Part of a speech given in 1965, warning America of the socialist/communist conspiracy happening, by a very intelligent and patriotic Ezra Taft Benson. Unfortunately he was ignored and attacked for standing up and being counted.
Did You Hear the One About the Bankers?
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: October 29, 2011
“CITIGROUP is lucky that Muammar el-Qaddafi was killed when he was. The Libyan leader’s death diverted attention from a lethal article involving Citigroup that deserved more attention because it helps to explain why many average Americans have expressed support for the Occupy Wall Street movement.
The news was that Citigroup had to pay a $285 million fine to settle a case in which, with one hand, Citibank sold a package of toxic mortgage-backed securities to unsuspecting customers — securities that it knew were likely to go bust — and, with the other hand, shorted the same securities — that is, bet millions of dollars that they would go bust….”
I know there’s no “funny” photo-shopping and there’s a lot of words, but just try reading it… you may learn something, Mooonbatteryoids. Thomas Freidman is one of you (without the arrogant nasty) and the WSJ referred to is a Murdoch publication.
Looks like we have the son of Gunther posting now.
Here’s a tip Eurotrash, anything with the name Thomas Friedman is going to elicit laughter from this crowd. Believe me, no one will follow that link anymore than believe unicorn farts will save the economy.
Tell us, how much does it cost to get an hour with a ten year old boy in Amsterdam these days?
Would that be the same Citigroup that gave staggering sums to Democrats and big government Republicans, got bailed out, and has been sucking the teat of public money ever since? Would that be the same Citigroup which was condemned by the free market, but spared execution at the last minute through Bernanke’s printing press?
Somehow I doubt the basement dwellers at OWS have even the slightest understanding what went on, not that it was right. From the look of things, they don’t have too much hedge fund money to lose in crooked deals, either.
They don’t see it as an agency problem, they see it as uhhh, maaan, *tokes joint*, uhh, it’s like a bank, and it’s bad, man. Man, dude, banks are like, uhh, bad.
LARG….That’s right. Can’t argue on content… do the “playground bully” thing. The description fits you well. Not a whisper of intelligent response… just lash out, throw turds. And what is it with you guys and your obsession with sexual insults anyway? Why are you people so “concerned” about gay sex? I’m suspicious.
Whether you like Freidman or not, there is a story there that originates from the Wall Street Journal owned by Murdoch… you do know who he is?
Yeah, I’m sure the Occutarded crowd is full of finance MBAs schooled in quantitative analysis. Just as I’m sure Friedman at the Holdomor Times is an unbiased reporter.
These proggish trolls must run a tag-team relay system.
“From the look of things, they don’t have too much hedge fund money to lose in crooked deals, either.
You do know the signs a fake? Or are you starting to believe your own lies?
Yes the same City group that bought off the Democrats… You need to get out more and read some blogs from the “other side”…you will find much harsh criticism of Obama and the Democrats, but the articles are more than a one paragraph rant and there’s little or no photoshopping, so it might be hard at first.
Get ALL the money out of politics and 75% of the countries problems are solved. But I get the distinct impression that you people embrace the fact that right now, America is the “Best Democracy Money Can Buy”.
You do know the signs a fake? Or are you starting to believe your own lies?
What does the image at the top of the thread have to do with anything? Every one of these Occupy protests is overrun with dirty hippies, sponging bums, and chronically unemployed losers.
As I said, I wouldn’t expect a bunch of broke losers to feel too much personal pain when the 1% is cheating the 1%.
Get ALL the money out of politics and 75% of the countries problems are solved. But I get the distinct impression that you people embrace the fact that right now, America is the “Best Democracy Money Can Buy”.
The solution is not the curtailment of free speech, or as the European experiment has shown us, the muzzling of conservative viewpoints through laws riddled with loopholes for unions and welfare voting blocs.
The rallying cry of “money out of politics” works to ensure that political messages are distributed through, and opinions shaped by, labor unions and other left wing groups.
When the left says “money out of politics” they are of course referring to money freely given as an act of speech, not money compulsorily confiscated from paychecks by labor unions.
The left wing assaults on free speech here have been particularly bad. They even tried to do away with anonymous speech in the interest of “disclosure.”
The solution is a central government of limited scope unable to engage in widespread corruption, and an intelligent and informed electorate willing to vote corrupt career politicians out.
So why do you continue to come here if you can’t recruit fresh teenage prostitutes among the posters? I know, you love to see what it might be like to lead a life of morals, principles and logic.
More threats against the police at OWS http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2011/10/boston-police-probing-threats-possibly-tied-occupy-movement/4Q6P6bVbeITamG3J2u8JyN/index.html?p1=Local_Links
But this is to be expected when breaking the law and getting arrested is a “strategy” of the OWS movement.
Call it the Rodney King play, where an atmosphere is manufactured that just needs a spark to set it off. The crowd gets whipped into a police state mentality.
Remember, the riots in LA started after the officers were
acquitted of wrongdoing. THAT was the spark, NOT the “beating” itself.
King himself was neither here nor there to the REAL actors in the riots. It was NOT about “justice” or law and order. There is no “justice” in carrying a TV through a broken storefront window.
It was not even police who were the targets. This strategy was to “soften” them up for the emminent attack on capitalism and private property. The frenzied anger was redirected at the opportune time.
I also find it interesting that Bill Ayers shows up out of the blue to “wash his hands of any actual future violence but announcing his intent to capitalize on the results of that violence.See, Bill Ayers could care less if the OWS protester is mad over some other percieved injustice. As long as he is smashing some storefront “capitalist” glass as the result.
The seeds of class envy are VERY well sewn this time around.
But our resident troll, and OWS spokesperson here assures us that there is nothing to see, move along.
Every drug bust in the camps is an ISOLATED case.
When hundereds are arrested, it’s an ISOLATED case.
And now when police are threatened at TWO locations, it’s just another ISOLATED case.
We are witnessing a very conserted attempt to touch off riots. This is how they start. I say this because there is no real pushback from it’s organizers. In fact, this is when they start to make the lame excuse that the movement is “leaderless”
But there is other factors at work that tame the riot beast this time around.
One is law enforcement with better crowd control measures in place.
Another is an alternative media which gets right down into their grime, and splashes their rhetoric, and their faces all across the net instantaneously, foiling the protestors protective cloak of anonymity.
“Don’t come here lecturing us about anything political or economic. You are just a Bolshevik Useless Idiot.”
More name calling. “Na nana na nana!” “I know you are but what am I”
Bolshevik? Thats a first… are you like 90 years old or something?
Why is it that you people are incapable in seeing the shades of grey, between black and white or in matters of degree?
It isa matter of degree. America is a capitalist country with some socialized elements… Europe is filled with countries that are capitalist but with more socialized elements.
Where is there a country that is actually completely socialist/ communist?
China comes close, though it has capitalist elements. America loves them though… they provide cheap labor for off-shoring American production and we want to be more like them… no labor unions, no environmental protection, government subsidizing business in huge ways… I suppose the next thing will be to only allow one child per family like thy do.
What a nation of hypocrites you people are!… in bed with a pretty much communist/socialist country and you just can’t get enough. Never occurs that you are living off the backs of the oppressed… and a system you hate… but you love filling your houses and garages with cheap shit. …though your souls are empty… just look at the sour, ugly, malcontent things you people say on this blog. You hate 3/4ths of the human race.
“Freedom, like pure, clean water, is essential to our way of life. Lest we forget what too much water can do…“
The anarchists protesting around the country are showing us what too much freedom can do. The question then becomes, do the American people have the intellectual capacity, moral strength, and the will, to say there is such a thing as too much freedom. Or, will we allow our country to be destroyed in the name of “freedom”.
ghost sez: I also find it interesting that Bill Ayers shows up out of the blue to “wash his hands of any actual future violence but announcing his intent to capitalize on the results of that violence.See, Bill Ayers could care less if the OWS protester is mad over some other percieved injustice. As long as he is smashing some storefront “capitalist” glass as the result.
Since Ayers teaches in Chicago, “showing up out of the blue” at Occupy Chicago may be your take on it, but it’s pretty silly.
What did Ayers have to say when asked by O.W.S. participants if violence might be necessary?
Ayers: Do I think you should resort to violence? Absolutely not. I think you should use your brilliance, your humor, your wisdom, your body, to dramatize the violence that exists.
A real revolution involves the masses of people transforming themselves and that’s going to require a hell of a lot more than your gun against some other guy’s gun. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about really transformation in the head, transformation in the heart and then transformation on the street.
Of course what Ayers ACTUALLY said is transformed in the paranoid far-right mind as an example of his devious scheming and denial.
What a nation of hypocrites you people are!… in bed with a pretty much communist/socialist country and you just can’t get enough. Never occurs that you are living off the backs of the oppressed… and a system you hate… but you love filling your houses and garages with cheap shit. …though your souls are empty… just look at the sour, ugly, malcontent things you people say on this blog. You hate 3/4ths of the human race.
Let me guess
True Marxism can relieve us of these burdens placed on us by individualism and self interest
AC …”When the left says “money out of politics” they are of course referring to money freely given as an act of speech, not money compulsorily confiscated from paychecks by labor unions”
No I’m talking all money from all individuals and groups and use tax dollars to fund election debates (a small price to get the corrupting bribery out of the system) for the two months (how much time, money and intelligence is wasted on painful, 2 year long elections) before voting and then voting with instant runoffs… I know it wont be easy but it could/would be way more fair. Say, 5 possible candidates per election. New parties would be possible.
Dr. 9 “…..too much freedom”? are you really aware of what you are saying, Dr?
