It . Is . All . A . Fucking . Sham

[Stinky The Clown]

Were it not a sham, Congress would be investigating CheneyBush, not some dumb ass meathead of a baseball player.

Were it not a sham, Congress would not underwrite Bush's desire to shield telcos from criminal prosecution.

Were it not a sham, Al Gore would be in the final months of a successful two term presidency and his second term Vice president would be leading in all polling.

Were it not a sham, our Congressional leaders would mount an actual opposition to the cabal.

Were it not a sham, asshats like Slappy and Nino would never have been there to become the models for younger asshats like Alito and Roberts.

Were it not a sham, we'd have presidential primary candidates who we could tell apart by their policies, not their gender, skin color, oratorical prowess, or lack thereof.

Were it not a sham, we would have seen a different outcome of the debacle in Ohio in 2004, particularly in view of the debacle in Florida in 2000.

Were it not a sham, Congress would not have authorized a sociopath to use force against a nation that represented no particular threat except to 'his Daddy'.

Were it not a sham, we would not be burdened by energy policy written by the robber barons of the oil companies.

Were it not a sham, we would be where the entire rest of the industrialized, fully developed world is with respect to our health care.

Every Fucking Day we see it clearer and clearer ...... It . Is . All . A . Fucking . Sham

[mikelgb]

1. agree

[gateley]

2. Well done! You nailed it!

:headbang::headbang::headbang::headbang::headbang::headbang::headbang::headbang::headbang::headbang::headbang::headbang::headbang:

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

3. I agree!

IIAAFS- trouble is, what do we do now? :shrug:

[Why Syzygy]

4. okay, but

the VP that would be leading? That would be Joe Lieberman. And the sham goes on.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. From the OP: ".... his second term vice president ...."

[Why Syzygy]

19. thanks for pointing that out. sloppy reading on my part. A+

[VP505]

5. I can't argue with anything

you called a sham, I too believe its getting more clear everyday.

[Selatius]

6. You need the maintain the veneer of democracy to keep the people from reason to rebel.

Go through the motions of a democratic government, regardless of how tired and blasé it becomes. Keep the music going because people will wake up when the music ends.

[tavalon]

57. Exactly!

My anarchist friend just got me to read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I never thought I would learn so much about my own society from a science fiction book.

Of course, I had already recognized that we went fascist with a democratic veneer some time ago. I just have a more nuanced view of what they're doing and how they're doing it.

I just wish we had a supercomputer on our side. I suppose you could say the internet serves that function, but I don't think it's unwaveringly on our side.

[Mithreal]

183. I love that book, it is one of my favorites. nt

[Cabcere]

89. We were just talking about this in one of my classes today.

One of my fellow students said something to the effect of "because we have laws, people assume that everything's OK and that everyone will follow those laws, and so most people don't think twice about what's actually going on." :hi:

[truedelphi]

109. And the auctions, er, elections are great money makers for

The main stream media. They are very much looking forward to the sixty second palcements letting us know hoow wonderful our lives will be if we only vote for the Great Orator or the Greatly Experienced One.

Awhile ago on C-Span some caller got through and he began to say that no matter who we vote for, we end up with the Corporate Elite and the policies good for Corporations.

I have never seen Brian so glad to have someone finally hang up. Can't have opeople realizing the emperor of democracy wears no clothes.

[bagrman]

156. It's the only reason that O and H are so close, distraction.

[toadzilla]

i'll agree with everything except for the part about his vice president....

down with Lieberman!

[Stinky The Clown]

10. From the OP: ".... his second term vice president ...."

[toadzilla]

91. which is always the same as the first term vp...

or so it has been during my lifetime.

[Stinky The Clown]

100. Agnew/Ford

Among others

[AZ Criminal JD]

138. Agnew was convicted of a crime

Modern vice-presidents have served two terms if the president has. No "among others".

[Stinky The Clown]

146. Lots of "among others" ......

POTUS with at least two VPOTUS:

Jefferson
Jackson
Lincoln
Grant
McKinley
FDR (actually had 3)
Nixon

Your statement is true only if you keep the qualifier "in your lifetime", which you added, not me. But you also say 'modern', which would include the most prolific of the bunch, one FDR.

[AZ Criminal JD]

241. My post has nothing about "in your lifetime"

I don't consider FDR to be "modern" and if you do I guess that says something about you.

[Lerkfish]

7. absolutely. If you're not pissed off, you're not paying attention.

[katsy]

9. kick

yes. it. is.



:applause:

[malaise]

11. Bingo

Were it not a sham M$M would have carried Chris Dodd's speech live.

[Straight Shooter]

83. Hear, hear.

Christopher Dodd. :thumbsup:

[JuniperLea]

12. Dog and pony show... smoke and mirrors...

Sick, isn't it? We need to take back our country.

Time for a "Revolution, Get Down!"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vtZtZoZ_Hn0

[90-percent]

13. more

Were it not a sham, America would be celbrating Dick Cheney's public hanging by his reproductive organs in the center of the Washington Mall. Garden claw in lieu of meathook, of course.

And this would become a new national holiday to remind future generations of the consequences of fascism.

-90% Jimmy

[immoderate]

14. K&R, H2S

The humans have lost.

--IMM

[Initech]

15. Yes yes yes!

[Mojorabbit]

16. Amen n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. "Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil;....

"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."
Thomas Paine

And, it hasn't changed from Tom's time.

[Warpy]

18. Well, hell yes, bread and circuses, financed on plastic

courtesy the temporary largesse of the world's central banks.

However, we're starting to notice we're getting shorted on the bread. When that happens, bad things happen to the puppet masters.

I doubt they realize that although it's happened before, it will ever happen again. They have worse weapons to use on us every time. They always fail, though, because there are so many more of us than there are of them.

Still, it should be a fascinating time to live through if we're the ones who do.

[amborin]

20. read C. Wright Mills

[Voltaire99]

187. And Herbert Marcuse

[Duncan Grant]

21. 23 recommendations in 11 minutes.

Looks like you've hit the nail on the head. :thumbsup:

[Supersedeas]

22. nancy has been the biggest disappointment of them all

[Olney Blue]

23. K/R

[Raejeanowl]

24. And You Think It's Going To Change?

How clean will the New Broom really sweep it? Hope you'll all still be around, holding his feet to the fire when he gets where he wants to be.

[Psyop Samurai]

25. There it is folks, right over the center field wall !!!

And I'm not even a baseball fan!

:headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:

[arthritisR_US]

26. yep, and it's getting harder to stomach! n/t

[Kermitt Gribble]

27. Best thread since the primaries started!

The vote for the telcoms really took the wind out of my sails as far as the election goes - that is, the little wind I had left after Edwards dropped out. In the Great Sham that is our govt, the Dems are just as bad as the repubes.

[Gold Metal Flake]

28. When the people are no longer able to effect change through the political process, what can they do?

Think. What does history tell us?

[blindpig]

44. are you ready? n/t

[patrick t. cakes]

136. yes.

[LSK]

172. how did the Gilded Age end?

