Open Letter To The World
Anon News.org
July 23, 2011
We stand at a unique time in our history, the rise of the internet
and computer technology have contributed to an unparalleled rate
of prosperity for the First World.
We have created for ourselves and empire unlike any other, a
global network of constant trade and communication, a new
age of technological advancement.
We have come a long way from our humble roots in the Industrial
Revolution and the days of Manifest Destiny.
We are now pioneers on new digital frontiers expanding our
domain from the quantum world to the far reaches of space.
And yet, the empire faces a crisis, a global recession, growing
poverty, rampant violence, corruption in politics, and threats
to personal freedom.
As it was before in other times of crisis, the old stories have
begun to repeat themselves.
The half truths, this time repeated nightly on cable news and
echoed through a series of tubes onto the internet: the empire
is strong, change is unwise, business as usual is the answer.
In times of uncertainty there are those who seek to add to the confusion, to prey on our insecurities and fears. Those who would seek to keep us divided for their own gain.
The pervasive strategy takes many very convincing forms: Liberals and Conservatives, Christians and Muslims, Black and White, Saved and sinner.
But something unexpected is happening. We have begun telling each other our own stories. Sharing our lives, our hopes, our dreams, our demons.
Every second, day in day out, into all hours of the night the gritty details of life on this earth are streaming around the world.
As we see the lives of others played out in our living rooms we are beginning to understand the consequences of our actions and the error of the old ways.
We are questioning the old assumptions that we are made to
consume not to create, that the world was made for our taking,
that wars are inevitable, that poverty is unavoidable.
As we learn more about our global community a fundamental truth has been rediscovered: We are not so different as we may seem.
Every human has strengths, weaknesses, and deep emotions.
We crave love, love laughter, fear being alone and dream for a better life.
You must create a better life.
You cannot sit on the couch watching television or playing video games, waiting for a revolution.
You are the revolution.
Every time you decide not to exercise your rights, every time you refuse to hear another view point, every time you ignore the world around you, every time you spend a dollar at a business that doesn't pay a fair wage you are contributing to the oppression of the human body and the repression of the human mind.
You have a choice, a choice to take the easy path, the familiar path, to walk willingly into your own submission. Or a choice get up, to go outside and talk to your neighbor, to come together in new forums to create lasting, meaningful change for the human race.
This is our challenge:
A peaceful revolution, a revolution of ideas, a revolution of creation.
The twenty-first century enlightenment. A global movement to create a new age of tolerance and understanding, empathy and respect.
An age of unfettered technological development. An age of sharing ideas and cooperation. An age of artistic and personal expression.
We can choose to use new technology for radical positive change
or let it be used against us.
We can choose to keep the internet free, keep channels of communication open and dig new tunnels into those places where information is still guarded. Or we can let it all close in around us.
As we move in to new digital worlds, we must acknowledge the need for honest information and free expression.
We must fight to keep the internet open as a marketplace of ideas where all are seated as equals.
We must defend our freedoms from those who would seek to control us. We must fight for those who do not yet have a voice.
Keep telling your story. All must be heard.
http://www.anonnews.org/?p=press&a=item&i=619
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
How to Liberate America
How to Liberate America
How is it that our nation is awash in money, but too broke to provide jobs and services?
David Korten introduces a landmark new report, "How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule."
By David Korten
Yes! Magazine
July 20, 2011
The dominant story of the current political debate is that the government is broke.
We can’t afford to pay for public services, put people to work, or service the public debt.
Yet as a nation, we are awash in money. A defective system of money, banking, and finance just puts it in the wrong places.
Raising taxes on the rich and implementing financial reforms are essential elements of the solution to our seemingly intractable fiscal and economic crisis.
Yet proposals currently on the table fall far short of the need.
A newly released report of the New Economy Working Group,
coordinated by the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC,
goes beyond the current debate to call for a deep restructuring of
the institutions to which we as a society give the power to create
and allocate money.
How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule spells out the steps required to rebuild a system of community-based and accountable institutions devoted to financing productive activities that create good jobs for Americans and generate real community wealth.
Over the past 30 years, virtually all the benefit of U.S. economic
growth has gone to the richest 1 percent of Americans. Effective
tax rates for the very rich are at historic lows and many of the
most profitable corporations pay no taxes at all.
Despite the financial crash of 2008, the financial assets of America’s billionaires and the idle cash of the most profitable corporations are now at historic highs. Their biggest challenge is figuring out where to park all their cash.
Unfortunately, most of those who hold the cash and the corporations they control have lost interest in long-term investments that build and expand strong enterprises. The substantial majority of trades in financial markets are made by high-speed computers in securities held for fractions of a second.
Business pundits still refer to this trading as investment. It bears no resemblance, however, to the investment required to put people to work rebuilding a strong America.
Corporations are using their stores of cash primarily to buy back their own stock, acquire control of other companies, invest in off-shoring yet more American jobs, and pay generous dividends to shareholders and outsized bonuses to management.
It was not always so.
In response to the Great Depression, our country enacted financial reforms that put in place a system of money, banking, and investment based on community banks, mutual savings and loans, and credit unions.
These institutions provided financial services to local Main Street economies that employed Americans to produce and trade real goods and services in response to community needs and opportunities.
This system, which Wall Street interests dismiss as quaint and
antiquated, financed the U.S. victory in World War II, the creation
of a strong American middle class, an unprecedented period of
economic stability and prosperity, and the investments that made
America the world’s undisputed industrial and technological leader.
In the 1970’s Wall Street interests began pushing a deregulation
agenda that led to a transfer of financial power from Main Street
to Wall Street. Wall Street’s mega-banks lost interest in real
investment and developed a new business model.
They now specialize in charging excessive fees and usurious interest rates, providing leverage to speculators, speculating for their own accounts, luring the unwary into mortgages they cannot afford, bundling junk mortgages to sell them as triple-A securities, betting against the clients to whom they sell the overrated securities, extracting subsidies and bailouts from government, laundering money from drug and arms traders, and offshoring their profits to avoid taxes.
The consequences include the erosion of the middle class, an extreme concentration of wealth and power, a costly financial collapse, persistent high unemployment, housing foreclosures, collapsing environmental systems, the hollowing out of U.S. industrial, technological, and research capacity, huge public and international trade deficits, and the corruption of our political institutions.
Wall Street profited at every step and declared its experiment with deregulation and tax cuts for the wealthy a great success. It now argues for extending the same measures even further.
How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule spells out details of
a six-part policy agenda to rebuild a sensible system of community-
based and accountable financial services institutions.
1. Break up the mega-banks and implement tax and regulatory policies that favor community financial institutions, with a preference for those organized as cooperatives or as for-profits owned by nonprofit foundations.
2.Establish state-owned partnership banks in each of the 50 states, patterned after the Bank of North Dakota. These would serve as depositories for state financial assets to use in partnership with community financial institutions to fund local farms and businesses.
3. Restructure the Federal Reserve to function under strict standards of transparency and public scrutiny, with General Accounting Office audits and Congressional oversight.
4. Direct all new money created by the Federal Reserve to a Federal Recovery and Reconstruction Bank rather than the current practice of directing it as a subsidy to Wall Street banks. The FRRB would have a mandate to fund essential green infrastructure projects as designated by Congress.
5. Rewrite international trade and investment rules to support national ownership, economic self-reliance, and economic self-determination.
6. Implement appropriate regulatory and fiscal measures to secure the integrity of financial markets and the money/banking system.
How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule is the product of
extended discussions among representatives of a diverse group
of organizations committed to deepening and reframing the
conversation on financial reform to focus attention on the serious
financial system restructuring required to build a strong new
American economy adequate to the social and environmental
challenges of the 21st century.
It may be freely shared, reproduced and distributed with appropriate citations.
David Korten is co-founder and board chair of YES! Magazine and co-chair of the New Economy Working Group.
http://www.yesmagazine.org/blogs/david-korten/liberate-america
How is it that our nation is awash in money, but too broke to provide jobs and services?
David Korten introduces a landmark new report, "How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule."
By David Korten
Yes! Magazine
July 20, 2011
The dominant story of the current political debate is that the government is broke.
We can’t afford to pay for public services, put people to work, or service the public debt.
Yet as a nation, we are awash in money. A defective system of money, banking, and finance just puts it in the wrong places.
Raising taxes on the rich and implementing financial reforms are essential elements of the solution to our seemingly intractable fiscal and economic crisis.
Yet proposals currently on the table fall far short of the need.
A newly released report of the New Economy Working Group,
coordinated by the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC,
goes beyond the current debate to call for a deep restructuring of
the institutions to which we as a society give the power to create
and allocate money.
How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule spells out the steps required to rebuild a system of community-based and accountable institutions devoted to financing productive activities that create good jobs for Americans and generate real community wealth.
Over the past 30 years, virtually all the benefit of U.S. economic
growth has gone to the richest 1 percent of Americans. Effective
tax rates for the very rich are at historic lows and many of the
most profitable corporations pay no taxes at all.
Despite the financial crash of 2008, the financial assets of America’s billionaires and the idle cash of the most profitable corporations are now at historic highs. Their biggest challenge is figuring out where to park all their cash.
Unfortunately, most of those who hold the cash and the corporations they control have lost interest in long-term investments that build and expand strong enterprises. The substantial majority of trades in financial markets are made by high-speed computers in securities held for fractions of a second.
Business pundits still refer to this trading as investment. It bears no resemblance, however, to the investment required to put people to work rebuilding a strong America.
Corporations are using their stores of cash primarily to buy back their own stock, acquire control of other companies, invest in off-shoring yet more American jobs, and pay generous dividends to shareholders and outsized bonuses to management.
It was not always so.
In response to the Great Depression, our country enacted financial reforms that put in place a system of money, banking, and investment based on community banks, mutual savings and loans, and credit unions.
These institutions provided financial services to local Main Street economies that employed Americans to produce and trade real goods and services in response to community needs and opportunities.
This system, which Wall Street interests dismiss as quaint and
antiquated, financed the U.S. victory in World War II, the creation
of a strong American middle class, an unprecedented period of
economic stability and prosperity, and the investments that made
America the world’s undisputed industrial and technological leader.
In the 1970’s Wall Street interests began pushing a deregulation
agenda that led to a transfer of financial power from Main Street
to Wall Street. Wall Street’s mega-banks lost interest in real
investment and developed a new business model.
They now specialize in charging excessive fees and usurious interest rates, providing leverage to speculators, speculating for their own accounts, luring the unwary into mortgages they cannot afford, bundling junk mortgages to sell them as triple-A securities, betting against the clients to whom they sell the overrated securities, extracting subsidies and bailouts from government, laundering money from drug and arms traders, and offshoring their profits to avoid taxes.
The consequences include the erosion of the middle class, an extreme concentration of wealth and power, a costly financial collapse, persistent high unemployment, housing foreclosures, collapsing environmental systems, the hollowing out of U.S. industrial, technological, and research capacity, huge public and international trade deficits, and the corruption of our political institutions.
Wall Street profited at every step and declared its experiment with deregulation and tax cuts for the wealthy a great success. It now argues for extending the same measures even further.
How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule spells out details of
a six-part policy agenda to rebuild a sensible system of community-
based and accountable financial services institutions.
1. Break up the mega-banks and implement tax and regulatory policies that favor community financial institutions, with a preference for those organized as cooperatives or as for-profits owned by nonprofit foundations.
2.Establish state-owned partnership banks in each of the 50 states, patterned after the Bank of North Dakota. These would serve as depositories for state financial assets to use in partnership with community financial institutions to fund local farms and businesses.
3. Restructure the Federal Reserve to function under strict standards of transparency and public scrutiny, with General Accounting Office audits and Congressional oversight.
4. Direct all new money created by the Federal Reserve to a Federal Recovery and Reconstruction Bank rather than the current practice of directing it as a subsidy to Wall Street banks. The FRRB would have a mandate to fund essential green infrastructure projects as designated by Congress.
5. Rewrite international trade and investment rules to support national ownership, economic self-reliance, and economic self-determination.
6. Implement appropriate regulatory and fiscal measures to secure the integrity of financial markets and the money/banking system.
How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule is the product of
extended discussions among representatives of a diverse group
of organizations committed to deepening and reframing the
conversation on financial reform to focus attention on the serious
financial system restructuring required to build a strong new
American economy adequate to the social and environmental
challenges of the 21st century.
It may be freely shared, reproduced and distributed with appropriate citations.
David Korten is co-founder and board chair of YES! Magazine and co-chair of the New Economy Working Group.
http://www.yesmagazine.org/blogs/david-korten/liberate-america
Thursday, July 14, 2011
The Show Must Go On
The Show Must Go On
By Jim Quinn
The Burning Platform
July 14, 2011
The Debt Ceiling Reality Show is winding down to its dramatic conclusion on August 2.
I think Fox should capitalize on the drama by gathering the American Idol judges to vote on the best performance by a political hack.
We can have Ryan Seacrest announce on August 1 at 11:55 pm
that the winner is – THE WALL STREET MONIED INTERESTS.
The latest round of kabuki theatre performed by the corrupt lying thieves in Washington DC is being played out every night on the MSM.
The volume of misinformation, lies, exaggerations, posturing,
and propaganda is staggering.
These vile excuses for leaders know that 80% of the American
population wouldn’t know the difference between a debt ceiling
and a drop ceiling.
They use this ignorance to their advantage, as Obama warns that old people won’t get their social security checks and government drones won’t be paid.
According to Gallup, Republicans and Independents don’t want the debt ceiling raised.
The poll also indicates that at least one third of Americans don’t
care. They are too outraged by the Casey Anthony verdict to focus
on the economic future of our country.
I’ll let you in on a secret. The debt ceiling will be raised.
Sorry to ruin the surprise, but this entire sordid episode has nothing to do with our dire economic situation. It is solely about the 2012 elections.
Both parties are conducting overnight polling on which talking points are working best in convincing the sheeple that their party is less likely to be blamed.
Posturing and polling are what passes for leadership in America. It is a disgusting display and will contribute to the ultimate collapse that is headed our way like a Japanese Bullet Train.
Here is a summary of where we stand according to the MSM and the political class in Washington DC:
The supposedly grand compromise that would have “cut” $4 trillion from future deficits fell apart last week.
The Democarats wouldn’t “cut” entitlements and the Republicans wouldn’t “raise” taxes.
The latest proposal was down to $2 trillion of future “cuts”, but neither side would agree to what and when.
Now in the ultimate Washington kick the can move, Mitch McConnell has proposed that Obama increase the debt limit in three stages, while requiring him to propose offsetting spending cuts, offering a potential path out of the impasse.
Harry Reid loves the idea. I’m sure that gives you a nice warm feeling, like piss running down your leg.
This “solution” cuts nothing. Neither party wants to get blamed for shutting down the government. The Republicans blinked first.
Honor, truth, and reality based solutions are non-existent in Washington DC. Weasels can never be trusted around the chicken coop.
The humorous part of this whole disgusting episode is that the $2
trillion or $4 trillion of supposed cuts in spending were not cuts at
all. They were nothing but lower increases in future spending.
They didn’t cut the national debt. Neither party has come close to presenting a plan to cut the national debt.
Even using ridiculously optimistic assumptions like interest rates staying low, no new wars, ending existing wars, no recessions, and no new programs, both of the corrupt political parties show ongoing deficits of $500 billion to $1 trillion per year forever.
Does that sound like cuts in spending? The proposed reductions in spending increases are like pissing in the Atlantic Ocean of debt.
And here is where the rubber meets the road. Both the Democrat and Republican budget plans insure economic collapse within the next ten years.
Again, using ridiculously optimistic assumptions, our National Debt
would rise from $14.3 trillion today to between $23 and $26 trillion
in ten years. Does that sound like cuts in spending to you?
Luckily, we’ll never reach those levels. We will hit $20 trillion in debt by 2015. That is a lock.
Total Federal government revenue today is $2.175 trillion. We spend approximately $1 trillion per year on our military related adventures, or 46% of our total revenue.
If interest rates are 5% in 2015, we will spend $1 trillion on interest. If rates are 10%, we will spend $2 trillion on interest.
Do you get the picture? An unsustainable trend will not be sustained.
We have two choices. We can proactively address the problem or
just wait for the collapse of our economic system.
This debt ceiling reality show is all the proof I need. Our leaders will choose to wait. It won’t be long.
Since no one in Washington DC can be depended upon to do the right thing, the only solution is to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.
Special interests across the land would mobilize all their forces to fight this idea.
Deficit spending of $1.5 trillion per year enriches bankers, bomb makers, the AARP, mega-corporations, chain stores, restaurants, insurance companies, drug makers, etc.
They will fight for their right to suck the country dry.
http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=18397
By Jim Quinn
The Burning Platform
July 14, 2011
The Debt Ceiling Reality Show is winding down to its dramatic conclusion on August 2.
I think Fox should capitalize on the drama by gathering the American Idol judges to vote on the best performance by a political hack.
We can have Ryan Seacrest announce on August 1 at 11:55 pm
that the winner is – THE WALL STREET MONIED INTERESTS.
The latest round of kabuki theatre performed by the corrupt lying thieves in Washington DC is being played out every night on the MSM.
The volume of misinformation, lies, exaggerations, posturing,
and propaganda is staggering.
These vile excuses for leaders know that 80% of the American
population wouldn’t know the difference between a debt ceiling
and a drop ceiling.
They use this ignorance to their advantage, as Obama warns that old people won’t get their social security checks and government drones won’t be paid.
According to Gallup, Republicans and Independents don’t want the debt ceiling raised.
The poll also indicates that at least one third of Americans don’t
care. They are too outraged by the Casey Anthony verdict to focus
on the economic future of our country.
I’ll let you in on a secret. The debt ceiling will be raised.
Sorry to ruin the surprise, but this entire sordid episode has nothing to do with our dire economic situation. It is solely about the 2012 elections.
Both parties are conducting overnight polling on which talking points are working best in convincing the sheeple that their party is less likely to be blamed.
Posturing and polling are what passes for leadership in America. It is a disgusting display and will contribute to the ultimate collapse that is headed our way like a Japanese Bullet Train.
Here is a summary of where we stand according to the MSM and the political class in Washington DC:
The supposedly grand compromise that would have “cut” $4 trillion from future deficits fell apart last week.
The Democarats wouldn’t “cut” entitlements and the Republicans wouldn’t “raise” taxes.
The latest proposal was down to $2 trillion of future “cuts”, but neither side would agree to what and when.
Now in the ultimate Washington kick the can move, Mitch McConnell has proposed that Obama increase the debt limit in three stages, while requiring him to propose offsetting spending cuts, offering a potential path out of the impasse.
Harry Reid loves the idea. I’m sure that gives you a nice warm feeling, like piss running down your leg.
This “solution” cuts nothing. Neither party wants to get blamed for shutting down the government. The Republicans blinked first.
Honor, truth, and reality based solutions are non-existent in Washington DC. Weasels can never be trusted around the chicken coop.
The humorous part of this whole disgusting episode is that the $2
trillion or $4 trillion of supposed cuts in spending were not cuts at
all. They were nothing but lower increases in future spending.
They didn’t cut the national debt. Neither party has come close to presenting a plan to cut the national debt.
Even using ridiculously optimistic assumptions like interest rates staying low, no new wars, ending existing wars, no recessions, and no new programs, both of the corrupt political parties show ongoing deficits of $500 billion to $1 trillion per year forever.
Does that sound like cuts in spending? The proposed reductions in spending increases are like pissing in the Atlantic Ocean of debt.
And here is where the rubber meets the road. Both the Democrat and Republican budget plans insure economic collapse within the next ten years.
Again, using ridiculously optimistic assumptions, our National Debt
would rise from $14.3 trillion today to between $23 and $26 trillion
in ten years. Does that sound like cuts in spending to you?
Luckily, we’ll never reach those levels. We will hit $20 trillion in debt by 2015. That is a lock.
Total Federal government revenue today is $2.175 trillion. We spend approximately $1 trillion per year on our military related adventures, or 46% of our total revenue.
If interest rates are 5% in 2015, we will spend $1 trillion on interest. If rates are 10%, we will spend $2 trillion on interest.
Do you get the picture? An unsustainable trend will not be sustained.
We have two choices. We can proactively address the problem or
just wait for the collapse of our economic system.
This debt ceiling reality show is all the proof I need. Our leaders will choose to wait. It won’t be long.
Since no one in Washington DC can be depended upon to do the right thing, the only solution is to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.
Special interests across the land would mobilize all their forces to fight this idea.
Deficit spending of $1.5 trillion per year enriches bankers, bomb makers, the AARP, mega-corporations, chain stores, restaurants, insurance companies, drug makers, etc.
They will fight for their right to suck the country dry.
http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=18397
Monday, July 11, 2011
Obama: Myth or Fabrication?
Obama: Myth or Fabrication?
By Zen Gardner
Before It's News
July 11, 2011
That Obama's a cardboard cutout is a given. He's been prepped, pumped, primed, pimped and positioned. We can all see that.
He reads his teleprompter like "yada yada yada" and the
programmed populace swoons. Yawn.
Another round of golf please...while we bomb, rape, pillage, dismember and suck the financial guts out of the world.
Oh well, another day at work...I'm just following orders anyway.
As unreal as this sick drama appears, it's happening in the face of
the world. How he keeps it up and the world watches is a wonder,
but somehow it goes on.
I guess like that sick elitist Kissinger has famously said, "Power is
the ultimate aphrodisiac."
Obama's a new, animatronic breed...
This guy is all new. The others were puppets, but he's a brazen next generation x-bot..shoved in our faces.
He's first of all built with a fully guaranteed, unvarnished globalist
mindset. This thing is global, people, and they want us to know it.
'In your face' has never been so in vogue.
His snotty behavior tells us he apparently knows they've trotted him out and he's effectively doing job #1.. to attract mindless adulation from sycophants worldwide.
Hence the international tours and the Beatles-like frenzy in the US. All orchestrated.
We'll see more of this very soon if they bother to keep the charade
up and don't change horses. (Believe me, there's always more horses
where he came from...have been for millenia.)
But Is All This Getting to Him?
First of all, is there a "him"? Assuming there is, and this gym-rat doper can come out of his playground mentality, maybe there's a chance.
But I don't think so. Way too programmed. And he's loving it.
And between the advances in mind control technologies and the overall fascist takeover of planet earth, there's not a lot of leg room. Look for more of the same in other parts of the world, sorry to say.
Obama the Man
We don't know much about Barak--deliberately. It should be a "feel good story for every boy and girl" but it's not.
It's riddled in fundamental information holes, bloated propaganda
and heavy duty inconsistencies.
Yet the MSM trump up this cardboard cut out day by day knowing
they have nothing to work with. It's quite a sight to behold.
When you think about it, what better billboard to prop up than one that has no background story, no substance, no history.
Orwellian is an understatement. And it suits today's programmed world perfectly. Less is more.
Obama is a vacuum, a myth of your own making, a prop, an excuse.
But you decide. I'm just poking around. But the truth has a scent, doesn't it? And you're obviously smelling it too.
- Zen
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/792/441/Obama:_Myth_or_Fabricat
ion.html&SID=NL
By Zen Gardner
Before It's News
July 11, 2011
That Obama's a cardboard cutout is a given. He's been prepped, pumped, primed, pimped and positioned. We can all see that.
He reads his teleprompter like "yada yada yada" and the
programmed populace swoons. Yawn.
Another round of golf please...while we bomb, rape, pillage, dismember and suck the financial guts out of the world.
Oh well, another day at work...I'm just following orders anyway.
As unreal as this sick drama appears, it's happening in the face of
the world. How he keeps it up and the world watches is a wonder,
but somehow it goes on.
I guess like that sick elitist Kissinger has famously said, "Power is
the ultimate aphrodisiac."
Obama's a new, animatronic breed...
This guy is all new. The others were puppets, but he's a brazen next generation x-bot..shoved in our faces.
He's first of all built with a fully guaranteed, unvarnished globalist
mindset. This thing is global, people, and they want us to know it.
'In your face' has never been so in vogue.
His snotty behavior tells us he apparently knows they've trotted him out and he's effectively doing job #1.. to attract mindless adulation from sycophants worldwide.
Hence the international tours and the Beatles-like frenzy in the US. All orchestrated.
We'll see more of this very soon if they bother to keep the charade
up and don't change horses. (Believe me, there's always more horses
where he came from...have been for millenia.)
But Is All This Getting to Him?
First of all, is there a "him"? Assuming there is, and this gym-rat doper can come out of his playground mentality, maybe there's a chance.
But I don't think so. Way too programmed. And he's loving it.
And between the advances in mind control technologies and the overall fascist takeover of planet earth, there's not a lot of leg room. Look for more of the same in other parts of the world, sorry to say.
Obama the Man
We don't know much about Barak--deliberately. It should be a "feel good story for every boy and girl" but it's not.
It's riddled in fundamental information holes, bloated propaganda
and heavy duty inconsistencies.
Yet the MSM trump up this cardboard cut out day by day knowing
they have nothing to work with. It's quite a sight to behold.
When you think about it, what better billboard to prop up than one that has no background story, no substance, no history.
Orwellian is an understatement. And it suits today's programmed world perfectly. Less is more.
Obama is a vacuum, a myth of your own making, a prop, an excuse.
But you decide. I'm just poking around. But the truth has a scent, doesn't it? And you're obviously smelling it too.
- Zen
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/792/441/Obama:_Myth_or_Fabricat
ion.html&SID=NL
Saturday, July 9, 2011
America's Downfall
We All Are Responsible
By The Brass Monkey Blog
Saturday, July 09, 2011
We have been witness to a 30 year effort to globalize America. We gave barely a notice as President Carter gave up the Panama Canal.
Today China is working to double the width and capacity of the canal.
We watched as Regan implemented the era of greed is good and bigger is better and relegated anti trust law to the closet.
Then came President´s Clinton and Bush (number 0ne), pressing
for a World Trade Organization and NAFTA (North American Free
Trade Agreement).
Then we watched the government give China World Trade Organization membership and the creation of all the AFTA´s. (American Free Trade Agreements)
What was the result of all this?
Manufacturing, dollars and jobs out, turning the wealthiest nation into the greatest debtor nation.
This culminated in the great recession, where today, Ben Bernanke
is saying that it will take several years to restore the US economy
and achieve acceptable levels of unemployment.
At the same time the government was working on globalization
they were pushing expansion and growth in the US.
Population growth was expedited through illegal immigration
and anchor babies.
Pressure was brought to bear on American workers through a
whole bunch of temporary worker visa programs.
Education costs were high and classrooms were half filled with foreign students, many looking to hold a US job on graduation. Wages were stagnant or falling.
The point is gang that we are all responsible for the state of America.
We sat back and let the government and corporations decide
what was good for us. Big mistake!
We put our well being in the hands of corrupt corporations.
They sure as hell did not have our best interests in mind when
they moved there manufacturing jobs overseas.
We put our trust in Washington politicians.
They sure as hell did not have our best interests at heart. They
were in the pockets of the corporations.
I can not remember how many times when carrying on a
conversation with someone and happen to mention politics.
The response a lot of time? I do not get involved with politics.
Folks, you better get involved because look at what our non involvement has gotten us.
Never assume that the politicians are smarter then you and
know what´s best. Because they are not and they don´t.
http://thebrassmonkeyblog.net/americas-downfall-we-all-are-responsible/
By The Brass Monkey Blog
Saturday, July 09, 2011
We have been witness to a 30 year effort to globalize America. We gave barely a notice as President Carter gave up the Panama Canal.
Today China is working to double the width and capacity of the canal.
We watched as Regan implemented the era of greed is good and bigger is better and relegated anti trust law to the closet.
Then came President´s Clinton and Bush (number 0ne), pressing
for a World Trade Organization and NAFTA (North American Free
Trade Agreement).
Then we watched the government give China World Trade Organization membership and the creation of all the AFTA´s. (American Free Trade Agreements)
What was the result of all this?
Manufacturing, dollars and jobs out, turning the wealthiest nation into the greatest debtor nation.
This culminated in the great recession, where today, Ben Bernanke
is saying that it will take several years to restore the US economy
and achieve acceptable levels of unemployment.
At the same time the government was working on globalization
they were pushing expansion and growth in the US.
Population growth was expedited through illegal immigration
and anchor babies.
Pressure was brought to bear on American workers through a
whole bunch of temporary worker visa programs.
Education costs were high and classrooms were half filled with foreign students, many looking to hold a US job on graduation. Wages were stagnant or falling.
The point is gang that we are all responsible for the state of America.
We sat back and let the government and corporations decide
what was good for us. Big mistake!
We put our well being in the hands of corrupt corporations.
They sure as hell did not have our best interests in mind when
they moved there manufacturing jobs overseas.
We put our trust in Washington politicians.
They sure as hell did not have our best interests at heart. They
were in the pockets of the corporations.
I can not remember how many times when carrying on a
conversation with someone and happen to mention politics.
The response a lot of time? I do not get involved with politics.
Folks, you better get involved because look at what our non involvement has gotten us.
Never assume that the politicians are smarter then you and
know what´s best. Because they are not and they don´t.
http://thebrassmonkeyblog.net/americas-downfall-we-all-are-responsible/
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Number One?
20 Not So Good Categories That The United States
Leads The World In
By The Economic Collapse Blog
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Is the United States "number one"?
Many Americans take deep pride in their nation and the truth is that
the U.S. has a lot going for it.
The United States has the largest economy in the world.
The United States also has the most powerful military on the entire planet. The United States has produced most of the greatest movies that the world has ever seen.
But the United States is also number one in a lot of categories that are not go great. If we ever want to turn this country around, we need to be very honest with ourselves.
We need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and realize that it is not a good thing that we are number one in divorce, drug addiction, debt, obesity, car thefts, murders and total crimes.
We have become a slothful, greedy, decadent nation that is
exhibiting signs of advanced decay. Until we understand just
how bad our problems really are, we won't be able to come up
with the solutions that we need.
A lot of people that write articles like this have a deep hatred for
America. But that is not the case with me. I love the United States.
I love the American people.
America is like an aging, bloated rock star that has become addicted to a dozen different drugs.
America is a shadow of its former self and it desperately needs to wake up before it plunges into oblivion.
If you do not believe that America is in bad shape, just read the list below. The following are 20 not so good categories that the United States leads the world in....
#1 The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the
world and the largest total prison population on the entire globe.
#2 According to NationMaster.com, the United States has the
highest percentage of obese people in the world.
#3 The United States has the highest divorce rate on the globe
by a wide margin.
#4 The United States is tied with the U.K. for the most hours of television watched per person each week.
#5 The United States has the highest rate of illegal drug use on
the entire planet.
#6 There are more car thefts in the United States each year than anywhere else in the world by far.
#7 There are more reported rapes in the United States each year
than anywhere else in the world.
#8 There are more reported murders in the United States each year
than anywhere else in the world.
#9 There are more total crimes in the United States each year than anywhere else in the world.
#10 The United States also has more police officers than anywhere
else in the world.
#11 The United States spends much more on health care as a percentage of GDP than any other nation on the face of the earth.
#12 The United States has more people on pharmaceutical drugs
than any other country on the planet.
#13 The percentage of women taking antidepressants in America is higher than in any other country in the world.
#14 Americans have more student loan debt than anyone else in the
world.
#15 More pornography is created in the United States than anywhere
else on the entire globe. 89 percent is made in the U.S.A. and only
11 percent is made in the rest of the world.
#16 The United States has the largest trade deficit in the world
every single year. Between December 2000 and December 2010,
the United States ran a total trade deficit of 6.1 trillion dollars
with the rest of the world, and the U.S. has had a negative trade
balance every single year since 1976.
#17 The United States spends 7 times more on the military than any
other nation on the planet does. In fact, U.S. military spending is
greater than the military spending of China, Russia, Japan, India,
and the rest of NATO combined.
#18 The United States has far more foreign military bases than any other country does.
#19 The United States has the most complicated tax system in the entire world.
#20 The U.S. has accumulated the biggest national debt that the world has ever seen and it is rapidly getting worse. Right now, U.S. government debt is expanding at a rate of $40,000 per second.
So are you convinced that we are in trouble yet?
The truth is that America has changed. Most of us don't even say hello to our neighbors anymore.
In fact, we have become so self-involved that many of us don't even notice when someone around us dies.
Just consider the following two examples.
*USA Today recently reported on the body of a dead woman that was
not found for approximately a year even though a whole bunch of
people walked right past the car where she died....
Bank contractors, inspectors and even the new owner of a foreclosed
home walked past the silver Chevy Nova in the garage numerous
times before discovering the former homeowner — dead on the front
seat.
*In an even more shocking case, the CBS affiliate in Boston recently
reported that a dead woman was lying on the bottom of a public pool
for two days while large numbers of people swam right over her.
How in the world could something like this possibly happen?....
It’s a mystery as murky as the water at Veteran’s Memorial
swimming pool in Fall River public pool: how did swimmers,
lifeguards, or inspectors not notice a woman’s body at the
bottom of the pool for a few days?
Marie Joseph, 36, was last seen at the pool on Sunday. The pool was
open to the public Monday and Tuesday with six lifeguards on duty,
and no one noticed the body under 12 feet of water.
Most Americans have become so self-involved that they barely even notice anyone other than their family and close friends.
The love of most Americans is growing cold and when the collapse
of the U.S. economy happens it is just going to make things worse.
Instead of working as a community, most Americans will only be concerned with making sure that their own needs are taken care of.
The United States was once the most blessed nation on the face of the earth, but now we are literally falling to pieces.
Does anyone have any ideas about why this could be happening?
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/number-one-20-not-
so-good-categories-that-the-united-states-leads-the-world-in
Leads The World In
By The Economic Collapse Blog
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Is the United States "number one"?
Many Americans take deep pride in their nation and the truth is that
the U.S. has a lot going for it.
The United States has the largest economy in the world.
The United States also has the most powerful military on the entire planet. The United States has produced most of the greatest movies that the world has ever seen.
But the United States is also number one in a lot of categories that are not go great. If we ever want to turn this country around, we need to be very honest with ourselves.
We need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and realize that it is not a good thing that we are number one in divorce, drug addiction, debt, obesity, car thefts, murders and total crimes.
We have become a slothful, greedy, decadent nation that is
exhibiting signs of advanced decay. Until we understand just
how bad our problems really are, we won't be able to come up
with the solutions that we need.
A lot of people that write articles like this have a deep hatred for
America. But that is not the case with me. I love the United States.
I love the American people.
America is like an aging, bloated rock star that has become addicted to a dozen different drugs.
America is a shadow of its former self and it desperately needs to wake up before it plunges into oblivion.
If you do not believe that America is in bad shape, just read the list below. The following are 20 not so good categories that the United States leads the world in....
#1 The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the
world and the largest total prison population on the entire globe.
#2 According to NationMaster.com, the United States has the
highest percentage of obese people in the world.
#3 The United States has the highest divorce rate on the globe
by a wide margin.
#4 The United States is tied with the U.K. for the most hours of television watched per person each week.
#5 The United States has the highest rate of illegal drug use on
the entire planet.
#6 There are more car thefts in the United States each year than anywhere else in the world by far.
#7 There are more reported rapes in the United States each year
than anywhere else in the world.
#8 There are more reported murders in the United States each year
than anywhere else in the world.
#9 There are more total crimes in the United States each year than anywhere else in the world.
#10 The United States also has more police officers than anywhere
else in the world.
#11 The United States spends much more on health care as a percentage of GDP than any other nation on the face of the earth.
#12 The United States has more people on pharmaceutical drugs
than any other country on the planet.
#13 The percentage of women taking antidepressants in America is higher than in any other country in the world.
#14 Americans have more student loan debt than anyone else in the
world.
#15 More pornography is created in the United States than anywhere
else on the entire globe. 89 percent is made in the U.S.A. and only
11 percent is made in the rest of the world.
#16 The United States has the largest trade deficit in the world
every single year. Between December 2000 and December 2010,
the United States ran a total trade deficit of 6.1 trillion dollars
with the rest of the world, and the U.S. has had a negative trade
balance every single year since 1976.
#17 The United States spends 7 times more on the military than any
other nation on the planet does. In fact, U.S. military spending is
greater than the military spending of China, Russia, Japan, India,
and the rest of NATO combined.
#18 The United States has far more foreign military bases than any other country does.
#19 The United States has the most complicated tax system in the entire world.
#20 The U.S. has accumulated the biggest national debt that the world has ever seen and it is rapidly getting worse. Right now, U.S. government debt is expanding at a rate of $40,000 per second.
So are you convinced that we are in trouble yet?
The truth is that America has changed. Most of us don't even say hello to our neighbors anymore.
In fact, we have become so self-involved that many of us don't even notice when someone around us dies.
Just consider the following two examples.
*USA Today recently reported on the body of a dead woman that was
not found for approximately a year even though a whole bunch of
people walked right past the car where she died....
Bank contractors, inspectors and even the new owner of a foreclosed
home walked past the silver Chevy Nova in the garage numerous
times before discovering the former homeowner — dead on the front
seat.
*In an even more shocking case, the CBS affiliate in Boston recently
reported that a dead woman was lying on the bottom of a public pool
for two days while large numbers of people swam right over her.
How in the world could something like this possibly happen?....
It’s a mystery as murky as the water at Veteran’s Memorial
swimming pool in Fall River public pool: how did swimmers,
lifeguards, or inspectors not notice a woman’s body at the
bottom of the pool for a few days?
Marie Joseph, 36, was last seen at the pool on Sunday. The pool was
open to the public Monday and Tuesday with six lifeguards on duty,
and no one noticed the body under 12 feet of water.
Most Americans have become so self-involved that they barely even notice anyone other than their family and close friends.
The love of most Americans is growing cold and when the collapse
of the U.S. economy happens it is just going to make things worse.
Instead of working as a community, most Americans will only be concerned with making sure that their own needs are taken care of.
The United States was once the most blessed nation on the face of the earth, but now we are literally falling to pieces.
Does anyone have any ideas about why this could be happening?
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/number-one-20-not-
so-good-categories-that-the-united-states-leads-the-world-in
Monday, July 4, 2011
Down on the Fourth of July
Down on the Fourth of July: The United States of Gloom
By Toby Harnden
The Daily Telegraph
July 04, 2011
NEWS REVIEW: America’s deepening recession and widespread pessimism about the country’s prospects add a bitter note to Independence Day, reports Toby Harnden, US Editor.
Across America today, people will gather for barbecues in their
backyards, parades through their towns and firework displays
lighting up the night sky.
They’ll be celebrating Independence Day – the birthday of the
United States and the 235th anniversary of shaking off the
oppressive yoke of British rule.
On this day in 1776 a group of 13 colonies broke away to found a
new nation free to govern itself as it saw fit, pledging that each
citizen would have the unalienable right to “life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness”.
A nation, as Americans are apt to declare without equivocation, which became the greatest on the face of the earth.
That’s the good news. On the flip side, however, a country whose
hallmark has always been a sense of irrepressible optimism is in
the grip of unprecedented uncertainty and self-doubt.
With the United States mired in three foreign wars, beaten down by an economy that shows few signs of emerging from deep recession and deeply disillusioned with President Barack Obama his Republican challengers and Congress, the mood is dark.
The last comparable Fourth of July was probably in 1980, when there was a recession, skyrocketing petrol prices and an Iranian hostage crisis, with 53 Americans being held in Tehran.
Frank Luntz, perhaps America’s pre-eminent pollster, argues that
his countrymen are much more downbeat now than in 1980.
“The assumption with the Carter years was that it was a failure of
the elites, not the system. We thought the people in charge screwed
up. We didn’t blame ourselves.”
Remarkably, many Americans think things will only get worse and
the good times will never return.
A recent New York Times/CBS poll found that 39 percent think
that “the current economic downturn is part of a long-term
permanent decline and the economy will never fully recover”.
That was up from 28 percent last October. Last month, a CNN
poll found that 48 percent of Americans believe another Great
Depression is somewhat or very likely.
Luntz has found that 44 percent of Americans believe their country’s
best days are in the past, 57 percent that their children will not
achieve the same quality of life, and 53 percent that they are less
free than five years ago. So what is going on?
How did the land of the free, the home of the brave, and a country
that less than three years ago elected a young, untested black man
as president on a platform of hope and change, get into this funk?
The parlous state of the economy is only part of the explanation.
More significant is the recession’s length. Obama’s promise of a
national transformation after the Bush years, moreover, means that
the thud of coming back down to earth has been that much harder.
The intoxicating atmosphere of the 2008 election and Obama’s inauguration has given way to a hangover.
Americans were promised that the $787 billion Obama stimulus
package would cut unemployment by funding so-called “shovel-
ready projects”.
Instead, unemployment is at 9.1 percent compared to the 7.8
percent Obama inherited, while the national deficit has tripled
from less than $500 billion to a staggering $1.5 trillion.
To add insult to injury, at a recent gathering of his Council on Jobs
and Competitiveness, during a discussion about the length of time it
took to get projects funded, a smiling Obama interjected: “Shovel-
ready was not as shovel-ready as we expected.”
Members of the council sitting around him tittered but most Americans were not amused.
There is gridlock in Washington over raising the national debt ceiling, with Democrats demanding tax increases as well as deficit reduction, and Republicans adamant that no taxes will be increased.
In a characteristic illustration of a bipartisan assumption of bad faith in such debates, Democrats have accused Republicans of wanting to damage the economy as part of a plot to harm Obama’s re-election chances.
The US Treasury is warning of “catastrophic economic and market
consequences” if no deal is reached in July and the country defaults
on its debts, though there are signs that both sides would prefer this
to political compromise.
Obama summed up the Republican position as “Are you willing to
compromise your kids’ safety so some corporate-jet owner can get
a tax break?” Six times, he mentioned the scourge of tax breaks
for corporate jets.
To the uninitiated, it might have appeared that eliminating these evil tax breaks might make a significant dent in the national debt.
But it was quickly calculated that doing so would save about $3
billion over the next decade, or 0.03 per cent of the $9.5 trillion
in cumulative new debt contained in Obama’s current budget plan.
On foreign policy, there was a brief spasm of celebration over the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
But Obama’s decision, against military advice, to capitalise on
this by withdrawing 33,000 US troops from Afghanistan has been
accompanied by a sense that the US is retreating, if not surrendering.
It was on the Fourth of July last year that General David Petraeus
assumed command in Afghanistan and declared: “We are in this
to win.”
But in announcing his recent decision to withdraw troops, there was
no mention by Obama of winning or victory – or, for that matter, of
Petraeus, who is returning home to take over the CIA.
Furthermore, having cast doubt on American exceptionalism, Obama has allowed Europe to spearhead the Libya operation, prompting a White House aide to coin the term “leading from behind”.
But Americans do not just blame Obama; and the national malaise
is to do with far more than one president. “Every institution in
America has gone through a collapse,” says Luntz.
“The Church is not what it was, thanks to all those religious
scandals, the media is much less trusted today than it was
20 or 30 years ago. Big business does not have credibility.”
The growth of blogging, social media and cable TV together
with the decline of the broadcast networks and papers like
the New York Times means Americans have access to more
news, but this is often partial and drowned out by opinion.
Because there is greater choice, more and more Americans are choosing to read only things that reinforce their existing beliefs, shutting out the other side.
When Republican presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann made assertions about historical events, their supporters rushed to Wikipedia to change entries about those events – altering reality to advance their argument.
“It means a lot more shouting,” says Luntz.
“It means a much less unified America on the Fourth of July and a
lot more division. You’ll hear a lot more political arguments while
we’re watching the parades. While we will appreciate the celebration
of tradition, there’s so much anxiety and anger that it makes it
really unpleasant.”
One of the few news stories of recent months that prompted unanimity across the political divide was the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, then head of the International Monetary Fund, on suspicion of raping a chambermaid in a New York hotel.
Only in America, most people here agreed, could the rights of an
African immigrant trump those of a powerful, arrogant politician.
But even that illusion was shattered last week when it turned out
that the accusing woman was a liar with criminal ties who allegedly
hoped to profit from the incident.
Now, the sleazy Frenchman is poised to resume his presidential quest, doubtless to be fueled by Gallic anti-Americanism, back home.
The 2010 mid-term elections showed that the Tea Party movement, drawing its small-government, low-tax inspiration from the revolutionaries who overthrew the British, was a phenomenon that could turn American politics upside down.
Previous elections had been about choosing the lesser of two evils
but 2010 was about throwing the bums out. Luntz, a Republican,
predicts that 2012 will be a “none of the above” contest.
What is needed above all is optimism: it is a prerequisite for the
risk-taking needed to invest and start new businesses. Its absence
could turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy as belief in American decline
helps ensure that the halcyon years are indeed in the past.
The 1980 election was won by Ronald Reagan with his “Morning in America” message.
Today, a 10ft bronze statue of Reagan will be unveiled outside the
US Embassy in London’s Grosvenor Square, which, in another sign
of the times, is due to move to Battersea next year because of
concerns about its vulnerability to terrorists.
Thus far, there is no sign of a new Reagan emerging.
More worryingly, the optimism he embraced and came to personify
is all but absent in America this Fourth of July.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/100095052/down-
on-the-fourth-of-july-the-united-states-of-gloom/
By Toby Harnden
The Daily Telegraph
July 04, 2011
NEWS REVIEW: America’s deepening recession and widespread pessimism about the country’s prospects add a bitter note to Independence Day, reports Toby Harnden, US Editor.
Across America today, people will gather for barbecues in their
backyards, parades through their towns and firework displays
lighting up the night sky.
They’ll be celebrating Independence Day – the birthday of the
United States and the 235th anniversary of shaking off the
oppressive yoke of British rule.
On this day in 1776 a group of 13 colonies broke away to found a
new nation free to govern itself as it saw fit, pledging that each
citizen would have the unalienable right to “life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness”.
A nation, as Americans are apt to declare without equivocation, which became the greatest on the face of the earth.
That’s the good news. On the flip side, however, a country whose
hallmark has always been a sense of irrepressible optimism is in
the grip of unprecedented uncertainty and self-doubt.
With the United States mired in three foreign wars, beaten down by an economy that shows few signs of emerging from deep recession and deeply disillusioned with President Barack Obama his Republican challengers and Congress, the mood is dark.
The last comparable Fourth of July was probably in 1980, when there was a recession, skyrocketing petrol prices and an Iranian hostage crisis, with 53 Americans being held in Tehran.
Frank Luntz, perhaps America’s pre-eminent pollster, argues that
his countrymen are much more downbeat now than in 1980.
“The assumption with the Carter years was that it was a failure of
the elites, not the system. We thought the people in charge screwed
up. We didn’t blame ourselves.”
Remarkably, many Americans think things will only get worse and
the good times will never return.
A recent New York Times/CBS poll found that 39 percent think
that “the current economic downturn is part of a long-term
permanent decline and the economy will never fully recover”.
That was up from 28 percent last October. Last month, a CNN
poll found that 48 percent of Americans believe another Great
Depression is somewhat or very likely.
Luntz has found that 44 percent of Americans believe their country’s
best days are in the past, 57 percent that their children will not
achieve the same quality of life, and 53 percent that they are less
free than five years ago. So what is going on?
How did the land of the free, the home of the brave, and a country
that less than three years ago elected a young, untested black man
as president on a platform of hope and change, get into this funk?
The parlous state of the economy is only part of the explanation.
More significant is the recession’s length. Obama’s promise of a
national transformation after the Bush years, moreover, means that
the thud of coming back down to earth has been that much harder.
The intoxicating atmosphere of the 2008 election and Obama’s inauguration has given way to a hangover.
Americans were promised that the $787 billion Obama stimulus
package would cut unemployment by funding so-called “shovel-
ready projects”.
Instead, unemployment is at 9.1 percent compared to the 7.8
percent Obama inherited, while the national deficit has tripled
from less than $500 billion to a staggering $1.5 trillion.
To add insult to injury, at a recent gathering of his Council on Jobs
and Competitiveness, during a discussion about the length of time it
took to get projects funded, a smiling Obama interjected: “Shovel-
ready was not as shovel-ready as we expected.”
Members of the council sitting around him tittered but most Americans were not amused.
There is gridlock in Washington over raising the national debt ceiling, with Democrats demanding tax increases as well as deficit reduction, and Republicans adamant that no taxes will be increased.
In a characteristic illustration of a bipartisan assumption of bad faith in such debates, Democrats have accused Republicans of wanting to damage the economy as part of a plot to harm Obama’s re-election chances.
The US Treasury is warning of “catastrophic economic and market
consequences” if no deal is reached in July and the country defaults
on its debts, though there are signs that both sides would prefer this
to political compromise.
Obama summed up the Republican position as “Are you willing to
compromise your kids’ safety so some corporate-jet owner can get
a tax break?” Six times, he mentioned the scourge of tax breaks
for corporate jets.
To the uninitiated, it might have appeared that eliminating these evil tax breaks might make a significant dent in the national debt.
But it was quickly calculated that doing so would save about $3
billion over the next decade, or 0.03 per cent of the $9.5 trillion
in cumulative new debt contained in Obama’s current budget plan.
On foreign policy, there was a brief spasm of celebration over the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
But Obama’s decision, against military advice, to capitalise on
this by withdrawing 33,000 US troops from Afghanistan has been
accompanied by a sense that the US is retreating, if not surrendering.
It was on the Fourth of July last year that General David Petraeus
assumed command in Afghanistan and declared: “We are in this
to win.”
But in announcing his recent decision to withdraw troops, there was
no mention by Obama of winning or victory – or, for that matter, of
Petraeus, who is returning home to take over the CIA.
Furthermore, having cast doubt on American exceptionalism, Obama has allowed Europe to spearhead the Libya operation, prompting a White House aide to coin the term “leading from behind”.
But Americans do not just blame Obama; and the national malaise
is to do with far more than one president. “Every institution in
America has gone through a collapse,” says Luntz.
“The Church is not what it was, thanks to all those religious
scandals, the media is much less trusted today than it was
20 or 30 years ago. Big business does not have credibility.”
The growth of blogging, social media and cable TV together
with the decline of the broadcast networks and papers like
the New York Times means Americans have access to more
news, but this is often partial and drowned out by opinion.
Because there is greater choice, more and more Americans are choosing to read only things that reinforce their existing beliefs, shutting out the other side.
When Republican presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann made assertions about historical events, their supporters rushed to Wikipedia to change entries about those events – altering reality to advance their argument.
“It means a lot more shouting,” says Luntz.
“It means a much less unified America on the Fourth of July and a
lot more division. You’ll hear a lot more political arguments while
we’re watching the parades. While we will appreciate the celebration
of tradition, there’s so much anxiety and anger that it makes it
really unpleasant.”
One of the few news stories of recent months that prompted unanimity across the political divide was the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, then head of the International Monetary Fund, on suspicion of raping a chambermaid in a New York hotel.
Only in America, most people here agreed, could the rights of an
African immigrant trump those of a powerful, arrogant politician.
But even that illusion was shattered last week when it turned out
that the accusing woman was a liar with criminal ties who allegedly
hoped to profit from the incident.
Now, the sleazy Frenchman is poised to resume his presidential quest, doubtless to be fueled by Gallic anti-Americanism, back home.
The 2010 mid-term elections showed that the Tea Party movement, drawing its small-government, low-tax inspiration from the revolutionaries who overthrew the British, was a phenomenon that could turn American politics upside down.
Previous elections had been about choosing the lesser of two evils
but 2010 was about throwing the bums out. Luntz, a Republican,
predicts that 2012 will be a “none of the above” contest.
What is needed above all is optimism: it is a prerequisite for the
risk-taking needed to invest and start new businesses. Its absence
could turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy as belief in American decline
helps ensure that the halcyon years are indeed in the past.
The 1980 election was won by Ronald Reagan with his “Morning in America” message.
Today, a 10ft bronze statue of Reagan will be unveiled outside the
US Embassy in London’s Grosvenor Square, which, in another sign
of the times, is due to move to Battersea next year because of
concerns about its vulnerability to terrorists.
Thus far, there is no sign of a new Reagan emerging.
More worryingly, the optimism he embraced and came to personify
is all but absent in America this Fourth of July.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/100095052/down-
on-the-fourth-of-july-the-united-states-of-gloom/
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