John Dean, Worse Than Watergate, page 155:
"And the evidence is overwhelming, certainly sufficient for a prima facie case, that George W. Bush and Richard B. cheney have engaged in deceit and deception over going to war in Iraq. This is an impeachable offense. It is also evidence of the mentality that characterizes the Bush-Cheney presidency, which has led to other abuses of presidential power, not unlike those underlying Watergate -- only worse."
From Democrats.com:
Poll Finds Americans Evenly Split on Impeaching Bush
There are about 20 groups polling Americans on political questions. But only ONE poll - Retro Poll - has the guts to ask Americans if Bush should be impeached for lying about Iraq. "26. President Bush misled the public and Congress by saying that Saddam's Iraq was an imminent threat to launch chemical, biological, and nuclear warfare against us. Do you think that misleading the public and Congress in this way in order to take the country to war is grounds for impeachment?" The results: Yes (38.9%), No (39.8%). In other words, Americans are split right down the middle. Remember that in 1998 Americans OPPOSED the impeachment of Bill Clinton by 2:1. Call other pollsters and tell them ask the impeachment question!
Friday, May 21, 2004
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Economists are notoriously disconnected from day-to-day reality. Maybe the new journal EconJournalWatch will shake things up. But if it's only "scholarly comments on academic economics" it's likely to get lost in that house of mirrors.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Chomsky on Revolution:
No less insidious is the cry for 'revolution,' at a time when not
even the germs of new institutions exist, let alone the moral and
political consciousness that could lead to a basic modification of
social life. If there will be a 'revolution' in America today, it
will no doubt be a move towards some variety of fascism. We must
guard against the kind of revolutionary rhetoric that would have
had Karl Marx burn down the British Museum because it was merely part
of a repressive society. It would be criminal to overlook the serious
flaws and inadequacies in our institutions, or to fail to utilize
the substantial degree of freedom that most of us enjoy, within the
framework of these flawed institutions, to modify them or even
replace them by a better social order. One who pays some attention
to history will not be surprised if those who cry most loudly that
we must smash and destroy are later found among the administrators
of some new system of repression.
Source: Introduction to American Power and the New Mandarins(1969),
pp. 17-18.
No less insidious is the cry for 'revolution,' at a time when not
even the germs of new institutions exist, let alone the moral and
political consciousness that could lead to a basic modification of
social life. If there will be a 'revolution' in America today, it
will no doubt be a move towards some variety of fascism. We must
guard against the kind of revolutionary rhetoric that would have
had Karl Marx burn down the British Museum because it was merely part
of a repressive society. It would be criminal to overlook the serious
flaws and inadequacies in our institutions, or to fail to utilize
the substantial degree of freedom that most of us enjoy, within the
framework of these flawed institutions, to modify them or even
replace them by a better social order. One who pays some attention
to history will not be surprised if those who cry most loudly that
we must smash and destroy are later found among the administrators
of some new system of repression.
Source: Introduction to American Power and the New Mandarins(1969),
pp. 17-18.
Another memory hole: the Center for Cooperative Research has archive of 9/11 timeline and Iraq war (exploration of all justifications, etc.), and an extensive History of U.S. Inteventions.
Sunday, May 16, 2004
Thom Hartmann just published another book, this one in the tradition of political cartoonists like Art Spiegelman, takes on the serious question of whether we want democracy in the U.S. (or, potentially, fascism). It's called We the People.
Monday, April 05, 2004
Thursday, March 25, 2004
It always seemed to me that "The Matrix" is a perfect metaphor for a corporate-controlled society. The dominant institutions of our society -- created by us to serve us -- instead now enslave us. Teddy Roosevelt was one of the last Presidents to recognize the corporation as a Frankenstein monster in 1910: "The citizens of the United States must effectively control the mighty commercial forces which they have themselves called into being."
By then, it was too late. By then it was too late. Property had gained the right of people (the doctrine of corporate personhood was established in the 1886 Santa Clara decision). And now, people are once again becoming property (patenting of life).
Key to the machinery of corporate control is a corporate governance system that provides an illusion that what we have left somehow allows us to somehow control the corporation's behavior. The illusory notion of of "shareholder democracy" for instance (a paradox if there ever was one -- in a democracy, after all, it's one person/one vote), is supplemented by an additional illusion: that the interests of shareholders stands in perfectly for the public interest.
