STUNNING article-It's "D-day in class war-You're either on the oligarchy's side or people's side'

[kpete]

Joseph A. Palermo

Associate Professor, American History, California State University, Sacramento
Posted: November 17, 2010 08:52 P

D-Day in the Class War

Politicians, pundits, commentators, and citizens must choose a side now. You're either on the oligarchy's side or on the people's side. It's D-Day in the class war.

...........................

After a decade of stagnant or declining real wages, "bipartisan" schemes are proliferating to shift the burden of Washington policymakers' own catastrophic mismanagement of the nation's fiscal policies right onto the shoulders of working people. The press commentary has been abysmal. All "serious" thinkers out there on television or in print are in full agreement that "entitlements" must take a big hit, along with education and health care.

~snip~

Few in the press seem to want to educate the public about how we got into this fiscal crisis in the first place or why projected budget surpluses at the beginning of the Bush years were so needlessly squandered. And remember, those surpluses were turned into deficits through "bipartisan" agreements, such as the Bush tax cuts, the wars, and the bailouts. There's also precious little mention of the grotesque inequality in American society these days, which is worse than even during the Gilded Age. The establishment press seems determined to avoid the obvious conclusion: The rich, the super-rich, and the super-duper rich (as well as the conglomerates) must pay more in taxes to get the United States through the crisis. Ending the two debilitating wars and rolling back what Eisenhower called the "military-industrial complex" should be next. And the billions of dollars wasted in corporate welfare each year must be diverted to human needs.

These steps should be the top priorities before any "deficit-reduction plan" is seriously considered -- "bipartisan" or otherwise. At this moment in American history, after large swathes of the middle class have been wiped out, the last thing we need is another elite-driven assault on the living standards of working people.

more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-palermo/d-day-in-the-class-war_b_785192.html
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/11/18/921573/-STUNNING-article:-Its-D-day-in-the-class-war

[Autumn]

1. A big K/R

I think I was the first. : ) This is truly a stunning article.

[leftstreet]

2. K&R

[Starry Messenger]

3. k&r

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. K&R

[Poboy]

5. kr

[FiveGoodMen]

6. That's the kind of talk we should be hearing!

[txlibdem]

41. The rich have been waging class war against the "little people" for over 50 years

They have control over the money supply, the media, the government, the courts, etc.

The only thing we have control over is whether we are going to sit there and take all this abuse. Or are we going to fight back...

[ProudDad]

49. Try 10,000 years... (n/t)

[txlibdem]

92. True 'dat.

:patriot:

[molly77]

94. Fight back

Don't give the big corporations any more money than WE absolutely have to. They live for money. The more they get, the more they want. We need a new 12 step program for oligarchs.Would love to see them working the steps. Confess their wrong doing. Make amends. Perfect. It would lead to a more balanced way of life for us earthlings.

[txlibdem]

116. I like the sound of that!

That idea has so much appeal, especially the "make amends" part!

Since Corporations have all the rights of people, but none of the downsides (they cannot go to jail for their misdeeds, they cannot be killed, they can never die so they are able to accumulate wealth and assets forever (unlike a person who dies and their assets are subject to the tax man at that point). Corporations are not people. They are immortal "super people" who receive special incentives and breaks that no living human would.

Let Corps face the same rules as living people. By definition that means that every Corporation would, as of today, be required to show up at the county jail to begin their incarceration for all their crimes.

[StClone]

107. It's the Shock Doctrine! OMG

A friend just mentioned this. The Rs say the debt is so big, the challenges so great we have to do tax big cuts in favor of the rich! Which will ONLY make things worse. Shock Doctrine!

[socialist_n_TN]

121. Yep. After reading Naomi Klein's book.........

you would have to be an idiot or a provocateur to deny it.

[BonnieJW]

81. I just sent this to both my senators.

They are killing us! My husband and I are seriously considering retirement in Canada. We would go in a heartbeat if our kids would come with us.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

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

[pinboy3niner]

8. K&R

[moondust]

9. Wall Street vs. Main Street

They complemented each other until globalization made it possible to dramatically lower labor costs through offshoring millions of jobs. If Wall Street can no longer exist without bleeding the life out of Main Street, it will have to go.

[Odin2005]

10. K&R There is no "Center".

[elocs]

11. That's right, both extremes look upon their end as representing most of America

and believe you are either with them or against them and that there is no middle ground.

But for the lukewarm who are truly in the middle they had better decide to be either hot or cold because otherwise they are are useless and both sides will spew them out.

[bullwinkle428]

38. Yes, the "extreme" left wields so much power these days!

:eyes:

[AlbertCat]

45. Yes, the "extreme" left wields so much power these days!

You said it!

And the "bipartisan" dismantling of the middle class was done by Blue Dog Dems and greedy DNCers that have forgotten what "Democrat" has meant since the 1950's

[elocs]

47. Please, point out to me in my post where I said anything about power? n/t

[grahamhgreen]

87. FDR's Democraric Party Classic!

[elocs]

46. Ummm, where did I say anthing about power. I am referring to perceptions.

Each extreme tends to look in the mirror and believe they are seeing most of America, and each extreme is equally certain that they know exactly what is best for America.

The extreme left never has had as much power as they believe they have. Displace Obama with an extreme left candidate in 2012 and see what happens. It would make Nixon/McGovern look like a close race.

