dagblog - Comments for "The "Big Lie"... How it works and what it is for "

Here is another "Chicken

David Seaton — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 18:30:14 +0000

In reply to The "Big Lie"... How it works and what it is for

Here is another "Chicken Little", Robert Reich:

It's a perfect storm. And I'm not talking about the impending dangers facing Democrats. I'm talking about the dangers facing our democracy.

First, income in America is now more concentrated in fewer hands than it's been in 80 years. Almost a quarter of total income generated in the United States is going to the top 1 percent of Americans.

The top one-tenth of one percent of Americans now earn as much as the bottom 120 million of us.

Who are these people? With the exception of a few entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, they're top executives of big corporations and Wall Street, hedge-fund managers, and private equity managers. They include the Koch brothers, whose wealth increased by billions last year, and who are now funding tea party candidates across the nation.

Which gets us to the second part of the perfect storm. A relatively few Americans are buying our democracy as never before. And they're doing it completely in secret.

Here is an interesting

David Seaton — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:45:53 +0000

In reply to The "Big Lie"... How it works and what it is for

Here is an interesting article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/aug/11/paul-krug...

I think I get what you mean,

we are stardust — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:19:21 +0000

In reply to I really don't think you

I think I get what you mean, I just don't think it was a 'created movement'. Co-opted, for sure, and financed, but now it's several different groups battling for purity and primacy. And this reads much like a Rachel Maddow segment, who often is less than careful in linkages, i.e., she often just misses the truth in her outrage and fear. Olbermann, too; and they can end up doing a disservice to actual news broadcasting, though both of them claim to revere Edward R. Murrow.

I get this stuff makes people happy, in a manner of speaking.

I really don't think you

David Seaton — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:08:36 +0000

In reply to But that, Dave, is happening

I really don't think you understand what I have written. This "movement" is has been created artificially to pressure or eliminate moderate Republicans in order to keep any raise in taxes or regulations from occurring. It is a form of political pornography and is similar to the Krupps financing Hitler.

But that, Dave, is happening

we are stardust — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:47:40 +0000

In reply to The sky is falling, but only

But that, Dave, is happening now, under a Democratic administration, all without the Tea Party's help. But you have to go and drag in OSS reports and Hitler? Wow.

I read the Monbiot piece

we are stardust — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:42:53 +0000

In reply to Yes, I agree. It's a

I read the Monbiot piece totally differently; he says Progressives keep failing because they frame their/our values in terms of extrinsic values of self-interest, and quotes thinkers who believe we've willfully forgotten that we should, instead, be promoting values of brotherly love, community, inclusiveness, respect for all races and genders, etc. In other words, time for a new prophet of moral politics, like MLK, Jr. IMO.

We all know what cognitive dissonance is by now; that's only a theory that says this can happen, not so much why. And maybe that cute concept of enlightened self-interest needs to hit the road.

The sky is falling, but only

David Seaton — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:33:37 +0000

In reply to Americans are frightened, we

The sky is falling, but only selectively, it will fall on some and crush them and on others it will fill their pockets with gold.

The Tea Party costs money to

David Seaton — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:31:23 +0000

In reply to I'm agog and aghast that

The Tea Party costs money to organize it is an astroturf movement and it gets enormous free advertising from Fox. The question is why that valuable air time is given to them and why they are getting millions to organize. I'm not sure why, but I am very sure that the people who are paying for this know very well why what they expect to receive in return.

Just to be clear, I meant

we are stardust — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:15:57 +0000

In reply to Americans are frightened, we

Just to be clear, I meant that many here consider them truth-telling exercises', but I do think you got that. ;o)

"Chicken Little personality disorder", LOL! Has it made the DSM IV yet? Or maybe the Urban Dictionary? Dickipedia?

Thanks, Artie; I've been losing what's left of my mind here, waiting for someone to screech. Double thanks for the Savanarola reference; I don't mind historical references so much when they ballast my arguments.

Yeah I forgot that one. I

NCD — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:12:15 +0000

In reply to LOL...you just discribed

Yeah I forgot that one. I assumed no revolution would take my guns away, which I keep loaded, safety off, all over my house, the rec room and the kids rooms. Keeps the neighbors at bay along with the chain link fence ( the gated development with masonry walls wouldn't let me keep my RV in my yard, so I flipped them off).