Ghost “Let me guess.
True Marxism can relieve us of these burdens placed on us by individualism and self interest”
Are you people really so completely incapable of seeing things in degrees and not in either/or, black and white, one or the other?
No …I’m talking about capitalism as it was practiced from the 30s through 70s, before Reagan started telling you that greed is no longer a sin but instead a virtue ….what the hell did Jesus know about any thing….?
And what about the hypocrisy in dealing with China? Hate the communism… love the cheap labor… America deserves what it’s getting.
Lao
I can’t just “forget” Bill Ayers past.
The Weather Underground was a terrorist organization, with violence as it’s key driver.
Ayers still has the dried blood stains on his hands.
He was quoted in an interview to say “I don’t regret setting bombs”
They were a clandestine revolutionary group founded for the purpose of the violent overthrow of the US government, and the installation of Communism
The group may be gone, but it’s participants remain.
Ayers said
I think you should use your brilliance, your humor, your wisdom, your body, to dramatize the violence that exists.
This violence does not exist in a vacuum. Someone, or some group instigates it.
Ayers is telling you to be an accessory to that violence. Lend moral and emotional support to it as the buildings begin to burn.
He knows there are enough nuts around on the left to do the actual work, but they still need to be “egged on”
THAT is the basis of Ayers little speech.
The left ruthlessly attacks Bristol Palin for lecturing teens on absence, but when a former terrorist talks about non-violence to a bunch of hippie trash, no one should bring up his past. Do I have that right?
Martijn
In the matter of “greed” I believe Friedman said it best. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=milton+friedman+on+greed&aq=o
Ironic, isn’t it that in order for China to be able to continue to produce this stuff, the grip of Communism must be loosened.
Look, most people do not want a fifty dollar UAW broomstick. They would rather buy a three dollar el cheapo, so as to have money left over for life’s little luxuries. Luxuries that AMERICANS can produce that hold a GREATER value.
Basic economics, no more, no less. The tradeoff is that CONSUMERS are better off for it. And EVERYONE is a consumer, but few are union bosses
Here’s the full text of the Ayers remarks I quoted above where he addresses the broader context of violence.
Ayers: Do I think you should resort to violence? Absolutely not. I think you should use your brilliance, your humor, your wisdom, your body, to dramatize the violence that exists. But we do not live in a neutral land, not when there’s a trillion dollar military budget the biggest in the world. Not when they’re recruiting kids to be in the service. Not when every athletic event begins with guns and marching.
That’s not a non…that’s a violent culture and that’s where we live. So no, I think the revolution that I have in mind is one where we get over…a real revolution involves the masses of people transforming themselves and that’s going to require a hell of a lot more than your gun against some other guy’s gun. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about really…transformation in the head, transformation in the heart and then transformation on the street.
But I do think that we sometimes get into a trip bag where we’re supposed to be somehow pristine and precious and somebody like Barack Obama who drone strikes and kills American citizens is saying you know, “I want you all to be non-violent.” well I want YOU to be non violent how about that? If you are non-violent I think that would be a better thing.
Lao
The problem is the full text convinces one even MORE that he is excusing the violence.
Now, if the POLICE were unarmed, society would be even LESS violent, Right ?
No, not to Ayers. Ayers says society will be violent anyways, so it’s just as well that he watches it unfold and then capitalizes on it.
Even Obama’s actions are an excuse.
The swaying of people that hold elected office with money, or the swaying of voters with your particular ideas of what the government should do by purchasing political advertising is only effective insofar that the government itself is powerful enough to do what certain people want it to do. The problem isn’t the corrupting of government with money. The problem is that the government has assumed too much power. This in itself is a corruption of the government.
People that say they want the money out of politics don’t want the government to return to a our constitutional republic of limited government. Rather, they embrace a very power flu government. They only qualm is that they want to have a very powerful government that does what they want it to do.
A powerful government corrupts our free society. Get the money out of politics? Get the collectivist big government out of our free society.
Re: Ayer’s statement “Do I think you should resort to violence? Absolutely not.”
Following is a partial list of WU activities from Wikipedia:
1969
July – Members travel to Cuba and meet representatives of the North Vietnamese and Cuban governments to aid a Communist victory against the United States.
October 5 – The Haymarket Police Statue in Chicago is bombed; Weathermen later claim credit for the bombing in their book, Prairie Fire.
October 8-11 – The “Days of Rage” riots occur in Chicago, damaging a large amount of property. 287 Weatherman members are arrested.
November 8th – Sniper attack on Cambridge Police Station.
December 6 – Bombing of several Chicago police cars parked in a precinct parking lot at 3600 North Halsted Street, Chicago.
December 27-30 – Weathermen hold a “War Council” in Flint, Michigan, where plans are finalized to change into a Communist underground organization that will commit strategic acts of sabotage against the government.
1970
January – Silas and Judith Bissell placed a home-made bomb under the steps of the R.O.T.C. building. The bomb was made from an electric blasting cap, an alarm clock, a battery and a plastic bag filled with gasoline and explosives.
February 16: A bomb is detonated at the Golden Gate Park branch of the San Francisco Police Department, killing one officer and injuring a number of other policemen.
On February 21, the house of Judge Murtagh, who presides over the Panther 21 trial, is fire-bombed by a WUO cell in New York City.
The same night, molotov cocktails were thrown at a police car in Manhattan and two military recruiting stations in Brooklyn.
March 6 – WUO members Theodore Gold, Diana Oughton, and Terry Robbins are killed in the Greenwich Village townhouse explosion when a nailbomb they were constructing detonates. The bomb was intended to be planted at a non-commissioned officer’s dance at Fort Dix, New Jersey.
March 30 – Chicago police discover a WUO “bomb factory” on Chicago’s north side.
April 1 – Based on a tip Chicago Police find 59 sticks of dynamite, ammunition, and nitro glyerine in an apartment traced to WUO members.
May 10 – The National Guard Association building in Washington, D.C. is bombed.
June 6 – In a letter, the WUO claims credit for bombing of the San Francisco Hall of Justice, although no explosion has occurred. Months later, workmen locate an unexploded bomb.
June 9 – The New York City Police headquarters is bombed by Jane Alpert and accomplices. Weathermen state this is in response to “police repression.”
July 25 – The United States Army base at The Presidio in San Francisco is bombed on the 11th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution.
On the same day, a branch of the Bank of America is bombed in New York.
July 28 – Bank of America HQ in NYC is bombed around 3:50 AM. WUO claims responsibility.
October 8 – Bombing of Marin County courthouse.
October 10 – A Queens traffic-court building is bombed. WUO claims this is to express support for the New York prison riots.
October 11 – A Courthouse in Long Island City, NY is bombed. An estimated 8 to 10 sticks of dynamite are used.
October 12 – Around October 12 eight bomb explosions occur, Five in Rochester New York, Two in NYC, and One in Orlando FL. Despite WUO bomb warnings three persons are injured.
October 14 – The Harvard Center for International Affairs is bombed by The Proud Eagle Tribe of Weather (later renamed the Women’s Brigade of the Weather Underground).
December 5th – Five Weatherman are captured for trying to bomb First National City Bank of NY and other buildings on the anniversary of the death of Fred Hampton. These individuals subsequently plead guilty.
December 11th – Vivian Bogart and Patricia Mclean from the WUO are arrested after throwing an incendiary bomb at the Royal National Bank in NYC around 1:30 AM.
1971
March 1 – The United States Capitol is bombed. WUO states this is to protest the invasion of Laos. President Richard M. Nixon denounces the bombing as a “shocking act of violence that will outrage all Americans.”
April – FBI agents discover what is dubbed “Pine Street Bomb Factory”, an abandoned apartment utilized by WUO in San Francisco, California.
August 30 – Bombings of the Office of California Prisons in Sacramento and San Francisco.
September 17 – The New York Department of Corrections in Albany, New York is bombed.
October 15 – The bombing of William Bundy’s office in the MIT research center. [NYT, 10/16/71]
1972
May 18 – The bombing of the 103rd Police Precinct in New York.
September 28 – The ITT headquarters in New York and Rome, Italy are bombed. WUO states this is in response to ITT’s alleged role in the Chilean coup earlier that month.
1973
March 6 – Bombing of the Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare offices in San Francisco. WUO states this is to protest alleged sterilization of poor women.
May 31 – The Office of the California Attorney General is bombed.
June 17 – Gulf Oil’s Pittsburgh headquarters is bombed.
September 11 – Bombing of Anaconda Corporation. WUO states this is in retribution for Anaconda’s alleged involvement in the Chilean coup the previous year.
1974
January 29 – Bombing of the State Department; WUO states this is in response to escalation in Vietnam.
January 23 – Offices of Dept. of Defense in Oakland are bombed. In a statement released to the press, Ayers expressed solidarity with the Viet Cong.
June 16 – Weathermen bomb a Banco de Ponce (a Puerto Rican bank) in New York, WUO states this is in solidarity with striking Puerto Rican cement workers.
September – Bombing of the Kennecott Corporation; WUO states this is in retribution for Kennecott’s alleged involvement in the Chilean coup two years prior.
I see G(r)unter the Umalatte Liberal is back……calling himself “Martijin” now.
Since you’re apparently proud of your German heritage, I would suggest you stop re-reading your tattered copies of Mein Kampf and the Complete Works of Marx and Lenin with the Foreword by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, and pick up a copy of “The Road to Serfdom” by Friedrich August Hayek.*
*We have a ghost with a similar name that posts here, and is in fact lending their spectral presence to this very thread…..so…..BEWARE!!!!! Boo!!!!! HAHAHAH!!!!
