Category: Politics

Read this.

Any idea whose side our Armed Forces will be standing on if the unimaginable happens in this country?  I used to wonder, but now I take solace in knowing they've got OUR backs; not the backs of the 1%, the Corporate Scumbags who think they can continue business as usual.

Have they never seen V for Vendetta?

For Chrissake, have they never read history?

…there aren't solar panels on the roof of every building in America.

Scott gets it exactly right:

And why do the powers that be fear it?

I have my own personal take on it and in my mind it comes down to one simple word:

CHEATERS

These fuckwitted clowns at Faux News and elsewhere who are beshitting themselves in fear over the possibility of finding themselves like Marie Antoinette — neck stretched out with Madame Defarge knitting away madly in the front row before the blade falls — are trying and saying anything to discredit the #OWS movement including accusing it of not having a coherent message or of even being anti-success and anti-capitalism.

That is complete and utter bullshit!

If there is any one religion that pretty much every single American shares it's the religion of success.

We, as a people, adore success stories. We venerate people who have achieved stuff.

Even a venal asshole like Donald Trump gets looked up to by a large swath of America because of his ability to successfully play the role of the Comeback Kid.

We don't hate success and we don't hate the billionaire who makes his money through his brilliance and hard labors.

We hate the cheater.

We hate the wall street bankers from Goldman Sachs who sell to their customers a financial product that they know is going to fail with the representation that its gonna make their client money.  And then, if that were not bad {criminal} enough, these same Goldman Sachs bankers turn around and take out insurance AGAINST their client knowing that the client will lose his shirt and when the client goes bust the bank will get paid by the insurer {AIG} for betting against the client.

And when behavior like that destroys the economy these very same bankers in their Too Big to Fail banks go hat in hand to the American people who promptly hand over to them free fucking money which they then take and pay themselves tens of billions of dollars in bonuses — making for the biggest year end bonus in the history of Wall Street.

And then — if that were not obscene enough — these same bailed out, unindicted felons and grifters who produce NOTHING of value for this country are then gifted — GIFTED! — by Treasury Secretary Geithner and Fed Chairman Bernanke the never previously bestowed present of being able to walk up to the Fed Discount Window and borrow taxpayer money at ZERO FUCKING PERCENT INTEREST.

Which they then loan back to the government at 3% interest.

We hate the cheater!

We hate the fact that the Seattle taxi driver who honked his horn the other day down at Westlake Center to show his solidarity for the #OWS protesters camped out there has been forced by the city of Seattle to pay a bigger fine than any of the Wall Street bankers who stole from us and then destroyed our economy.

We hate the cheater!

We hate that corporations are able to use unlimited amounts of money in order to buy and sell politicians of both political parties who then write laws that allow the richest among us and the biggest corporations to pay virtually no taxes but then, when the government needs money because of the cost of its wars {wars that a majority of the population do not support} and the fact that it has cut taxes to the richest, we are told that the poorest among us and the suffering middle class must pony up and pay more in order to make up the difference.

We hate the cheater.

We hate that there are apparently two very different sets of laws for people in this country — a law for the rich and powerful that allows them to do anything and get away with virtually any crime without any consequences attached to their actions. And a law for the rest of us that results in prison time for the most inconsequential of offences.

We hate the cheater!

We hate that there is at present a supreme court justice named Clarence Thomas who, for the period from 2003 to 2007 filed a joint federal tax return with his wife and on that return declared UNDER FUCKING OATH that she had no income during those years.

When the reality was that she was working as a highly placed and highly paid political operative and lobbyist  making almost three quarters of a million dollars in that work.

We hate that.  And yet, as much as we hate that we especially hate that the organization she was working for and being paid by {while at the same time she and her husband the supreme court justice were each committing at least five counts of perjury on a federal document} was an organization that stood to directly benefit from her husband ruling in favor of allowing corporations to make unlimited donations to political causes.

