Thu 28 Jan 2010
State of the Union
Posted by USA / R. Marika Markle under Balkers
[12] Comments
Surprised not to see anyone screaming about the SCOTUS decision. Me, I was seriously considering a retirement move out of the U. S. Like Chile or some other Godforsaken place far off the radar screen.
Matters didn’t improve this morning, the day after Obama’s State of the Union address when the Republican in the household mused that it was believable in his lifetime (he’s in his mid-forties) that the U. S. evolves into a dictatorship. This is an Eisenhower Republican who hated Bush & the neo ~ cons.
Can’t you just see it though? Our new corporate citizens invoking a war to protect their interests…and the gov doesn’t move fast enough, so they kinda sorta help it along…bloodless coup?
Welcome back Rebecca. I liked how Obama called out the 5 justices whom are Reagan/Bush appointees to the Supreme Court, in his SOU address.
…hey, they never make public appearances anywhere, so that is as good a venue as any to communicate to them that along with the 4 rational minds on the bench, their radically anti-democratic decision was also found to be totally wrong by the elected head of state (Obama).
He criticized the court decision as a whole, but those were the 5 who
voted for unprecedented new ability for corporations to affect elections
with unlimited pro and anti-candidate advertising, right up to election day. Reversing 100 years of precedent, after Chief Justice Roberts said in his confirmation hearings he was opposed to judicial activism and promised
not to be an activist judge (essentially, precedent reversing).
Liar, clearly. Which Progressives said at the time. I also believe as you mention, that if the GOP takes the White House and Congress back in the future, they will continue with the centralized federal power grab that began under Bush II, that Obama has been too unwilling to prosecute. Although AG Eric Holder does have a working investigation on the use of “enhanced interrogation” (waterboarding), which was in fact against U.S. law and international treaties that Bush was obligated to abide by.
Here in this Harvard Law Record op-ed, is the problem with equating corporations to people with regard to the First Amendment.
And here is a Harper’s Magazine expose regarding 4 Guantanamo whistleblowers, which Media Inc. is curiously failing to escalate to the level of scandal it is.
I believe that needed changes should be made. And supreme court judges should have a time limit in their tenure. They should be elected, and not appointed.
There also should be an age limit, as in their tenure, as well as their retirement age, as well as their health status, while in office.
And this retirement limit should also be imposed upon other legislative representatives. Infact there are people who make it a lifetime profession to stay in political elective positions.
Some as far as 40 years are still being elected to their seats. And certainly after those many years, they become similiarly to dictators, by obtaining much power, leaving no room for changes to occur, and at the same time may be tempted to easy corruption, by professional lobby groups, that are always ready to sell their evil to those who are greedy to stay in power for exchange of favors, which can destroy our national interests in many cases.
Just think that 40% of US Congressmen are among the country’s wealthiest. And certainly according to simple logic, people would safeguard their interests first.
I believe that Mr. Obama might be the man that will break the camel’s back, (politically speaking) and probably will bring many needed changes to give politics back to the working people, and away from the wealthy professional political groups, that favor, and have favored their interests first, rather than those who have elected them to represent.
Sammy from Sicily, and his personal impartial views, as a free thinker.
Roy, I certainly agree with you on the points esp. about Roberts claiming he will strictly interpret the Constitution & the Pres, being a former teacher of constitutional law, calling him out on it. Sammy, I had that discussion last night at home when the S/O came home from work all wound up from discussing it with his co ~ workers…I couldn’t get him to shut up & it was making me more anxious. The line of reasoning is that when lawmakers are elected, they should be serving their constituents, but instead they have to “pay back” those with power who pulled the strings. Isn’t that why the Dems fell apart on the Health Care Bill. Esp. Baucus. And don’t get me going on Lieberman (acknowledging he’s an Independent. So you’ve got the powerful interests, gas, coal, insurance and pharmaceuticals. They have to be “paid back.” Then the elected representative has to work on his re-election…amassing his personal “war chest”.