[inna]

64. Completely erroneous assertions and a false equivalency.

For all practical purposes, there is no "left", let alone "the extreme left", in America. There is only the extreme right, and "the not so extreme" right, at least as far as political representation is concerned. (On the "extreme left", we have the most modest of social democratic views which would be centrist thinking in any other advanced country.)


"The extreme left never has had as much power as they believe they have. " - Uh, *what* extreme left? What "power"?? Are you perhaps dreaming or imagining things? ... That, my dear, is precisely the phantom Chris Hedges was talking about:

The American left is a phantom. It is conjured up by the right wing to tag Barack Obama as a socialist and used by the liberal class to justify its complacency and lethargy. It diverts attention from corporate power. It perpetuates the myth of a democratic system that is influenced by the votes of citizens, political platforms and the work of legislators. It keeps the world neatly divided into a left and a right. The phantom left functions as a convenient scapegoat. The right wing blames it for moral degeneration and fiscal chaos. The liberal class uses it to call for “moderation.” And while we waste our time talking nonsense, the engines of corporate power—masked, ruthless and unexamined—happily devour the state.

The loss of a radical left in American politics has been catastrophic. The left once harbored militant anarchist and communist labor unions, an independent, alternative press, social movements and politicians not tethered to corporate benefactors. But its disappearance, the result of long witch hunts for communists, post-industrialization and the silencing of those who did not sign on for the utopian vision of globalization, means that there is no counterforce to halt our slide into corporate neofeudalism. This harsh reality, however, is not palatable. So the corporations that control mass communications conjure up the phantom of a left. They blame the phantom for our debacle. And they get us to speak in absurdities.

[bread_and_roses]

73. good quote - do you have a link? (n/t)

[inna]

78. sure!

http://www.truthdig.com/report/print/the_phantom_left_20101031/

Chris's columns are always worth checking out: http://www.truthdig.com/report/category/hedges/

And so are the other Chris's, of course! --> http://www.chris-floyd.com/


:hi:

[bread_and_roses]

84. thanks!

I'm familiar with Hedges but don't always get around to reading every column - but that quote is particularly succinct and I wanted to grab it.

[deutsey]

91. With the Red Scare after WWI, McCarthyism, and the alphabet assassinations

of the '60s (JFK, RFK, MLK...whether by official conspiracy or lone nuts), not to mention COINTELPRO, it should surprise no one that there's no coherent, cohesive left in this country.

[socialist_n_TN]

122. Yep. The extreme left has so much power............

that we got socialized medicine just last year! Medicare for ALL! Oh, wait.......

[Blue_Tires]

12. ttt

[Jack Bone]

13. K&R n/ t

[Eddie Haskell]

14. The time for talk is over

nt

[truebrit71]

15. Excellent article.

..

[WillyT]

16. HUGE K & R !!!

:patriot:

:kick:

[Kaleko]

17. Right fucking on!

[xchrom]

18. Recommend

[Joe Chi Minh]

19. K&R

[grahamhgreen]

20. "“We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace — business and financial monopoly, speculation,

reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. ... Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me. And I welcome their hatred!" - FDR

[lark]

101. Would that Obama had half of his grit

We thought we were getting FDR and instead we got the compromiser in chief who has no principle that he's not willing to completely sell out at the slightest hint of Repugnant opposition.

[KansDem]

21. knr

:dem:

[progressoid]

22. Silly liberals can't spell OLIGARH.

[formercia]

23. Spot-on.

K&R

[daleanime]

24. "Sir, yes Sir...."

Where do I report in?:bounce:

[SteveM]

25. Good post. You don't have to be a radical or conspiracy theorist...

to see the truth in his statements. MSM's labored mumblings about the need for "bipartisanship, compromise," etc. are meaningless. Our country's politics are NOT polarized. There is but one pole: The Right. There are NO OTHER poles; hence, no polarization. Without another pole(s) oF well-defined beliefs & policies, there IS NO opposition. Whatever constitutes the "left" (MSM & others use the term, but have not defined who, what or where it is) it is unwelcome -- by MSM, the Democrats, and by this presidency.

Therefore, the Right IS IN CHARGE. Even when they do not constitute a majority in Congress or hold the presidency, it IS IN CHARGE.

[laughingliberal]

26. K & R nt

[Bulletin Justin]

27. K&R -- from the DU foxhole of the war on the middle class

If you don't thing this is war----just look at the bomb of disaster congress dropped today by not extending unemployment for the people who desperately need it to survive----let alone make anything joyful during the holidays. BAH HUMBUG!

[tomp]

28. it's obvious. and i've been saying it for decades.

people want to think this all started with bush, jr.

this is how the democratic party has always been. buy us off with bones and crumbs and sell us out to the
interests of the rich, enabling the radical right while suppressing the left in any form.

i'm sorry, but this is fact.

sooner or later we all have to get this fact, but at this point i am truly beginning to wonder if anything can be done about it,
because right now too many people just don't get it.

[Jackpine Radical]

54. FDR saved capitalism from a Communist revolution

which could well have happened by 1935 had he not moved fast and effectively to ameliorate the misery of the common people.

[tomp]

69. agreed. nt

[KittyWampus]

79. and yet you just made the blanket statement "this is how Democratic Party has always been".

