Right Wing Aims for the Kill - ProgressivePopulist

[WillyT]

Right Wing Aims for the Kill
Jim Van Der Pol - ProgressivePopulist
Jim Van Der Pol writes and farms near Kerkhoven, Minn.

<snip>

...

The right wing never sleeps. It works and watches constantly. And when we, because of mental laziness or ignorance or race hatred allow it to get away with one thing, it immediately goes on to the next. Today the next thing is to blame teachers and police and city workers for the current state and municipal budget problems. And that is how we get from the crash that was caused by Wall Street’s moral degenerates to the current circus in Madison, Wis., in not much more than two years.

The corporate elite, which is what funds the right wing, including the AM radio screamers, has found that it no longer needs a prosperous American middle class. There are bigger and fast-growing middle classes in China and India which can now serve as customers for their foreign made goods. Consequently, it wants to shut our government down, except for the military, which it needs to protect it overseas. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the home mortgage deduction, veterans benefits, Pell grants for education, the public school system, all public police and infrastructure services, all are on the block. Will we soon have to have a bake sale to pay the snow plow drivers?

Right-wing success depends upon our tendency to hate the guy next door who does a little better than we do, or at least better than we think he ought to do. Rather than thinking of the unionized teacher next door as a kind of goal, and insisting to our politicians that we all deserve a similar kind of wage and benefit package, we tend to tear apart the few good examples of middle class life we have left, to the applause of hedge fund criminals and the rest of the corporate elite who each “earn” enough every year to pay thousands of teachers.

The outlook isn’t good. We can look at our own local politics to see that. I wonder what will be the situation 20 or 30 years from now. How much further will we have slipped? Or will we learn to stand together and draw the line somewhere? They are doing that in Egypt.

<snip>

More: http://populist.com/11.6.vanderpol.html

:kick:

[PCIntern]

1. k and r

[LiberalAndProud]

2. This is one of those posts that says it all so well that there is nothing left to say.

:kick:
to keep it from oblivion for another minute

[OHdem10]

3. Best explanation of what is taking place. Wake up America.

[KansDem]

4. I thought something was up when Halliburton moved its world headquarters to Dubai in 2007

From Houston to Dubai; from Texas to a country that issued passports to two of the attackers on 9/11...

[nashville_brook]

5. k and r

[abq e streeter]

6. Right on the money --literally

[bvar22]

7. The Death Sentence has already been handed down.

It was in the "historic" Health Care Reform Bill, the Oh so ill named "Affordable Health Care for America Act".

The sentence won't be carried out until 2014 when "The Mandate" kicks in,
and 50 MILLION (80 Million?) are forced to BUY junk Health Insurance they won't be able to use (High Co-Pay/High Deductible).

When these MILLIONS of struggling Americans are forced to send a check to a BIG Insurance Corporation for a product they can't use,
they are going to be PISSED,
and they WILL blame The Democrats,
and rightly so.

The "Centrist" Democrats passed a Republican Health Insurance Scam without forcing the Republicans to take ANY responsibility.
All they have to do is sit back and say, "Yep. We voted AGAINST it."
Democrats will be unelectable for a generation.

We are already on Death Row.
The execution is set for 2014.

[neoralme]

8. Excellent. But I don't believe for one second we will make it

to 2014 in the same form of government. I don't know how it is where you live, but,here, business after business is closing doors. In those large malls with the merrygowrounds and children's theme parks, the fancy stores are missing budgets month after month. Sometime this year, other countries are going to stop purchasing our treasury certificates. And that will be that.

[bvar22]

11. In 2006,

my wife & I sold everything, left the Big Northern City, moved to The Woods (rural South),
and started growing our own food.
So far, so good.

