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Anarchy --- Another "distraction"
I came away from Michael Moore's movie, "Capitalism: A Love Story", with the reinforced conclusion (mine) that so much of the disorder from the "right" is a distraction --- a smoke screen --- for what is REALLY going on: the stealing of wealth by the corporations from the American people. The distraction has had to get ever bigger and noisier (in 5 video clips, from the Rachel Maddow Show last night):
1) Emboldened Extremist Incites Violence:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show#3601...
Contemporary meaning of "anarchy" (these plus dozens more):
1) a state of lawlessness and disorder (usually resulting from a failure of government)
Main Entry: an·ar·chy
Pronunciation: \ˈa-nər-kē, -ˌnär-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Medieval Latin anarchia, from Greek, from anarchos having no ruler, from an- + archos ruler — more at arch-
Date: 1539
2) wordnetweb - princeton U.:
a : absence of government b : a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of governmental authority c : a utopian society of individuals who enjoy complete freedom without government
2) merriam-webster:
a : absence or denial of any authority or established order b : absence of order : disorder
3) dictionary.reference:
an·ar·chy /ˈænərki/ Show Spelled[an-er-kee] Show IPA
–noun
1.a state of society without government or law.
2.political and social disorder due to the absence of governmental control: The death of the king was followed by a year of anarchy.
3.a theory that regards the absence of all direct or coercive government as a political ideal and that proposes the cooperative and voluntary association of individuals and groups as the principal mode of organized society.
4.confusion; chaos; disorder: Intellectual and moral anarchy followed his loss of faith.
Thom,
You brought up the 'breaking' Obama comment. That did strice me as either racist or at least personally dis-respectful but to me it was just one of the long line of such bits of code that have floated to the surface.
In the same way that the Republicans delight in using the term Democrat party, I have heard many references to 'Mr. Obama' instead of President Obama. These aren't even the pitiful screamers on the radio that are still chanting Barrack Hussein Obama. These are the semi-mainstream broadcasters and of course the Republican politicains.
Is this some reference to 'Mr. Smith goes to Washington' or just further denial of the 2008 election results? Was George W. Bush often refered to as 'Mr'.?
You know your 'code'. I think their 'Obamageddon' talk might be more of the faithful finally realizing that they LOST in 2008. Unfortunately that leads to 'I'm cleaning my gun' comments and worse.
Rather than the end of the world, I think this may be the end of the GOP and when the nut-jobs stop believing Hannity, Limbaugh and Beck, that there is even hope of regaining power they believe they are entitled to, a lot of them may come off the rails.
Sad to say and I hope not but these may be the most dangerous of times.
Congratulations on your progress, keep it up.
(What's next? You are running out of time to get some control over your voting system before the fall.)
Cheers,
Rick in Canadia
If this is Waterloo the Republicans are Napoleon for sure. Just like Napoleon at Waterloo they have attacked and attacked and attacked a stronger force until their position was hopeless. We'll see if they have the good sense to withdraw or if they persist until they lose the war. Of course, they can not stop or they would not be their own idea of manly men. And they can't be Eisenhower Republicans because that would put them to the left of Obama. And Nixon actually implemented LBJs programs - medicaid, welfare, etc. and they will have none of that. My oh my what can the angry Republicants do now ...
As Thom has pointed out, politicians look for a crowd to get in front of and claim to be leaders. Kinda funny to watch the Republicants squirm as the are hoist on their own petard of hate filled unpatriotic rhetoric. BTW being 'hoist[ed] on your own petard' is a death sentence - a petard is an IED - its an explosive ram used to break down gates - Go Tea Partiers Go! Smash the Republicans against a gate thats already open! It is still a democracy after all.
The scary bit is that the Democrats have edged to the right on so many issues to box in the Republicans and the Republicans have gone further right to be the 'true' party of the right and after decades of this dynamic we in America have an impoverished political process. The pendulum is stuck and we are becoming an impoverished people. Now the predefined corporate controlled 'possible' is the enemy of the good while talking heads keep saying 'We can't let the really good be the enemy of the good'. After all, the perfect is at least really good right? The perfect is never the enemy of the good. Preconceived notions of what is possible are most often the primary stumbling block of real change: people won't even try what they think is impossible. So, the Republicants will not stop. It appears they will goose-step right over the edge of an electoral cliff with the mass of people unemployed and/or uninsured still growing. People really want significant change and will very likely vote no on the party of no. But maybe a sea of corporate cash will save them with massive TV buys. And they really have stolen 2 of last 3 Presidential elections. Hmmm maybe they think the fix is in. The mid-term elections should be a massive swing to the left. But I still think that the HCR mandate with no public option == political suicide: it has energized the right and demoralized the left and the independents are suspicious to say the least. We will see soon.
