Anyone else feel like the US is circling the drain?

[midnight armadillo]

Man, what a list of gigantic problems: 2 wars, flagrant and unpunished torture policies by the last admin., the fed pours money into the banks who turn around and screw us again, the health care industry states they'll rip us off by $2 trillion less in 10 years and they're applauded, runaway military budgets etc etc etc and that's not even touching on climate change etc etc

Sheesh. The three issues of torture and the shredding of the Constitution by BushCo and the endless, fruitless bank bailouts, and fiddling-at-the-margins health care "reform" really have brought to light some uncomfortable facts about the state of the Union. Congress and the Washington establishment are fantastically corrupt - Wall St and other moneyed interests own the whole lot lock, stock, and barrel. Y'all know the story - otherwise you wouldn't be here in GD on DU. Meanwhile the economy slumps, foreclosures are raging, and 50 governors are slashing services to balance budgets per their state constitutions.

I hate to admit it, but I am starting to appreciate just how the Teabaggers ended up throwing Lipton tea at each other - it's very clear that we're in dire straits, although I find it dismaying that their anger, frustration, and ignorance was so manipulated by the Hannity crowd into those demonstrations.

I'm starting to wonder if the problem isn't endemic to the system, and not merely a problem of the specific members of the government. Does the US Constitution, the US Congress, the Presidency, and other institutions scale (to use a computer industry term)to form an effective government for 306 million people? 435 people in the House collectively represent 703,000 people apiece - is this democracy? The Senate - 3 million each. The original Constitution called for 30,000 people per House representative...the authors of the Constitution could never have imagined the current size and scope of the United States. I'm starting to think that this is about as good a government as we're going to get for the foreseeable future, and that's depressing. I'm going to predict that in the next few years we will see a failure to address in any effective or radical way the Wall St-centric economy, the morally bankrupt health care system, climate change, and other urgent matters - and this is with the Dems controlling the WH and Congress. better than the alternative, at least.

[XemaSab]

1. Word

n/t

[MADem]

2. No, not at all. I felt that way when Bush was running things. Now, I feel

quite hopeful that things will improve.

I guess it helps to have lived through some tough times. This isn't the first time the country has been challenged.

A look back at history will show us that this isn't the darkest hour, not by a long stretch.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

6. I feel less anxious now

[leftofthedial]

3. dude, most of us are halfway down the sewer pipe already.

the bottom tier of the elite are circling the drain. Why, I'd gnaw off my own arm to be circling the drain!

[nilram]

36. glug glug glug...

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. I've said it before,

US Republic,, 1789-2000 RIP

There is no sense of national purpose anymore, and you see that with disasters such as Katrina... they happened over there, not over here

As to the crisis... I will not be surprised if the US breaks down into component successor states when regions go their separate ways after the Empire falls apart, a al USSR.

I've had that feeling for years now... we just need it to be official

[villager]

5. I agree, Nadin. I think the future of the "United" States will be as separate, smaller countries

...and regions, especially when the nexus of environmental/economic problems starts to unravel empire at a serious, and uncontrollable, pace...

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Well it is not just that

we have DISTINCT cultures that really cannot stand each other

[Richard D]

9. And could easily go to war against each other . . .

. . . especially over dwindling resources and water. yikes.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Yep when I think about that I just shudder

[villager]

10. there's also that...

I'm trying to suss them out in a book I'm writing...

But I gotta finish another book first. Wonder if the implosion will have already have happened by the time I finish that "dystopia..."

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. It is long forgotten history in the dystopia I have already self published

but one reason why our descendants do not go for a full fledged republic...

We are the reason...

[Hannah Bell]

17. yes, that will be peachy for the banksters. the more small, relatively resource-poor

countries, the easier to play their various leaderships & labor forces against each other for profit.

[villager]

24. you're assuming banks will be able to operate withe same impunity in each of these newer, smaller

countries?

Especially without the armed forces of the USA to back them up?

[Hannah Bell]

27. Depends on who owns the world's resources, don't it?

Who owns the technology & who owns the guns.

And who has the money to hire the most mercenaries.

