They're too busy occupying other capitals like Baghdad and Kabul, and issuing instructions/orders to a few dozen more.
The Latest Obama Thread...
Sat, 2011-02-12 13:00
#52
N.Beltov
Sat, 2011-02-12 13:16
#53
Yeah. Now if we can just get the military to march on Washington the comparison will be (sort of, kinda like) complete (in a way...
The whole world saw THE PEOPLE rise to throw out a dictator, giving us all an example of what is possible, and here you are emitting this sort of dismissal. Oh well, carry on in your devotion to the way things are and always have been, but there isn't really anything to say to you any more.
Sat, 2011-02-12 13:17
#54
Then if and when they get back home, that Egyptian/'Merican comparison can be made with a straight face? All other things being equal....
Sat, 2011-02-12 13:22
#55
Thank Gaia. I was afraid I was going to be told about how left and right, rabid evangelical and feminist could hold hands together and demand the overthrow of capitalism.
Promise you won't ?
Mon, 2011-02-14 16:52
#56
Notwithstanding the ludicrous claims of the mouthfoamers on the right that Barack Obama is non-American Muslim socialist, this president is in fact to progressivism what the Monkees were to rock-and-roll. Except that, for all their flaws and artifice, I can actually stand to listen to the Monkees. Increasingly, I can no longer say that about Obama anymore. Despite the fact that when he speaks he says absolutely nothing – or is it precisely because of that fact? – when this human-platitude-production-machine of a president speaks these days, I can barely stand to listen.
Obama is both symptom and cause. It is now fully clear that he is part of the wrecking crew sent to annihilate the standard of living for 300 million people, so that a handful of plutocrats and oligarchs can add third football-field-sized yachts to their existing two. That an individual of his background and promise (not to mention promises) could sell-out so entirely is saddening and maddening, but ultimately more a statement of egregiousness than novelty. It happens a lot. Indeed, Obama didn’t even pioneer that ugly and shameful path. Bill Clinton did.
Tue, 2011-02-15 20:01
#57
With ongoing occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq, proxy wars in Pakistan and Yemen, volatile relations with Iran, or the floundering Middle East peace process; how has the man who offered the Muslim world a new beginning handled the burning issues on the international stage? Is the US's global supremacy coming to an end?Joining us as our guests: Roger Hodge, the author of Mendacity of Hope: Barack Obama and the Betrayal of American Liberalism; Dr Stefan Halper, the former foreign policy advisor to the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations; Ralph Nader, an independent presidential candidate; As'ad Abu Khalil, the founder of the Angry Arab news blog.
Tue, 2011-02-15 23:52
#58
N.Beltov
wow. As'ad Abu Khalil and Ralph Nader together. i love it.
Wed, 2011-02-16 01:25
#59
Bec.De.Corbin
Has anyone else thought over the last 19 days that the Egyptians are showing us what real "hope and change" looks like, as opposed to the ad copy that B. Obama, CEO and Chief Managing Director of USA Inc., has been spouting?
Sorry AQ (and others here), but we in the USA are in hard times right now, not end times. Not that I intend on convincing anybody here but we are far from being so bad off we'd have to resort to what the Egyptians finally got around to doing; over throwing their government with force. As we all know: good guys don't always win in real life. As I've said before we're not to the point where the majority of 350 million plus people, and that's going to have to be well over 175 million, are willing to risk it all on all out civil war.
And carful what you wish for... [humor]do you really want the 1000 pound gorilla next door going ape shit on it's self?[/humor] I doubt Canada would get through the ordeal unscathed; a flood of millions of refugees fleeing the fighting being the least of it.
Not to take away from what the Egyptians had to do and endure but if it ever came to us down here "overthrowing" our government it isn't going to be no two week long rock fight on the national mall in front of the Capital Building: it's going to be Civil War 2: Hell on Earth. I'm talking warfare on a conventional level on the land, air and sea with organized units, modern equipment and generals commanding armies on both sides. It will be a hot fire indeed at we will rip ourselves apart with (for years probably)... and from the hottest fire comes the hardest steel and you had better hope whatever comes out isn't worst than what went in. I doubt I'll have to worry about it; I'll probably be dead along with millions of others.
