Right now the so-called "left" are the ones energized in this country, the resistance, etc...while the right-wing sit back, sated and content having blown their load on an orange fraud.
Before Trump it was Obama. The right-wing were the ones energized, tea-party movement and hounding lefties at town halls, etc, etc... while the so-called left sat back, sated and content having blown their load on what Cornell West described as "a Rockefeller republican in black face".
Listen to what I'm saying...
It's the same cycle. Always the same thing. Meanwhile, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. While Trump distracts us and we fight amongst ourselves, we are being screwed by the elite - an elite that controls BOTH parties, the repugnantcans and the demonrats, equally.
We need to march. Lay aside identity politics. Lay aside vain appeals to Americanism and constitutionalism. Lay aside democracy. Revolution is the only way for social justice. Take the fight to the bourgeoisie. Smash the State.
We need a people's vanguard to seize power in Washington. It's the only answer, and the only way to bring social justice to the people.
Right now the so-called "left" are the ones energized in this country, the resistance, etc...while the right-wing sit back, sated and content having blown their load on an orange fraud.
Before Trump it was Obama. The right-wing were the ones energized, tea-party movement and hounding lefties at town halls, etc, etc... while the so-called left sat back, sated and content having blown their load on what Cornell West described as "a Rockefeller republican in black face".
Listen to what I'm saying...
It's the same cycle. Always the same thing. Meanwhile, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. While Trump distracts us and we fight amongst ourselves, we are being screwed by the elite - an elite that controls BOTH parties, the repugnantcans and the demonrats, equally.
We need to march. Lay aside identity politics. Lay aside vain appeals to Americanism and constitutionalism. Lay aside democracy. Revolution is the only way for social justice. Take the fight to the bourgeoisie. Smash the State.
We need a people's vanguard to seize power in Washington. It's the only answer, and the only way to bring social justice to the people.
I don't evision any scenario where this ends well. Nor one in which it happens. The French Revolution sounds romantic, but this is America circa 2017. We aren't talking pitchforks and guillotines. This country is armed to the teeth, as are (by multiple thousand fold) the government itself. What you are suggesting would almost certainly end in wholesale slaughter of any number of groups of people.
Rosenstein has essentially thrown Trump to the wolves.
There is video now of Erdogan watching his goons beat up Kurdish protesters on American soil. This is absolutely unacceptable, and the response from the White House has been a joke:
What was he supposed to do, walk over there and tell them to stop? That might have helped, sure, had he been able to defuse the situation but by the time he got there everyone would already have been in a state of heightened aggression and they might have attacked him directly, which would have resulted in gunshots and dead protesters.
Why were members of the Turkish security detail allowed to interact with Kurdish protesters in the first place?
*************
Apparently Trump does not inspire much loyalty among the members of his Administration. Fascinating.
On the divide between left and right and energization of the losing party...
To me the biggest single issue is money in politics. Citizens United screwed us. Instead of politicians having to listen to thousands of citizens to get enough money for one politician's campaign, a politician needs only the riches of one billionaire donor. The small fry can be ignored or paid lip service the real money comes from Wall Street and big corporations and they get what they want.
Suggest supporting Wolf Pac to get money out of politics, it's more likely to work. http://www.wolf-pac.com/
These divides aren't really new, it just seems that way. Days before JFK was shot, there were posters all around Dallas saying he was wanted for treason. In August of 1973, 54% of the country thought the Watergate hearings were HURTING the country. The idea that the country is going to wake-up and find a massive piece of common ground isn't likely. Liberals and conservatives think VERY differently, and it certainly isn't getting any better.
Right now the so-called "left" are the ones energized in this country, the resistance, etc...while the right-wing sit back, sated and content having blown their load on an orange fraud.
Before Trump it was Obama. The right-wing were the ones energized, tea-party movement and hounding lefties at town halls, etc, etc... while the so-called left sat back, sated and content having blown their load on what Cornell West described as "a Rockefeller republican in black face".
Listen to what I'm saying...
It's the same cycle. Always the same thing. Meanwhile, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. While Trump distracts us and we fight amongst ourselves, we are being screwed by the elite - an elite that controls BOTH parties, the repugnantcans and the demonrats, equally.
We need to march. Lay aside identity politics. Lay aside vain appeals to Americanism and constitutionalism. Lay aside democracy. Revolution is the only way for social justice. Take the fight to the bourgeoisie. Smash the State.
We need a people's vanguard to seize power in Washington. It's the only answer, and the only way to bring social justice to the people.
