Trumpocalypse Now Threatens the World as We Find It
The discourse about Trump is, in general: Oh My God It's the Apocalypse, This Unthinkable Horrible Extreme Person is President.
But for the most part he's not doing anything that all the other politicians haven't been doing for quite a while. In some cases, for decades.
People get very irritated when I say that, and act like I'm defending Trump. They must think I'm normalizing Trump, which implies to them that I'm saying "It's OK." To normalize something is to accept it, acquiesce to it, make it part of the daily round, or at least that seems to be the assumption underlying their irritation.
It's upsetting when people I care about take that position, because it must mean they haven't been listening to me much, or that they have, in their anger and frustration against Trump, briefly forgotten who I am.
This is who I am: I oppose the status quo. To me, the normal is what is hideous. If there's anything the 21st century has taught us, it's that the status quo is monstrous. The history of the last twelve years in this country has been an attempt on the part of the establishment to force us to accept the status quo because it is inevitable, just the way the world is, and so how can it be monstrous? It's just the world as we find it.
Steps to Help Iraq Achieve Democracy and Freedom
President George W. Bush
Remarks at U.S. Army War College
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
May 24, 2004
"We did not seek this war on terror, but this is the world as we find it."
White House Signals Intent To Cave To GOP On Bush Tax Cuts
By Brian Beutler Published NOVEMBER 11, 2010
The White House signaled last night that it will cave to the GOP and temporarily extend all of the Bush tax cuts.
“We have to deal with the world as we find it,” David Axelrod, President Obama’s top political adviser, told Huffington Post last night.
We tortured some folks, but don't get too sanctimonious about it.
Perhaps it would go down easier with some smooth jazz:
Just as an aside--Why the establishment wants to convince people to stop objecting to its horrendous behavior is a mystery to me, given that every time we object to them they do one of three things:
1)ignore us,
2)perform character assassinations on us,
3)send a bunch of thugs out to disperse protesters and throw them in jail.
Our objections don't appear to cause them much trouble, so I'm genuinely bewildered as to why they are so obsessed with getting our consent, or at least our acquiescence, to their brave new world. And they are obsessed. A whole essay could be written on how the establishment strip-mines moral credibility from every available source with all the desperate avarice of a tar sands developer.
But back to Trump. Apparently, Rumsfeld's (and Axelrod's) world as we find it narrative isn't doing the trick. Apparently, just telling people that monstrous behavior and apocalyptic outcomes are inevitable isn't enough on its own to convince. If it had been, Hillary Clinton would likely be President. Hillary 2016 was an expensive lemon. So the establishment is making lemonade, using Trump's presidency, which they didn't really want, as a convenient dumping ground for every evil thing they ever did. In some cases, it's downright laughable, or it would be if the real-world outcomes of this nasty little struggle among the elites wasn't hurting a lot of people. We're horrified, just horrified, that politicians have business dealings with foreign nationals that could--gasp!--influence the course of American foreign policy!
I'm not really sure how anybody can contemplate that statement without busting out laughing. Which is, again, what makes people, including people I love, irritated with me. You're not supposed to laugh when someone says OMG Trump!!! You're supposed to pale, and steady yourself on the furniture. Otherwise you must be a Trump supporter.
The establishment narrative (OMG Trump!!!) is an attempt to turn Donald Trump into a wet-wipe for the establishment's dirty hands. You can almost hear them saying, Well, we didn't want him here, but as long as he's here we might as well get some use out of him. They are making him their scapegoat.
People have the mistaken belief that scapegoats are always innocent, and often good, but that's not so. Often, scapegoats have done some mighty evil things, which is what makes them such convenient receptacles for all the unacknowledged, barely-hidden sins of the establishment. For instance, for generations the North of this country has used the South as its scapegoat for racism, behaving as if no racism ever existed north of the Mason-Dixon line. Does that mean the South is innocent? Fuck no, we're soaked in blood. However, the North has also got blood on its hands and is not the pure and innocent land of racism-free promise that it has purported to be--and thus, the North gets away with racism daily that would at least have a chance of being noticed in the South. It has taken extremely monstrous behavior on the part of the cops in Chicago and New York City to begin to disrupt this stupid idea, which never should have existed in the first place, and only did because people need to believe that for every evil there is a concomitant good.
People's need to believe that for every evil there is a concomitant good is what the Democrats, and Hillary, are living on, by the way. It is their only source of fuel.
So Trump is a scapegoat, but that doesn't mean Trump is good. Is Trump evil? You bet. Are the things he's doing more evil than the things Bush did, or Obama did? No, not really. Sure, we tortured some folks. In fact, the things Trump is doing, in most cases, are either replicas of things done by Bush and Obama--and in some cases are actually the enactment of policy decisions made by the Obama administration, as with the "Muslim ban," which was suggested by DHS in December 2015--or they are an extension of the same overarching policy that has governed this country since at least 2000: take whatever right-wing things we were doing before, and make them more extreme. It's like we're driving north on I-95, and every election we get the choice as to whether we want to go 55 mph or 85. Taking an exit is never an option. Understanding this means understanding Trump as one of a series, one more instance of the foot going down on the gas pedal. But the road we're on, and the direction we're driving, is the same.
The establishment wants us to believe that Trump has taken an exit, and put us on a different, scary, terrible road, a road which will take us off a cliff, destroying the "world as we find it." But Trump, in fact, hasn't managed to take an exit, and probably didn't even want to take one--the status quo has done pretty well for Donald Trump, after all--with the sole exception of Russia, which is what's causing all this trouble. Trump is clearly not in favor of the PNAC attitude toward Russia that the establishment embraces. He'd rather make money off of mining their oil, polluting the air and water and speeding up global warming, than make money off of selling weapons to blow them the fuck away and cause a nuclear war. Trump isn't the kind of crazy who wants to blow up the world just because he can. Remember, he's doing great in this world. Why would he want to destroy it? As long as he's making money, why should he start a nuclear war?
