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Think of D.C. and the Ruling Oligarchy that Runs the Capitol as a Gated Community: The American People are Denied Entrance

Submitted by mark karlin on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 7:35am.

EditorBlog

BUZZFLASH EDITOR'S BLOG

By Mark Karlin

Okay, you need to be a resident of a gated community -- or get a call-down from one of the insiders to let you in as a visitor -- to partake of private luxuries.

But when that gated community has the destiny of our nation's economic future inside it -- which is gambled away legally and illegally by many of what Brazilian President Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva calls the soucrce of the global economic crisis "created by men with blue eyes."

In America, we've been played like fools by a game that's fixed from the top to make ensure that only members of the gated community are allowed to abscond with huge chunks of the American economy -- send jobs overseas, receive taxpayer funded corporate welfare, get their taxes cut as a gift of thievery from the working class, and gets hundreds of billions of dollars in "stimulus" money from us to stimulate themselves economically.

Years back songwriter/singer Leonard Cohen wrote "Everybody Knows," which succinctly captures our unending dilemma:

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Only the rich in the gated community are getting richer and the working class is getting poorer. Mass E-mails to congress, as we noted yesterday, short of mass protests (like the ceaseless, impassioned kind that ended the Vietnam War) are a con. The fix is in.

As the Chinese crushed dissent in Tiananmen Square with brute force, corporations like EXXON/Mobil -- who just had the largest quarterly profit in the history of the world -- crush an economic fair playing field with hundreds of billions of dollars. Their are news conferences with e-mail petitions and then they are thrown in a garbage can or deleted from Congressional e-mail, if they ever make it through the spam filter. Progressive organizations and publications use them to create mailing and solicitation lists, not with a realistic expectation of matching the economic juggernaut of the oligarchy that is comparable to the military might exhibited at Tiananmen Square -- or by the tyrannical regimes in Iran, Honduras, and Burma among others today.

And the corporate media and the corporate ads that even fill progressive cites are the "mind framing" context in which positions are calibrated to favor the casino of corporate America, so that the fundamental injustices being done to America are disguised.

If the Dittoheads and FOX News watchers ever got accurate information on how they are being fleeced and robbed, there would be another revolution in American that would restore our original democracy of the people, by the people and for the people.

What is most unnerving, as I wrote yesterday, is that the enormous potential of American ingenuity and entrepeneurialism is being stifled by the gated community that wants to limit the nation's riches -- built currently on massive debt -- to residents who live in the garden of super wealth. Our unique American ability to progress without boundaries is being shut down by the brute force of unseemly sums of dollars.

Oh, we can complain that Harry Reid is spineless, that Barack Obama is too cautious and exhibits more timidity than audacity -- and we do -- but the problem is systemic. Weakness among the Democrats triumphs because too many of them are bought off. And Barack Obama probably quickly discovered that he wasn't top dog: Wall Street and the corporate oligarchy are. And so he made his piece with them.

Instead of change we can believe in, we are getting more of the same. In fact yesterday, President Obama chastised progressives -- yes progressives -- for criticizing the "centrist" Dems who are holding up a government healthcare payer option. That's not change; that's more of the same.

And the corporate media protects the gated village of wealth at every turn. And while thousands of progresssives have generously and passionately supported BuzzFlash over the years -- beginning when we were about the only feisty voice for democracy on the web in 2000 -- others just want to talk the talk, but rather spend money on "brand" products than support the new economy and new journalism on BuzzFlash. They'll pay for a corporate newspaper, cable TV and a large plasma screen HDTV, but won't buy progressive products to support progressive journalism.

Not until we feel the passsion that the members of the Green Revolution feel when they take to the streets in masses will we assume the power to restore our economic and political democracy.

Not until progressives with the financial wherewithal decide to put their country above their bank accounts and support corporate-free progressive media will we begin to counter the mainstream media, whose corporate coverage benefits its own owners.

Because unless we have and own the megaphone, the criticisms of the corporate media bounce right off their back.

We must get the truth through unfiltered. There is no reason we have left for letting the working class be played as pawns to allow the gated community to fix the game and play with loaded dice by creating scapegoats.

No reason at all.

BUZZFLASH EDITOR'S BLOG

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Outspend Bush??

Submitted by Distopia on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 4:21pm.

Among the laundry list of idiotic statements (some sensationally so!) made by the full-rant-bozo veritas, we find this gem:

"And make no mistake: President Obama has handed over MORE Taxpayer Trillions $$ to Wall Street than Bush & Cheney did, after all, the Economic Crisis didn't hit in full shock until March-September 2008, late into ..."