[Fovea]

226. Reform initially

followed by Global War.
Followed by boom and bust.
Followed by the invention of the safety net.
followed by Global War.

[Voltaire99]

188. Go shopping?

That has been the answer from the early 20th century onward.

Barring that nastiness in the Depression and around the Vietnam war, you must face the record of a docile people who were easily bought off and did what they were told, serving elites with their best years and very lives when demanded.

We can be bought off and told off again. Just say, "Jesus," wave the flag, and keep the Master Cards replenished.

Surely you don't think we're cut out for being Sans-culottes! Hardly! No nation that makes Wal-Mart its largest employer has even the dregs of nerve left in it for revolt.

[spanone]

29. kick & recommended

[Junkdrawer]

30. Were it not a sham, Election audits would meet GAAP standards.

Here in Pennsylvania (where the Democratic Primary will be settled) Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails (VVPAT) are actually PROHIBITED by law.

Touch Screen with no recounts possible. Any vendor who had a VVPAT HAD TO TURN IT OFF.

[leftofthedial]

31. 2000 was a coup

everything since has been infotainment, a distraction to keep us from noticing the looting and pillaging

[DemBones DemBones]

36. "But there were no tanks in the streets"

"Our democracy worked." I wanted to slap every talking head who said those things from the afternoon of 12/12/00, a day that will live in infamy, on.

Earlier, I wanted to slap every talking head who worried that if we didn't get the election settled that very day, we were facing a "constitutional crisis."

How can it be a crisis when recounts have always been part of the electoral system?

[Kitty Herder]

84. It WAS a constitutional crisis. Just not the kind they claimed.

The crisis was that votes didn't get counted and eligible, registered voters were eliminated from the voter rolls or otherwise discouraged from voting.

I never understood this imperative to get someone sworn in immediately, even if that person didn't win and there is evidence of fraud. And they always pretend that the danger to democracy lies in not immediately accepting the apparent results of election returns even if there is evidence of fraud, when the exact opposite is obviously the case.

"Forget the votes! Forget the will of the people! We must get on with the business of democracy!" That seems to be the rallying cry of congress, the courts and especially of the media. :wtf: It's Orwellian.

I had a friend who said he admired John Kerry for doing the "honorable" thing by not contesting the obviously fraudulent results from Ohio. John Kerry betrayed those who voted for him and betrayed the principles of democracy by not contesting those results. How the hell is that honorable? Of course, this friend is a kool-aid guzzling fan of Glenn Beck, but I know he wasn't alone in that sentiment.

[DemBones DemBones]

128. Worse yet, SCOTUS ruled that a recount was unfair to

Dubya. It might damage his interests, i.e., he might very well lose Florida which Jeb had so carefully rigged for him, and thus the whole enchilada.

SCOTUS spit on the Constitution and all federal laws 12/12/2000, and then, knowing what a ridiculous decision it was, declared the case couldn't be used as precedent in the future. And the media acted as if this were acceptable.

To me, it was like 11/22/1963; I couldn't believe either event was happening in this country in the 20th century. Total shock in both cases.

[Uncle Joe]

208. And what about Al Gore's interest, he was in the race as well, and

more than that what about the American People's interests? That was the most corrupt, ignorant, short sighted, self-serving, asinine decision in at least my life time.

I believe everything going to hell in a hand basket from our standing around the world, to wars based on lies, to the betrayal of our own covert CIA agent and by extension her company; whose actual job was studying the proliferation of nuclear weapons and WMDs, to the economy tanking and the melting dollar are directly related to that judicial coup.

I also agree with the O.P. regarding the tragic waste of this terrific diversion and out sized expenditure of passion and energy by our so called Representatives and inordinate attention by the bought and paid for corporate media on such a trivial pursuit as steroids in sports, while shit is literally hitting the fan everywhere else. What about that Alabama Governor, was he imprisoned wrongfully, why the hell haven't they covered that with anywhere near the zeal than going after jocks shooting up steroids or not shooting up steroids?

In the final analysis it's all a betrayal against the American People, whether it was the felonious five, the corporate media monopoly slander and libel of our best and brightest while enabling an inferior candidate to power, or the corporate lobbyist owned Congress, who don't give a rat's ass about actually representing the American People's best interest.

[Prophet 451]

139. I had this arguement just yesterday

In an attempt to actually more some Americans from their happy slumber, I described the US as a fascist state and defended it by posting the generally accepted 14 features of classical fascism and providing evidence for how the US satisfied each one.

I might as well have been explaining quantum mechanics to a platypus. I've had this conversation with dozens of Americans (I'm English) and virtually all of them, even liberal, well-read Americans and so indoctrinated from birth to American exceptionalism that they simply refuse to believe it. They don't even try and rebut my points, I could respect and appreciate that. Like Regan, they just say "that's not true" and that's it. No thought, no debate, they've simply decided that because there aren't tanks in the streets, it's not true.

I don't know if that ability to just decide that reality isn't true, the evidence be damned, is unique to Americans but I've personally only ever seen it in Americans. I have my suspicians about what causes it but sat here, on the other side of the Atlantic (the right side, as I increasingly think of it), I'm even less able to affect change.

[Greyhound]

166. There are far too few of us. I believe the root lies in the, never-mentioned, hijack

of our educational system(s) by a tiny cabal, mostly one family, in Texas in the 60s.

[Prophet 451]

224. You might well be right

Of course, there are other factors (like the dumbing-down of media) but without a sufficiently indoctinated populace, that wouldn't fly. I think it was the Jesuits who said "Give me a boy until the age of seven and you may do what you like with him thereafter".

[Greyhound]

237. Bingo.

:kick:

[kath]

135. we had a coup, and nobody cared

(except of course, for the very, very few who were paying attention, such as DUers (even though Du didn't exist yet))

So, seven years later, we are in really, really deep shit.

[Greyhound]

167. and they still don't.

What will future generations think of these times and of us?

[katty]

32. hear hear! couldn't agree more

[slipslidingaway]

33. K&R! n/t

[DemBones DemBones]

34. The primaries are a sham and the general election

will be a sham, too. The people who really run things want us to think our votes mean something but they showed their hand this year by the media declaring from the get-go who would be allowed to have a shot at the presidency: Clinton and Obama, McCain and Romney. They don't care what the voters want and spend a lot of time trying to tell us what we want.

Of course they marginalized my candidate, Dennis Kucinich, just as they did in 2004, but they also downplayed John Edwards. Why?

Then Edwards mysteriously dropped out before Super Tuesday. Why?

Romney also dropped out mysteriously early. Why?


What will happen after the Dems officially pick their nominee? This one I can answer:

The media will be pimping for McCain, of course. Count on it.

:kick: and R

[Junkdrawer]

35. Why Clinton and Obama? Because there is then a built-in excuse..

if it becomes necessary to explain why polls and results don't line up.

"Where as people SAY they would vote for a woman/black..."

[DemBones DemBones]

47. True, but they could have also said that Edwards

hadn't done well enough in the primaries in 2004 and was on a losing ticket in November 2004 so the Dems should never have chosen him as the nominee in 2008, that they should have realized that primary votes don't predict general election votes, etc.

