Ever get the feeling that virtually nobody with power gives a crap about your life?

[MannyGoldstein]

Actually, I'm lucky to live in a state where government actually functions well and gives a shit, probably because 80%+ of the legislature is Democratic. We're those crazy Ted-Kennedy-lovin' moonbat Liberals, don't 'cha know!

But at the national level? More than ever, We The People are now no more than an annoying acquaintance they have to put up with at special occasions. The two austerity parties are facing off over who we little people will blame for the fallout from their gifts to the Predator Class. The drones are high in the sky, looking to shorten the secret kill list. More children sleep hungry in cars each night.

Several good friends have gotten austeritied out of their jobs lately, good people with great credentials who are now scurrying to avoid becoming road kill. Found out tonight that the company where I used to work is entering a new phase of fecality in its inexorable death-spiral since being acquired by private equity nitwits.

One way or the other, this $&@#s gotta stop. Hopefully the FDR way, not the Hitler way.

Godspeed, everybody. Hold on tight, tight.

[cherokeeprogressive]

1. I am a numbered ballot. Any and EVERY politician will tell me what he or she thinks I want to hear.

They kid themselves, and have convinced others; it's okay to obfuscate and even lie in their attempt to "do something good".

What's the BEST argument for term limits? The fucked up condition of the United States today.

[TheMastersNemesis]

2. I Can Agree With Your Post

My assessment is that things are a lot worse than they appear to be. And I believe that it will get a lot worse for workers and their ability to hold, have or find a job that pays them a living wage. Wages are still dropping drastically in some key area. The teaching profession is being summarily stripped of all its benefits and rights and being reduced to slavery actually. There are areas that are particularly targeted because they are a threat to the conservative movement.

I believe their is a pogrom against workers and professions that are any threat to the GOP. It is hard for most people to see such broad based attack where the media deliberately hides what is happening.

[babylonsister]

3. No, Manny, I have the feeling that it's 'us' vs. them...

the rethugs are trying to bring us down, the Democrats are trying to right the wrongs.

Yes, foibles galore which you love to laud, but come on! Root for the home team once in awhile!

[MannyGoldstein]

8. I know you feel that way. And you know I feel this way.

Other than Elizabeth Warren and a few others, I'm not seeing good effort.

We'll just have to agree to disagree for now, sorry.

[Archaic]

10. Elizabeth Warren is the only reason I haven't given up hope.

There are other folks that come and go, hit good notes on some issues.

But I've been following Dr. Warren for some time, and have never seen her do anything I couldn't support. In fact, I trust her enough that I'm now only mostly negative on Lew as Treasury Secretary instead of totally negative. If she voted to confirm him, then maybe she sees/knows something I don't.

If she goes corporate on us, I think I'll lose any feeling that the system can be fixed.

[Rider3]

95. She's a breath of fresh air, isn't she?

[Jamaal510]

29. I definitely have a feeling that

nobody in power at least from the GOP cares about my life. While there are some things I disagree with the president and other elected Dems on, I can at least tell that they're working harder to get the country back on the correct path. For example, even though health care reform was unpopular, Obama did the right thing and fought for it anyway. Also, the country's debt has lowered during his time in office. There have been over 30 consecutive months of job growth. He ended DADT. He has ended one war and is winding down the other. He signed the Lily Ledbetter Act. He extended tax cuts for middle-income and lower-income people. He proposed a Jobs Bill in 2011 to Congress, which would've put many Americans back to work. And the list goes on.

There is no way any of this would've been possible with a President McCain or President Romney. Both sides are not the same here.

[babylonsister]

42. But don't you see?

None of that counts, both parties are the same, and we're crazy to think otherwise!

[hfojvt]

82. it is somewhat crazy to believe that Obama

"extended tax cuts for lower and middle income people."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022130101

Just FYI, Obama's tax cuts heavily favored the wealthy, and they always did.

[Larry Ogg]

98. Psychologist never said that Right Wing Authoritarians were "crazy", however...

They they do deserve a lot of credit for the hard-times, and hysteria spreading amongst the otherwise sane, and productive population.

[rhett o rick]

131. No we are only crazy if we think that the oligarchs dont have control in both parties.

The Democratic Party is 1000 times better (or more)than the repuke party. But it would be foolish to think that the oligarchs werent smart enough to buy influence in the Democratic Party.

[sulphurdunn]

111. Political parties are not teams,

although they have similarities: They have cheerleaders, but They are not loyal to them because cheerleaders are not players. Political parties are not your friend. They play for those who pay, those who own them. That is not you. Democracy as a sports analogy is the kiss of death. Politics is war. Political parties do not have loyalties or friends. They only have interests. They only care if they win or lose. So should the rest of us.