If you believe in the OMG Trump! narrative, you are accepting that there was a non-apocalyptic path that we were on before, that there is something safer and saner and kinder that is now being destroyed because of the rise of this heinous individual. Otherwise, the desire to remove Trump makes no sense, as Cassiodorus has explained here with admirable economy:
https://caucus99percent.com/content/now-you-move-atop-your-meditation-pi...
Some people who have had this argument with me say they believe that EVERYTHING is bad, following it up with "I just don't want to let Trump off the hook." Yet understanding Trump as part of a disgusting, world-destroying series of events need not let Trump off the hook; it simply refuses to buy into the idea of Trump as a uniquely horrible event whose uniquely horrible nature is what will bring on apocalypse. It refuses to buy into the notion that it's Donald Trump's personality that is the One Big Intolerable Thing.
The One Big Intolerable Thing happened a while ago. Like Hydra, its heads--and its horrible effects on the world--are legion. At most, Donald Trump is just one more head. A head that the overall organism is about to bite off because apparently it disagrees with one particular policy that the rest of the heads want.
People would have had a much better chance of getting me on the OMG Trump bandwagon if they had done any of the following:
1)Waited a few months until he'd actually done something, as President, rather than beginning the freakout before he got into office.
2)Refrained from putting people like Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Kamala Harris on the stage during the kickoff event of the mass freakout (and televised Cory Booker at the same event comparing himself to Jean-Luc Picard fighting the Borg). It also would have helped had they not, after doing this, explained to me that the kickoff event, and the freakout, had nothing to do with rehabilitating the reputations of the corporate Democrats, the DNC, or Hillary Clinton. Insulting my intelligence isn't a good way to gain my confidence.
3)Actually focused on the few things Trump's doing that represent, at least, a change from prior policy under Obama and Bush--if not a change from the overall policy of taking whatever right-wing things we are doing and making them more extreme. This one really gripes me. As bad as he was, there were one or two issues where Obama took his foot off the gas a little, and Trump is now pedal-to-the-metal, marijuana policy being the main one I can think of right now.
4)Acknowledged the fact that there are other political actors besides Trump in the universe, and that the relationships between them and Trump are not whatever you want them to be in the moment. For instance, the Congressional Republicans are not necessarily on Trump's side, just as the Bushes are not. We can't flip back and forth between throwing our arms around Republicans every time they say something snarky about Trump and screaming bloody murder at them and Trump every time they do something horrendous, like saying that Type I Diabetes shouldn't be covered by Obamacare because it's a result of lifestyle choices. Which it is not.
What is Type 1 Diabetes (T1D)?
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone people need to get energy from food. T1D strikes both children and adults at any age and suddenly. Its onset has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. Though T1D’s causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers play a role. There is currently nothing you can do to prevent it, and there is no cure.
http://www.jdrf.org/about/about-type-1-diabetes-t1d/
The people who blame children for having a pancreas that stops functioning cannot also be our allies against Horrible Trump. The Democratic Party is particularly awful about this.
5)Cared more about what Trump does than about what he says. Actually, cared more about what anybody does than what they say. If you judge by American political thought these days, it's far more terrible to say racist things on TV, whether about Mexican immigrants or about native-born Black people, than it is to have a torture facility where you waterboard people hundreds of times, or to bomb a country, murdering hundreds of thousands of people for no reason but greed, or to accelerate global warming which is likely to cause about 80% of the life on this planet to die (StevenD had a very good essay about this lately: https://caucus99percent.com/content/biggest-crime-human-history-being-ig...) or to poke other superpowers repeatedly with a cattle prod in an apparent attempt to start a world-destroying nuclear war.
In fact, it's more terrible for Trump to say racist things than it is for anyone to do racist things--George W. Bush's ascent to the Presidency on the backs of tens of thousands of disenfranchised Black voters is apparently old hat and barely worth mentioning anymore, as is the fact that the Obama administration did nothing in response to the murders of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Sandra Bland. Somehow it's easy to go after people like Jeremy Hammond and Barrett Brown and even Aaron Swartz, but not so easy to go after a cop whose defense for killing a twelve-year-old boy is that the cop was scared of the boy's BB gun. Apparently such murders are a part of the world as we find it, whether there's a Republican or Democrat, white or Black, in the White House and over at Justice. But saying racist shit on TV is not part of the world as we find it. No, that's beyond the pale (heh)* **. I'm reminded of something Phoebe said recently: that the problem the establishment has with Trump is actually that he is, despite his wealth, not quite the right sort. He has bad fashion sense, bad manners, says things on TV that one should only say in the privacy of one's club, over a fine brandy.
*This rule does not apply to Clintons and Bushes. When Clintons and Bushes say racist things on TV, it will be ignored. Those refusing to ignore them will be marginalized, have their characters assassinated, and, if they are of sufficient political stature, be placed on an enemies list.
**If a Clinton or Bush says something so bad that it can't be ignored, President Obama, Congressman John Lewis, or another high-profile Black politician will extend their moral credibility over them like a shield in the form of excuses or "forgiveness." This "forgiveness," of course, will be accompanied by no admission of guilt on the part of said Bushes or Clintons.
I'm publishing this in order to clear away some rubble, which I, personally, need to do if I'm going to invent, or sign on to, any new platform or plan for building a New Left. I can't participate in building a New Left, or a new anything, if I constantly have to deal with the bullshit establishment talking points that have been invented for the purpose of distracting us, diverting our energy, and turning dissidents against each other. There may be one or two more rubble-clearing essays I need to write before moving forward.
