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Greedy, mean and stupid. I think that pretty much sums up whatever they call themselves, tea party, republicans, conservatives. I think they are trully hiding the ball. Even if there were away to make the defecit disappear without raising taxes and keep all the programs as they are they would not be happy. Their problem is not that we can't afford it, they love spending. Look how much debt during the Reagan and Bush presidencies. The fact that social security and medicare exist is the problem. It is their goal to get rid of these programs, whatever it takes. They should be forced at every opportunity to admit to this position. To be honest with the people who elect them.
Just had to comment on the President Wilson discussion you're having Thom. I think it should be pointed out that he came up with the 14 Points for peace before the end of WWI, and he pushed hard for the League of Nations, fought to the point of having a stroke against the Republicans to have the US included into the League and though he lost, and the League eventually went away, it was the predecesor to the United Nations. Wilson was an academic President, and was playing chess with his opponents too... does that remind you of another President?
Wilson was an idealest, and his catapulting of propaganda was done in a belief that he was doing it for the ultimate good. Can we blame him in hindsight for what it became?
N
Dear Thom,
You wondered why we need to be in Afghanistan, perhaps the messaging is not portraying the true reasons. I suggest you call Afghanistan the Lithium Wars. If you remember, we just happened to discover last year that Afghanistan had some of the largest deposits of Lithium in the world (Something that had been known for some time, but just "accidentally" re-discovered recently). Lithium is of course a principle ingredient in rechargable batteries, and large amounts are going to be needed for our switch to hybrid and all electric cars.
So, to understand why we are in Afghanistan (among other reasons), just think Lithium, Unobtanium, and the movie Avatar. Just another example of our soldiers being sent to foreign lands for the benefit of Multinational corporations who are externalizing their costs and dodging their taxes.
Mystic
TIME TO KICK SOME RIGHT WING ASSES !!!!
The Siren Song of Empty Promises
Rachel Maddow described President Obama's speech on Wednesday as a "defining moment" for his administration, and she was absolutely correct. It was an excellent speech in the main, filled with the kind of lofty rhetoric we have become accustomed to since Mr. Obama first burst onto the political scene in 2004. In it, he proposed taxing the rich, cutting the defense budget and decreasing the cost of health care. He defended Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. For many in the progressive community, it was a reminder of the man who fired the imaginations of so many during his presidential campaign.
Therein lies the problem: it was all just words. Again. There have been many such "defining moments" during this administration, most of which involved retreat, surrender and failure after festooning the walls with words. We heard great talk about including the public option in the health care bill - until Mr. Obama retreated, leaving many to wonder if he ever meant to include it at all. We heard great talk about closing Guantanamo, until he retreated. We heard great talk about repealing the Bush tax cuts for rich people, until that fell by the wayside as well. The very fact that we are still talking about those damnable tax breaks is evidence enough of how far those words go, and that is not very far at all, so far.
And then there were the other words in Wednesday's speech: the ones that tipped a wink to the Bowles-Simpson proposal to eviscerate the social contract which has sustained this nation for generations. There were the words, "Any serious plan to tackle our deficit will require us to put everything on the table." If that is true, Mr. President, then a plan to provide Medicare for all must also be on the table … but no, that's not "reasonable" or "responsible." The debate over the future of this country has been skewed so far to the right that centrism appears radical, even as the worst elements in our nation win the day time and again.
Words are no longer enough, even pretty ones. Action is required, not only by our elected officials, but by you and me. Mr. Obama spoke of "shared sacrifices" on Wednesday, but it is time for shared actions as well. It is this endeavor to which Truthout has committed, and all of us here bear a responsibility to each other, to you our readers, to the country and to the world entire. When the real radicals of the right are allowed to frame the debate - allowed to disseminate outright lies with no answer or recourse - it is to this diseased estate we are delivered.
www.truthout.org
Things aren't always so rosy Down Under. A paragraph from Wikipedia on Australia's own Scott Walker figure, John Howard, Prime Minister no less:
With the 1996 election of the Federal Government under Prime Minister John Howard increasing pressure was brought to bear on industrial relations reforms to reduce the industrial power of Australian trade unions. This has included the introduction of Australian Workplace Agreements — individual contractual agreements on pay and conditions between an employee and employer — and the reduction of minimum conditions contained in Industrial awards. One of the first targets of the conservative Government was to undermine the power of the Maritime Union of Australia, through breaking its closed shop on waterfront labour. The 1998 Australian waterfront dispute resulted with stevedoring firm, Patrick Corporation under CEO Chris Corrigan, attempting to sack its entire waterfront workforce of 1400 people through company restructuring. The Australian Council of Trade Unions condemned the sacking as a gross act of collusion between Patrick, the Government, and the National Farmers Federation, and with the threat of legal action against the Government and Patrick Corporation, a settlement was negotiated to allow some reform with the MUA retaining its effective closed shop.