Of course the other alterative is the seemingly slow as molasses change you (can't?) see us going through right now. There might be some burst or spurts' of change here and there but for the most part it's going to be a slow grind. I know most here can't stand it... it just isn't fast enough (for some) but for now it's what we down here are content with (and I know that can be aggravating at times).
I prefer that over war any day.
Back to lerking...
Wed, 2011-02-16 02:20
#60
M. Spector
The Egyptians haven't overthrown their government. They haven't made a revolution. They haven't taken up armed struggle. They haven't started a civil war.
Could we please dial back the hyperbole?
What they did do was rally in the streets and refuse to be intimidated, until their president was forced to resign. It's nothing that Canadians and Americans couldn't do in their own countries, without even taking up arms.
Whether the struggle in Egypt results in the overthrow of the government and a revolution or a civil war remains to be seen. But mass mobilization of the citizenry is far more promising for "hope and change" than sitting on your ass in front of the TV and the computer, [i]hoping[/i] that some capitalist politician you voted for will bring about the [i]change[/i] you need.
Wed, 2011-02-16 09:20
#61
Exactly, M.
Wed, 2011-02-16 14:24
#62
Bec.De.Corbin
The Egyptians haven't overthrown their government. They haven't made a revolution. They haven't taken up armed struggle. They haven't started a civil war. What they did do was rally in the streets and refuse to be intimidated, until their president was forced to resign.
I understand what you're saying, but I don't totally agree with it, the president and his cabinet are gone, parliament was dissolved and the army is in control as a transitional government until a new government can be elected once the opposition can form political parties to run candidates... I'd call that more than just forcing the president into resignation. They, perhaps unwittingly, over threw the current government without having to tear their country apart (so far). Aside from re-writing their constitution it seems to me they are getting to politically start over again. But that's my perspective of that; yours is obviously a bit different.
Wed, 2011-02-16 19:41
#63
You'll never get them past "mass mobilization of the citizenry," BDC. No idea how to get progressives to the tea party. But it has a romantic ring to it.
Wed, 2011-02-16 19:55
#64
No idea how to get progressives to the tea party. But it has a romantic ring to it.
I don't care if they call it a latte party. Just somebody call for something.
Wed, 2011-02-16 21:31
#65
Bec.De.Corbin
The only mass mobilization of the citizenry that happens in the USA right now is during the Super Bowel.
Besides, that giant rock fight they had those few days last week would have turned into a full blown gun fight in about 10 minutes in the USA, we as citizens are WAY TOO armed to just throw rocks at each other now days.
Wed, 2011-02-16 21:40
#66
Yeah that, and the throwing of shoes is so yesterday.
Thu, 2011-02-17 08:03
#67
Enduro Man
Has anyone else thought over the last 19 days that the Egyptians are showing us what real "hope and change" looks like, as opposed to the ad copy that B. Obama, CEO and Chief Managing Director of USA Inc., has been spouting?
Sorry AQ (and others here), but we in the USA are in hard times right now, not end times. Not that I intend on convincing anybody here but we are far from being so bad off we'd have to resort to what the Egyptians finally got around to doing; over throwing their government with force. As we all know: good guys don't always win in real life. As I've said before we're not to the point where the majority of 350 million plus people, and that's going to have to be well over 175 million, are willing to risk it all on all out civil war.
And carful what you wish for... [humor]do you really want the 1000 pound gorilla next door going ape shit on it's self?[/humor] I doubt Canada would get through the ordeal unscathed; a flood of millions of refugees fleeing the fighting being the least of it.
Not to take away from what the Egyptians had to do and endure but if it ever came to us down here "overthrowing" our government it isn't going to be no two week long rock fight on the national mall in front of the Capital Building: it's going to be Civil War 2: Hell on Earth. I'm talking warfare on a conventional level on the land, air and sea with organized units, modern equipment and generals commanding armies on both sides. It will be a hot fire indeed at we will rip ourselves apart with (for years probably)... and from the hottest fire comes the hardest steel and you had better hope whatever comes out isn't worst than what went in. I doubt I'll have to worry about it; I'll probably be dead along with millions of others.
Of course the other alterative is the seemingly slow as molasses change you (can't?) see us going through right now. There might be some burst or spurts' of change here and there but for the most part it's going to be a slow grind. I know most here can't stand it... it just isn't fast enough (for some) but for now it's what we down here are content with (and I know that can be aggravating at times).
I prefer that over war any day.
Back to lerking...
