1 day ago
Sunday, March 7, 2010
News Hounds-We Watch FOX so you dont have to GLENN BECK HATES PUBLIC SCHOOL
News Hounds
SO, here is a series of you tube videos with the latest Glenn Beck rants. He asks poeple to give up their social security benefits, becasue those are entittlement programs. He also rails against public education. Yep, this guy Beck? I bet the Tea baggers LOVE that idea. As much as they HATE to pay taxes, they LOVE their retirement and SS benefits LOL.
He is mad that the government is teaching immigrant children. Well, Glenn when your parents came here they were immigrants. I mean look at you, there isnt a SPECK of blood other than white in here.
Now, when Glenn starts talking about WHY the Mayflower landed, he said that poeple were tired of being told what to do. Well crap you are telling peple what to do. So, where do we sign up to send you back to England?
By the way, he is railing against progressives now. Yeah LORD FORBID we should ever progress in this country.
THat, Glenn will destroy us even faster than socialism. Its called FACISM...that is what the Republican is. He starts telling poeple to pull theri kids out of public school. He also accuses poeple of anusing their children if they send them to public schools, and then wonders if the state should come and take your children away if your send them to public school!! OMG!! THIS GUY IS CERTIFIABLY NITS>
THen, he starts to say...IM FOR THE EARTH THE EARTH IS GOD.
Cool. See ya at the next Greenpeace, rally there Glenn !! HAHAHAHAHA
SO, here is a series of you tube videos with the latest Glenn Beck rants. He asks poeple to give up their social security benefits, becasue those are entittlement programs. He also rails against public education. Yep, this guy Beck? I bet the Tea baggers LOVE that idea. As much as they HATE to pay taxes, they LOVE their retirement and SS benefits LOL.
He is mad that the government is teaching immigrant children. Well, Glenn when your parents came here they were immigrants. I mean look at you, there isnt a SPECK of blood other than white in here.
Now, when Glenn starts talking about WHY the Mayflower landed, he said that poeple were tired of being told what to do. Well crap you are telling peple what to do. So, where do we sign up to send you back to England?
By the way, he is railing against progressives now. Yeah LORD FORBID we should ever progress in this country.
THat, Glenn will destroy us even faster than socialism. Its called FACISM...that is what the Republican is. He starts telling poeple to pull theri kids out of public school. He also accuses poeple of anusing their children if they send them to public schools, and then wonders if the state should come and take your children away if your send them to public school!! OMG!! THIS GUY IS CERTIFIABLY NITS>
THen, he starts to say...IM FOR THE EARTH THE EARTH IS GOD.
Cool. See ya at the next Greenpeace, rally there Glenn !! HAHAHAHAHA
Afghanistan Womens prison, where women must raise their children.
fghanistan Womens prison, where women must raise their children.
In the US we dont have prisons for families. OR DOWE? Yes, sadly we do. THe INS houses families waiting for esportation in unused prisons and baracks all over this country. However, the womens prison in Afghanistan are very difficult. But they are struggling and trying to gain there freedom. Most are in there for violating SHARIA law. IE if you are raped, you go to jail, and must give birth to your rapists cjild and care for it.
THis anout that. DO you really think it could NOT happen in this country? Christian right extremists want abortion outlawed in the case of rape or incest and want to ban all contraceptition and they advovcate abstinence. this will undermine already shakey rape laws, and make the woman a partner in the crime.
WAKE UP AMERICA AND SMELL THE COFFEE.
In the US we dont have prisons for families. OR DOWE? Yes, sadly we do. THe INS houses families waiting for esportation in unused prisons and baracks all over this country. However, the womens prison in Afghanistan are very difficult. But they are struggling and trying to gain there freedom. Most are in there for violating SHARIA law. IE if you are raped, you go to jail, and must give birth to your rapists cjild and care for it.
THis anout that. DO you really think it could NOT happen in this country? Christian right extremists want abortion outlawed in the case of rape or incest and want to ban all contraceptition and they advovcate abstinence. this will undermine already shakey rape laws, and make the woman a partner in the crime.
WAKE UP AMERICA AND SMELL THE COFFEE.
GOTV IRAQI style..lets see if we can keep up
A the brave Iraqis go to the poles, the DEM party on Kauai needs a shot in the arm of adrenaline. We need a complete PURGING of our party of dead wait, former Republicans who still ACT and THINK and VOTE like Republicans who are just in our party to pander for votes. WE NEED to get back to what is the CORE of our Democratic Party. We are asleep at the wheel while the Repubs are FROTHING and FOAMING at the mouth beating up on our Prez and obstructing the wheels of governmnt and justice in this country.
Can we at least be as brave as the Iraqi people? I can guarantee you that in this country if buildings were being blown up like they are in Iraq and everyone was threatened with being shot, we wouldnt have the guts to vote.
Well, I would. But I dont know about the rest of you. HEY DEMS GET YOUR SPINES BACK AND LETS MOVE IT.
45 years after march, Selma priest remembers Bloody Sunday - CNN.com
45 years after march, Selma priest remembers Bloody Sunday - CNN.com
STOP THE HATE AND THE OBSTRUCTIONISM OF THE TEA PARTY WHICH IS JUST DRIVEN BY THE FORCES OF THE KKK WITH THEIR SHEETS OFF> TODAY WHILE WE MOURN AND REMEMBER BLOODY SUNDAY LET US REMEMBER WHY AND WHAT WE EALLY STAND FOR> NOT THEIR AMERICA..............................................................OUR AMERICA.
STOP THE HATE AND THE OBSTRUCTIONISM OF THE TEA PARTY WHICH IS JUST DRIVEN BY THE FORCES OF THE KKK WITH THEIR SHEETS OFF> TODAY WHILE WE MOURN AND REMEMBER BLOODY SUNDAY LET US REMEMBER WHY AND WHAT WE EALLY STAND FOR> NOT THEIR AMERICA..............................................................OUR AMERICA.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Wal Mart Expose-THE REAL REASON WE NEED HEALTHCARE REFORM WATCH
Wal-Mart
And this goes for all of the companies as well. Kmart, Home Depot, Cost u Less (who doesnt even accept foodstamps for its food products yet promises to help large families,), any large chain retail outlet or food outlet: its ALL THE SAME.
Tea Party members obviously do not work for nay of these companies as the rank and file. Or they would not be tea partier. Join the Coffee Party, and lets get things like this stopped. This is a long movie but worth every single second to watch.
And this goes for all of the companies as well. Kmart, Home Depot, Cost u Less (who doesnt even accept foodstamps for its food products yet promises to help large families,), any large chain retail outlet or food outlet: its ALL THE SAME.