[Jackpine Radical]

93. There is no inconsistency in Tomp's statements.

Yes, FDR did some very radical things, and he pissed off a lot of short-sighted capitalists (to the point that they planned an armed revolution against him), but that doesn't negate the fact that he was working in their long-term interests nevertheless.

[WillyT]

123. + 1,000,000,000... What You Said !!!

The New Deal saved Capitalism's ass back then... the question is...

Who will save them NOW?

:shrug:

[socialist_n_TN]

124. Yes he did..............

That's why I don't understand these people on here who want a "regulated" capitalism and STILL demonize the very ones who would be instrumental in bringing it about, i.e., the socialists, Socialists, communists and Communists. You don't have to agree with the hard left to support it's right to be a part of the process.

If you want a "centrist" compromise (like we've had for 80 years), do you think we'll get it when the compromise is between the hard right and the extremist right? Now where do you think that THAT compromise will be?

[Marr]

125. We'll get another FDR when there's a similar threat to the top 1%.

And they won't go for compromise first, either. They'll go for fire hoses and the national guard and prison sentences first.

We certainly won't get anything with parades, or by investing Hope© in politicians groomed by Wall Street, through a process controlled by the that top 1%.

[Melissa G]

29. K&R! n/t

[mdmc]

30. kr

[robertpaulsen]

31. Bravo! He knocked that one out of the park!

I haven't read this author before, but both of his books, In His Own Right & Robert F. Kennedy And the Death of American Idealism look like an examination of the kind of leaders we need right now that are sorely lacking in contemporary America. Has anyone read them?

[WillyT]

32. Kick !!!

:kick:

[SaveOurDemocracy]

33. K&R

[NorthCarolina]

34. K&R

[riderinthestorm]

35. Big Kick. Big Rec. This isn't a long article, please read it!

Another snippet:

"Both "bipartisan" bodies claim that "tough decisions" must be made. Yet their policies are only really tough if you happen to belong to America's struggling working middle class. They want to inflict the "pain" on the government programs that have traditionally given working people a slight leg up. In these "bipartisan" schemes the financial services crooks who wrecked the economy come away smelling like roses.

Are we forgetting that it was working- and middle-class taxpayers who bailed out Wall Street's biggest investment banks in what could be the greatest gesture of working-class benevolence toward the super-rich in American history? Working-class taxpayers also paid for the unemployment insurance and infrastructure projects that were needed following the pillaging of America's housing sector. Working-class taxpayers continue to foot the bill for the bloated military budget and two wars. (They've also sent their sons and daughters off to fight.) And about eight million of them who had jobs in 2005 didn't have them anymore by the middle of 2009.

And how are working taxpayers repaid for the assistance they've given to their fellow citizens of the investing class? They get "commissions" and "foundations" and elite "study groups" that are orchestrating the next giant rip-off of America's middle class."

[RainDog]

36. k&r n/t

[Celtic Merlin]

37. Now that you've chosen a side in this . . . "What are you prepared to do about it?"

Yes, the question in quotes in my message subject is from the movie, "The Untouchables". Sean Connery spoke those words to Kevin Costner in order to get the latter to think about the severity of the action which needed to be taken and (later on in the movie) to inspire Costner's character to rise to the level of greatness needed to accomplish their goal.

So now I ask all of you this same question.

"What are you prepared to do about it?"

I know what I'm prepared to do about it, and it is likely more than what most folks would be willing to do. It also isn't something that I'm willing to reveal in a public forum quite yet, but I will tell all of you ALL about it after the first of the year. What I want to know is what ALL OF YOU are prepared to do about it - if anything at all?

Speak up! Let's hear from you.

Celtic Merlin
Carlinist

[asdjrocky]

39. They are not us.

The President, Congress, the moneyed elite, they have their own club and we won't ever belong. It's not so much that they hold us in contempt, they just don't hold us in any real regard at all.

They do like the money we hand over for every election however, keep that up people.

[tavalon]

40. It's about time class warfare got brought up

[txlibdem]

42. Hells yeah

I'm ready.

300 million of us versus about (maybe) 150,000 of them. No contest if we act as one. The trouble is that far too many people are so hoodwinked that they think that whatever is good for the rich is (ipso facto) good for all of us. The exact opposite is true.

[earth mom]

43. K & R!

:kick:

[FailureToCommunicate]

44. 260+ millionaires in Congress doesn't help matters

How many are looking out for the average citizen?

[Raster]

48. How many are looking out for the average citizen: very few.

There may be two political parties in Washington, D.C. However, they feed from the same trough and by the same hand.

[me b zola]

50. K&R

Enough!

[Mosaic]

51. A Real Paradigm Shift is Near

The time is nearing for a gigantic leap forward in human societies where one class of average citizens takes over the world. Interesting times we live in.

[Raster]

52. This resounds tremendously with me:

<SNIP>

Politicians, pundits, commentators, and citizens must choose a side now. You're either on the oligarchy's side or on the people's side. It's D-Day in the class war.

