Welcome to WWL, a place for Liberal Politics, Op/Eds, Information, Rants and Just Plain Fun.
Join in the Project to enlighten Humanity and create a more Humane, Sane and Just Society for America ~ and for the World!
I consider this a Radical Gumbo, with many varied ingredients making more than the sum of its parts. We are no-holds barred, passionate and not overly PC here. Yes, Liberals can have Fangs. Jump in and be part of the cutting edge!
I am Fringer. I want an American Socialist Revolution in my time. Ideally a World Revolution. I am fringe enough that even with the absolute certainty that my desires will likely never come to fruition does not make the fires of my desire burn even slightly less intensely. I am WAY out there.
In fact, I would seriously postulate that I am an extraterrestrial being, but I have evidence to the contrary: You never see bags under those huge alien eyes - and my human weaknesses are too telling in that way.
Life and gravity have not been kind to my all too human packaging.
I feel that a true desire for justice, for all that is good and right has an event horizon; a gravity that once you commit to it, will not allow one to back away from the position. Once you see that light, that is really all that exists. You are part of the singularity.
Budhydharma wrote a brilliant sermon (fiery as a sermon, anyway) in which he asks, "Do YOU Want The Republicans To Win?" The frightening title would infer trying to make people cling back to their partisan politics, to renew their support for Democrats. That was not his whole story, though. He accomplished that in some, while maintaining that the Dems themselves are doing nothing to stop it. His idea is to "push" the Dems to do better. The comment thread was the best part, inspirational to me.
I honed my analogy from last night, from the pages of WWL, where we have been discussing the same issues, just from a Fringe-Left position. The last 4 or 5 essays all have been in part, or in full, about the process of actual change in this country. Let me expand my thoughts. (and use the Red Sox, rather than the Tigers - I hear it will make a more compelling argument :-)
You cannot get a Red Sox fan EVER to like the Yankees.... but you can get a Baseball fan to get REALLY pissed at the Owners for locking out the League.
We need to change the very basis of the conversation.
The Owners of the League set the rules, the prices, the schedule, the ads, everything. They make bazillions off the trade. These, the richest of the Game, get subsidized by we the fan's tax dollars - to build larger shrines to them, larger so they can charge more, and fill more seats while so doing. Welfare for the rich, tax-fueled stadiums, and tax breaks for building them in our cities.
The Players? Oh, yes, they are the pampered and well paid whores that enable the process. It doesn't matter one bit if they wear a Yankee uniform, or a Red Sox one. They can change teams as easily as underwear.
You, the fan? Are nothing but an easily played means for more revenue. Back your Team! Show your Pride! Pay for the newest arena! Hate the other Team! Pay through the ass to watch what is still theater, meaningless team-less theater... brought to you by your Owners.
Do I need to point out the obvious analogy to our Political process?
The latest update from Mordor is not encouraging . . .
There are still orcs in every agency of the federal government, uruk-hai still infest the Pentagon and the NSA, Congress is still filled to the rafters with Wormtongues and there are still five Nazgul on the Supreme Court.
I don't even want to talk about the Catfood Commission . . .
Nothing has changed in Mordor because Obama put the Ring of Power on his finger before Rick Warren even finished the Inaugural Invocation. We've all seen the consequences. The power of Mordor has not been broken, it hasn't even been seriously challenged.
Moria . . .
There is evil there that does not sleep.
The Dwarves of Capitalism delved too greedily and too deep. We know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dum . . . shadow and flame . . .
There is no precedence for the panic and chaos that will occur. The global food supply/demand picture has NEVER been so out of balance. The food crisis will rearrange economic, financial, and political order of the world, and those who aren't prepared will suffer terrible losses. As the dollar loses most of its value, America's savings will be wiped out.
The US service economy will disintegrate as consumer spending in real terms (ie: gold or other stable currencies) drops like a rock, bringing unemployment to levels exceeding the great depression. Public health services/programs will be cut back, as individuals will have no savings/credit/income to pay for medical care. Value of most investments will be wiped out.