I highly doubt that there will be a "Civil War 2" in the United States. The security apparatus of Washington is vast and their tentacles are everywhere. In reality Americans saw the last true vestiges of their liberty effectively castrated when the Homeland Security Department was set up and the Patriot Act was passed under Bush. I find it amusing how so many Americans are under the illusion that they are "free". That is utter nonsense.
The US maintains the world's largest prison population and the world's largest internal spying network. Warrantless wiretaps are now routine. Nobody even bothers to remark on it anymore. So there has been change of a sort but not of the kind that I suspect you're thinking of. The political discourse in the United States has certainly become more hysterical and the rise of the Tea Party certainly provides for some amusement in the same way clowns in the circus do but it is all just a ruse to provide the peons with a source of distraction while what remains of the social safety net in their country continues to be slowly dismantled and the union movement is vilified, degraded and destroyed.
Americans will continue to shoot each other in the streets controlled by gangsters and drug lords and they will continue to be slaves of personal debt issued by the banks and credit card companies. High unemployment will keep the peons living in fear for their jobs and their health insurance and thus effectively cowed and silenced.
In this light Obama's hope and change rhetoric was truly hilarious. Not to mention ironic.
Thu, 2011-02-17 08:06
#68
The budget U.S. President Barack Obama submitted to Congress on Monday proposes to slap a $5.50 fee on every visitor from Canada who travels to the U.S. by air or by sea.
The fee would not apply to visitors arriving in private vehicles.
Currently, visitors from Canada, Mexico and a number of Caribbean countries are exempt from "passenger inspection fees." It's an exemption these countries have enjoyed since 1997.
But Obama's 2012 draft budget includes a legislative proposal to lift those exemptions - a move that a supporting document from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates would bring in an extra $110 million a year.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2011/02/16/obama-budget-canada-fee.html#ixzz1EDlgkxog
Thu, 2011-02-17 12:41
#69
Bec.De.Corbin
I find it amusing how so many Americans are under the illusion that they are "free". That is utter nonsense.
Well in that case at least we keep each other amused: I find comments like that amusing as well... it's like a humorous what the fuck moment.
It's like me telling you that you better worry about being eaten by a polar bear (you are in Canada where polar bears live after all) next time you step out of your apartment... while based in some facts how ridicules does that sound to you as a Canadian?
Thu, 2011-02-17 13:01
#70
Well in that case at least we keep each other amused: I find comments like that amusing as well... it's like a humorous what the fuck moment.It's like me telling you that you better worry about being eaten by a polar bear (you are in Canada where polar bears live after all) next time you step out of your apartment... while based in some facts how ridicules does that sound to you as a Canadian?
In Canada, these specific carnivorous predators live far away from the highly populated areas, while your flesh consuming predators live in Washington and on Wall Street. But you never know what we'll eventually have to contend with if the human predators keep piling on with the planetary scale global warming projects.
Thu, 2011-02-17 13:06
#71
Free people are entitled to political change when they vote for it. A mere changing of the corporate guard doesn't count. Beyond that, the last election only witnessed a demonstrated change for the worse.
Thu, 2011-02-17 14:26
#72
Right. So the wall street swindle to the tune of trillions, and the political collaboration of both parties to that end are just the ravings of a bunch of habitual whiners on the internets, and the corporate backpocket ownership of your political processes is a figment of some stoners imagination. The endless need for wars and enemies isn't for the sake of corporate hegemony the world over, but is part and parcel of the entire worldwide peace and freedom crusade. I'm glad that you dropped by to clear that up, because how would we have otherwise thought well of you.
Thu, 2011-02-17 14:26
#73
Bec.De.Corbin
In Canada, these specific carnivorous predators live far away from the highly populated areas,
Nope, WRONG!, polar bears live in Canada and you're going to get eaten by one right outside your apartment... becouse I know polar bears live in Canada... and I saw this posted this on the internet so it has to be true.
Don't believe me? Stick your head out the front door and see what happens...
Thu, 2011-02-17 14:27
#74
Don't believe me? Stick your head out the front door and see what happens...
This is not Alaska you know, where one can see everything off the back porch.