If nothing else, it's a good idea to identify and catalog the bullshit ways in which the establishment attempts, daily, to mess with our relationships and our minds.
EDIT: Apparently, I didn't make myself clear in #3 above; I am NOT supporting Trump's horrendous policies regarding marijuana! What I'm saying there is that, if you're going to argue that Trump is especially noxious and different from all the other politicians, at least focus on those policies where he exceeds the other politicians in shitty ideas and behavior. Weed is one of the places where Trump is genuinely worse than Obama. Going on and on about transparency and revealing secret info to people who shouldn't have it and trading foreign policy for personal enrichment just makes the Democrats, and others, look foolish, since these problems have been endemic since before Donald Trump declared his presidential run. In fact, such accusations look a lot like the Karl Rove method of character assassination: take something you yourself are guilty of and accuse your opponent of it; whether your opponent is actually guilty of it or not, you will then get yourself forever off the hook.
Peace.
Comments
Trump is a less polished, less circumspect monster
than career politicians. That's about it.
BTW, Obama did not cave to Bush tax cuts, which expired under their own terms with no government power left in Bush when they expired. Rather, Obama gave us the Obama tax cuts.
ETA 1: "Brothers and sisters, this is the world we live in." Bernie Sanders to a crowd of his booing delegates.
ETA 2: https://caucus99percent.com/content/last-week-double-standards-obama-v-t...
@HenryAWallace Fair enough on the Obama
Fair enough on the Obama tax cuts. But your point also reinforces my point: Obama's tax cuts look remarkably similar to Bush's tax cuts, don't they?
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Yes. I just think framing is important.
I may be the only one in America that calls them the Obama tax cuts, but that is what they are, isn't it? At least they are Obama's as much as Bush's were Bush's. And, if I am not mistaken, the Obama tax cuts do not expire by their own terms, as did the Bush tax cuts.
BTW, raising taxes on those making over $250K a year was supposedly enough only to pay the country's bills for a week. So, imagine purely how symbolic it is to raise taxes on people who make more than that.
Again, even what Obama campaigned on in 2008 was to increase taxes only only one income over $250K a year, not on anyone's first $250K. And he didn't do that. I used laugh so hard when the bots cut and pasted that ludicrous list of campaign promises he had supposedly kept. And if you don't think it's hard to roll your eyes and laugh hard at the same time, it can only be because you haven't yet tried to do both at the same time.
@HenryAWallace Framing is extremely
Framing is extremely important.
Both our points matter: yours is that those tax cuts are Obama's responsibility. In essence, I believe that the Bush tax cuts were essentially the set-up, and the Obama tax cuts were dunking the ball in the basket (I've been watching Cavaliers vs Celtics; pardon the sports metaphor). I totally agree with you that Obama is responsible for that horrendous gesture, which was the final graveyard for any thought I had that he would do anything good.
My point is that, no matter who is in the White House or whose name gets put on the package, what's in the package only changes in that it becomes a more extreme right-wing version of whatever it was before.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Again yes.
He was also complicit in raising tax on SS to 85%
In 1950 (or thereabouts) a Circuit Court declared that SS was not taxable income because it represented a pay back of contributions that had already been taxed. Sort of like a Roth IRA, which of course had not been invented yet.
RR invalidated that, taxing SS benefits at 50%. BHO raised that to 85%. I have little doubt that HRC would make that 100%. Her benefits probably are used for paying her hairdresser or chauffeur.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
@HenryAWallace Somehow I missed that
Somehow I missed that essay of yours. Excellent work!
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Thank you!
Nice one
You have conveyed many of my same thoughts on the matter. Trump is not the problem, and Trump is not much different than our previous.
@ChezJfrey Thanks. I just needed to
Thanks. I just needed to get it out of the way.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Just more loudmouthed.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
@The Voice In the Wilderness Correct!
Correct!
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
My daughter and I had a similar
conversation, this morning. We agree that he's all about making money. He wants to be in complete charge so he can make a lot of money. That's his bottom line, IMHO. On the other hand, my friends don't understand why I'm not freaked out, either.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
@Raggedy Ann What I don't understand
What I don't understand is this:
My therapist, a really smart guy:
"I think America is sliding towards being a fascist state."
Me: (inwardly) You didn't notice in 1980? 1988? 1991? 1992? 2001, for Christ's sakes? How about 2002? When all those pictures of Abu Ghraib came out, you didn't suspect? How about when the WH said the President could legally assassinate people in foreign lands?
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
The tipping point is when the President asserts that he can
legally assassinate people in this country.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
We already assassinate people in this country.
We put them in a cage first and pretend we are thinking it over, as if there is some exception to enlightened morality, wherein the complete depravity of methodically snuffing out a human life is okay.
Only a small handful of nations in the world cheapen the living souls of citizens this way.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
All Presidents make money, whether while in office, or during
their post-Presidency. For example, what book contracts or big bucks speaking engagements would Hillary have gotten if her husband had not been President and she was never going to run? Obama's book sales were unimpressive until he ran for Senate and they really goosed up when he got to be President. And he's started his speaking engagements, too. He'll have a few hundred million like the Clintons in no time. And don't count out Michelle.
I beleive that neither Truman nor Carter did that.
So, no, "every President" doesn't do that. Only greedy pigs.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Sorry. I should have been more specific as to time period.
https://caucus99percent.com/comment/reply/11279/266154#edit-comment-body
But Carter did make money on books he wrote. Would he have gotten as many book deals if he had not been President?
At least no "speaking fees"
To me the most outrageous thing about Hillary Clinton. YMMV.