The US debt markets will freeze again, this time permanently. There will be no buyers except at the most drastic of firesale prices, and inflation will wipe away value before credit markets have any chance at recovery. The panic will see the majority of derivatives end up worthless. Since global derivatives markets operate on the assumption of the continued stable value of the dollar and short term US debt, using derivatives to bet against the dollar is NOT a good idea. The panic will see the majority of derivatives end up worthless. The dollar's collapse will rob US consumers of all purchasing power, and any investment depend on US consumption will lose most of its value.
As the Arctic's sea-ice cover decreases, less and less sunlight will be reflected back into space. And as tundras heat up, more and more of their carbon dioxide and methane content will be released into the atmosphere. Thus each added ton of carbon will trigger greater rises in temperature as the years progress. The result will be massive ice cap melting and sea-level rises of several meters: enough to devastate most of the world's major cities.
As famine, disease, and weather-related disasters strike due to abrupt climate change," a Pentagon report notes, "many countries' needs will exceed their carrying capacity"--that is, their ability to provide the minimum requirements for human survival. This "will create a sense of desperation, which is likely to lead to offensive aggression" against countries with a greater stock of vital resources.
Thank you, Dwarves of Capitalism. You've always believed Wall Street is a source of wealth to be mined. But it's not a mine.
False Prophets are a dime a dozen. From the clergy to politicians to flim-flam banksters, charalatans are monkeys in a barrel, if you have eyes to see and ears to hear.
The problem is while many are on the lookout for False Prophets, most do not question the Gods behind the religions of these socio-economic-religious shysters.
DOGMA spelled backwards is AM GOD. Dogma is strict adherence to the teachings of the Priest caste. When God is replaced by Religion-as-God, things turn sour.
But further, when you look at the great religions of Western Civilization - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - that, based upon the history of inhumanity practiced by these "great" religions, one must question the veracity of the God behind all these religions. And if one is fearless in the face of billions of believers, the God of the Victors who wrote the History and made the rules is a FALSE God.
Bad Mood Rising. Short fuses on human time bombs. Powder kegs of combustible frustration. Palpable erosion of the social fabric. Race wars, class wars and culture wars. Rage; the new bliss. Violence; the logical extension of free speech in a tone-deaf world. Murder-suicide and fifteen minutes of fame. Write the note and blow out your brains along with the wife, kids and the management team who fired you for cause in the name of "results." Shareholder value. No longer a human but a line-item on a ledger. No longer a person but an impediment to the profit margin.
("I did not have sex with that Hope for Change". Frakkin hilarious, and great bumper sticker material. Excellent rantage.
- promoted by Elián Maricón)
Where secrecy or mystery begins, vice or roguery is not far off.
Samuel Johnson
In America, it is no mystery our Society of Secrets began a long time ago. And our Vice and Roguery is in full bloom.
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said Monday he's been talking closely to Gulf Coast fishermen and various experts on BP's catastrophic oil spill not for lofty academic reasons but "so I know whose ass to kick."
Ooh. You scared yet? Obama's going to kick some ass. You know how he does. You know how he kicked those insurance and pharmaceutical company asses to get us all Universal healthcare. How he kicked those Bankster asses of Goldman Sachs et al to regulate casino capitalism and bring the Looters to justice. How he kicks the collective ass of the Military-Industrial-Complex to stop the siphoning of trillions from the treasury better spent on the health and wealth of America and stop the illegal, immoral and irresponsible war crimes of aggression. And on and on...
Frankly, Obama's ability to kick ass is limited to a game of horse against an oil-soaked pelican.
Massacres, disasters, high crimes, betrayals, faked pandemics, the disintegration of decency, the destruction of dignity, the religion of the root of all evil and the genocide of the poor by the rich.
Flashes of outrage replaced by short-term memory fail. Moments of insight chasing the rabbit down the memory hole.
They say in time "everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light."
But I say what more do you need? The truth isn't "out there" it's right in front of your face. Staring at you and daring you to do something about it.
It's not the truth which sets you free, but what you do about it which frees you.
Pat Buchanan recently opined the near-certain confirmation of Elena Kagan on the Supreme Court will bring Jewish jurists on the court to three. This 33% representation far outweighs the overall Jewish demographic of about 2% of the general population.
Buchanan was responding to a Washington Post story about black leaders expressing disappointment over solicitor general Elena Kagan's record at Harvard Law, where the faculty members she hired were mostly white.
