All of this happened before....(Redux)

... Does It Have To Happen Again?

A few months ago, I highlighted Bill Moyers' look at The Secret Government and wondered if we can avoid the future our history would seem to project.

Well, as is my wont, I recently ran across a wonderful quote. Try to guess when it was said.

"Wall Street owns the country. It is no longer a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street and for Wall Street ... Our laws are the output of a system which clothes rascals in robes and honesty in rags ... the politicians said we suffered from overproduction. Overproduction when 10,000 little children ... starve to death every year in the U.S. and over 100,000 shop girls in New York are forced to sell their virtue for bread...
There are thirty men in the United States whose aggregate wealth is over one and one-half billion dollars. There are half a million looking for work ... We want money, land and transportation. We want abolition of the National Banks, and we want the power to make loans direct from the government. We want the accursed foreclosure system wiped out ... We will not pay our debts to the loan-shark companies until the Government pays its debts to us.
The people are at bay, let the bloodhounds of money who have dogged us thus far beware."

Did you guess 1890? A Kansan Populist named Mary Ellen Lease spoke these words at a time, admittedly worse than our own times, when the anger at wealth and backlash against elite privilege was rapidly rising.

And although the Populist Party was unable to "crack" the lock on elections held by the GOP and Democrats, much of the their strength, organization and platform was coopted and adopted int he following decades.

Hopefully we will not have to wait decades.



(Quote found in Zinn's A People's History of the United States, a book that every citizen should read and digest.)

(Still) Alive

... and Kicking

I know it's been a while (two months!) since I last put a post up here on Blogger. Where has the time gone? Lots has happened -- and a lot of it has just downright ticked me off.

In any case, some of you might have seen me commenting around the blogosphere - especially on those blogs listed on the left side of the page. Lately it seems that this is about the best I can do given the constraints of time, family, energy and outrage. Needless to say, given the arrival of spring and my headlong rush into a new phase of life, I've not found the time to put down onto this blog the ruminations that crossed the threshold of my mind.

In the meantime, let me simply comment on General Stan's Spectacular Flame-out. I'm glad General Stan had his head (and job) handed to him. For Obama to do anything less than firing would simply taken away "the babymakers" (thanks FDChief!) and completely given the military dominance over even the office of the President. Frankly, they already dominate nearly all aspects of what are nation does, just as President Eisenhower warned us of. And I remain quite pessimisstic that until a complete and total economic collapse visits our lands, the military and its industrial-congressional-think tank enablers will continue to dominate the development of our national strategy - foreign and domestic. The ability of our current system to think critically, recognize its bias and develop a full range of honest options - much less reform itself - simply does not exist right now. Perhaps in the future it will but I doubt it.

And its not just the military suffering through terminal cranial-rectal inversion. Across the spectrum of our government we see example after example after example of the same malady. Sadly, and in spite of the clear interest in our citizens left and right to put fixes in place, our leaders simply cannot get it together. Each side of the spectrum only wants to win for its side -- and even if they were to win they would probably still try to perpetuate the fight if only to keep themselves employed!

So, for this Patriot, I try to keep my sense of humor and watch a whole lot of John Stewart's show. And I work on moving on to what's next. Perhaps more about that topic in a later post.

Until then friends, don't let the bastards get you down!

"We Just Paid a Lot of Money...

... for Someone to F*&k Us!"

Only John Stewart and his crew at the Daily Show can really explain why "we had too."

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
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Barack Hoover Obama???

So writes Kevin Baker in the forthcoming issue (July 2009) of Harper's. Baker's essay speaks to the growing unease among many in the reality-based community that the Obama Administration simply is not going to live up to the lofty ideals and soaring rhetoric still on display. Its a great article and filled with some superb gems. For example:

Much like Herbert Hoover, Barack Obama is a man attempting to realize a stirring new vision of his society without cutting himself free from the dogmas of the past—without accepting the inevitable conflict. Like Hoover, he is bound to fail.

~~~~~~

The most appalling aspect of the present crisis has been the utter fecklessness of the American elite in failing to confront it. From both the private and public sectors, across the entire political spectrum, the lack of both will and new ideas has been stunning.