Thu, 2011-02-17 14:52
#75
Bec.De.Corbin
Right. So the wall street swindle to the tune of trillions, and the political collaboration of both parties to that end are just the ravings of a bunch of habitual whiners on the internets, and the corporate backpocket ownership of your political processes is a figment of some stoners imagination. The endless need for wars and enemies isn't for the sake of corporate hegemony the world over, but is part and parcel of the entire worldwide peace and freedom crusade. I'm glad that you dropped by to clear that up, because how would we have otherwise thought well of you.
You're still alive? Hummm there's no way I could be wrong... I know! the bears having a hard time gettng to your place...
Ok I'll be serious for a second (and let you off the hook). My post you quoted was not about economics, corruption or whatever... it was about other people, here, telling me how free I am (or am not) with no regard to what I think... please read back up the thread a bit. Care to discuss that?
What makes you think you, up in Canada, can tell me, and I mean me right here, that my freedoms I believe in are a joke without ever really knowing me? As I said before; that sounds as ridiculous as my polar bear posts (which obviously irritated you)... What the fuck do I know about polar bears in Canada to be saying that to you? The answer: I don't know what I'm talking about (polar bears in Canada that is).
Oh and lighten up a bit will ya... that last picture is funny as fuck...
Thu, 2011-02-17 14:55
#76
Bec.De.Corbin
Don't believe me? Stick your head out the front door and see what happens...This is not Alaska you know, where one can see everything off the back porch.
A Sarah Palin joke... now we're getting some where.
Thu, 2011-02-17 15:09
#77
M. Spector
My post you quoted was not about economics, corruption or whatever... it was about other people, here, telling me how free I am (or am not) [b]with no regard to what I think[/b]...
What makes you think you, up in Canada, can tell me, and I mean me right here, that my freedoms I believe in are a joke [b]without ever really knowing me?[/b]
I took the liberty of bolding portions of your post to illustrate why I think you are under a serious misapprehension about what freedom means.
Evidently you think freedom is all in your mind, not a matter of objective reality - that as long as [b]you believe[/b] you are free, then where do we strangers get off telling you otherwise?
Interesting concept. No need to fight for actual freedoms - just convince yourself you are free and all is well with the world! What's more, nobody else is entitled to challenge your belief.
Some of us here, on the other hand, have this quaint idea that objective reality actually has something to do with the degree of freedom one enjoys.
Thu, 2011-02-17 15:55
#78
BDC, you are an example of freedom-hunting America, good as they come, either side of the border. To "fight for actual freedom," is open to interpretation. Define "fight." What does "actual freedom" mean? The syntax will come.
Thu, 2011-02-17 16:04
#79
Enduro Man
I find it amusing how so many Americans are under the illusion that they are "free". That is utter nonsense.
Well in that case at least we keep each other amused: I find comments like that amusing as well... it's like a humorous what the fuck moment.
It's like me telling you that you better worry about being eaten by a polar bear (you are in Canada where polar bears live after all) next time you step out of your apartment... while based in some facts how ridicules does that sound to you as a Canadian?
I can see no evidence that any real progressive change in the US is underway. The much vaunted HCR bill for instance was really only a rip-off of a conservative plan which is a giant subsidy for insurance providers like Humana which rake in billions. Ordinary Americans will be forced to buy their services in exchange for a few petty, meaningless baubles called "reform".
Yet, the level of hysteria over the intrusion of so called "big government" reached a fever pitch! Obama was going to turn you all into commies! The result? The politcial discourse in your country became even more radicalized towards the right. Your country is being turned into quasi-fascist security state before your very eyes without a shot being fired without realizng at all that the HCR bill is in fact a "big corporate" plan.
I have travelled in your country extensively and the disparity between the wealthy and the poor literally shocked me. Rich gated communities filled with mcmansions surrounded by dilapidated once middle class neighbourhoods stripped of their wealth. You've been looted of your wealth and snookered into blaming the victims of the looting. The elite billionaires who control you laugh as they watch you tear each other apart over the few petty crumbs they allow you.
You think you are free? Good luck with that.
Thu, 2011-02-17 16:35
#80
Bec.De.Corbin
You think you are free? Good luck with that.
Yes and thanks... nice rant by the way. Let me worry about the Tea Party... and the "quasi-fascist security state" (wow).
@ everyone else: I'm free enough to waste some of my spare time on things I enjoy doing. We got problums, sure, but still it's not all gloom and doom down here.
