. Just American peasants. Work till you no longer are able, then go away

and die soon. Thanks for the ride, lower and middle class people. The American aristocracy of the rich appreciates your efforts, now go watch TV.

mark

[autorank]

125. and go away quietly.

They don't want noise of any time, especially dissent. That's why no Money Party administration will ever give up the trappings of totalitarianism. They always want the bald faced fascist option in case things get out of hand, you know, the people get wise and do something about their crimes. The 2006 May Day demonstrations by millions of Latinos shows the way - put so many people in the streets on an issue that they can't "SWAT" you down. That worked. It's the model for the future.

[shanti]

15. k and freaking r!

nt

[autorank]

18. Thanks and while they're at it ...

How about some damn jobs and a pay raise!

[MSchreader]

17. Welcome to capitalism

In other news, the grass is green, the sky is blue, the Pope is Catholic and bears shit in the woods.

Sorry to be so snarky, but this has been going on for a long time. I appreciate you're seeing it now, but it's nothing new. I knew my life meant nothing to them when their "business decisions" condemned me to an early death.

[autorank]

20. Bears repeating

I'm very sorry to hear that. It's amazing how callous people are for a few extra pieces of sliver.
The film "The Third Man" pretty much summed it up way back.

[puebloknot]

25. I just watched "The Third Man" again a few nights ago.

And now I'm reading a book called "After the Reich: The Brutal History of the Allied Occupation," by Giles MacDonogh.

The People always get crushed in the broad sweep of politics. Political/religious/philosophical arguments are used to sway those who can't think for themselves, and cling to a party or a group to save them. And they always get screwed. Exhibits 1 and 2 in our current scenario are 1) The Bailout, and 2) Healthcare "Reform."

But Merry Christmas, anyway! A little whiff of pine in the house makes it all go away.

[autorank]

30. From the script

HARRY LIME: Old man - you never should have gone to the police. You know you ought to leave this thing alone.

MARTINS: Have you ever seen any of your victims?

HARRY Do you know, I don't ever feel comfortable on these sort of things...Victims? (He opens the door of the carriage.)

HARRY: Don't be melodramatic.

HARRY: Look down there... (Long shot from Martins' eye line of the fair ground far below and the people now on it.)

HARRY: Would you feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you £20,000 for every dot that stopped - would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money? Or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare?...Free of Income Tax, old man... free of Income Tax. It's the only way to save money nowadays.

"The Third Man"
http://www.aellea.com/script/the_third_man.txt
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041959/

Enjoy your peaceful place!

[Joe Chi Minh]

82. Harry Lime was just a regular guy in today's business world, isn't he?

It may have always been that way, but now they don't even bother to pretend. The Third Man would be pretty much a non-story in the US, today, I reckon. To hold any kind of responsible job entails becoming an adaptive psychopath, if your'e not already an essential one.

[dgibby]

24. Excellent. Thank you so much. n/t

[autorank]

120. It's what many people think. Just expressing their grievances,

I hope, adequately.

[ihavenobias]

27. K & R

Opened perfectly with "The Money Party" and closed perfectly with "We are nothing to them".

Amen.

[autorank]

33. Thank you kindly

...thus endeth the sermon;)

[Waiting For Everyman]

28. This is why we need a 99% top tier income tax.

If for no other reason, than to prevent too much power in too few hands. Wealth concentration is always a disaster.

And of course real use of the anti-trust laws.

[inna]

29. extraordinary post.

another :kick:

[autorank]

32. Thanks inna!

:hi:

[bridgit]

31. Nothing to them? While I appreciate the sentiment, we are nothing to each other...

There are no fingers here through which things keep slipping through, things just fall unencumbered, by the will of others more willful to the ground they fall and fall again and so - unfocused - we sit, in the glow of our silicon EXXON funded touchstone/monitor with teary misty pie-eyes wondering why the world is thus & so

[glitch]

63. Who are you calling we?

There is a real world where people volunteer and help each other, you won't find it in your screen but you might find an address to it.

Save despair for better times...