(this page should allow inline comments on comments)
'cuz this community rocks -
Nels has it right:
"we got an inch, lets keep working for the mile (and when we get close to that, we’ll adjust to the horizon).”
How do you respond to the kleptocracy constantly moving the goalposts? move them yourselves!
How to respond to their framing?
don't!
oops:
"I think all Obama has to do to keep congress under the control of Democrats now is to start a strong debate on WallSt regulation."
drinking the kool-aid are we? how long would he live if he opened that can of worms do you think?
Mathboy has it right, those who show up run the show. Wrong party implementation, but important conceptually!
Quark, she might not think about it much, but i appreciate my lol, thanks.
harry, "assuming, that is, that there is still a brand made in USA, therefore eligible to run."
the supreme court did not say that corps(es) running campaign ads had to be from any given country. All the fridge needs is to have it's manufacturer sponsor it. Not like Arnie was born in the USA, eh?
Quark, the first good informative point with reference:
"“DeMint Honduras Trip Planned In Defiance Of U.S. Policy”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/02/demint-honduras-trip-plan_n_307632.html"
thanks again... but:
"The Clinton State Department did little to demand the return of the rightfully elected President Zalaya"
who are you supposing runs things there?
especially things like coups?
"http://globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=18241"
ooh ooh, actually reliable info!!!
Good job Ed
Richard L. Adlof, that's what Thom said, but your added details are interesting and believable.
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18278
much appreciated also
Nels, "I wonder how many racists here in America have had to go to the Emergency Room for primary health care because their blood pressure has been through the roof since Obama was elected?"
the more interesting question is how many of those have lost their mortgages as a result?
Mark K, yea, all those filthy Palestinians who refuse to just die, and all the ones who think drinking water is cool, and those who want to build houses, or have children that live nearby, and all those poor fools waiting on a permit to visit their olive trees or dig a well (& all the poor fools who think the majority vote getting their guy elected is actually what democracy is all about in a US empire).
Zero G,
"Well, I don’t think many are talking about returning the lands the US took from Mexico during the Polk regime"
wasn't that just a bit before the Geneva Convention?
Quark,
"I truly believe that anarchy and democratic (small “d”) failure is the goal of today’s Republican Party."
that's the dictionary meaning of anarchy (syn. for chaos) not the Greek's, nor radical's (as in root, the root of radical), nor anarch's meaning, of an-arch-y (as in not hier-archy - in reality chaos promotes the rule of the biggest stick which is what hierarchy is).
Zero G.
"“When someone shows you who they are, believe them.”
So why do some folks have trouble with the fact that Obama has been shown to be a corporate toady and warmonger?"
Zero G.
"that’s an hyphen, Apostrophe was a Zappa album…"
great stuff
Tim,
"If corporations are people, and the 13th amendment says, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude” does that mean all shareholders are now breaking the law? Does that mean no person can own a corporation in the US because no one can own another person?"
That is a truly awesometageous idea that is totally new to me
(now i know exactly why i'm writting/reading all of this)!!!
Ed in Redondo (aka DancingBear),
"I knew he was a DLC corporate stooge and the shape of his health care reform just reconfirms that. That said, for all his shortcomings he was and remains 1000% better then the Republican alternative."
that makes about as much sense as one thousand per hundred...
"It ought to be the sort of thing that a free press would take note of."
unless the press is crypto fascist just like the dems; facism is largely defined by corporate socialism, and so is the US mainstream "press" [corps(es)], especially the one's charging top dollar for our candidates to use our airwaves.
LeMoyne,
"they are so gone to their fear of ‘the other’ that they project their darkest impulses on other people’s motivations as an the excuse for acting out those impulses themselves."
well put
Gerald Socha,
who would Jesus bomb? (see my DeMint comment below)
pzilla,
http://ColorOFChange.org
thanks
emile,
he may well have kicked the chair because he was a dumbass in the first place
i can't believe you read all of this, maybe you started at the end as i often do?
DeMint,
"You are opposing the will of these voters, and that is unconsionable!"
and that is more unconsionable then when you "saved" the "babies" in the womb from my tax dollars,
while spending much more on bombing babies, thier mothers, thier entire families, homes, hospitals, bridges, schools, and thier lands,
with phosphorus and DU? (which i adamantly oppose yet help pay for) how?!!!