Ya think we’re gonna get term limits?
Puts me in mind of a satirical verse from the ’60′s, entitled as follows:
“Should I Write A Letter To My Congressman?
Each Congressman has two ends
A sitting and a thinking end.
And since his whole success depends
Upon his seat,
Why bother, friend?”
I’ll tell you why I’m so concerned. History Channel has a program that is much, much scarier than “Decoding Nostradamus” when you know the context. I haven’t seen it lately.. It’s called “The History of the Nazi Party In The U.S.” Making a very long story short, while National Socialism may have been defeated, the principles live on. Now, before the war, on of the ways to shape the culture was to influence the churches. So the Nazis devised the “Deutsche Christians.” Their allegiance was to the party, not to God. This is the element which was probably the most dangerous in the U.S. because of our historical separation of Church & State. The American Nazi Party and the white protestant churches of the South were a perfect fit during the Civil Rights moment..and persists today.
And I don’t know if you all know that George H W Bush first moved to Texas in the ’60′s to organize for the Republican party. A lot of the Southern Dems quit the Democratic party in anger over the Civil Rights movement…Bush was happy to take advantage of that and happily sign them up as Republicans…
History is not black and white. It’s all shades of gray, and some of it is darker and harder to see. But knowing about the influence that Nazi philosophy has on the Republican party, I truly am concerned about the future of our country.
Roy, here’s a link to another Harper’s story..
“Through a Glass, Darkly”
http://harpers.org/archive/2006/12/0081322
And I leave you with the quote…from George Orwell..
Who controls the past, controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.
The fact that after spending most of 2009 laboring over healthcare reform it could still be killed by the minority party, says it all about influence by corporations. That inaction on it leaves many millions without the means to pay when they get sick, and denied care which is not of emergency nature, is a fact.
And yet the interests of average citizens in that much need, get snuffed out by the insurance industry which likes it how it is. Which was one of the president’s points in his speech, and the subject of my Balk “Americans are duped by healthcare profiteers”
Corp America buys up the Senators, and they buy up the media outlets. To the point they actually have other millions of Americans, (who are at the same risk when they are laid-off or have to take a job with no insurance), believing that health reform that covers everyone IS BAD! These crooks make Nazi propaganda look like amateur time!
I’m hoping there could be some unintended consequences in this ruling for the wealthy elite. They’re going to try to use the ruling to get even more control over which candidate wins, and probably for primaries also.
So maybe there could arise a web-based boycott movement even stronger than the one that put Fox News nutcase Glenn Beck in trouble last year. I think he made some stupid racially based remark about Obama, and advertisers started to cancel their ads because of the pressure they were facing for sponsoring his hate talk.
The corporations have to comply with the disclosure law that requires them to report political expenditures. But they will cloak their money behind a maze of front groups like the Swift Boaters, since they don’t want to lose the part of their customers that would disagree if they spent outright on a particular candidate. Like if MorganChase backed McCain outright, you get p.o’ed and move your money to another bank. They won’t be that obvious.
So there is a market now probably for whoever can untangle the disclosure maze, and put up on the internet that in fact Chase IS spending on McCain or against Obama for example. It’ll then up to citizens to vote with their dollars and let these companies know they lose business by trying to mess with the election. But it will have to be online exposure of their real spending. The big media corporations aren’t going to have any part in outing them. And they’re just as corrupt or worse anyway!
Jeff, I hope that the internet can bring about a huge grassroots transformation… I wouldn’t be afraid to take a stand on my Facebook profile.
Pat, I agree with you. People don’t get it when it comes to looking after their self – interest. In my family, the discussion is phrased that the Republicans will never overturn where we are on abortion because it is a goad to get their constituents out to vote. They could have killed abortion long ago, but why kill the goose that lays the golden egg? And (most) Americans are SO dumb, they don’t get how manipulated they are.