Tea Party members obviously do not work for nay of these companies as the rank and file. Or they would not be tea partier. Join the Coffee Party, and lets get things like this stopped. This is a long movie but worth every single second to watch.
Coffee Party, With a Taste for Civic Participation, Is Added to the Political Menu - NYTimes.com
Coffee Party, With a Taste for Civic Participation, Is Added to the Political Menu - NYTimes.com
JOIN THE COFFEE PARTY!! IN THREE WEEKS IT HAS GROWN TO ALMOST ONE MILLION PEOPLE!! THE SURGE IS ON!!
EVEN TEA PATY MEMBERS ARE FLOODING IN BECAUSE THEY ARE SICK OF THE HATEFUL RACIST RHETORIC OF THE TEA PRTY M(OVEMENT!! WE DO NOT THINK THT GOVERNMENT IS THE END OF THE PEOPLE AND WE BELEIVE IN HEALTH CARE AND IN EQUITY AND EQUALITY WE ARE AN INDEPENDENT ACROSS THE AISLE GROUP PROMOTING CIVIL DISCOURSE AND COOPERATION SOMETHING THE TEA PARTY IS NOT
JOIN THE COFFEE PARTY!! IN THREE WEEKS IT HAS GROWN TO ALMOST ONE MILLION PEOPLE!! THE SURGE IS ON!!
EVEN TEA PATY MEMBERS ARE FLOODING IN BECAUSE THEY ARE SICK OF THE HATEFUL RACIST RHETORIC OF THE TEA PRTY M(OVEMENT!! WE DO NOT THINK THT GOVERNMENT IS THE END OF THE PEOPLE AND WE BELEIVE IN HEALTH CARE AND IN EQUITY AND EQUALITY WE ARE AN INDEPENDENT ACROSS THE AISLE GROUP PROMOTING CIVIL DISCOURSE AND COOPERATION SOMETHING THE TEA PARTY IS NOT
Coffee Party movement: THE MANIFESTO read this FIRST
Coffee Party movement: Alternative to tea - washingtonpost.com
a voice and audience in Washington D.C.? Will the Coffee Party be trying to work with the Republicans and Democrats in changing the current system or advocating for creating a new party system?
a voice and audience in Washington D.C.? Will the Coffee Party be trying to work with the Republicans and Democrats in changing the current system or advocating for creating a new party system?
Annabel Park: We gain a voice by organizing local chapters, and we need our volunteers to learn to effectively and respectfully communicate amongst themselves and with their elected representatives. We are a democracy and every vote DOES count, and we have to engage everyone in the political process -- that's the only way we're going to have a government that represents the will of the people.
In Washington, it will matter that, as voters, we will determine the outcome of elections.
_______________________
Wall Township, N.J.: I think this is a wonderful idea, and a long time in coming. Our politicians need to know that we also have a voice. Annabel, will you be helping in going beyond the Internet in your organizing? In other words will you consider public gatherings?
Thanks
Annabel Park: Yes, the Internet is a tool for organizing a grassroots movement focused on building communities where people feel safe to engage in civic discourse. We will do 2 things.
1) We will organize public gatherings. One of the events that we are planning is a national coffee house day on March 13th, in which we will encourage our existing and soon-to-form chapters to facilitate informative and civil dialogue about issues that affect all of us, collectively. We will ask them to report back to us on what consensus they reach, and take action from there.
2) We will figure out how to use technology to create collaborative environments for Americans to engage in problem solving, and discuss specific policy approaches.
_______________________
Vienna, Va.: I think there is an intersection between the Tea Party and the Coffee Party. I think that both groups understand that corporate America has too much influence in our government.
The insurance companies and others making massive money off health care are the ones pushing back on changes to that system. The utilities and oil companies don't want caps on carbon because the status quo works just find for them.
If we could come together and beat back the "Lobbyist Beast" our representatives would have to represent us and not corporate interests. How could we join forces and roll the corporate lobbies back?
Annabel Park: I do think there is room for us to work with people who are currently in the Tea Party, especially in the area you mention. To do this, we have to go through a process. We have to sit down with people who identify with the Tea Party movement with the goal of reaching understanding.
It is true that both groups feel that the government is failing us in many ways. I think if we examine the language that some in the Tea Party have been using, there are some things that are alienating to many of us in the Coffee Party: the extreme rhetoric, and the hostility toward the federal government. We would have to ask them tone this down, so that we can focus on actively listening to one another and problem-solving.
_______________________
New York, N.Y.: Where, outside of the Internet, does the Coffee Party exist? Do you have an office, a publication, bumper stickers, etc.?
Annabel Park: It is growing faster than we were prepared for it to grow. Please look at our website: www.coffeepartyUSA.org
If you click the "Engage" tap, you can see the chapters that existed as of last night. There are more now.
_______________________
washingtonpost.com: Coffee Party USA
_______________________
Herndon, Va.: How do you account for the phenomenal explosion of interest in just one month, as attested by the more than 15,000 fans on Facebook?
Annabel Park: The Facebook fan page captured the spirit of the time. Many of us had the same thought: the tactics being employed by the Tea Party movement are not likely to produce solutions to the problems that we face as a nation, and we urgently need an alternative.
It's very hard to get people to rally around a new idea. But here I am reminding them of something that they already know: that we are all Americans. We should not divide ourselves over differences of opinion. We need to be one community. Our democracy is what unites us as a people. We must protect it, and to protect it we must engage in the political process, respecting the reality that we are diverse nation with diverse points of view.
_______________________
Oak Hill, Va.: Hi Annabel: In some respects I thought the article made too much of the "similarities" between the Tea Party and the Coffee Party....could you give your perspective on the key differences? Thanks.
Annabel Park: A key difference is in our emphasis on the democratic process, on respectful and civil engagement with one another and with our elected officials.
In the current climate, too many Americans are afraid to participate, and find the process itself too alienating, because it is dominated by people with extreme opinions and extreme tactics.
It's hard to speak up when others in the room are screaming.
So in the end, we may want some of the same things, but we our hoping our journey getting there will be very different.
_______________________
Philadelphia, Pa.: Is the Coffee Party turning out to align to a specific party --Republican, Democrat, or another party -- or is it striving for non-partisanship?
Annabel Park: We are purely grassroots movement, independent of any party, corporation, or lobbying organization. That is our strength and we plan to use it to facilitate a collaborative process that would encourage people to come together as a community, checking party affiliation at the door.
Many of the people who have found refuge in the Coffee Party community are among the 53% of America who supported candidate Obama's vision for our nation's future. They are disconcerted by the vision that is being expressed through some of the Tea Party activities and some of their leaders' statements. But we do have a number of Republicans and many, many independents who reject what they see as the politics of division and obstructionism.
