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Does the GOP enjoy the misery of others?


“Don’t you just look good enough to eat? Nom nom nom.”

Must-read essay over at Daily Kos today from Jack Cluth, who asks a question that’s been on a lot of our minds over the past few years: “What happens when an entire political party embraces the Dark Side?”

By the definition of today’s GOP, compassion is synonymous with weakness as charity is with enabling sloth and indolence. If you’re unable to do for yourself, whatever your situation might be, you have no right to expect government to do for you. Ill? Disabled? Uninsured? Unemployed? That’s too bad, but it’s not the responsibility of government to do for those unable to do for themselves.

It’s as if Republicans have decamped from anything resembling compassion and migrated en masse to the Dark Side. They’ve rejected anything that smacks of humanity and embraced a Darwinian view of America as a place where the strong rightfully survive and the weak get what they deserve. I don’t know about you, but this philosophy has nothing to do with the traditional Conservatism that Republicans profess to revere. Traditional Conservatism doesn’t reject the social contract. It doesn’t genuflect to the oligarchy and the military-industrial complex. It doesn’t traffic in fear, hatred, and loathing. It doesn’t reject science. It doesn’t embrace fundamentalist Christianity as the ultimate and only authority on what America should be.

Then again, this isn’t about Conservatism. It’s about doing whatever it takes to acquire, maintain, and increase power and control. It’s about enforcing Social Darwinism and Fundamentalist Christianity as the basis of the American experience and the law of the land. It’s about using fear, hatred, and propaganda in order to manipulate the American Sheeple into doing your bidding.

The guy nails it. Read more of The GOP: The party of pain, punishment, misery, and death (Daily Kos) and check out this amazing, snarling anti-GOP rant courtesy of Chris Matthews: “Does the GOP enjoy the misery of others?” Matthews makes a pretty clear argument that indeed they do…

My compliments to both chefs!
 

 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Posted by Richard Metzger
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11.17.2011
09:27 pm
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Phase two of Occupy Wall Street


 
Jesse LaGreca, the articulate young man who effectively “schooled” Fox News creep Griff Jenkins in an amusing encounter that has become one of the defining “viral videos” of the Occupy Wall Street movement so far, has been with the encampment for two months. Speaking for himself, but on behalf of the movement, LeGrecca summarized what the movement is seeking, on his Ministry of Truth blog at Daily Kos.

I think this is a pretty good to-do list for the progressive movement in this country, and as LaGreca correctly points out: We know the Republicans are our enemies, but with friends like the Democrats… I mean, come the fuck on, it’s time to get real!. The Dems are in a rough spot: They have to decide which side they’re on and if they can’t decide, it will be decided for them.

Are millionaire Deomcrats in the House and Senate going to vote against their own interests and the people whose money got them elected in the first place? You’re dreaming if you think that.

I keep hearing from people that Occupy Wall Street protests don’t have a clear message, so here is a short rundown of the “message” as far as I have seen.

It is time to TAX THE RICH

It is time to END THE WARS

It is time to restore Glass-Steagall

It is time to repeal Citizens United

It is time to get the money OUT OF POLITICS

It is time to invest in infrastructure and education

It is time to STOP busting labor unions, whether private or public

It is time to defend Medicare and Social Security tooth and nail from phony reforms or baloney cuts

It is time to STOP the spending cuts and start investing in America, and if we have to raise taxes on the rich and corporations in order to force them to invest in America, then so be it.

It is time to STOP the racist and discriminatory practice of “Stop and Frisk” and other tactics of racial profiling

It is time for civil rights for ALL, and that means equal rights for LGBT Americans to serve our military and marry whom ever they will

It is time for ACCOUNTABILITY for the men who lied us into war and crashed our economy

It is time for immigration reform that does not punish workers, but provides a clear pathway to citizenship for everyone

It is time for investigations that lead to prosecutions on Wall Street in response to the crimes that have been committed in the last decade.

It is time for a serious discussion about the Federal Reserve and it’s role in this economic disaster

It is time for universal health care that everyone can afford. It is time to talk about Single Payer Health Care.

It is time for alternative green energy instead of Oil and Coal.

It is time to protect our civil liberties and our constitution.

It is time for a discussion about free trade and how it has undermined the working class while enriching only the wealthiest among us.

It is time to end corporate personhood.

There are sooooo many things that need to be fixed, reformed and addressed, and this short list does not do justice to the many grievances that the 99% have, but we must accept the fact that the GOP only serves the rich and the Dem Establishment only serves to cave to the GOP. They are NOT going to help us. We are going to have to do this ourselves.

It is time to have the BIG conversation about what kind of country we want America to be, and the lobbyists and corrupt career politicians and the corrupt corporate media are NOT going to hijack our conversation. Do we want America to be a nation where 1 out of 5 children live in poverty while the wealthiest among us get ever more wealthy and more powerful? Do we want to live in a nation with crumbling infrastructure that can only reward the rich with ever decreasing tax rates while our schools go unfunded? Do we want to live in a country that can always fund these never ending wars but must cut spending on everything else?

Hear, hear!

It’s time to forget about the park, that’s over and it’s probably a good thing that it is. There’s work to be done this winter. It was never about sleeping in a park in lower Manhattan in sub-zero weather in the first place.

After today, the movement needs to figure out what it’s going to do next. Phase one has been a rousing, inspiring success. Bring on Phase two!

Read the rest of Welcome to PHASE 2 of Occupy Wall Street, now here is a message (Daily Kos).
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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11.17.2011
06:09 pm
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Hard-fought wisdom from Harry Belafonte for the Occupy Wall Street movement


 
Occupy TVNY’s Janine Saunders (who posted the video last week of Douglas Rushkoff’s teach-in at Occupy Wall Street) sent in this clip of “dangerous mind” Harry Belafonte addressing Occupy Wall Street, the labor movement, Rev. Martin Luther King, staying the non-violent course as activists and how the young people of today give him hope.

Occupy TVNY caught up with long time activist, singer and actor Harry Belafonte backstage at a screening of Sing Your Song—a new documentary about his life, organized for members of Occupy Wall Street and Local 1199.

 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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11.17.2011
03:19 pm
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‘SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!’


Image via Tee Fury

Last week I posted one of the BEST things I have ever posted here, certainly one of the best Beatles posts ever on Dangerous Minds, but for whatever reason, it didn’t get shared that much.

This video clip, however, by the same director, Oscar-winning animator Charles Braverman, probably will get shared. It’s the outstanding opening montage he made for the dystopian sci-fi classic Soylent Green in 1973.

I think it’s quite relevant to today’s activities, don’t you?

Isn’t it about time for Hollywood to remake this with Mark Wahlberg or something?
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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11.17.2011
02:31 pm
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NYPD using sound cannons to disperse Shut Down Wall Street protesters


 
That’ll show those… AMERICANS…

Below, a woman is dragged by her hair by NYPD officers
 

 
Via Think Progress

Posted by Richard Metzger
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11.17.2011
01:24 pm
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Victoria Jackson’s new conservative talkshow is better—no really—than you might think!


 
I realize that this post is one of those, “Hey smell this, it smells like shit” kind of things, but really, it’s worth it to sample the idiotic wares of Victoria Jackson’s new alternate reality conservative version of The View, if only for a minute.

I know, just what you were waiting for. You and the rest of the world:

The PolitiChicks are here! Finally, Conservative Americans will have an alternative to those other liberal-based talk shows in which women scream over each other and call Conservatives vile names.

The PolitiChicks are former Saturday Night Live alumni and Tea Party favorite Victoria Jackson, pro-life speaker and activist Jennique Stewart, editor and activist Jennie Jones and Ann-Marie Murrell, columnist and host of The Patriot Update video show.

Some of the topics covered in their first episodes will be illegal immigration, gay marriage, abortion and the Occupy movement. Each of the women have their own strong points of view on each of the subjects and aren’t afraid to speak up—or sing up, as Victoria Jackson tends to do throughout the episodes. In the first episode of PolitiChicks, the ladies discuss gay marriage, Islam and the intolerance of the left toward anyone who disagrees with them.

How bright can the other hosts of this shit sandwich be (or desperate for money, I suppose) to debase themselves professionally by sharing a forum with one of the single dumbest people in America today? If you lie down with dogs you get fleas, right, so what happens to your career when you hitch your horse to Victoria Jackson? Each of her fellow co-hosts MUST have had such thoughts cross their minds after being offered the gig. And they took it anyway! (Watch the look on their faces as she sings. What could they be thinking?)

It’s telling that many of the ads running on their YouTube channel are for payday advance places. A lot of Tea party types must be living paycheck to paycheck these days… (And the other ads are for bail bondsmen!)
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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11.17.2011
10:47 am
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Huge pro-capitalism counter protest shows up at Shut Down Wall Street


 
A grand total of THREE, yes, three assholes stage their own completely witless counter-protest today in lower Manhattan.

“Get a job”?

Seriously? THAT is the best you can do? The very BEST and smartest and most clever thing you can think of? In a SEA of clever, funny signs you come up with lameness and you’re the ones who still have a job???

Apparently so. When you’re an apologist for a failed economic system… yes, THIS is the best you can do.

There are no jobs, lickspittle dummies! That’s one of the reasons these people are keeping you from getting to work today, Republican fools! Occupy everywhere!

UPDATE: Listen to one of these cretins, a fool named Derek Tabacco. UPDATE 2: They’re related!
 

Derek Tabacco, Wall Street worker, holding a "Get a job" sign on why he is unimpressed by Occupy Wall Street"s day of action (mp3)

 
Via Adam Gabbatt’s Twitter feed

Posted by Richard Metzger
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11.17.2011
09:44 am
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Shut Wall Street down


Poster image by r.black

Via the Occupy Wall Street website:

Tomorrow, Thursday November 17th, marks two months since the start of Occupy Wall Street as well as International Students Day. To commemorate this two month anniversary, Occupy Wall Street will take to the streets in celebration and in solidarity with people around the world participating in a massive global day of action in hundreds of cities.

7:00am — Shut Down Wall Street
We will gather in Liberty Square at 7:00am, before the ring of the Trading Floor Bell, to prepare to confront Wall Street with the stories of people on the frontlines of economic injustice.

3:00pm — Occupy the Subway
We will gather at 3:00pm at 16 central subway hubs and take our own stories to the trains, using the “People’s Mic”. Details here.

5:00pm — Take the Square, Festival of Lights on Brooklyn Bridge
At 5:00pm thousands will gather at Foley Square in solidarity with laborers demanding jobs to rebuild this country’s infrastructure and economy. They will encircle City Hall and march across the Brooklyn Bridge, carrying thousands of handheld lights, as a festival of lights to celebrate two months of a new movement to reclaim our democracy.

“We are the 99 percent. We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We are working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we’re working at all. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99 percent. ”
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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11.17.2011
01:04 am
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Occupy London: A New Age of Rebellion


 
Rumors are flying around that the Occupy London encampment outside of St Paul’s Cathedral will be evicted tomorrow. Describing what he calls the “greatest upsurge of student radicalism since the 1960s,” Owen Jones, author of the important new book Chavs: The Demonization of the Underclass (Verso), takes stock of what’s been achieved so far, and what’s still ahead for the Occupy and student movements in Great Britain in a thought-provoking essay posted on Dazed Digital:

Ever present in the minds of Occupiers and student radicals alike is the legacy of the anti-war movement. Up to 2 million marched against the Iraq war but – as is frequently raised at meetings of British radicals – the invasion happened anyway. It’s seen as an indictment of the strategy of the so-called ‘A to B march’ – turn up, demonstrate, go home. That’s partly what’s given the impetus to Occupy: the strategy is that protests have to be made impossible to ignore.

Occupy doesn’t offer a direct challenge to the power of the economic elite; but it has certainly transformed the debate. Questions that the media likes to ignore – like the nature of capitalism – are being discussed in newspaper comment pieces and radio phone-ins. The Tories have turned a banking crisis into a crisis of public spending; Occupy reminds us of the real villains. And it has broad public sympathy, too: one poll showed that, while 38% felt the protesters were “naïve” because “there is no practical alternative to capitalism”, a whopping 52% thought that “the protesters are right to want to call time on a system that puts profit before people.”

Both Occupy and the student radicals should be seen as different – but overlapping – wings of the same movement: indeed, on the latest student protest, held on 9th November, activists attempted to march on the City in solidarity. While there are Occupiers from a range of age groups, younger activists are particularly prominent outside St Paul’s.

It’s not surprising that young people have taken the lead in the protest movements that have sprung up under Coalition rule. There’s the obvious: one of the Government parties promised the abolition of fees, but instead the cost of a university education has been tripled. But students in particular are often the first to move because – frankly – they have more time on their hands than working people; they are not dependent on a full-time job for sustenance; and they do not have responsibilities like keeping a family fed. With less of a stake in the system, there are fewer consequences when it comes to take off their gloves and fighting back.

But it’s also a symptom of a perfect storm hammering British youth. Unemployment has now hit one in five among 18 to 24-year-olds; what work there is available is often in the form of low-paid, insecure, poorly regarded service sector jobs; there are 5 million people languishing on social housing waiting lists while private rents soar, leaving a generation without the prospect of an affordable home; cuts are hitting youth services; and, as well as the trebling of tuition fees, the Educational Maintenance Allowance has been abolished. For the first time since World War II, the promise that the next generation will be better off than the last has abruptly ended.

Occupy and the student radicals are just two symptoms of a generation without prospects. As an ideologically charged austerity programme reshapes British society, the ranks of this so-called “lost generation” will only grow. But so too will the protests, occupations and strikes. A new age of revolt is upon us.

Occupy London: A New Age of Rebellion (Dazed Digital)

Posted by Richard Metzger
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11.16.2011
05:49 pm
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Michele Bachmann goes ‘scorched earth’ on Mitt, Ron, Herman, Newt & one of the Ricks


 
She says what she means and means what she says. She’s also got a snowball’s chance in Hell of making it to the White House and everyone—EVERYONE—except for her knows it.

Still, that’s not going to stop quixotic crazypants Rep. Michele Bachmann from making sure that none of the other Republican candidates get there, either!

She really kicks her opponents in the nuts here. The DNC ought to chip in so she can run more of this one. Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman should pony up, too!

Bachmann is burning quite a few bridges with this video and stands to gain almost nothing from it. I laughed out loud at the audaciousness of this move. From her point of view, she’s entirely correct, of course, that she’s the most consistent conservative candidate—albeit the most batshit crazy in a field full of some real lulu’s—running. The problem is that she’s contrasting her own completely insane positions as the opposite of these goofballs, blow-hards and idiots at their most reasonable!

Too much pork for the fork!
 

 
H/T Daily Kos

Posted by Richard Metzger
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11.16.2011
04:52 pm
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