[Goldstein1984]

88. bridgit, I hope you are just trying to stimulate argument

You are correct that a lot of people don't care about their fellow living creatures, but in my lifetime I have encountered enough who do to give me hope.

And for those who lack compassion, there is always enlightened self interest to make them do the right thing.

[bridgit]

107. Correct & Agreed, and I thank you for bringing the subject forward

:kick:

[truedelphi]

35. Must say this is a grand and glorious synthesis of all they are doing.

That rum in the nog must get you primed.

K & R...

[stellanoir]

37. All the better if we be more than something to ourselves

and all of those we love.

As you well know, all the healing starts within.

We can't wait for these bozos to give a flying flop about us. So let's very simply care for each other more.

luv ya

K & R ed

[autorank]

48. Fast track evolution

We don't have a lot of time but it's not that hard to constantly remind yourself to respect others
and give them the benefit of the doubt ... with the obvious exception of those who continually and most dangerously screw us over. There's no reason to get into their drama. In fact, they win when we go head to head with them on their playing feel. Thanks for the comment.

[formercia]

38. Another one

Call the Metric System a Communist plot so that US industries have difficulty competing in the World market. The only thing worse is the Whitworth and other archaic measuring systems of the UK.

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

--snip--

The original Whitworth thread form was proposed by Joseph Whitworth in 1841 to replace various proprietary fasteners. This standard specifies a 55° thread angle and a thread depth of 0.640327p and a radius of 0.137329p, where p is the pitch. The thread pitch is specified by a chart. The Whitworth thread system was later to be adopted as a British Standard to become British Standard Whitworth. Contrast this with the American Unified Coarse another standard based on imperial fractions used in the United States. These are similar except that the Unified thread angle is 60° and has flattened crests (Whitworth crests are rounded). There is one important exception in this comparison; the thread pitch for the 0.5 in bolt is 12 threads per inch (tpi) in BSW vs 13 tpi in the AUC.

With the adoption of BSW by all the British railway lines, many of which had previously used their own standard both for threads and for bolt head and nut profiles, it came to dominate mechanised British manufacturing.

In the USA, BSW mostly died out as steel bolts replaced iron, but was still used for aluminium parts into the 1960s and 1970s when metric based standards replaced the Imperial ones. In some other countries, such as Australia, BSW is still used. Though metric standards are more commonly used.

--snip--

Meanwhile, the rest of the World, for the most part, was converting to the Metric System.

[bvar22]

53. Off topic, but...

I had to have a set of "Whitworth" tools (in addition to Metric AND American Standard) to work on my MGA and BSA motorcycle in the 60s.
I hadn't thought about that for YEARS. Made me laugh.
I LOVED MG and BSA/Triumph, but they WERE more trouble than they were worth.
For every hour I drove them, I worked on them 2 hours.

I now drive only small, 4WD Ford Trucks, bought 2nd hand.
(I NEED 4WD and a truck where I live.)

[formercia]

74. I remember those days.

SU carbs.

Ever advance the timing on your BSA and get it to run backwards?

[bvar22]

78. LOL.

Run backwards?...No.

But I got very good at tuning and synchronizing SU carbs.
Once I got rid of all the Lucas electrical components,
I could make the British stuff run pretty good.

[Hubert Flottz]

39. "We are nothing to them"

Nothing but their cash cow and their cannon fodder.

Your balls will just get you into big trouble...so sign up for the new action army and go defend EXXON and donate your blood and balls in some far away shit hole for Gawd, American Flags made in Communist Red China, hot dogs, American idols, baseballs, boot straps, boob jobs, budweisers and apple pies. We'll take care of you when you get back, shot all to hell, but not very well.

"Step outta line the man comes to take you away"...submit...trust them...they know what's best for you and the generations to come...that is all.

[autorank]

50. That is enough! n/t

[Hubert Flottz]

57. "Enough" is something the big boyz don't understand...

They want it all and they want it NOW! The last drop of your sweat...the last drop of your blood. The Reich Wing string pullers think you owe it to them, simply because they were to the manor born...The CONservatives want to CONserve the feudal system. The Blue Dogs are the Blue Blood's trinkets.