[villager]

32. and what passes for "money" or wealth...

post-Empire, many of those givens may be up for grabs...

[Hannah Bell]

39. not unless you think the international financial system is going down.

i don't think so. i think what is happening is pure & simple capital capital movement.

you know those books about the rise & fall of powers, e.g. first portugal, then spain, then netherlands, england, us...

the writers do lots of speculating on why powers rise & fall, but it's obvious from existent records, quite a bit of it had to do with capital movement.

during the reagan admin, some big capital pulled out of my town & destroyed the old downtown, which is now mostly empty storefronts & things like "mona's house of hair."

it moved elsewhere in the us, then overseas. it left behind a declining town, a lot of it owned by out of town interests who used it for a tax writeoff. the people remaining didn't have enough capital between them to keep what remained up.

it went from prosperous middle-class union-friendly town to sharply income-divided reactionary town.

big capital is pulling out, but big capital owns the international financial system, which is not going down.

one state could (maybe) opt out of the international system, create its own currency & finance an internal economy that way, but it would be limited to the resources in-state, & what it could barter for from the outside world. which would mean limited weaponry. which would mean vulnerable should another of the new "free states" covet resources.

well, that's a lot of blue sky, but i *do* believe what's in process is big capital moving.

[northernlights]

86. Seattle is empty storefronts and Mona's?

"during the reagan admin, some big capital pulled out of my town & destroyed the old downtown, which is now mostly empty storefronts & things like "mona's house of hair."

[Hannah Bell]

104. I don't live in seattle. i live in a small town. i put seattle because people know where it is.

most wouldn't know where podunksville is.

i live in washington state.

[Hannah Bell]

105. The other part: as china & india seem slated to be the next big powers,

breaking up the us = reducing military/economic power v. them.

good for the banksters, though.

[midnight armadillo]

18. That's what I'm wondering

It's well known that certain systems of government aren't appropriate once populations grow. Town Meetings, for example, aren't going to work in NYC, to pick an extreme example. Why should we assume the current form of the US government is germaine to the size and scope of the nation, its population, and its problems? I would imagine the next level of granularity would be regional gov't's (in the traditional sorting of states - Northeast, MidWest etc) with a sort of articles of confederacy for an overall national gov't running foreign policy and defense. Never-gonna-happen, not in my lifetime...

[nadinbrzezinski]

34. When this falls apart the US will not survive period

articles of confederacy... not quite

Republic of Texas, versus the Northeastern Liberals, vs the bible belt, vs the Western Liberals, vs, baja mexifornia and alta mexifornia... will not be pretty.

Been thinking about this for a long time

Some of these nations will remain democracies, but others... think a Christian Taliban and what that implies

[midnight armadillo]

19. dupe

ignore this post

[newspeak]

35. so, was that the intention in the first place?

Are we being destroyed as a nation? It only helps the corporate, NWO, oligarchy to have a power drained broken down nation to exploit further as citizens lose more and more of their power and rights. I know that it sounds tin foilish but we've been drained by some of the greediest blood sucking leeches in history. When the * administration took office, those moderate Republicans were told by Cheney that there would be no reaching out to Dems, and it was going to be their way or the highway. The division was intentionally created and helped along the way with a very very complicit media. I have never heard such hate, fear and lies as I have in the past eight years. This is no blundering, it seems like a well orchestrated plan to take this country down. A looting of a nation.

[Hannah Bell]

46. i think a lot of it has been deliberate too, to be honest.

[nadinbrzezinski]

49. Absolutely, in my worst moments I believe that is part of the answer

but this did not start eight years ago.

It started at least with Nixon, and Gingritch in 92 told his people NO REACHING across

[TexasObserver]

102. Ha! That's hilarious, it's so absurd.

Sheer delusion on the part of those who think the US is going to break apart.

[Hannah Bell]

14. bull. hundreds of people went down to help with katrina as soon as they heard of it.

most of the earlybirds were held off or turned by by Dear Leader.

It's deliberate attack on solidarity & sense of purpose.

Pig flu, bank bailout, rice shortage, peak oil, phooey.

It's fucking miserable leadership & entenched power.