Instead, "share-centered corporate law creates the very problems it is meant to police," explains Daniel Greenwood in his essay, Enronitis: why Good Corporations Go Bad. "The single-valued profit maximization ethos of the share-centered corporation demands that managers teach themselves to exploit everyone around them: it is inevitable that some will learn this lesson so well that they will exploit even those for whose benefit they are supposed to be exploiting."
We buy into a self-colonizing system when we put our faith in notions such as "shareholder democracy":
"...the fictional shareholder resembles nothing more than a classic imperilist oppressor. The fiction we have created treats us as if we were a colonized people -- to be befirended, used or discarded only according to the interests of the colonizing power. But the colonizer is us and it is we ourselves we are colonizing."
By then, it was too late. By then it was too late. Property had gained the right of people (the doctrine of corporate personhood was established in the 1886 Santa Clara decision). And now, people are once again becoming property (patenting of life).
Key to the machinery of corporate control is a corporate governance system that provides an illusion that what we have left somehow allows us to somehow control the corporation's behavior. The illusory notion of of "shareholder democracy" for instance (a paradox if there ever was one -- in a democracy, after all, it's one person/one vote), is supplemented by an additional illusion: that the interests of shareholders stands in perfectly for the public interest.
Instead, "share-centered corporate law creates the very problems it is meant to police," explains Daniel Greenwood in his essay, Enronitis: why Good Corporations Go Bad. "The single-valued profit maximization ethos of the share-centered corporation demands that managers teach themselves to exploit everyone around them: it is inevitable that some will learn this lesson so well that they will exploit even those for whose benefit they are supposed to be exploiting."
We buy into a self-colonizing system when we put our faith in notions such as "shareholder democracy":
"...the fictional shareholder resembles nothing more than a classic imperilist oppressor. The fiction we have created treats us as if we were a colonized people -- to be befirended, used or discarded only according to the interests of the colonizing power. But the colonizer is us and it is we ourselves we are colonizing."
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Proposed Bush-Cheney bumper stickers:
1. Bush/Cheney '04: Four More Wars!
2. BU_ _SH_ _!
3. Bush/Cheney '04: Because the truth just isn't good enough.
4. Bush/Cheney '04: Compassionate Colonialism
5. Bush/Cheney '04: Deja-voodoo all over again!
6. Bush/Cheney '04: Leave no billionaire behind
7. Bush/Cheney '04: Less CIA -- More CYA
8. Bush/Cheney '04: Lies and videotape but no sex!
9. Bush/Cheney '04: Making the world a better place, one country at
a time.
10. Bush/Cheney '04: Putting the "con" in conservatism
11. Bush/Cheney '04: Thanks for not paying attention.
12. Bush/Cheney '04: This time, elect us!
13. Bush/Cheney: Asses of Evil
14. Don't think. Vote Bush!
15. George W. Bush: A brainwave away from the presidency
16. George W. Bush: It takes a village idiot
17. George W. Bush: The buck stops Over There
18. Vote Bush in '04: Because dictatorship is easier
19. Vote Bush in '04: It's a no-brainer!
20. Vote for Bush & You Get Dick!
1. Bush/Cheney '04: Four More Wars!
2. BU_ _SH_ _!
3. Bush/Cheney '04: Because the truth just isn't good enough.
4. Bush/Cheney '04: Compassionate Colonialism
5. Bush/Cheney '04: Deja-voodoo all over again!
6. Bush/Cheney '04: Leave no billionaire behind
7. Bush/Cheney '04: Less CIA -- More CYA
8. Bush/Cheney '04: Lies and videotape but no sex!
9. Bush/Cheney '04: Making the world a better place, one country at
a time.