[louslobbs]

15. Wow, that sounds so nice, especially the growing your own food, not an option for me

I'm responsible for the employment of 60-100 people and they count on me for keeping them employed. I've had that dream of selling everything, but, I'm loyal to people who are loyal to me, so I'll do another 10yrs and retire at 55 and do what you guys are doing only down in Palm Spring CA where I have my retirement home. It gets really hot down here, so I'll have to research the best way to grow a garden in the desert. Good for you and I hope you have all the success that you deserve.
Lou

[JDPriestly]

26. Garden in the spring.

If you own your land, measure the temperature at various times of year. Test the soil and start building it with compost now. You could plant peas and beans each winter. That builds up your soil Also, when the time comes, you can build raised beds.

I'm in LA. I do a lot of gardening in big pots.

I don't try to do anything beyond tomatoes and summer squash in say August and September. Next year I hope to plant my seedlings mostly inside in say November.

I have peas, lettuce and tomatoes coming up. I've had lots of parsley, arugula, a few radishes (in pots mind you). I don't have much space. I protect my plants from animals and also too much heat or cold by covering them to protect them against the elements.

It's hard to deal with heat. My area in LA is considered to be a region 10.

I'm writing this just to let you know that you can grow some vegetables in Southern California, but you have to learn how. I don't get the results that people get in Oregon or Michigan. My plants and yields are relatively small. But just-picked, homegrown tomatoes are worth any amount of trouble. There isn't anything better.

We have avocado trees. You could maybe plant citrus out in Palm Springs. I don't know that area well enough to say.

[neoralme]

17. That's great, Jerry. I wish I could do that, but I have health problems.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

55. Look into some sort of community garden.

Even though you say you have health problems, you could still contribute in some way. I have no idea if you're urban or rural, but there's always a workaround.

American Community Gardening Association
http://communitygarden.org/

Permaculture Institute
http://www.permaculture.org/nm/index.php/site/index/

Vertical Garden Institute
http://verticalgardeninstitute.org/

[neoralme]

59. Thanks.

[Enthusiast]

42. They will be coming for you.

With your 'bad attitude'. One bad apple and all. Our names are all on a list. And there is that group W bench.

[Initech]

12. The republicans don't take responsibility for anything, and that's a huge problem.

[bvar22]

34. That is precisely WHY it was foolish to "compromise" with them.

That was just the Cover Story/Kabuki Theater anyway.
There was never any real "compromise". Obama never got ANYTHING in return.
It was steady movement to The Right.

There WERE ways to go around the Republicans on HealthCare Reform.
Believe it or Not, Joe Lieberman is NOT Superman,
and the Obama White House could have CRUSHED Lieberman any time they wanted.

Lieberman was merely a useful scapegoat playing out his assigned roll.
He took one for the DLC Team.

I never really believed that Obama & The Dem Leadership were trying to be nice and appease the Republicans.
The Dem leadership KNEW exactly what they were doing,
and when the HCR Bill got to the Right Edge...Mandates with NO Public Option,
that is what "they" passed.
Exactly what "they" wanted.


All that "Waaaa. It was ALL Joe Lieberman's fault!
We didn't have the votes" :cry:
was pure bunk.

[cantbeserious]

39. And All Led By The "Changer In Chief" Exclaiming This Is The Best We Can Do!

eom

[Le Taz Hot]

44. +1

The corporatist Democrats, which at this point make up a good 90% of our total "representation" (nice, quaint little word, isn't it?) are just as guilty. Giving them a pass is blind partisanship which doesn't help anyone but the corporatists.

[checks-n-balances]

9. Everyone should read the whole article; very disturbing

One of the most disturbing things I've ever read.

Like a lot of things, it's hard to see how bad things have gotten until it's too late.

[Initech]

10. We're starting to wake up. Look at Wisconsin.

[sulphurdunn]

13. This year Wall Street

will pay out about $144 billion in bonuses. The budget deficits of all 50 states combined will be $125 billion.
The wealthiest 400 Americans are worth more than the poorest 155 million.
The $40 billion Congress wants to cut from the Federal budget about equals the amount of taxes it forswore collecting from the wealthiest Americans.
GE, BOA and Exxon had combined profits of $57 Billion in 2010 and paid no corporate income taxes in the United States. BOA and GE did however receive $3 billion in tax rebates from the Federal Government that year.