But you're absolutely correct that they will say that voters lied to pollsters when they said they would vote for a black or a woman, which will probably mean no woman or black will be nominated again for fifty years or more.

It's always someone else's fault, never the fault of those who do everything they can to manipulate public opinion. You know they're going to "worry" a lot about whether the country is ready for a woman as president or a black as president, depending upon who the nominee is.

I just hope McCain only gets one term. We have got to go back to hand-counted paper ballots in every state, preferably by 2012. We still won't have much say and elections can still be stolen but not so easily as with the black box voting machines.

[mysticalchick]

112. Oh hell yeah!

You totally nailed this. I can't even listen to Randi Rhodes now because I want to scream at her "DONT YOU GET IT???" but she would just scream back at me and hang up.

(sigh)

What to do, what to do?

[Voltaire99]

185. "Then Edwards mysteriously dropped out before Super Tuesday. Why?"

Because he's half-hearted, and tired of losing?

Because he cut a deal or two?

Because you can't sell a stupid people on populism while they've still got a little room left on their credit cards?

I liked Edwards' rhetoric this time round, but I think the simplest answer here is probably the likeliest: the man felt like he'd done enough of his famous "fighting" for the people and didn't have the nerve to hang on in third place where he'd eventually face the Kucinich treatment.

[Broadslidin]

201. Rest easy, the Spiritual Descendant of The Witch Burners will fill McCain's boots.

:nuke: :hide: :nuke:

[sojourner]

210. i've got me a physical descendant of the witch hangers -- and he ain't half bad.

and me, i'm pretty sure i'd be hanged. heh

but you're right. it's the spiritual descendants we have to watch for........... have you read the Handmaid's Tale?

[End Of The Road]

37. How do we fix it?

Or, perhaps a better question is: is it too late to fix it? What are our alternatives if it is too late?

I feel I no longer have a voice, even when joined with hundreds or thousands of others, at any level: community, state, national. In my area, the logic and feasibility of ideas and solutions to local problems offered up by citizens' interests groups are ignored in favor of corrupt special interests, and it gets worse as you expand outward to state and national issues.

Truly, I don't know what to do, except try not to get on some "list" that might further limit my freedom (don't mean to sound like a paranoid CTer).

And don't tell me to vote for __________________. No candidate is talking about the really huge problems.

[Stinky The Clown]

40. "And don't tell me to vote for __________. No candidate is talking about the really huge problems"

People ask me who I support in the primaries. The far better - and far more appropriate - question would be "Who do you dislike the least?"

I think all our candidates this go-round sucked ..... with those who actually sucked the least no longer in the race. The closest one to not sucking at all was Kucinich.

[DemBones DemBones]

71. Kucinich was the best of all so they

put him in the corner and barely let him speak. We didn't hear much from Biden, Dodd, or Richardson, either. The powers that be had already decided.

[NikolaC]

163. I Voted For Kucinich Anyway

I know that he dropped out of the race, but when I looked at that screen on Saturday I could not in good conscience pick the others. I voted my conscience absentee, whether or not it counted (which I doubt that it did) did not matter to me just that I voted for whom I thought should be the nominee. I guess that voting is purely ceremonial these days, but I am glad I did it.

[raccoon]

38. Read the article "Lights, Camera, Democracy" by Lewis Lapham. nt

[raccoon]

39. One point I disagree with you about,

"Were it not a sham, Congress would not have authorized a sociopath to use force against a nation that represented no particular threat except to 'his Daddy'."

The neocons and the Bush junta wanted to invade Iraq to establish a presence in the Middle East.

Evrything else, I totally agree.

[Stinky The Clown]

42. One is a reason, the other is a method.

Not arguing with you ..... I suspect we agree completely.

[iamthebandfanman]

41. as long as corporations dictate policy

itll always be that way.

[johnnie]

43. Yup

It hit me in early 2000 that it was a shame. I'm sure it was going on before, but when I saw Gore back away from Clinton and the repugs pick georgie as their nomination, I knew something was up for sure. Sometimes I even feel embarrassed by posting here. Not because I don't like DU, but because I know that we are being taken for a ride.

[Zorra]

45. Yes, it really is. n/t

[Chisox08]

46. I totally agree

[libnnc]

48. It is. And I can't stop watching this lecture by Naomi Wolf

Does it make it any less painful when you KNOW EXACTLY what's happening?

I'm the lobster in the pot on the stove and I know that the water is boiling but I don't have the power to turn off the burner.
x( x( x(


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc

[Gloria]

49. Yup. If it weren't a sham,

we'd be hearing corporate power as the major, all-encompassing issue in the presidential race...

[BonnieJW]

50. Of course you realize that "second-term vice president"

would be LIEBERMAN!

[Stinky The Clown]

56. From the OP: ".... his second term vice president ...."

[wiggs]

51. Were it not a sham, you could not succeed in a blatantly political prosecution of a gov'ner nt

[wiggs]

52. Were it not a sham, you could NOT expose undercover agents and operations without punishment nt

[wiggs]

54. Were it not a sham you district attorneys could not be politically influenced or fired nt

[wiggs]

58. Were it not a sham, the political operative in the WH could not give seminars on

the political ramifications of regulatory actions nor could he instruct regulators on decisions based on election consequences. Pitiful.

[John Gauger]

53. Sadly, though

American society and American democracy are all one large lie.

[JackBeck]

55. No kidding. I've been telling my friends all of this for years.

Sometimes, when watching C-SPAN, I think to myself, "Why do I even bother?" when we know all the decisions are being made behind closed doors by an elite few.

[Lex Talionis]

59. About time ya'll woke up.

[DemBones DemBones]

77. Oh, a lot of us have been awake for a long time now.

We just need to re-affirm it periodically, especially in trying times when DU has been overrun by people who just discovered politics.

[wiggs]

60. Were it not a sham, we would have exhaustive, honest discussion about the reasons for WAR...the

most serious of actions a country can take.

[tavalon]

61. We being the activists

I don't think the average person has noticed much. I think they're more aware of the impact of the writer's strike than the impact of this fascist takeover. Lucky for them, when the veneer is stripped off, it will be the activists and the intellectuals who are murdered or incarcerated, if history is any indication, and why wouldn't it be? The only difference in this fascist takeover is how long they are keeping the veneer in place, everything else is pretty much boilerplate.

[ProgressIn2008]

62. The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable

to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre.
-- Frank Zappa

A final thought, as we move through the dance steps of our primary season -- who owns us?:

[Javaman]

63. I'm assuming you are only vocalizing what you have and what we all have known

for sometime now, right?

[vanboggie]

64. Nancy, Harry et al need a copy of this

Oh wait - it's a f***ing sham and they don't give a rat's ass what we think. :banghead:

Great rant though.

[info being]

67. haha...yes I was going to qualify your statement just as you have

[info being]

65. It's a fake Democracy. Our Federal government is like a Human Resources staff

They are hired by corporate power to make us employees feel all warm and fuzzy. But if we think, for a second, they care more about our interests than that of the bosses, we are delusional and naive.