"But while leaders in the black community may be upset, the folks who look more like the real targets of liberal bias are white Protestants and Catholics, who still constitute well over half of the U.S. population," he wrote. "Not in living memory has a Democratic president nominated an Irish, Italian or Polish Catholic, though these ethnic communities once gave the party its greatest victories in the cities and states of the North."
What Pat fails to mention is that there are already six Catholic justices on the court.
It's a bombardment. Up, down, left and right. Inside out and upside down. An onslaught. Back and forth, to and fro, here and there and back again. A blizzard of threats. A maelstrom of lies which prey upon your worst fears.
Invading hordes of coloreds. An avalanche of disaster. Moral depravity and economic catastrophe. Politicians and Piranhas swim the tank of bottom feeding frenzy. And you are fish food.
Well, it looks like the National Enquirer who brought us the live burial of John Edwards has finally got the goods on Barack Obama. It's not enough Obama is an African Nationalist, Muslim Communist and Political Promise Breaker. Not enough he is a shiny-happy war criminal and smooth talking flim-flam man. Not enough Obama swings both ways while he lectures black daddies to take care of their birthing and babies.
President Obama is a philanderer. Our Tiger Woods President.
Rebellion and Revolution are so yesterday. No sense to rebel and revolt today. Those strategies of yesteryear are doomed to fail in the present day. Power is greater and people are as dumb as ever. Trust in Big Daddy. Bear hugs and poontang. Shiny and happy. Better safe than sorry. Where is democracy in the modern age? Politicians do the opposite of what voters want. People clamor for change because things aren't so hot right now. Politicians sell change like celebrities sell soap. They don't even use the stuff. It's all show biz. Kabuki-square-dance-mambo-tap. Ignore the footwork but enjoy the big smile.
Rebellion and Revolution fail today because State Power, which, contrary to propaganda, is not demotic, public power, but private, corporate/military power, has gone quantum. Exponential. People get focus groups, free-speech zones, opinion polls and Tupperware parties. Think G.I. Joe versus Mr. Whipple.
The only way out of our indentured servitude of consumer debt and ambivalent obedience is not through revolution, but renaissance. Revival. Reboot. Re-imagine. The freedom to dream and create.
The Republicans have re-branded themselves after their embarrassing defeat to the second "black" president in 2008 as The Party of NO!. Their mantra is No. Their philosophy is No. And their tactical approach is to block, obstruct and hinder, or in the words of the great Republican anti-drug crusader and fashion maven, Nancy Reagan, "Just Say No!"
How ironic in this new age where wars rage and poverty ravages and disease devastates and all could be made right by saying Yes, that the Party of the Culture of Life condemns so many to death by just saying no.
(I'm gonna have to make this guy a goddamned admin before he gets how much we love him, I think :) - promoted by Diane G)
The Founding Fathers gave us democracy. We have the moral responsibility to restore what was given to us, to take back what has been taken away by corrupt politicians of both major parties. There is no longer any doubt that the two-party system has been used to Establish, Maintain, and Expand corporate Tyranny. It has been used to divide and conquer, to prevent We the People from uniting in defense of our rights as citizens.
The false paradigm of We the Left against We the Right must be rejected. Americans must embrace a new ideology of Citizen Empowerment, they must speak a new language of Political, Social, and Economic Activism, they most forge a new movement, a local, state, and nationwide alliance encompassing the values and goals they share in common. They must cast aside the dead language of We the Left and We the Right, for among the victims of corporate Tyranny, there is no We the Left nor We the Right anymore, there is only We the Powerless.
The White House has the bill it really always wanted. They have their deals with PhRMA, AHIP, and the Hospitals more or less unbroken . . . they have their real goal in sight.
The White House has their individual mandate--a law that will require those without coverage to buy from private health insurers under pain of penalty enforced by the IRS--they have their restrictions on drug reciprocation and direct drug price negotiation intact, and they have kept their word on the handshake deal that they made last spring with the medical industrial complex: no public option.
This is Ground Control,
to Major Rahm,
You've really made the grade . . .
In hiring Emanuel, Obama avoided the mistakes of his Democratic predecessors, who first gave the chief of staff job to besotted loyalists. Obama's first year fell apart in large part because he didn't follow his chief of staff's advice on crucial matters. Arguably, Emanuel is the only person keeping Obama from becoming Jimmy Carter. Obama's greatest mistake was failing to listen to Emanuel on health care. He opposed the public option as a needless distraction. Had it gone Emanuel's way, a politically popular health-care bill would have passed long ago, leaving plenty of time for other attractive priorities.