Just a note on Australia. About fifteen years ago, a Scott Walker style Prime Minister was elected. Having the legislative houses on his side, he promptly outlawed union or agency shops, and outlawed employers making dues deductions. It was a 12 year nightmare 'til the guy was thrown out. Can't remember his name.... .
Here is a letter from Jesse Ventura.
You control our world. You’ve poisoned the air we breathe, contaminated the water we drink, and copyrighted the food we eat. We fight in your wars, die for your causes, and sacrifice our freedoms to protect you. You’ve liquidated our savings, destroyed our middle class, and used our tax dollars to bailout your unending greed. We are slaves to your corporations, zombies to your airwaves, servants to your decadence. You’ve stolen our elections, assassinated our leaders, and abolished our basic rights as human beings. You own our property, shipped away our jobs, and shredded our unions. You’ve profited off of disaster, destabilized our currencies, and raised our cost of living. You’ve monopolized our freedom, stripped away our education, and have almost extinguished our flame. We are hit… we are bleeding… but we ain’t got time to bleed. We will bring the giants to their knees and you will witness our revolution!
Sincerely,
The Serfs.
@DRichards, greed is an addiction and so is war an addiction.
German businessman with high taxes who doesn't want to be a rich man living in a poor country was again mentioned by Thom today.
Please, please,Thom or anyone else, tell me where I can find the video or article showing this. I really want to share it with friends including some conservatives but it is always better to share a link they can see vs hearing an anecdote from me. Oddly, some people won't believe any anecdote coming from a liberal, not that they believe facts either, lol.
Obama said what needed to be said and I hope that he will keep repeating what he said until and even after the 2012 election. Americans aren't very bright so important information will take more time to sink into their brains.
How about an Intervention-style reality show where the GOP are approached individually and convinced to go into rehab for greed? The proceeds could go to Planned Parenthood and other necessary social programs.
Re: Addiction is a sickness.
Agreed. Addiction is a form of mental illness, insanity in the oldest use of that word. William James, who might well be considered the father of American Psychology was the first to notice the connection between mental illness and uncontrolled destructive "habits of mind." To me, the radical right wing's perception of reality is a classic example of being addicted to acting in a habitual predictable way that is or seems to be contrary to a fundamental recognition of reality. This "disconnection" with reality is one of the reasons why arguing with a right winger is frustrating and often fruitless. It's frustrating for the same reason that arguing with a paranoid is frustrating: because their world view is essentially delusional.
Regards,
Richard
Paul Ryan went to college on Social Security money!
How dare he deny others the same saving grace?!
From NPR Report of April 8th 2011:
http://www.npr.org/2011/04/08/135247470/paul-ryan-father-fitness-buff-zeppelin-fan
...He was born and still lives in Janesville, Wisconsin. When Paul Ryan was 16, his father died of a heart attack. He saved up the Social Security benefits he received up to his 18th birthday and used the money to help pay for college....
....He is such a passionate fan of the dystopian writer Ayn Rand that he requires staff members to read her 1,200-page novel "Atlas Shrugged."
----- AND YET "AYN RAND" (HER PSEUDONYM) ALSO DEPENDED ON SOCIAL SECURITY AT THE END OF HER LIFE:
TEA PARTY AND THE RIGHT
AlterNet / By Joshua Holland:
http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/149721
....In the real world, however, Rand herself received Social Security payments and Medicare benefits under the name of Ann O'Connor (her husband was Frank O'Connor).
.. SEE ALSO:
Huffington Post
By Michael Ford
Posted: December 5, 2010 10:35 AM
Ayn Rand and the VIP-DIPers
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-ford/ayn-rand-and-the-vip-dipe_b_792184.html
....A heavy smoker who refused to believe that smoking causes cancer brings to mind those today who are equally certain there is no such thing as global warming. Unfortunately, Miss Rand was a fatal victim of lung cancer....