We've been told lately, again from "bipartisan" sources, that American soldiers will be fighting and dying in Afghanistan well past Obama's July 2011 "deadline," and the war will continue until at least the end of 2014, (at which time they'll just move the bar to 2018 or 2020 or 2030). Newly-minted "deficit hawks" should ask the question: Is it worth it to drop another $350 billion into Afghanistan? Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institute, and others like him, think so, but they aren't making an argument for staying in Afghanistan -- they're manufacturing consent. Now the Peter Petersons and the rest of them are manufacturing consent on the deficit too.

The Republicans have already successfully painted the Democratic president as being outside the mainstream. They've vilified his every move and have suggested that there's a huge conspiracy behind his agenda aimed at extinguishing everything that is great and wholesome about America. With control of the House of Representatives they'll go on fishing expeditions to dredge up anything that can be construed as "corrupt." They'll dirty him up while they block any progress that might improve the lives of ordinary Americans. The people will continue to be perpetually angry and disappointed.

It's not surprising that in 2010 Democratic base voters couldn't match the Republicans vote for vote. We're told that the progressives must organize and mobilize to fight back in the coming years against the right-wing onslaught, which is true. Workers in France and Greece and college students in London are engaging in the kind of protests against austerity that should be happening here.

Ladies and Gentlemen: Start your Guillotines!

[Enthusiast]

66. Okay, I get that but why

did Obama appoint this Deficit Commission to start with? And why did Obama appoint those specific millionaires that are known to hate the New Deal? Obama is on one side and the mean bad deficit hawks and cheerleaders for middle class austerity are on the other side? Really? Just like with the HCR debate. I think this is a huge smokescreen.

[lark]

105. I don't get why people constantly ask why

Obama did this or that very un-Democratic, very right wing type of thing? It's so obvious, he is not a progressive and is in the hip pocket of the moneyed rich. To state the very apparent, he appointed Simpson and Bowles because he WANTS Social Security to be cut, age raised, means tested because this is the start of destroying it and because he wants to paper over the huge theft of money from the government to the rich. Note the first thing done is state that government expenditures could be no more than 21% of revenues, how is this a deficit commission goal? The first and only step needed is to remove caps on incomes - voila, SS is solvent now and forever. None of the rest is needed. Every action mentioned is a threat to the working class and a hand out to the rich, except for those that will NEVER happen anyway - like significantly reducing defense. You know that part will be jettisoned and no good at all will come of this.

[BrklynLiberal]

53. KICK AND RECOMMEND!!

[Riverman]

55. Shout-Out From NorCal - Way to Go Sac State Prof! Its the Class War Stupid!

[Major Hogwash]

56. But Republicans don't want to be bipartisan about it -- drop the charade that they do.

And let's do something different than describing them as "intelligent leaders of the GOP" as well.

[MrMickeysMom]

57. Worth sharing, kicking and recommending

[highplainsdem]

58. K&R

[Hannah Bell]

59. no neutrals in harlan county

[bread_and_roses]

97. Yes - It really is the question - Which Side Are You On?

"Which Side Are You On" - Pete Seeger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iAIM02kv0g

Was listening to Cornell West on "Democracy Now" earlier

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/11/19/cornel_west_on_charles_rangel_bush

CORNEL WEST: And I would say that even about the Obama administration. The Obama administration seems to have very little concern about poor people and their social misery. Look at the policies vis-à-vis Wall Street downplaying Main Street. Look at the policies of black farmers, a settlement already in place but they don’t want to executed because they don’t want to be associated with black folk too explicitly. Look at the dilapidated housing. We can go across the board. Look at the New Jim Crow system: the Prison Industrial Complex. We’re not talking just about individual presidents. We’re talking about a system that is tilted against poor people, against working people, disproportionately black and brown and red...

...It’s very clear that the people around President Obama, the economic team, pro-Wall Street, pro-oligarchy, pro-plutocracy in terms of preoccupation with investment bankers, very little concern about jobs for It is very little concern about jobs for every day people come a very little concern about homes for everyday people ... we’re talking about a particular arrangement of privilege, plutocracy and oligarchy that downplay working people and poor people...

[EmeraldCityGrl]

60. Europe is organizing a run on the banks Dec. 7th.

I can't find much about it on the internet, but that would certainly send a message loud and clear.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/december-7-unofficial-pan-european-bank-mutiny-day

I just can't see Americans willing to take the steps regardless how passive to save themselves from what's coming.

[Subdivisions]

65. I know about this and I will be joining them

in closing my account at Bank of America.

The ONLY way to begin fixing the problems that exist in the financial system is to break the too-big-to-fails because they have demonstrated that they will continue to kick the can down the road until the road reachs a cliff at the edge of the abyss. All the bad paper on their books must be flushed into the open.

After the dust settles, I'll open a new account at a reputable local bank.

[fascisthunter]

98. good... that's what I have done

[EmeraldCityGrl]

100. Good for both of you. There is no advantage to keeping

your accounts in the "too big to fail banks." Local credit unions are federally insured and offer all the same services.
At the very least move to a small local bank that invests in local businesses. It's a simple action everyone can take.

[fascisthunter]

104. yeah... and my Bank is involved with the community

very Progressive... Wainwright Bank

[lark]

106. Credit unions are much better than banks

They have much better policies and don't suck you dry. I made the switch 20 years ago and will never have one dime in a bank again.

[sam sarrha]

114. i dont see how my $20 left in the bank will matter much....