It isn't a Democracy. It is a sham.

[awoke_in_2003]

90. Nice analogy, and regrettably, so correct.nt

[Hydra]

66. Welcome to the sham

I wish I'd known earlier- I would have joined those survivalists in Montana :evilgrin:

[desertflamingo]

68. BRAVO!!!

BAM!! Nail on the head.

[info being]

69. Reading this post, I thought for a second that DU was really back

But that won't happen until the Primaries are over and all the naive political newbies lose interest.

[The Wizard]

70. And our computerized voting

ensures a government of, by and for the entrenched powers.
Simply put, we're fucked.

[donkeyotay]

72. Sham, sham, sham, sham of fools. nt

[Puckster]

73. So true! And if it were *not* a sham, "our" candidates would be addressing...

...each and every one of these issue.

In my dreams, we get to demand answers to the issues you've listed.

[IsItJustMe]

74. Have had those same exact thoughts and feeling many many times. There are times when I think our

entire polital system is one big giant scam and that they keep us bought into it because, of course, we have the right to vote. Or do we, and does it really, really mean anything at all.

Sound pestimistic? I agree. Sometimes you just have to dream without hope in this life.

[Horse with no Name]

75. Probably the truest post ever. Nice job.

Were it not a sham, we'd have presidential primary candidates who we could tell apart by their policies, not their gender, skin color, oratorical prowess, or lack thereof.

A-fucking men

[CaptJasHook]

76. Sham is too good a word for them.

:mad:

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

78. If there's smoke

there are mirrors.

[AlertLurker]

79. Happy Awakening Day!!! I took the red pill a looong time ago, myself.

[pleah]

80. K&R I agree.

[Ilsa]

81. I AM PROUD TO BE REC # 100! nt

[greyghost]

82. Well done, so very true.

[Beregond2]

85. Sham...

OK, so you've given voice to the tiresome adolescent angst that so many on this board mistake for profound thought. So what? I've got news for you: it has always been this way, and probably always will be. So what? Are you using this as an excuse to sit around with your finger up your ass, whining? Or are you going to fight the good fight? Trust me, there is much more satisfaction to be found in the latter.

Happiness is to be found in the journey, even when the destination is never reached. It's about being on the side of the angels, even when the devils usually win. It's about small, equivocal steps in the right direction, not revolutionary triumphs. I know that doesn't sound like much of a recipe for the good life, but it's all there is, take it or leave it. And the thing about revolutions is, they consist of a moment of heaven, which quickly flips into very long period of hell. Baby steps in the right direction is all life offers, but it can be enough.

Right now, we are witnessing a great moment in American history: the likely election of a black President. Maybe you are too young to understand what that means. It is the culmination of generations of small, patient steps taken by people who kept the faith, despite the ugliness of the overall picture. Will it lead to profound changes in every area of American political life? Probably not. But in itself, it is a sign a change so profound it can only be appreciated from a historical perspective.

In short: there ARE wonderful changes happening in this country. Open your eyes and enjoy them. Don't let the glacial pace of those changes blind you to them. It is the height of ingratitude and historical ignorance to fail to acknowledge this moment, and choose to wallow in cynicism instead.

[tomp]

95. i'm sorry, you lose.

but thanks for playing.

[DaDooRonRon]

96. Dr. Phil posts here?

Well I'll be damned.

[Hydra]

97. You think it's good that the management will "allow" us a African-American Figurehead?

Any "change" you are seeing is an illusion. If anything, we are slipping into the dark ages while people are, as you put it "sitting around with their finger up their asses."

You think you threaten THEM with your "glacial pace"?

The aide said that guys like me were ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' he continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/17BUSH.html

They are making reality as we speak, and you are telling us to let them???

I'd rather not see what they are building, myself.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

203. ''You were right,'' he said, with bonhomie. ''Sweden does have an army.''

:scared:

[AntiFascist]

230. Sounds a bit like Scientology...

as explained so judiciously by Tom Cruise.

"We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out."

[Stinky The Clown]

102. Hahahahaha

Sorry .... all you get is the home version.

But thanks for playing.

[Truth2Tell]

108. height of ingratitude and historical ignorance ??

That was a joke post right?

Gratitude like "thank you master, may I have another?"

As long as enough people keep buying the line that honest dissent is nothing but "tiresome adolescent angst" then we will all remain slaves to injustice and abuse. Small progressive steps toward freedom are not mutually exclusive with acknowledging in a clear-eyed way the ugliness of the present system. Without that larger view all of your baby steps lead nowhere but in circles.

[ooglymoogly]

154. Thanx Polyana for that rose colored delusional uplift.

I have lived a long life and while there has always been corruption, it has never been organized to such a level as it is now in the down slide of this country. Today might be likened to a kabuki dance where the well connected can wear and change masks at will while we the people cannot. There has never been a time when one political persuasion could marshal the press, the judiciary, the military, intelligence, the congress and all branches of governments to bend to the will of one persuasion. The outlook for progressives for instance is bleak, as it is for anyone who disagrees with this government and that is getting very close to such lessons as the Nazi's gave us. The small bright ray of light we can look to is that when the country is in dire straights, heroic men/women start coming out of the woodwork and banding together as our forefathers did. Moveon.org, Du, where people can gather like minds, The Pen and other heroic organizations making it hard for the criminals to go unnoticed and sometimes stopped. The only hope for this country is in its people and their being awakened from this Pollyannish (everything is just peachy) sleep we have been in for the last 30+ years that is now coming to a dangerous and frightening head.

[LSK]

173. Roosevelt

Teddy

Franklin Delano

No, it was NOT always this way.

[alterfurz]

86. as Fielding Mellish so eloquently put it:

"It's a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham."

[hasssan1]

87. I agree ...

I agree this a shame. this fucking white house is the most criminal and evil white house in the history of this great nation. and i pray that GOD will punish these motherfuckers.

[warren pease]

88. Well of course it is...

Has been since the American creation myth purveyors decided that murdering about 15 million indigenous people was just another case of "White Mans' Burden" and a necessary step toward fulfilling our "Manifest Destiny."

Oh, and the slaves were ecstatic that they had been saved from life in an uninhabitable hellhole of a continent and placed in the loving care of their happy, humanitarian massuhs. And if they didn't appreciate it, it was just because they were too dumb to realize how good they had it.

And on and on and on... from stealing about half of Mexico to reconstruction to the robber barons to the federal reserve to the Lusitania to Pearl Harbor to the cold war and all the way to 9/11, the bogus war on terror and preemptive invasions. An unbroken path of bullshit, misrepresentation, historical revisionism and blatant, smirking lies on lies on top of lies.

In fact, some more evidence of the endless sham/scam just emerged yesterday at the Senate FISA/telecom immunity hearing and ceremonial sucking of Cheney's prosthetic dick. Caught in a rare moment of candor by a live, open mic, here's just a couple a good ol' boys shootin' the shit while waiting for that magic moment when they can use their votes to fuck the American people over yet again. Unearthed by Junkdrawer and confirmed by TahitiNut:


Skank #1: "Let your conscience be your guide."