To underscore that, this says it all;
***
Poll: Most Republicans think Obama is a ‘socialist’
by Andy Barr
Feb. 2, 2010 11:45 AM
POLITICO.COM
A new poll of self-identified Republicans released Tuesday shows a large slice of the GOP believes President Barack Obama is a “socialist” who was not born in this country, should be impeached, wants the terrorists to win and only won the 2008 election because ACORN “stole” it for him.
The survey of 2003 self-identified Republicans, who typically trend much more conservative than voters who “lean” Republican, was conducted by Research 2000 for the liberal blog Daily Kos.
According to the poll, 63 percent of Republicans believe Obama is a socialist; 39 percent think Obama should be impeached; 24 percent said Obama wants “the terrorists to win”; and 31 percent agreed with the statement that Obama is “a racist who hates white people.”
Those numbers are just a portion of the results from the poll that paints the GOP as much more socially conservative — and in some cases conspiratorial — than most analysts would be willing to grant.
According to the survey, 36 percent of respondents do not believe the president was born in this country, and 21 percent think the liberal advocacy group ACORN stole the election for Obama.
Meanwhile, nearly a quarter of the Republicans polled, 23 percent, want their state to secede from the union.
Those polled also showed strong opposition to the expansion of gay rights.
Fifty-five percent said gays should not be allowed to serve openly in the military, while 77 percent opposed gay couples getting married and 68 percent believe gay couples should not receive “any state or federal benefits.” In addition, 73 percent said openly gay men and women should not be allowed to teach in public schools.
On other social issues the findings were similar.
Fifty-one percent of those polled believe sex education should not be taught in schools; 77 percent want creationism taught in schools; 31 percent want contraception outlawed; and 34 percent believe birth control is “abortion.”
Those polled showed excitement for this fall’s midterm election, as 83 percent said they plan to vote.
Among those surveyed, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is the favorite candidate for the 2012 presidential election.
Sixteen percent said they’d vote for Palin, tops in the field, though 42 percent said they are undecided. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney placed second with 11 percent, followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, and South Dakota Sen. John Thune.
Asked whether they thought Palin is more qualified than Obama to serve as president, 53 percent said yes.
77 percent want creationism taught in schools!!!!
What is wrong with these people? I have no patience with this type who can’t distinguish between cultural heritage versus critical thinking. That was the danger of no child left behind. Memorize and regurgitate for the test. Don’t think about, don’t question it, just accept it all as gospel truth. Lazy people easily scammed because they aren’t taught to question. And if you accept and believe in creationism then you are easily led to believe in whatever lies they want to feed you
Naturally a survey can be tilted to produce one outcome or another, by the phrasings of questions. Yet those results would seem to present a fairly disturbing account of the success of misinformation bandied in the media. Facts being the first casualty of propaganda.
Martin: It’s all part of a plan meant to gut the middle class, send our jobs overseas and reduce us to economic serfdom. Extraction of wealth. No middle class, just the wealthy and the poor. The abject poor. The Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina said it this way:
“My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that. And so what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to curtail that type of behavior. They don’t know any better.”
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/01/south_carolinas_lt_governor_co.html
Incidentally, this is the pro~life party.
And if the wealth can be extracted from us in the U.S., this will serve as a model for wealth extraction in other countries. What/who is going to stop them? I read that after WWII, the Nazis chose to wage war through the economy. Hmmm, sounds like another topic.
I believe that the Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina’s grandmother must have been a person with a closed mind, judging from this type of thinking.
I believe that on this planet there is plenty of food for all, if we stop egoism, and give all a fair chance in life.
There is much waste going on, while many go hungry.
I still believe that man must share his resources with his fellow man. Surely there is no room for racism, which generally has been practiced in many countries that have been dominated by filthy wealthy, egoistic, money hungry families that have lived off the sweat and blood of their fellow man.
And believe me this is still going on in the 21st Century in many parts of our planet.
Sammy from Sicily