:cry:

[Lugnut]

61. K&R n/t

[Greyhound]

62. Another K&R, again. n/t

[slay]

63. Glad to throw in a K&R for this awesome piece

most important article I've read all day. :kick:

[FlyByNight]

67. K & R

:thumbsup:

[handmade34]

68. k&r

"...Lesson, if you protest the government and socialism you get on Fox News and all the other TV networks, but if you protest Free Trade and capitalism you get a bat in the head and tear gas in your face. THAT is class war. This is our D-Day."

Okay folks, we know this is the reality... what are we going to do??

[Granny M]

70. In the words of Pete Seeger

'Which side are you on, boys?
Which side are you on?'

[indimuse]

71. KNR! n/t

[alfredo]

72. Kick

[TBF]

74. It has always been class war -

and right now they are winning.

[drm604]

75. K&R

I wish this were being publicly discussed in places other than just the Huffington Post and Daily Kos.

[drm604]

76. K&R

:kick:

[ProfessionalLeftist]

77. Dear Mr. President...

I know you already know this but don't want to say it. The American people know it too, many of them. So does most everyone on Capitol Hill but they'll never admit it. Will you force Americans into the streets to prove you all know it too, and to force you all to do the right thing - the only thing, that can fix this mess?

What am I talking about? This is what I'm talking about:

"Few in the press seem to want to educate the public about how we got into this fiscal crisis in the first place or why projected budget surpluses at the beginning of the Bush years were so needlessly squandered. And remember, those surpluses were turned into deficits through "bipartisan" agreements, such as the Bush tax cuts, the wars, and the bailouts. There's also precious little mention of the grotesque inequality in American society these days, which is worse than even during the Gilded Age. The establishment press seems determined to avoid the obvious conclusion: The rich, the super-rich, and the super-duper rich (as well as the conglomerates) must pay more in taxes to get the United States through the crisis. Ending the two debilitating wars and rolling back what Eisenhower called the "military-industrial complex" should be next. And the billions of dollars wasted in corporate welfare each year must be diverted to human needs.

These steps should be the top priorities before any "deficit-reduction plan" is seriously considered -- "bipartisan" or otherwise. At this moment in American history, after large swathes of the middle class have been wiped out, the last thing we need is another elite-driven assault on the living standards of working people."

SOURCE:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-palermo/d-day-in-the-class-war_b_785192.html

Mr. President, your "Catfood Commission" won't recommend this. They'll recommend something else wrongheaded and dangerous that will address none of the problems the US faces today. In fact their recommendations will exacerbate them tenfold.

I hope to God you do not listen to them or their recommendations. This is a class war and then some by any definition of the word. Which side of it are you on?

Do I want a response? You bet I do. It is not only requested but demanded and not in word but in action.

Good Day Mr. President,


edit to add:
(Yes. I emailed the above to whitehouse.gov - not that anyone reads that stuff)

[gibby2433]

80. This is truly frightening

Was just watching Morning Joe with the two idiots heading up the so-called "debt commission." I thought Joe and Mika might challenge some of their "findings," but what I found instead were two media shills just nodding in agreement over cuts to S.S., Medicare and raising the retirement age. So much for msnbc being this "ultra-left wing" news channel.

This moment in history is frightening, because we're being sold yet another bill of goods designed to further diminish the quality of life for the working class. Social Security and Medicare MUST be slashed; the retirement age MUST be raised, in order to save our country. Meanwhile (back at the ranch!) the rich and super rich are being asked to do NOTHING. Keep their taxes low, they must be asked to sacrifice NOTHING. That's the job, and has always been the job, of the poor, the working poor, and the vanishing middle class. It's only been 30 years, people, to see if Trickle-Down economics works. I guess that's clearly not enough time. Let's wait until there are only two economic classes of people left in the country - the super rich, and their indentured servants.

It's really just the same old shit - the workers are the first (and only) people who need to be "Patriotic" and sacrifice their standard of living. The rich will bestow social and economic justice upon us, when their vaults literally can't hold anymore cash.

[Major Hogwash]

108. Great post. I look forward to reading more posts like this from you.

I agree the debt commission had some bone-head ideas because Social Security doesn't add to the deficit, and every economist worth anything at all, knows that.

Krugman has had several articles about it lately and the Republicans aren't fooling anyone except the Tea Party members.
They think they "took America back", well guess what, those nuts just gave it back to the very same people who broke it in the first place!!!

If we don't get out of Afghanistan soon, the war costs will drain our Treasury even more than it has.
The United States simply cannot afford to fight long, extended wars overseas anymore.
The so-called "good ol' days" of fighting ridiculous overseas wars is gone.

America doesn't need anymore Pattons or Westmorelands or Franks, they need more peacemakers like President Carter, Senator Feingold, and Helen Thomas.

[gibby2433]

119. Thanks for the kind words

To you as well. :)

[bertman]

82. REC. Go see INSIDE JOB for the details on how the war is being waged on us. nt

[lonestarnot]

83. so has subversion begun or not?

[rainy]

85. fantastic article. nt

[olegramps]

86. I don't know if it is an oligarchy or the new term plutarchy.

A Plutarchy is relatively new term that combines the elements that are shared by both a oligarchy and plutocracy.

[texastoast]

88. K&R n/t

[firehorse]

89. Personal Monopolies need to end

We have laws in place for corporate monopolies, but not for personal ones.