((laughter))

Skank #2: "You do have a conscience?"

((laughter))

Skank #1: "No."

((laughter))


Well, that's not quite true. Their consciences lie dormant until that phone call from their favorite lobbyist or that email from a CEO who needs a little favor and is willing to spend what it takes to get it. Then their consciences perk up and they jump to help the people who've bought their loyalty dozens of times over are ready to make another substantial "contribution."

As they say, an honest politician is one who stays bought. By that standard, Washington is overflowing with political honesty. Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy one of my own.


wp

[awoke_in_2003]

92. You forgot one other piece of BS

Now Arlen Specter wants to discuss, with the NFL Commissioner, why the tapes of spygate were destroyed. Unbelievable. The Bush admin can destroy torture tapes and email archives, and no one says boo. But someone wipes out tapes of football games that harm no one, and costs the public nothing, and we need to investigate.

[frog92969]

93. Yes it is. -K&R

[DaDooRonRon]

94. Congratulations

Now that you know, the question is what are you going to do to change it?

You know what doesn't work, and I think you know what might.

It's a long road, and there will be trying times, but at least you now know that it truly is nothing more than Corporate Red and Corporate Blue.

The soldiers will still die, the fake war on terror will go on, and the lobbyists have merely moved across the street.

You are no longer fooled by the occasional "good" vote or the occasional made for TV "outrage". I commend you for seeing them for what they truly are.

There are many voices out there who are your compatriots - seek them out.

The long journey really does begin with the smallest of steps.

You can walk with me.

[ClayZ]

98. If you add the letter 'e' at the end of sham ....

And then add 'Crying':cry: in front you get what the whole bunch are...



A CRYING SHAME!

[peacetheonlyway]

99. I love this post Sparkly2Hub

It's funny how the root of all evil does seem to go back to election fraud of 2000.

Hmmm.. those of us with lawsuits on election fraud feel somewhat vindicated by this post.

thanks

[blues90]

101. It certainly is all a sham

I find it difficult to breath most days thinking about how we have been lied to and beaten down by these corporations who own and control everything including what is called our government .

[ThatsMyBarack]

103. Fucking . Well . Put !

:thumbsup:

[natrat]

104. were it not a sham DU would not protect the likes of pelosi

[Stinky The Clown]

105. DU is protecting Pelosi?

Does Skinner know he has that kind of horsepower?

Hmmmmph ...... whodda thunk it?

[DaDooRonRon]

121. Try and mention her opponent

You know, the one who put HER life on hold to try and jump start the bastards who sit in Congress to stop an illegal war, then pointed out the hypocrisy when they refused.

She was all hearts and flowers here until she made the same decision that you just did and said a pox on both houses.

She, however, acted on it.

Progressives values, I believe, should be independent of political party, unless the game is to make sure one side "wins", no matter what the cost. We ALL lose when we lose sight of that fact.

[Stinky The Clown]

129. There are rules on this board

We're all free to go elsewhere if they don't suit.

I won' get into why I don't see things just the same as you do with respect to the issue/person I think you're addressing. That's for another thread if you want to start one.

[DaDooRonRon]

148. No, that's fine

You just needed to rant - that's OK.

My apologies for thinking it was more than that.

I can find others to walk with - you can join when you're ready.

If you ever are.

Good luck with figuring it all out.

(I really don't have any idea who/what the issue/person thing that you mentioned is about. If you'd like, please feel free to PM me with what you think it is. I'll let you know if you're on the trail. :) )

I'm just sick of all the bullshit, so I'm trying to move the mountain just a wee bit. Neither one of the "chosen" candidates will help, so I'm just off searching for real live honesty.

[natrat]

196. it's a wierd space -obviously the democratic party is mostly corrupt now

but the democratic electorate ,us, is not. So when it becomes clear to the last person in the country that it's all a sham will democratic orginazations like DU cling to politicians regardless of how criminal they are simply because there is a D next to their name. The junta is counting on this. I think its absurd and sad.

[Swamp Rat]

106. Why do you hate America?

:D

[happydreams]

107. K&R

[dogman]

110. Voting Stinky in '08.

Truthiness!

[AikidoSoul]

111. Sad to say, you are completely correct.

My heart is completely broken about what has happened to my country.





Kick and rec...

[FreeStateDemocrat]

113. Ain't it a sham.

[joeybee12]

114. A lovely rant indeed! K&R!

[focusfan]

115. here here i agree with you 100%

THE WHOLE THING IS A SHAM

[LiberalUprising]

116. But don't

forget to vote for the person with a 'D' by their name!

So how many here are going to vote, now that you know it's all a sham and if you are voting, what is the point?

[DaDooRonRon]

162. Word

That's what's so damn (not) funny.

It's a sham. They all suck. They couldn't give a damn about us.

Now, which 'D' shall I vote for?

Man, the party should send some of you folks Xmas cards.

Fuck that, they should send you Xmas PRESENTS.

[info being]

228. Speaking truth and voting for the better of two candidates are not at odds

Why would you assume that? I think that speaking plain truth can only help. Maybe it's just me, but it seems that some things are bigger than the capital D next to someone's name.

[applegrove]

117. Agreed. I cannot wait for next year. It is too long to wait for this sham to end.

[kath]

140. end??? You think it's going to end *next year*? How do you think this will happen?

I'm seriously asking - curious to know what makes you hopeful.

[madamesilverspurs]

118. It's true.

And I don't want it to be!

[bonito]

119. K&R

[Politicub]

120. This baseball garbage drives me bananas

Who cares? Does it really rise to something that requires congressional hearings?

There's so much going on that needs the congress' attention, that it makes me sick that a moment is wasted on such bullshit.

[many a good man]

122. Yer wrong, Stinky

It's a god damn fucking sham. KANDR any way!

[Romulox]

123. Three words: War on Drugs. You support that, then you should support this. nt

[existentialist]

124. Well, if you aren't

just a fountain of encouragement?

[fascisthunter]

125. kick

[lonestarnot]

126. Were it not a sham a bunch of amputees would have their arms and legs.

[femrap]

127. K and R

And these damn elections are circuses, a distraction from the Greedy Corporations who are the root of our problems.

[Loki]

130. 'Tis a thing of beauty

Kicked and recommended and a "hell yes" added from my peanut gallery.

[Sam Ervin jret]

131. more of a national SHAME we can't get out of our own way to fix things

[Amerigo Vespucci]

132. Motherf**king Speaker f**king Nancy f**king Worthless Off the F**KING table Up YOURS Dems Pelosi?

Hmm...

...give me a moment...

OK, I have it.

SHAM!

One of the biggest dilemmas I have is not knowing who I want to kiss my ass first, Waste of Space Speaker Nancy "I LOVE DUBYA" Pelosi or Harry "NO SPINE" Reid.

I have two cheeks, maybe they oughta do it simultaneously.