We hate that under the very law that justice Thomas' wife got paid to lobby for, and for which the Thomas' evaded taxes and perjured themselves, huge corporations have been given the same rights as human beings in the eyes of the law but those same corporations can neither be drafted into the military nor can they be executed.

We hate the cheater!

The #OWS movement has been accused of hating the 1%.  But we we don't hate the 1%.  We hate those people in the 1% who cheated to get there and who cheat to stay there.

We hate the gaming of the system.  The rigging of politics. The buying of politicians and supreme court justices. The undermining of Democracy and the fact that the little guy is always the one being told to bend over and take in the ass.

And we hate that our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines fight for this country and risk their lives for it in far off lands and then come home only to be shot in the head by American police officers.

SHOT IN THE HEAD FOR DOING NOTHING MORE THAN WHAT THE CONSTITUTION GUARANTEES THEM THE RIGHT TO DO —

Peacefully assembling as provided for under the First Amendment.

God, do we hate the cheater!

And if things don't change this nation is gonna burn.

And that's why the cheaters and the malefactors of great wealth and their paid shills, propagandists and whores are going to so much trouble to try to discredit #OWS.

Because we know they're cheaters and they're fucking terrified that they'll be made to finally pay for what they've done to the rest of us.

Jon Kyl, Douchebag-AZ

From Bill in Exile:

If you want to understand everything—and I do mean EVERYTHING—that's going on in the U.S. today and to do so in ten minutes then you need neither watch nor read anything else this year than this video.

Because the "Let them eat cake!" attitude of the French aristocracy monied elite worked out so well for them the last time.

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." We can only hope…

Stolen from Bill in Exile:

1. They cheered the execution of an innocent man.

2. They screamed, "Let him die" when told of a person with cancer and no insurance.

3.  They booed a United States fighting man in uniform serving in Iraq.

This is the face of the republican party today.

This who who they are and what they stand for.

And these people are not worthy of being called Americans.

They are, simply put, a disgrace.

From Distributorcap NY:

When I went to the voting booth on November 4, 2008, I (and everybody else) knew there was no way that Barack Obama would be able to live up to all the hype and promise the media, the country and his own campaign had cast upon him during the electoral season. While I had much trepidation in voting for Obama, I was never going to vote for any Republican (more so with Lizzie Borden sitting a heartbeat away). I pulled the mechanical lever (NY still had the old machines) and actually thought that despite the over-hype and he potential let downs – Obama was someone that would bring about some change and some semblance of progressive principles to governing.

In 2000, when Bush was appointed king by Sandra Day O'Connor, we all knew what we were getting – an inarticulate, brainless simpleton who would pick up a lot of brush and carry out the orders of his billionaire check-writers and born-again disciples. In 2008, I thought as I cast that ballot that we were at least potentially getting rid of 8 years of Republican idiocracy and the enormous amount of destruction the Bush-Cheney reign of terror wreaked upon the planet.

I could not have been more wrong.

By the fact this country did not elect a Republican in 2008 – we should all just lay back and heave a big sigh of relief that no right-wing damage was not imposed on the country for the past 3 years. Stuff like:

Extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. Keeping Guantanamo open. Backing down on the debt deal. Gutting environmental legislation. Pulling the public option off the table before it even got there. Putting Social Security and Medicare on the table. Failing to prosecute Wall Street crooks. Failing to prosecute war criminals. Failing to repeal telecom immunity. Expanding the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and adding Libya. Giving up on green jobs and high-speed rail. Approving more oil pipelines and offshore drilling. Slashing the safety net. And letting the Republicans completely control the narrative despite their minority status and deep distrust among the populace.

Was I dreaming or did none of that happen?

I gave up on Obama when he caved on the Bush tax cuts last December. After that I thought he would go from being some minor spark of change to a benign and hapless speech giver that would at least prevent a total Republican steam roller.

Yesterday between the speech-gate and smog-gate, I guess I was wrong there too.