~~~~~~

Instead, we have seen a parade of aged [Democratic] satraps from vast, windy places stepping forward to tell us what is off the table. Every week, there is another Max Baucus of Montana, another Kent Conrad of North Dakota, another Ben Nelson of Nebraska, huffing and puffing and harrumphing that we had better forget about single-payer health care, a carbon tax, nationalizing the banks, funding for mass transit, closing tax loopholes for the rich. These are men with tiny constituencies who sat for decades in the Senate without doing or saying anything of note, who acquiesced shamelessly to the worst abuses of the Bush Administration and who come forward now to chide the president for not concentrating enough on reducing the budget deficit, or for “trying to do too much,” as if he were as old and as indolent as they are.

~~~~~~

Describing Congress as "a neighborhood where maybe half want a health clinic and the rest are holding out for grenade launchers and crystal meth," Baker warns against the current drift (or even a "subtle strategy to ensure that the White House retains the whip hand") that will "likely to commit him to one of Congress’s nebulous non-plans."

Baker also speaks directly to an opinion shared by many frustrated Americans:

"Obama will have to directly attack the fortified bastions of the newest “new class”—the makers of the paper economy in which he came of age—if he is to accomplish anything. These interests did not spend fifty years shipping the greatest industrial economy in the history of the world overseas only to be challenged by a newly empowered, green-economy working class. They did not spend much of the past two decades gobbling up previously public sectors such as health care, education, and transportation only to have to compete with a reinvigorated public sector. They mean, even now, to use the bailout to make the government their helpless junior partner, and if they can they will devour every federal dollar available to recoup their own losses, and thereby preclude the use of any monies for the rest of Barack Obama’s splendid vision... [he] should not deceive himself into thinking that such interest-group politics can be banished any more than can the cycles of Wall Street. It is not too late for him to change direction and seize the radical moment at hand. But for the moment, just like another very good man, Barack Obama is moving prudently, carefully, reasonably toward disaster."

Personally, if SP were the President today, he's attack those "fortified bastions" with a significant increase in the income (and wealth) taxes paid by the Top 1% of American earners; he'd also put back into place a steeply progressive inheritance tax to recycle accumulated wealth back into national uses.

Baker's article speaks well to the angst and growing disillusionment already setting in on the energized progressive base. Its a compelling and convincing comparison to the failure's of that last great wunderkind to lead the country at the cusp of revolutionary change. (Hoover's life story and accomplishments before his Presidency might have elevated him to the pantheon of American Greats had his inability to deal with the Great Depression not intevened.) And it does not inspire HOPE that the Obama Administration understands that it also stands on the cusp on revolutionary secular change today.

If you already subscribe to Harper's you can read the entire article on line now. If not, grab a copy of this issue from the newstand or your local public library.

The Abyss Stares Back

Suzan (of Welcome to Pottersville), posts some extended excerpts of recent writing by James Kunstler and Jon Ronnquist. Suzan's place has some very interesting perspectives on the "New Great Depression" we are entering globally and its definately worth a recurring visit.

Kunstler well describes the ongoing zietgiest when he notes: People are at least beginning to ask. Nature's way of hinting that something truly creepy may be up is when both Paul Volcker and George Soros both declare on the same day that the economic landscape is looking darker than the Great Depression.

Kunstler further advises us to get on with the "Great Contraction" that is upon us: Let the chumps and weasels who over-reached take their lumps and move into rentals. Let the bankers who parlayed these fraudulent mortgages into investment swindles lose their jobs, surrender their perqs, and maybe even go to jail (if attorney general Eric Holder can be induced to investigate their deeds). No good will come of propping up the false values of mis-priced things. To which I say, "Amen!"

As they say, stop by and read it all.

Man is a Rope

"Since before we were even a country, two great horrors have haunted the subconscious of bourgeoisie America: Poverty and Scary Brown People. And to cope with our eternal, subcutaneous terrors, two, broad avenues are always open powers.

The first path demands reason; it calls to the “better angels of our nature” to be calm and to banish our fears of fear itself with a belief that citizens in a democracy governed by laws can rise to any occasion.

The second path – the path of the Pig People – eventually demands that belief in laws and men be overthrown. It demands that we wade into the reptilian muck with our conjure sticks to summon men who are more than men to defeat the demons."

Wow. Simply wow.

As they say, go read it all: Man is a rope

This is why Drifty was voted the "Best Individual Blogger" in 2008.

Thank you Driftglass.

Enuf' Said

Digby points out the conversation between Wolf Blitzer and former McCain campaign economic advisor Mark Zandi:

"BLITZER: Bottom line, even though you were an adviser to John McCain during the campaign, you say support what Barack Obama is doing right now. You say that to members of the House and Senate.

ZANDI: I absolutely do. I -- you know, I fear that the economy is slipping away. We need to act aggressively and quickly. This isn't a perfect plan, by any stretch, but it is a good plan -- a good enough plan. It will create jobs and it will make a difference and we need to pass it quickly."