Thom,
that line about student loans was worded oh so perfectly!
i love the way you worked in student stipends and the word INVEST!
Let us not forget the swing of the pendulum. What President Obama, Senator Reid and Representative Pelosi did in order to get this piece of legislation passed represents all that is wrong with congress. Clearly if one looks at the poll numbers (a favorite past time of politicians), one would have to conclude that a majority of the people of this country DO NOT support this particular bill.
Far from the Republicans “going away”, the net effect of the actions of the President and Congress last Sunday will be to sweep a vast number of Democrats from their seats and once again place the Republicans in control of both houses.
My question to all of you is this: Why was this particular bill so important? No one – and I mean NO ONE – argues that our present health care system is out of control. But the fix that has now been signed by Obama will do nothing to cure that. If anything, it will make a bad situation worse. There are far too many holes that need to be filled to make this bill even remotely workable.
When your taxes start to rise and become even more varied than they already are (a national sales tax on top of an income tax comes to mind) , remember that when you ignored such simple solutions such as Tort reform in order to bring down insurance costs that this is what you wanted.
And costs will continue to rise - It is a mathematical certainty. You cannot insure everyone in the United States with the current deficits in place and expect costs to go down. Additionally, as doctors become overburdened with the influx of new patients, expect less people to become doctors – at least competent people anyway.
That’s the harsh reality of what was voted in last Sunday. Perhaps looking beyond mere partisanship to a logical, reasonable solution to the problem would have been the real Presidential thing to do. Sadly, that character trait appears to be missing in the current occupant of the White House. November of 2012 will remedy that.
Though this will most likely get lost in the sheer volume of comments, perhaps someone could enlighten me as to why health care should be a human right - only to those that are outside the womb? Where is the caring and concern for the children that are now sure to die in even larger numbers as a result of this legislation?
I get it, folks. Don't trample on your rights. But the simple fact remains that when a woman becomes pregnant, she now assumes responsibility for not only her body, but the smaller body within her. How is that trampling a right?
Statistics show that abortion is used primarily as a convenience and not as a life saving measure. The incidents of rape and incest are also statistically infinitesimal.
You don’t have to like it – I don’t like having to get up at 5:00 AM every morning to go to work. I do it because I have a family to support and I have been doing it in some form or another for 30 years.
If health care is a human right, then I suggest that it be a human right for all humans. A saline bath or a crushed skull is hardly adequate health care.
"I still want the Public Option, and I want to see Medicare age dropped, automatically every year by at least one year (essentially everyone will get two years closer every year, at that rate)."
Awesome idea Nels!
Two things struck me right away about the DeMint comment that this episode focussed on which no one else seems to mention:
A). Waterloo happened to Napoleon, wasn't this very similar to, but a tad more believable than, calling Obama Hitler?
B). As a white Wisconsinite who first encountered the idea "break" in basic training, while trying to figure out what it was my African, Filipino, and Hispanic American, drill sergeants were looking for as an indication that i was broken, i took away what i consider something more important than a racist reference to Obama.
To me it was a racist reference to DeMint himself, and all those who do not ridicule him.
Whether it is a horse or slave, or the voluntary submission to authority of an volunteer enlistee, breaking is what the man in the position of authority does to those who serve him, so he can remake them and their actions to his desires or percieved needs.
Entirely aside from the racist implications of "break" itself, DeMint was effectively saying that he, or his constituency, was in charge of Obama.
A man like DeMint would call it treason if someone said that about Bush while he was in the highest office in the land.
Sure, both men actually work for all of us, or really, for those who vote for them, but the President decidedly does not work under the direction of the minority leader of the House.
It is not only ignorant, and treasonous, to imply so, but in this case ignoring such obvious disingenuity on his own part is blatantly to be wearing the blinders of racism, or, at the very least, to pretend to be.
In a very similar vein, even Thom, Lisa, Amy, Rachel, and Kieth, all missed the same implication of DeMint's more recent remarks the last couple days.
By saying how dare these people assembled vote against the American (US) people who elected them, DeMint implies that one or more of the following states apply:
1). He knows, or is in charge of, what the Americans want, despite his party having been soundly trounced, despite widespread election tampering in their favor.
This being the case would reveal him as an idiot. Having achieved his office makes this degree of idiocy unlikely.
2). He is such a megalomaniac that he thinks he can dictate what the American people want, far to foolish to take seriously, but dangerous enough to merit consideration.