[bluerum]

14. sulphurdunn - your reply deserves a thread of its own. Would you mind starting a thread?

[louslobbs]

20. Those statistics make me want to find a magic lamp at the beach and rub it until the genie

appears. When he or she says I have three wishes, they would be as follows.

1. All Republicons must disappear from the earth.

2. The multi millionaires and billionaires (including the 400 richest) must disappear from the earth.

3. All of their cash money, will be totalled, and added to the sale of all of their luxury homes, fancy cars, stocks,gold, silver, platinum and any other property and the proceeds divided among all of us who are left.
The Dems, Independants, progressives and those with no party at all, can divy up the cash, and everyone should be pretty comfortable for the rest of their lives. And at peace, with no more Becks, Limbaughs, Palins, Hannitys and all of the others who kept the noise circulating day in and day out. Now the rest of us can share information from a place of fact and truth. Ahhhh! What a wonderful dream.


Now, with all of the new job openings available, there should be plenty of work for everyone left. And since we are in charge now. All health care companies will be closed and health care for all will become the law of the land.
Lou

[BulletproofLandshark]

64. I would just wish away greed.

The rest would just fall into place.

[louslobbs]

65. Yes, it seems like it should be so simple doesn't it?

Lou

[QED]

24. This is so obscene.

I wonder how many people really pay attention to this kind of information. It seems to be a "secret" in the MSM.

[Enthusiast]

47. We have a 'special' M$M. nt

[cantbeserious]

45. From Mother Jones - The Aggregate US Stats On Income Disparity Are Equally Appalling

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph

[Enthusiast]

46. And that is completely ridiculous.

There would be even greater anger if the American citizen knew of this. But, saddled with this 'special' media, there will be very little public awareness of these facts.

[defendandprotect]

56. +1000% k/r -- we need "austerity' for Wall Street and MIC --!!

[Octafish]

16. Explains why Flushbo is still on Armed Forces Radio Network...

...the guy's needed to brainwash the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines with hatred, too. An ignorant and misinformed population is what's needed to keep the charade going. Wouldn't want anyone to wake up and realize that the enemy isn't us or even those on the opposite side of an issue. It's that tiny sliver of the Have-Mores and their cronies and minions who profit from war and treason.

[Enthusiast]

48. Obama can remove the exalted one

with a wave of his hand. But.........

[geckosfeet]

18. Yes - we are told to be envious of those who have more, and to disdain those who have less.

And the tragic irony, the paradox wrapped within the riddle is that, when we hate our neighbors and wish them ill, we are hating and destroying our own selves.

[Enthusiast]

49. It worked in the days

of Charles Dickens.

This is what happens when the goal of those in control is to spread ignorance.

[andym]

19. There was a long term battle plan to increase deficits

until the federal government could be targeted for destruction. This began during the Reagan years.
The goal is maximum individual and corporate freedom.
Of course this includes completely dismantling all non-military programs at governmental levels.

That the USA would be reduced to a second-rate country is of no concern to conservatives (loss of government sponsored basic and applied scientific research will transfer innovation abroad). Nor is the any miserable citizens that will abound (no social services means that only financial success will guarantee that you can eat, or be treated for illness)

[socialist_n_TN]

60. Agree. This is the culmination of a long term plan.........

to make government incompetent, so it would be easier to cut. When it's down to the proper size, it will be drowned in a bathtub. Remember that? The only thing I would disagree with in your post is the part about "...maximum individual and corporate freedom". It's maximum CORORATE freedom only. Maximum INDIVIDUAL freedom leads to a MUCH too independent work force. They want maximum corporate freedom with docile and beaten down individuals.

There's one question that no RWer will ever answer and never CAN answer. How can somebody who doesn't BELIEVE in government, be expected to govern? Or at least govern well. They don't WANT good government because then they can't say that government is incompetent and needs to be cut.