Thu, 2011-02-17 16:50
#81
Obama will be re-elected
Thu, 2011-02-17 18:07
#82
BDC: "@ everyone else: I'm free enough to waste some of my spare time on things I enjoy doing. We got problums, sure, but still it's not all gloom and doom down here."
The right is bound to shoot itself in the foot quite often, with all those weapons about, and with Sarah still on the loose, we can only wait in giddy anticipation for the next foot-in-mouth lesson. Go get em BDC.
Thu, 2011-02-17 18:58
#83
Enduro Man
My post you quoted was not about economics, corruption or whatever... it was about other people, here, telling me how free I am (or am not) [b]with no regard to what I think[/b]...
What makes you think you, up in Canada, can tell me, and I mean me right here, that my freedoms I believe in are a joke [b]without ever really knowing me?[/b]
I took the liberty of bolding portions of your post to illustrate why I think you are under a serious misapprehension about what freedom means.
Evidently you think freedom is all in your mind, not a matter of objective reality - that as long as [b]you believe[/b] you are free, then where do we strangers get off telling you otherwise?
Interesting concept. No need to fight for actual freedoms - just convince yourself you are free and all is well with the world! What's more, nobody else is entitled to challenge your belief.
Some of us here, on the other hand, have this quaint idea that objective reality actually has something to do with the degree of freedom one enjoys.
Never underestimate the power of jingoism, patriotic platitudes and flag waving.
Why deal with reality? That part sucks!
Thu, 2011-02-17 19:57
#84
Now this is an interesting development
Wisconsin Protests: State Police Pursue Democratic Lawmakers Boycotting Vote
Wisconsin Democrats on Thursday fled the statehouse in an effort to prevent legislators from reaching a quorum and passing a bill put forth by Gov. Scott Walker (R), which would cripple the collective bargaining rights of public unions.
(Scroll down for the latest updates from Wisconsin)
The move produced a frantic political drama, as state troopers were reportedly sent out to find the fleeing lawmakers and Walker hinted that the National Guard would be called in to fill the void left by protesting union workers.
One Democratic senator told the Associated Press that he and his fleeing colleagues are currently in Illinois.
Their flight further heightened the drama that has surrounded the Wisconsin statehouse this week. On Wednesday there were an estimated 30,000 peacefully rallying in front of the state capitol building, and on Thursday an estimated 25,000 turned out.
Madison public schools are closed for the second day running, as teachers call in sick and students walk out.
Wisconsin is a stronghold of the labor movement -- the birthplace of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, one of the nation's largest labor unions -- with a long history of successful battles for workers' rights. This is part of the reason the pushback to Walker's bill has been so strong. It's also why, if the bill does pass, the precedent it sets for other conservative governors looking to go after collective bargaining rights is so powerful.
Story continues below
Thu, 2011-02-17 21:08
#85
Bec.De.Corbin
You see, we can take it to our government if we want...
Thu, 2011-02-17 23:52
#86
I like how whoever created Enduroman's graph has to tell the reader how many countries fall between #3 and # 21.
Oh, and ON WISCONSIN!
But in the meantime...
Obama has arrived in his element, and he has nothing to be ashamed about. Way back on the campaign trail, he told everyone willing to listen how much he admired President Reagan. So, why be surprised when you get a Reagan-type budget?
"Obama has always been a dangerous, corporate creature."
No, the shame is not Obama's. The people who should be scandalized by the president's budget are the enablers on the Left who abrogated their political responsibility to the people - and to Truth - by inventing an Obama that did not exist, back in 2007 and 2008. The shame of the proposed 2012 budget rests on the heads of those Blacks and progressives in leadership positions who chose to mis-lead their constituencies in '07 and '08, who refused to make even one demand, or even a mild request of Obama, the candidate - and thus rendered Blacks and progressives politically irrelevant. As we at Black Agenda Report and honest analysts like Paul Street pointed out all along, Obama has always been a dangerous, corporate creature. But like the frog that allows the scorpion to hitch a ride on his back across the swollen river, Black and progressive misleaders act shocked and hurt when Obama stings them with his deadly budget halfway through his term. But the frog should have known the nature of a scorpion. Obama's corporate character was no secret to anyone except those who wished not to know
Obamaland, Where Right Meets Center-Right
Fri, 2011-02-18 03:13
#87
M. Spector
The key class battle in the United States today is in Wisconsin. Governor Scott Walker is a Tea Party reptile. He's used his position to launch an attack on local union rights. The public sector unions are being treated as pampered spoilsports, refusing to make 'sacrifices' that others Americans have to make. The capitalist media rarely forgets to shove that theme down the US gullet. And it often seems difficult for unions, who represent a small minority of workers, to fight back. ...Now, one doesn't make comparisons thoughtlessly. It would seem hubristic to reference the revolutionary struggles in the Middle East in connection with this. Those struggles, continuing in Egypt and Tunisia, emerging nascently in Saudi Arabia, and manifest in Bahrain, Algeria, Libya, Yemen, and Iran too, are taking place in very different circumstances. [b]But the global crisis that links them is raising the same questions everywhere. It's turning what was a chronic dilapidation and slide in popular living standards into an acute, unbearable crisis for millions.... And sometimes a local struggle resonates far beyond its immediate boundaries and becomes the stimulus for a wave of wider revolts, especially when it taps into something that is popularly perceived as intolerable and for which the ruling class is held responsible.[/b] And given what's happening in US states, I'd suggest keeping an eye on Wisconsin, because this could be the trigger for something beautiful.