The CONservatives want to replace the Middle Class with the Medieval Class. They want to have unlimited power to hassle the vassals 24/7.

[Joe Chi Minh]

40. Wow! That is superb, Mike. That crescendo of obloquy becomes postively

poetic. And all factual. I reckon Hunter S must be tickled to read it.

But alas, the subject could harldy be more dire, could it? Their grip on the country and the world (at least, of peoples with brown skin) seems apocalyptic in its strength, matchless in everything but its malice. It can't go on much longer, as the economic precipice on the verge of which we teeter, would seem to suggest.

[autorank]

106. I realized I hadn't responded

I've been showing your comment to people;) Thank you for that observation.

You think they'd display some sense of superficial decency by making the show more believable.
In some ways, their lack of subtlety is a gift, moving things along quicker by raising the awareness
level.

Mr. Tony could be the first on the dock. He's a bit careless admitting his true intention. He still
maintains he "didn't know" it was all nonsense. To bad for him.

[Me.]

41. KR

[blindpig]

42. The shoes just keep dropping

and they're dropping on our heads.

And if this ain't enough, wait 'til next year, more foreclosures unmitigated, 'fiscal austerity', an assault on Social Security and who knows what else.

k&r

[Mari333]

43. knr

[clear eye]

45. Thanks for putting it in a nutshell. n/t

[autorank]

51. Welcome! The message is simple ... I think many get it clearly, like a majority of citizens. n/t

[Blue Owl]

46. I've seen nothing to disprove this theory

It's the only explanation for what is going on in modern politics. Behind-the-scenes figures like Karl Rove and Rahm Emmanuel are the money party representatives, advising their puppet presidents on what's "best" -- which always amounts to public tax dollars flowing into the pockets of these greedy elite while the general public is distracted and pickpocketed. And no real progress is made.

I want to wish them all a rotten Christmas -- but you know, what would really be better is if they could somehow experience a personal Scrooge-like transformation -- to realize the evil they have done, and turn from their greedy ways. Some days it seems like that's the only hope we have left to turn this disaster around, because we the people seem to have zero influence anymore.

[autorank]

56. Thank you

They will be forced to reflect at some point. It's always better to get out front when everything you do is wrong, motivated by greed, and with a profound indifference to the people. The Scrooge awakening is a good analogy. They can still get it. But even if they don't, we do and that is the great unwinding. The turn around has already begun.

[NashVegas]

60. Google "Lee Atwater" and "James Madison" Sometime When You're Bored

In the 1780’s a similar battle was taking place: debtors, farmers, small taxpayers, the overwhelming majority of voters, many of whom behind in their taxes, pressured local legislators for relief from their tax/debt burdens, with considerable success.

Today, Mayor Bloomberg sees discontent among parents, advocates, stakeholders, and legislators as interfering with his attempts to reform a “failed” school system.

Woody Holton, in his prize winning book, Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution, 2007, paints the founders, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Governeur Morris and John Adams, as seeing the constitutional convention as an opportunity to challenge “…the thirteen legislatures that had ridden to the farmers’ rescue … allowed debtors to satisfy their creditors with property … even pine barrens and old horses … instead of hard money.”

In a private letter to Thomas Jefferson, a month before penning Federalist # 10, Madison wrote, “”Divide et impera (divide and conquer), the reprobated axiom of tyranny is under certain circumstances, the only policy by which a republic can be administered on just principles.”

Holton sees the Framers as believing that the major problem of the 1780’s was an excess of democracy.

