[PrestonSturges]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('americandream', 'T')hey may not have a Sharia crook at the top of the ticket but you can be damned sure, they will start to apply some of the Sharia thinking to social issues in a bid to halt progress, accompanied by increasingly soothing sounds about Islam. Watch out for the liberals especially. These dopes will fall hook, line and sinker for the bait.

[hillsidedigger]

Out of shame comes honor?

No wonder he cries:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJkxBLgd ... r_embedded

[mattduke]

What's with the huge Abraham Lincoln image?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '&')quot;I will say, then, that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races -- that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races from living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race."

[PrestonSturges]

People will say anything to get elected. Hitler claimed not to be a Jew, and look at how many Republicans claim to be not gay.

[PrestonSturges]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('americandream', 'W')here were the enraged conservative voices during dubya's reign?

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote(' ', 'W')here were the enraged conservative voices during dubya's reign?

[eastbay]

There is no such thing as an anti-war liberal. They require war. They crave war. They know war is needed to shove their twisted world view down other cultures throats. And they are always on the lookout for the next chance to kill on a mass scale. The Iraq war is winding down so the US will have forces ready for the next wars.

Although misdirected somewhat, it's refreshing to see a mass movement opposed to Obama.

[PrestonSturges]

There was that whole pullout of Iraq last week. And yes we can say it's not really a total pullout etc etc, but you could have said the same thing about VE Day. Had Obama done this his first week, the GOP would have tried to storm the White House. Around that time all I ever heard from Fox was that the troops never wanted to come home, and we had to keep the war going so as to not hurt their feelings.

Because as people that don't support the troops is what caused Germany to collapse. According to he-who-shall-not-be-named. But I digress.

So after a 3 trillion dollar detour through Iraq we are where 9-11 was really hatched. One problem is Afghanistan is that pretty much all the aid money is stolen because it is moving government to government and ending up with the Taliban or shipped in pallets to OPEC, then to other radicals.

The last president who had the nerve to not be gung-ho for war was Carter, and we saw how that worked out. Before that it was Ike.

Willard ("Mitt") Romney is promising a perpetual war against ....somebody.

[efarmer]

Well I like to see the Tea Party folks get constructive and get behind their candidates and get them into office, and experience what conservatives did with George Bush, progressive do with Obama, and Tea Partiers will with Palin or who knows who, and that is that the people who are elected are not in charge of the nation.

This is why I think it is good that they get more fair and civil, because eventually we are going to have to admit that the American people have been set against each other as a cover story for the mother of all heists. And we will have to work together to make the best with what the thieves leave for us once the EROEI of wealth extraction plays out and they just concentrate on drilling for money in the BRIC nations and guarding their compounds.

We are not going to get a shot at representative government until the wealth extraction is completed. It is not about liberals, conservatives, libertarians, or any other philosophy at all.
Terrorist set off bombs so that they can get in position to do the real damage somewhere else.
Banksters are more genteel, they get everyone arguing and just methodically pump the inflation and deflation until the cost to pump and skim exceeds the calculated return. We have a couple of good skims left, so I imagine they will pay for us to fight each other a few more times.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('efarmer', 'I')t is not about liberals, conservatives, libertarians, or any other philosophy at all.

[efarmer]

It makes a lot of difference who is and especially who was on the Supreme Court. Once they make a huge error, like finding that international corporations have the same rights as flesh and blood citizens, it takes decades to address it, if it ever really is addressed. The court accurately reflects the influence of our politics as tempered by the slow rate of change designed in via lifetime appointments. The founders did this to give the court a cool head and to filter brief passions with long term objectives in line with the constitution. It is hard to tinker with this system, but with years of steady effort, it can be done.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('efarmer', 'I')t makes a lot of difference who is and especially who was on the Supreme Court.

[efarmer]

Well in the long term running of the system as designed the President's job is to appoint people of merit based on their skills and being free of partisan passions to keep the Constitutional guardian singing as close from the original music as possible. We have instead seen a liberal / conservative war take place as if the factors driving the election of Congress and the President where identical to those driving Supreme Court appointees. It was yet another instance where our politics was not able to generate consensus on a vital national responsibility, and I think much of it was due to corporate influence in the election and post elected service career paths offered to elected officials.

In the short term, I believe the timing of the corporate inclusion in the Bill of Rights is a kill shot and that it has already left the chamber.

Don't get me wrong, I love my country and believe in the basic system, I just don't see how it can get over corporate poisoning in a reasonable enough time period to avoid being critically damaged. The cure is not to now stack the Supreme Court with liberals, the cure is long and slow and it is get to where the political system is able to install strict Constitutionalists for enough decades to right the ship. Do we have those decades? I hope so.

None of this is cured by Americans being hopelessly polarized and gridlocked, but you watch the corporate money plunk down and the paralyzing gridlock and witch hunts in Congress next year.
Obama avoided this trap on the Bush Admin. as one of the things he did right, now watch the supposedly opposing party set him on fire and destroy him to avoid having to have a plan and the will to pursue it instead.

If I know my friend Ludi, that last sentence just made the predictions thread...

[Ludi]

Nope, not specific enough to make the predictions thread.

I do have a question, though: How do you foresee the citizens of the US being able to install a representative government in the midst of a transition to an oligarchy? Which is of course where we are now, with all the wealth being siphoned up the pyramid.

See again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woIkIph5xcU

[PrestonSturges]

unfortunately, there is not much opportunity in any human society for someone not selling out every step and being corrupted long before gaining any real power.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', 'u')nfortunately, there is not much opportunity in any human society for someone not selling out every step and being corrupted long before gaining any real power.

[efarmer]

I don't think the scam quits until the wealth is tapped out.

The oligarchs, people, numerous factors for disintegration versus restoration, etc. don't get a chance to operate until the wealth extraction team moves on because of diminishing returns.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('efarmer', 'I') don't think the scam quits until the wealth is tapped out.

The oligarchs, people, numerous factors for disintegration versus restoration, etc. don't get a chance to operate until the wealth extraction team moves on because of diminishing returns.

[efarmer]

I believe the top tier is investment banks and international banking operations in general and form the top of the food chain. I think it has been the case since Jeffersonian times.

Do you subscribe to your own or an alternative theorem Ludi? If so, do you care to share?

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('efarmer', '
')
Do you subscribe to your own or an alternative theorem Ludi? If so, do you care to share?