A fascinating element of the Left is the treatment of their own killers and criminals.
Lao rushes to the defense of Ayers, currently luxuriating in academic tenure and multiple publishing deals.
Yet a McVeigh, who the Left loosely identifies with our side, is promptly executed with our side’s aggressive support and applause.
Though we are also anti-big governmeO nt, you don’t see McVeigh hosting parties to launch the GOP candidate’s campaign, writing dedications to the GOP candidate’s books or serving on the same nonprofit board as the GOP candidate. Or writing columns in HuffPo, NYT or Newsweek.
And most importantly Lao, we don’t react to vicious murders with a “(rolls eyes)”.
Seeing Billy “Nailbomb”* Ayers showing up at an OWS or other “Occupy” event is like having a child molester show up at the local schoolyard.
Both may have been careful to not openly have said or done anything you could actually call “criminal”, but it sure fits the pattern……..and would definitely be suspect behavior.
*Actually, Billy says he preferred to use heavy electrical cable staples.
No I’m talking all money from all individuals and groups and use tax dollars to fund election debates (a small price to get the corrupting bribery out of the system) for the two months (how much time, money and intelligence is wasted on painful, 2 year long elections) before voting and then voting with instant runoffs… I know it wont be easy but it could/would be way more fair. Say, 5 possible candidates per election. New parties would be possible.
I’m fine with a reform of the election system to permit third parties to make their voices heard without becoming vote-splitting kingmakers.
Putting a reactionary ban on all money takes away voices from individuals, leaving the political media economy to already existing groups like unions, and even trade associations on the right.
More insidious is a ban on contributions in kind, such as if a blog were to become a staunch supporter of one candidate.
Shutting off the flow of money sounds nice. I’ll admit I once thought it might be a solution. Upon researching the issue, I found there is simply no way to get the money out without squelching the rights of citizens and groups of citizens to come together to speak out on issues.
The money may be a slippery slope, but undermining free speech is even worse.
I’d rather see a more robust effort to root out and expose corrupt politicians who trade money for favors, like Pork Kings John Murtha and Ted Stevens.
Shutting off the flow of money also protects incumbency, since incumbents get loads of free advertising and name recognition via the news media.
We’re being rotted from the inside out by incumbency, and both parties are to blame for a rash of corrupt incumbents.
If an up and coming candidate wants to challenge a career politician, he needs the support of potential voters to get the message out. That requires money. As much as the money might be corrupting, getting rid of it leaves the incumbents to unchecked levels of corruption, where political dynasties become near hereditary.
Whether you’re on the left or right, political aristocracies are dangerous to the freedom of ordinary citizens.
Yes, that’s also a call for anti-nepotism laws while we’re at it.
Greed is an obsession. After being bailed out by taxpayers in 2009, America’s large banks came back in 2011 asking for more. This time, they imposed fees on their customer-depositors, in essence, the people that saved them in the first place. Two months ago, for instance, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) announced a $5 monthly fee for its debit cardholders–a way for the bank to offset the loss of revenues caused by the Durbin Amendment of Dodd-Frank Act (a reduction in the fee banks can charge merchants from 44 cents to 24 cents per transaction).
Now, most of these banks are reversing that decision, dropping debt card fees. Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), for instance, have canceled the fees, while Bank of America is studying the possibility of reducing or even eliminating the fees. What made bankers change their mind so soon?
An unexpected customer-revolt that spread like a fire. Some customers moved their money to smaller banks and credit unions. Other customers took the streets, joining forces with >>>>>Occupying Wall Street<<<<< to protest against bankers’ greed. A third group spread the WOM and buzz over the Internet, telling their friends, their neighbors, their colleagues, and their lawmakers about bank greed.
Customer-revolt teaches bankers a very important lesson: Don’t be greedy; and don’t take the customer for granted. Don’t assume that your services are unique and indispensible. The customer is the ultimate boss of every bank, the ambassador, and the community advocate. Just make sure they aren’t on your wrong side."
God damn! In spite of all the dirty hippies and drumming… some people seem to be getting the message… and this coming from FORBES?!?!? Must be hard to take in, citizens of Moonbatteryville.
God damn! In spite of all the dirty hippies and drumming… some people seem to be getting the message… and this coming from FORBES?!?!? Must be hard to take in, citizens of Moonbatteryville.
Really? I still remember the pleas and the whining when I pulled a seven figure sum of personal and business operating/collateral accounts from BoA and moved it to a small community bank, all because BoA took bailouts.
I figured that as long as they had Helicopter Ben’s stash they didn’t need mine and they didn’t need any business accounts of mine.
Bailouts are not free market capitalism. I hope every Tea Party member walks away from these too big to fail vampire casinos and puts the money in sound, local institutions.
It is interesting that OWS and TP agree on the bank bailouts. I don’t think anybody would disagree there.
It’s put the Left in quite a spot to have to agree with us on something. With the added insult of the Left’s own post-Hope and Change Obamavilles blooming just a year before the elections.
I actually was surprised when OWS first started that the Left was able to articulate the bailout issue to their minions. You usually don’t see them explore a relatively complex issue in depth like that, and certainly not an economic subject.
Let’s be glad the hard left is getting a Teaching Moment about the government they voted for. Since they’ve stuck their neck out to the public on this you would think they’d be motivated to continue to research the subject in depth and maybe learn something. Despite already having an advanced degree in Lesbian Basket Weaving.
“I’m fine with a reform of the election system to permit third parties to make their voices heard without becoming vote-splitting kingmakers…..”
You make good points… one thing that can be done easily (ha ha) is to outlaw all lobbying… no money or favors changing hands on pain of long prison sentences… and to stop the revolving door between biz and gov… 5-7 years between careers.
… but you will never convince me that money is equal to free speech. That means, for example the Koch brothers.. who inherited their wealth, have an incalculable amount more free speech than most people, just for being squirted out of the correct womb… I include all wealthy people left or right. One person, one vote…
And somehow, to tamp down people who lie, propagandize and rabble-rouse for a living.(Blountfor example) Bring back the fairness doctrine. If someone is being honest, they have nothing to fear… if they’re a lying sack of crap… they will be exposed.
“Really? I still remember the pleas and the whining when I pulled a seven figure sum of personal and business operating/collateral accounts from BoA and moved it to a small community bank, all because BoA took bailouts.”
good work! … you do remember Bush started the bailouts through TARP?… Obama continued them…. the main reason I will vote again for Obama is that we don’t need another war, this time with Iran… all the Republicans are ready to go with more of the same old racket, ASAP.
Martijn that’s fine you’re voting against wars. Might want to check the Dem party record first on that since you’re on war #3 now, with Syria next as we get closer to the election.
Since I’ve lost everything this last 3 years; my 401k, my business, and now my house ( and I’m 47 with precious little time to make it back ) don’t blame me for hoping that another political party takes over in 2012. And the same for California somehow.
You’re right that Bush went along with the bailouts that were reviled by our side at the time. Your side said nothing about it until now, but I understand how it took that long to sink in.
Things were pretty great all through Bush’s term until the last couple years as you remember. What was different? Oh – just the 2006 Dem Congress. The Congress who proposed and initiated the bailouts Bush cooperated with – wrongly.
But go ahead and vote for more, by all means. You’ve obviously put a lot of thought into it.
You make good points… one thing that can be done easily (ha ha) is to outlaw all lobbying… no money or favors changing hands on pain of long prison sentences… and to stop the revolving door between biz and gov… 5-7 years between careers.
Define “lobbyist.”
The problem there is that what constitutes a registered lobbyist is so fluid and apt to change. A lobbyist is merely somebody who speaks to politicians for a living, but that definition is so easily gamed as soon as we pass laws to stop it. Whatever we define as a legal “lobbyist” the lobbyists will soon mutate away from just enough to continue on with business.
Berkshire Hathaway hires lobbyists to lobby on the Hill, but is Warren Buffet a lobbyist? He holds far more sway with politicians when he testifies than any hired help from K Street.
There’s the problem. Believe me, I despise the lobbyists too, but there’s no way to define a lobbyist without ensnaring others who are merely speaking out.
There is one test: the old “I know it when I see it” standard. We can’t codify it into law, but an involved citizenry can speak out against politicians who are getting too cozy with the swarms of lobbyists.
… but you will never convince me that money is equal to free speech. That means, for example the Koch brothers.. who inherited their wealth, have an incalculable amount more free speech than most people, just for being squirted out of the correct womb… I include all wealthy people left or right. One person, one vote…
A valid point, but I’d sooner live in a nation like you describe than the alternative, which is one in which all citizens are equal in their inability to speak out. The Soviet Union offered the ultimate in political equality to average citizens – nobody had any political speech.
We’re either going to err on the side of too much political speech or too little, and it’s far easier for citizens to tune out the advertising bought by George Soros or the Koch Brothers than it is for average citizens to speak out when having any voice is highly regulated.
The few examples involving billionaires are more than offset by grassroot efforts at the local level. A year or so ago there was a big dustup over police threatening felony charges against an individual distributing fliers in a school board election, using the very laws written to rein in shadowy PACs; fortunately, IJ intervened and cooled off the madness.
And somehow, to tamp down people who lie, propagandize and rabble-rouse for a living.(Blountfor example) Bring back the fairness doctrine. If someone is being honest, they have nothing to fear… if they’re a lying sack of crap… they will be exposed.
You’re free to disregard any medium you dislike or disagree with.