Yes, there are things definitely wrong in this country, but I do not think this is the time to end communication and negotiations, by far. If anything we need much more and a real attempt to actively listen and understand.
Unfortunately, I can actually understand these thoughts, how they can coalesce in the mind, and realize what it can, and has lead to, around the world.
@jjstraka34 I am sorry to say I CAN envision scenario's where this can happen, if with nothing else, at least on small and individual levels. We have had examples of where people have come to the conclusion that they need to act, in WHATEVER means possible, and act right 'now' (often rationalizing it in their own minds).
Politicians are bought and paid for - Trump is no different. People were saying before the election that one good thing about Trump is he can't be bought. But every man has a price. Every man.
And it's the fact that every man has a price that pretty much means democracy and capitalism are inherently incompatible concepts.
The only way, and I mean the ONLY way, for capitalism to work without cronyism taking root would be to centrally plan all aspects of the economy while at the same time having veto power over private industry and commerce. Basically, it would require an authoritarian government to nationalize any and all capital, and the means that produce it, that is vital to the functioning of the State and health of it's people. That which is not deemed vital (and the State makes that call) is grouped into a corporation, or national syndicate, with competing producers. The corporations, or syndicates, are then made organs of the State, are are required to work with one another in producing goods and services deemed healthy and useful for the people and their State.
It's not communism or even socialism - people are allowed to do business, own property and private assets. Using the cows and milk analogy, it's basically putting all the dairy farmers together, forcing them to get along with one another, telling them which cows are allowed, how much they must pay their farm hands, and finally, how they must go about milking them. If the farmers step out of line, the State moves in and liquidates them "for the good of the people and their State".
In other words, textbook, doctrinal, Gentilian/Sorelian/Mussolinian Fascism.
And I don't think anyone wants that. It's pretty bad. Yet, in strange way, as bad as it is, it's actually an improved form of capitalism (except for National Socialist variety, which is worse than what we have no ...but only because of the racism...otherwise it too would be much better). Make no mistake, Fascism is a horrid and unfree system...but at least under Fascism the number one duty is to people and State rather than shareholders and swindlers (at least in theory).
The only way to have a free society without it reeking of inequality and cronyism is to completely abolish capitalism and the capitalist State.
I think that particular democratic systems have an effect on the forms of capitalism. Before discarding democracy entirely I would consider the possible effects of reform- 2 party systems seem to be having trouble reflecting the wishes of diffuse electoral opinion.
It has been clear to me for a long-time that the Scandanavian countries of Europe have figured the balance between freedom and the general social welfare better than anyone else on Earth. On the Forbes list of 10 happiest countries, the entire top 5 is Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Sweden. I don't think there is any argument to be made that these are totalitarian states that brainwash their populace. They simply care for one another and don't let the greed of corporations bulldoze their population.
Politicians are bought and paid for - Trump is no different. People were saying before the election that one good thing about Trump is he can't be bought. But every man has a price. Every man.
And it's the fact that every man has a price that pretty much means democracy and capitalism are inherently incompatible concepts.
The only way, and I mean the ONLY way, for capitalism to work without cronyism taking root would be to centrally plan all aspects of the economy while at the same time having veto power over private industry and commerce. Basically, it would require an authoritarian government to nationalize any and all capital, and the means that produce it, that is vital to the functioning of the State and health of it's people. That which is not deemed vital (and the State makes that call) is grouped into a corporation, or national syndicate, with competing producers. The corporations, or syndicates, are then made organs of the State, are are required to work with one another in producing goods and services deemed healthy and useful for the people and their State.
It's not communism or even socialism - people are allowed to do business, own property and private assets. Using the cows and milk analogy, it's basically putting all the dairy farmers together, forcing them to get along with one another, telling them which cows are allowed, how much they must pay their farm hands, and finally, how they must go about milking them. If the farmers step out of line, the State moves in and liquidates them "for the good of the people and their State".
In other words, textbook, doctrinal, Gentilian/Sorelian/Mussolinian Fascism.
And I don't think anyone wants that. It's pretty bad. Yet, in strange way, as bad as it is, it's actually an improved form of capitalism (except for National Socialist variety, which is worse than what we have no ...but only because of the racism...otherwise it too would be much better). Make no mistake, Fascism is a horrid and unfree system...but at least under Fascism the number one duty is to people and State rather than shareholders and swindlers (at least in theory).
The only way to have a free society without it reeking of inequality and cronyism is to completely abolish capitalism and the capitalist State.
Look at the damage the people we have in charge have caused. And you want them to have MORE power?