For Madison, cracking down on the political power of debtors and taxpayers would end the terrible recession that had followed the Revolutionary War. He “…spoke for many of his contemporaries when he asserted that in any given society ‘the most enlightened and impartial people would be outnumbered by the unreflecting multitude’”

James Wilson, a signer of the Constitution agreed, “Bad elections proceed from the smallness of their districts which give an opportunity to bad men to intrigue themselves into office.”

http://mets2006.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/bloomberg-as-james-madison-is-mayor-bloomberg-an-originalist-fending-off-the-passions-of-the-unreflecting-multitudes-for-the-benefit-of-the-masses/

[Goldstein1984]

90. The Middle Class is a protective buffer for the Elite

In his book, "A People's History of the United States," Howard Zinn makes the case that the Middle Class was invented by the Elite in post-Revolutionary America as a self-interested buffer between the Elite and the Lower Class. The Middle Class enjoys enough luxury, and the dream of rising above the Middle Class, to give them allegiance to the Elite. Law enforcement and military officers are payed Middle Class wages to ensure their loyalty to the Elite.

[truedelphi]

98. Funny how often I think that.

"May they rot in hell, all these rat bastards" I will think.

Then a part of my mind sez, "Well wait a second, let's put that energy to hoping they somehow transform."

[flyarm]

47. Autorank..you could not be more correct! It is all a scam and it is "we" getting scammed!

our money manager told us just this past week..he has real " big investors " trying to figure out where to put their money out of this country! Seems the worst is yet to come for Americans..from what i took of what he was saying..

After I worked in Iowa last year for the Iowa Caucus's..and the other scum bag Edwards..I swore..there are no longer two parties..but one party of polititicans with one big giant money pot in the middle..

I was in an Elevator with the Managers of one of the Republican Candidates, who were also staying in the same hotel as the Edwards Camp ..and they had no idea who I was and they didn't seem to care..they were laughing their asses off saying they had just made a deal with Obama's team of campaign managers..I got off the elevator and i thought i was going to throw up..I was so upset..I called my husband in tears and a few Dem friends and told them what i had just heard..( oh and i heard alot more in the hotel bar..but that I will keep to myself) and I really felt sick to my stomach..it is why I could never support Obama during the primary. But once he was elected I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt..but that did not last long when he continued the FISA spying , and so many other of Bush's policies..then I knew without a shadow of a doubt..what I heard in that Elevator..was exactly who this nation had just elected..someone out to finish off what Bush had started.

I have lost all desire to ever work for or with any democratic candidate..In fact I am going to register Indy..and I have been an elected Dem Delegate in my state, and have worked for and with the Democratic party my entire life.

I am finished..not another dime from me..and not another minute of my time will the democratic party ever get!

[autorank]

54. flyarm, It's all one big DEAL

They sell on on this two sides to every issue theme and we're stuck. In the real world, we know
that's not true. There are multiple sides but if you set it up as "two sides" only, then you
control the two sides and BINGO "What a DEAL."

In this piece, I addressed that. It's short and worth the read. I think that the majority knows what the DEAL is and they're ready to move. The control system here is so exquisively effective that it's hard to break out but it's happening! The Binary Fallacy and The End of Both Political Parties

:hi:

[glitch]

61. That was also excellent. Must-read. nt

[flyarm]

76. Most excellent article!! Thank you ..a must read by all!

too bad so many still hang on "hope and change" and fail to realize there are nefarious people willing to sell their souls and their nation, for dimes to the dollar..to promote propaganda..and to keep these fuckers in the business of screwing our democracy and constitution.

This says it all for me..from your article..

http://www.apj.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2434&Itemid=2

"One party created the current disaster. The other has embraced the broadest parameters of the policies that created the disasters that voters want fixed -- wealth transfers to the ultra rich while the vast majority gets just about nothing plus mindless, counter productive fantasies of empire through war.

The two parties and the elitists who look down their noses on the overwhelming majority of citizens assume that the people will simply tolerate the creation of a catastrophe by one party and the perpetuation of that grave injustice to citizens by the other.

When you're broke, you know it.

When you're out of work, you know it.

When there are no jobs, you know it.

And when the country continues to fight overseas but does nothing to protect economic security at home, you know it.

The game is up. The party is over. The people have a fundamental right to survive, at the very least. If both parties continue to promote policies that leave out almost all citizens, as is now the case, there will be alternatives that look nothing like the current two political parties. The binary fallacy and the two parties that fail to address our crises will be no more. Relying solely on the failures of the opposing party while embracing their programs will soon be defunct."