Can Mitch McConnell and his neo-Confederate, Republican pity posse get out of the way now and let us fix the economy? Please?

Oh, and when your "friends" tell you that we simply cannot afford this economic recovery program, show them this:
Politely remind them that we already shoveled another $750,000,000,000 into the doomed financial sector (who's still bitching about executive pay caps!), and tell them to

SHOVE IT!!!

Will He or Won't He??

It seems to be the big question of the past few weeks, doesn't it? Will our new President fundamentally change the drift of our current domestic and foreign policies? Or will he make only minor course corrections that keep the ship of state on track to a greater doom?

Well, it is certainly hard to tell when one can only engage in Kremlinology of personnel appointments, read the tea leaves left behind by "unnamed sources close to the transition," listen to the unceasing drone of worthless pundits or parse the few words and speeches given since the election.

One thing is clear, all of us are intent to project upon the new President our own desires for our shared future. I'll admit that I too am happily projecting my hopes that starting January 21st, our new leadership will back away from the expanded executive powers they will inherit, renounce the numerous legal and ethical malpractices issued by the Office of Legal Counsel, and re-establish some national moral authority in the arena of rule of law, economic fairness and human rights.

And like many others, I too hope that I will not be disappointed. Especially after soldiering on these past several years in the labor of a government whose policies are increasingly unsupportable and whose obvious hypocrisy is (or should be) a massive embarrassment.

So, will he or won't he??

Will he renounce the use of "enhanced interrogations"? Or won't he??

Will he uphold his campaign commitments to draw down the Iraqi conflict and close Guantanamo? Or won't he??

Will he direct his new Justice Department to investigate the past Administration's abuses of power? Or won't he??

Will he once again use the government to regulate the unrestrained forces of Wall Street? Or won't he??

Will it be a "new birth of freedom"? Or a continuation of our ruin??

Time will tell. And that time is nigh. It starts in one week. And President Barack Obama has his work cut out for him.

(Photo of Lincoln's Second Innaugeration, March 1865. From the National Archives)

Just in case we need a reminder

It's hard to believe we are still exactly where we were a couple of weeks ago.

I guess I should not be surprised that the opposition to helping fellow American workers continues to emanate from the vindictive, spiteful, loser frothing of neo-confederate senators from the South. It's to be expected". Over at the Hullabaloo, Digby and DDay both describe better than I can the insanity and ridiculousness. What's more disappointing to me is the apparent spinelessness of the Democratic Party leadership in this sordid affair.

Suffice it to say, its well past time for the UAW to spend some of its money to help its members partake in direct, in-person workers action against Shelby, Sessions, McConnell and Corker and hound these hounds until they cry UNCLE.

Barring that, when the bottom does fall out of the rest of the economy as flagship U.S. manufacturing interests go into default (and the billions, perhaps trillions, of credit default swaps that start trading hands as a result), I advocate tossing these four pogues from the People's lifeboat first. Of course, hoisting these fellas on the stabby ends of very, very sharp sticks would work just as well.

Oh, and when that next hurricane comes crashing through Alabama, FYYFFs!

When John Stewart Speaks...

... Congress should listen.

Of late, very few issues have infuriated me more than the ongoing "bail-outs" of various segments of the U.S. economy by our government.

Don't get me wrong, I am not some sort of "free-market" disciple or one who holds crazy beliefs on the Randian variety that the role of government in the economy is no role at all. That's just crazy talk!

Government must play a role in our economy. Critical elements of that role are protecting geographic area of economic activity (also known as national security), developing the "commons" where no single company dares to tread for fear of losing money (also known as infrastructure like roads, bridges, etc.) and supporting the citizens so they can participate and benefit (and sometimes be protected from) all that economic activity going on (this is promoting the general welfare).

To do all these things, government has to be funded (why we pay taxes), organized (this is where our Constitution comes in) and led (preferably in a manner agreeable to the majority of citizens as well as cognizant and protective of the minority who oppose the governments activities).

For the last several decades, however, these basic principles were corrupted, discarded, and simply not taught to younger generations. How else to explain the insanity observed when the citizens’ representatives deliver TRILLIONS of current and future tax revenue to the hands of financial swindlers while ignoring even the most basic duties of government?

Now that the financial ponzi scheme that was masquerading as the U.S. economy is imploding, the rush to the lifeboats by the well heeled has been unseemly and downright breathtaking. An objective observer may conclude that it is nothing short than outright theft by the moneyed interests from the last of the workers who actually create tangible, valuable products (and not simply leveraged paper transactions). So breathtaking in fact that when those who manufacture products, now crushed by the financial implosion, seek some assistance from the government that serves them as well, they’re told to forget it, their products suck anyways, they should throw themselves on the mercy of bankruptcy, or simply, we don't care about you. Our Congress and inept Administration today doesn’t care about you and is happy to throw you to the wolves.