[unblock]

8. the healthcare industry did NOT promise to rip us off by $2trillion less

they promised to CUT THEIR COSTS by that amount.
they did NOT promise to pass 100% of the savings on to their customers.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

72. It's a 1.5% reduction in the projected rate of increase, so it's even worse.

If costs go up by 8%, they'll reduce it to 6.5% They are not reducing from TODAY's cost. People who are calling this a sham, fraud, rip-off, shell game, public relations ploy, etc. are 100% correct.

[G_j]

13. corrupt and compromised beyond the pale nt

[AliceWonderland]

15. Yes. I do -- I know too many people in crisis and it feels like the empire is crumbling

It's facile, but FWIW -- I think history books will mark 9/11 as the event that signalled the end of the American empire.

If one more person I know loses a job or has a health "care" crisis (seems to be involving elder care a lot lately), I'll lay down my head and cry.

It only makes it worse that the powerful few who control this country are dead set on an oligarchy-aristocracy beyond the rule of law. I'm not sure what we've become. Apparently, I live in a country where torture and drones are a-okay.

[Lorien]

23. I'm one of those people who is losing everything

lost my job, health costs took away my savings, and yesterday the bank took away my home equity line. I've worked hard my entire life, yet just a few health issues and six months of unemployment is destroying it all. :-(

[midnight armadillo]

30. I'm so sorry to hear that

My wife needed surgery when we were both in grad school...7 years later and we'll finally be free of that credit card debt later this year. I can certainly appreciate how health costs can derail your finances in a major way.

[Lorien]

85. Indeed. And I had insurance; they just wouldn't cover things like ER visits

and life saving surgery. Single payer now!

[AliceWonderland]

37. I'm so sorry, Lorien. I wish the best for you. nt

[villager]

38. so so sorry to hear this...

I hope you can hang in there and hang on...

[nadinbrzezinski]

51. hugs

[arcadian]

78. We lost our home equity line just yesterday too.

So much for our dwindling safety net. Wonder how many more of those letters went out this week.

[Lorien]

84. I'm so sorry to hear that. I suspect you weren't late on any payments either?

I've never missed a payment on my equity line, but I suspect that their flags went up when I had to draw on it recently...or maybe not. Maybe they're just cutting credit for everyone except their wealthiest clients. Like you, I'm wondering just how many of those letters went out this week. How do they expect any of us to get back onto our feet if they keep pulling the rug out from under us?

[arcadian]

100. nope, they finally caught up with how much the house is worth now.

The house has dropped in value a tremendous amount since we first bought it, so they cut us off.

[bdamomma]

88. I am being blunt but that just sucks.

:hug:

[LibDemAlways]

56. There is huge strength in numbers, but Americans simply

aren't conditioned to take their grievances to the streets. Imagine millions descending on Washington to demand single payer or an end to corporate bailouts or justice for the Bush Crime Family. Nah, they're home watching American Idol and just glad a bill collector hasn't been impertinent enough to interrupt their viewing.

Americans eat shit sandwiches daily without complaint. I have no idea what it would take to get the people of this country riled up enough to band together and demand change, but I can't see it happening anytime soon.

[Nay]

69. 600,000 marched on DC before the war, with predictable (no) results.

Maybe if 50 million stopped up every highway in America we'd get some results, but I doubt it. They know they can wait us out, no matter what we do.

[LibDemAlways]

83. 600,000 apparently isn't enough to get their attention. It would have to be

millions- in the streets- refusing to go home until something is done. Basically shut the country down. That's what it would take. You're right. Anything less and they ignore us or laugh at us.

[Echo In Light]

96. 2 key factors re depoliticization: "conspiracy theory," and the idea that civil disobedience is...

...irrelevant/ineffective.

[LibDemAlways]

97. The ruling class is very good at marginalizing those who would

upset the status quo. Thus, the doctors and nurses who showed up to demand a seat for single payer at the table were dismissed in the media as kooks and quickly arrested. As long as the numbers are relatively small, it's easy for them to ignore us.

The message goes out every day though, in ways big and small, "You are nothing. You are unimportant. You don't matter." The public is routinely treated like shit and have come to expect it. I think the average person is, unfortunately, happy just to be left alone.