[andym]

63. Conservatives do want maximum individual freedom

at least those that follow the libertarian strain that runs through modern conservatism. But by freedom, they just mean freedom from government rules. But this kind of absolute freedom, paradoxically allows some individuals and corporate entities to impinge on others' individual freedom by all kinds of manipulation and "cheating." "Buyer beware" will be the law of the land.

Interestingly, this increased individual freedom is also associated with a loss of equality of opportunity (the other pillar upon which the USA is built). That's because, individuals and families with greater resources have a maximized advantage over those with fewer resources. While the theoretical ability for upward (and downward) mobility is greater, in reality, the power of wealth reduces mobility.

[Raksha]

21. K & R - Brilliant. And so straightforward even righties can understand it,

provided they wanted to, of course.

[AlbertCat]

22. Right-wing success depends upon

lies




and bigotry.

[Enthusiast]

50. And ignorance. nt

[sasha031]

23. k/r rec.

[xmas74]

25. Keeping it kicked nt

[livingonearth]

27. I'm starting to notice more people speaking out and taking a stand.

Since Scott Walker's little power grab in Wisconsin, I've noticed more letters to the editor in my local paper speaking out against attacks from the right. Until recently, the opinion page had been filed with wing nuts regurgitating Limbaugh talking points, but now there is a difference. It's like the Left woke up. Now there are intelligent letters that make sense, putting forth good arguments with facts to back them up. I hope it keeps up.

The left in this country has the smarts. We can do this if we fight back with reason. We know what they are thinking; use it against them.

There are a lot of good writers here on DU. I hope you are all putting your ideas out there somewhere beyond just this website. I know there are many that do.

Take the time to teach a rightie. We have to try, even if it may seem too late.

[socialist_n_TN]

61. It will take MORE than reason to fight back.........

It's going to take PASSION also. In today's political atmosphere, passion will outdo reason. HOWEVER, reason AND passion will outdo passion by itself. It's a corrolary to the "squeaky wheel getting the grease" cliche. People won't pay attention to you unless you speak your reasonable beliefs with passion.

[glinda]

28. Now is the time for change.

[RoccoR5955]

29. Essentially, the rich are just cashing in on America,

in favor of the up and coming suckers, I mean people in other country's rising Middle Class.

[upi402]

30. At this point, it's gonna be messy

I think it's to the point that the pain will have to get extreme to break through all the brain washing.

[Tripod]

31. k&r

[underpants]

32. If you listen to any RW radio (I do) one point here was very evident - Japan looting

Rush had a woo-is-me liberal media rant about how CNN (he didn't mention a specific report) was incredulous about the lack of looting in Japan. He said that the media was openly rooting for a story. He failed to mention the role of Japanese culture or, more importantly, the complete lack of anything to loot.

Two days later (I think it was) our local drive time idiot (same ClearChannel station) asked "What is the difference in 9/11 and Katrina?". This lead to a not at all hidden spewing of racist catch phrases by he and the callers allowed on. "Entitlement crowd" "you know, THEY do this sort of thing" "the 'Where is mine?' crowd" etc. It was appaulling. They failed to mention that the actual difference was the pooring in of resources - that was the difference. The aim was clearly two fold : fan the flames of racism to the radio crowd (Nixon's Southern strategy) and divert attention from Bush's drastic mishandling of the situation.

All of this is the new theme that this article mentions. No need to blame the poor (see my sig line) now it is to pit what is left of the middle class against itself. The directs all energy away from blaming the rich - in fact if it is mentioned then it is because YOU are jealous.

[Enthusiast]

51. Racism on the Limbaugh show

is right in your face. It's amazing that listeners can't see through his convoluted arguments.

The entire theme is "bad", "lazy" and "undeserving" black people are holding down "good" and "deserving" white people by draining the public coffers of "their" hard earned tax dollar.

[liberal N proud]

33. K&R

[cantbeserious]

35. America - Rode Hard, Put Away Wet, Now It's Time To Be Put Down

Just another exhausted resource that needs to be disposed of per the TPTW.