Thank you!

[Joe Chi Minh]

89. The sad thing is, we knew that such was Obama's reticence and so nebulous and vapid,

his exhortations, voting for him was nothing less than 'buying a pig in a poke'. And given that communication, even a litany of grotesque lies, is one of the key weapons of politicians, his reticence in relation to policy specifics was troubling, to say the least.

But what was the alternative? They have us boxed like kippers in the UK, too, with their two-party system. In the US, it's even worse though, far worse, as the presidential elections are quite literally, charades; and the beneficiary, whatever his formal political affiliation, will be beholden to the election riggers-in-chief. For on reason or another, it's reasonable to assume that some elements of the CIA would play a role in the charade, not to speak of the FBI and judiciary. It's surreal, and possibly worse than even Eisenhwer could have imagined.

[mike_c]

49. what an awesome and perceptive post....

Rec'd, of course!

[WillyT]

52. Yep... That's About The Size Of It... K & R !!!

:kick:

[T Wolf]

55. I have a millionaire, financial market manipulator, sub-prime loan predator cousin who treats

life like a game of poker.

He has more than anyone (sane) could ever want, but he continues to accumulate wealth by schemes and cons. To him, the key is winning each event, no matter the cost to others.

The "real-world" effect on others does not enter into his calculations on whether to take an action. We are simply game pieces to be used (up).

[glitch]

59. Sounds like a classic sociopath.

Unfortunately since Reagan they feel comfortable broadcasting their disease.

(no offense -- every family has at least one)

[T Wolf]

71. None taken. Most of my family, though not-poor and Jewish, are tried and true

Democrats (not the new, DLC type). But there are a couple of genetically defective exceptions who love to flaunt their wealth.

Like you said, every family has them...

[dotymed]

80. Honestly,

a sociopath is the only one with the skill sets it requires to be a CEO. In our unfettered capitalistic society, the only ones who have a chance to prosper and "rise to the top" are sociopaths. I am surprised that "they" have not made that term obsolete and replaced it as a "go getter" or some other 1984 terminology.

[glitch]

85. I am sure they'll get to it, you know how they like to rewrite textbooks. nt

[bvar22]

58. This was visible in the 90s...

..when the "Centrist" Democratic Party successfully sold NAFTA as something "good for American Workers".

AND the Predators in the Entitlement Class sleep very well at night.
I used to wonder HOW they were able to do that, until I read "The Family".
THEY have a deep sense of entitlement, rewarded by their God or Maker, who has given them the lower classes as a resource to do with as they wish.
(Hillary IS a member of this "Prayer Group", and a disciple of its founder.)

Our Political and Economic System rewards the MOST cold blooded and ruthless Sociopaths.
What we see in Washington today are the "winners"...the TOP predators.
Sure, some of them seem "charming", but that is one of the characteristics of a Sociopath.
(There ARE a handful of exceptions, but they have been marginalized.)

The amusing aspect of this is that there are members of DU who actively SELL this shit.
I wonder if they see themselves as applicants for the "Top Predator" Class.
How many people "hope" that they are eligible for THAT exclusive Country Club?

[inna]

92. agreed 100%. A minor question on terminology - Sociopaths or Psychopaths?

reposting an old post of mine:



You touched upon a very interesting topic, which is covered in great detail in the book by Andre Lobaczewski called "Political Ponerology, A science on the nature of evil adjusted for political purposes". It's a really fascinating book, and the take-home message is something like this:

This world is sick because about 6% of the population -- across all groups -- is conscienceless and psychopathological. Unfortunately, psychopathy (i.e., LACK of CONSCIENCE and compassion) is an adaptive trait and an extremely successful life strategy - it offers great evolutionary/survival advantages (in darwinian terms). Psychopaths - who lack morals completely, only care about their own self-interest, and are preoccupied with lying, screwing other people over, and seeking power/control of others - are extremely successful under many social systems such as unregulated, predatory capitalism, or stalinist-style communism, or fascism - in fact, such systems themselves are a PRODUCT of their function.