[librechik]

107. Yet the MSM spent WEEKS flogging the Teacup Crusaders

couldn't shut up about them--

and 600,000 did not show up.

The fact is, the "people" are irrelevant to our government--whenever they feel like it.

[bdamomma]

90. that is why the higher elite just shit on us.

they know we won't say anything or they just keep things secret from us. I hope that some day we will rise up, peacefully of course.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. I have felt this way for a very long time.

[L0oniX]

20. ...

[magellan]

47. "It's just good business." n/t

[chollybocker]

21. Cleaning up after the last administration may require several flushes.

And a big scrub brush.

[salguine]

22. Are you kidding? We've been circling the drain since

the end of World War II; it's just accelerated greatly in the past thirty years or so. Our slide into irrelevance is pretty much unstoppable, I think. We've passed our peak as a power. We had a good run, but that run is definitely over.

[midnight armadillo]

25. and to think I just bought my first house...

...fortunately I have ample opportunity to build up lots of sweat equity before I move the family to Shanghai for better economic opportunities :P

[bdamomma]

93. abuse of power does take its toll.

[Joe the Liberal]

26. I've felt this way for awhile now.........

It's a pretty depressing state of affairs, with Obama as president at least there is SOME hope as opposed to none if McCain had won. Still it feels like everything is going to hell, America has faced worse I'm sure although I can't help but look around and feel utter hopelessness. At least I can take comfort in that fact that I'm not alone as is evident in this thread.

[Maru Kitteh]

28. not anymore. n/t

[dgibby]

29. It's just a matter of time.

[bertman]

31. Interesting. I never knew there was a citizen-to-representative ratio implicit in our

governmental structure.

I also take issue with the idea that Katrina was an example of a national failing. Literally hundreds of thousands of Americans of all ages, incomes, beliefs, races, religious or non-religious affiliations found their way to the Gulf Coast and worked their asses off to help get that mess repaired. Too bad that the corporate media's failure to follow up on what's happening there now has caused a lot of Americans to think it's all well. It's not.

[Nay]

70. No one's talking about INDIVIDUAL responses to Katrina--they

are talking about our GOVT response. Which was criminal.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[obliviously]

40. It's over

I'm going to learn chinese they own us now. They just havn't taken possesion yet.

[Hannah Bell]

41. 1/2 of the chinese gdp = us & other foreign companies producing in china

to export back home.

[obliviously]

45. We are

so firmly intertwined for better or worse we are inseparable.

[Hannah Bell]

48. only because the corps want it that way. it's not "china" taking you down.

it's your own big business/big finance "community".

[obliviously]

52. They also

own a massive quantity of our treasury bills and they are buying up our country.

[Hannah Bell]

55. Last time i checked, the US Treasury owed more to the Social Security Trust Fund

than to China.

Saw this movie before, when Japan was supposedly "buying up the country" in the 80s.

It's not the foreigners. They're just the fall guys our own big shots hold up for us to blame.

[obliviously]

57. Time will tell

I would much prefer you to be right over me.

[Hannah Bell]

58. The numbers are public:

as of june 2008, about 70% of US Securities were held internally.

Owed to, e.g., the SS TF (2 T), US city & state governments, intergovernmental borrowing, pensions, etc.

Only 27% was owed to foreigners.

[obliviously]

60. 27%

is to much that still makes me very uneasy.

[Hannah Bell]

62. it's total foreign debt, not just to china.

[arcadian]

76. 2.84% of 27.9%? God damn those Luxembergers!

[TexasObserver]

42. Absolutely not! I feel the future is bright.

I would urge you to come in from the ledge, but I have a "please jump" policy with all Debbie Downers.

[Hannah Bell]

50. 15% unemployment in my town last month, how about yours?

[moondust]

43. It's a mess.

And the Washington/Wall Street "partnership" that created most of it over the past quarter century is not going to go away.

If I were younger I'd seriously consider emigrating to Canada or Europe.