This President is a nothing more than Richard Lugar or Chuck Hagel or John Warner – a somewhat moderate 80's Republican.  He is no progressive and I don't think he is much of Democrat.  In fact I don't think of much of Obama at all anymore.

In the back of my mind I have been trying to justify sticking with him, but the complete collapse on something as little as a speech date – and then a total cave-in to the GOP on the EPA rules – that is it for me.

He's gone from being benign to actually enhancing the rightwing talking point machine. He is Rush's biggest wet dream. I never thought a Democrat could cause so much damage to the very people who backed him –  he is actually setting back progressive principles decades. I truly never thought I'd get to this point and I can no longer kid myself.

People can bash me all they want for harshly criticizing a Democratic President.  The Democratic party can call me all they want for money – not one nickel for any candidate that does not speak out against the President's current policies.  The Barack Obama party doesn't need me or any other individuals for that matter – the endless Citizens United money stream coming from corporate America should be more than enough to pay for his 2012 campaign.

1. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Barack Obama

2. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's Daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

3. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Viet Nam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

4. The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority for years was enforcing U.N. resolutions in Iraq.

5. A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational drug corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

6. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.

7. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.

8. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our longtime allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

9. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

10. Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools. Evolution is a lie, but get a flu shot every year because the virus evolves.

11. A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which tens of thousands die and the nation is plunged into debt is solid national policy.

12. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

13. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

14. You support "Executive Privilege" for every Republican ever born, who will be born or who might be born (in perpetuity.)

15. Support hunters who shoot their friends and blame them for wearing orange vests similar to those worn by the quail.

16. You can vote to raise the debt limit as long as Obama is not President.

17. Officials should allow Christian prayer and Bible studies in schools and government buildings as a matter of Religious Freedom, but Muslims should not be allowed to build mosques or be elected to office because they practice Islam.

18. You have an argument why every one of the above is sensible and not hypocritical, and besides look at all the terrible things the Democrats may have done.

From Daily Kos:

Now is the time for Democrats to cripple the GOP and pre-sweep 2012. Opportunities like this come rarely. The Republican budget plan to kill Medicare is wildly unpopular. Americans overwhelmingly favor raising taxes on the super rich conservative creeps who fund the most reactionary wing, the nuttiest of the wingnuts, in the Republican Party. Wall Street, the Bankstas, the US Chamber of Commerce, progressives, democrats, and even a huge chunk of Republicans all agree the debt ceiling must be raised.

GOP governors are about as popular as rabies — all the Koch's whores and all the Koch's men cannot put the lipstick on the pig again. The leading wingnut primary contenders are a guy social conservatives consider a flip-flopping cult member and an unlectable flaked out harpy. A yawning chasm has opened up between the Teaparty wing and the GOP funding arm. It's begging to be widened, the wedge to do has been dropped precisely into place by fate, it is bearing down with an immediate, unstoppable force. And the empircal facts are lined up on our side like rows of marble statues.

This is the time when Democrats, metaphorically, politically, stomp these assholes into the dirt and light the bloody mush on fire.

(more)

Do I think the Democrats (i.e. Obama) will grow a spine and do this? Not a chance. I fully expect the proud Democratic tradition of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory will continue unabated.

Oh yeah, it's because so many Democrats are in the same corporate pockets as the Republicans…

When I read about Sarah Palin's response to the Tucson shootings this morning, I was at first infuriated.  Then I realized that Sarah Palin was simply being Sarah Palin, doing what right wing media whores always do: twisting logic into a pretzel and playing the victim. Quelle suprise. The sun rises in the east. Dogs bark. The sky is blue.

I almost had to stifle a yawn after that.

And then while I was showering, an aspect of a nearly-forgotten personal philosophy came to me: Sarah Palin (and Beck and Limbaugh and the rest of the right wing noise machine) is nothing more than a jar of paprika in the kitchen.  I'm busy making a sweet tasty pie (my life) and paprika is just something that's not called for in this recipe.  So while it may be physically present in the kitchen (the universe), there's no need for it in my pie, and therefore no reason to focus on it, much less get angry at it.