Unfortunately, normal people (i.e., non-psychopaths) are at a disadvantage here - while normal people are preoccupied with "silly notions like morals-shmorals" and/or their daily routines, the psychological deviants have been busy grabbing power and control.

What do we get? We get a PATHOCRACY - essentially, a government staffed by psychological deviants. ...

[autorank]

129. Just re-read this - you answered a key question

What's the disease? There's a balance between the public good and the needs of the anti-social segment of the population that allows a society to persevere. We've lost the battle here. The well adapted sociopaths won. It's a stacked deck for them. If you play by the rules, you have to battle these people plus the general population to succeed. That requires harder work and higher intelligence (basic intelligence plus education). If you're a sociopath, you just need average intelligence because you have the advantage of consistently breaking every rule, accumulating wealth quicker, and insulating yourself from any consequences, for the most part.

This is what Mr. Kurtz meant by "the horror."

[autorank]

102. 90's - key legislation - this shit was sold quickly in a lame duck Congress

(The legislation that opened the doors of the Wall Street Casino - allowed derivatives of all types
that had been illegal for decades)

Good luck trying to find the legislative debate on this momentous change. There was none. The enabling legislation for this disaster was passed by an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives and by unanimous consent in the Senate.

It's important to have a "Roll Call" for the sponsors of the "Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000." They made it happen.


Top row: Senators (S. 3283: Richard Lugar (R-IN), sponsor, cosponsors Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Tim Johnson (D-SD).plus cosponsors, Retired Senators Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL), Phil Graham, (R-TX), Chuck Hagel (R-NE). Bottom: Representatives (all retired) (H.R. 5600)Thomas Ewing (R-IL) sponsor; cosponsors Thomas Bliley, Jr. (R-VA), John J. LaFalce (D-NY), Jim Leach (R-IA). April 14

Scoop Independent News

They have never taken full credit for their misdeeds.

[msedano]

62. Almost right on the money...

...save for a minor edit:

Throughout it all, not one member of Congress or the financial elite will miss a free meal, worry about their free health care, lose their taxpayer-subsidized house, or ever face prosecution for destroying the economy of the United States.

Remember the old adage, "Them's that's gots, gets. Them's that's not got keep on giving until they bleeds out."

Recommended with a hearty season's greeting.

mvs

[autorank]

68. Thanks! I'll take that edit.

Yes, it is "tax payer subsidized" - the truth of that is intense. Between this and Joe Chi Minh upthread, I'll go fix it on those sites where I can add a word or too. Who would have thought I'd
engage in obloquy at this point in my life?

Seasons Greetings to all!!!!!!!!

[msedano]

73. when obloquy is merited, those who stand silently by...

...get the government they deserve. assholes.

[Javaman]

64. We only were politically important to them, once upon a time, when

our votes sort of mattered. Now with electronic voting, our vote became null and void, so there is no reason what so ever for them to even acknowledge that we are in the room, let alone the country.

Welcome to the new feudalism. It's just like the old with iPods.

[Truth2Tell]

65. Bravo Auto, very nice! K&R nt

[Blasphemer]

66. K&R.. nt

[Echo In Light]

67. "They don't care about you at all, at all, at all." - G.Carlin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYIC0eZYEtI

[buddysmellgood]

81. Thanks, I was just about to go look for that.

[Andronex]

69. Why not a "people party"...

As it has been shown on so many occasion, when you take care of the people, the economy will take care of itself.

[valerief]

70. Once I built a railroad...

Buddy, can you spare a dime?

[LaPera]

75. Life is cheap to these people, the more the population grows the cheaper life becomes to these

ugly non-human creatures - Who do absolutely nothing positive, they only take, lie, pollute, kill, destroy and make more money off human growth & suffering!

Pigman Limbaugh's type of creatures he constantly promotes & adores.....the evil, ugly, selfish, wicked hateful, greedy, elitist creatures like himself, that have loads of money and live ONLY to make more and enjoy the pain of the unfortunate, what pleasure it gives these sick motherfuckers!