[CrispyQ]

90. K&R

I will send this to friends & family, but few will take the time to read it. Most are still too comfortable to think this is really an issue.

[laundry_queen]

112. You are right.

There are still too many 'comfortable' people versus uncomfortable people to really fight this issue right now. And that's probably going to be the way 'they' are going to want to keep it. Keep just enough people comfortable, and brainwash them into thinking they have it good, and you won't have to worry about any silly revolutions. TPTB aren't stupid.

[ProudDad]

95. must ... Kick ... Again! (n/t)

[katandmoon]

96. K&R.

[Goldstein1984]

99. There's hope in hopelessness

People who have lost their faith in the system and have nothing left to lose also have no reason not to fight. It isn't really a class war until the poor start fighting back. Right now, it's just predation and parasitism of the Many by the Few.

'Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number -
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you -
Ye are many - they are few.'

~Percy Bysshe Shelley

[EmeraldCityGrl]

102. Someone needs to define "fight" for me because, I hear alot of

talk and see little to no action.

[Goldstein1984]

109. "Fight" has a lot of different degrees and forms...

...in different places and times.

Right now, fighting for me just means that I'm doing my best to educate and create dissent among the people within my very limited sphere of influence. I support organizations that challenge authority and speak truth to power. And I'm preparing myself for the nonviolent action I desire, and for the violent action that might come, regardless.

We're going to cross a threshold of suffering, beyond which "fight" will take on a new meaning.

We can boycott all nonessential spending. If half of American citizens were doing with their Christmas spending the way my family is (an extended family of 11 cutting spending by 90%, and limiting gifts to things we need anyway) it would send shock waves through the economy. Black Friday would be Red Friday--Christmas wouldn't bring the balance sheets into the black. All that needs to occur is a set of events that incites outrage enough to incite action.

Preparation is important, planning is pointless. When it happens, it will be spontaneous group behavior. You'll go to bed to the usual MSNBC chatter, and wake up to hear, "We interrupt regularly scheduled programming..." If the authorities could predict it they could prevent it, and yet such things happen. That's why when people tell me that they just don't see it happening, it doesn't concern me. Not seeing it coming is essential.

Right now, the people are pacified. Some with fear, some with propaganda, some with entertainment. And they're living in a nation that is increasingly authoritarian, probably because the authorities know what is developing. Pacification by force and deception has limits, though.

What worries me is that the prospects for peaceful revolt will pass, leaving only the undesirable alternative.

I had an very interesting conversation with one of the few other liberals where I work, and he said something I thought was telling: he's stockpiled food, fuel, and first-aid for six months, and he bought a .22 rifle and several thousand rounds of ammunition (Easy to do with a .22, a very unappreciated caliber.). The telling thing was, I'd just had almost the same conversation with another employee who is a Tea Party supporter, and the things they each said sounded very similar.

While the interpretations vary, the root causes of the discontent of the working class on both the right and the left are the same. Because this is class war, the sides will finally split vertically between top and bottom, not horizontally between right and left.

Or maybe this is all just crap. Time will tell.

[Warren DeMontague]

103. Cut the military budget in half, or more. End the drug war. Legalize and tax marijuana.

Do the math.


THEN you can start freaking all the fuck out about the deficit and "entitlements".

[alturn]

110. The cause of the people would be hugely helped if the left outed the Christ

Living in London since 1977 has been the head of the earth's Spiritual Hierarchy, the World Teacher Maitreya.
His message has always been about sharing:
"I come to take you with Me into the New Country — the Country of Love, the Country of Trust, of Beauty and Freedom. I shall take you there if you can follow Me, accept Me, let Me lead and guide. And, if this be so, together we shall build a New World: A world in which men can live without fear, without mistrust, without division; sharing together the Earth’s bounty, knowing together the bliss of union with our Source."

His message has always been about helping the poor:
"Look for Me in the dark places, where hunger and strife abound. Know Me as the Brother of the poor, the rejected of the world. See Me thus, My friends and brothers, and see the Lord of Love." (both from Messages of Maitreya the Christ)

Yet this remarkable man among men has, by law, had to stay behind-the-scenes awaiting humanity's desire to hear him. Why someone who so supports those who seek a more fare, sane world is ignored by those who so yearn is one of the biggest disappointments of our time.

[sam sarrha]

113. that will be tough to sell to a Lot of Corporatist & "Extremist" Muslims, GOP believes the poor are

being punished by god so it is a sin to help them.. likewise wealth is a measure of god's favor of a man/corporation so it is a sin to tax them.. so they stick it to the poor every chance they get..

where can i get more information on Maitreya, as a Buddhist i have been keeping an eye out for him/her.:fistbump:

[txlibdem]

117. Funny how the rich think that "God" wanted them to be rich... so that's why they are

Never mind the millions of little old ladies they stole money from, never mind the crooked back room deals, never mind the outright theft of another's property so they could make even a tiny profit. It's God's will that they are rich and it's God's will that you will starve to death tonight.

How Christian, that philosophy.

[socialist_n_TN]

127. Those economic sins.............

and the exploitation that they entail is why I consider the whole capitalist system as Satanic.

Fighting capitalism IS God's work.

[txlibdem]

128. kindred spirit

You are so right, s_n_t.

When you have a few spare moments, think about the waste and duplication that Capitalism brings. How many cell phone companies do you have in your city? How many of them claim to be "the best" but how many of them actually are any better than the others. Here in Dallas we have 5 cell phone companies At&t, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, and MetroPCS. All but MetroPCS are exactly the same here, cost about the same and are all matching each other feature by feature, the aforementioned MetroPCS is the cheapest and you get a stripped down but usable cell service. That's 5 cell phone towers, 5 closed off networks, 5 sets of management, headquarters buildings, sales force, and stock holders. Do we get fantastic cell service here in the DFW area? Nope. Just as many dropped calls as anywhere else.

I'm just using cell phones as an example of the waste and duplication of effort that Capitalism requires. What would be the alternative in a proper economic system? 1) the government owns the infrastructure, provided as a service to the citizens 2) One standard for cell phones so any manufacturer's phone will work 3) Annual X-Prize type competitions will spur innovation, the winner gets the OK to build their product and offer it to the masses 4) communication is VITAL to a Democracy so life sentences would be given to anyone who willfully blocks another person's access to communications networks 5) privacy is guaranteed, same life sentences for anyone who knowingly violates another person's privacy.

Of course, money needs to be abolished and outlawed. The rich got their wealth by stealing from little old ladies, lying, cheating, committing fraud and probably a million other crimes -- so all their wealth and property are ill gotten gains and must be removed from the criminals, they will be jailed and sentenced to serve the public good (picking up trash along the freeway, sweeping sidewalks, cleaning toilets, and other menial jobs -- which is all their actual skills and value to society qualify them for). Their children for 5 generations will be forbidden from holding public office at any level.

Once money is abolished the government will be tasked with providing us with the necessities of life (food, proper shelter, clean water, a clean environment, top notch health care, free education based on ability and not wealth or connections). We have all the knowledge and technology needed to grow food by hydroponics in clean and healthy ways that also use only 5% of the water of current farming methods and using (depending on the crop) up to 40 times less land area - and use almost no pesticides (or none if natural pest control methods are employed). Buildings can be built using a robotic machine that can build the entire structure of anything from a small house all the way up to a skyscraper and with the latest green technology built into them from the ground up. There are so many examples of how our lives would be so much better once we end the Capitalist Ponzi Scheme, I don't have time to even scratch the surface!

[socialist_n_TN]

126. My take also.......

As a jackleg Buddhist with Marxist overtones :), I've heard about this guy for a while.

[sam sarrha]

111. the top 1% richest Americans hold 42% of the Nations Financial wealth.. the bottom 80% has 7% >Link>

GOP is a Cargo Cult of Psychotic OCD Wealth Hoarders, they believe that wealth is the Measure of God’s favor of a man, therefore it is a sin to tax a Rich Man/Corporation. the poor are being punished by God, therefore it is a sin to help them. and they use Mafia tactics to enforce their ideology to keep the money/power coming.

this all sounds like "The Devine Rights of Kings".. but if you listen really carefully... it sounds mure like Nazis.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1207-26.htm
"snip...According to this carefully researched and well-vetted BBC documentary, Richard Nixon, following in the steps of his mentor and former boss Dwight D. Eisenhower, believed it was possible to end the Cold War and eliminate fear from the national psyche. The nation need no longer be afraid of communism or the Soviet Union. Nixon worked out a truce with the Soviets, meeting their demands for safety as well as the US needs for security, and then announced to Americans that they need no longer be afraid.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon returned from the Soviet Union with a treaty worked out by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the beginning of a process Kissinger called "dtente." On June 1, 1972, Nixon gave a speech in which he said, "Last Friday, in Moscow, we witnessed the beginning of the end of that era which began in 1945. With this step, we have enhanced the security of both nations. We have begun to reduce the level of fear, by reducing the causes of fearfor our two peoples, and for all peoples in the world."

But Nixon left amid scandal and Ford came in, and Ford's Secretary of Defense (Donald Rumsfeld) and Chief of Staff (Dick Cheney) believed it was intolerable that Americans might no longer be bound by fear. Without fear, how could Americans be manipulated?...snip"


my personal opinion is that The GOP is a Cargo Cult, *a mentally ill group of psychotic OCD wealth Hoarders. The GOP is simply a puppet arm of the *Oligarchy that actually runs this country. Many of the same Cabinet Members of every GOP president since Nixon actually studied under Leo Straus, the Father of the NeoCons, at the U of Chicago


http://blog.buzzflash.com/hartmann/10016

"Strauss's students and their students have occupied important positions in the Reagan and Bush administrations and continue to play a significant role within the Republican party. Prominent figures on the American political scene include Reagan's ambassador to Indonesia, Paul Wolfowitz; Caspar Weinberger's former speechwriter, Seth Cropsey; National Endowment for the Humanities Deputy Chairman, John T. Agresto; National Security Council advisor Carnes Lord; Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, Alan Keyes; legal scholar and judge Robert Bork...; Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court; former Secretary of Education William Bennett; former Education Department Chief of Staff, William Kristol (later former vice-president Dan Quayle's chief of staff and then the chief pundit and policy maker of the Republican party). Journalists have been fully cognizant of this influx of Straussians into Washington and of the power they have within the Republican party. So much so that the New York Times has dubbed Leo Strauss the godfather of the Republican party's 1994 Contract With America."

meet the Dominionists...

http://doggo.tripod.com/doggchrisdomin.html
"snip...Leo Strauss was born in 1899 and died in 1973. ... He is most famous for resuscitating Machiavelli and introducing his principles as the guiding philosophy of the neo-conservative movement. ... More than any other man, Strauss breathed upon conservatism, inspiring it to rise from its atrophied condition and its natural dislike of change and to embrace an unbounded new political ideology that rides on the back of a revolutionary steed, hailing even radical change; hence the name Neo-Conservatives.