[tammywammy]

44. No. n/t

[Balbus]

53. Yes. This country is getting more and more fucked up each and every day.

[Balbus]

54. dupe

[Rex]

59. I think it went down the drain during Reagan and Poppy.

They set it up so we could all get screwed over by Poppy's greatest failure.

[upi402]

63. that's certainly when the handle was pushed, anyway - agreed n/t

[proteus_lives]

61. It's easy to feel that way but no.

We've had a rough eight years but our nation has always been able to take a shot to the chops and get back up. I remain convinced that this will still prove the case.

[cherokeeprogressive]

64. Nope.

[Peter1x9]

65. You left out one of the main problems

Even with all the greed and corruption, things were still ok (not great but not bad) for the middle class until all the jobs started going away (permanently) to other countries because of the cheap labor. Michigan is probably the best example but I can think of others. Personally, I WAS an IT person.

You can bail out banks all you want. NOTHING will fix the economic mess we are in until the decent jobs come back.

Why do you think so many people went into debt so fast? Going from middle class to less than $10 an hour (if you are lucky enough to even have a job) isn't going to pay your mortgage, etc.

I had planned on having a house and family of my own by now. After all my health problems (another issue that is killing this country) and the job losses/outsourcing, the only way I'll own a home is through inheritance.

:mad:

[napoleon_in_rags]

66. Yeah, its breathtaking. Good to hear somebody acknowledge it.

Its so much bigger than any single thing.

Something is deeply, deeply wrong. Its not just the challenges we face, its the fact that we can't address them in meaningful ways because the dialog is being controlled by those who want to hold power at any costs. There is no standing up and trying to change the world for the better without meeting fantastic resistance from people who perceive themselves as benefiting from the status quo, and no coming from the perspective of common interests because they those that endeavor to control the conversation are themselves products of controlled conversations. I mean christ, if we can't get it together on an issue like global warming, we are in big trouble.

Something fundamental has got to give or we are facing a major difficult crash, I mean fundamental, like a depression, but without an end for decades.

[Optical.Catalyst]

67. The United States can still recover from this

Now that the adults have retaken control of the Government, it is once again up to the Democratic Party to put this country back on track.

It won't be easy, but we must do the following things

1. Prosecute the Bush Administration and restore our standing in the eyes of the world

2. End both wars. Just get out now

3. Cap and Trade carbon pollution. Put the brakes on Global Warming. The world will follow our lead

4. Start a 'Moon Shot' research and development effort for clean, renewable energy.

5. Get our health care system under control

Did I mention that we need to prosecute Bush and Cheney?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

87. Unfortunately, I don't see the current admin doing any of those

not with the boldness required.

Dems keep forgetting that Republicans respect and back down in the face of fortitude and determination and view conciliation and compromise as the equivalent of having a "Kick me" sign on one's butt. (cf. Bill Clinton).

[Optical.Catalyst]

108. I wish my vote for President Obama counted

I am not giving up, it is still early in his first term.

[northernlights]

94. but did you not notice...

that Obama does not intend to prosecute the war criminals, does not intend to end either war now, and appears to be handing the keys to health care to the insurance thieves that destroyed it to begin with?

We don't even need a "moon shot" research for renewable energy. We already know how to do wind. Thin film solar is available today and safe, renewable hydrolysis is halfway there and will be available within a few years (to enable safe, renewable fuel cell).

We need massive investment into existing clean technology to bring economies of scale and make it affordable.

[Optical.Catalyst]

106. You bet I notice

And I am on the angry side about it too

[ColbertWatcher]

68. Maybe what's circling the drain is an old way of thinking? n/t

[nc4bo]

71. I feel the same way and I don't know what it's going to take for DC'ers to take

us seriously.

We vote them out only to have them replaced by more of the same (immediately thinking of NC's dear Kay Hagan(D?) who was lucky enough to ride in on Obama's coat tail).

The corruption is Washington is unimaginable and seemingly all emcompassing except for a rare few.

Who will stand up for We, the People and justice and fairness? <crickets chirping>.

[TheFarseer]

73. this is what happens when the people in power

only have the goal of remaining in power. They only do what they think is popular or what will get them votes. This is why have to cut taxes/can't raise taxes even when the situation calls for raising taxes. This is why we cater to illegal immigrants. This is why we have a disastrously unbalances budget filled with barrels and barrels of pork, because we can't make any tough decisions that might make someone mad. There's no thought of what's best for the country - only what will get me re-elected.

[Echo In Light]

74. "Circling of the drain," Taken from the preface of George Carlin's book, Brain Droppings:

"I don't feel so confined. I frankly don't give a fuck how it all turns out in this country - or anywhere else, for that matter. I think the human game was up a long time ago (when the high priests and traders took over), and now we're just playing out the string. And that is, of course, precisely what I find so amusing: the slow circling of the drain by a once promising species, and the sappy, ever-more-desperate belief in this country that there is actually some sort of "American Dream," which has merely been msiplaced.

The decay and disintegration of this culture is astonishingly amusing if you are emotionally detached from it. I have always viewed it from a safe distance, knowing I don't belong; it doesn't include me, and it never has. No matter how you care to define it, I do not indentify with the local group. Planet, species, race, nation, state, religion, party, union, club, association, neighborhood, improvement committee;I have no interest in any of it. I love and treasure individuals as I meet them, I loathe and despise the groups they identify with and belong to.

So, if you read something in this book that sounds like advocacy of a particular political point of view, please reject the notion. My interest in "issues" is merely to point out how badly we're doing, not to suggest a way we might do better. Don't confuse me with those who cling to hope. I enjoy describing how things are, I have no interest in how they "ought to be." And I certainly have no interest in fixing them. I sincerely believe that if you think there's a solution, you're part of the problem. My motto: Fuck Hope!

P.S. Lest you wonder, personally, I am a joyful individual with a long, happy marriage and a close and loving family. My career has turned out better than I ever dreamed, and continues to expand. I am a pesonal optomist but skeptic about all else. What may sound to some like anger is really nothing more than sympathetic contempt. I view my species with a combination of wonder and pity, and I root for it's destruction. And please don't confuse my point of view with cynicism; the real cynics are the ones who tell you everything's gonna be all right.

P.P.S. By the way, if, by chance, you folks do manage to straighten things out and make everything better, I still don't wish to be included.

http://www.georgecarlin.com/brain/brain3.html

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

81. Strange you should post this - I have been thinking of George Carlin's viewpoint for awhile

because I was/am very familiar with it. Also, the recent posts about Dennis Kucinich saying what everyone else is thinking/seeing about what a sham the healthcare debate is turning into have crystallized a lot of my thinking.

Things are so OPENLY and NAKEDLY shitty and immoral and unethical and unconstitutional! And yet, we can get no movement towards a correction and some justice! When it becomes common knowledge that the game has no rules, then the game has no meaning.

I see myself turning away from politics in general as a self-preservation tactic. It has become clear that our government is owned pretty much 100% by corporate and vested interests and we should just be grateful if we manage to hang on individually with the love and support of our friends and family. I will hang on and see what kind of final result we get in the healthcare "debate" (while they debate if we deserve to live). If that turns into a sham designed to keep a morally bankrupt industry in place, then I'm out of here and politics for good. I will turn up at elections to vote for unelectable 3rd parties or write in someone's name that I respect.

[ima_sinnic]

75. yes I do, & agree with posters upthread that balkanization will occur

I just hope that, as we split up into "regional countries" or whatever, that I can still travel from (what is now) Maine to California and Washington State to see my grandchildren and other family members. I will probably regret that I didn't move out there when I might have (but it is just so expensive in California compared with Maine).

[Odin2005]

77. People thought the same thing in 1932.

in 1932 the fall of Liberal Democracy to Totalitarianism was seen as inevitable. This too shall pass.

[Hubert Flottz]

79. It looks like to me that...

The kind of help from the government that the Katrina victims in New Orleans received, was a preview of the service that the entire country can expect for our tax dollars from our government, on down the line. Heckuva Job Congress!

Oversight is an endangered species in Washington. Campaign contributions STILL, trump oversight.