The fairness doctrine is an assault upon the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech, as well as its guarantee of freedom of association. Sources compete with each other. They should not be forced together.
How exactly would a hamheaded bureaucrat enforce the fairness doctrine against a part-time blogger? First, they’d need to register and license everybody, and from there the trouble starts.
Nobody should be forced to spread opinions they disagree with. It sounds nice to be against lies, but who determines what is and isn’t true in the murky world of political “fact”? The government? A Ministry of Truth is a greater threat to liberty than falsehoods running rampant.
Remember, popular speech needs no protection, and it never has. Humanity has always been free to agree completely with the local king or tyrant. Only unpopular or dissident speech needs protection, which is exactly the scenario the founders wrote the First Amendment to cover. Individuals and businesses are free to communicate dissenting viewpoints without the need to push the official viewpoint sanctioned by whatever becomes the American incarnation of Pravda.
There is no provision in the First Amendment for the fairness doctrine. None. Period. When you read exceptions into that, then the other side starts reading in exceptions you don’t like to other amendments, and the whole promise of liberty goes down the toilet.
Radio spectrum is no longer scarce and neither is Internet hosting capacity. Everybody has equal access to put their viewpoint out there, and in this day and age, they can reach the whole world with a free hosted blog. The fairness doctrine might make some sense if only one television channel were on the air, and government had to pick and choose to whom it gave the license; that is simply not reality.
good work! … you do remember Bush started the bailouts through TARP?… Obama continued them…. the main reason I will vote again for Obama is that we don’t need another war, this time with Iran… all the Republicans are ready to go with more of the same old racket, ASAP.
Yes. Bush, Bernanke, Paulson, and Congress were wrong then, and they’re wrong now. Bailouts create moral hazard and distort the economy, whether they involve paying welfare queens to have 12 children, or whether they involve paying banks to gamble with toxic assets.
Only one candidate has promised no more interventionist wars and no more spending for existing foreign wars, and it isn’t Obama.
If war spending is your hot button issue, then Paul is your candidate. It’s okay, you can admit that both parties are basically failures, and you can start looking outside the existing, business as usual hierarchy.
Obama is on war #4 and he doesn’t seem to be letting up. Despite promised wind downs, the spending is still there.
Don’t forget, Obama is now issuing executive death warrants for American citizens never convicted on any charges. How does that sit with you?
Do you have the intellectual honesty to admit that your opposition to foreign wars is best represented by Republican Ron Paul, instead of Democrat Obama? Do you have the intellectual honesty to admit that his plan to right-size the defense budget frees up funds to control the deficit and help seniors threatened by the broken Ponzi scheme known as Social Security?
Don’t forget, Martijn, Obama reappointed Bernanke and rubber stamped the Fed’s corruption behind its closed doors.
If you really are American, and not our resident wondertroll Gunther, then I suggest you think long and hard about what sort of economy will be left after another four years of reckless spending, whether it be from Obama or Romney.
And no, even if millionaires were taxed at 100%, it still wouldn’t fill the hole. Obama’s millionaire tax over the next ten years pays for a mere few months of the deficit alone.
If you’re not a millionaire, you won’t have much of a future if you vote to double down on this clown. Let’s see what sort of job and future you have when the insolvency spreads and America itself goes into foreclosure. This level of spending is unsustainable. It can’t end in anything but a crash.
Are you aware that we’ve reached debt saturation and that the marginal effect of new debt contributes negative GDP?
Then again, if Bernanke keeps up his shenanigans, we’ll all be millionaires.
AC do you have the intellectual honesty to admit the biggest two of those wars were handed to Obama by the previous administration?
I supported Bush’s intervention in Afghanistan and Obama’s escalation of troop strength there. That said, the situation in that country is extraordinarily messy and corrupt and always has been. While it would be easy to throw up our hands and walk, the humanitarian consequences of that would be huge.
Did you notice the troops will out of Iraq by the end of December?
Did you notice NATO is out of Libya as of midnight tomorrow?
I support the intervention to get rid of the hideous Lord’s Resistance Army which happens to have been unanimously approved by the Senate and House a couple of years ago.
Yes, they were a mistake. Bush didn’t understand the nature of Islam. He thought he could bring American style democracy to nations which themselves established Iranian style Islamic republics as soon as the dictators were removed. We squandered an immense amount of money we could ill afford to borrow and print, and in the process, we’ve been asked to give up critical civil liberties at home. Our focus on foreign wars has distracted our focus here at home, allowing Mexican drug violence to spill across an undefended southern border, devastating border communities and killing Americans caught in the crossfire.
Obama himself promised a much faster withdrawal than he delivered. He also broke his promise to close Gitmo and not start any new wars. He looked the left in its eyes on several key issues and promised something he did not deliver. Why do you support that lying fraud?
Definitive results of Republican preferences for their party’s 2012 nominee for president of the United States are far from in although thousands have expressed their opinions in non-binding state straw polls. There won’t be any real results until the numbers from the January 3rd Iowa caucuses and January 1oth New Hampshire primary are tabulated.
Still, based on early polls, the debates, educated guesses, and inconsequential straw ballots, pundits and non-pundits alike have a gut feeling on who will snag the gold GOP ring and, perhaps more importantly, who should be the nominee’s choice for a running mate.
As of now, it looks like former Massachusetts governor Willard Mitt Romney for the top spot. Assuming Mitt wants to win on November 6th,2012, he will pick Florida’s Senator Marco Antonio Rubio to run with him against President Barack Hussein Obama and Person-to-be-Named-Later, after Obama tests how the fickle political winds are blowing.
Designated late night Democrat hatchetmen Leno and Letterman would have tons of idiotic fun poking ridicule at “Willard” and “Marco” while ignoring the equivalent hilarity of “Barack” and his comical gaffes and ineptitude but they won’t get the chance unless Willard and Marco share the GOP ticket.
As we all know, things can change quickly and dramatically in the world of contemporary politics. Witness New York Senator Hillary Clinton’s unexpected fade in the 2008 Democrat presidential sweepstakes and, more recently, Rep. Michelle Bachmann’s and Gov. Rick Perry’s falls from grace among Republicans.
We also know the sheer terror Rubio has struck in the liberal minds and soul-less hearts of Obama’s MSM as seen in the current campaign by the Washington Post, et al. to deconstruct Rubio based on an innocent error concerning the date of his parents’ flight from Castro’s Cuba. The lib theory seems to be, when you have nothing, go with it, the same angle they unsuccessfully used on Herman Cain.
Good man that he is, Cain can’t be elected despite his recent popularity; he’s even more inexperienced and unqualified to be president than a certain community organizer was three years ago and lacks the advantage of mainstream media backing him and concealing his flaws.
Barring some catastrophic event, a Hillary insurrection, or Obama pulling an LBJ, he will head the Democrat ticket next year and, barring a miracle, Romney will be the Republican nominee. He will then have to decide whether to beat Obama or try once again to win in 2016. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=5846.)
How progressives steal power. Bill Whittle explains conservatives VS progressives on the constitution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNzPVqgFRSg&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Scientist whose climate change research on polar bears was cited by Al Gore will face lie detector test over ‘integrity issues’
Ever-Nostalgic Kremlin Leadership Looking to Bring Back Soviet Era with 2012 ZiL Limo?
Well, you can’t have it… now what
Reaganite’s Sunday Funnies
Arab Spring going exactly like you saw it going 6 months ago. And you’re paying for it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cxclbNCtas
The schmoozing begins. Jonathan Alter says that Obama is “free of scandal”.
Is Obama free of scandal?
http://lgfonevolution.blogspot.com/2011/10/is-obama-free-of-scandal.html
AS Jacob Williamson says, this is only possible to mantain if you define scandal “to exclude anything which could harm Obama’s chances of reelection.”
SO if Obama did it, then, by definition, it could nver be a scandal.
Part of a speech given in 1965, warning America of the socialist/communist conspiracy happening, by a very intelligent and patriotic Ezra Taft Benson. Unfortunately he was ignored and attacked for standing up and being counted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvTcdue_FyI&feature=youtube_gdata_player
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K17kA50c1zs&feature=feedrec_grec_index
Just stumbled onto this on Youtube…. I like it!
From Verum Serum:
Video: Oakland Occupier Admits Protesters Were Throwing Rocks, Bottles at Police
http://www.verumserum.com/?p=31747
Did You Hear the One About the Bankers?
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: October 29, 2011
“CITIGROUP is lucky that Muammar el-Qaddafi was killed when he was. The Libyan leader’s death diverted attention from a lethal article involving Citigroup that deserved more attention because it helps to explain why many average Americans have expressed support for the Occupy Wall Street movement.
The news was that Citigroup had to pay a $285 million fine to settle a case in which, with one hand, Citibank sold a package of toxic mortgage-backed securities to unsuspecting customers — securities that it knew were likely to go bust — and, with the other hand, shorted the same securities — that is, bet millions of dollars that they would go bust….”
I know there’s no “funny” photo-shopping and there’s a lot of words, but just try reading it… you may learn something, Mooonbatteryoids. Thomas Freidman is one of you (without the arrogant nasty) and the WSJ referred to is a Murdoch publication.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/opinion/sunday/friedman-did-you-hear-the-one-about-the-bankers.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212
Looks like we have the son of Gunther posting now.
Here’s a tip Eurotrash, anything with the name Thomas Friedman is going to elicit laughter from this crowd. Believe me, no one will follow that link anymore than believe unicorn farts will save the economy.
Tell us, how much does it cost to get an hour with a ten year old boy in Amsterdam these days?
“…Thomas Freidman is one of you…”
Zwakhoofdig.