The solution to unchecked power is to divide power between competing entities, not to switch power from one corrupt government to another.
The only major flaw in our government is the campaign finance system. Fix that by removing lobbyists from the halls of Congress and forbidding campaign contributions (except maybe for individual contributions, and even then it needs to have a very low maximum donation) would be sufficient to make government more responsive to the people.
Revolution would just be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
It has been clear to me for a long-time that the Scandanavian countries of Europe have figured the balance between freedom and the general social welfare better than anyone else on Earth. On the Forbes list of 10 happiest countries, the entire top 5 is Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Sweden. I don't think there is any argument to be made that these are totalitarian states that brainwash their populace. They simply care for one another and don't let the greed of corporations bulldoze their population.
I've lived in the Netherlands. The town I lived people would "hi good morning" you as you walked around. Being an American, at first I was like huh what do you want? But they are just people being nice. I think if you hi good morninged someone in some US towns you gonna get shot.
Also I remember a few things about businesses. There were not many fast food places. There were a few but the one in the town I lived in did not have a drive through you had to walk through the town center to get to it. Nearly everything was closed on Sundays except gas stations and after 8 or so most places closed. You might be thinking omg that place is so inconvenient it sux! But it's just seemed to me that they, as a society, decided that maybe getting taco Bell at 2am and working people around the clock to keep Walmart open isn't that important or healthy for society.
It has been clear to me for a long-time that the Scandanavian countries of Europe have figured the balance between freedom and the general social welfare better than anyone else on Earth. On the Forbes list of 10 happiest countries, the entire top 5 is Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Sweden. I don't think there is any argument to be made that these are totalitarian states that brainwash their populace. They simply care for one another and don't let the greed of corporations bulldoze their population.
I've lived in the Netherlands. The town I lived people would "hi good morning" you as you walked around. Being an American, at first I was like huh what do you want? But they are just people being nice. I think if you hi good morninged someone in some US towns you gonna get shot.
Also I remember a few things about businesses. There were not many fast food places. There were a few but the one in the town I lived in did not have a drive through you had to walk through the town center to get to it. Nearly everything was closed on Sundays except gas stations and after 8 or so most places closed. You might be thinking omg that place is so inconvenient it sux! But it's just seemed to me that they, as a society, decided that maybe getting taco Bell at 2am and working people around the clock to keep Walmart open isn't that important or healthy for society.
I remember going to my favorite pizza joint in Germany and seeing a sign "On vacation, closed for 2 weeks".
It's odd that you mention the friendliness thing. I was just reading this article earlier today that mentioned international tourists being unnerved by American's friendliness: Fearless Squirrels...
Trump is just digging his own grave. Even if he did nothing else wrong, he now has. Mueller is going to get to the botton of all of this, and Trump will (at a minimum) be subject to obstruction because he CAN'T KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT.
He thought this would end it. He told the Russians so, at the White House. Instead, he bought himself a special prosecutor. Untold levels of stupidity. A miracle this man hasn't ended up in jail before now.
Also reports of a CURRENT White House aide currently a subject of the investigation. My bet: Kushner, his own son-in-law.
Here it is, the killer statement, literally as clear as black and white:
He's had to have lost a lot of support in the mostly Republican FBI and presumably in the intelligence community. Comments like that from Trump won't help his case. Comey is well respected for honesty and trying to do the right thing. Trump not so much.
It seems some of the last holdouts for Trump are white evangelicals. For some reason that guy who has bragged about genital assault and who has cheated on and divorced wives and doesn't know the Bible from a flat tire really resonates with that group.
In the interest of full disclosure....there IS conflicting news reports about whether Comey did, in fact, ask for more money for the investigation. Some are saying there was, some are saying that isn't the case. But here is why I bring it up. Rachel Maddow just spent the entire last 5 minutes of her show dedicated to this issue, and she said "we don't know about this 100% right now, and at this time in our history, we have to do our absolute best to get this right." Again, she dedicated an entire block of her show to something that, if she was being dishonest, would absolutely hurt her narrative. Meanwhile, for the last week, FOX News has been beating the drum of this repulsive Seth Rich conspiracy theory that his family has BEGGED them to stop for at least 2 or 3 nights now. Even when the news is coming at you with a perspective, there is a MASSIVE difference in how they go about it.
That's the kind of thing I'd type up if I had the time. Honestly, you'd have to have a write-up just as long just to cover the various lies and stories of the last ten days.