However, it was revealed in the recent "Oral History of Ayn Rand" by Scott McConnell (founder of the media department at the Ayn Rand Institute) that in the end Ayn was a vip-dipper as well. An interview with Evva Pryror, a social worker and consultant to Miss Rand's law firm of Ernst, Cane, Gitlin and Winick verified that on Miss Rand's behalf she secured Rand's Social Security and Medicare payments which Ayn received under the name of Ann O'Connor (husband Frank O'Connor).
Are these facts not enough to prove once and for all that their arguments are false? Where are the Congress members with the guts to confront this giant lie that we all exist on tiny separate selfish islands, hording and hating? We are a community! We are human! The air, water, and natural world are in common trust and are to be protected. Our taxes are for the common good. Government's purpose is to promote the common good. No orphan should walk the streets alone --- no fatherless son should be denied help from the community: Paul Ryan was not. No dying, elderly, ill woman should be left to suffer unattended: Ayn Rand was not.
Further, having just mailed my enormous social security tax payment: These systems belong to us! We paid for them --- we paid for social security and medicare and have every paycheck, in every tax return! They are NOT entitlements. They are sane solutions as even the arrogant among us have often come to learn....
Re: the GOP is at best greedy and evil and at worst, insane.
It seems to me that most of the mega rich are addicts; they are addicted to greed. Most addicts would not be called evil, or insane. We do need to confront these people regarding their addiction though; addiction is a sickness, and these people need help!
In the VAST majority of cases, 'independent' means willfully-low-information voters who vote Republican but don't want to embrace the stench of calling themselves 'class-traitors who claim a broken ideology over our great nation's interests'.
Unless someone is an outdoor cat living on planet Mars, one has no right to call oneself 'independent'.
Thom:
I heard you commenting that Obama was giving the GOP too much credit. Remember your Shakespeare: Julius Caesar's funeral. Antony has already been approached by the assassins and given the choice of joining with them or sharing Caesar's fate. He knows that the assassins are all there at the funeral. He begins by praising them: again and again he uses the term "honorable men." The crowd is right with him. Brutus is an honorable man, Cassius is an honorable man. But Antony uses a wonderful gambit in rhetoric and succeeds in turning the world "honorable" on its head. He has not come to "praise Caesar", but in fact, he does, and by praising Caesar, he begins to imply the guilt of the "honorable men" who killed him. Obama is, I believe, playing the same difficult game. Everytime he insists that all the parties to the national debate are "patriotic" he is telling us: "so are they all, all honorable men." In the end, the American people are forced to conclude that the GOP is at best greedy and evil and at worst, insane.
Think about it.
Regards,
Richard
Reagan was married when he was fooling around with Nancy Davis. Alan Simpson said the other day that you shouldn't criticize someone else when you diddle your own secretary at the same time. He didn't mention Newt by name. He also said that Santorum had said mean and hateful things about gay people who were God's children. Wow! I wish I could have seen Bachmann's face when she heard that.
Yesterday speech had President Hoover v2.0 was channeling his inner Clinton . . . If he does as he says, it will be a GOOD, right and righteous thing. Unfortunately, there is a real track record of his rhetoric not matching the outcome.
Rep. Issa was the wish-list guy; not Representative Eddie Munster.
Independent is NOT Undecided. Why does Thom keep conflating the two? Just because someone refuses to be identified with one of the two dominant political parties in this country does not make them "low information voters."
For one to call atheism a religion is like calling not collecting stamps a hobby. I'm pretty sure than for Thom to debate Sam Harris, A.C. Grayling or Richard Dawkins would be like diving into a woodchipper. Good luck with irrational thoughts on the supernatural.
The Repubs are hell-bent on creating a corporatist economy and society and have been for years. Unlike the Dems they take a long view , are patient, and plan ahead .... way ahead! Like the proverbial frog, we have been in the soup for years while they turn up the heat ever so slowly ... slowly enough so that most people haven't even noticed.
<*G*>
You are so right. We need to stop listening to the babble in the media that creates these class warfare battles and start seeing and listening through the static. We need to wake up and understand that we are a free and soverign country not just a pin in the world map.
I didnt understand the question.. But I "know" obama will cave in to whatever the Republicans want.. I am starting to feel Obama is a "strawman" (whether "paid" to play the role or not)..