Like awarding Dana Milbank a Medal of Freedom, for example.
The plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty used to say, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
Now it says, "Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here."
We got the Bush Regime, arguably the most incompetent, corrupt and outright-treasonous Administration in American history. A regime so reckless, savage and gleefully bestial that it made the career-Nixon-hating Hunter Thompson actually pine for the good old days of Tricky Dick: "I miss Nixon. Compared to these Nazis we have in the White House now, Richard Nixon was a flaming liberal."
And, like Nixon, it is more than likely that not a single one of the smirking traitors who nearly wrecked this country will ever spend a day in jail. Instead they remain lodged in our flesh like so many ricin pellets, oozing their poison into our national bloodstream, waddle from one fawning audience to another, worming their way into major media outlets, or dispatching their degenerate children and underlings out into the world the keep their poison pumping.
They soiled our good name, bankrupted the country, shredded the Constitution and kicked the crutches out from under the global economy on their way out the door, and while it is sometimes hard to focus on them through the flames of the world they set on fire, we must.
America could have had justice.
But America didn't get justice.
America got Hopey McChange, who said he wants to look forward, not backward. Who said there must be no "retribution", no "vengeance", no "payback", who said the era of "divisive partisanship" must end.
Four score and twenty betrayals ago, when Barack Obama was busy posturing as a transformational leader, when he was busy promising government of the people, by the people, and for the people, he spoke of the core values progressives have always believed in as the solution to America's problems . . .
That spirit of looking out for one another, that core value that says I am my brothers keeper, I am my sister's keeper, that spirit is most evident during times of great hardship, but that spirit can't just be restricted to moments of great catastrophe. Because as I stand here and look out at the thousands of folks who have gathered here today, I know that there's some folks who are going through their own quiet storms.
Hurricane Ike had just hit the gulf coast of Texas, Wall Street was about to implode, the foundations of the economy were crumbling, Americans everywhere were losing their jobs, their homes, their last remnants of trust in the government . . .
All across America there are quiet storms taking place. There are lives of quiet desperation. People who need just a little bit of help. Now, Americans are a self-reliant people, we're an independent people. We don't like asking somebody else to do what we can do ourselves, but you know what we understand is that every once in awhile, somebody's going to get knocked down.
Every once in awhile . . .
Yes, and every once in awhile, the sun comes up. Then, every once in awhile, it goes down again.
Low income Americans get knocked down every day, middle class Americans get knocked down every day, seniors on fixed incomes get knocked down every day. Republicans knocked them down for 30 years, and now Barack Obama and that gang of corporate enforcers that used to be the Democratic Party are doing it. A punch in the face is a punch in the face. Analyze that, Beltway Republicrats. When Americans are flat on their back all the time, they don't give a damn whether the fist that knocked them down was a Republican fist or a Democratic fist. A corporate fist is a corporate fist. Whistle past that graveyard, Obamabots. Have an "ideologue" diary contest, fill that wreck list of yours with "ideologue" ravings and let's all see who can clap the loudest.
War Criminal Torture Champions roam free, teach Law, and show up as guest/experts on the Sunday Talk Shows, but failing to teach all those brown kids to pass those tests is just ... wrong!
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - President Barack Obama says a Rhode Island school that recently fired all its educators is an example of how there needs to be accountability.
He made the comments Monday in Washington at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He called for "accountability" if a school continually fails its students without improvement.
He said that is what happened at Central Falls High School, where the school district's board of trustees voted last week to fire 93 teachers, administrators and other staff. No more than half could be hired back under federal law.
Obama pointed out that just 7 percent of students at the high school have tested proficient in math.
Right. That'll fix it. Fire them. Just fire them all.
(Gottlieb is ALWAYS fp material! - promoted by Diane G)
The classic Ambrose Bierce short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge has a man being hung and miraculously the rope breaks and he escapes and has an adventure only to find in the end the rope didn't break and his escape was a dying dream of desperation. In the end the man hangs from a stiff rope, dead of a broken neck.