Not that anyone working in the Trump White House would ever see this, but, just for fun.....you are never going to be able to effectively defend this guy, because he doesn't have the discipline or attention span to stick to a story for more than 12 hrs. If he EVER feels anything is making him look weak (like when they concocted the Rosenstein memo excuse) he will throw the entire narrative out the window just to soothe his own ego in the moment. He will use his staff and cabinet up to the point that he can milk every ounce of credibility they have, and ounce it's dry, he'll discard you like a wet paper towel. You can't defend him because his personality doesn't allow it. My advice would be to get the hell away from this guy as quickly as possible, otherwise everyone on his staff is going to be ponying up for a metric ton of billable hours in lawyer fees. This ship is going down, and it's not gonna be pretty. It's going to be an even bigger national embarrassment than we've had already.
@smeagolheart Interesting. I used to think something of this guy.
I would add this to the list: I criticized the heck outa the Clintons and the DNC, almost up to the end of the election, and the Bernie supporters I told to vote for Clinton, DIDN'T all buy it.
For some guy that wanted to turn Bernie's folks to Clinton, he sure did a real bang-up job. Nice, dude, real suave.
I thought something of this guy AND a bit more of Sanders until Clinton got her primary.
EDIT: the main point is this. It would have been great if ol Bernie had stood up on that Clinton platform at the DNC and said, "You know what people, to heck with this, I'm still runnin', don't vote for this woman, vote for ME, don't buy the crap she's shovelin', and then promptly walked off the stage. Ida PAID to see it.
The only thing I dont like in that list is number 7.
First he never said he was going to divest his business. He said the exact opposite and said it wouldn't be a big deal and the American people didnt care.
His opposition and the Media missed the opportunity to educate the public about what type of downfall may occur (everything that is listed nicely in the post) if he didnt divest. Theu questioned him on it, however, they never had a well focused argument to say why it was a bad thing.
The mention of him Copyrighting his name in China is also unfair as the Trump Brand is known internationally. He has the right to protect it from those attempting to take advantage of it, especially in counterfeit China. I also think (but dont quote me on this), this had been in the works before he even started running for President (i do remember reading about it before the election).
I've said it before but it bears repeating: Bernie could have won the primary if he had run an actual campaign. He entered 9 months to a year too late, basically as a protest candidate when he saw how pathetically weak the rest of Clinton's competition was. He didn't want a coronation. He took off initially, but even as a SUPPORTER of Bernie, I said to myself "this is cute, but he has no relationship with African-American primary voters in the South". And Clinton did. And she crushed him so badly in those States that he couldn't catch up. He didn't even need to win those States, but he did need to manage not to lose them by (in some cases) margins of 80/20.
Again, I declared the primary over the night she won the Ohio primary. That was March 15. It went on for 3 more months. And while it caused Clinton to move her platform WAY to the left, those 3 months engendered a seething anger among some Bernie supporters, and (imo), THOSE were the voters the Russian hacking targeted and influenced more than any other, JUST enough of them to install Trump. Some of them stayed home, some of them voted for Stein or Trump out of spite. But Bernie Sanders acting like he still had a chance all spring didn't help anything. Because he didn't after March 15. And any honest person would have told you that.
Well, if the Left ever manages to weaponise smug, then the Republican/Conservative/Coalition/Your Local Equivalent party is doomed.
Until then, though, these things get shared a lot by people that already agree with everything they say (even the parts they don't know anything about) and make absolutely no impact on anyone else. There's plenty of right-wing ones if you wanna look for them, too.
There's plenty of right-wing ones if you wanna look for them, too.
Sure there are right wing ones, but are they accurate? Did Trump build the wall and have Mexico pay for it on the sly? Because we all know he'd never shut up about it if he did. Subtle is a word he doesn't know.
The record number Goldman Sachs executives in the government, um fake news myth? No, those guys exist. Has he not gone to the golf course on his own properties almost every weekend at taxpayer expense while making money charging the government to use his property?
In related, this video is currently trending 38 YouTube Videos, talks about the Fox News echo chamber. Other right wing entertainment media are even more out of touch.
Well, if the Left ever manages to weaponise smug, then the Republican/Conservative/Coalition/Your Local Equivalent party is doomed.
Until then, though, these things get shared a lot by people that already agree with everything they say (even the parts they don't know anything about) and make absolutely no impact on anyone else. There's plenty of right-wing ones if you wanna look for them, too.
