For years progressives have assumed that the ideological trajectories of both the Republican Party, certainly, and to a lesser but substantive degree the Democrats themselves, have been aligned variously with the aspirations of corporations to wriggle free from government regulation and taxation. This is arguably intended to benefit their profits at the expense, contrary to the ideological framework within which it is usually promoted, of the welfare and best interests of the citizenry.
Since the watershed election of President Obama 'populist' opposition to his policies has emerged, largely facilitated, if not actually inspired, by sponsorship from the Right-wing media, not to mention other less visible patrons.
Predictably the source of this 'movement' has been identified as disaffection with government spending and intrusion into the civil liberties of our citizens, but the truth may be more daunting to accept for those concerned with such issues, and seriously casts doubt on the 'grassroots' credentials of organisations like the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a significant Tea Party promoter:
Over the July 4th weekend, [an Americans for Prosperity Foundation] summit called Texas Defending the American Dream took place in a chilly hotel ballroom in Austin. Though [founder billionare David Koch] freely promotes his philanthropic ventures, he did not attend the summit, and his name was not in evidence. And on this occasion the audience was roused ... by a series of speakers denouncing President Barack Obama. Peggy Venable, the organizer of the summit, warned that Administration officials "have a socialist vision for this country."
Five hundred people attended the summit, which served, in part, as a training session for Tea Party activists in Texas. An advertisement cast the event as a populist uprising against vested corporate power. "Today, the voices of average Americans are being drowned out by lobbyists and special interests," it said. "But you can do something about it." The pitch made no mention of its corporate funders. The White House has expressed frustration that such sponsors have largely eluded public notice. David Axelrod, Obama's senior adviser, said, "What they don't say is that, in part, this is a grassroots citizens' movement brought to you by a bunch of oil billionaires."
The Koch brothers, Charles and David, are both executives of Koch Industries, a major US petrochemical industrial giant, and have a long history of what might be termed 'fringe' Right-wing political beliefs and questionable spending of large sums of their considerable fortunes on politically oriented projects in the grey areas of electoral legality and scientific integrity. Their influence, however, on our current political discourse is increasingly disproportionate.
A hard if not impossible act to follow, I've struggled to find anything further to say on US politics which hasn't been expressed in comments to and from Chris in his recent 'Sell Me' diary.
So forgive this oblique and perverse turn to the personal, as I turn my fire to the Month of August which, in recent memory, has always been the worst month of the year.
I don't know why that is. I always look forward to August as a sun-baked time of relaxation away from home or - if staying at home - a sneaky enjoyment of the absence of others and the emptiness of the roads and transport system.
But for all its promise, August has always let me down...
Ahem. Bad Hollede! I have been trying to work on teh 'Tubes' for a while now, but a couple of little imps (you know who you are;~) have been, um, distracting me, and in fact, holding me hostage when I log onto my computer;~J LOL. Ah well, I guess it wouldn't happen if I didn't let them lure me away from my (self) appointed duties;~P It has been a lot of fun and I have sorely missed chatting with my on-line buddies, so please forgive my indulgence...
That being said, on with the 'Tubes'!
I noticed this on teh MSNBC and laughed my ass off. This tube was put out by collegehumor.com, a group of amazingly talented folks, who have (IMHO) nailed the lunacy of the media and the daffy criticism from the left and right toward President Obama.
Let's see, no one is happy...maybe he is doing something right;~P
OK, so against my better wishes I find myself writing a diary. It's all Strummerson's fault for getting me going, but I suppose I had a few pages stuck in me somewhere.
The topic is this: "Sell me on being concerned about the Democrats keeping control of Congress."
I'm exactly the kind of person who was extremely motivated and involved in the Obama election who is today mostly sitting on the sidelines while - in theory - the Dems might get a trouncing in the mid-terms. I will vote in November and it looks like I will vote Democrat mostly, but I'm doing nothing other than my usual talking (here and elsewhere) about it.
Most of you know that I am pretty Centrist on average and hold views on different topics which are in many ways deep parts of both the political right and left. At first glance I put down most of my ennui to an "in power" as opposed to "out of power" situation combined with general up tick in busyness. The more I think about it, however, the more I realize that the answer is more:
"I already got everything I was after."