And Obama! His wife is already in the 0.1% Does he need to take outrageous speaking fees?
He should speak because he wants to address the audience, not delayed compensation. He could take travel expenses, but at his wealth level, why?
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Aren't he and Michele getting $65 million
…to write a his and hers book for Crown/Random House?
On the other hand, writing books for money is an authentic vocation. Killing and polluting for money or security, not so much.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
An outrageous advance
when authors of best sellers get maybe one thousandth of that.
He should get a five figure advance and a ten percent royalty.
And if anyone buys the book in lots of thousands, zero.Better yet, donate all profits to charity. His motive for writing should be to answer critics and provide details for future historians.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
I cannot agree with you.
The advance is based on the number of books and related media the publisher thinks they will sell. The cash advance is an advance against the royalties the book will eventually earn. In this case, the Obama's are taking their royalties up front @ 10 percent of the cover price. The publisher has no intention of losing money on their investment in this project. They fully intend to sell enough books to reimburse the advance, and then some.
What that means is that the Obama's aren't earning any more than any other author. They are just selling a colossal number of books.
Writing is a great undertaking. Civilizations are built on libraries. Authors deserve to be paid well for their successful contributions.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Do you really expect it to sell more than 30 million copies?
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
No.
But if you know publishing, then you know the array of products under contract. Foreign rights (which will be big), syndication, library, audio, electronic, merchandising, special sales, special editions, a long life on the backlist, and so much more. The publisher also has two of the highest power promoters on the planet, and they've been locked into tours and television galore. And with a two-book deal, simultaneously, one book will sell the other, so there is volume. Random House is also the publisher for Barack and Michele's past books, and those, which are in the black, will be re-released as new editions. They are a genre unto themselves.
It adds up.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Nailed it.
I could not agree more. Trump is just more of the same old same old. Better in some ways than Hillary Rodham Obama and worse in others. This whole "Russia is our enemy" schtick by the media and most politicians gets on my nerves. What part of "nuclear war is not a good thing" do they not understand?
@edg I think we're all
I think we're all starting to realize that the people in charge are insane.
It's giving me a whole different perspective on both republics and democracies. The reason for having representative government or direct government by the people, the reason for giving millions a voice, is not just because it's right or fair; it's because of percentages.
It's easier for 51% of 13 bankers to be insane than it is for 51% of 200 million people.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
(No subject)
what is insane is the system
that puts us at their mercy.
They are going to get him on colluding with
Russia to "hack an election." Cummings has been bloviating about how impeaching Trump is necessary for the soul of our democracy.
Even assuming Russia was responsible, since when is the DNC an election? It's not even part of government, let alone an election. https://caucus99percent.com/content/big-lie-russia-interfered-us-preside...
So they trump up a fake crime (no pun intended), then convict him of colluding with it? OMG. No need to worry about the soul of our democracy any longer. Crap like this already drove a stake through it.
@HenryAWallace This particular meme is
This particular meme is so disgustingly mendacious that I can only look at it for a few minutes at a time. You were spot-on in discussing how the issue is not so much whether or not Russia did it--though I have a very hard time, for many reasons, believing that they did--but rather, who the fuck cares if they did?
Since when is opposition research "hacking an election?"
Since when is publishing the truth about a candidate, regardless of whether the candidate wants you to or not, "interfering with an election?"
If the Kremlin really wants to commit espionage so as to do the job which American opposition researchers and American journalists should have done, which is bringing the truth about Hillary Clinton and her allies to the American people, then I guess that's their prerogative; it's their resources they're spending, but I have a hard time believing they did it. For one thing, as Bill Binney says, if they did it, the NSA would be able to track it, so they NSA can just reveal that evidence and end the debate; for another, I can't imagine the Kremlin bothering to do the work American journalists should have done, and tell the American people the truth.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
P.S. I cannot remember a time when a US President
was on a plane to visit a foreign country and TV reprised non-stop everything negative he'd said about that country and the religion of its people. Just in case the Saudis forgot already?
Whatever happened to the idea that insulting the President stopped at our borders? I realize that is fictional, with TV satellites and the world wide web, but no one had to go out of their way dig up old crap and air it over and over while he was on the plane, either.
Oh, well, the Saudi royals gave him the royal treatment anyway. Maybe that comes with appointing an oil exec as Secretary of State?
"royal treatment"? He may never come home
thanks you made me check arabnews: King Salman presents Trump with Saudi Arabia’s top civilian honor
The headlines there are a bummer, I read somewhere else the arms deal is $108 Billion, GE big winner. Remember? They bring good things to life. Maybe Trump is also attending head-chopping school, just for fun.
Salon.com: Close U.S. ally Saudi Arabia kicks off 2016 by beheading 47 people in one day, including prominent Shia cleric
Eloquent,
brilliant, and thorough, your essay says so much that is crucial to understanding the rift between Americans.
This point is so right-on:
This part is the most important subject for me and is where I struggle with people close to me who disagree. I find it hard to understand how the good, humane people I know can ignore the nuclear war policy of Obama and company:
Thank you for writing this, and I hope it travels and is published far and wide.
@Linda Wood Thanks, Linda. I hope so.
Thanks, Linda. I hope so. I hate Facebook, but maybe I should go over there and post it. Eew.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Definitely!
@HenryAWallace Well, I did it. I
Well, I did it. I hope it doesn't lose me many friends.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
If it does, they weren't really friends.
It will be on Causus99percent's facebook page, too.
We now post @ Twitter and Facebook
under the Caucus99% account at least once each day. Most days we do it twice a day, but I missed my evening posting at Twitter yesterday until it was too late. I handle the Twitter account and dkmich does the Facebook account. Feel free to post essays under your personal accounts too.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Jimmy Dore has a platform
which he can reel off-
war, climate, MFA, $15/hr, banks, etc.
