One group of oppressed Americans has become especially outspoken this election year, contending that top government officials (Democrats in particular) are ignoring their community’s basic needs and stifling their pursuit of economic advancement.
Creative financing from Trump. He's such a clever man. Natural allies for his planetary destruction hand out a billion from their mountains of oil drenched cash to intensify the destruction. We humans will perhaps be around on this planet for several more years given the likelihood of a return to power from the golden sneaker and Bible salesman. But what kind of a planet will we be leaving behind for any life forms that could remain?
Don't forget the oil barons are more responsible than anyone else for the high inflation of the past few years, as evidenced by their reaping the highest corporate profits in the history of the world. Everyone had to raise their prices to build that mountain of oil drenched cash.
I guess that these oil trillionaires can continue on their shopping spree of buying Supreme Court "Justices," US Senators, Congressmen and Congresswomen through the new "relaxed" campaign finance laws, "legal" gerrymandering, "culling" of voting rolls in key swing states, etc. It's all but impossible to think of how to counter the array of fascist strategies without resorting to fascist responses of our own. These creeps know just how to game the system; they've been at it for decades!
Trump doesn't get enough credit for the inflation after the idiot Republicans gave an extra$300 a week in unemployment people had to be bribed to work. A customer was complaining to a gas station worker making $15 an hour, while it's a big cause of inflation it's also why the economy hasn't crashed. Hightower wrote that the economy would be more stable if the bottom workers were paid more because they have to spend everything they make .
A quote (inaccurately) attributed to Balzac is on point: "Behind every great fortune lies a great crime." The dividing line between plutocracy and kleptocracy is the brazenness of the crime.
"In this city, EVERYTHING (caps added) is for sale". Washington, D.C. A.D. 2024? Nope, a reported quote from a foreign prince who visited imperial Rome in the first century A.D. Nothing new under the sun: the rich will always be with us, and so will the poor. Only now, the rich get richer more quickly, and the poor get poorer at a greater rate, too. What can we do? For starters, stop voting the rich into high office, and stop believing the self-serving fiction that they know best just because they are rich. Keep spreading the word, Jim!
Is it too late? In just 40 years we've gone from a semi-democracy back to the plutocracy we fought to free ourselves from 250 years ago. I fear that in the next 20 years we're going to look like medieval England with a president as king and a bunch of worthless billionaires as our new nobility. I despair we're going to be able to slow or halt this trend.
The "Rich" never sleep. Upon birth,.. they are assigned two tasks. 1) Take care of the Money 2) Get more.
American middle class had only recently emerged from a time of the "company store" into the time working citizens began to be able to own homes.
I vividly recall,.. on Capitol street in Detroit, the neighborhood was made up of mixed architecture mostly 1 1/2 story bungalows, up to some post war ranch homes.
Everyone worked, not at the same employers, they all had weekly paychecks and were able to make their mortgage payments.
Many had children,.. and we built relationships with each other as we all grew up.
New York City (Wall Street/U.S. Chamber of Commerce) has worked "24-7" to take that all apart.
Those who watched "Dallas" and "Flamingo Road" enjoyed the drama,.. but many decided they wanted to be there.
I now live in the suburbs, among neighbors and family members who react with fear at the mere mention of doing anything involving going back into the City! (Things are changing slowly but awareness hasn't been achieved).
I believe there's a lot needing to be done,.. and above a certain point there is so much going on that average everyday hard working Americans will never be able to do anything about,.. I recommend a euphemism to anyone reading this far.
For most of us,.. "Participation brings Accountability!"
Among that includes things like voting every year, joining a political party, attending activities and events (City and Township Council Meetings), writing letters to the editors, putting up a yard sign each fall, making (small) contributions to candidate committees, and even calling City Hall.
I insist,.. there is nothing makes them sweat bullets more than knowing they're being watched!
Rejoining my local democrats in 2010 no one had been elected. In 2018, EVERYONE was elected!
JIm, a friend of mine pointed out there is another name for our current form of government. We're a "kackistocracy." The Cambridge Dictionary defines this as a government that is "ruled by the least suitable, able, or experienced people in a state or country."
Precisely on target! love the word: Kackistocracy. "Kack!" Isn't that the sound the crazed Bill the Cat used to make when expelling a hairball? How appropriate.
Usually when the ultra rich hear calls that they pay even a token tax, they start shouting "class warfare."
However when THEY lobby (okay bribe) a congressman or high official to cut off one of the scraps that are tossed to Joe Sixpack, I don't hear mega-buck media calling it "class warfare" Nor should they. It isn't. The proper term is: CLASSLESS class warfare. Though many of you may prefer "churlish."
So in summary let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom to read what you want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
Trump & co. like to call Biden a communist. Actually of course Biden spent his 44 years in Congress serving the financial industry hand and foot. I occasionally wish Biden would channel his inner Lenin and purge the kleptocrats and the MAGA traitors who voted to overthrow the election. Of course, if he did channel his inner Communist, he'd probably purge poor people who dare disagree with him before he'd purge his plutocrat buddies.
Creative financing from Trump. He's such a clever man. Natural allies for his planetary destruction hand out a billion from their mountains of oil drenched cash to intensify the destruction. We humans will perhaps be around on this planet for several more years given the likelihood of a return to power from the golden sneaker and Bible salesman. But what kind of a planet will we be leaving behind for any life forms that could remain?
Don't forget the oil barons are more responsible than anyone else for the high inflation of the past few years, as evidenced by their reaping the highest corporate profits in the history of the world. Everyone had to raise their prices to build that mountain of oil drenched cash.
I guess that these oil trillionaires can continue on their shopping spree of buying Supreme Court "Justices," US Senators, Congressmen and Congresswomen through the new "relaxed" campaign finance laws, "legal" gerrymandering, "culling" of voting rolls in key swing states, etc. It's all but impossible to think of how to counter the array of fascist strategies without resorting to fascist responses of our own. These creeps know just how to game the system; they've been at it for decades!
Trump doesn't get enough credit for the inflation after the idiot Republicans gave an extra$300 a week in unemployment people had to be bribed to work. A customer was complaining to a gas station worker making $15 an hour, while it's a big cause of inflation it's also why the economy hasn't crashed. Hightower wrote that the economy would be more stable if the bottom workers were paid more because they have to spend everything they make .
A quote (inaccurately) attributed to Balzac is on point: "Behind every great fortune lies a great crime." The dividing line between plutocracy and kleptocracy is the brazenness of the crime.
As usual, Jim Hightower is right on target.
"In this city, EVERYTHING (caps added) is for sale". Washington, D.C. A.D. 2024? Nope, a reported quote from a foreign prince who visited imperial Rome in the first century A.D. Nothing new under the sun: the rich will always be with us, and so will the poor. Only now, the rich get richer more quickly, and the poor get poorer at a greater rate, too. What can we do? For starters, stop voting the rich into high office, and stop believing the self-serving fiction that they know best just because they are rich. Keep spreading the word, Jim!
Is it too late? In just 40 years we've gone from a semi-democracy back to the plutocracy we fought to free ourselves from 250 years ago. I fear that in the next 20 years we're going to look like medieval England with a president as king and a bunch of worthless billionaires as our new nobility. I despair we're going to be able to slow or halt this trend.
Teddy Roosevelt knocked the wealthy down by taking money out of politics. Then Citizens United brought it right back in.
Please, friend, do not despair. If you/we do that, we are handing the plutocrats a win. Fight like hell!
The "Rich" never sleep. Upon birth,.. they are assigned two tasks. 1) Take care of the Money 2) Get more.
American middle class had only recently emerged from a time of the "company store" into the time working citizens began to be able to own homes.
I vividly recall,.. on Capitol street in Detroit, the neighborhood was made up of mixed architecture mostly 1 1/2 story bungalows, up to some post war ranch homes.
Everyone worked, not at the same employers, they all had weekly paychecks and were able to make their mortgage payments.
Many had children,.. and we built relationships with each other as we all grew up.
New York City (Wall Street/U.S. Chamber of Commerce) has worked "24-7" to take that all apart.
Those who watched "Dallas" and "Flamingo Road" enjoyed the drama,.. but many decided they wanted to be there.
I now live in the suburbs, among neighbors and family members who react with fear at the mere mention of doing anything involving going back into the City! (Things are changing slowly but awareness hasn't been achieved).
I believe there's a lot needing to be done,.. and above a certain point there is so much going on that average everyday hard working Americans will never be able to do anything about,.. I recommend a euphemism to anyone reading this far.
For most of us,.. "Participation brings Accountability!"
Among that includes things like voting every year, joining a political party, attending activities and events (City and Township Council Meetings), writing letters to the editors, putting up a yard sign each fall, making (small) contributions to candidate committees, and even calling City Hall.
I insist,.. there is nothing makes them sweat bullets more than knowing they're being watched!
Rejoining my local democrats in 2010 no one had been elected. In 2018, EVERYONE was elected!
JIm, a friend of mine pointed out there is another name for our current form of government. We're a "kackistocracy." The Cambridge Dictionary defines this as a government that is "ruled by the least suitable, able, or experienced people in a state or country."
Sounds spot on to me.
Precisely on target! love the word: Kackistocracy. "Kack!" Isn't that the sound the crazed Bill the Cat used to make when expelling a hairball? How appropriate.
Usually when the ultra rich hear calls that they pay even a token tax, they start shouting "class warfare."
However when THEY lobby (okay bribe) a congressman or high official to cut off one of the scraps that are tossed to Joe Sixpack, I don't hear mega-buck media calling it "class warfare" Nor should they. It isn't. The proper term is: CLASSLESS class warfare. Though many of you may prefer "churlish."
keep up the good work jim tell it like it is
Isn't it nice to think money can buy anything, including politicians. Who knew?
High prices at the pumps angers voters who will blame Biden. Profits line oil companies pockets . A billion for a quid pro quo?? Hello AG!!
So in summary let us briefly update and address the two central themes in Thomas Paine's precocious quote: "It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of governments to hold man in the ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support."
So let's talk about the relation between religion and polytrix in the US government. We have a Supreme Court with six Catholics, steering religion and politics to the far right, away from the Creator. We have a new speaker of the House who openly wants to establish a 'moral' Christian Nationalism run by the next Republican president. Who will implement a fascist plan called Project 2025, as outlined at the end of Thom Hartmann's historical analysis of what led up to The Shocking GOP Plan to Dismantle the American Government. And all the while you've watched the Republican Party champion the idea of "freedom" while you have also watched the same party openly assault various freedoms, like the freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom to marry who you want, freedom to read what you want, freedom to form unions and so on. If this has been a source of confusion, then your assessments of what Republicans mean by freedom were likely too generous. Here is what they mean: 1. The freedom to tell people what to do. 2. Freedom from being told what to do.
A page from Elizabeth Warren's playbook. I recall a line from Richard Nixon's presidency: "We have the best government can buy."
Trump & co. like to call Biden a communist. Actually of course Biden spent his 44 years in Congress serving the financial industry hand and foot. I occasionally wish Biden would channel his inner Lenin and purge the kleptocrats and the MAGA traitors who voted to overthrow the election. Of course, if he did channel his inner Communist, he'd probably purge poor people who dare disagree with him before he'd purge his plutocrat buddies.
Damn right!!! There should not be billionaires in a social democracy.
Jim Strickland
What's everybody so upset about? We have the best government money can buy.