So, assuming I am doing more than rambling my fingertips in late-night stupor, I ask my fellow Moose and any passerby who feels like chiming in to convince me that there is some urgency I should feel about November.
Consider this a "Short Attention Span Theater" Open Thread.
The rise of Islamophobia across Europe in recent years has filled me with a kind a foreboding I haven't felt since the early 90s and the Nationalism in Former Yugoslavia. So I salute your President for taking on Palin, the TeaPartyers and Islamophobes over the Mosque Prayer Room in Downtown Manhattan as he celebrated the beginning of Ramadan at the White House last night.
You all are aware of the fact that Maxine Waters, Congresswoman has vowed to fight the charges being leveled against her in Congress. I say - fight on my sister!
Perhaps it's time to remind the progressive community about just who she is and why her voice is not only needed in the House - but in this nation.
The label "Republican woman" has always seemed, to me, to embody a certain amount of inherent self-loathing. The same goes in my mind, I suppose, for "African American Republican," "Hispanic Republican," "gay Republican," and the list continues... Truly, the only people I believe have any real business being Republicans these days (and by that I mean, the only ones who should find conservatism to be in their own self-interest) are rich white dudes who don't want to pay their fair share of taxes, or maybe even poor white bigots who have nowhere else to go because they would meet the sort of people they hate at every turn under the rather diverse "big tent" of the Democratic party. But nowadays the blatant self-loathing certain groups of Republicans are displaying is becoming increasingly pronounced. Two examples I've come across in the last week, which I just couldn't help commenting on...
I've written about Tony before, and here's a picture of us both (me on the right, Tony in the middle, and Polish producer and activist Krzysztof Czyzewski on the left) from happier days in Oxford three years ago.
Though not unexpected, this is a personal loss for me, because Tony was both friend and mentor (as another friend has written "severe and kind"). I'd recently interviewed him for Prospective Magazine, and written an appraisal of his heroic stand on European history, Identity Politics, Israel, Iraq, and the corruptions of Marxism and the future of the left, published only this month....
Switzerland's landslide vote to ban Muslim minarets surprised many pundits and commentators, more familiar with the nation's image as a bastion of tolerance and European enlightenment.
These results, in fact, are not so surprising. They derive from the peculiar structure of Swiss democracy, which effectively creates a voter base less diverse than the general public. These voters are generally predisposed to support such initiatives as the minaret vote.
I am specifically talking about Swiss citizenship. Becoming a Swiss citizen implies that one has become part of the Swiss people, and the Swiss have a very strict definitions of what this means. Since - of course - only citizens may vote, this strictness directly impacts the Swiss electorate.
The Army is once again trying to pinpoint the causes behind the bafflingly stubborn rate of suicide within its ranks. A new report now says it's a leadership failure -- inattention to pre-deployment problem behaviors -- rather than the stress of repeated deployments itself. Next week they'll come up with some other reason. Meanwhile they're establishing all these fancy new programs designed to prop up the force's mental health, yet overlooking what might be among the most fundamental cause of all: a profound and violent spiritual disenchantment with what the war represents and what it's doing to our country, our troops, and of course the innocent civilians who suffer as well.
On Facebook today someone asked me to join an event to "Stop the Marketplace for One Day". Because Facebook will only allow me 1,000 characters in a wall post - and because I can't say "hello" in less than 1,500 characters - I decided to make it the basis of an Open Thread discussion.
My comment is below the fold, but you won't find me pitching in to bring down the global economy to somehow "fix things". I like the 21st century, and since one of my children did not die as an infant I find it demonstrably more desirable than the 19th century when at least one of them would have.
Anyone who wants to suggest that we shuck off this modern world needs to talk to the parents of this baby, first.
For years progressives have assumed that the ideological trajectories of both the Republican Party, certainly, and to a lesser but substantive degree the Democrats themselves, have been aligned variously with the aspirations of corporations to wriggle free from government regulation and taxation. This is arguably intended to benefit their profits at the expense, contrary to the ideological framework within which it is usually promoted, of the welfare and best interests of the citizenry.
A 