No left-politician would balk at any of it. Don't think a platform is the problem.
Even I have a platform, which could save the country.
But when people tell me to "stick it", there is nothing I can do. So this is the part that interests me- given a platform (you can have mine)
what can we do with it to unify the country and maybe save the world. This is in line with some of your remarks to me, iirc.
Look forward to hearing your ideas. Seems unlikely to me now that c99 will become more than an information source.(though that is great & I could be wrong) thx.
@irishking You're right that
You're right that platforms aren't the problem, but recently here at c99 there have been two essays--one by Phoebe Loosinhouse and one by joe shikspack--proposing ways forward. Joe's essay involved making demands, which really is platform formation--at least that's how I see it.
What I'm saying is that a couple of things have to be cleared away, I have to get a couple things off my chest before I proceed with any future action. I'll be getting those off my chest in the next several days. It'll be probably one or two more essays.
I'm with you on the notion that making a policy wish list is unlikely, in itself, to do much, but it appears to be just a step in Joe's plan to make trouble for the Democrats.
If we can make trouble for them, that would be great (IMO).
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
There is power
http://www.salon.com/2016/12/02/jill-stein-spoiled-the-2016-election-for...
The issue is how to use it. As far as a way forward, we need to stop bashing Republicans and figure out how to build bridges to them. Then, we need to work with them and others issue by issue. I don't think a platform works because, just looking at Joes's list of demands, I know the right will oppose some of it.
I think I'd start with clean primaries, clean elections and clean votes, cleanly counted. I don't see anyone opposing any of that, although Republicans may demand ID's in red states. Until we get those, I don't think anything else will matter much because they can always rig the vote on any issue or candidate.
@irishking It's more Joe's idea than
It's more Joe's idea than mine, but off the top of my head right now, platform formation can certainly rally all the people together who agree with it--and, if Bernie's primary is any indication, that's a lot of people.
The issue is, what do you do with all the people once they've rallied? It's a vexing question because power is so asymmetrical here. We don't have a lot of power. Withholding our support seems to irritate the PTB (why, I don't know, when they're capable, usually, of simply rigging elections to get the results they want), so perhaps withholding support in a more active and organized way would be useful. I *think* that's where Joe was going with it, but I don't want to speak for him.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Excellent essay. I thought the same thing this morning
when I saw the headline that if Trump sold Saudi Arabia the $100 billion in arm sales then he might make the US complicit in war crime.
WTF? SA has been committing war crimes in Yemen during Obama's presidency and they are committing them with the same fucking weapons the Obama and Hillary sold them!!!!!
I read your essay and then went to Common Dreams where I see this:
In another article I read, "
Who the Hell sold them the f'cking cluster bombs? Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama!!
The damn media pushed Trump on us during the primary election and then after Hillary stole it from Bernie, all I saw was how horrible Trump is and how bad it would be if he won. No Kidding! Why wasn't that an option during the primary.
But as Henry Wallace's essay pointed out, Trump is doing what past presidents have done and the only time people speak out against is when it is a republican president doing those things. Obama was at war his whole time in office and expanded the war of terror to 8-9 more countries. Counties that had nothing to do with the AUMF after 9/11. Where was the democrats outrage about that?
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/05/19/trump-pushes-massive-saudi-...
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
@snoopydawg Is that *Hillary*
Is that *Hillary* speaking out against Saudi war crimes?
Whoa-oh.
Hillary has been the Saudi's golden girl, just like the Bushes are the best buddies. Hard to believe there's trouble in that paradise.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Trump is preserving the Petrodollar
…and preventing a US economic crisis while he is in office, which the Saudis can trigger any time they wish.
It's simple blackmail. Not one of them is thinking about murder, mayhem, or war crimes. They're dressing up and having fun. Wish I were there. The accommodations must be fabulous.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
@Pluto's Republic Actually, I thought the
Actually, I thought the whole reason the Deep State wants a war with Russia is because they're scared Russia and China will get together, sign a trade deal excluding us, and start buying and selling and trading oil in something other than dollars.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
I must have worded it in a strange way.
Your scenario is exactly right. But that's a different war front on the Quest for Empire.
I guess I did not write about the Petrodollar crisis we are currently in, here. We are selling Saudi Arabia whatever they demand to relieve them of their Petrodollar reserves (and burn them). This is to stop the Saudis from flooding the global marketplace with US Treasuries. That's the Saudi threat to the US that's on the table. That is part of what is undercutting the dollar on the Forex. Thus, the Saudis get our best killing machines, which they will use to exterminate the remaining Shiites in the Middle East. (And they don't crash the US dollar, which could bring China onboard to dump a substantial chunk of their own Treasuries. In doing so, China would rid themselves of the US nuisance in the South China Sea. The Saudis and China are new best friends.)
For antiwar types like me, this is the holy grail.
But it's not to be. Arming the Saudis with the best lethal weapons in our warehouse is not that much of a stretch for the US. That is what the US has been doing in the Middle East all this time, on behalf of Israel and the Saudis, in the first place. We are helping them exterminate the Shiites all the way to the border of Iran. Then, we vaporize Iran so the Israel can get a good night's sleep. And, so much more.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
You misunderstand.
The US government has no obligation to redeem a treasury bond until the date of its maturity. If the Saudis or the Chinese want to dump US treasuries, they'd have to sell them to other investors in the open market. Dumping a lot of treasuries causes their value to fall, supply exceeds demand. The country doing the dumping would lose a fortune. Interest on newly issued US treasuries would go up a bit.