[notesdev]

80. Our institutions are wholly corrupt

We have been complacent too long, lulled by debt-driven faux prosperity as villains and crooks have taken control of all our national institutions. Democrat, Republican, other - it doesn't matter, they are all playing the game for their own personal benefit, their solemn duties be damned.

Everyone in a position of power in any major institution must be considered to be one of 'them' until proven otherwise.

[lutefisk]

82. I've felt that way ever since George the Plumber was made POTUS by the SCOTUS

The spoiled nitwit with the reverse-Midas-touch worked his magic for eight long years, and I honestly don't think the Nation survived. Sure, there have always been big problems, but Junior's administration broke the rules- they went too far- and mortally wounded us in so many ways. I don't know what's next.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

89. I do indeed

Very little is going well.

We're seeing more formerly middle class people at my church's meal programs.

If I could turn back the clock, I would take one of the opportunities I had in the past to move permanently overseas: to Norway, Japan, or Australia.

[Romulox]

91. Gurgle gurgle...

[Matariki]

92. just needs an american flag...

never mind. too tasteless.

[Wednesdays]

95. Circling the drain?

I think we've gone down the pipe, into the sewer and on to the treatment plant...which has been shut down due to budget cuts.

[nichomachus]

98. Get corporate money out of politics and most of these problems would go away

Eventually -- not tomorrow -- it would take a while to purge the poison from the system.

However, as long as the government is a wholly-owned subsidiary of corporate America, the problems you mention WILL continue.

Factoid of the Day: Did you know that there is a building in the Cayman Islands that houses 18,000 US corporate entities? Most of these are shells set up by major US corporations as a way to avoid paying taxes in the US. Most of them are nothing more than a PO Box. Many major corporations have dozens, if not hundreds, of these shells.

[TornadoTN]

110. The rumble for this is getting louder and louder from all sides

Even Joe Blow Republican is starting to get incensed at the corporate democracy that has sold us down the road. It used to be that they would ignore it because they always thought that it would never happen to them. But the consequences of it has been so wide ranging that no one is immune to its effects since it blankets throughout our society. The people are mad, no matter which side of the aisle that they identify with.

Eliminate corporate influence in government and give the people back their government!

[NC_Nurse]

99. Yep. We're on a road to nowhere at the moment. I still like Obama as a person

I think he's very intelligent and a great improvement over those before him. That said, I think the country has problems that
are so deeply entrenched and such a lack of motivated citizens - it's hard to see real changes happening anytime soon. I find myself thinking about
retiring abroad, if I can even retire!

[CBR]

101. Not any more than it always has...

slavery, Japanese internment, voting restrictions, Trail of Tears, child labor, and all that...

[paulsby]

103. no

but historically speaking, the naysayers always come out in economic and other downturns and in their best chicken little impression claim it's all over.

and they are always wrong. it's happened many times before, it will continue to happen.

it's historically myopic and silly.

[blues90]

109. I think the turning point of this country was the 60's

There was hope and leaders that were idealist and the people in this country were not divided . But once these leaders were murdered and the Vietnam war was going on something happened and something died in people.
Somehow we bacame a country in one big hurry to no where , perhapes we were running from that time blindly into an un-known future.

[Baby Snooks]

111. The Boom Boom Room

For those astrologically-minded types, the United States is about to have what's known as a return. A Pluto return. Returning to where it was when the founding fathers took their pens and started it all.

When you stay true to yourself and your word, you know, those silly commitments we make or worse put to paper, sometimes in Constitutions, Pluto likes it and rewards you. When you don't, well, Pluto doesn't like it and sends you off to the Boom Boom Room.

It looks like we are headed for the Boom Boom Room.

[Vidar]

112. Past the drain, headed for the sewer.

[Pavulon]

113. Get your passport out sunshine..

hit up india, then maybe china. Not the city but the countryside. Any major latin american capitol has the stinky truth too.

If you had to exist in the abject fucked up filth the majority of the world lived in you would be dead,literally.

Did we bring up sub-Saharan africa. 6 million death in DPRC in ten years or so.

Everything you mention is trivial in the face of that. The prospect of shitting yourself to death vs bailouts is an easy call.

Count yourself lucky.