Although it didn't all land directly in the laps of "Wall Street" right away, do you honestly believe the Bush Cartel actually waited for their well-crafted "Economic Crisis" to become official before they started shoveling the cash? Remember Haliburton, and Blackwater, and all the other defense contractors? Remember pallets of freshly minted billions in cash delivered to a war zone? You think that wasn't just the tip of the iceberg? Obama has some serious catching up if he wants to out-trillion Bush!

And if anyone is going to jail, it's going to be Bush for his eight year reign of terror, not Obama for spending a few trillion to save us from the disaster!

Is it a solution?

Submitted by anagitator on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 6:46pm.

How about term limits and public financing of all elections which would eliminate corporate and special interest money.

Special interests could provide volunteers to help a candidate but would be restricted from compensating these volunteers in any fashion.

Term limits play into the hands of the rich

Submitted by JosephEBacon on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 7:47pm.

Here in California, we've seen what happens when term limits are implemented. The rich waited for the term limits to clear out all the experienced incumbents, then they moved their agenda beginning with utility deregulation, writing bills so complex that nobody in the legislature had a clue as to what they were passing. Now that the California house is limited to 6 years total and the California Senate is limited to 8 years total, nobody in either house thinks about the long run consequences and they are all wondering where there next gig is going to be when their terms are up. Also, the legislature has grown more and more partisan, resulting in more extremist Republicans getting elected and blocking everything from being passed, including our state budget.

Term limits need to be repealed, they do not work!

politician$ & profit machine$

Submitted by quidam56 on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 4:42pm.

Politician$ and Profit Machine$ drive this Nation. Change will only come from the bottom up, we are the change we voted for. Because of pure greed, there's no value in people and their quality of life. Take cancer. In four years the cost of chemo has gone up 400%. How many cancer treatments have cured in comparison to killed ? I read where the largest health care corporation in America is buying the largest funeral corporation in America. At the end of the day, the status quo is all about the love of money. When 72% of Americans' want single payer, public option and the Politician$ say they don't have the votes, clearly the Profit Machine$ are in control of those votes. When your home becomes a mountaintop removal mine site, clearly the Politician$ and the Profit Machine$ are the one's who made those rules, laws and decisions. Just because we voted for change doesn't mean it's going to happen. We may not have $ 1.4 million to lobby congress daily like the health care industry but we do have a voice http://www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=62

Cmm'n Mark! you're intentionally soft-selling...

Submitted by veritas on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 11:59am.

Cmm'n Mark! you're intentionally soft-selling President Obama's COMPLICITY:

< "Oh, we can complain that Harry Reid is spineless, that Barack Obama is too cautious and exhibits more timidity than audacity -- and we do -- but the problem is systemic. Weakness among the Democrats triumphs because too many of them are bought off. And Barack Obama probably quickly discovered that he wasn't top dog: Wall Street and the corporate oligarchy are. And so he made his piece with them." >

This is sheer malarky!
Obama DID NOT HAVE to INVITE the very Wall Street FRAUDSTERS who MOST HELPED TO CREATE THIS CRISIS
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090615/scheer
__INTO__ the very inner sanctum of his new, virgin, PROMISED to "CHANGE" White House!

Putting the best spin possible on Obama's folly, Goldman-Sachs, hedging their bets (they are, after all, a "Hedge Funds" - "hedging bets" is what hedge-funds do) gave him a million bucks or so (probably more, through connectd donors) back in the early, long-shot days of the Obama campaign...
and in a MISPLACED SENSE OF LOYALTY, Obama is trying to PAY BACK his benefactors with access and by taking their advice for their early, long-shot donations.
However noble Obama's intentions may be, that still does NOT excuse his handing over (whatever his portion has been of the) TWELVE TRILLION DOLLARS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/09/ED2F1700DD.DTL
in NO-OVERSIGHT, NO AUDITS, "BAILOUT" taxpayers' loot to the very Banksters who caused this crisis!!
(And make no mistake: President Obama has handed over MORE Taxpayer Trillions $$ to Wall Street than Bush & Cheney did, after all, the Economic Crisis didn't hit in full shock until March-September 2008, late into the Bush-Cheney 2nd term.)