[autorank]

126. They lack any contribution other than to promote suffering n/t

[Uncle Joe]

77. I hate to say I agree, but I do.

I believe this is one of your best O.P.s autorank, and that's saying a lot.

Thanks for the thread.:hi:

[autorank]

96. Thanks Joe

That's quite a compliment. It's just what's happening. The people are way ahead of the media and the media controllers. They've got quite a rabbit to pull out of the hat to explain all of this. But they'll try. Some grand event but it won't work.

:toast: Greetings to you and yours!!!!!!!!!

[Uncle Joe]

103. Likewise, cheers to you and yours as well!!

:toast:

[hfojvt]

91. this article is nothing to me

Nothing but cynical hogwash.

For example

"Blame humanity for pollution when it's just a few industries that create the filth that's threatening us daily."

Because it seems to me that it is humanity that is so enamored of the private automobile. It is humanity that buys big screen TVs, that cranks up the thermostat in the winter and cranks it down in the summer, that has very little interest in either CFCs or shutting off the lights. It is humanity that generally buys the crap that those polluting industries are selling.

"Create side shows not worthy of a second rate carnival that you call politics and never mention that changes in administrations are really cosmetic and stylistic, not substantial. Meet the new boss, not exactly the same as the old boss, but close enough."

Close enough? So the Bush administration was not really that bad? It was pretty close to the Clinton administration. We were just foolish to want Gore and Kerry to win (those of us who wanted that, that is), and just silly to think that McCaskill is better than Talent, that Franken is better than Coleman, that Obama is better than Keyes, etc., etc., because nothing really ever changes. If I believed that, then there would certainly be no point in being part of this message board, would there?

So, are you being paid by the money party to convince people to give up? Because that's the logical conclusion from your article.

[varelse]

111. Oh the humanity

You surely are aware that most of "humanity" does not (and cannot) live like this:

Because it seems to me that it is humanity that is so enamored of the private automobile. It is humanity that buys big screen TVs, that cranks up the thermostat in the winter and cranks it down in the summer, that has very little interest in either CFCs or shutting off the lights. It is humanity that generally buys the crap that those polluting industries are selling.

[Goldstein1984]

94. Mmmmmmmm...DISSENT....I can feel our power growing

In my short week in DU, I've read a lot of great OPs and threads, but this one gives me hope.

Thank you autorank.

Recommended Reading: "Reveille for Radicals" by Saul Alinsky. Get inside the head of a radical who knew how to create change.

(Hint: Alinsky did it with a love of the conflict that creates change, a distaste for the status quo, irreverence for the conventions that create order, and a willingness to work outside the system he was trying to change.)

[ChiciB1]

95. If You Ask, They Will Come... Oh, So NOT!! Not Again!! n/t

[november3rd]

97. Name Names

The Money Party is a small group of enterprises and individuals who have most of the money in this country. They use that money to make more money. Controlling who gets elected to public office is the key to more money for them and less for us.

This quotation is the necessary new mantra for America, because the corporate media--controlled by the money party ("TMP")--are trying to stifle this message from circulating throughout the public discourse. If we can't circulate this message about the Money Party, then the Money Party will hold onto power, uncontested.

Obama provides TMP with the scapegoat that keeps the people divided and half of us suborned to their agenda's message: race.

Let the credit dry up, the dollar shrink in value, the US public investments implode and the states go bankrupt. The media will use Obama as a scapegoat, and close to half the country will believe it. It's the same half of the country who believes that what's on television is true and that politician's are being honest when they say they work for us.

Blame the 95%'s collapse on Obama.

That's TMP's plan for staying on top for the next few years.

[DemReadingDU]

99. Excellent. It's all about the Money Party.

K&R

[autorank]

101. Isn't it though! n/t

[BrklynLiberal]

100. K&R

:-(

[Canuckistanian]

104. "Its a big club and you ain't in it"

George Carlin was a modern-day prophet. He called it YEARS ago.

[Username 12]

108. Let's keep this in mind -

- the next time some douchebag talks about how our "democracy" is so fucking wonderful!