@Pluto's Republic But nobody will get
But nobody will get a good night's sleep if we vaporize Iran. Russia will not stand for it. And they will make the case to the Chinese, pretty easily, that we are a bunch of lunatics inherently incapable of keeping to a deal.
I admit I don't understand China (never have), but they do seem to be practical people. As a practical person myself, I know who I'd sign an agreement with, if I had to choose between the current people running the United States and Putin.
And by "current people running the United States," I don't mean Trump.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
@Pluto's Republic I don't. I don't want
I don't. I don't want to be anywhere near those vipers. No good ever came to a little person in their environs.
If you have to be around them, keep your head down and your ears open and pray for the best.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
I have a rich fantasy life.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
@Pluto's Republic Heh.
Heh.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Bingo!!!
I was just about to post the same thing. Thank you, Pluto.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
@gulfgal98 He's not preserving
He's not preserving the petrodollar in the way the Deep State wants, though. As Pluto said, it's a war with more than one front. Trump is not cooperating on the other front--at least not with enough alacrity to satisfy the lunatics actually driving the car.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Have to disagree with number 1. Many of us knew
as soon as Trump starting running that he would be an extremely horrible person to have as president. It didn't take months after he got on the job. Even a month before he took office, his appointments told the story, just like they did with Obama.
Relative to number 3, are you suggesting give Trump credit for things? I don't know what that will get you but go ahead, not me. Relative to the weed, he hasn't done shit, just like everything positive he said he would do, he hasn't done shit. But many of knew that.
You appear to be talking to democrats and the democratic party and their hypocritical stance regarding Trump versus Obama, Clinton and the party as a whole. 80% of democrats still support Obama, a murderous war criminal who should be in prison. If that's the bandwagon you're trying to get on, it's a sure loser.
@Big Al As for #1: what
As for #1: what motivates me to an OMG! stance is much more likely to be something that somebody's done rather than a collection of campaign speeches, especially when multitudes of abuses and offenses that actually were done by Presidents in office have been ignored or explained away.
As for #3, dear gods, NO! I'm saying that if people want to make the argument that Trump is specially horrible and noxious, it would behoove them to at least focus on the ways that his shitty behavior exceeds his predecessors', in this case, Obama's. Trump is WORSE than Obama as far as the DEA plowing into weed-legal states and fucking with people; this little shitshow he's conjuring up with Jeff Sessions is despicable.
I'd better edit the essay to make sure this misunderstanding doesn't happen again; I don't want anybody thinking I actually support Trump's weed policy.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Well, from the hypocritical democrats
pov, I can see your point. But it's also been a little peeve of mine, in that I've been criticizing Trump since he started. In fact, if you'll remember, I left this site for some time because of (what I felt) the over crediting of Trump as the lesser evil vs Clinton and someone who actually would challenge the establishment, which I disagreed with.
So for me, ya Trump threatens the world. But so did Obama and so would have Clinton.
As for number 3, I read it wrong, my bad. But I would say, each president is getting worse because the system and the madness of the oligarchy is getting worse. They have to be increasingly worse because the ruling class agenda requires it.
He was and is the lesser evil.
Hilary's appointees would have been no less odious. Her foreign policy worse and her demeaning of the working class unparalleled. Then there is trade policy ...
Just because Trump is a piece of crap doesn't mean that Clinton wasn't a whole pile of steaming shit.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
I'm not a democrat and never have been.
When I criticize Trump it doesn't make me a Clinton or democratic party apologist.
Who is less evil is something I don't play anymore, not when they're all evil. Different shades don't mean much.
The election was never about a choice
Both parties ran the worst of their filth for President. It would cause some degree of brain damage to even participate in such a thing without a plan.
The election was about shattering the Democratic Party. Nothing more, nothing less. Breaking the Party so badly that it could not repair itself. Giving the People a chance to clean out the corruption and re-esablish an agenda of decency and humanity. (Raise your hand if you didn't know this. I never stopped talking about strategic voting. It was the only possible way out.)
I can only hope this opportunity, this gift, is not wasted on the gnashing of teeth, the bleating for Bernie, the crocheting of vagina hats, and the witch hunts for foreign boogymen. Many Democrats need to be ushered over to the Republican Party, with whom they share an ideology. They will be much happier there. The remaining Democrats need to do what is most important for Democrats to do: To build a strong and healthy society of educated and well-informed citizens. This is what the American people truly want. Until that essential work is done, the US will not have a democracy.
I assume the People want an intelligent democracy...
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Good luck with that hope and assumption.
Everything I see points the other way.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
@The Voice In the Wilderness I don't think we
I don't think we know what the people want. What we know about the people is based on what we are shown, and what we encounter in our personal experience.
We haven't gotten to the point yet where everything the mass media tells us is a lie; we can still find out actual information, to some extent. However, the saturation of the airspace with both lies and distortions is impressive, and we know all about brownouts and blackouts.
So I can only conclude that I don't know how many people agree with me. The people who don't agree with me are easy to see, and there are a disappointing number of them, and what makes it worst is that a lot of them are people who used to be allies. Apparently a portion of the Left has broken under stress:
Ray has gone bye-bye, Egan. What have you got left?
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
I agree whole-heartedly.
But I don't agree that the people want an intelligent democracy.
What I see are Hilbots slavishly repeating neoliberal bullshit and conservatives slavishly repeating neocon bullshit. That covers about half the population. The other half say, "All politicians are crooks! It's all bullshit. Now move so I can watch the ball game/babe with the bouncing boobs."
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
@The Voice In the Wilderness Well, the
Well, the other half believes there is nothing they can do.