[babylonsister]

118. Well thanks for that clarification.

I vastly prefer belonging to the Democratic party and have miles more faith in them; so sue me.

[sulphurdunn]

140. You're welcome.

My lawyer will be in touch.

[840high]

121. A woman at the grocery

store told me today that both parties have no interest in us.

[MichiganVote]

127. She's right.

[840high]

142. That's what I told her.

[woo me with science]

144. I can't tell you how many times

I have had or overheard that conversation in public places over the past year. People are getting it. They don't buy the lies about the good party and the bad party anymore. They know we are being sold out by both, and they are ANGRY.

And when you start to talk back and they realize that you see it, too, there is this tremendous sense of kinship and shared outrage and determination that something needs to be done.

[840high]

145. You are so right. This

perfect strangers hugged me when I agreed with her. Cost of groceries going up every week and the boys in DC don't care - both parties. They're not suffering.

[woo me with science]

147. Did you see this video?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017102500

[840high]

150. Thank you.

[Poll_Blind]

4. The real irony here, to me, is that the dysfunction at the Federal level is...

...essentially a reflection of the collective dysfunction at the state level. In other words, while the President is rather unique in his position, the House and Senate- but especially the House- should, on some level, be a better reflection of the state of our affairs and priorities as a country. I do see some hope in the Democratic Party in the House but much less in the Senate.

And yet, these people are not grown in Washinton, DC. They're grown, at least theoretically, out where you and I live. And, as the story goes, we pluck the best of them and ship them all off to one place where they can go make our future a place to look forward to.

And since I don't see that being the case, I'm just assuming that the lack of public accountability has reached such dismal lows, collectively, that we are truly getting the government we (collectively) deserve.

I expect a further degradation of the situation. The Democratic Party Leadership and this administration combine to form a kind of throwback Tammany Hall kind of environment, not the thing we really, desperately, needed after eight years of Bush.

If I'm a passenger on an airplane and I look out the window and I see one of the engines fall off, and I turn to my fellow passenger and say "I think this plane's going to crash" they don't reply "Don't open you mouth unless you can fix the engine."

I think this plane's going to crash.

PB

[MannyGoldstein]

6. I suspect that politics has always attracted an overabundance of sociopaths

And when sociopathy moved from being a mental illness to a cause for celebration... well, here we are.

[loudsue]

56. Gerrymandering and a whole bottomless pit of corporate money

have a lot to do with how the house of reps. is made up. Same for the Senate, but mostly the house.

[dreamnightwind]

93. Exactly

This "the government we deserve" meme is wide-spread, and in my opinion incorrect. The party pipelines produce, fund, and elect candidates that support the overall world-view of their corporate donors. Also this is why term limits are an ineffective reform. The corporate sock-puppets can be cloned indefinitely, and the new ones have little track record for the people to mobilize against, making it easier for their well-funded campaigns to succeed. Opposing viewpoints and genuinely progressive candidates are opposed by the Democratic party in the primaries in support of more corporate candidates.

[ancianita]

109. So true, evidenced by how Wasserman-Schultz did just that in FL.

Except that Alan Grayson is his own machine with important whip potential.

[loudsue]

139. Well said. n/t

[Larry Ogg]

102. Socialize the election process, voting box, and public media...

And say goodbye to the influence of hundreds of billions of dollars coming from the predator class who hand picks the majority of venal politicians that most Americans blindly vote for in both Parties, because their not given much of a choice.

Until then, don't board doomed airplanes, or expect pretend democracies to fix themselves.

[dixiegrrrrl]

124. "I think this plane's going to crash. "

I agree with you, wholeheartily.

And, in knowing that the only person responsible for my survival is me, I packed the best parachute I could find,
just in case, even tho it may not be good enough for a total wipe out crash.
Because I have NO control over the pilot or the plane at this point in time.
None.
No illusion about that at all.

[Warpy]

5. They remember we exist every 2 years when they remember

they need to tell us enough lies that we will go out and vote for them. The rest of the year, their knowledge of the country is confined to what lobbyists choose to tell them when they're whoring for enough cash to get out there and lie to us again during the next election.

No, they don't give a shit. We don't give them the big money, the junkets to conferences that just happen to be in fancy resorts, or the stock tips so they can retire rich. Why the hell should they care? The system is stacked against it.

[Lint Head]

7. Every damn day.

[DearHeart]

146. I second that!!

[pinboy3niner]

9. We who are about to die salute you

Where have I heard that before?

[MannyGoldstein]

11. That about captures it.

Same as it ever was.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

20. Morituri te salutamus.

I remembered that line from high school Latin class, many decades ago.

