It's to Be a Democracy, Ma'am, if You Can Keep It
By Thom Hartmann A...
America is divided. With one single exception, every state is entirely under the control of one party or the other. A large part of this divide is being driven by big money propping up the Republican Party so that they can get lower taxes and less protections for the public, also known as regulations. But a large part of it is also being pushed by Catholics and evangelicals around abortion, the NRA around guns, and bigotry in the form of "opposition to gay marriage," school choice to keep white schools white, etc. The big question, as this all tears America apart, is how can we bring this country together?And will democracy survive the process?
-Thom
Comments
#2
Money is speech. Corporations are people. Heard that somewhere in the past. I don't see any difference between corprations (people) buying favors {Speaking), and parents of college students (also people) buying enhanced recognition for their kids. (Speaking.) If punishment is in the air for "abusive talk", then all "people" should be treated equally.
#3
Good point, Willie.
Yes, corporations should be seriously punished for abusing their so-called "speech" for an unfair advantage just like real people would be for using their money/speech for nefarious purposes. What if a person/corporation ends up killing someone, or many, through deliberate neglect of coded safety regulations in order to save operating costs, as in so many cases? The law should apply equally or not at all. A slap on the wrist never works, as in so many cases.
How about the corporate death penalty -- say, complete disbandment and all resources placed into a fund to help finance honest entrepreneurs create non-monopoly businesses that follow the law and treat their employees well -- after fully compensating all victims and their families with a whole lot of money/speech?
Take the megaphone away from the greedy few and give it back to the many. Really, we can govern ourselves without all the damn thieving oligarchs breathing down our necks and stealing our wallets ...and our power. Like Bernie said in his recent speech, that's the only way we can beat fascism and create a strong middle class.
#4
Good morning HotCoffee, I rewatched the Netflix series "murder mountain" last night and Humboldt county is really beautiful. The series was about a SoCal kid who was murdered in a drug deal gone bad but a lot of it centered around the outlaw growers and why some of those who went legit and worked with the state are now going broke. Garberville and Alderpoint were the two major cities in this highly sensationalized Netflix series.
Funny for the day,
Creepy Uncle Joe if elected, promises to cure cancer.
Holy crap, the smell of desperation is dripping off this hair sniffing serial groper.
That ought to leave the 25 other wacko's in the democrat party clown car trying to come up with something to top that promise. I suspect Bernie Freeshit Sanders will come out from one of his three homes today saying cancer when cured, will be taxed and paid back to the poor in the form of income redistribution.
#5
Hey Diane,
Humboldt is beautiful!
I don't subscribe to Nexflix, I have in the past but it's been a long time since I've been there.
Creepy Joe has got to go.
Here's the lefty hero that was going to run for Pres. CNN's favorite......
Michael Avenatti is sued for allegedly siphoning paraplegic's $4 million settlement
nice guy!! NOT
Later!
#6
Dizzy Di, the flaming hypocrite, religious bigot, and unrepentant liar (a true Trumpist) once again displays a near total ignorance of outside reality. In a word salad of incoherent grunts and groans, it is quite evident that she has absolutely no clue what Bernie is actually saying about democratic socialism. Why? Because her critical thinking skills, if indeed they ever existed in the first place, was long ago snatched away by Fux "News," hate radio, and the right-wing internet swamp.
But glaring ignorance is par for the course for those clinging to a fascist party of authoritarianism and massive upward wealth distribution by every means possible, legal or not.
That's why average polling consistantly reveals that the vast majority of young voters view the Republican Party as "dumb" (The word used most often by respondents.) IOW, the party of dummies is toast in the near future, which won't be soon enough.
As fascist followers ridicule the amazing bevy of Democratic candidates in 2019 as something bad (No, it's democracy in action -- a good thing!), let no one ever forget that way back in 2016 -- an eternity -- out of 17 highly flawed Reoublican candidates, brain-dead zombies wearing goofy MAGA clown hats, chose the most highly flawed fascist leader of all (the demise of democracy in action).
And now look what happened -- without all the right- wing filters clouding the mind -- to the nation and the world. "Dumb" is certainly the most apt word.
#7
Bobbsey Twin #2: No, Avanatti was never a "lefty hero" -- that's a corporate media meme with no substance that was gleefully fanned by the "righties."
But then, you would've already known that if you didn't have your little head planted firmly up the big ass of the internet's "alternative facts" fantasy world.
And what you classify as "left" is in reality smack dab in the middle of American mainstream political sentiment -- when they poll people about the issues without attaching the questions to party affiliation. It's the right that's out of touch and on the fringe.
But then, you would've already known that if ... oh never mind. You're too far down the rabbit hole.
#8
HotCoffee; I saw the creepy porn lawyer and darling of the democrat party, Michael Avanetti being arrested in at least two cities. I believe there are currently 34 counts against him with more to come. The best part, yesterday he accused Creepy Joe Biden who himself is no stranger at plagiarizing, of stealing his (creepy porn lawyer's) campaign slogan. https://www.dailywire.com/news/48293/after-plagiarism-scandal-biden-rips-avenattis-ryan-saavedra
I don't think the republican could ever dream of two better swamp creatures throwing barbs at each other.
Later.
#9
Yup, "dumb" is the most suitable word. It's on the lips of virtually everyone in the world when referencing Trump the Dummy and his party of dummies.
#10
Diane,
I've had a lot of erands to run this week and in the valleys here all you can get on the car radio is far right Trump haters....almost wanted to call in and ask when was the last time they said anything nice about anyone....just B*tch B*tch B*tch all day long! Geez what a miserable way to live.
All day complaining about Trump saying he would listen if Norway called and said they had info. and then maybe call the FBI if needed...Of couse they would have whined just as loud if he said he wouldn't talk to them.
Yet not a word about all the cash the Clintons got from Bills (ahem)...speechs. ...Or Christopher Steels..cough cough reports....I hear Italy is doing some intelliegence house cleaning after their part n the Russia BS too.
The truth has a way of coming out sooner or later.
CNN & MSNBC won't be able to hide whats been going on forever! :)
It's sad cause some of them were good radio hosts with relevant news & stories to tell before they caught TDS.
And then there is Auntie Maxine
a snip...
Maxine Waters slipped up during a 2013 interview with journalist Roland Martin. In this interview Waters said –
…I think some people are missing something here. The President [Obama] has put in place an organization that contains a kind of database than no one has ever seen before in life. That’s going to be very, very powerful and whoever …and that database will have information about everything on every individual in ways that it’s never been don before.”
Isn't that special....I wonder if Trump as POTUS just happens to have acess to all that info also?? Or AG Barr?
we'll see.
later!
#11
You "wonder" about a lot of things, especially about the truth. Do you ever wonder why it never takes root in your mind?
#12
If the democrats succeed in winning back Congress and the presidency in 2020....watch out. Let the fascist goose stepping begin. The dems try to "talk a good game" when it comes to democracy, but its only lip service. Which party demands obedience on every issue? Which party tries to limit free speech? It ain't the repubs. The "big tent" is a joke. Look at what's happening now to Joe "Hands" Biden. He tried to reminisce about the good old days he had with some former democratic segregationist senators and now he's the second coming of David Duke. Even ABC is running a story about his dirty dealing in Ukraine and his son suddenly showing up on the board of directors of a Ukraine natural gas company. Poor Joe...doesn't he understand that his many years of service in the senate and the White House don't mean anything in the modern democratic party. Its all about your identity. And Joe has the wrong one.
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