[url=http://leninology.blogspot.com/2011/02/class-struggle-in-america.html]So...
Fri, 2011-02-18 10:25
#88
You see, we can take it to our government if we want...
For now...
As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave her speech at George Washington University yesterday condemning governments that arrest protestors and do not allow free expression, 71-year-old Ray McGovern was grabbed from the audience in plain view of her by police and an unidentified official in plain clothes, brutalized and left bleeding in jail. She never paused speaking. When Secretary Clinton began her speech, Mr. McGovern remained standing silently in the audience and turned his back. Mr. McGovern, a veteran Army officer who also worked as a C.I.A. analyst for 27 years, was wearing a Veterans for Peace t-shirt.
Blind-sided by security officers who pounced upon him, Mr. McGovern remarked, as he was hauled out the door, "So this is America?"
At Clinton Speech: Veteran Bloodied, Bruised
and Arrested for Standing Silently
Fri, 2011-02-18 20:14
#89
Democrats correct in Wisconsin; ignore the beating of old veterans in Washington. Why couldn't that insensitive woman have intervened? Perhaps the glare of the lights?
Watch for this thread go beyond bathos to bizaare. Something approaching "Democrats behind bayonetting of babies!"
Sat, 2011-02-19 18:58
#90
The protester turned out to be none other than Ray McGovern, veteran Army officer, former CIA analyst who was an intelligence briefer for former President Ronald Reagan and who put together the Presidential Daily Briefs for the first President Bush, and now anti-war/pro-justice activist.
A video of the arrest can be seen here. Notice how Clinton never allows the incident that highlights her hypocrisy to interrupt her speech. While she was giving her sermon from the bully pulpit on how other governments need to be more tolerant of dissent-otherwise they "will eventually find themselves boxed in" in their own "dilemma" where they will "have to choose between letting the walls fall or paying the price to keep them standing"-an elderly American dissident is dragged away in plain sight. I guess Washington has made their "choice."
How did our media cover it? I looked at the New York Times, the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal and as of today I have found no mention of the incident at all. None. Nada. Zilch. One Washington Post blog was about the speech but the arrest of McGovern was nowhere to be found.
Z blogs
Tue, 2011-02-22 18:50
#91
Deploying his customary technocratic aloofness in the service of the usual screw-the-workers narrative, President Obama sided with the union-busters: "Everybody has to make some adjustments to the new fiscal realities," he scolds.
"Everybody," naturally, does not include ultrarich dudes like our multi-millionaire president. Obama, who declared a whopping $5.5 million in annual income for 2009 (the last year available), has neither reduced his salary nor donated a penny of his $7.7 million fortune to the Treasury to help adjust to those "new fiscal realities."
Hard times, doncha know, are for the little people. "We had to[my italics] impose a freeze on pay increases for federal workers in the next two years as part of my overall budget freeze," said Obama. "I think those kinds of adjustments are the right thing to do [in Wisconsin]." "Had to." Interesting pair of words. They imply that there was no other choice. What a brazen lie.
Tue, 2011-02-22 19:00
#92
What bullshit edited innuendo.
Tue, 2011-02-22 23:08
#93
Name one thing that Obama has done for working people?
Health care? That fetid trillion dollar giveaway to big pharma?
That just doesn't cut it.
Obama has called for a spending freeze government workers pay for the next 5 years while renewing the $700 billion Bush tax cuts at the same time. That's a feat that even Reagan couldn't have managed without igniting a revolt in the ranks. But smooth-talking Obama pulled it off without a hitch. In fact, his devotees are more ga-ga over him than ever.
Two weeks ago, Obama wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal promising to reduce "burdensome" regulations for his friends in big finance. He figured that the trillions they'd already been given wasn't quite enough to keep them happy, so he decided he'd find more rules that he could eliminate.
Then he slithered over to the Chamber of Commerce to assure them that he'd do whatever he could to "change the tone" at the White House to help them increase profitability. Just days later, Obama delivered an entirely different message to striking Wisconsin teachers. He told them that everyone would have to "make sacrifices" to make up for state budget shortfalls. Everyone except his rich friends, that is.
Obama to Teachers: "Drop Dead"
Wed, 2011-02-23 02:12
#94
M. Spector
Cue the abuse from the resident Obamaphiles.
Wed, 2011-02-23 19:51
#95
Veto Costs US Last Shred of Credibility - by Stuart Littlewood
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16674
"Hang your head in shame, O Peace Prize laureate. The Nobel award, said Barack Obama at the time, was 'an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations' and must be shared with everyone who strives 'for justice and dignity.' Where was the justice and dignity in the sad story of America's UN veto?
Having blocked the UN Security Council's draft resolution on Friday, which would have condemned Israeli squatter colonies as illegal, Obama has now written America completely out of the script on Middle East peace."
Obamaland, Where Right Meets Center-Right - by Glen Ford
http://blackagendareport.com/content/obamaland-where-right-meets-center-...
"The First Black President just gave birth to an unmistakeably Republican budget and everybody knows who that ugly baby's daddy is. Obama loves Reagan. Obama has always told everyone in range of his voice that his main goal in life is to forge a grand consensus with the GOP.."
Wed, 2011-02-23 22:10
#96
That's a great article, NDPP.
Thu, 2011-02-24 00:16
#97
Glad you liked it al-Q - Glen Ford and BAR is one of my faves..
Mon, 2011-02-28 10:26
#98
One thing you didn't see during last night's Academy Arwards telecast:
Last year, some 254,000 men, women and children were homeless in Los Angeles County (population 10 million) at some point, and 82,000 were on the streets on any given night. Not surprisingly, almost half of them were African-American, though blacks constitute just 9 percent of the county’s population; Latinos make up 47 percent of the county and 33 percent of its homeless. As many as 75 percent of people on the streets are not receiving the public benefits to which they are entitled. Some 20 percent are physically disabled, 25 percent mentally so. ............
Thu, 2011-03-03 20:50
#99
Prosecution of Ray McGovern is Dropped
The charges against Ray McGovern have been dropped and the government has decided not to proceed with its prosecution. Mr. McGovern, age 71, was subjected to an outrageous and abusive arrest, which left him bruised and bleeding. He had been standing silently with his back turned to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she delivered her address on Feb. 15 at George Washington University, in which she insisted other governments around the world not stifle free expression.
McGovern was an Army officer and CIA analyst for almost 30 years. He was among the first to expose the corruption of intelligence to "justify" the ongoing wars. He was wearing a Veterans for Peace T-shirt at the time of his arrest.
Mon, 2011-03-07 23:37
#100
"Is this Quantico or Abu Ghraib?" asked Rep. Dennis Kucinich in a press release. Good question, congressman. Like the men imprisoned in former President Bush's Iraqi torture chamber, Manning is being abused and humiliated despite having not so much as been tried in a military tribunal, much less convicted of an actual crime.
So much for the constitutional lawyer who ran as the candidate of hope and change.
Remember back when Obama campaigned against such Bush-league torture tactics? Recall when candidate Obama said "government whistleblowers are part of a healthy democracy and must be protected from reprisal"? It appears his opposition to torture and support for whistleblowers was only so much rhetoric. And then he took office.
Under Obama, Better to Commit a War Crime Than Expose One
by Medea Benjamin and Charles Davis
Fri, 2011-03-11 12:37
#101
The White House is aiding the naturally dumb Republicans in dumbing-down debate on rising expenses in medical care:
Dumbing Deficits Down
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Having a "what were they thinking?" moment recently.