When I realized that, I suddenly felt even better.

From Thomas L. Friedman:

It actually started well, on Kau Sai Chau, an island off Hong Kong, where I stood on a rocky hilltop overlooking the South China Sea and talked to my wife back in Maryland, static-free, using a friend's Chinese cellphone. A few hours later, I took off from Hong Kong's ultramodern airport after riding out there from downtown on a sleek high-speed train—with wireless connectivity that was so good I was able to surf the Web the whole way on my laptop.

Landing at Kennedy Airport from Hong Kong was, as I've argued before, like going from the Jetsons to the Flintstones. The ugly, low-ceilinged arrival hall was cramped, and using a luggage cart cost $3. (Couldn't we at least supply foreign visitors with a free luggage cart, like other major airports in the world?) As I looked around at this dingy room, it reminded of somewhere I had been before. Then I remembered: It was the luggage hall in the old Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport. It closed in 1998.

The next day I went to Penn Station, where the escalators down to the tracks are so narrow that they seem to have been designed before suitcases were invented. The disgusting track-side platforms apparently have not been cleaned since World War II. I took the Acela, America's sorry excuse for a bullet train, from New York to Washington. Along the way, I tried to use my cellphone to conduct an interview and my conversation was interrupted by three dropped calls within one 15-minute span.

All I could think to myself was: If we're so smart, why are other people living so much better than us? What has become of our infrastructure, which is so crucial to productivity? Back home, I was greeted by the news that General Motors was being bailed out—that's the G.M. that Fortune magazine just noted "lost more than $72 billion in the past four years, and yet you can count on one hand the number of executives who have been reassigned or lost their job."

My fellow Americans, we can't continue in this mode of "Dumb as we wanna be." We've indulged ourselves for too long with tax cuts that we can't afford, bailouts of auto companies that have become giant wealth-destruction machines, energy prices that do not encourage investment in 21st-century renewable power systems or efficient cars, public schools with no national standards to prevent illiterates from graduating and immigration policies that have our colleges educating the world's best scientists and engineers and then, when these foreigners graduate, instead of stapling green cards to their diplomas, we order them to go home and start companies to compete against ours.

To top it off, we've fallen into a trend of diverting and rewarding the best of our collective I.Q. to people doing financial engineering rather than real engineering. These rocket scientists and engineers were designing complex financial instruments to make money out of money—rather than designing cars, phones, computers, teaching tools, Internet programs and medical equipment that could improve the lives and productivity of millions.

For all these reasons, our present crisis is not just a financial meltdown crying out for a cash injection. We are in much deeper trouble. In fact, we as a country have become General Motors—as a result of our national drift. Look in the mirror: G.M. is us.

That's why we don't just need a bailout. We need a reboot. We need a build out. We need a buildup. We need a national makeover. That is why the next few months are among the most important in U.S. history. Because of the financial crisis, Barack Obama has the bipartisan support to spend $1 trillion in stimulus. But we must make certain that every bailout dollar, which we're borrowing from our kids' future, is spent wisely.

It has to go into training teachers, educating scientists and engineers, paying for research and building the most productivity-enhancing infrastructure—without building white elephants. Generally, I'd like to see fewer government dollars shoveled out and more creative tax incentives to stimulate the private sector to catalyze new industries and new markets. If we allow this money to be spent on pork, it will be the end of us.

America still has the right stuff to thrive. We still have the most creative, diverse, innovative culture and open society—in a world where the ability to imagine and generate new ideas with speed and to implement them through global collaboration is the most important competitive advantage. China may have great airports, but last week it went back to censoring The New York Times and other Western news sites. Censorship restricts your people's imaginations. That's really, really dumb. And that's why for all our missteps, the 21st century is still up for grabs.

John Kennedy led us on a journey to discover the moon. Obama needs to lead us on a journey to rediscover, rebuild and reinvent our own backyard.