Martijn says:
Would that be the same Citigroup that gave staggering sums to Democrats and big government Republicans, got bailed out, and has been sucking the teat of public money ever since? Would that be the same Citigroup which was condemned by the free market, but spared execution at the last minute through Bernanke’s printing press?
Somehow I doubt the basement dwellers at OWS have even the slightest understanding what went on, not that it was right. From the look of things, they don’t have too much hedge fund money to lose in crooked deals, either.
They don’t see it as an agency problem, they see it as uhhh, maaan, *tokes joint*, uhh, it’s like a bank, and it’s bad, man. Man, dude, banks are like, uhh, bad.
LARG….That’s right. Can’t argue on content… do the “playground bully” thing. The description fits you well. Not a whisper of intelligent response… just lash out, throw turds. And what is it with you guys and your obsession with sexual insults anyway? Why are you people so “concerned” about gay sex? I’m suspicious.
Whether you like Freidman or not, there is a story there that originates from the Wall Street Journal owned by Murdoch… you do know who he is?
Here’s the WSJ link…
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203687504577001880109335126.html?mod=WSJ_business_IndustryNews_DLW#articleTabs%3Darticle
The picture reminds me of a Three Stooges movie:
MAN: “You MORONS!”
MOE: “Yeah, but we’re ORGANISED!” (Shows a union button) “Amalgamate Association of Morons.”
Eurotrash: I asked you about a question about a subject on which you are an expert, deviant sex.
Don’t come here lecturing us about anything political or economic. You are just a Bolshevik Useless Idiot.
Yeah, I’m sure the Occutarded crowd is full of finance MBAs schooled in quantitative analysis. Just as I’m sure Friedman at the Holdomor Times is an unbiased reporter.
These proggish trolls must run a tag-team relay system.
Gunther, lao, pansy90210, serenity….need SOMETHING to do in between pimping teenage prostitutes.
“From the look of things, they don’t have too much hedge fund money to lose in crooked deals, either.
You do know the signs a fake? Or are you starting to believe your own lies?
Yes the same City group that bought off the Democrats… You need to get out more and read some blogs from the “other side”…you will find much harsh criticism of Obama and the Democrats, but the articles are more than a one paragraph rant and there’s little or no photoshopping, so it might be hard at first.
Get ALL the money out of politics and 75% of the countries problems are solved. But I get the distinct impression that you people embrace the fact that right now, America is the “Best Democracy Money Can Buy”.
What does the image at the top of the thread have to do with anything? Every one of these Occupy protests is overrun with dirty hippies, sponging bums, and chronically unemployed losers.
As I said, I wouldn’t expect a bunch of broke losers to feel too much personal pain when the 1% is cheating the 1%.
The solution is not the curtailment of free speech, or as the European experiment has shown us, the muzzling of conservative viewpoints through laws riddled with loopholes for unions and welfare voting blocs.
The rallying cry of “money out of politics” works to ensure that political messages are distributed through, and opinions shaped by, labor unions and other left wing groups.
When the left says “money out of politics” they are of course referring to money freely given as an act of speech, not money compulsorily confiscated from paychecks by labor unions.
The left wing assaults on free speech here have been particularly bad. They even tried to do away with anonymous speech in the interest of “disclosure.”
The solution is a central government of limited scope unable to engage in widespread corruption, and an intelligent and informed electorate willing to vote corrupt career politicians out.
So why do you continue to come here if you can’t recruit fresh teenage prostitutes among the posters? I know, you love to see what it might be like to lead a life of morals, principles and logic.
Enjoy Amsterdam.
More threats against the police at OWS
http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2011/10/boston-police-probing-threats-possibly-tied-occupy-movement/4Q6P6bVbeITamG3J2u8JyN/index.html?p1=Local_Links
But this is to be expected when breaking the law and getting arrested is a “strategy” of the OWS movement.
Call it the Rodney King play, where an atmosphere is manufactured that just needs a spark to set it off. The crowd gets whipped into a police state mentality.
Remember, the riots in LA started after the officers were
acquitted of wrongdoing. THAT was the spark, NOT the “beating” itself.
King himself was neither here nor there to the REAL actors in the riots. It was NOT about “justice” or law and order. There is no “justice” in carrying a TV through a broken storefront window.
It was not even police who were the targets. This strategy was to “soften” them up for the emminent attack on capitalism and private property. The frenzied anger was redirected at the opportune time.
I also find it interesting that Bill Ayers shows up out of the blue to “wash his hands of any actual future violence but announcing his intent to capitalize on the results of that violence.See, Bill Ayers could care less if the OWS protester is mad over some other percieved injustice. As long as he is smashing some storefront “capitalist” glass as the result.
The seeds of class envy are VERY well sewn this time around.
But our resident troll, and OWS spokesperson here assures us that there is nothing to see, move along.
Every drug bust in the camps is an ISOLATED case.
When hundereds are arrested, it’s an ISOLATED case.
And now when police are threatened at TWO locations, it’s just another ISOLATED case.
We are witnessing a very conserted attempt to touch off riots. This is how they start. I say this because there is no real pushback from it’s organizers. In fact, this is when they start to make the lame excuse that the movement is “leaderless”
But there is other factors at work that tame the riot beast this time around.
One is law enforcement with better crowd control measures in place.
Another is an alternative media which gets right down into their grime, and splashes their rhetoric, and their faces all across the net instantaneously, foiling the protestors protective cloak of anonymity.
“Don’t come here lecturing us about anything political or economic. You are just a Bolshevik Useless Idiot.”
More name calling. “Na nana na nana!” “I know you are but what am I”
Bolshevik? Thats a first… are you like 90 years old or something?
Why is it that you people are incapable in seeing the shades of grey, between black and white or in matters of degree?
It isa matter of degree. America is a capitalist country with some socialized elements… Europe is filled with countries that are capitalist but with more socialized elements.
Where is there a country that is actually completely socialist/ communist?
China comes close, though it has capitalist elements. America loves them though… they provide cheap labor for off-shoring American production and we want to be more like them… no labor unions, no environmental protection, government subsidizing business in huge ways… I suppose the next thing will be to only allow one child per family like thy do.
What a nation of hypocrites you people are!… in bed with a pretty much communist/socialist country and you just can’t get enough. Never occurs that you are living off the backs of the oppressed… and a system you hate… but you love filling your houses and garages with cheap shit. …though your souls are empty… just look at the sour, ugly, malcontent things you people say on this blog. You hate 3/4ths of the human race.
You want to see soulless, hate filled and empty?
Look in the mirror.
“Freedom, like pure, clean water, is essential to our way of life. Lest we forget what too much water can do…“
The anarchists protesting around the country are showing us what too much freedom can do. The question then becomes, do the American people have the intellectual capacity, moral strength, and the will, to say there is such a thing as too much freedom. Or, will we allow our country to be destroyed in the name of “freedom”.
A tip for Mart.
Ignore the ranting spew of the sock puppets. Engage AC, he’s one of the few with intelligence around here.
So what godforsaken socialist shithole are you posting from Martijn?
Ghost of FA Hayak says:
October 30, 2011 at 7:56 am
Great post Ghost! I’m going to have to read that again – maybe a few times!
Tebowing …. this is driving liberals crazy. http://conservativeblogscentral.blogspot.com/2011/10/tebowing.html?m=0
ghost sez: I also find it interesting that Bill Ayers shows up out of the blue to “wash his hands of any actual future violence but announcing his intent to capitalize on the results of that violence.See, Bill Ayers could care less if the OWS protester is mad over some other percieved injustice. As long as he is smashing some storefront “capitalist” glass as the result.
Since Ayers teaches in Chicago, “showing up out of the blue” at Occupy Chicago may be your take on it, but it’s pretty silly.
What did Ayers have to say when asked by O.W.S. participants if violence might be necessary?
Ayers: Do I think you should resort to violence? Absolutely not. I think you should use your brilliance, your humor, your wisdom, your body, to dramatize the violence that exists.
A real revolution involves the masses of people transforming themselves and that’s going to require a hell of a lot more than your gun against some other guy’s gun. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about really transformation in the head, transformation in the heart and then transformation on the street.
Of course what Ayers ACTUALLY said is transformed in the paranoid far-right mind as an example of his devious scheming and denial.
Martijn says
What a nation of hypocrites you people are!… in bed with a pretty much communist/socialist country and you just can’t get enough. Never occurs that you are living off the backs of the oppressed… and a system you hate… but you love filling your houses and garages with cheap shit. …though your souls are empty… just look at the sour, ugly, malcontent things you people say on this blog. You hate 3/4ths of the human race.
Let me guess
True Marxism can relieve us of these burdens placed on us by individualism and self interest
Hidden camera video of ‘Occupy Portland’ reveals they are, in fact, a bunch of trashy loser hippies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Tp2iTs52oOo
This should also come with a ‘Click’ warning.
AC …”When the left says “money out of politics” they are of course referring to money freely given as an act of speech, not money compulsorily confiscated from paychecks by labor unions”
No I’m talking all money from all individuals and groups and use tax dollars to fund election debates (a small price to get the corrupting bribery out of the system) for the two months (how much time, money and intelligence is wasted on painful, 2 year long elections) before voting and then voting with instant runoffs… I know it wont be easy but it could/would be way more fair. Say, 5 possible candidates per election. New parties would be possible.
Dr. 9 “…..too much freedom”? are you really aware of what you are saying, Dr?
Ghost “Let me guess.
True Marxism can relieve us of these burdens placed on us by individualism and self interest”
Are you people really so completely incapable of seeing things in degrees and not in either/or, black and white, one or the other?