[patrick t. cakes]

133. a. fucking. men

:nuke:

[Mister Ed]

134. K&R for the awful truth......n/t

[LWolf]

137. HELL yes. It's a sham. n/t

[Hatchling]

141. Damn. You. You made me look again.

I was pulling the wool up over my eyes, trying to pretend that things were going to get better in November.

:cry:

Oh,well, back to reality.

[kath]

142. were it not a sham, Congress would be spending its time on the impeachment process and not on

STEROIDS IN BASEBALL, dammit.

Why the fuckity-fuckity-fuck-fuck are they spending even one MINUTE of time on this issue?????
Unreal.

[kath]

143. delete - dupe

[kath]

144. delete - triplicate post.

Is DU funky for anyone else tonight?

[Echo In Light]

145. Now more than ever greater numbers are at long last facing this realization

[diane in sf]

147. Thank you. It's all going to have to be redone from the ground up.

Pardon my sig line--I put it there when I expected better from Nancy.

[ProgressIn2008]

149. You can only solve a problem by having the courage to name it.

It is clearer and clearer to me, with each passing day.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

150. Yup

Seems you hit a nerve here.

K&R

[Highway61]

151. And the day of the Super Bowl

Senator Arlen Spector decided it was time to do a investigation of the spying of the Patriots on the Jets to the Judiciary Committee...Like there is nothing more important??? Patriots lost....so...where is he now on this???

[Gonzo Gardener]

152. Exactly n/t

[Psyop Samurai]

153. Were it not a sham...

...the 9/11 Commission would have answered every single one of the Family Steering Committee's questions, especially considering that, post-Iraq, we already knew that we were dealing with international criminal fraudsters, and a functional media would have insured that the public stayed abreast of those answers or lack thereof, as well as any contradictions contained within that testimony.

[lostnotforgotten]

155. Amen Brother!

eom

[NikolaC]

157. Agreed

It has been clear for a long time, heartbreaking and frustrating. :cry:

[ooglymoogly]

158. KR excellent post.

[peace13]

159. OK now that we all agree.

How do we stop this madness. If we choose not to, then how do we prepare for the horrible life that is set before us? I think we really need to talk. Peace, Kim

[info being]

227. We live our own lives as correctly and authentically as possible

[peace13]

232. And prepare for our country and rights to be taken from us. n/t

[JPZenger]

160. Dylan Said It Best

"Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'. "

Thanks to Mr. X for this post.

[lisainmilo]

161. You are right! It is! n/t

[frogcycle]

164. wully bully

wully bully
heidi go heidi
let your backbone slip...


what?

oh, not Sam the Sham?

Sorry.

[The Doctor.]

165. If we could just wake the 'sports fan mentality' population up...

We might be able to get our country back.

[alllyingwhores]

168. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO FFFFFFFFUUUUCKING SHITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

[Raster]

169. Nail meet hammer!

Now this is something on DU that deserves an award!

Wake up America!:kick:

[Jackpine Radical]

170. OK, it's a sham. However,

that doesn't mean that everyone is a willing participant. I don't think Wexler is, for example. Pretty much all Republicanazis and maybe 30% of the Dems are at least enablers. That's enough to block any kind of meaningful change. You never know, though. All of a sudden the free ride on the corporate bus may cease looking like such a good deal, especially when they notice that the bus is headed for a precipice.

[LiberalUprising]

175. Dude they are driving the bus

30% huh??

Stop rationalizing and making excuses for the corporate whores, they are all lawyers, so they are not stupid, they know exactly what they are doing

They make the laws, including the loopholes and get out of jail free cards and if theres any questions, they will be decided by a small group of super lawyers who answer to no one and are also very much on the take and are appointed by the puppet President

This is why nothing ever really changes, it only gets worse each passing year.

How much more plain can they make it, they don't even bother to hide it anymore

You don't get to their position without some major corporate backing and stepping on many toes, hands and necks

They are actors playing their parts to keep us amused

[Voltaire99]

186. "How much more plain can they make it, they don't even bother to hide it anymore"

Not plain enough.

Not, anyway, judging from the Pollyannas I see treating this election as if it is going to be our salvation.

Nice post; I agree wholeheartedly.

[seriouslyfrivolous]

171. That is the absolute fucking truth of it. Power=corruption=we're fucked

[tabasco]

174. It's a sad day when you realize how fucked up this country really is.

Nothing will change in my lifetime.

We can only hope to make things slightly better.

It will take a revolution to unseat the ruling elite.

[Peggy Day]

176. what to do-what to do- I am tired of outrage overload!!!

[Fiendish Thingy]

177. depressingly, despairingly, true. n/t

[bluedawg12]

178. What a sack of crap those hearings are. n/t

[alfredo]

179. Oh man you nailed it.

[readmoreoften]

180. I'll drink to that. Sham it is.

And sham it shall continue to be until we figure out a way.

[JCMach1]

181. One scary thought there- Holy Joe as the Democratic nominee!!!

:puke:

[Stinky The Clown]

197. From the OP: ".... his second term vice president ...."

[cutlassmama]

182. We're mad at heck and we're not gonna take it anymore!

[NMMNG]

184. K. &. Fucking. R.

:applause:

[donheld]

189. Yes. It. Is. All . A . Fucking . Sham

[rambler_american]

190. YES!

Emphatically YES. You nailed it. USA gone to hell in a handbasket.
K&R
:kick:

[Frank Cannon]

191. K & R

This steroids-in-baseball thing is the straw that broke the camel's back. I just cannot fucking believe even a dime of our tax dollars is being pledged to this.

ALL professional team sports need an "*" next to them. That's just the way it is.

[Pooka Fey]

192. a sorrowful K&R here

[rambler_american]

193. So WTF do we do about it?

:shrug:

I sign petitions, send $ to the candidate(s) I like until they drop out of the race and then to my next top choice, write to my Congress Critter to express my disgust. What else?
Grab torches and pitchforks and take to the streets? I'm willing but seems likely doomed to failure as they have all the weapons.
I'm very discouraged.

[RadiationTherapy]

198. Walk Away. No more violence.

"People be droppin; "REVOLUTION."

Like it was a PICKUP LINE.

You wouldn't use that word if you knew what it meant!

It ain't pretty; It's bloody - it overturns things.

People be droppin revolution in these hard times."

Sekou Sundiata.

~ I say we can walk away. We can do it. We can go "live in the woods" or however you imagine it. We have to walk away from this ECONOMY; this MAMMON we surround ourselves with. WE have to choose between comfortable slavery and uncomfortable freedom. I do not wish to be in a position to hurt or kill anyone. I won't do it.

[liberal N proud]

194. The grand illusion

Welcome to the grand illusion
Come on in and see whats happening
Pay the price, get your tickets for the show
The stage is set, the band starts playing
Suddenly your heart is pounding
Wishing secretly you were a star.

But dont be fooled by the radio
The tv or the magazines
They show you photographs of how your life should be
But theyre just someone elses fantasy
So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because you never win the game
Just remember that its a grand illusion
And deep inside were all the same.
Were all the same...

So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because your neighbors got it made
Just remember that its a grand illusion
And deep inside were all the same.
Were all the same...