_______________________
Plain City, Ohio: How will the Coffee Party differ from other progressive organizations like MoveOn.org?
Annabel Park: We are different from MoveOn.org and other established organizations because we do not have a top down structure. We began a month ago during a very specific time in which the call to action was not based on any cause, candidate, or policy. It was based on a desire to change our political culture.
We are focused more on the process than on the outcome. Protecting the democratic process is our end goal, setting an example for fellow Americans and for our representatives in government. This is what participatory democracy can be, and ought to be.
We are democracy advocates more than anything else.
_______________________
Arlington, Va.: I disagree that the main problem is lack of consensus between the extremes of the left and right. I think the problem with the political process (and the reason for Americans' dissatisfaction) is the degree to which Congress passes bills to please large corporations, regardless of which politicians have been voted for. How does the Coffee Party deal with this fundamental problem?
Annabel Park: We do feel like we need to make fundamental changes in our government's relationship to Wall Street and the corporations. We feel that the interests of ordinary Americans are not being represented well enough because we have a democracy with a loophole. The constituents that are most organized end up dominating the process, and corporations have the resources to pay thousands of lobbyists to spend their time influencing our government. This is fundamentally unfair and undemocratic.
The only way to close the loophole is for voters rise to their civic duty. They have money, but we have the votes. No one gets elected without votes.
_______________________
Fairfax, Va.: Is the Coffee Party concerned only about health care reform, or is it going to be a voice for rational and centrist government? If It is limited to health care it will die. If it speaks to independents and centrists from both parties it can have a significant voice.
Annabel Park: No, the Coffee Party is not only concerned about health care reform (although the poll on our website does seem to indicate a great deal of interest in addressing our health care crisis).
I think we need a process that responds to the changing needs of real people. Currently, there is desperate need for many people in the Coffee Party to access to health care. It is literally a matter of live and death for some people in our movement. We hope that we can address health care and move on to many challenges that face us as a people.
_______________________
Vienna, Va.: If you look at the recent Pew study on the Millennial Generation, that group is more progressive than the preceding generations. How are the Coffee Party Groups specifically reaching out to that cohort? They are really important.
Annabel Park: Great point, Vienna! The Millennial Generation, frankly, has a lot to teach the rest of us when comes to appreciation of diversity and a sense of collective identity that transcends the usual lines that divide us. We want to appeal to them to not only be involved, but to take on leadership. We are starting chapters on college campuses where students can come together to practice democracy as a community.
We believe that, when the Millennial Generation steps up for our country's future, it will lead to profound changes in our politics.
_______________________
Boston, Mass.: What is one key point that you would like to stress to your early followers and participants in the Coffee Party?
Annabel Park: We want to shift the paradigm from thinking of politics as a zero-sum game with two opposing sides. If one side loses, the other side wins. This is not a democracy. This is a misunderstanding of the tenets of democracy.
Democracy is based on the notion of the common good. People should come together to go through a deliberation process to produce collective decisions that benefit the common good.
As citizens, we need to find ways to, first, create a stronger sense of community and common good among Americans. And this is precisely why we believe that the rhetorical frameworks currently dominating our political process is not good for the country.
We want to offer an alternative, and lead by example.
_______________________
Philadelphia, Pa.: How are you going to be able to keep control of your message? Are you afraid a few members who may have a more radical position could hijack your cause? How are you going to keep a consistent message for the media?
Annabel Park: This will be a challenge. Because we believe that we are tapping into an existing desire for community and constructive civic participation, and a hunger for solution-oriented discourse, we feel optimistic that those who join us will do so because they share these ideals, and buy into our approach.
I'm hoping that people who participate in our events will see the positive impact of this approach, and choose to abide by it.
_______________________
Fallbrook, Calif.: According to most polling, the public option is supported by 70 percent of Americans. Should we make this our first priority? Should we stand up to the insurance industry? Seems to me that now is the moment.
Thanks.
Annabel Park: The preference of the majority of Americans is not the only factor that our elected leaders take into account. That is the crux of the matter. I think there is confusion among people in Congress and in our government, because they don't have a good process for them to figure out what their constituents really think or want.
Despite the multitude of polling data and political analysis, there is a vacuum of reliable knowledge about how the silent majority really feels. This makes it possible for special interests, and deliberate misinformation to corrupt the process.
Countering this problem is a big part of our project. We believe it is time to turn down the volume blasting from cable news, tune out the pundits, and meet face to face and talk to each other.
A coffee house is a good environment for people to share their stories. We plan to use new technology, in particular the Internet, to allow a maximum number of people to participate in creating a more accurate narrative about America.
Check out www.YouTube.com/coffeepartyusa
We will be encouraging more and more people to add their voices to this channel and other on-line forums.
_______________________
washingtonpost.com: Coffee Party USA/YouTube
_______________________
Gaithersburg, Md.: I get frustrated, because it doesn't seem to be the merits of an policy position that invite consideration, but instead, how loudy it is promoted, how much money is behind it or how many times it is repeated, even through misinformation. How does one combat the noise with civility? It seems like an impossible task.
Annabel Park: I agree this is very frustrating. We combat this noise with information and education. And it's important that we find a way to present information in ways that will find a receptive audience. I think that the emergence of the pundit class has warped the process of exchanging information. It also has the effect of causing ordinary Americans to believe that there are "smarter" people more qualified to participate then we are.
We need to encourage Americans to be confident in their ability to understand the issues and the challenges that we face. This is the best way to prevent special interests from gaming the system and exploiting the loophole in our democracy.
_______________________
Alexandria, Va.: Do you have a couple of hundred million dollars?
If not, what is your plan to get our elected representatives to listen to you/us?
Annabel Park: We have more than $500 in donations from our website. Is that enough?
Obviously, the answer is that we are the voters. We believe that we represent the majority of Americans. And in a democracy, that means they don't have a job without us.
_______________________
Annabel Park: Thank you very much for your interest everyone. If I did not get to your question, please come to our website or to our Facebook page and post it there. It is really helpful for me to know what questions you all have. And I will do my best to answer them in the coming days and weeks.
Hope to sit down and have coffee with you all soon.
www.coffeepartyUSA.org
www.facebook.com/coffeeparty
Friday, March 5, 2010
COFFE#E PARTY GATHERING INAUGERAL KALAHEO COFFEE MARCH 13th 8am to 11 am
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6500/p/salsa/event/common/public/?key=19208
everyone is welcome. we will take the outside seating. I will be holding about 10 chairs or so, early so come and join us. We will take a pledge of the coffee party which states we will be conducting ourselves in a civil manner and encouraging civil discourse over a nice cup of cofee and great food, supporting our local businesses and putting money back into the economy.