True, but what, exactly, is going to convince the 33% core base of Trump voters to abandon him?? Everything that was predicted months ago has come true in spades. There is a reason liberals are pissed no one listened about Trump (not the least of which is that they were right). For 6 years during the Bush Administration, we yelled and screamed and no one listened. Then the bottom fell out. Iraq lost to disaster, Katrina, and the financial crisis. The ONLY thing that caused his core supporters to turn on him was when their OWN 401k and house values started tanking because the economy crashed.
Now we have a guy who most predicted would be Bush x10 on the disaster scale. It wasn't just "the left" who was warning about this guy. It was lifelong conservatives, practically every newspaper in the country saying "you can't elect this guy, he simply isn't fit for the office." Eventually, human emotions simply get the better of you. And it's AWFULLY hard in many cases not to say I told you so, simply for your own mental sanity. Again, go back to the campaign, hell, listen to Hillary talking about him in the debates, no matter how much you hate her. She told everyone as well. There is nothing surprising about what is going on right now AT ALL. It was the safest bet in the world to predict that Donald Trump would end up imploding. And it's only going to get worse.
To this day, whenever the media does some sort of expose or roundtable of how voters are feeling about Trump, it is almost UNIVERSALLY a panel of Trump voters being asked their thoughts, and how he's doing great and everyone just needs to give him more time and more of a chance, even though one of the primary reasons they voted for him was because he said he would take action quickly. I have yet to see one similar story on how Hillary voters feel, even though there are, oh, about 3 MILLION more of us. While the media is taking Trump to task (mostly because he's just THAT much of a disaster) they are still pushing the inescapable narrative that the only voters in this country that matter are Trump supporters from one stoplight towns in Nebraska and Indiana. These people are not forgotten, their views are actually given MORE credence than their actual national popularity would dictate. If they can't handle a little smugness, I say tough shit. At least liberal smugness isn't taking away health-care from 24 million people or putting the drug war back into overdrive. As always when it comes to liberals, the "tone police" are out in full-force. No such rule exists on the right. Did you see the campaign Donald Trump ran?? Did you watch one of his rallies?? The way liberals are expected to act in response to keep the high ground is not just like having both your hands tied behind your back, it's like having no limbs to use at all. And many are fed up with going to battle that way.
Now.....many people from all over the political spectrum may have many problems with Obama. But it's simply not the case that he was a historical disaster the way Bush was and the way Trump is shaping up to be. He didn't start a ground war that lost 3500+ troops and destabilized the entire Middle East. He didn't sit back and watch a American city drown for almost a week. He didn't allow a terrorist attack that killed 3000 Americans, and not only was there no financial crash, he spent eight years clawing back from the brink of the previous Administration. One need only look at the unemployment numbers in 2008 and 2016 to bear that out. On top of that (even though I really don't care about this part) the stock market soared and gas prices eventually fell back down to about $2 a gallon.
And.....I'm sorry, but I am NOT letting this one go. For the last 4-5 years we've been told over and over and over again that not saying "radical Islamic terrorism" was the problem when Obama was dealing with this issue. The Kenyan Usurper won't say "radical Islamic terrorism". If only he would say "radical Islamic terrorism" it would be like Dorothy clicking her heels together and saying "there's no place like home" and the world would be free of danger. Why can't the black man in the White House just say "radical Islamic terrorism"!!!!!!
Yeah....bunch of goddamn hypocrites, every single person who ever complained about this:
He didn't allow a terrorist attack that killed 3000 Americans, and not only was there no financial crash, he spent eight years clawing back from the brink of the previous Administration. One need only look at the unemployment numbers in 2008 and 2016 to bear that out. On top of that (even though I really don't care about this part) the stock market soared and gas prices eventually fell back down to about $2 a gallon.
Actually, if you look at the data, Bush had an unemployment rate consistently lower than Obama's during his entire term. The worst time was Obama's first two years.
I'm all for stopping terrorism. If 9/11 was Bush's fault what should he have done differently? An immigration ban?
I was not a fan of Bush. The guy was a clown and his policies were wrong but he as a person meant well. He was nowhere near as repugnant as Trump.
I don't blame him for 9/11 but why did we go to Iraq when the hijackers came from Saudi? Is that the place you are suggesting he should have banned people from? Trump's visiting Saudi today.
Richard Clarke and others (basically all through the transition) were running around with their hair on fire telling the incoming Bush Administration that Bin Laden would be their #1 problem going forward. There was a Presidential Daily Brief near the end of the summer entitled "Bin Laden determined to strike in US" along with FBI agents in MN screaming about (what turned out to be) one of the hijackers taking flight lessons who wasn't interested in learning how to land. Bush's response to the CIA agent who gave him that briefing on Aug. 6?? "All right, you've covered your ass now." I have no idea if they could have stopped it, but all signs point to them not paying it much mind at all until it happened, at which point they took their own national security ineptitude, managed to turn it around onto the Democrats, and got himself re-elected by scaring the shit out of the public for 3 years and enraging in a bogus invasion of Iraq (which FAR too many Dems voted to give authorization for).