[madokie]

36. So right on

REC'D

[ElsewheresDaughter]

37. A CEO, a union worker and a Tea Party member sit down together, On the table....

is a plate with 12 cookies on it. The CEO points and says, look at that fire" and then grabs 11 of the cookies. a minute later he leans toward Tea Party member and says, "hey watch it, that union guy he wants your cookie."


this is how it happened

[proud2BlibKansan]

38. Thom Hartman told that story and a caller said you need to change it to 500 cookies

and the CEO takes 499. That makes it more accurate mathematically.

[Enthusiast]

52. True nt

[ElsewheresDaughter]

54. The caller is correct

[Imagevision]

40. GOP wanted to eliminate the middle class since 1985...

[Enthusiast]

41. This is why I am calling out

Democratic Party enablers.

This time, they really are EITHER WITH US OR AGAINST US.

[dotymed]

43. I think a good "cure" for this

is for citizens in each town that airs a "Movie Night", often through the parks dept., although many do not, because there are no available funds.
Anyway, if our citizens would show the Documentary, "INSIDE JOB", free to all, and make sure that everyone knows about it.
I honestly (maybe naively) think that this Documentary can change the way people view our country.
Everyone that has seen this Documentary,(that I have communicated with) has been disturbed but has also had their eyes opened.
From Teabaggers to Progressives, each one has realized who the true villains are.
If this were publicly aired and promoted (no charge) in each town in America, possibly followed by a Q&A session, I really think we may get to the point of Action much sooner.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

53. We must Thwart their efforts to divide us - See Wisconsin Movement

This article ties in with another that I just read, in the Guardian (UK), by John Nicholls.

" As Wisconsinites have taken their sides, and as Ohioans and Michiganders and New Yorkers have done the same, they have found that the old divisions that so favoured the elites – white versus black, gay versus straight, native versus immigrant, urban versus rural – are abstract and meaningless. What is real is the threat of state and a nation so defined by corporate campaign contributions, corporate lobbying and corporate power that they can take away our right to organise unions, to speak in our workplaces and our communities, to petition – as the founders of the American experiment intended – for the redress of grievances.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/mar/18/wisconsin-us-politics

Which Side Are You On, Indeed! We all need to come together against the machine rather than against each other.

[seafan]

57. People are finally waking up to the ruin of 30 years of right wing distortion and robbery.

The great value in this piece is its clarity in encapsulating the truth of what has happened to us.


It must be passed to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.



Right Wing Aims for the Kill

By Jim Van Der Pol
--a writer and farmer near Kerkhoven, Minnesota

It is truly breathtaking to realize that we have gone from seeing our economy destroyed in 2008, the result of several decades of corruption and degeneracy on the part of hedge fund managers and Wall Street tycoons to today’s situation in Wisconsin where public teacher, police and nurse unions are held to be responsible for all our financial problems. That is less than three years time. Did someone whack us all in the head with a 2X4 to make us forget? This latest political comedy is really part of a larger whole which we should start naming for what it is: “the right wing war against the working class.” And for at least 30 years, they have been winning it.

.....

For a short time after World War II the working class was able to exert enough political influence to encourage an economy that enabled a high school graduate to earn sufficient money to provide for a family’s needs and some of its wants. I see nothing wrong with that and a great deal to admire. So how did we get to here from there? How did we get from that possibility of a good and respectable and hopeful middle class life for a slaughterhouse worker in the 1970s to today’s reality where the working class comes in for a steady stream of vilification in that vicious millionaire’s club we call the Senate, being called lazy, drug addicted and drunken when the unemployment benefits run out? Look behind us folks. The tracks are not hard to see.

.....

From The Progressive Populist, April 1, 2011

[bread_and_roses]

58. K & R here too

... and I hope you don't mind my cross-posting this in WE

[Zorra]

62. Thanks. K&R

[blackspade]

66. Excellent post.