3). Only racist white people that vote for the sound of the dog whistle are actual, real, amerikkkans.
#3 seems to me the more likely implication of both the earlier, and more recent episodes.
There is a huge degree to which this is disempowered racism in deep denial.
It seems (subjectively) fair to the racists to say there is no more racism, they have gone to the extremes of idiocy to ignore the source of their own strongest political and emotional motives for which they dance to the corporate industrial fascist tune.
How can we blame them for thinking this means racism is solved? now that they hate people for things like poverty and lack of eurocentric education, religion, and values, that just happen to happen to many black (read non-white - it's all the same) people (and most of themselves as well - duh! - doh!???).
DeMint knows what amerikkkans think, because most of us, who are not like him, don't actually count as "real" amerikkans, and that includes all us n***** lovers like Thom and myself who just happen to look like the lord blessed them with being white (probably because of Satan somehow?).
Does DeMint actually believe this? who cares! being that stupid only would make him slightly less dangerous to his enemies and very slightly more dangerous to everyone else.
I thought it was genius for that one caller to pose the question, is Obama not already broken?
Regardless of one's personal view, it is a great question.
I strongly feel Thom revealed a very unimaginative lilly white core to his otherwise well educated and considered intellect when he dismissed this idea out of hand and did not take it seriously enough to actually ponder it, much less let the caller elaborate.
Then i would expect that from someone so in denial about the actual powers that be, that, although familiar with the Green Party Platform, he still thinks that reforming the Dems is the best a progressive can hope for.
Other otherwise apparently very intelligent people like Michael Moore, Dennis Kucinich, and even Ron Paul and Ralph Nader, don't get the point of building another institutional political body to create actual opposition to corporate monied politics, so it should cease to surprise me when this happens, but it doesn't.
Not to seem too harsh on you Thom, even with those two little hiccups, i would vote for the Thom Hartmann Party, or any party that you present as an alternative to the republicrats. Gee, i'd even probably vote for you on the Repug or Dem ticket for laughs, unless running against a Green, because i think you have great potential.
The only thing you seem not to know is my favorite line from my favorite writer:
Lao Tzu; "wisdom knows nothing"
It's hard to be humble when you know as much as you do, even harder not to be ignorant of what you are ignorant of.
Very glad to see you often celebrating new understandings as you did today, but also still watching you miss the deeper points of reality again.
Allness Is Being
Love
Adding a test comment here.
Getting health care through a disability is a nightmare for the newly disabled. http://www.texasvoiceforhealthreform.org/2010/03/16/stories-mario/
My niece's husband discovered he had cancer when he finally went to the emergency room with back pain. He was immediately declared disabled, but... there is kind of a donut hole in coverage. I believe the above link explains it.
are you kidding me,was listenin bout 2:30 and a guy called in and said he had a black co worker get mad at him for kicking his chair.then the guy said he thinks the black guy got upset because blacks were kicked during the civil rights movement,WHAT..im black and thats the last thing i would have thought about, if he was kicking my chair the only thing i would have been thinking is dumb ass stop kicking my chair
whoooooops. I just posted a comment with a dangling participle in which Thom looked like the person committing the racism. Sorry for making you into a dangling participle, Thom!
There is a discussion of the horrible racism going on by Thom. I just signed an on-line petition with ColorOFChange.org to send to the GOP leaders telling them to condemn bigotry and hate among their supporters and to make it clear that they will not tolerate fear-mongering and coded appeals from their officials.
Hi,
While listening to Thom's show today, I tuned in especially to the discussions regarding health care providers and their obligations to provide care.
Well, such a subject came up in Central Massachusetts a few years ago. A person feared he was suffering a heart attack and followed hospital signs to get help. The signs he followed were for a for-profit hospital chain. That chain refused him service and told him to go to a nearby nonprofit hospital. Nonprofit hospitals, to maintain their nonprofit status, often are required to maintain 24x7 emergency room care and are obligated to never turn anyone away.
That person then -while indeed suffering a heart attack!- drove himself to the nearby nonprofit hospital and checked himself into the emergency room. This nonprofit hospital then saved his life.
This whole incident caused some consternation in the community, let me tell you! It highlighted the cold heart of the for profit hospital and how they wouldn't even call an ambulance for this person.
I'd have to dig to find the articles related to this incident (it was reported in the Worcester Telegram), but I'm sure I can find them- given time. My point is that I do not believe that for profit hospital organizations are obligated to grant care to whomever asks for it, unlike nonprofit health care providers.