But the issue is this: people like me are in the vast minority in blaming Bush for 9/11. He is given a free pass. If it had been Gore, his Presidency would have been over. Obama likely lived with the knowledge that any large-scale attack in the US would have been the end of his as well. Democrats gave Bush the benefit of the doubt to a fault for almost 2 or 3 years after 9/11. Republicans would have NEVER done so. They would have eviscerated and branded Gore and Obama as weakling traitors if they had been in office on 9/11.
And again, in regards to 9/11 conspiracy theories: they are all insane. The Bush Administration DID NOT purposefully bring down the World Trade Center and bomb an entire side of the Pentagon. I have no idea what is going through the head of people who think this. If for NO other reason, there is no way someone wouldn't have talked about a conspiracy that big. Trump can't even stop daily leaks from his own staff, but Bush and Cheney somehow have gotten what would have had to have been HUNDREDS of people to say nothing for 16 years?? Preposterous.
Comments
Right now the so-called "left" are the ones energized in this country, the resistance, etc...while the right-wing sit back, sated and content having blown their load on an orange fraud.
Before Trump it was Obama. The right-wing were the ones energized, tea-party movement and hounding lefties at town halls, etc, etc... while the so-called left sat back, sated and content having blown their load on what Cornell West described as "a Rockefeller republican in black face".
Listen to what I'm saying...
It's the same cycle. Always the same thing. Meanwhile, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. While Trump distracts us and we fight amongst ourselves, we are being screwed by the elite - an elite that controls BOTH parties, the repugnantcans and the demonrats, equally.
We need to march. Lay aside identity politics. Lay aside vain appeals to Americanism and constitutionalism. Lay aside democracy. Revolution is the only way for social justice. Take the fight to the bourgeoisie. Smash the State.
We need a people's vanguard to seize power in Washington. It's the only answer, and the only way to bring social justice to the people.
Rosenstein has essentially thrown Trump to the wolves.
There is video now of Erdogan watching his goons beat up Kurdish protesters on American soil. This is absolutely unacceptable, and the response from the White House has been a joke:
Why were members of the Turkish security detail allowed to interact with Kurdish protesters in the first place?
*************
Apparently Trump does not inspire much loyalty among the members of his Administration. Fascinating.
To me the biggest single issue is money in politics. Citizens United screwed us. Instead of politicians having to listen to thousands of citizens to get enough money for one politician's campaign, a politician needs only the riches of one billionaire donor. The small fry can be ignored or paid lip service the real money comes from Wall Street and big corporations and they get what they want.
Suggest supporting Wolf Pac to get money out of politics, it's more likely to work.
http://www.wolf-pac.com/
What? You said
WHAT?
Yes, there are things definitely wrong in this country, but I do not think this is the time to end communication and negotiations, by far. If anything we need much more and a real attempt to actively listen and understand.Unfortunately, I can actually understand these thoughts, how they can coalesce in the mind, and realize what it can, and has lead to, around the world.
@jjstraka34 I am sorry to say I CAN envision scenario's where this can happen, if with nothing else, at least on small and individual levels. We have had examples of where people have come to the conclusion that they need to act, in WHATEVER means possible, and act right 'now' (often rationalizing it in their own minds).
And it's the fact that every man has a price that pretty much means democracy and capitalism are inherently incompatible concepts.
The only way, and I mean the ONLY way, for capitalism to work without cronyism taking root would be to centrally plan all aspects of the economy while at the same time having veto power over private industry and commerce. Basically, it would require an authoritarian government to nationalize any and all capital, and the means that produce it, that is vital to the functioning of the State and health of it's people. That which is not deemed vital (and the State makes that call) is grouped into a corporation, or national syndicate, with competing producers. The corporations, or syndicates, are then made organs of the State, are are required to work with one another in producing goods and services deemed healthy and useful for the people and their State.
It's not communism or even socialism - people are allowed to do business, own property and private assets. Using the cows and milk analogy, it's basically putting all the dairy farmers together, forcing them to get along with one another, telling them which cows are allowed, how much they must pay their farm hands, and finally, how they must go about milking them. If the farmers step out of line, the State moves in and liquidates them "for the good of the people and their State".