NO SIGNAGE OR PROTESTING!! We are not about that. This is not about shouting and yelling at each other and acting in a hateful manner. This is sitting down like afults and politely discussing the issues of the day. We get the real issues out there, and cut out the hype. We cut through the Fuxed News, i mean FOX news, sorry, excuse that little slip there. We show people the truth about health care and many other issues by peacefully gathering over a cup of coffee, rather than frothing at the mouth over a cup of tea.
everyone is welcome. we will take the outside seating. I will be holding about 10 chairs or so, early so come and join us. We will take a pledge of the coffee party which states we will be conducting ourselves in a civil manner and encouraging civil discourse over a nice cup of cofee and great food, supporting our local businesses and putting money back into the economy.
NO SIGNAGE OR PROTESTING!! We are not about that. This is not about shouting and yelling at each other and acting in a hateful manner. This is sitting down like afults and politely discussing the issues of the day. We get the real issues out there, and cut out the hype. We cut through the Fuxed News, i mean FOX news, sorry, excuse that little slip there. We show people the truth about health care and many other issues by peacefully gathering over a cup of coffee, rather than frothing at the mouth over a cup of tea.
Cutting Through The Noise | Coffee Party
Cutting Through The Noise | Coffee Party
Cutting Through The Noise
Informative, reality-based articles and essays
- “Myths and Falsehoods About Health Care Reform”
- http://mediamatters.org/resear
ch/200908200002 - http://mediamatters.org/resear
ch/200909080001 - http://mediamatters.org/resear
ch/200911130002 -
- “Seven Falsehoods About Health Care: Big myths about the current debate”
- http://www.factcheck.org/2009/
08/seven-falsehoods-about-heal th-care/ -
- “Conservative media revive “death panels” yet again with new, false target”
- http://mediamatters.org/resear
ch/200912230036 -
- “Twenty-six Lies About H.R. 3200: A notorious analysis of the House health care bill contains 48 claims. Twenty-six of them are false and the rest mostly misleading. Only four are true.”
- http://www.factcheck.org/2009/
08/twenty-six-lies-about-hr-32 00/ -
- CIR (Comprehensive Immigration Reform) recommended by CATO institute, a respected conservative think tank, to create jobs and infuse the American economy. “The positive impact for U.S. households of legalization under an optimal visa tax would be 1.27 percent of GDP or $180 billion.”
- http://www.cato.org/pub_displa
y.php?pub_id=10438 -
- CIR (Comprehensive Immigration reform) is good for economic recovery, so says Center for American Progress, a respected center-left think tank.
- http://www.americanprogress.or
g/issues/2009/11/immigration_e conomy.html -
- “Climategate: Hacked e-mails show climate scientists in a bad light but don’t change scientific consensus on global warming.”
- http://www.factcheck.org/2009/
12/climategate/ -
- “Can the media’s climate change deniers ignore the latest temperature record?”
- http://mediamatters.org/resear
ch/201001250018 -
- “Say it ain’t snow: Media suggestions that snowstorms cast doubt on global warming”
- http://mediamatters.org/resear
ch/201002110035 -
- “Cap-and-trade: Green Jobs or Job Killer? Government energy economists predict job growth would likely slow, but how much is uncertain. “
- http://www.factcheck.org/2009/
10/cap-and-trade-green-jobs-or -job-killer/
HEALTH CARE
IMMIGRATION
CLIMATE CHANGE
- “Myths and falsehoods about the deficit”
- http://mediamatters.org/resear
ch/201001270030 - Hannity falsely claims Obama “created” the “massive deficit” and that “stimulus is a failure”
- http://mediamatters.org/resear
ch/201001290035
- “Myths and falsehoods surrounding the Christmas Day terrorist attack”
- http://mediamatters.org/resear
ch/201001080024 - “Salon’s handy-dandy guide to refuting the Birthers”
- http://www.salon.com/news/feat
ure/2009/08/05/birther_faq/ - “Myths and falsehoods about Barack Obama”
- http://mediamatters.org/resear
ch/200703200011 - “Tea Party Fact-Checking: Palin makes a few errors in her convention speech — and on Fox News Sunday.”
- http://www.factcheck.org/2010/
02/tea-party-fact-checking/
- “Whoppers of 2009: We review the choicest falsehoods from a year that kept us busy.”
- http://www.factcheck.org/2009/
12/whoppers-of-2009/ - Monica Crowley revives dubious claim that waterboarding KSM resulted in “actionable intelligence”
- http://mediamatters.org/resear
ch/201001100010
ECONOMY/DEFICIT
TERRORISM
BIRTHERISM
PRESIDENT OBAMA
SARAH PALIN
Worst Falsehoods Told in 2009
TORTURE
Coffee Party: A Tea Party for liberals? - THE WEEK
As the conservative grassroots Tea Party gains influence, a new movement called the Coffee Party recently emerged as an alternative for frustrated left-leaning voters — with citizens across the country interested in starting or joining a local chapter. Here, an instant guide to the Coffee party's origins, its message, and its possible impact on the U.S. political scene:
How did the Coffee Party start?
The self-described "100-percent grassroots" organization was born of a single Facebook status update. Washington, DC-area documentary filmmaker Annabel Park, 41, wrote on Jan. 26: "Let's start a coffee party...let's get together and drink cappuccino and have real political dialogue with substance and compassion." The impromptu notion quickly grew into a "Join the Coffee Party Movement" fan page and a website, Coffee Party USA.
What is the movement's message?
The Coffee Party is committed to promoting civility and "solutions-oriented" discussion in our nation's political discourse — in contrast to the "blame oriented" politics the Tea Party practices. Movement leaders also hope to reduce the influence "corporate interests" have on our voting process, and to promote a progressive legislative agenda.
Is it part of the Democratic Party?
Park has said that her movement is not "aligned" with any party and has dismissed the two-party system as out of date. That said, the Coffee Party's message seems to be overtly pro-Democrat. and Annabel Park and other Coffee Party organizers volunteered with the 2008 Obama presidential campaign.
Is it a direct reaction to the Tea Party movement?
Park has told CNN that her initiative is a "response to how [Tea party leaders] are trying to change our government," adding that the two groups want some of the same things, but she finds the Tea Party's methodology "alienating."
How big is the Coffee Party?
The Coffee Party's Facebook fan page had 40,000 members on March 1. Three days later, the number was 70,000 and growing. Local chapters have popped up in 30 states. "I’m in shock, just the level of energy here," said Park in an interview with The New York Times. "We have 300 requests to start a chapter that I have not been able to respond to."
Is anyone taking it seriously?
Yes and no. Conservatives have dismissed the Coffee Party as "simply...part of the perpetual Obama campaign." Brendan Steinhauser of FreedomWorks, a non-profit with ties to the Tea Party, says, "This Coffee Party looks like a weak attempt at satire or a manufactured response to a legitimate widespread grassroots movement." Even some on the left are skeptical. "Coffee is America's wake-up drink," says Barb Shelly in the Kansas City Star. "Tea is thought of as the weak substitute. Sorry to say, though, I think the reverse will be true in politics."
Does Annabel Park really drink "cappuccino" instead of coffee?
Unclear, but she was initially flexible on the beverage front. Her original Facebook post read: [L]et's start a coffee party … smoothie party. red bull party. anything but tea...ooh how about cappuccino party? That would really piss 'em off because it sounds elitist."
THIS WAS AN ARTICLE WRITTEN BY THE WEEK NEWS AND OPINION.
How did the Coffee Party start?
The self-described "100-percent grassroots" organization was born of a single Facebook status update. Washington, DC-area documentary filmmaker Annabel Park, 41, wrote on Jan. 26: "Let's start a coffee party...let's get together and drink cappuccino and have real political dialogue with substance and compassion." The impromptu notion quickly grew into a "Join the Coffee Party Movement" fan page and a website, Coffee Party USA.
What is the movement's message?
The Coffee Party is committed to promoting civility and "solutions-oriented" discussion in our nation's political discourse — in contrast to the "blame oriented" politics the Tea Party practices. Movement leaders also hope to reduce the influence "corporate interests" have on our voting process, and to promote a progressive legislative agenda.
Is it part of the Democratic Party?
Park has said that her movement is not "aligned" with any party and has dismissed the two-party system as out of date. That said, the Coffee Party's message seems to be overtly pro-Democrat. and Annabel Park and other Coffee Party organizers volunteered with the 2008 Obama presidential campaign.
Is it a direct reaction to the Tea Party movement?
Park has told CNN that her initiative is a "response to how [Tea party leaders] are trying to change our government," adding that the two groups want some of the same things, but she finds the Tea Party's methodology "alienating."
How big is the Coffee Party?
The Coffee Party's Facebook fan page had 40,000 members on March 1. Three days later, the number was 70,000 and growing. Local chapters have popped up in 30 states. "I’m in shock, just the level of energy here," said Park in an interview with The New York Times. "We have 300 requests to start a chapter that I have not been able to respond to."
Is anyone taking it seriously?
Yes and no. Conservatives have dismissed the Coffee Party as "simply...part of the perpetual Obama campaign." Brendan Steinhauser of FreedomWorks, a non-profit with ties to the Tea Party, says, "This Coffee Party looks like a weak attempt at satire or a manufactured response to a legitimate widespread grassroots movement." Even some on the left are skeptical. "Coffee is America's wake-up drink," says Barb Shelly in the Kansas City Star. "Tea is thought of as the weak substitute. Sorry to say, though, I think the reverse will be true in politics."
Does Annabel Park really drink "cappuccino" instead of coffee?
Unclear, but she was initially flexible on the beverage front. Her original Facebook post read: [L]et's start a coffee party … smoothie party. red bull party. anything but tea...ooh how about cappuccino party? That would really piss 'em off because it sounds elitist."
THIS WAS AN ARTICLE WRITTEN BY THE WEEK NEWS AND OPINION.
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald
Who are the actual "crazy" people in American politics?
(updated below)
My Salon colleague, Mark Benjamin, writes about last night's Larry King Show -- featuring a debate between Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson and GOP Rep. Michelle Bachmann -- and does so by repeatedly branding Grayson as being every bit as "crazy" as Bachmann. Beginning with the article's headline ("Bachmann and Grayson: A diary of crazy") to his sarcastic description of "these two towering intellects" to his claim that Grayson and Bachmann are "the Candy Stripers of Crazy of their parties," Benjamin denigrates Grayson's intellect and mental health by depicting him -- with virtually no cited basis -- as the Democratic mirror image of Bachmann's rabid, out-of-touch extremism. This view of Grayson has become a virtual Washington platitude, solidified by The New York Times' David Herszenhorn's dismissal of Grayson as "the latest incarnation of what in the American political idiom is known as a wing nut."
There are so many things wrong with this analysis. To begin with, it's a classic case of false journalistic objectivity: the compulsion of journalists to posit equivalencies between the "two sides" regardless of whether they are actually equal (since I'm calling a GOP member of Congress "crazy," I now have to find a Democrat to so label). Benjamin cites numerous Bachmann statements that demonstrate her penchant for bizarre claims (and there are many he omitted), but points to only one Grayson statement: his famous floor speech in which he claimed: "If you get sick in America, the Republican health care plan is this: Die quickly." One could reasonably object to that statement as unduly inflammatory rhetoric, but Grayson was one of the only members of Congress willing to forcefully connect health care policy to the actual lives (and deaths) of American citizens. There's nothing crazy about dramatically emphasizing that causal connection; far crazier is to ignore it.
But more important, Grayson has managed to have more positive impact on more substantive matters than any House freshman in a long time (indeed, he makes more of a positive impact than the vast majority of members of Congress generally). He has tapped into his background as successful litigator and his Harvard degrees in law and public policy to shape public discussion on a wide range of issues -- from his highly effective grilling of the Fed Vice Chair regarding massive, secretive Fed activities and aggressive investigation of the fraud surrounding the Wall Street bailout to his unparalleled work exposing defense contractor corruption, his efforts to warn of the unconstitutional underpinnings of anti-ACORN legislation (a federal court proved him right), his creative (if not wise) legislative proposals to limit corporate influence in politics, and his successful, bipartisan crusade to bring more transparency to the Fed. What conceivable basis exists for disparaging as "crazy" one of the few members of Congress who is both willing and able to bring attention to some of the most severe corruption and worst excesses of our political establishment?
The most significant point highlighted by this attack on Grayson as "crazy" is that, in our political discourse, the two party establishments typically define what is "sane," and anyone outside of those parameters is, by definition, "crazy." "Crazy" is the way that political orthodoxies are enforced and the leadership of the two political parties preserved as the only viable choices for Sane People to embrace. Anyone who tiptoes outside of those establishment parameters -- from Ron Paul on the right to Dennis Kucinich on the left, to say nothing of Further Left advocates -- is, more or less by definition, branded as "crazy" by all Serious, mainstream people.
The converse is even more perverse: the Washington establishment -- which has endorsed countless insane policies, wrought so much destruction on every level, and has provoked the intense hatred of the American citizenry across the ideological spectrum -- is the exclusive determinant for what is "sane." As long as one remains snugly within its confines, one will be shielded from the "crazy" appellation regardless of how many genuinely crazy views one embraces. Positing proximity to the Washington Establishment -- of all things -- as the Hallmark of Political Sanity is about as irrational as it gets, yet that continues to be the barometer of Political Normalcy.