No …I’m talking about capitalism as it was practiced from the 30s through 70s, before Reagan started telling you that greed is no longer a sin but instead a virtue ….what the hell did Jesus know about any thing….?
And what about the hypocrisy in dealing with China? Hate the communism… love the cheap labor… America deserves what it’s getting.
Lao
I can’t just “forget” Bill Ayers past.
The Weather Underground was a terrorist organization, with violence as it’s key driver.
Ayers still has the dried blood stains on his hands.
He was quoted in an interview to say “I don’t regret setting bombs”
They were a clandestine revolutionary group founded for the purpose of the violent overthrow of the US government, and the installation of Communism
The group may be gone, but it’s participants remain.
Ayers said
I think you should use your brilliance, your humor, your wisdom, your body, to dramatize the violence that exists.
This violence does not exist in a vacuum. Someone, or some group instigates it.
Ayers is telling you to be an accessory to that violence. Lend moral and emotional support to it as the buildings begin to burn.
He knows there are enough nuts around on the left to do the actual work, but they still need to be “egged on”
THAT is the basis of Ayers little speech.
HERE IS THE QUESTION YOU SHOULD BE ASKING YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS…
WHY HAS OUR GOVERNMENT ALLOWED AND ENCOURAGED ILLEGAL ALIENS TO PLUNDER OUR NATION AND STEAL JOBS AND LIMITED RESOURCES FROM IT’S CITIZENS?
LEARN MORE HERE
http://www.thepostemail.com/category/business/
The left ruthlessly attacks Bristol Palin for lecturing teens on absence, but when a former terrorist talks about non-violence to a bunch of hippie trash, no one should bring up his past. Do I have that right?
absence should be abstinence, obviously.
Martijn
In the matter of “greed” I believe Friedman said it best.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=milton+friedman+on+greed&aq=o
Ironic, isn’t it that in order for China to be able to continue to produce this stuff, the grip of Communism must be loosened.
Look, most people do not want a fifty dollar UAW broomstick. They would rather buy a three dollar el cheapo, so as to have money left over for life’s little luxuries. Luxuries that AMERICANS can produce that hold a GREATER value.
Basic economics, no more, no less. The tradeoff is that CONSUMERS are better off for it. And EVERYONE is a consumer, but few are union bosses
Here’s the full text of the Ayers remarks I quoted above where he addresses the broader context of violence.
Ayers: Do I think you should resort to violence? Absolutely not. I think you should use your brilliance, your humor, your wisdom, your body, to dramatize the violence that exists. But we do not live in a neutral land, not when there’s a trillion dollar military budget the biggest in the world. Not when they’re recruiting kids to be in the service. Not when every athletic event begins with guns and marching.
That’s not a non…that’s a violent culture and that’s where we live. So no, I think the revolution that I have in mind is one where we get over…a real revolution involves the masses of people transforming themselves and that’s going to require a hell of a lot more than your gun against some other guy’s gun. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about really…transformation in the head, transformation in the heart and then transformation on the street.
But I do think that we sometimes get into a trip bag where we’re supposed to be somehow pristine and precious and somebody like Barack Obama who drone strikes and kills American citizens is saying you know, “I want you all to be non-violent.” well I want YOU to be non violent how about that? If you are non-violent I think that would be a better thing.
Lao
The problem is the full text convinces one even MORE that he is excusing the violence.
Now, if the POLICE were unarmed, society would be even LESS violent, Right ?
No, not to Ayers. Ayers says society will be violent anyways, so it’s just as well that he watches it unfold and then capitalizes on it.
Even Obama’s actions are an excuse.
Give it up ghost. You have your blinders on and your own silly agenda and you are off in fantasyland.
Where does Ayers say the police should be unarmed? He doesn’t.
The young people listening to Ayers are well aware that when he was their age he resorted to violence.
His message NOT to resort to violence therefore carries that much more weight with them.
And what if one doesn’t wish to have a “transformation in the head?”
Will Nurse Ratched come a knockin’ at my door?
On getting the money out of politics:
The swaying of people that hold elected office with money, or the swaying of voters with your particular ideas of what the government should do by purchasing political advertising is only effective insofar that the government itself is powerful enough to do what certain people want it to do. The problem isn’t the corrupting of government with money. The problem is that the government has assumed too much power. This in itself is a corruption of the government.
People that say they want the money out of politics don’t want the government to return to a our constitutional republic of limited government. Rather, they embrace a very power flu government. They only qualm is that they want to have a very powerful government that does what they want it to do.
A powerful government corrupts our free society. Get the money out of politics? Get the collectivist big government out of our free society.
Excellent post Kevin.
Sorry about the typos. This spell check program doesn’t highlight, it just changes words to what it thinks they should be. Gotta watch that.
Excellent nonetheless.
Getting back to Ayers, his choice of the word, “dramatize” is interesting. What do you suppose he meant by that?
Could it be “lying?”
Lao –
Re: Ayer’s statement “Do I think you should resort to violence? Absolutely not.”
Following is a partial list of WU activities from Wikipedia:
1969
July – Members travel to Cuba and meet representatives of the North Vietnamese and Cuban governments to aid a Communist victory against the United States.
October 5 – The Haymarket Police Statue in Chicago is bombed; Weathermen later claim credit for the bombing in their book, Prairie Fire.
October 8-11 – The “Days of Rage” riots occur in Chicago, damaging a large amount of property. 287 Weatherman members are arrested.
November 8th – Sniper attack on Cambridge Police Station.
December 6 – Bombing of several Chicago police cars parked in a precinct parking lot at 3600 North Halsted Street, Chicago.
December 27-30 – Weathermen hold a “War Council” in Flint, Michigan, where plans are finalized to change into a Communist underground organization that will commit strategic acts of sabotage against the government.
1970
January – Silas and Judith Bissell placed a home-made bomb under the steps of the R.O.T.C. building. The bomb was made from an electric blasting cap, an alarm clock, a battery and a plastic bag filled with gasoline and explosives.
February 16: A bomb is detonated at the Golden Gate Park branch of the San Francisco Police Department, killing one officer and injuring a number of other policemen.
On February 21, the house of Judge Murtagh, who presides over the Panther 21 trial, is fire-bombed by a WUO cell in New York City.
The same night, molotov cocktails were thrown at a police car in Manhattan and two military recruiting stations in Brooklyn.
March 6 – WUO members Theodore Gold, Diana Oughton, and Terry Robbins are killed in the Greenwich Village townhouse explosion when a nailbomb they were constructing detonates. The bomb was intended to be planted at a non-commissioned officer’s dance at Fort Dix, New Jersey.
March 30 – Chicago police discover a WUO “bomb factory” on Chicago’s north side.
April 1 – Based on a tip Chicago Police find 59 sticks of dynamite, ammunition, and nitro glyerine in an apartment traced to WUO members.
May 10 – The National Guard Association building in Washington, D.C. is bombed.
June 6 – In a letter, the WUO claims credit for bombing of the San Francisco Hall of Justice, although no explosion has occurred. Months later, workmen locate an unexploded bomb.
June 9 – The New York City Police headquarters is bombed by Jane Alpert and accomplices. Weathermen state this is in response to “police repression.”
July 25 – The United States Army base at The Presidio in San Francisco is bombed on the 11th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution.
On the same day, a branch of the Bank of America is bombed in New York.
July 28 – Bank of America HQ in NYC is bombed around 3:50 AM. WUO claims responsibility.
October 8 – Bombing of Marin County courthouse.
October 10 – A Queens traffic-court building is bombed. WUO claims this is to express support for the New York prison riots.
October 11 – A Courthouse in Long Island City, NY is bombed. An estimated 8 to 10 sticks of dynamite are used.
October 12 – Around October 12 eight bomb explosions occur, Five in Rochester New York, Two in NYC, and One in Orlando FL. Despite WUO bomb warnings three persons are injured.
October 14 – The Harvard Center for International Affairs is bombed by The Proud Eagle Tribe of Weather (later renamed the Women’s Brigade of the Weather Underground).
December 5th – Five Weatherman are captured for trying to bomb First National City Bank of NY and other buildings on the anniversary of the death of Fred Hampton. These individuals subsequently plead guilty.
December 11th – Vivian Bogart and Patricia Mclean from the WUO are arrested after throwing an incendiary bomb at the Royal National Bank in NYC around 1:30 AM.
1971
March 1 – The United States Capitol is bombed. WUO states this is to protest the invasion of Laos. President Richard M. Nixon denounces the bombing as a “shocking act of violence that will outrage all Americans.”
April – FBI agents discover what is dubbed “Pine Street Bomb Factory”, an abandoned apartment utilized by WUO in San Francisco, California.
August 30 – Bombings of the Office of California Prisons in Sacramento and San Francisco.
September 17 – The New York Department of Corrections in Albany, New York is bombed.
October 15 – The bombing of William Bundy’s office in the MIT research center. [NYT, 10/16/71]
1972
May 18 – The bombing of the 103rd Police Precinct in New York.
September 28 – The ITT headquarters in New York and Rome, Italy are bombed. WUO states this is in response to ITT’s alleged role in the Chilean coup earlier that month.
1973
March 6 – Bombing of the Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare offices in San Francisco. WUO states this is to protest alleged sterilization of poor women.
May 31 – The Office of the California Attorney General is bombed.
June 17 – Gulf Oil’s Pittsburgh headquarters is bombed.
September 11 – Bombing of Anaconda Corporation. WUO states this is in retribution for Anaconda’s alleged involvement in the Chilean coup the previous year.