[bleever]

109. K&R.

Happy Holidays?

:hi:

[mddem9850]

110. great article. thanks.

[tblue]

113. I am one of those who once scoffed at people who said there's no difference between the parties.

Not anymore. Obama gas ripped the blunders off my eyes. We have a few possibly good eggs, but the rest really may as well be Republicans. The partisan sniping is really little more than staged infighting, except for that involving those few standouts, like Senator Sanders.

When I think of where my head and hopes were a year ago, I just wanna cry. Thanks, Michael, for making the 'sysyem' so clear. I'll go mourn now and try to regroup eventually.

[KoKo]

115. We shouldn't beat ourselves up about "Hoping for Hope."

There's nothing wrong with being optimistic.

The worst thing we can do is feel "beaten down" by the "Brand Job they did on us with Obama." The optimistic thing is to see that their attempt was a failure. I've not seen any President go down among his base as fast as Obama has. And, we should look on this as an opportunity for Obama to become the Great President we were Promised...or his exposure as a possible "Empty Suit" is one that will cause the GREAT CHANGE that will finally be possible.

I'm not with the "Buy Guns and move onto farmland and stock up...grow your own...because Armageddon is imimnent crowd."

I feel that there are so many of us who can't do that ...it's just another "I've got mine...you get yours group" and that the rest of us have to keep working and surviving to move forward. The Powers that Be are not going to let it all fall down...so there's time. We have to keep working.

[unapatriciated]

114. AR haven't seen you post much lately.

When you do it's great.


I still remember your post in the DUMovie too bad the money guys took it down on Youtube.
They couldn't make a buck off of it. (lame used a song they owned)

Lame made this vid in 2006 it pretty much says it all, sad that it still applies even when we change the R to D.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTW0y6kazWM

[KoKo]

118. That's a good Video..hadn't seen it before..Thanks! n/t

[autorank]

119. Conservation of energy;)

Thanks for the encouragement.

The McMurtry video is an all time classic as is the song. That's about as good as it gets. Lots of
excellent things coming out of Texas on our side of things, like that. That tape is complete, period,
and accurate.

I can't believe they took that DU tape down. That was a killer. I hope it gets re posted. Ironically,
that thread of mine pictured in the video dropped like a rock but the Subject field as part of the
sequence was just perfect. I also got a kick out of the guy's apartment. It reminded of my bachelor
days in NYC way back.

:hi:

[unapatriciated]

121. lol, that guy's apartment is my home.

He shot it mostly in his computer room which had very little furniture at the time. The Kitchen is small but our back yard makes up for it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJcfskosWa0
lame54 is my hubby.

[Major Hogwash]

116. The Party of No and the Party of Money beat the Party of Spineless Democrats every time

Did you catch John Stewart's impression of Droopy Dog the other night.
Instant classic.

[autorank]

123. Yes I did

Droopy Dog is hilarious and a perfect caricature of how Democrats act in the Senate.

It will be aorund for a long time...and that's a good thing.

[Miss_Underestimated]

122. We need a lot more Camp Casey type activity - what Cindy Sheehan did

was extremely effective and it only took one person. If only TMZ would take on such duties, it would be a formidable force for the money people to contend with!

[autorank]

127. You're right

and it needs to emulate the 2006 Latino May Day protests - that rocked Capitol Hill like nothing I've seen other than the spontaneous calls/emails on the first bailout vote (the one where the bailout lost). Combine the presence in the streets with that intensity and you have a force that will make Congress and the White House snap to rapt attention. Recall that the right wing, nasty Republicans backed off in droves after they saw the crowds. With a nationwide protest like that, even bigger, you'd send two messages - we're fed up period now fix it and who will do your work if we don't?

[Karenina]

128. Same thing happened in Copenhagen.

Africans, in many critical areas are now dead peoples walking (as are Palestinians, Iraqis). Depopulation! Resources! Between the Chinese, the Amis and climate change they are behind the 8 ball, kann Mann sagen.
It is in the financial interests of both China AND the U.S. that catastrophic depopulation occur in Africa.