Well, unless and until we figure it out that the United States actually has to once again make things of value, our economy is going to suffer and the number of citizens harmed by it will swell.

All of this is a long and rambling way to say you have to watch what America’s best “newscaster” and “pundit” had to say to Congress earlier this week.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

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Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
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Let me repeat: “Wall Street lost $7 trillion without selling anything -- at least when Detroit loses money, we get cars.”

Thank you John.

Friday Nite Points

OK. It's been a long week and I'm tired. Mostly, I'm tired of being outraged at how poorly the People's Servants in Washington are actually serving the People. So, some short takes.

One. Digby catches this great quote by Barney Frank: "Having lived with this very right wing Republican group that runs the House most of the time, the notion of trying to deal with them as if we could be post-partisan gives me post-partisan depression." Well Barney, I can sympathize with how you feel. Now, get motivated and get some real help to real Americans in the manufacturing sector, eh?

Two. If this (Worst month for job loss in 34 years) isn't enough motivation, then maybe putting some thought into what the default of any of the Big 3 would mean in the fantastical credit default swap market may be in order. B over at Moon of Alabama has done just that. An automaker default translating into hundreds of billions in CDS losses ... now that is leverage I can believe in!

Three. By the way, we should take heed to what this guy has to say (h/t B). Especially when he says this:

People, especially Americans, started believing that they can live on other people’s money. And more and more so. First other people’s money in your own country. And then the savings rate comes down, and you start living on other people’s money from outside. At first it was the Japanese. Now the Chinese and the Middle Easterners.

We—the Chinese, the Middle Easterners, the Japanese—we can see this too. Okay, we’d love to support you guys—if it’s sustainable. But if it’s not, why should we be doing this? After we are gone, you cannot just go to the moon to get more money. So, forget it. Let’s change the way of living.

Four. This is simply bullpuckey! And if it were so dang important, how come no one sought to question the citizenship of "Panama" John McCain? Over at Stonekettle Station, Jim calls it a "Conspiracy of Stupid." I know the fevered swamp dwellers want nothing more than this to be true... but give it up already! YGTBFKM!

Five. China Hand is looking behind the blaring soundbites of last week's Mumbai attack (has it been a week already) and sees that not everything is as simple as you may think it is. What is simple is that two nuclear armed nations are moving towards a confrontation and defusing the tension will not simply happen because the U.S. advocates calm and caution. If that is what we are advocating.

Six. I started to put some of my own thoughts down about what Bruce Miller has been writing lately about the impending Afghanistan escalation. Suffice it to say, take a few moments to read and reflect on his pleas for a real strategy ("How many times to we have to watch this movie?" and Afghanistan and Pakistan).

Seven. Glenn Greenwald gets up in Tom Gjelten's grill for the sloppy reporting and commentary Tom and NPR broadcast in the wake of John Brennan's withdrawal from consideration as Director of the CIA. Be amazed at the power of teh "left-wing bloggers"! Never mind that Brennan had some other issues that made any potential vetting and confirmation run a bit dicey. Besides, who needs that kind of controversy? Way to go Glenn! Stay on it!

Eight. I think Col Lang is becoming fed up with the global ineptitude in dealing with those scurvy sea-dog pirates of Somalia. His readers certainly are and its a lively discussion!

Nine. I'm with Athenae. Only a few more weeks to wait for this!

Ten. And lastly. Enjoy the snark that emerges from the Rising Hegemon.

We're All In this Together??

The most excellent Driftglass thoroughly deconstructs Andy Sullivan's latest lament that we're all in it together.

It really is too bad so many of our fellow citizens (those "masters of the universe"), who have made so much from the rest of us ("rubes"), feel that we ALL should pay for the wages of their sin and excess. It is this very lack of responsibility among our so-called elites that has led our Republic to the economic brink. It is this continuing lack of shame, guilt, fair-play and justice that allows these elites to demand that the rest of us descend deep into the bowels of their Titanic to bail them out and prolong their happy existance in the first-class lounge. Sadly, the ad-driven and marketed illusion (constantly reinforced by our horribly compromised mainstream media) that by trusting these people we will "ALL BE RICH!!" continues to send all to many of our friends, neighbors and relatives down into the bilges to drown first in the losing battle to keep the ship afloat.

Somehow, unlike the Billy Joel's soldier brothers, our nation's elites simply do not think we'll all go down together. They have their lifeboats and wealth to carry them to the next Promised Land while nearly everyone else is still bailing water. Well, you can put me down for drifty's proposed solution - pike poles for The Street. And, if we can't have the pike poles, then let's have a radical adjustment of tax rates for those much more fortunate citizens just might do.

Too bad a more progressive tax policy - one that requires those who have made (and make) the most from our government - will probably not happen.

Maybe then the pike poles will get broken out.

• d r i f t g l a s s: Two Blind Men. One Elephant.