1974
January 29 – Bombing of the State Department; WUO states this is in response to escalation in Vietnam.
January 23 – Offices of Dept. of Defense in Oakland are bombed. In a statement released to the press, Ayers expressed solidarity with the Viet Cong.
June 16 – Weathermen bomb a Banco de Ponce (a Puerto Rican bank) in New York, WUO states this is in solidarity with striking Puerto Rican cement workers.
September – Bombing of the Kennecott Corporation; WUO states this is in retribution for Kennecott’s alleged involvement in the Chilean coup two years prior.
(rolls eyes)
I see G(r)unter the Umalatte Liberal is back……calling himself “Martijin” now.
Since you’re apparently proud of your German heritage, I would suggest you stop re-reading your tattered copies of Mein Kampf and the Complete Works of Marx and Lenin with the Foreword by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, and pick up a copy of “The Road to Serfdom” by Friedrich August Hayek.*
If you want a quick overview, go to: http://hayekcenter.org/
He’s also really popular here: http://www.heritage.org/
*We have a ghost with a similar name that posts here, and is in fact lending their spectral presence to this very thread…..so…..BEWARE!!!!! Boo!!!!! HAHAHAH!!!!
I mis-spoke…..”Martijin” may not be Germaan at all. I really don’t know and really don’t care.
Interesting choice of name, though:
“Vereniging MARTIJN is a Dutch group that promotes the acceptance of pedophilia and legalization of sexual relationships between adults and children.”
No surprises there – just what you’d expect to find.
RE: Air2air at October 30, 2011 at 11:00 am:
Jesus H* Christ, Air2Air…..now we’re gonna have to endure yet ANOTHER 100 post Billy “Nailbomb” Ayers “denial-fest”.
See what you’ve done????
“Bill Ayers” and “Weather Underground” are like a dog whistle when it comes to our pet troll Loud Angry Obfuscator (lao).
That, and “Crossshairssss!!!! Sarah Palin!!!!”
*NOT Hussein
The denial is all on your side with lame attempts to claim Ayers said or meant something at Occupy Chicago that he didn’t.
A fascinating element of the Left is the treatment of their own killers and criminals.
Lao rushes to the defense of Ayers, currently luxuriating in academic tenure and multiple publishing deals.
Yet a McVeigh, who the Left loosely identifies with our side, is promptly executed with our side’s aggressive support and applause.
Though we are also anti-big governmeO nt, you don’t see McVeigh hosting parties to launch the GOP candidate’s campaign, writing dedications to the GOP candidate’s books or serving on the same nonprofit board as the GOP candidate. Or writing columns in HuffPo, NYT or Newsweek.
And most importantly Lao, we don’t react to vicious murders with a “(rolls eyes)”.
Fuck ayers, fuck martijn and fuck you lao!
It should be obvious from the duplicate timing of my post and yours that the eye roll was in response to festivus’ fantasies.
I understand you are unwilling to respond to what Ayers is saying today in favor of wanting to focus on stuff that happened at least 37 years ago.
lao-zy’s attempt to judge other’s intelligence is pure comedy gold.
Seeing Billy “Nailbomb”* Ayers showing up at an OWS or other “Occupy” event is like having a child molester show up at the local schoolyard.
Both may have been careful to not openly have said or done anything you could actually call “criminal”, but it sure fits the pattern……..and would definitely be suspect behavior.
*Actually, Billy says he preferred to use heavy electrical cable staples.
I’m fine with a reform of the election system to permit third parties to make their voices heard without becoming vote-splitting kingmakers.
Putting a reactionary ban on all money takes away voices from individuals, leaving the political media economy to already existing groups like unions, and even trade associations on the right.
More insidious is a ban on contributions in kind, such as if a blog were to become a staunch supporter of one candidate.
Shutting off the flow of money sounds nice. I’ll admit I once thought it might be a solution. Upon researching the issue, I found there is simply no way to get the money out without squelching the rights of citizens and groups of citizens to come together to speak out on issues.
The money may be a slippery slope, but undermining free speech is even worse.
I’d rather see a more robust effort to root out and expose corrupt politicians who trade money for favors, like Pork Kings John Murtha and Ted Stevens.
Shutting off the flow of money also protects incumbency, since incumbents get loads of free advertising and name recognition via the news media.
We’re being rotted from the inside out by incumbency, and both parties are to blame for a rash of corrupt incumbents.
If an up and coming candidate wants to challenge a career politician, he needs the support of potential voters to get the message out. That requires money. As much as the money might be corrupting, getting rid of it leaves the incumbents to unchecked levels of corruption, where political dynasties become near hereditary.
Whether you’re on the left or right, political aristocracies are dangerous to the freedom of ordinary citizens.
Yes, that’s also a call for anti-nepotism laws while we’re at it.
Lao – True, Ayers’ did his bombings and shootings 37 years ago. Sorry about that … it’s really OK.
I heard Sarah Palin is a gun owner, and that’s happening right now as we speak.
Don’t forget about http://www.mises.org/ the best site for an introduction to Austrian economics.
Customers Teach Bankers a Good Lesson
http://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2011/10/29/customers-teach-bankers-a-good-lesson/
Greed is an obsession. After being bailed out by taxpayers in 2009, America’s large banks came back in 2011 asking for more. This time, they imposed fees on their customer-depositors, in essence, the people that saved them in the first place. Two months ago, for instance, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) announced a $5 monthly fee for its debit cardholders–a way for the bank to offset the loss of revenues caused by the Durbin Amendment of Dodd-Frank Act (a reduction in the fee banks can charge merchants from 44 cents to 24 cents per transaction).
Now, most of these banks are reversing that decision, dropping debt card fees. Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), for instance, have canceled the fees, while Bank of America is studying the possibility of reducing or even eliminating the fees. What made bankers change their mind so soon?
An unexpected customer-revolt that spread like a fire. Some customers moved their money to smaller banks and credit unions. Other customers took the streets, joining forces with >>>>>Occupying Wall Street<<<<< to protest against bankers’ greed. A third group spread the WOM and buzz over the Internet, telling their friends, their neighbors, their colleagues, and their lawmakers about bank greed.
Customer-revolt teaches bankers a very important lesson: Don’t be greedy; and don’t take the customer for granted. Don’t assume that your services are unique and indispensible. The customer is the ultimate boss of every bank, the ambassador, and the community advocate. Just make sure they aren’t on your wrong side."
God damn! In spite of all the dirty hippies and drumming… some people seem to be getting the message… and this coming from FORBES?!?!? Must be hard to take in, citizens of Moonbatteryville.
Power to the People!!!
Liberals give parole to murderers after a few years, so they probably see him as a free man either way.
Really? I still remember the pleas and the whining when I pulled a seven figure sum of personal and business operating/collateral accounts from BoA and moved it to a small community bank, all because BoA took bailouts.
I figured that as long as they had Helicopter Ben’s stash they didn’t need mine and they didn’t need any business accounts of mine.
Bailouts are not free market capitalism. I hope every Tea Party member walks away from these too big to fail vampire casinos and puts the money in sound, local institutions.
It is interesting that OWS and TP agree on the bank bailouts. I don’t think anybody would disagree there.
It’s put the Left in quite a spot to have to agree with us on something. With the added insult of the Left’s own post-Hope and Change Obamavilles blooming just a year before the elections.
I actually was surprised when OWS first started that the Left was able to articulate the bailout issue to their minions. You usually don’t see them explore a relatively complex issue in depth like that, and certainly not an economic subject.
Let’s be glad the hard left is getting a Teaching Moment about the government they voted for. Since they’ve stuck their neck out to the public on this you would think they’d be motivated to continue to research the subject in depth and maybe learn something. Despite already having an advanced degree in Lesbian Basket Weaving.
“I’m fine with a reform of the election system to permit third parties to make their voices heard without becoming vote-splitting kingmakers…..”
You make good points… one thing that can be done easily (ha ha) is to outlaw all lobbying… no money or favors changing hands on pain of long prison sentences… and to stop the revolving door between biz and gov… 5-7 years between careers.
… but you will never convince me that money is equal to free speech. That means, for example the Koch brothers.. who inherited their wealth, have an incalculable amount more free speech than most people, just for being squirted out of the correct womb… I include all wealthy people left or right. One person, one vote…
And somehow, to tamp down people who lie, propagandize and rabble-rouse for a living.(Blountfor example) Bring back the fairness doctrine. If someone is being honest, they have nothing to fear… if they’re a lying sack of crap… they will be exposed.
Martijn, the Web is your fairness doctrine. As you know, anything can be researched and exposed here.
To your detriment, unfortunately.
“Really? I still remember the pleas and the whining when I pulled a seven figure sum of personal and business operating/collateral accounts from BoA and moved it to a small community bank, all because BoA took bailouts.”
good work! … you do remember Bush started the bailouts through TARP?… Obama continued them…. the main reason I will vote again for Obama is that we don’t need another war, this time with Iran… all the Republicans are ready to go with more of the same old racket, ASAP.
Martijn that’s fine you’re voting against wars. Might want to check the Dem party record first on that since you’re on war #3 now, with Syria next as we get closer to the election.
Since I’ve lost everything this last 3 years; my 401k, my business, and now my house ( and I’m 47 with precious little time to make it back ) don’t blame me for hoping that another political party takes over in 2012. And the same for California somehow.
You’re right that Bush went along with the bailouts that were reviled by our side at the time. Your side said nothing about it until now, but I understand how it took that long to sink in.
