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I think I have to correct my previous post. I meant to say I hope people power proves stronger than corporate power. We must wrest our country back frm the blankedy-blank corporate suits.
I certainly hope so. If R&R are elected the America we thought we knew will be gone.
Why not? They know Bush stole the election in 2000 & possibly in 2004; they know we know that too. Therefore they think it would be a believeable accusation in the event the roadblocks to voting they've set up don't work out.
Bread and circuses, just like the Romans.
Ironically it is not the money, true, the Supreme Court is loaded for Corporate America. That ideal, money is free speech is giving those who know “BDO” that commercial that sounds like an accounting firm “Arthur Anderson II” can spend billions under the cloud in the mist of looping holes loaded in currency swirls in their soft money bags of richness corrupting all the way to the great OZ. All the while securing the attractive charade dissembling intentionally breaching the Constitution. Chuck the first amendment of free speech, which is actually talking and sending sound wave through our poisoned atmosphere . Or now it is the paper flux that migrate through Brinks bags. LOL. As Rocky and Bullwinkle said “the spirits are about to speak are they friendly spirits”?
Ladies and Gentlemen of America those who can vote for a man who has his savings intentionally invested in private secrecy is in basic violation of a free market. You who, did you get that? If you seem confused think about it again. Here is this guy, Mitt Romney saying he knows the free market.
Which usually or should have an extordinary amount of transparency. Romney has an obnoxious retirement fund in secret Canary Islands and a secret Swiss bank account. Sheesh, if this isn’t a WTF moment what the hell is? What makes me wonder are all those who rally and shout yes yes yes!!! For Romney! If you vote for Romney will he give an application for a Canary Island tax haven bank account? Well ladies and Gentlemen of America if Romney get in as president fax me copy of that form so I could fill one and get my tax loopholes going. Because I sure need the money.
Bob is dead on and everyone reading this should ask "How many hours have I phone banked or doorknocked for a congressional candidate?" (or any candidate).
If the number is zero then you've just identified one of Bob's "problems in representative districts". It's an uphill battle for us to win these elections because, like every other volunteer organization, only a few people do the work. How few? My US house district, which has 80% or better voter turnout, has a million people in it but only 300 active volunteers -maybe we get to a thousand a month or so from an election. That's freakin' pitiful -where the hell is everybody who says they care?
This is why, after the massive failure of trickle down and a war we were lied into, voters are essentially as evenly divided as they were before Bush. With the news media abbrogating it's responsibility, Citizens United and now voter supression the GOP can manipulate a tie into a win -and continue doing so. Our only chance is to contact voters directly and that means anyone with a brain doing the contacting.
If you are not volunteering, get off your lazy butt and put your mouth where your mouth is.
To be able to beat the agenda of the GOP one must shift the emphasis from the Presidency to the congressional races. Because the misguided Tea-Party essentially took over Congress in the 1010 election, they were able to shut down Congress and nullify essential legislation. If Obama could take Congress like FDR did in 1932 and 1936, Obama might be able to get the proper things through but--problems in many representative districts will cause, not the defeat of Obama but the defeat of Obama's programs.
Considering what I think I know about how the way things are, It's hard to conceive that elections run 49:51 one way or t'other, (almost a random split).
Of course we have had several decades of incessant demagoggery, from the likes of Limberger and his wanna-bees. It has taken Gingrich's Politics of Division into separate realities, where folks literally live in different worlds, not even sharing common language, much less consensus. They "know" they are right; just as we "know" we are right. Meanwhile most of the country has nothing more progressive than NPR. (Why haven't Dems changed that when in power? -- Duhhh).
It's been a long well-organized and well-managed process, now coming to fruition. Two months from now, we'll likely understand much more about our future. No matter what happens this time, "The People" are gonna have to get a whole lot smarter and politically sophisticated. Thare's no excuse for being in this neck-and-neck position -- and grosely out-spent.
Yes, it's VOTES that count, not dollars -- yet we have NOT focused on delegitimizing excess-spending, or simply getting enough of our message out, efficiently. My E-mail overflows daily with solicitations panhandling ($3) spare-change. The desperation is obvious, and it's likely too little, too late -- still running last decade's campaign tactics. There is no talk of message or programs; just "Send money." That said, I do see some good organizing developing.
Just hope we get through this, and be prepared to act forcefully if there is any "October Surprise," -- anything could happen in this stinky situation.
You are right, just as a pickpocket distracts his victim, the American population is distracted by the media with sports and other visceral entertainment while everything of real value is drained from our country into the pockets of the stateless oligarchs who rule ever more of our planet. Religion (fake) is no longer the only opiate of the masses; but the makers of the other opiates generally do have to pay some taxes .
Apparently the voting is closed, but I would have said yes to this one. Sports is a big business and a major distraction more important to many then what's going on in this country, which could well lead to our downfall.
With my years of business college studies and experience, the best form of advertising is "word of mouth" and we now have Email, Facebook, Twitter, and over the fence conversations. Will this "word of mouth" outweigh the Republicans' expense of Billions Dollars spent in TV advertising? I think that the answer is "yes".
The things republicans do which democrats seem not to do is to assume that people are stupid and/or easily scared and/or conspiratorial and message accordingly. Unfortunately it appears to be true - at least with their own base.