That's what I mean; it's not a question of what they want; they don't believe it matters what they want. Once you understand that, all their behavior makes perfect sense. They want to get as far away from the political tar pit as possible, and they want to think about it as little as possible. They'd rather drink and watch boobies than think about the bastards ruining our lives.
I was talking to my former roommate, a while ago, and I talked to her about the standard rap we usually make, here on the Left, about the indifferent American populace which isn't interested in change. She just looked at me and said "How?"
We don't currently have an answer. I think if we got together and organized, there is a possibility that we could find an answer, or, failing that, come up with things that will make our lives better for the time we have left and put us in a good position to act should we get the opportunity. We are currently in a pretty bad position for that; isolated, fragmented, demoralized. Also spending way more time focusing on our enemies and their actions than we spend building something of our own.
That's just how I see it.
That said, I have never been more demoralized than I have since December, when it became clear that roughly half of the remaining Left was willing to chase off after Hillary Clinton, put pussy hats on their heads and scream about Putin and Trump.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Absolutely! On all counts.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Excellent essay
Thank you. It's quite bizarre to keep reading about the Trump apocalypse when you have lived through the Raygun, Clinton, Bushies, and Obama administrations. It isn't even just the presidents of these era's that gets me as congress is also culpable and complicit for destroying any semblance of a democratic system. They took all the prescribed remedies off the table and aren't about to put them back or restore our system. It may have been flawed from the get go but this state of affairs is ridiculously unbelievable and is insult to injury.
Now there are no checks at all on power and every aspect of governance is politicized. Bush2 once said that people who wanted their lawless regime reined in we're criminalizing politics I think the R. and D. duopoly has gotten so arrogant that criminal politics and a criminal system of governance are now legal. Cart before the horse politics that mean nothing as they are complicit in their mutual destruction of our democratic republic. No justice no peace. I think I despise the Democrat's more the the Republicans as they normalized and legalized the abuses of power and crimes against humanity and the planet under the guise of bottom up change you can believe in.
Trump's election is a symptom of what is wrong. In a way he's the perfect reflection of our criminal politics as he's a scary clown thuggish 'developer',investor,real estate scammer. A man of his time as far as criminal con men go. That's not to say that he does not represent the whole spectrum of global criminals, banksters and their enforcers the MIC. He also seems to be unimpeded getting the criminal global agenda implemented. Where's any real obstruction from the Democrat's to this scary clown's global agenda? He serves their purpose both politically and is getting rid of any impediments to the by-partisan global agenda, full steam ahead for the global criminals.
I read an article at Counterpunch about the Trump hysteria regarding the Comey/Russia debacle. It goes beyond partisan politics and makes a similar point as CSTMS has done here.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/05/19/the-secret-sharer/
The Secret Sharer Jeffrey St. Clair
I vote in support
of your comment because of this:
Good question. But isn't his global agenda the same as theirs?
@Linda Wood Except on Russia and
Except on Russia and the TPP, yes.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Exactly the same
which is why this whole post election political fiasco is pissing me off. This Russia bs. being pumped out and the insane war of the spook agencies by the Democratic establishment (Bernie and the so called progressives included), and the global corporate media is disgusting. I cannot for the life of me understand why liberals are joining in on this farce of political kabuki and aliening themselves with the Demorat's. Why doesn't their hysterical fear include the Demoratic party.How do you justify setting the world on fire, privatizing everything, and allowing endless bloody war for profit and dominance. Patriotism/Nationalism? Isn't that the road to fascism?
Is the Democratic progressive myth of socially liberal blinding them? How socially liberal is bombing the hell out of civilians, women children and men,imposing austerity on ordinary people globally and destroy the planet? As far as I can see there are no progressive Dem. pols. on any level. If locally you manage to elect a so called progressive even one who who ran outside the Dem. party once they are elected they knuckle under to the state city or national Dem. big dogs.
Our Dem. governor here put the squeeze on a progressive small business, book store owner, who ran for city consul on stopping the development/demolishing of Portland by investors largely foreign. She won against Steve Novick a corrupt rat bastard weasel who bills himself as a progressive. Seems the lobbyist's in Salem have made rent control or zoning regulation illegal. Our state government has a Democratic majority so does our city. So yes they have the same agenda and work for the same global entities. The thin veneer of hypocritical social liberalism seems to get them elected regardless of the damage done to minorities, poor or even middle class people, poc, and of course the environment.
They all are owned and run by the criminal who rule the world. Guess it's misplaced fear and believing the illogical story line that tells you day is night and calls it Yankee Doodle Dandy.
+100
"Thank you. It's quite bizarre to keep reading about the Trump apocalypse when you have lived through the Raygun, Clinton, Bushies, and Obama administrations."
change scares those that need the status quo.
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
superb comment, shaz
I too can't understand how the people who consider themselves liberal weren't out in the streets when Obama started the war on Libya and then moved on to Syria. I have seen one diary on DK about the genocide of Yemen by the Saudis and with the help of our military.
Any time I brought up his drone program, I was told to stfu because using drones is a much better option than putting our troops in harm's way.
As we know, it takes a Democratic president to pass the heinous legislation like nafta, deregulation of the banks, trying to pass the TPP and walk on the third rail and try to defund social security.
Trump wouldn't be able to do the things he is doing if other presidents hadn't done them first.
This is where the hypocrisy comes in to play..
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
@snoopydawg This is particularly
This is particularly obvious when it comes to the domestic police state, the abridgement of civil rights and liberties. Now Trump has the power of mass warrantless surveillance. Now Trump has the power of indefinite detention. Now Trump has the power to throw people in jail based on nothing more than an accusation that they are somehow involved with someone who is involved with people who are a threat to America's interests. Now Trump has the power to assassinate anyone in the world he wants to without accountability. Wonder what Trump's Terror Tuesdays would/will/do look like?