Just consider who is supported and embraced by those who slap the "crazy" label on the forehead of every perceived dissident. Hillary Clinton -- the ultimate embodiment of Democratic Party Seriousness and Sanity -- supported the invasion of Iraq by warning of scary weapons and Al Qaeda ties that did not exist ("Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members"), and she spent her campaign beating her chest and doing things like threatening to "totally obliterate" Iran. While in office, Barack Obama has endorsed putting people in cages with no charges, assassinating American citizens with no due process, eavesdropping on Americans en masse with little oversight, increasing military spending beyond its shockingly inflated levels while searching for ways to cut Medicaid and Social Security, and blocking judicial review of presidential felonies and war crimes on the ground that those criminal acts constitute vital "state secrets" and must be protected. Most Serious, Sane Democrats have supported all of that insanity.
Meanwhile, the GOP establishment from top to bottom spent a decade cheering on torture, disappearances, abductions, unprovoked wars, chronic presidential lawbreaking and truly sick McCarthyite witch hunts. Both of the Sane Parties conspired to transfer, with little accountability, massive amounts of public wealth to the very Wall Street firms which virtually destroyed the entire world economy, while standing by and doing very little about tragic levels of joblessness or the future risk of Wall-Street-caused financial crises; kept us waging war for a full decade in multiple countries (while threatening others) even as we near the precipice of bankruptcy, the hallmarks of under-developed nation status and the disappearance of the social safety net; and are so captive to the corporate interests which own the Government that they viciously compete with one another over who can be a more loyal servant to those interests.
While all of that is happening, those whom all Serious, Sane people agree are Crazy -- people like Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul and Alan Grayson -- vehemently oppose most if not all of that and try to find ways to expand the realm of legitimate debate and political alliances beyond the suffocating stranglehold of those responsible. So who exactly is Crazy? That Grayson sometimes treats our political discourse as the ludicrous freak show that it is, rather than pretending that it is substantive, sober and Serious, is evidence of his sanity -- not the opposite.
Are there positions held by people like Kucinich, Paul and Grayson that are fairly characterized as radical and wrong? Certainly: that's true for everyone, most of all the mavens of the Washington Establishment whose followers claim a monopoly on Sanity and demonize as Crazy all who deviate. But between establishment crazies and those who have been marginalized by them as Crazy, the former have wrought far more damage than the latter. It's not even a close call. There are many legitimate ways to measure Craziness; the extent to which one deviates from the orthodoxies of the political establishment is most assuredly not one of them. If anything, given the character and record of the American political establishment, such deviation is a necessary (though not sufficient) condition for actual sanity.
UPDATE: Here is a classic example of this dynamic: back in mid-January, a mere six weeks ago, Grayson went on Hardball and advocated that the Democrats pass health care reform through reconciliation, which would enable them to avoid a GOP filibuster. But back then, all Serious People (i.e., dutiful Party Loyalists) insisted that the mere suggestion was crazy (because neither party's leadership had yet deemed it acceptable), and Matthews thus angrily berated Grayson as crazy, unrealistic, an "outsider" and "pandering to the netroots" for suggesting such a thing (Beltway journalists are nothing if they're not mindless amplifiers of establishment orthodoxy). But now? Thirty-three Democratic Senators are calling for the passage of a public-option-inclusive health care reform bill via reconciliation, and the President himself wants to use that process as well (albeit without a public option). Now that Party Leaders have embraced reconciliation, it's been magically and instantly transformed from Crazy Fringe Loser Talk into Serious, Sane, Responsible Advocacy -- all within a matter of weeks. That's virtually always how the "Crazy" label works: as a means of marginalizing those who advocate ideas that the Washington Establishment rejects.
Watch the best show in town, PALIN TV -comedic show
http://palintv.com/services/player/bcpid61264526001?bctid=68066928001
now, we can conveniently keep track of every piece of juicy stuff coming out of the palin camp
or should i say the scarah failin camp lol
now, we can conveniently keep track of every piece of juicy stuff coming out of the palin camp
or should i say the scarah failin camp lol
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Holy Poi Balls, Batman! Bunning, Reid cross words over unemployment
Bunning, Reid cross words over unemployment
HOLY POI BALLS BATMAN!! Is this guy for REAL? This is the true face of the Republican party. This is the insanity under which their idealogy and policies rail against the poor, working poor, and disadvantaged, elderly and handicappaed, and now...those who need unemployment extensions, clearly because the prejudiced republican party feels that these peeple are lazy bums asking for a handout...which is ridiculous..do not deserve to eat, or have a rood over their heads. THis will be great news for Hawaii republicans, who hate their fellow man, and enjoy watching the less fortunate suffer under the brutal regime of our Governor, who while stating she loves the people of hawaii does everything she can to cut services to them. Disgusting VOTE OUT ALL REPUBLICANS in 2010!!
HOLY POI BALLS BATMAN!! Is this guy for REAL? This is the true face of the Republican party. This is the insanity under which their idealogy and policies rail against the poor, working poor, and disadvantaged, elderly and handicappaed, and now...those who need unemployment extensions, clearly because the prejudiced republican party feels that these peeple are lazy bums asking for a handout...which is ridiculous..do not deserve to eat, or have a rood over their heads. THis will be great news for Hawaii republicans, who hate their fellow man, and enjoy watching the less fortunate suffer under the brutal regime of our Governor, who while stating she loves the people of hawaii does everything she can to cut services to them. Disgusting VOTE OUT ALL REPUBLICANS in 2010!!
LUDICROUS CHARGE-Lingle says HSTA cares 'more about money than children' | honoluluadvertiser.com | The Honolulu Advertiser
Lingle says HSTA cares 'more about money than children' | honoluluadvertiser.com | The Honolulu Advertiser
What insanity. Lingle has lost her mind. Herdministration is running completely amuk. This irresponsible behavior and statements from the Governor has just got to stop.
The gall of this lame duck governor to accuse TEACHERS, of not caring about children? What nerve.
This from a woman who has either made severe cutbacks, or obliterated nearly all programs in the state that would help children, or their struggling parents. I wonder how much longer her nose can actually grow? Its a wonder she can get out the door in the morning!!
What insanity. Lingle has lost her mind. Herdministration is running completely amuk. This irresponsible behavior and statements from the Governor has just got to stop.
The gall of this lame duck governor to accuse TEACHERS, of not caring about children? What nerve.
This from a woman who has either made severe cutbacks, or obliterated nearly all programs in the state that would help children, or their struggling parents. I wonder how much longer her nose can actually grow? Its a wonder she can get out the door in the morning!!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Rehearsals for a Civil War
Rehearsals for a Civil War
By James Kunstler on 22 February 2010 on Kunstler.com -
(http://kunstler.com/blog/2010/02/rehearsals-for-a-civil-war.html)
Amid the general incoherence of the Tea Party rebels and the failure of progressives to recognize the structural changes underway in a peak oil world, lies a deadly swamp of paradox where all parties may drown in the quicksand of their own muddled intentions.
The Tea Party appeals to the swelling numbers of the new former middle class angry at the sudden vanishing of their accustomed perqs and entitlements to a predictably comfortable suburban existence. They're mad at the government and hot for "liberty." But how do they propose to maintain the hyper-complexities of suburban life without taxes to pay for fixing the countless roads their lives depend on or to run the gold-plated central school districts that seem to exist solely to provide Friday night football? As for liberty, a handful of despotic corporations from McDonalds to WalMart have been granted the liberty to destroy the Tea-bagger's bodies and the economic fabric of their communities -- and they seem to want more of that kind of liberty, based on the recent decision of a "conservative" majority on the Supreme Court allowing corporations to buy elections. The Tea-baggers also apparently crave the liberty to push other people around, especially on questions of abortion and religion. That's an interesting kind of freedom.
As more and more of them lose jobs and incomes, will they resent their government-issued extended unemployment benefits? I doubt that you'll see them burning their own checks in big public demonstrations the way the Vietnam War protesters burned their draft cards. And of course this also goes for the retiree Tea-baggers who show up at their Tea Parties to inveigh against the government -- except the agency that prints their social security checks, or the other one that pays for their liver transplants (while 40-million unretired, un-insured Americans under sixty-five get slammed with extortionary hospital bills for twenty-thousand dollar routine appendectomies that end up bankrupting them).
Meanwhile, the progressives led by President Obama are doing everything possible to deny the deep tectonic changes thundering through our economic arrangements. They have embarked on a campaign to sustain the unsustainable that will only aggravate and accelerate the more destructive effects of the historic changes underway. For instance, the financial crisis is nature's way of telling us that banking occupies too much space in our economy -- especially the "creative" kind of banking which thrives on innovations in fraud and swindles. Yet the progressives are shoveling the nation's accumulated savings (and way beyond that to earnings-not-yet-saved) into a handful of gigantic banks whose employees live in a separate universe of luxury, and the bail-outs only guarantee more financial mischief based on efforts to get something-for-nothing -- in the absence of an economy that turns capital investment into things of value.
Faced with the multiple threats of peak oil, the progressives are pounding billions into the automobile makers and shoveling tons of stimulus money into highway improvement projects, while the railroads we will desperately need in the future continue to be starved to death, and no effort is made to promote walkable communities -- including a federally-led reform of our insane zoning laws which mandate a suburban development outcome in every corner of the country.
Faced with the hangover of a housing bubble, the president's team has insidiously nationalized the racket and is doing everything possible to keep housing prices unrealistically inflated, so that nobody still lucky enough to have a median income can afford the median price of a house. Meanwhile, the agencies used to facilitate this accounting shell game -- Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, etc. -- are choking on worthless mortgage contracts and generating ever more new toxic mortgage paper.
Then, there is the question of our military adventures half a world away in Afghanistan and Iraq, where both parties are unwilling to face the basic conundrum of what happens when our troops leave those places. Even if we stamp out the current Taliban leadership there are countless avid up-and-comers burning to take their places, and numberless mountain valleys for them to hide in. Al Qaeda, of course, exists mainly as an international computer network. Good luck stamping that out. And if it's oil we're after in Iraq, there are three main possibilities after the last US soldier packs out: one is the unlikely possibility that a competent Iraqi national oil company decides to dole out drilling licenses to "preferred" companies (don't hold your breath Exxon-Mobil); another is that Iraq cracks up into smaller ethnic units lacking the capital or coherence to get their oil out of the ground; and a third is that neighboring Iran comes to control the major oil-producing region around Basra. So, what's it all about, Alfie? -- besides squandering a trillion dollars we don't really have.
Homeland security? Neither party is serious about defending the borders or limiting immigration, and anyway there are "soft" targets beyond counting all over the USA and small arms galore available to get the job done. Three guys with automatic rifles set loose in the Mall of America would be enough to push the retail sector over the edge into oblivion, taking with it the commercial real estate market and all the banks involved in financing it -- in short, destroying the tattered remains of the so-called "consumer economy."
My own guess about where this all leads is in the direction of more anger and incoherence by all parties involved -- which will itself generate yet more anger in a spiraling centrifugal feedback loop that could eventually tear this nation apart. It will be instructive to see how some of these forces play out in the Health Care Reform "summit" that President Obama has called for this week. The Republicans will be rope-a-doped into the uncomfortable position of trying to explain why they have no ideas whatsoever about fixing the hopelessly cruel and unjust medical system that everybody except government employees suffers under. The Democrats will be juked into the equally unhappy position of explaining how a bankrupt US Treasury pays for a more equitable system -- and the insurance companies will sit smirkingly on the sidelines watching both parties fail to address the necessary severe disciplining of the insurance racket.
In the background of even these momentous deliberations, the foundations of capital creak and shatter, the stock market infarcts and the bond market fibrillates, and all the accounting tricks ever dreamed of in the fantasies of Harvard MBAs and MIT math PhDs, and all the newly-evolved species of grifters and shysters who pull the levers of the system will not avail to hold back our inexorable journey into new circumstances that will really determine the outcome of these predicaments.
My take on this article.
Now, although I personally find this far too simplistic, or not simplistic enough: Ie tea party baggers are racists, prejudiced, bible thumping selfish jerks, or you can have my treatese on why the heck half of humanity are war mongering, hate mongering fear driven nutjobs, but it scratches the surface alright. The tone is against progressives, but the very act of progressing forces us to move forwards not backwards. There are innumerable videos on my you tube channel, punohuspicks, to sink a battleship showing the hate, racism, and fear that seems to drive the tea party bagger movement.
Two incidences stick out in my mind.
One was where a mother went to a community meeting about healthcare, and was booed and heckled as she told the rapid frothing at the mouth tea partiers that her child had just died because they could not afford her health care. That was a very low moment for the tea bagger movement.
The other low moment as far as I am concerned, was the shooting of two American Citizens of Hispanic decent in a home invasion crime, perpetrated by two "patriot" vigilantes, both white, with a mexican national accomplice. There are you tube videos showing the two murderers, talking much like the rest of patriots do. And yes, these guys are solidly entrenched in the tea bagger movement.
It is definately a racist movement on its whole dark underbelly, trying to show some sort of a moderate skin on top. But when its tail whips, it shows clearly three things: racism, hatred, prejudice and fear.