Dave
Fifteen facts and China
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/03/23/15-facts-a...
Empire on the ropes!
http://www.opednews.com/articles/America--An-Empire-On-The-by-Allen-L-Ro...
The far-right fringe!
http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Far-Right-Fringe-Arme-by-Mary-Shaw-...
Here are three paragraphs from Father John Dear's recent article, "Washing Feet."
When the demagogue Glenn Beck urged Christians recently to quit any church that used the words “social justice” or “economic justice,” he betrayed the depth of our cultural darkness. But poor Glenn Beck cannot even imagine the church’s true political calling to be a disarmament movement, a revolutionary community of active nonviolence in resistance to war and empire.
I can’t help but mourn sometimes about how far we are from grasping the Gospel’s call to nonviolence. Among the media and government, even priests and the laity -- few understand. The church, I submit, is called to be the community that loves enemies, speaks against war, makes peace, and takes up the cross of nonviolent resistance to systemic injustice and empire.
“I have set the example,” Jesus said, “and you should do for each other exactly what I have done for you.”
@Zero G.
"Best of luck to Marcy Winograd…"
Thanks, I was just out last weekend campaigning for Marcy. Jane Harmon is going to be a tough nut to crack, but we are guardedly optimistic. Since the 2002 redistricting, the 36th CD is a whole lot more liberal then it's present representative...
Ed
There is no doubt in mind that DeMint meant break as in 'bend to my will'. DeMint as in demented (Spanish transliteration) made me laugh -- closer to the truth is De Mint as in 'of money' (likely the actual French etymology). Some of my ancestors were French who came to the Carolinas after the French Revolution. Hmmm with a name like DeMint I guess he comes from a long line of royalists I bet there are a lot of slaves in the soil that fed his family tree. Economic royalist applies to DeMint now after he went to Honduras as soon as Zelaya was deposed and deported. I am pretty sure that DeMint went to visit the former residents of the Carolinas (textile mills) who are still part of the Senator's current corporate constituency.
I agree with the caller who said the key question is racist vs supremacist where a racist thinks that black people are very different people and the supremacist thinks that black people aren't even people. The racist is constrained and conflicted by empathy, law and the Constitution while the supremacist feels free to act out in the most horrible ways (like in the Deep South, Tsarist Russia, Nazi Germany, Darfur, Congo and the internal partition of Iraq). The racists have a million years of evolution and their upbringing to shake and we should all wish them well with their internal battles. The supremacists are as hateful, selfish and evil as people can get - they are so gone to their fear of 'the other' that they project their darkest impulses on other people's motivations as an the excuse for acting out those impulses themselves. And they will do it in the most unconscionable ways. Remember Rosewood!
@jack
"No leaders in the black community thought this was worth pursuing, so why would the media pick it up?"
Why the corporate media would "pick it up" I don't know. They apparently think their corporate interests are better served by fanning the flames of such racism. That said, I do know why they ought to "pick it up." They should focus on it because it is part of a much larger and clearly intentional pattern of escalated Republican race-baiting and racial code-talking that has been going on ever since Obama announced he was running for president. The fact that the Republicans are using tactics right out of the nazi playbook here in America ought to be a matter of deep concern to all Americans. It ought to be the sort of thing that a free press would take note of.
Ed
Ed,
Best of luck to Marcy Winograd...
I want to say that Jim Demented is a racist. Making a comment one year and another comment a year later to me is not racism.
What is racism? To understand racism a person needs to study a pattern of behavior. You study the person's ongoing verbal language and a person's body language.
Jim Demented is a RACIST!!!
@Zero G.
"So why do some folks have trouble with the fact that Obama has been shown to be a corporate toady and warmonger?"
Speaking just for myself, I had no illusions when I voted for Obama that he was no Bernie Sanders progressive. I knew he was a DLC corporate stooge and the shape of his health care reform just reconfirms that. That said, for all his shortcomings he was and remains 1000% better then the Republican alternative. The country was drifting quickly into fascism under Bush. Under Obama that drift has largely been arrested. Now it is up to us as progressives to start pushing the nation's ideological pendulum back to the left from it's 30 year rightward swing. The way to do that is by taking our own Democratic party from the Blue Dog conservatives by mounting hard primary challenges in the next few election cycles.
Ed
No leaders in the black community thought this was worth pursuing, so why would the media pick it up? That's usually where these things originate. Obviously the senator wouldnt deny it either, because that would just bring it to their attention and turn it into an issue.