America spells competition, join us in our blind ambition
Get yourself a brand new motor car
Someday soon well stop to ponder what on earths this spell were under
We made the grade and still we wonder who the hell we are

Styx

[deacon]

195. And, let's not forget the Mukasey confirmation. k+r

[Mike Nelson]

199. Exactly

Clemons is far less of a criminal than pal Bush. Put George in Jail.

[CrispyQ]

200. Agreed.

I've used SCOTUS as the reason to go to the polls in November, but now I'm not even sure about that.

I am losing hope by the day.

[Stinky The Clown]

202. "I am losing hope by the day."

Maybe that's the plan.

I'm of a mind that we need to state the problem and then work toward fixing it. I have absolutely no hope it will all be fixed in my lifetime. I have great optimism that some of it will get better while I can still enjoy it.

[emmadoggy]

204. K & R.

A fucking sham of the first order.

[natrat]

205. give money to interests that support democratic ideals rather than corrupt machine politics

i wont donate to DU anymore bacause i am not convinced it it is enlightened

[Stinky The Clown]

209. "i wont donate to DU anymore bacause i am not convinced it it is enlightened"

Then why post at all? :shrug:

[f the letter]

206. It sure is.

i've never seen a thread with so many responses and no arguments, which is actually uplifting. It means that a lot of us here on DU, despite the problems the site has nowadays, have an idea of what's really happening and what power in this country really is. Do any of us honestly that voting is going to change this? Our choices are dictated by organizations with no interest in anything other than perpetuating the sham. Let's stop clogging the site with useless primary discussions and start talking about what matters : the state of the world around us.

i had a long conversation with a friend who is a citizen of this country but was grew up in Venezuela and moved up here in his 30's. He spoke of how incredible it is that we are doing nothing about it that counts.

Holding a sign doesn't count, casting a ballot used to count but doesn't seem to anymore, moving to the woods and paying no taxes doesn't count anymore either (see those two in my homestate who were finally nailed for it this past year). Leaving a message with an intern of a congressbeast doesn't count, donating money to / working for a candidate in whom you believe doesn't count, joining the ACLU doesn't count. Writing to the editor of your newspaper doesn't count,

None of the above things we (myself included) are doing changes what is happening around us. That's why i say they don't count. We are a nation sitting around watching reality shows and trying desperately not to think about reality.

And so the obvious question is, "What can we do?" How can i live my life at this moment in a decent and honorable way? i don't want to look back on my life and say "well at least nobody else did anything either." i've done all of the above things that i say don't count (except for the woods/taxes thing), and i guess i'll continue to do them.. but they're not working and i am honest about this.

So what can we do???

please please please, respond with more than one sentence if you disagree or have an idea

[jamielauren]

218. "so what can we do???"

i do not pretend to know what we can do but i do have a good example. and that example is passion.

i spend a lot of time in Panama. It has been said that Panamanians take two things seriously in life one being carnival and the other politics. And the second is so true they are not apathetic like americans when it comes to their government they make their voices heard. When they disagree with something their government does they will go to any length to show it. Yesterday the main construction union in the country protested. They protested an incident that had occurred the day before when a cop killed a fellow construction worker. The union organized and shut down all the major roads and basically the entire capital city, hurting the government by stopping all commerce throughout the country. They were shot at with tear gas and pepper spray but didn't let down and in the end the police let them protest. the entire country is now aware of the wrong that happened, there is more protests scheduled today and the government is going to act because the people will not let up until they do. they have so much passion for their country and they keep it in check by showing their strength in numbers and organization.

i am not saying that americans should go to the streets and riot. but obviously our votes and our pens are no longer working and something else should be done. if everyone who disagrees with the state of affairs had more passion and was willing to risk what the panamanians do to have their voices heard just maybe change could happen... just a thought

[f the letter]

221. Amen!

How do we get people to get passionate? i am passionate about civil liberty, the Constitution, and the potential this country may still have to turn around, but my friends and myself ranting to each other only preaches to the choir. The Panama example you give is inspiring, and also affirms that people need to take on some personal risk as part of the whole thing. i hope i'm brave enough to take the tear gas when it's my turn. i've been at big protests without tear gas and i went home afterwards with everything the same.. how do we get a legitimately passionate protest that actually makes people take notice?

And will that even be enough to begin to do anything here? The people are apathetic beyond words.


A warm welcome to DU!

:hi:

[RadiationTherapy]

207. If Skinner changed the name and tweaked the rules, I wonder what this board could do. nt

[HCE SuiGeneris]

211. It is a travesty.

K & R

[Wapsie B]

212. My thoughts exactly.

I am guilty of having hope for the system, especially after hearing someone like Obama speak. Then I realize that anyone who would truly challenge the status quo would soon be deader'n a Kennedy. The events that have transpired since 12/12/00 and the way things have been simply swept under the rug has made me realize that it's all a fucking shell game in D.C., and both major parties are in on it.

The next question is how do we change that? Or is there a snowball's chance in hell of ever doing so?



This reply kinda says it all for me:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3180830&mesg_id=3181365

[ProgressIn2008]

213. These days, they either (1)co-opt them or (2)make them irrelevant

The job done on Kucinich and his impeachment initiatives was very... instructive. Now, he's fighting for his seat. No one who speaks that kind of truth to the masters is allowed to get near power. Instead, anyone who gets near power is a safe bet, and that is ensured by big money and big media.

Co-optation and marginalization are much cleaner and more efficient.

[Wapsie B]

215. Yes that's a good point.

Much more efficient than messy assassinations. That mentality of not allowing truth-tellers near power permeates throughout government and the workplace.
One is labeled as irrational, out of control, or a loose cannon. Worse yet they're labeled as being different.

[gordianot]

214. Totally correct.

I had a snow day from work yesterday and watched that dumb ass ballplayer, it was obviously staged theater.

[Mark D.]

216. Andrew Jackson

Obama mentioned his name in a speech after a recent sweep. As said above, the last one to really challenge the system, JFK, was offed by it. Above politicians, corporations controlling them with lobbyists, there is money. JFK wanted to do what Andrew Jackson did, end the central bank concept, and have America issue its own money, vs. borrowing it from a private bank (the Federal Reserve). They missed in trying to off Jackson for doing it. The other's who stood up (JFK, Garfield, Lincoln) were killed for challenging it.

Offer enough of the money they control, and they'll find a shooter. Keep it simple for the simple masses who want to be told what to think. Explain our debt is almost 10 trillion, explain how much that is, how interest on the debt is wasted money, and it can't be paid back if money used to pay it back is issued by the same source. Explain the last president to pay off the national debt was Andrew Jackson, and that was because he issued the currency, and beat back the central bank. But this is hidden, find a history class that teaches the assassin admitted bankers paid him to shoot Jackson, as they paid Booth.

Until major changes like that are made, until those elite bankers stop instigating wars, and then funding/lending to both sides of wars, to create more debt, and using their corporate cat's paws to turn the people who could rebel into 80 hour a week minimum wage workers who turn into controlled couch potatoes, we won't change things with small changes. But we must enlist the name that did.
The one president who vowed to fight them, lived to do it, won, and ducked the assassin's bullet.