10. Bush/Cheney '04: Putting the "con" in conservatism
11. Bush/Cheney '04: Thanks for not paying attention.
12. Bush/Cheney '04: This time, elect us!
13. Bush/Cheney: Asses of Evil
14. Don't think. Vote Bush!
15. George W. Bush: A brainwave away from the presidency
16. George W. Bush: It takes a village idiot
17. George W. Bush: The buck stops Over There
18. Vote Bush in '04: Because dictatorship is easier
19. Vote Bush in '04: It's a no-brainer!
20. Vote for Bush & You Get Dick!
Friday, February 20, 2004
There's a new movie that book lovers will enjoy, Stone Reader. It's about a middle-aged guy who decides to track down a writer who wrote just one book, a purportedly amazing novel.
Along the way he talks with other writers (many who attended the Iowa writers workshop), editors, a publisher and people for whom reading is important. It's a little hokey at times, but overall pretty enjoyable. Worth renting.
Along the way he talks with other writers (many who attended the Iowa writers workshop), editors, a publisher and people for whom reading is important. It's a little hokey at times, but overall pretty enjoyable. Worth renting.
Monday, February 16, 2004
If military spending directly related to protecting oil supplies and other costs were reflected at the pump, gasoline would cost $5.28 a gallon in the U.S., according to Milton Copulos, a consultant the Energy Department hired in the 1980s to gauge Soviet oil potential.
(Source: "It No Longer Places Stability Above All Else in Mideast, as Move on Iraq Indicates" By ANDREW HIGGINS, WSJournal, 2/4/04)
The Rocky Mountain Institute estimates that even in peacetime, maintaining military forces earmarked for military intervention costs $60 billion a year, or $1.58 per gallon. All paid in taxes rather than at the pump. More.
(Source: "It No Longer Places Stability Above All Else in Mideast, as Move on Iraq Indicates" By ANDREW HIGGINS, WSJournal, 2/4/04)
The Rocky Mountain Institute estimates that even in peacetime, maintaining military forces earmarked for military intervention costs $60 billion a year, or $1.58 per gallon. All paid in taxes rather than at the pump. More.
Someone called me with another "conspiracy" theory last week:
Janet Jackson's Superbowl halftime show was planned to distract the FCC from addressing her commercial promoter's media monopoly.
That was hard to believe. After all, she's got a new album coming out that she needs to sell (and perhaps help pay for her brother's legal defense).
But consider this:
As The Media Reform Network points out:
"Congress is having high-profile hearings to debate the crisis in American media. Media concentration? Nope - indecency. Spurred on by Janet Jackson's Super Bowl antics, Congress has decided to try to address the issue of television's 'race to the bottom.' Their answer? Increasing token fines on broadcasters that push the envelope with explicit content. We need your help to get Congress to focus on what's truly obscene: Big Media getting any bigger... Members of Congress are focused on the media today - we've got to tell them what really matters to us. We need you to call your representative in Congress. Urge him or her to co-sponsor House Joint Resolution 72, the resolution of disapproval that would roll back the new FCC rules. We need you to tell them that the real solution to the problems of our media has to address the root cause: the growing concentration of media ownership. Click below for your representative's information and detailed instructions."
Also, did you know that "Clear Channel buys outright entire tours by artists such as Janet Jackson"??
(Quote from "The story behind surprise 'Boss' show," by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle July 26, 2003)
Janet Jackson's Superbowl halftime show was planned to distract the FCC from addressing her commercial promoter's media monopoly.
That was hard to believe. After all, she's got a new album coming out that she needs to sell (and perhaps help pay for her brother's legal defense).
But consider this:
As The Media Reform Network points out:
"Congress is having high-profile hearings to debate the crisis in American media. Media concentration? Nope - indecency. Spurred on by Janet Jackson's Super Bowl antics, Congress has decided to try to address the issue of television's 'race to the bottom.' Their answer? Increasing token fines on broadcasters that push the envelope with explicit content. We need your help to get Congress to focus on what's truly obscene: Big Media getting any bigger... Members of Congress are focused on the media today - we've got to tell them what really matters to us. We need you to call your representative in Congress. Urge him or her to co-sponsor House Joint Resolution 72, the resolution of disapproval that would roll back the new FCC rules. We need you to tell them that the real solution to the problems of our media has to address the root cause: the growing concentration of media ownership. Click below for your representative's information and detailed instructions."
Also, did you know that "Clear Channel buys outright entire tours by artists such as Janet Jackson"??
(Quote from "The story behind surprise 'Boss' show," by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle July 26, 2003)
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