In other words, textbook, doctrinal, Gentilian/Sorelian/Mussolinian Fascism.
And I don't think anyone wants that. It's pretty bad. Yet, in strange way, as bad as it is, it's actually an improved form of capitalism (except for National Socialist variety, which is worse than what we have no ...but only because of the racism...otherwise it too would be much better). Make no mistake, Fascism is a horrid and unfree system...but at least under Fascism the number one duty is to people and State rather than shareholders and swindlers (at least in theory).
The only way to have a free society without it reeking of inequality and cronyism is to completely abolish capitalism and the capitalist State.
On the contrary. Democracy and capitalism share exactly the same strenghts and flaws.
The only major flaw in our government is the campaign finance system. Fix that by removing lobbyists from the halls of Congress and forbidding campaign contributions (except maybe for individual contributions, and even then it needs to have a very low maximum donation) would be sufficient to make government more responsive to the people.
Revolution would just be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Also I remember a few things about businesses. There were not many fast food places. There were a few but the one in the town I lived in did not have a drive through you had to walk through the town center to get to it. Nearly everything was closed on Sundays except gas stations and after 8 or so most places closed. You might be thinking omg that place is so inconvenient it sux! But it's just seemed to me that they, as a society, decided that maybe getting taco Bell at 2am and working people around the clock to keep Walmart open isn't that important or healthy for society.
It's odd that you mention the friendliness thing. I was just reading this article earlier today that mentioned international tourists being unnerved by American's friendliness:
Fearless Squirrels...
Trump is just digging his own grave. Even if he did nothing else wrong, he now has. Mueller is going to get to the botton of all of this, and Trump will (at a minimum) be subject to obstruction because he CAN'T KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT.
He thought this would end it. He told the Russians so, at the White House. Instead, he bought himself a special prosecutor. Untold levels of stupidity. A miracle this man hasn't ended up in jail before now.
Also reports of a CURRENT White House aide currently a subject of the investigation. My bet: Kushner, his own son-in-law.
Here it is, the killer statement, literally as clear as black and white:
It seems some of the last holdouts for Trump are white evangelicals. For some reason that guy who has bragged about genital assault and who has cheated on and divorced wives and doesn't know the Bible from a flat tire really resonates with that group.
Not that anyone working in the Trump White House would ever see this, but, just for fun.....you are never going to be able to effectively defend this guy, because he doesn't have the discipline or attention span to stick to a story for more than 12 hrs. If he EVER feels anything is making him look weak (like when they concocted the Rosenstein memo excuse) he will throw the entire narrative out the window just to soothe his own ego in the moment. He will use his staff and cabinet up to the point that he can milk every ounce of credibility they have, and ounce it's dry, he'll discard you like a wet paper towel. You can't defend him because his personality doesn't allow it. My advice would be to get the hell away from this guy as quickly as possible, otherwise everyone on his staff is going to be ponying up for a metric ton of billable hours in lawyer fees. This ship is going down, and it's not gonna be pretty. It's going to be an even bigger national embarrassment than we've had already.
I would add this to the list: I criticized the heck outa the Clintons and the DNC, almost up to the end of the election, and the Bernie supporters I told to vote for Clinton, DIDN'T all buy it.
For some guy that wanted to turn Bernie's folks to Clinton, he sure did a real bang-up job. Nice, dude, real suave.
I thought something of this guy AND a bit more of Sanders until Clinton got her primary.
EDIT: the main point is this.
It would have been great if ol Bernie had stood up on that Clinton platform at the DNC and said, "You know what people, to heck with this, I'm still runnin', don't vote for this woman, vote for ME, don't buy the crap she's shovelin', and then promptly walked off the stage. Ida PAID to see it.
Woulda brought the house down.
First he never said he was going to divest his business. He said the exact opposite and said it wouldn't be a big deal and the American people didnt care.
His opposition and the Media missed the opportunity to educate the public about what type of downfall may occur (everything that is listed nicely in the post) if he didnt divest. Theu questioned him on it, however, they never had a well focused argument to say why it was a bad thing.
The mention of him Copyrighting his name in China is also unfair as the Trump Brand is known internationally. He has the right to protect it from those attempting to take advantage of it, especially in counterfeit China. I also think (but dont quote me on this), this had been in the works before he even started running for President (i do remember reading about it before the election).
Again, I declared the primary over the night she won the Ohio primary. That was March 15. It went on for 3 more months. And while it caused Clinton to move her platform WAY to the left, those 3 months engendered a seething anger among some Bernie supporters, and (imo), THOSE were the voters the Russian hacking targeted and influenced more than any other, JUST enough of them to install Trump. Some of them stayed home, some of them voted for Stein or Trump out of spite. But Bernie Sanders acting like he still had a chance all spring didn't help anything. Because he didn't after March 15. And any honest person would have told you that.
Until then, though, these things get shared a lot by people that already agree with everything they say (even the parts they don't know anything about) and make absolutely no impact on anyone else. There's plenty of right-wing ones if you wanna look for them, too.
The record number Goldman Sachs executives in the government, um fake news myth? No, those guys exist. Has he not gone to the golf course on his own properties almost every weekend at taxpayer expense while making money charging the government to use his property?
In related, this video is currently trending 38 YouTube Videos, talks about the Fox News echo chamber. Other right wing entertainment media are even more out of touch.
Fox News’ 5 steps for handling a Trump scandal
Now we have a guy who most predicted would be Bush x10 on the disaster scale. It wasn't just "the left" who was warning about this guy. It was lifelong conservatives, practically every newspaper in the country saying "you can't elect this guy, he simply isn't fit for the office." Eventually, human emotions simply get the better of you. And it's AWFULLY hard in many cases not to say I told you so, simply for your own mental sanity. Again, go back to the campaign, hell, listen to Hillary talking about him in the debates, no matter how much you hate her. She told everyone as well. There is nothing surprising about what is going on right now AT ALL. It was the safest bet in the world to predict that Donald Trump would end up imploding. And it's only going to get worse.
To this day, whenever the media does some sort of expose or roundtable of how voters are feeling about Trump, it is almost UNIVERSALLY a panel of Trump voters being asked their thoughts, and how he's doing great and everyone just needs to give him more time and more of a chance, even though one of the primary reasons they voted for him was because he said he would take action quickly. I have yet to see one similar story on how Hillary voters feel, even though there are, oh, about 3 MILLION more of us. While the media is taking Trump to task (mostly because he's just THAT much of a disaster) they are still pushing the inescapable narrative that the only voters in this country that matter are Trump supporters from one stoplight towns in Nebraska and Indiana. These people are not forgotten, their views are actually given MORE credence than their actual national popularity would dictate. If they can't handle a little smugness, I say tough shit. At least liberal smugness isn't taking away health-care from 24 million people or putting the drug war back into overdrive. As always when it comes to liberals, the "tone police" are out in full-force. No such rule exists on the right. Did you see the campaign Donald Trump ran?? Did you watch one of his rallies?? The way liberals are expected to act in response to keep the high ground is not just like having both your hands tied behind your back, it's like having no limbs to use at all. And many are fed up with going to battle that way.
Now.....many people from all over the political spectrum may have many problems with Obama. But it's simply not the case that he was a historical disaster the way Bush was and the way Trump is shaping up to be. He didn't start a ground war that lost 3500+ troops and destabilized the entire Middle East. He didn't sit back and watch a American city drown for almost a week. He didn't allow a terrorist attack that killed 3000 Americans, and not only was there no financial crash, he spent eight years clawing back from the brink of the previous Administration. One need only look at the unemployment numbers in 2008 and 2016 to bear that out. On top of that (even though I really don't care about this part) the stock market soared and gas prices eventually fell back down to about $2 a gallon.
Yeah....bunch of goddamn hypocrites, every single person who ever complained about this:
I'm all for stopping terrorism. If 9/11 was Bush's fault what should he have done differently? An immigration ban?
I don't blame him for 9/11 but why did we go to Iraq when the hijackers came from Saudi? Is that the place you are suggesting he should have banned people from? Trump's visiting Saudi today.
But the issue is this: people like me are in the vast minority in blaming Bush for 9/11. He is given a free pass. If it had been Gore, his Presidency would have been over. Obama likely lived with the knowledge that any large-scale attack in the US would have been the end of his as well. Democrats gave Bush the benefit of the doubt to a fault for almost 2 or 3 years after 9/11. Republicans would have NEVER done so. They would have eviscerated and branded Gore and Obama as weakling traitors if they had been in office on 9/11.
And again, in regards to 9/11 conspiracy theories: they are all insane. The Bush Administration DID NOT purposefully bring down the World Trade Center and bomb an entire side of the Pentagon. I have no idea what is going through the head of people who think this. If for NO other reason, there is no way someone wouldn't have talked about a conspiracy that big. Trump can't even stop daily leaks from his own staff, but Bush and Cheney somehow have gotten what would have had to have been HUNDREDS of people to say nothing for 16 years?? Preposterous.