Ask Obama, Clinton, what they really think of Andrew Jackson. About how he paid the debt off, and how his way was the only way it could possibly be done. Ask if they fear for their lives if they would take the advise of the historian/economist/genius professor who created the Google video, The Money Masters, to go to our own currency (also saving the dollar), to eliminate the debt, and to get foreign country lobbyists, war corporations, etc., out of foreign policy decisions as well.

Bilderberg ties will keep Hillary from giving a straight answer. But from what we've seen so far, they've not gotten to Obama yet. They probably didn't expect him to get the nomination that we see he just might, and probably expect racists to act before they'd have to. Maybe the fact that he's going to need extra heavy security, as it is, against racists, means he'll be willing to take on the elite bankers & finally cut their puppet strings attached to corporations, war, and their other outlets, for good.

[Steely_Dan]

217. Well Stated...

"Were it not a sham, we'd have presidential primary candidates who we could tell apart by their policies, not their gender, skin color, oratorical prowess, or lack thereof."

Exactly true...This is why someone of Biden's qualifications couldn't make it out of Iowa.

-P

[Tab]

219. Live by the sham, die by the sham

n/t

[Gamey]

220. Add the irresponsible sham called "stimulus"

While the criminals that instituted this mess with their credit derivatives continue to walk freely.

[balantz]

222. From Merriam-Webster:

"4 : an imitation or counterfeit purporting to be genuine."


There's been a lot of that going on for a long time.

Now it's all locked up, there doesn't appear to be anything we can do, it will be crushed.

[Fovea]

223. And the sham will collapse hard

Remember, things that cannot go on forever don't. Or so says Stein's Law.

The effort to hold America together through the next two decades probably will not succeed. I think it will probably hit a point where it becomes evident that it cannot hold.

I can visualize 2016, and the balkanization of the US.
Our current charlie foxtrot is not simply because of Cheney and Bush. Federalism itself has failed. Checks and balances that we depended on to sustain constitutional government under the rule of law are completely subsumed by the security state at this point.


Corporate money keeps any reform serious enough to restore constitutional democracy cannot find a place in the media other than as a focus for the two minutes hate on fox news.

Hope?

I hope the next pres experiences a soul shaking epiphany and is filled with the needed fury and resolve to reform Murika. If not, I hope that we find a better way to deal with a useless and pernicious federal system than the last time. It took a Lincoln to deal with the blowback of Buchanan. And Bush makes Buchanan look like a wonk.

We have two very nice candidates, but neither is a Lincoln.

Let's look at what will be waiting for the president in Jan 09.

1. Iraq war. I think that we won't get to put troops on the ground in Iran. Why? Because the self declared six month truce of the Shia Iraqis ends March 1st. That will be the start of something like the tet offensive, only worse. How many thousand tons of military grade explosives did we let them steal again?

2. Economy - We are going to have a truly sucky year, followed by a suckier year, and so on for at least the rest of the decade. Probably longer. China won't. The EU will start moving away from us. China, India, Russia, and the middle east will be better customers for goods and are easier to ship to in most cases. Look for a new Trans Siberian rail project soon. Here in the US... you ain't seen nothin as ugly as the debate over a new national passenger rail system will cause.

3. Energy - as in rolling blackouts, infrastructure failures, and rationing possibly.
The Power Grid may become balkanized for sustainability if something is not done first.

4. paramilitary lawlessness. Hundreds of thousands of mercenaries will come home, longing for the good life they lived in Baghdad. We will either have to pacify them or pay them danegeld. I suggest the former, as it has had historically better results.

5. Healthcare. The system is broken. No, really broken and about to come off the rails because of HMOs and insurance. Mandatory private insurance? Yeah, that will really help. CheneyCare is the only answer. Every person in America gets the same care Dick Cheney gets at the same cost.

6. transportation. Apparently, 25% of Missourians currently have no access to an automobile. Missouri has the fifth largest number of highway miles in the nation, and with the exception of St Louis City has very sub standard public transit where it has any at all. It is gearing up to spend money to fix roads and bridges that it doesn't have. Am I the only one who thinks this is cosmically stupid? It violates the first law of holes. Partially it is because AAA and construction firms have a corrupting influence on State DOTs. As goes Missouri, so goes a big hunk of the nation.

It has become a mercenary-prison-insurance-road building economy. Oh sorry, a media-mercenary-insurance-prison-road building economy. That is the core of the boil sickening our nation. Oh, and oil. Who can doubt that our federal govt is not pwnd by Jabba the C.E.O.?

7. Immigration. A potential firecracker to set off a huge civil conflagration. How do we solve it? First, kill NAFTA. Once we can stop that, the problem will become easier.

8. RE the constitution. Dismantling the boondoggle of the security state will be difficult. Anything with that kind of budget will fight viciously for survival. Some may suggest that restoration of habeas corpus may have to wait for its completion. Kill them on the spot.

9. RE the 21st century. Quoting Firesign Theater - Live it, or live with it. re-joining the community of nations will be difficult.


These problems will overwhelm any sham government right from the git go, as we say in my neck of the woods. We could solve it with a government the size of the current one, but not with the current staff. A reality based government will not be business friendly for a generation at least, and corporate personhood will be the first thing to go. Corporate CEO compensation will be capped by law at a fixed percentage higher than the average (not mean) compensation. That percentage shall never be greater than 50%. The top marginal rate should be set at 75 of income%. Oh, and investment returns should be taxed as income.

The GAO must be charged with de-Rovefication of civil service. I recommend they be given a side arm and the power of summary execution, but I recognize that might be considered extreme by some.

Our total security budget should be fixed at one tenth its current level and re-tasked to actual defense of the US period.

SCOTUS should be impeached. The entire court, and start over. Bush V. Gore was a non-pardonable offense on the concept of justice. The Federalist society shall be disbanded. Skull and Bones and Opus Dei shall be subjected to a RICO investigation. The next pres and the next congress should consider that a priority task.


America. It was such an incredible experiment. It needs to be tried again.

[The Doctor.]

231. That should be posted as an OP.

You're absolutely right.

[BoneDaddy]

225. Hear hear

Well said.

[The M Double]

229. Kick

Kick Kick Kick Kick.... All day long

[Stinky The Clown]

233. Two Hundred and Ninety Four Recs. Obviously this touched a raw nerve.

I'd like to know what people saw in this post that caused so many to agree with it and to have virtually no argument.

And far more importantly, how do we overcome things?

[lostnotforgotten]

234. It Was a Tale Told By An Idiot, Full of Sound And Fury Signifying Nothing

Macbeth

[Stinky The Clown]

235. Very Good

CU?

[Deja Q]

236. Well, you can whine or you can do something about it.

What'cha'gonna'do?

Even then, there may be nothing you can do. So why get pissed about it?

[easttexaslefty]

239. Can't you do both?

Whine and do something...

If ya don't get pissed why would you bother to do anything?

[Orwellian_Ghost]

238. Kicka-bumpa

[hunter]

240. Back to the top.

:kick: