We finally have common ground with North Korea. We are both going to have a militarized Southern border with long walls to keep out those we fear!

Thom -- you mentioned using a geiger counter when you and Louise lived in Germany post Chernobyl and you purchased one after Fukushima. You mentioned giving it to your kids (on the Left Coast). Has anyone USED it? Do we know how radioactive our food supply is becoming. I am hesitant to eat miso soup anymore. I've heard some horror stories, but are there any groups regularly testing for radioactivity in regular foods?

Thanks for your insight and all your hard work! Peace Hugs!

Yep, it's been the Dems and Repubs in Unholy Alliance. It's almost as though everyone in the Congress awakened one morning and realized that the children have been kidnapped and--dammit--we'd better play ball. Or is it possibly an example of what Dr. Wilhelm Reich called the Emotional Plague, which obtains in fascist and other tyrannical regimes? Seems hardly anyone..well, yes, Senator Bernie Sanders...and until recently Dennis Kuccinich and Ron Paul...has had the intelligence, the integrity or the balls to question the irresistible momentum toward fascism and corporate capitalism. And austerity? I happen to think we DO need an ample helping of austerity....specifically and implicitly toward the Military-Intelligence budget....ASAP. Bring all our brave troops home (the miserable mercenaries too!) and to hell with the thoroughly lunatic War on Terrorism, jingoistic rhetoric and hysteria-laden propaganda. The reality is that MOST of this business reflects the military-intelligence lament at our loss of the fun and games of the Cold War.

In essence, when Bush and Co. (a low-life crew of Bowery Boys or Brown-Shirts, if there ever was one!) was sort-of elected, we underwent a coup d 'etat, which sprung into full-flower with the 9-11 attacks (by someone…probably not a band of “wet behind the ears,” box-cutter wielding Islamists, with a few hours of flight-training under their belts)... and Mr. Obama was kind enough to continue the authoritarian and barbarous legacy which Bush-Cheney left us...you know wars of conquest and occupation with a large helping of domestic Gestapo-like tactics. Shades of the German "Enabling Act of 1933!"

You might think me quaint, but I maintain that the Declaration of Independence is still part of American jurisprudence...at the very least...via the ninth and tenth amendments. There comes a time when a government is so unrepresentative of its people, so odious, venal and corrupt, that the people may need to rebel...and demand a new republican government. Of course, there is not ONLY the stink of political corruption (and war-crimes), but the fact of the recent Economic Sector criminality. I feel like we are now poised at the American equivalent of the Roman civilization ridge, as it shifted from the status of republic to that of empire. Or maybe the analogy of occupied France is more fitting. And, no, I am not comfortable with the many Obama apologists (and their lame “lesser of two evils” argument) in the Congress and in the media.

And, what of entitlements? This rant about the lazy parasites who feed at the public trough might even bother me a mite, where it not for the vast system of corporate entitlements, in the form of subsidies, tax loop-holes, sweetheart government con-tracts, and off-shore accounts. What about the disproportionate influence of the globalist institutions like the TLC, CFR and the damn Bilderberg Group...and the NAFTA sell-out, which has played a big role in decimating the American and Mexican economies (and led to an influx of thousands of Mexican refugees)? What about the concept of the Commons, the idea that the country and its bounty belongs to every one of its citizens....not to GM, GE, AIG, the United Fruit Company or J.P. Morgan-Chase? And, what about the small matter of the U.S. Constitution and silly details like due process? I guess that in "perilous times," such things no longer matter. In a pig's eye!!!

Ok MMmNachos, Yes I did cherry pick the list but I was just kinda making fun of the overreach of the list. Actually, had he just listed Denmark, Sweden or Finland; I might have thought OK. Although, their parties might get along just to stay warm. Maybe New Zealand actually does work better? But the rest of the countries on that list… not so sure about. Germany is currently leading the austerity movement that is crippling the European economy. Japan has been in the pits for decades and is just one good tremor from nuclear devastation (and maybe the rest of us with them).

Just because I don't see the multi-party concept as the panacea for Americas ills, doesn't mean that I endorse what we now have. Actually, the problem is that we only really have one party. And you're right, that is the United Corporations of America. But actually, that's not right either. These are multinational corporations that have no loyalty to anything other than wealth and power.

But, I think the clock is running out for the welfare and survival of the planet and time wasted trying to establish a party that can be really effective has long past. I believe, that we do have one party that can still be made to recognize and intelligently deal with the problems that we all face. True, it's a long shot, but Democrats do have a history of supporting the populous.

Now, can I go back to watching Vanna?

Of course, we actually do have several political parties but none have been able to make meaningful inroads, although, I thought that initially the Green Party had the right idea working from the bottom up winning mayoral races and statewide races, etc. However, they decided to squander all their "political capital" on electing Ralph Nader to the presidency. The rest is history.

Well, now I must go. They are airing a Wheel Of Fortune marathon and I never miss a minute of Vanna White. I hope my Barcalounger doesn't malfunction again. Last time the massager wouldn't turn off and I thought I'd have to call 911. Gotta remember to cancel that Viagra prescription.

I thought we had 4 parties: tea party, republicans, blue dogs and progressives

Like I said: one big, never-ending dysfunctional family reunion. Syria, Lebanon, Serbia, Mexico… again…include me out.

2950-10, I have to admit to a bit of hypocrisy , since in my old age I'm more of a barstool activist than a real activist But that doesn't change the reality of the need to infiltrate the Democratic party as Thom often proposes. I am going to my local assemblyman's open house tomorrow. I hope they have snacks. I accidentally typed in snakes for snacks though I'm sure there will be plenty of snakes.

Maybe someone can tell me of a country with multiple parties that works better? I can't think of any. It would be like one big never-ending, dysfunctional family reunion. Like now, only worse.

Out damn spot. Spot gone.

stopgap: I agree, we don't need more political parties, we need to infiltrate the democratic party with Greens and Progressives the same way the billionaire's teabag party took over the Republicans.

I too believe that Barak Obama shares the blame for the failing economy; but probably not for the same reasons of the lengthy posts that exceed my attention span. I believe that Obama doomed his Presidency when he failed to seek accountability for the excesses and crimes of the previous administration and their pals in the banks and on Wall Street and the "Military Industrial Complex", essentially giving them a get-out-of-jail-free-pass. Old quote:"The past is the future". I believe that he was naive to ever believe that he could ever work with or trust anyone in the Republican party, especially after what we saw from them during the 8 years of the "Dubya" era.

I believe that "The Sequester" was a trap that Obama naively walked into based on the false assumption that the Republicans would never do anything to rein-in military spending. But what's losing a few bucks now when you can eventually have it all?

I also agree with John Boener when he said "I got 98% of what I wanted" when the sequester was initially agreed upon. He got the other 2% when the sequester took affect, likely crippling any recovery and possibly resulting in economic chaos; the ultimate Republican Wet Dream. Enter Chris Christie, stage right.

I can't for the life of me understand why people think that having more political parties will somehow solve all our problems, when they don't bother to participate in the first place. If the Tea Party is an example of a third party? Include me out.

Did anyone hear Melissa Harris-Perry had to say about the strike down of DOMA? The strikedown had the same problem as the voting rights SCOTUS decision. The problem is that both decisions were sending us back to a confederacy. The federal govt has no power to tell the states who can vote and who can marry. Only the states can make that decision.