Why does Trump have these powers? Is it because of his inherent horribleness? His uniquely apocalyptic personality?
Or is it because the prior two Presidents took those powers and refused to give them back?
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
You are right that he has this power to do whatever he wants
and he only has it because of the two previous presidents. But, what I'm seeing is that some of the msm is coming out against him for doing the same things that they did.
The new $110 billion weapons deal that was actually set up under the Obama administration, is now a possible war crime if Trump delivers it. The reason why it might be a war crime is because of what the Saudis are doing in Yemen. Never mind that they were committing those same war crimes when Obama was president and he had our military helping them by refueling their jets and giving them the coordinates of where they should drop the bombs. That's where the hypocrisy comes in.
The same things happened during the Iraq/Iran war. Our government sold Saddam the WMDs to use on the Iranians and gave him their coordinates. Then years later, they accuse him of committing war crimes because he used chemical weapons.
As I said, every president has been a war criminal, but TPTB won't give Trump the same pass.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
@snoopydawg I agree with you.
I agree with you. This latest thing about the Saudi arms sale takes hypocrisy to such a mind-boggling level that we have left the realms of reason and fact forever.
Apparently we were always at war with Eastasia.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Love that link you included in your gem of a comment
At this point, we must resort to humor to remain sane, and the article you quoted was a perfect fit. Two passages made me smile:
On American's manufactured obsession with Russia:
And regarding the Russian officials in the Oval office:
Pitch perfect.
Meanwhile press was really disappointed Friday afternoon when they discovered that their impeachment hopes were dashed for the issue of Comey's firing.
It turns out that Comey's deputy (and current acting head of the FBI) sent a memo to Trump more than a month earlier stating that Comey must be fired and listing the reasons why. Hillary was mentioned. Then, others who had been discussing Comey's firing with Trump, as early as the inauguration, began to come forward. Major Garret's voice was actually shaking while delivering the bad news.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
@shaharazade Thanks, Shaz. Good link!
Thanks, Shaz. Good link!
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Netanyahu snaps fingers, gets 50 governors dancing to his tune
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/All-50-governors-sign-anti-BDS-statem...
Why, exactly, is the Israeli prime minister in a position to do that?
Everyone here who rejects the status quo and wants to be a force for change: do we understand how that works? Upon what does Mr. Netanyahu’s power over our leaders rest?
When we fully understand the nature of Mr. Netanyahu’s power over our office-holders, only then will we see clearly what we need to do to force them to obey us the way they now all obey Mr. Netanyahu.
@lotlizard I don't know, but I'm
I don't know, but I'm guessing it has something to do with the reason the Saudis have so much power over our politicians.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Imagine if 9/11 had involved Russian nationals instead of Saudis
with an alleged ringleader from a Russian clan that Trump’s family had had extensive business dealings with.
Imagine if, in the aftermath of 9/11, Trump would have, without investigating anyone, arranged for all visiting Russians to be flown out of the country, at a time when all other civil aviation was shut down completely.
As George Carlin said, there does indeed seem to be a Big Club, and not only are we not in it, Trump isn’t in it either. The Saudis, the Israelis, the Bushes, and the Deep State on the other hand — “stronger together.”
Whoa!
Well said!
David Axlerod is right when he says that
“We have to deal with the world as we find it”. But he is out to lunch if he thinks everyone wants to accept and applaud this "world as we find it".
No doubt Mr. Axlerod himself thinks "the world as we find it" is not-so-bad, much better than any other imaginable world, and on track to a possibly glorious future... if only his political compadres could somehow wrest more political power from his political foes. Over lunch at expensive restaurants, so to speak.
Unfortunately for all concerned, Mr. Axlerod's political allies do not seem to be doing that. Instead they seem to be slipping into a cesspool of neocon Russophobia, big-bankster sponsorship, MIC boosterism, and neoliberal economic theory. All of this is coupled with the notion that America's version of "capitalism" (which is really not capitalism at all, but rather corporatism) can be exported beneficially to the world at large, whether by subterfuge or by force of arms.
Make no mistake, this vision of America's future as World Hegemon has deep roots in both the Republican and Democratic Parties. Both are fully invested in it, and neither will brook much compromise.
native
Let me fix that quote for Assholerod.
“We have to deal with the world as we MADE it”.
There, that's better.
US middle east policy has been the major factor in the growth of muslim extremism (IMHO).
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
@Citizen Of Earth This is one of the
This is one of the things I hate the most, and likely my next rubble-clearing essay will be about it.
Instead of saying "I'm scared. I can't stand up to the current crop of bullying lunatics," people say "You're just so stupid and naive. You don't understand the big bad world. You don't understand how Washington works."
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Trump is just more of the same
They (the past 5 president at least) are all Neo-Liberal Scumbags plundering the planet and taxpayers for profit. They differ only on guns, gays, gawd and gynecology -- all useful tools for breaking up the herd.
I will say trump seems worse than the rest because he just blurts out whatever pops into his mind. He doesn't sprinkle sugar on his shit sandwiches like the other presnuts.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
I have been dealing with this same thing
(the OMG Trump syndrome) with a number of my good Democratic friends who are so appalled by the person Trump is that they cannot see that he is a product of a very corrupt system. So instead of focusing on the system, they continue to fall into the Trump is bad so we must oppose him myth. These are educated and intelligent people who have been so manipulated by the Democratic party machinery that they fail to see that the other choice was not really a choice either. And we will never get a real choice until we change the system.
Until we can get people to see beyond the duopoly and personalities, and to look deeper into the system, we will continue to bang our heads against the proverbial brick wall.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy