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Karl Rove recently published an article claiming that the Gulf Oil Blow Out is Obama's Katrina. Through inaction and foot dragging, Obama made Rove correct. It didn't have to be.
Obama likes to think of himself as a master of politics, but he must have learned his moves from the WWII French. He surrenders practically as the battles are joined. He has never stood firm for any position he presented verbally. Instead we discover that behind the scenes he has done much to reverse that which he publicly proposes.
But to get back to Rove's assertion, the first clue that Obama had lost control of the message was the actions of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. In an attempt to do something for his state, he was proposing actions that should have already been underway under Federal guidance, and made Obama look more the fool and poltroon than anything else Obama has done (and that is already a lot).
Just to be fair, Jindal also made the Republican governors of Mississippi and Alabama look bad. Of all the affected Gulf states, only Florida's politicians have begun to act -however misguidedly- to defend their state from BP's mess. But I digress.
The real message beginning to emerge is that Obama has lost the little people. MSNBC is reporting that, for the first time since Bill Clinton left office after he disappointed the American people, small donors are giving more to the Republican Party than to the Democrats.
This indicates to me that the GOP can now claim justification for their obstructionist tactics, and they can be expected to continue to use these tactics if they ever lose control of the government again (Fat Chance!). Stalling until the other side screws up big time will guarantee the desired results.
This is not a good development for the nation. We have been started down the path to corporate dominance of the national affairs with the installation of George W Bush by the activist conservatives on the Supreme Court. We were continued down that path by Obama, both actively behind the scenes and through his incompetence in public. The people have had enough, and are seeking change from the only other (to their small minds, anyway) option.
The Democrats are finished, and Obama can take the credit for blowing the best opportunity to turn the nation onto a course which would have led to the future. Now, despite all of his protestations to the contrary, we are only going to look back instead of looking forward. The troglodytes of the Republican Party will insist.
May 28, 2010
May 14, 2010
Spill, Baby, Spill
I've tried to refrain from talking about the BP / Transocean / Halliburton oil spill in the Gulf until I understood it well enough to comment on it. I'm still no expert on industrial engineering and oil drilling, but I think I've finally gotten a handle on the amazing screw up that continues unabated. What I find shocking is that we're now getting reports that the spill could be ten times bigger than we thought.
I can only begin to imagine the damage this spill is going to have over the long term. I'm sure the fishermen on the coast would be more than happy to tell us how this is destroying their lives. I'm sure we'll even see more signs of it soon, and not just tar balls either.
What really amazes me, although it doesn't surprise me, is that Republicans have blocked an effort to change the law to increase BP's liability for clean up and environmental damages. After all, that would be bad for BP and that makes it bad for their graft revenue.
The more I hear about this, the more I believe criminal charges need to be filed. I just don't know against whom they should be filed. There are memos and letters going back over a year discussing how dangerous the situation was. There are reports that hours before the explosion there was notification of system failure. Make no mistake, those men that died on that rig didn't need to. They died because BP, Transocean, and Halliburton are greedy, evil corporations that don't give a flying crap about the lives of the people who actually do the real work. MMS, and their criminally cozy relationship, with the oil industry needs to see some people go to jail too.
Yeah, off-shore drilling. What a great idea. How much more proof do people need to know that it is time to end our addiction to oil? It's time for an energy revolution, and that means stopping those bastards in Washington from lining their pockets with blood money.
I can only begin to imagine the damage this spill is going to have over the long term. I'm sure the fishermen on the coast would be more than happy to tell us how this is destroying their lives. I'm sure we'll even see more signs of it soon, and not just tar balls either.
What really amazes me, although it doesn't surprise me, is that Republicans have blocked an effort to change the law to increase BP's liability for clean up and environmental damages. After all, that would be bad for BP and that makes it bad for their graft revenue.
The more I hear about this, the more I believe criminal charges need to be filed. I just don't know against whom they should be filed. There are memos and letters going back over a year discussing how dangerous the situation was. There are reports that hours before the explosion there was notification of system failure. Make no mistake, those men that died on that rig didn't need to. They died because BP, Transocean, and Halliburton are greedy, evil corporations that don't give a flying crap about the lives of the people who actually do the real work. MMS, and their criminally cozy relationship, with the oil industry needs to see some people go to jail too.
Yeah, off-shore drilling. What a great idea. How much more proof do people need to know that it is time to end our addiction to oil? It's time for an energy revolution, and that means stopping those bastards in Washington from lining their pockets with blood money.
April 28, 2010
More evidence of teabagger hypocracy and racism
The University of Washington has published a poll that clearly shows that 2/3 of teabaggers support racial and religious profiling and other violations of civil rights, such as governmental wiretaps. The veneer of taxes and big government is rubbing off and the racism under the hood is beginning to shine through so clearly it's blinding.
Click here for the study.
Click here for the study.
April 27, 2010
Teabaggers, the jig is up.
There is no longer any room for the teabaggers to hide from what they are. David Duke, former Klan leader and first rate jack ass, has posted a video on YouTube in support of the teabaggers. What's more, he's up to his old tricks again, claiming that the only reason they are being portrayed as racist is because the Jews run Hollywood. That's right, he said it again. Let me provide you with a few quotations from he latest screed of idiocy.
You see, for Duke and people like him, preserving America is about being white. People of color are a threat. They are dangerous and they will kill you and take your stuff. Don't mind the fact that all of this garbage isn't even good for fertilizer. According to Duke, being a teabagger is all about making white people the only people in America.
You know, by letting other people come to America and bring their weird, foreign ways and languages. But the worst sin of all was those darn race traitors electing a black man president. That, right there, was the death knell for men like Duke and the predominantly white, militant, and racist teabaggers. Oh, so you still think that being a teabagger is about being white and scared? Tell me, where are the non-whites? Why is it that the people at your tea parties look like Alice and not Nelson Mandela? The insane majority of teabaggers, well over 90%, are white. This is something that Duke even admitted during is idiotic blathering. He even went so far as to advise teabaggers to drop the fake multiracial, multicultural façade and be proud it is a white people thing.
The jig is up. When the likes of David Duke are cheering you on, endorsing you, and telling the world at large that you are just a bunch of angry white people, it's time to rethink what you're doing. The only agenda you are serving is one of hatred and racism. It's time to stop acting like a bunch of petulant children and start acting like adults.
Here is Duke's video, watch at your own risk.
And that isn't even the worst of it. You should look at the gems for comments. Here are three, from the first page of comments on YouTube.
If you want to claim that this is all about sovereign rights and the Constitution, where the hell were these "patriots" when Bush was trampling on our civil liberties with warrantless wiretaps? Where were they when Bush intimately tied federal money to religious charities? Where were the armed mobs holding up signs with racist epithets for 8 years as the Right Wing moved this country closer to a fascist police state than we've ever been. Where are the teabaggers protesting the new law in Arizona that is clearly an attempt to marginalize all people of color and make them prove they are legal residents or citizens? They aren't there because being a teabagger is about being a racist pig. It's got a veneer of being about civil rights, but they only popped up after a black man became president. The rhetoric is eerily similar to the filth that spewed from the mouths of men like Duke and Timothy McVey. The vast majority are white, angry, and conservative. Why is that? The one thing that is good about Duke's video is that it lays to rest the idea that teabagging is about anything other than white people being scared and angry.
Duke: Tea Party people are called racist because the vast majority wants to stop the massive non-European immigration that will turn America into a crumbling tower of Babel. Most Tea Partiers believe that we in America have the right to preserve our heritage, language, and culture, just as every nation has that human right. The vast majority of Tea Party activists oppose affirmative action and diversity, which are nothing more than programs of racist discrimination against white people.
You see, for Duke and people like him, preserving America is about being white. People of color are a threat. They are dangerous and they will kill you and take your stuff. Don't mind the fact that all of this garbage isn't even good for fertilizer. According to Duke, being a teabagger is all about making white people the only people in America.
Duke: The Tea Party movement is made up of American people who have watched in silent anger while the nation of our forefathers has been destroyed.
You know, by letting other people come to America and bring their weird, foreign ways and languages. But the worst sin of all was those darn race traitors electing a black man president. That, right there, was the death knell for men like Duke and the predominantly white, militant, and racist teabaggers. Oh, so you still think that being a teabagger is about being white and scared? Tell me, where are the non-whites? Why is it that the people at your tea parties look like Alice and not Nelson Mandela? The insane majority of teabaggers, well over 90%, are white. This is something that Duke even admitted during is idiotic blathering. He even went so far as to advise teabaggers to drop the fake multiracial, multicultural façade and be proud it is a white people thing.
The jig is up. When the likes of David Duke are cheering you on, endorsing you, and telling the world at large that you are just a bunch of angry white people, it's time to rethink what you're doing. The only agenda you are serving is one of hatred and racism. It's time to stop acting like a bunch of petulant children and start acting like adults.
Here is Duke's video, watch at your own risk.
And that isn't even the worst of it. You should look at the gems for comments. Here are three, from the first page of comments on YouTube.
• The supporters of the Tea Party already are White and that is why the Judeo-Media calls them racist
• If the Tea Party is hijacked by Jews and Zionist Christians, (just like the Democrats and the Republicans were hijacked), it will become utterly useless. Keep the Tea Party for the Founders and it will continue to be effective.
• Whites must come to stark realization that if we let ourselves become a minority, small one at that, we are going to get a lot worse than even Obama! We must defend OUR heritage just as Forefathers did!
If you want to claim that this is all about sovereign rights and the Constitution, where the hell were these "patriots" when Bush was trampling on our civil liberties with warrantless wiretaps? Where were they when Bush intimately tied federal money to religious charities? Where were the armed mobs holding up signs with racist epithets for 8 years as the Right Wing moved this country closer to a fascist police state than we've ever been. Where are the teabaggers protesting the new law in Arizona that is clearly an attempt to marginalize all people of color and make them prove they are legal residents or citizens? They aren't there because being a teabagger is about being a racist pig. It's got a veneer of being about civil rights, but they only popped up after a black man became president. The rhetoric is eerily similar to the filth that spewed from the mouths of men like Duke and Timothy McVey. The vast majority are white, angry, and conservative. Why is that? The one thing that is good about Duke's video is that it lays to rest the idea that teabagging is about anything other than white people being scared and angry.
March 28, 2010
My Name Is Called Disturbance
I've lately been reading a lot of commentary regarding the increasingly violent advocacy emanating from the people who still think Ozzie and Harriet represent the political and social norms of the United States. These are the people who now want to take William F. Buckley's philosophy of "standing athwart history yelling STOP!" and put it into practice through street violence in a misguided attempt to save the nation by destroying it.
From somewhere a memory stirred, inspired by the topic, and after reviewing it, I remembered exactly what it was. 1968. Vietnam. Civil rights. Economic disparity. And a great deal of unfocused outrage that would lead to the Weathermen. The Left seemed to be on the move, and the Rolling Stones captured the mood in their "Street Fighting Man":
This mood was -in 1968- more propaganda than actuality despite the rise of the Weathermen, whose entire output of "revolution" is far exceeded by just one day's IED activity in Baghdad. But the threat was enough to motivate certain blocs of the Democratic Party base to shift allegiances and put Richard Nixon in power. These fearful actions seemed justified with the outrages committed by the Manson tribe, which itself helped to still the waters when upper-middle-class college students were gunned down by Nixon's "tin soldiers" at Kent State and Jackson State colleges. No one wanted to be the next one to die over a war lie. Everyone wanted to get back to where we once belonged, only that time had passed, never to return.
But the streets were again quiet, and society had allowed the violent suppression of protest to achieve this Potemkin Peace to become the norm. A state of calm seemed to return to the land, and we could again feel secure enough to dream big - even if the dream itself was a falsehood intended to cover a multitude of sins committed in the name of The Dream.
But like all pipe dreams, reality will intrude into the fantasy once the effects wear off. It always takes more substance to reach that same plateau in nirvana, and the cost of the trip soon becomes excessive. Those ensnared in the fantasy have trouble adapting to that revitalized reality, even fighting against their best interest to return to that relatively numb condition which is self-interpreted as idyllic.
It is thus with the Tea Baggers and their ilk. They want to return to a time when "people knew their place", when they knew that theirs was at the top of the heap. They see all the gains made by minorities as having been taken away from them and want to reverse those changes. The elections of 2006 and 2008 took away their governmental majority, leaving them impatient and worried that something might happen to change their perceptions of power and status before it could be regained. Not willing to wait to use the political process in that effort, they have adopted the tactics of the 1960's and are issuing calls for "a palace revolution". The call is answered with "the sound of marching, charging feet" as those who want the world BACK the way they thought it was (and they want it that way NOW) "shout and scream 'I'll kill the king'" and "rail at all his servants" who attempt to explain why those demands cannot or should not be met.
But to achieve power, the "game is called disturbance". Stage a raucous protest to stop the proper counting of ballots so that a partisan judiciary can decide who "really" won for the voters. Be obstructive in the passage of legislation and then scream that you weren't allowed to participate. Then attempt to make sure that no implementation of any change can happen. That attempt uses the implied threat of violence to turn the electorate once again as it did in 1968. Only like in 1968, the turn realized was not the turn intended.
The focus on the street violence of 1968 was intended to remove Lyndon Johnson's clique from power, not to facilitate the installation of Richard Nixon. It was a calamitous miscalculation. The threatened violence from the Tea Baggers (aided and abetted by the forces of social control in ways that the '60s radicals could only dream about) is intended only to remove Barack Obama and his clique from power, not to facilitate the rise of a fascist corporate state. It will prove to be a calamitous miscalculation if these people succeed.
Those out in the streets shouting about how Obama is a fascist/communist/socialist/Muslim extremist wouldn't know a real extremist if they met one in the mirror. They don't know for whom their efforts will directly benefit, choosing to believe the lies that they are the patriots saving their country from radicalism by being radicals. Should those who will benefit from the theocratic destruction of the expressions of popular democracy achieve their desired corporatist goals, these Tea Bagger fools don't think for one minute that the snake they ride will turn on them. They don't know about how Hitler turned on the Brown Shirts who made it possible for him to rise to power. The don't know how Lenin and Mao both purged the ranks of those deemed untrustworthy to the revolution once their usefulness had expired. It can't happen here! We're Americans!
It was so then, and so will be again if the Tea Bagger path is followed to its logical conclusion. No corporatist power elite is going to reward those who fought their fight by allowing them to realize any benefit from the effort. The Tea Baggers will be disarmed and put into the same place where everyone else landed. They won't have any of the rights they now think they are defending, as everyone of these is anathema to proper business management. Only then will they see the light, and their power will have been dissipated in creating their own prisons. They will be out of options.
Many current commentators express the opinion that the excesses of the Tea Baggers will work against them in the long run. I wish I could agree. While the historical norm is for radicalism to quickly die out, or to get so extreme that it loses popular support, sometimes that doesn't happen before the entire social norm is overthrown. The ensuing anarchy always produces totalitarianism. As there is evidence that big money is behind these "populist" protests and actions, one can only assume that anarchy is the strategy and totalitarianism the goal. And the more the Tea Baggers are whipped up to bring on socio-political Armageddon in America, the more likely that elitist totalitarianism is the outcome of the effort - no matter the alleged renunciation of the means of achieving that goal.
It CAN happen here, especially because we're Americans.
From somewhere a memory stirred, inspired by the topic, and after reviewing it, I remembered exactly what it was. 1968. Vietnam. Civil rights. Economic disparity. And a great deal of unfocused outrage that would lead to the Weathermen. The Left seemed to be on the move, and the Rolling Stones captured the mood in their "Street Fighting Man":
Ev'rywhere I hear the sound of marching, charging feet, boy
'Cause summer's here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy
. . .
Hey! Think the time is right for a palace revolution
'Cause where I live the game they play is compromise solution
. . .
Hey! Said my name is called disturbance
I'll shout and scream, I'll kill the king, I'll rail at all his servants
This mood was -in 1968- more propaganda than actuality despite the rise of the Weathermen, whose entire output of "revolution" is far exceeded by just one day's IED activity in Baghdad. But the threat was enough to motivate certain blocs of the Democratic Party base to shift allegiances and put Richard Nixon in power. These fearful actions seemed justified with the outrages committed by the Manson tribe, which itself helped to still the waters when upper-middle-class college students were gunned down by Nixon's "tin soldiers" at Kent State and Jackson State colleges. No one wanted to be the next one to die over a war lie. Everyone wanted to get back to where we once belonged, only that time had passed, never to return.
But the streets were again quiet, and society had allowed the violent suppression of protest to achieve this Potemkin Peace to become the norm. A state of calm seemed to return to the land, and we could again feel secure enough to dream big - even if the dream itself was a falsehood intended to cover a multitude of sins committed in the name of The Dream.
But like all pipe dreams, reality will intrude into the fantasy once the effects wear off. It always takes more substance to reach that same plateau in nirvana, and the cost of the trip soon becomes excessive. Those ensnared in the fantasy have trouble adapting to that revitalized reality, even fighting against their best interest to return to that relatively numb condition which is self-interpreted as idyllic.
It is thus with the Tea Baggers and their ilk. They want to return to a time when "people knew their place", when they knew that theirs was at the top of the heap. They see all the gains made by minorities as having been taken away from them and want to reverse those changes. The elections of 2006 and 2008 took away their governmental majority, leaving them impatient and worried that something might happen to change their perceptions of power and status before it could be regained. Not willing to wait to use the political process in that effort, they have adopted the tactics of the 1960's and are issuing calls for "a palace revolution". The call is answered with "the sound of marching, charging feet" as those who want the world BACK the way they thought it was (and they want it that way NOW) "shout and scream 'I'll kill the king'" and "rail at all his servants" who attempt to explain why those demands cannot or should not be met.
But to achieve power, the "game is called disturbance". Stage a raucous protest to stop the proper counting of ballots so that a partisan judiciary can decide who "really" won for the voters. Be obstructive in the passage of legislation and then scream that you weren't allowed to participate. Then attempt to make sure that no implementation of any change can happen. That attempt uses the implied threat of violence to turn the electorate once again as it did in 1968. Only like in 1968, the turn realized was not the turn intended.
The focus on the street violence of 1968 was intended to remove Lyndon Johnson's clique from power, not to facilitate the installation of Richard Nixon. It was a calamitous miscalculation. The threatened violence from the Tea Baggers (aided and abetted by the forces of social control in ways that the '60s radicals could only dream about) is intended only to remove Barack Obama and his clique from power, not to facilitate the rise of a fascist corporate state. It will prove to be a calamitous miscalculation if these people succeed.
Those out in the streets shouting about how Obama is a fascist/communist/socialist/Muslim extremist wouldn't know a real extremist if they met one in the mirror. They don't know for whom their efforts will directly benefit, choosing to believe the lies that they are the patriots saving their country from radicalism by being radicals. Should those who will benefit from the theocratic destruction of the expressions of popular democracy achieve their desired corporatist goals, these Tea Bagger fools don't think for one minute that the snake they ride will turn on them. They don't know about how Hitler turned on the Brown Shirts who made it possible for him to rise to power. The don't know how Lenin and Mao both purged the ranks of those deemed untrustworthy to the revolution once their usefulness had expired. It can't happen here! We're Americans!
It was so then, and so will be again if the Tea Bagger path is followed to its logical conclusion. No corporatist power elite is going to reward those who fought their fight by allowing them to realize any benefit from the effort. The Tea Baggers will be disarmed and put into the same place where everyone else landed. They won't have any of the rights they now think they are defending, as everyone of these is anathema to proper business management. Only then will they see the light, and their power will have been dissipated in creating their own prisons. They will be out of options.
Many current commentators express the opinion that the excesses of the Tea Baggers will work against them in the long run. I wish I could agree. While the historical norm is for radicalism to quickly die out, or to get so extreme that it loses popular support, sometimes that doesn't happen before the entire social norm is overthrown. The ensuing anarchy always produces totalitarianism. As there is evidence that big money is behind these "populist" protests and actions, one can only assume that anarchy is the strategy and totalitarianism the goal. And the more the Tea Baggers are whipped up to bring on socio-political Armageddon in America, the more likely that elitist totalitarianism is the outcome of the effort - no matter the alleged renunciation of the means of achieving that goal.
It CAN happen here, especially because we're Americans.
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