All the rednecks in the south did not wake up Nov 5, 2008 and say "Oh my god - we have a black guy for president". But Karl Rove, Dick Armey, et. al.did - and realized an opportunity by making sure all the bubbas saw this as a problem. Only the naive believe that all the disgusting racist and birthist emails which flooded conservative mailing lists were initiated by right wing kooks. They are all part of an organized effort to get a win for the repubs. Nobody figured out on their own that Obamacare was bad - they were told or bribed into what to think by conservative orgs.
Clearly the republican platform only benefits a very few. Without subterfuge, republicans couldn't get more than 25% of the popular vote, since only that many stand to actually gain from republican policies.
However, they are great at doing this. Democrats could learn a lot if they were willing to play dirty too.
The money is spent to influence or depress votes because votes are the only thing they are afraid of. Until the GOP succeeds in further restricting our right to vote, the people still can take over any time they want. The question is not whether people can overome money -the question is if they ever will.
I'm not sure why lying us into a war we did not have to fight and crashing the economy wasn't enough to change minds -the candidates are way closer than they ought to be given the massive scale of Republican arrogance and the complete failure of trickle down.
Sorry, www.thwink.org....
http://www.politicalcompass.org/index
http://www.politicalcompass.org/crowdchart.php?showform&Rick+Santorum=7%2C8.5%2C-115&Newt+Gingrich=8%2C7.5&Mitt+Romney=7%2C6.5%2C7%2C10&Ron+Paul=9%2C-1%2C10%2C10&Barack+Obama=6%2C6%2C-118%2C10&You=-6.50%2C-4.46
This is a good test to show you where you stand compared to the presidential candidates.
I think people can overcome money. I recommend going to www.twink.org and looking at their take on dueling loops and corporations 2.0, both worthwhile discussions.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/israel/government-debt-to-gdp
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2186.html
http://rense.com/general31/rege.htm
This is at least a partial answer to your caller that asked about israels benefits from the US. esp the last entry.
Please send this video around of a teacher who says Romney talked down to her at an event in Colorado. second link.
http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/take-look-what-paul-ryan-did-his-own-congressional-district-and-be-very-scared-your?paging=off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GKhcrxIOP0g
I've heard for years that liberal churches have been languishing (I know some that are booming), but the situation Thom describes is surely among the more right-wing fundamentalist and Evangelical churches. This pushiness in the present "conservative" groups is spilling into churches. They will regret doing this. They may be the next ones languishing.
There is a strong "libertarian"-streak in the GOP now. And there are areas where libertarians and progressives agree as well as areas they definitely do not. It is very difficult to understand how real libertarians and fundamentalists can get along, In fact, the Ron Paul devotees were flipping-off and cursing the GOP after the convention. There are potential eruptions within the party that could yet shake it to the core.
What I think you have is some right-wing Evangelicals who are so frustrated from decades of fighting gay rights and Roe that they are ready to trounce on the very principles of the Constitution to which they say they are the truest adherents. The hypocrisy is incredibly blatant. You'd think they could see it. I was once one of them, and the politicization of these churches has ruined them and rendered them blind to their own hubris.
Yeah # 24, you think so?
Where to you think all those riches come from? You think the riches just come out of thin air? You think they just happen because someone gives a bunch of people jobs?
Here's a clue #24, the wealth starts with the slob scrapping the dirt in some unsafe mine somewhere in the world for just enough money (just maybe) to feed himself the family.
The wealth has been made on the backs of slave labor; stolen from the rightful owns of land though oppression, outright war or outright slaughter. Now the ploy is setting one hungry mass against another. How does that benefit you or any of us?
What ever happened to your Ayn Randian concept! Didn't you read close enough? It says 'fair value in trade'......always. Otherwise you're a moocher, a thief or politican.
I did vote yes because more Libertarians seem to side with the Republicans then with the Democats, but Obama could win a lot more votes if he'd come out for legalizing marijuana. Could be that he may not do that for fear of fierce attack from the religious right, but should he win in Nov, we could push him in that direction.
The so called laws separating church and state have been ignored, glossed over, partisianly pandered to from all sides and generally given way too much leeway for a country that professes in it's founding charter as a separation from some god or another.
Why would those from my generation been made from kindergarten on have been forced to pledge an allegiance to some god or another? If for any other purpose than indoctrination?
The religious segment in the last few years have gain so much traction in the public square that they effect everyones life these days. Hospitals and doctors that won't perform legal procedures, insurance companys that can't or won't cover all common place health issues, people who can't even join with a partner of choice, etc. Think about all the ways religion entrudes where they have no business these days.
Consider, we have a pharmacist who relegiously objects to selling one pill or another, he can refuse to sell that product.....AND still keep his job! Excuse me!!!!!! It seems to me he's unfit for the job at hand as the person legally wanting that product is within the public square. I'll liken it to a bartender who gets a sudden epiphany and will only sell Virgin Marys or club soda yet demands that he be allowed to still work and be paid as a bartender.
If one person or an orginization is going to slake their thirst at the community well, than they damn well should learn to keep their collective noses out of how the community chooses to live in harmony with each other.
That's funny Ken, you won't get an answer because liberals want to punish the success -- it's called jealousy. Bring on the hate taxes, lets destroy the rich and then eat them. That will surely get this economy going in the right direction.
Obama does not have prowar or ant-drug policies
The question is, will the IRS follow the tax exempt status law and apply it to those participating in "Pulpit Right Wing Extremism Sunday."? We have laws for a reason, and they don't get much more important than this one!...... and..... The Bill of Rights is still valid....last I knew!