And make no mistake, BLATANT FRAUD created this crisis!
Buzzflash premium "The LOOTING of AMERICA" by Les Leopold,
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/items/1651
details how northern Michigan school districts banded together to purchase some investments to pay for their staff, workers, & teachers' pensions. They THOUGHT they were getting grade-AAA Mutual Funds with a steady INTEREST dividend stream...
when what they were REALLY getting, were effectively INSURANCE PREMIUMS from Royal Bank Canada.
Instead of purchasing ultra-safe securities, the School Districts had actually been sold DERIVATIVE contracts, that made THEM the INSURER of a particular, high-risk Royal Bank Canada fund; not only were the districts exposed to LOSS of their PRINCIPLE, but they were also exposed to MAKING GOOD the LOSSES of the RBC Fund!
(And they didn't even get the paperwork on the horrid details, until long after they had signed the contracts! SOMEONE knew what they were doing, and it was NOT the school districts.)
The New York Times has an even easier case of AJBECT FRAUD:
a 64 year old computer specialist purchased what he THOUGHT was a PREMIUM HEALTH CARE insurance policy from Aetna Insurance... but in the fine-print, the policy EXCLUDED hospital tests & surgery!
http://www.examiner.com/x-11804-Health-Care-Examiner~y2009m7d2-Underinsured-health-insurance-consumers-suffer-more-risk-than-the-uninsured

Mr. Karlin, to say that President Obama is "beholden" to Wall Street simply WHITEWASHES and glosses over these MASSIVE FRAUDS which led to this economic crisis, with the excellent Matt Taibbi article detailing the "big picture" of Goldman-Sachs rigging the economy to fail, so they can scoop up every asset in the world (what Taibbi describes as "anything that even smells of money") for pennies on the dollar... American working families, our economic strength, and even America's _GENUINE_ (as opposed to Neo-Con talking points) NATIONAL SECURITY BE DAMNED.

Sad to say, President Obama's INSISTENCE on NO OVERSIGHT, NO AUDITS, much less heavens forbid, NO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS into these MASSIVE FINANICAL FRAUDS is NOT a product of the Democrat's inherent deference to Wall St. & corporate America... it is Mr. Obama's OWN DECISIONS, just as Pres. Bush decided to run "interference" for Enron extorting West Coast electricity consumers (as Enron tried to rebound from its self-inflicted "Death Star" company-killing economic fraud - in favor a handful of top executives) or as VP Dick Cheney handed billions to his "former" company Halliburton, rescuing it from economic oblivion.
And, sad to say, this tremendous failure in leadership by President Obama ALREADY WARRANTS Congressional Investigations (even if the equally complicit Congress isn't about to do so), what in "normal times" would be impeachable offenses.

I could not agree more

Submitted by Stephen Scott C... on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 11:06am.

I started Democratic Talk Radio in Tennessee the night the Bush vs. Gore ruling was handed down and the 8 years of darkness under Bush began. As a working class guy, I largely funded the effort for the next 8 years. Although I really appreciated the help I did receive from organizations like the Madison County (Alabama) Democratic Party and a few individuals, most potential supporters feared financial and political backlash. Corporate power and the right wing hate machine certainly dominates most of the South and many, many rural communities. Only after moving the show to the Mid-Atlantic did significant donor and advertiser support finally arrive. It still does not quite cover expenses. Listeners and readers are no problem. Financial support is a problem. Even progressive organization do not really support progressive media. They spend almost all their advertising revenue with corporate entities that hate the progressive agenda. In effect, they are helping fund the opposition. As a marketing professional, I find this simply insane! Money spent on web sites like Buzzflash or talk radio shows like mine gets far more bang for the buck. We need labor backing of progressive newspapers. We need progressive groups buying time on labor radio shows like the Rick Smith Show and the Union Edge. Everyone should be buying progressive books from Buzzflash instead of just Ebay or Amazon. Nobody should be shopping Wal-Mart! Our numbers are huge. Even if our financial strength will never match Wall Street, we can use our collective numbers to largely offset their financial strength. Think about how you spend. Make your spending an investment in a brighter future. Written by Host of Democratic Talk Radio & Editor of Mid-Atlantic Labor.com

Ring the bells that still can ring

Submitted by cagey on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 10:05am.

from "Anthem" by L. Cohen: "The birds they sang at the break of day Start again I heard them say Don't dwell on what has passed away or what is yet to be. Ah the wars they will be fought again The holy dove She will be caught again bought and sold and bought again the dove is never free. ........... Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack, a crack in everything That's how the light gets in. ........... I can't run no more with that lawless crowd while the killers in high places say their prayers out loud. But they've summoned, they've summoned up a thundercloud and they're going to hear from me. ........... Ring the bells that still can ring." SUPPORT BUZZFLASH! It's a bell that still can and MUST ring.

Oligarchs

Submitted by godistwaddle on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 9:10am.

Until they roll in the tumbrels to the guillotine, the oligarchs, enshrined in Madison's Constitution, will continue to stick it to the rest of us.

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