Significantly, Dominionism is a form of Social Darwinism.<48> It inherently includes the religious belief that wealth-power is a sign of God’s election. That is, out of the masses of people and the multitude of nations, wealth, in and of itself, is thought to indicate God’s approval on men and nations whereas poverty and sickness reflect God’s disapproval.

(It was not until I read this article that I realized that this is a fundamental tenet of Dominionists.

Worldly wealth and power are signs of God's favor -- to attempt to limit or decrease one's wealth and power is to disrespect God.

On the contrary, God's elect on Earth are called upon to increase their wealth and power.

It is not sufficient for a man to be a millionaire, or for a country to have sovereignty within its borders -- a man must strive to increase his wealth as much as possible, and a Dominionist government's behavior toward its neighbors must be "invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity".

Furthermore, any attempt to decrease a person's or a country's wealth and power -- to take from the rich to give to the poor, to reduce military spending and power -- is a direct attack on God.)

If “Secular Humanists are the greatest threat to Christianity the world has ever known,” as theologian Francis Schaeffer claimed, then who are the Humanists? According to Dominionists, humanists are the folks who allow or encourage licentious behavior in America. They are the undisciplined revelers.

Put all the enemies of the Dominionists together, boil them down to liquid and bake them into the one single most highly derided and contaminated individual known to man, and you will have before you an image of the quintessential “liberal” -- one of those folks who wants to give liberally to the poor and needy -- who desires the welfare and happiness of all Americans -- who insists on safety regulations for your protection and who desires the preservation of your values -- those damnable people are the folks that must be reduced to powerlessness -- or worse: extinction.

What would a “reconstructed” America look like under the Dominionists? K.L. Gentry, a Dominionist himself, suggests the following “elements of a theonomic approach to civic order,” which I strongly suggest should be compared to the Texas GOP platform of 2002, which reveals that we are not just talking about imaginary ideas but some things are already proposed on Republican agendas.<60> Dominionism’s concept of government according to Gentry is as follows:

“1. It obligates government to maintain just monetary policies ... fiat money, fractional reserve banking, and deficit spending.

“2. It provides a moral basis for elective government officials. ...

“3. It forbids undue, abusive taxation of the rich. ...

“4. It calls for the abolishing of the prison system and establishing a system of just restitution. *...

“5. A theonomic approach also forbids the release, pardoning, and paroling of murderers by requiring their execution. ...

“6. It forbids industrial pollution that destroys the value of property. ...

“7. It punishes malicious, frivolous malpractice suits. ...

“8. It forbids abortion rights. ... Abortion is not only a sin, but a crime, and, indeed, a capital crime.”<61>
. . .

* Gary North describes the ‘just restitution’ system of the bible, which happens to reinstitute slavery,
like this:


“At the other end of the curve, the poor man who steals is eventually caught and sold into bondage under a successful person. His victim receives payment; he receives training; his buyer receives a stream of labor services. If the servant is successful and buys his way out of bondage, he re-enters society as a disciplined man, and presumably a self-disciplined man. He begins to accumulate wealth.” ...snip”
comment… this is proof how much they are in control... the richest 1% have 42% of Americas Financial Wealth, 6 TIMES what the bottom 80% Americans only have at 7% of the nations financial wealth !! and they say Socialism sucks.. and cry baby about Liberal Wealth Redistribution

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.... document presents details on the wealth and income distributions in the United States, and explains how we use these two distributions as power indicators.

Some of the information might be a surprise to many people. The most amazing numbers on income inequality come last, showing the change in the ratio of the average CEO's paycheck to that of the average factory worker over the past 40 years

The top 1% richest Americans hold 42% of the Nations Financial wealth, the bottom holds 7% of Financial Wealth and 72% of private Debt.. SOOO…1% has 6 times the wealth of the bottom 80%
the top 20% holds 93% of Financial Wealth.. now is it plain why there is a recession and no jobs..?? there never will be good jobs and real advancement in science/medicine/alternate energy to free us from forign dictarors and terrorists oil till this bullshit changes

it's no joke.. the END is near..!! like one paycheck away, one election away..!!

The Dogs aren't the problem.. it's the Rabies..!

[laundry_queen]

115. K&R nt

[txlibdem]

118. Quote from a wise individual

"If you don't like what you got, why don't you change it.
If your world is all screwed up, rearrange it.

"If you don't like what you see, why don't you fight it.
If you know something's wrong, why don't you right it." -- Trooper, lyrics to "Raise a Little Hell"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roqoA08QdbA&feature=related

[socialist_n_TN]

120. Late kick. This needs to STAY on the ............

front page from now on, just for the headline if nothing else. And yep the article is pretty good too.