Things were pretty great all through Bush’s term until the last couple years as you remember. What was different? Oh – just the 2006 Dem Congress. The Congress who proposed and initiated the bailouts Bush cooperated with – wrongly.
But go ahead and vote for more, by all means. You’ve obviously put a lot of thought into it.
TonyD95B says:
October 30, 2011 at 11:06 am
“Vereniging MARTIJN is a Dutch group that promotes the acceptance of pedophilia and legalization of sexual relationships between adults and children.”
Filthy eurotrash pedophile. It must be Logan’s NAMBLA buddy.
Define “lobbyist.”
The problem there is that what constitutes a registered lobbyist is so fluid and apt to change. A lobbyist is merely somebody who speaks to politicians for a living, but that definition is so easily gamed as soon as we pass laws to stop it. Whatever we define as a legal “lobbyist” the lobbyists will soon mutate away from just enough to continue on with business.
Berkshire Hathaway hires lobbyists to lobby on the Hill, but is Warren Buffet a lobbyist? He holds far more sway with politicians when he testifies than any hired help from K Street.
There’s the problem. Believe me, I despise the lobbyists too, but there’s no way to define a lobbyist without ensnaring others who are merely speaking out.
There is one test: the old “I know it when I see it” standard. We can’t codify it into law, but an involved citizenry can speak out against politicians who are getting too cozy with the swarms of lobbyists.
A valid point, but I’d sooner live in a nation like you describe than the alternative, which is one in which all citizens are equal in their inability to speak out. The Soviet Union offered the ultimate in political equality to average citizens – nobody had any political speech.
We’re either going to err on the side of too much political speech or too little, and it’s far easier for citizens to tune out the advertising bought by George Soros or the Koch Brothers than it is for average citizens to speak out when having any voice is highly regulated.
The few examples involving billionaires are more than offset by grassroot efforts at the local level. A year or so ago there was a big dustup over police threatening felony charges against an individual distributing fliers in a school board election, using the very laws written to rein in shadowy PACs; fortunately, IJ intervened and cooled off the madness.
You’re free to disregard any medium you dislike or disagree with.
The fairness doctrine is an assault upon the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech, as well as its guarantee of freedom of association. Sources compete with each other. They should not be forced together.
How exactly would a hamheaded bureaucrat enforce the fairness doctrine against a part-time blogger? First, they’d need to register and license everybody, and from there the trouble starts.
Nobody should be forced to spread opinions they disagree with. It sounds nice to be against lies, but who determines what is and isn’t true in the murky world of political “fact”? The government? A Ministry of Truth is a greater threat to liberty than falsehoods running rampant.
Remember, popular speech needs no protection, and it never has. Humanity has always been free to agree completely with the local king or tyrant. Only unpopular or dissident speech needs protection, which is exactly the scenario the founders wrote the First Amendment to cover. Individuals and businesses are free to communicate dissenting viewpoints without the need to push the official viewpoint sanctioned by whatever becomes the American incarnation of Pravda.
There is no provision in the First Amendment for the fairness doctrine. None. Period. When you read exceptions into that, then the other side starts reading in exceptions you don’t like to other amendments, and the whole promise of liberty goes down the toilet.
Radio spectrum is no longer scarce and neither is Internet hosting capacity. Everybody has equal access to put their viewpoint out there, and in this day and age, they can reach the whole world with a free hosted blog. The fairness doctrine might make some sense if only one television channel were on the air, and government had to pick and choose to whom it gave the license; that is simply not reality.
Yes. Bush, Bernanke, Paulson, and Congress were wrong then, and they’re wrong now. Bailouts create moral hazard and distort the economy, whether they involve paying welfare queens to have 12 children, or whether they involve paying banks to gamble with toxic assets.
Only one candidate has promised no more interventionist wars and no more spending for existing foreign wars, and it isn’t Obama.
If war spending is your hot button issue, then Paul is your candidate. It’s okay, you can admit that both parties are basically failures, and you can start looking outside the existing, business as usual hierarchy.
Obama is on war #4 and he doesn’t seem to be letting up. Despite promised wind downs, the spending is still there.
Don’t forget, Obama is now issuing executive death warrants for American citizens never convicted on any charges. How does that sit with you?
Do you have the intellectual honesty to admit that your opposition to foreign wars is best represented by Republican Ron Paul, instead of Democrat Obama? Do you have the intellectual honesty to admit that his plan to right-size the defense budget frees up funds to control the deficit and help seniors threatened by the broken Ponzi scheme known as Social Security?
Don’t forget, Martijn, Obama reappointed Bernanke and rubber stamped the Fed’s corruption behind its closed doors.
If you really are American, and not our resident wondertroll Gunther, then I suggest you think long and hard about what sort of economy will be left after another four years of reckless spending, whether it be from Obama or Romney.
And no, even if millionaires were taxed at 100%, it still wouldn’t fill the hole. Obama’s millionaire tax over the next ten years pays for a mere few months of the deficit alone.
If you’re not a millionaire, you won’t have much of a future if you vote to double down on this clown. Let’s see what sort of job and future you have when the insolvency spreads and America itself goes into foreclosure. This level of spending is unsustainable. It can’t end in anything but a crash.
Are you aware that we’ve reached debt saturation and that the marginal effect of new debt contributes negative GDP?
Then again, if Bernanke keeps up his shenanigans, we’ll all be millionaires.
Is that a road you wish to go down?
AC do you have the intellectual honesty to admit the biggest two of those wars were handed to Obama by the previous administration?
I supported Bush’s intervention in Afghanistan and Obama’s escalation of troop strength there. That said, the situation in that country is extraordinarily messy and corrupt and always has been. While it would be easy to throw up our hands and walk, the humanitarian consequences of that would be huge.
Did you notice the troops will out of Iraq by the end of December?
Did you notice NATO is out of Libya as of midnight tomorrow?
I support the intervention to get rid of the hideous Lord’s Resistance Army which happens to have been unanimously approved by the Senate and House a couple of years ago.
Yes, they were a mistake. Bush didn’t understand the nature of Islam. He thought he could bring American style democracy to nations which themselves established Iranian style Islamic republics as soon as the dictators were removed. We squandered an immense amount of money we could ill afford to borrow and print, and in the process, we’ve been asked to give up critical civil liberties at home. Our focus on foreign wars has distracted our focus here at home, allowing Mexican drug violence to spill across an undefended southern border, devastating border communities and killing Americans caught in the crossfire.
Obama himself promised a much faster withdrawal than he delivered. He also broke his promise to close Gitmo and not start any new wars. He looked the left in its eyes on several key issues and promised something he did not deliver. Why do you support that lying fraud?
How to Lose an Election
Definitive results of Republican preferences for their party’s 2012 nominee for president of the United States are far from in although thousands have expressed their opinions in non-binding state straw polls. There won’t be any real results until the numbers from the January 3rd Iowa caucuses and January 1oth New Hampshire primary are tabulated.
Still, based on early polls, the debates, educated guesses, and inconsequential straw ballots, pundits and non-pundits alike have a gut feeling on who will snag the gold GOP ring and, perhaps more importantly, who should be the nominee’s choice for a running mate.
As of now, it looks like former Massachusetts governor Willard Mitt Romney for the top spot. Assuming Mitt wants to win on November 6th,2012, he will pick Florida’s Senator Marco Antonio Rubio to run with him against President Barack Hussein Obama and Person-to-be-Named-Later, after Obama tests how the fickle political winds are blowing.
Designated late night Democrat hatchetmen Leno and Letterman would have tons of idiotic fun poking ridicule at “Willard” and “Marco” while ignoring the equivalent hilarity of “Barack” and his comical gaffes and ineptitude but they won’t get the chance unless Willard and Marco share the GOP ticket.
As we all know, things can change quickly and dramatically in the world of contemporary politics. Witness New York Senator Hillary Clinton’s unexpected fade in the 2008 Democrat presidential sweepstakes and, more recently, Rep. Michelle Bachmann’s and Gov. Rick Perry’s falls from grace among Republicans.
We also know the sheer terror Rubio has struck in the liberal minds and soul-less hearts of Obama’s MSM as seen in the current campaign by the Washington Post, et al. to deconstruct Rubio based on an innocent error concerning the date of his parents’ flight from Castro’s Cuba. The lib theory seems to be, when you have nothing, go with it, the same angle they unsuccessfully used on Herman Cain.
Good man that he is, Cain can’t be elected despite his recent popularity; he’s even more inexperienced and unqualified to be president than a certain community organizer was three years ago and lacks the advantage of mainstream media backing him and concealing his flaws.
Barring some catastrophic event, a Hillary insurrection, or Obama pulling an LBJ, he will head the Democrat ticket next year and, barring a miracle, Romney will be the Republican nominee. He will then have to decide whether to beat Obama or try once again to win in 2016. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=5846.)
I already told you. I support the removal of the Lord’s Resistance Army. I seem to recall you acknowledged their nastiness.
I also supported the intervention in Libya. That particular “war” resulted in zero casualties for U.S. troops.
Bill Maher Calls for People to ‘Put Drugs in Halloween Candy’
The hippies and socialists at the Occupy protests will be taking him up on that.
If there are any Rick Perry fans out there, take a look at this and draw your own conclusions.
Perry’s Cornerstone Speech Highlights
The president’s unilateral decision to engage US troops in a war in Libya is just peachie since there were no US casualties.
GW Bush’s bipartisan Congressional authorization to take military action in Iraq was illegal.
I don’t even like football, so don’t call me a Monday morning quarterback.
I get the last word on a dead thread….AGAIN….I WIN!