By James Kunstler on 22 February 2010 on Kunstler.com -
(http://kunstler.com/blog/2010/02/rehearsals-for-a-civil-war.html)
Amid the general incoherence of the Tea Party rebels and the failure of progressives to recognize the structural changes underway in a peak oil world, lies a deadly swamp of paradox where all parties may drown in the quicksand of their own muddled intentions.
The Tea Party appeals to the swelling numbers of the new former middle class angry at the sudden vanishing of their accustomed perqs and entitlements to a predictably comfortable suburban existence. They're mad at the government and hot for "liberty." But how do they propose to maintain the hyper-complexities of suburban life without taxes to pay for fixing the countless roads their lives depend on or to run the gold-plated central school districts that seem to exist solely to provide Friday night football? As for liberty, a handful of despotic corporations from McDonalds to WalMart have been granted the liberty to destroy the Tea-bagger's bodies and the economic fabric of their communities -- and they seem to want more of that kind of liberty, based on the recent decision of a "conservative" majority on the Supreme Court allowing corporations to buy elections. The Tea-baggers also apparently crave the liberty to push other people around, especially on questions of abortion and religion. That's an interesting kind of freedom.
As more and more of them lose jobs and incomes, will they resent their government-issued extended unemployment benefits? I doubt that you'll see them burning their own checks in big public demonstrations the way the Vietnam War protesters burned their draft cards. And of course this also goes for the retiree Tea-baggers who show up at their Tea Parties to inveigh against the government -- except the agency that prints their social security checks, or the other one that pays for their liver transplants (while 40-million unretired, un-insured Americans under sixty-five get slammed with extortionary hospital bills for twenty-thousand dollar routine appendectomies that end up bankrupting them).
Meanwhile, the progressives led by President Obama are doing everything possible to deny the deep tectonic changes thundering through our economic arrangements. They have embarked on a campaign to sustain the unsustainable that will only aggravate and accelerate the more destructive effects of the historic changes underway. For instance, the financial crisis is nature's way of telling us that banking occupies too much space in our economy -- especially the "creative" kind of banking which thrives on innovations in fraud and swindles. Yet the progressives are shoveling the nation's accumulated savings (and way beyond that to earnings-not-yet-saved) into a handful of gigantic banks whose employees live in a separate universe of luxury, and the bail-outs only guarantee more financial mischief based on efforts to get something-for-nothing -- in the absence of an economy that turns capital investment into things of value.
Faced with the multiple threats of peak oil, the progressives are pounding billions into the automobile makers and shoveling tons of stimulus money into highway improvement projects, while the railroads we will desperately need in the future continue to be starved to death, and no effort is made to promote walkable communities -- including a federally-led reform of our insane zoning laws which mandate a suburban development outcome in every corner of the country.
Faced with the hangover of a housing bubble, the president's team has insidiously nationalized the racket and is doing everything possible to keep housing prices unrealistically inflated, so that nobody still lucky enough to have a median income can afford the median price of a house. Meanwhile, the agencies used to facilitate this accounting shell game -- Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, etc. -- are choking on worthless mortgage contracts and generating ever more new toxic mortgage paper.
Then, there is the question of our military adventures half a world away in Afghanistan and Iraq, where both parties are unwilling to face the basic conundrum of what happens when our troops leave those places. Even if we stamp out the current Taliban leadership there are countless avid up-and-comers burning to take their places, and numberless mountain valleys for them to hide in. Al Qaeda, of course, exists mainly as an international computer network. Good luck stamping that out. And if it's oil we're after in Iraq, there are three main possibilities after the last US soldier packs out: one is the unlikely possibility that a competent Iraqi national oil company decides to dole out drilling licenses to "preferred" companies (don't hold your breath Exxon-Mobil); another is that Iraq cracks up into smaller ethnic units lacking the capital or coherence to get their oil out of the ground; and a third is that neighboring Iran comes to control the major oil-producing region around Basra. So, what's it all about, Alfie? -- besides squandering a trillion dollars we don't really have.
Homeland security? Neither party is serious about defending the borders or limiting immigration, and anyway there are "soft" targets beyond counting all over the USA and small arms galore available to get the job done. Three guys with automatic rifles set loose in the Mall of America would be enough to push the retail sector over the edge into oblivion, taking with it the commercial real estate market and all the banks involved in financing it -- in short, destroying the tattered remains of the so-called "consumer economy."
My own guess about where this all leads is in the direction of more anger and incoherence by all parties involved -- which will itself generate yet more anger in a spiraling centrifugal feedback loop that could eventually tear this nation apart. It will be instructive to see how some of these forces play out in the Health Care Reform "summit" that President Obama has called for this week. The Republicans will be rope-a-doped into the uncomfortable position of trying to explain why they have no ideas whatsoever about fixing the hopelessly cruel and unjust medical system that everybody except government employees suffers under. The Democrats will be juked into the equally unhappy position of explaining how a bankrupt US Treasury pays for a more equitable system -- and the insurance companies will sit smirkingly on the sidelines watching both parties fail to address the necessary severe disciplining of the insurance racket.
In the background of even these momentous deliberations, the foundations of capital creak and shatter, the stock market infarcts and the bond market fibrillates, and all the accounting tricks ever dreamed of in the fantasies of Harvard MBAs and MIT math PhDs, and all the newly-evolved species of grifters and shysters who pull the levers of the system will not avail to hold back our inexorable journey into new circumstances that will really determine the outcome of these predicaments.
My take on this article.
Now, although I personally find this far too simplistic, or not simplistic enough: Ie tea party baggers are racists, prejudiced, bible thumping selfish jerks, or you can have my treatese on why the heck half of humanity are war mongering, hate mongering fear driven nutjobs, but it scratches the surface alright. The tone is against progressives, but the very act of progressing forces us to move forwards not backwards. There are innumerable videos on my you tube channel, punohuspicks, to sink a battleship showing the hate, racism, and fear that seems to drive the tea party bagger movement.
Two incidences stick out in my mind.
One was where a mother went to a community meeting about healthcare, and was booed and heckled as she told the rapid frothing at the mouth tea partiers that her child had just died because they could not afford her health care. That was a very low moment for the tea bagger movement.
The other low moment as far as I am concerned, was the shooting of two American Citizens of Hispanic decent in a home invasion crime, perpetrated by two "patriot" vigilantes, both white, with a mexican national accomplice. There are you tube videos showing the two murderers, talking much like the rest of patriots do. And yes, these guys are solidly entrenched in the tea bagger movement.
It is definately a racist movement on its whole dark underbelly, trying to show some sort of a moderate skin on top. But when its tail whips, it shows clearly three things: racism, hatred, prejudice and fear.
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