[dkf]

12. Did they ever?

I'm just figuring out how to not get squashed. My expectations are low though...I want them to not crash the place but even that seems ambitious.

[MannyGoldstein]

15. The Founders, Lincoln, and FDR, I think.

Every 80 or so years our country has faced an existential crisis. So far, a force for Good has bubbled up each time and led us back in the right direction. I hope the good guys win his time, too.

[awoke_in_2003]

67. The corporations that own congress...

own the media that keep us "informed". Americans are dumb and lazy.

[RobinA]

70. Really

I'm 55. I never thought anybody in power cared about my life. Starting with my 2nd grade teacher who gave me an F in spelling, despite my spelling all words correctly, because I tried to write in cursive, which we hadn't learned yet. It was, by the way, totally legible. Then there was my high school guidance counselor who looked at my Bs and Cs (in academic classes) but apparently not my IQ, and decided I might want to consider something other than college. Bite me, Mr. Anderson. After that it was downhill all the way. Like the poster above, I'm just trying to figure out what course of action has the best chance of not getting me squashed. I've been laid off twice, but bounced back each time. Five years ago I went public sector because I wanted a union and a pension. They are trying to do away with that stuff, too, but at least the chances of a retirement where I can afford human food are better than if I were still in the private sector.

[LittleGirl]

77. Hi RobinA

I could have written what you wrote. SO SPOT ON!
I had the same guidance counselor in high school. Said I wasn't smart enough for the advanced english class and basically to go back to my restaurant cashier job and try to be a manager there. (where I belonged apparently).
In the private sector, you're on your own. Right to work laws for less and less and less...
Unions!

[HiPointDem]

13. have not believed that people in power cared about *me* for a long time. not even local

power brokers.

it's quite freeing.

[RobinA]

75. I Do Not

find it freeing at all. I graduated from college in 1980, hello Reagan economy. I didn't work in my major, because it was slated for cutbacks. The first job I got I took so I would have health insurance. That entity ceased to exist in 1986 after a slow death. My career decision-making, while taking into consideration my interests, has been based almost completely on attaining some measure of job security. I have worked at three careers, two of which I enjoyed. In my 32 years of working I have worked for 2 1/2 years at a place that wasn't teetering on the verge of extinction. Some made it, some didn't. As a result, I have taken zero financial risks, and it has limited me. I am somewhat financially conservative, but had I ever once NOT had to worry whether I'd have a job a year from now, I would have been considerably more successful in life than I currently am. And I'm WAY better off than a lot of people, but that is due to some luck and no risk taking.

[HiPointDem]

83. psychologically freeing.

knowing they're just shits interested in money & power, you no longer bend the knee -- in any way.

[TDale313]

14. Yep. All the time.

Sadly, this might be one of the few things people all across the political spectrum agree on.

[Apophis]

16. I honestly believe that no one in power gives a shit about me or you.

[cbrer]

17. Yeah...call it a "feeling"

What gripes my ass is that it's within our power to change politics, do the right thing, and succeed as a nation.

But we won't. Until we're in dire straits. Might be too late now. What a shame.

The greatest social experiment in human history. Killed by greed.

[Archaic]

18. We are here to pay the bills.

How have we devolved to a point that a CEO who has done nothing, can get a check for 100-1000 years of my salary when they arrive, and again when they leave? Plus an annual salary of 50-100 times what I make. Plus company cars, homes, bills paid, travel. Yet minimal if any taxes.

When I worked for a Dow30 company, I was directly involved in saving bundles of money for the company. The CEO was told what the other divisions had designed and were going to sell. They didn't set our direction, they announced the work of other people. Me? Pay freeze for 5 years. The designers? Pay freeze for 5 years. CEO? Big money, no whammies.

We bust our butts, put in the hours to prove that we should be kept in the event of layoffs, but see no compensation for those extra hours. That time away from home. From meeting new people, doing new things. As I've just hit 40, that's my biggest regret. Between layoffs, and layoff prevention, I haven't been on a date in 10 years.

The CEO of my current company doesn't make much more than 5x what I make. But we're a utility, and it's kind of hard to justify massive pay to your customers when electricity bills increase every year. He's only 4 people above me on the org chart, and sits less than 1000' from my desk, but has no clue what things are like for the employees. When you're that close to people, you really have to try hard not to see what's going on. But he'll head out, in his company car, with his company credit card, and wonder why mooches out there complain about food, fuel and insurance prices.

I work in the west. So, right to be fired at will, and surrounded by "conservatives" that don't seem to want to conserve. Lots of austerity hawks out here. And none of them want to talk about it when I ask them why this wasn't a big deal in 2001-2009.

Several of my friends that survived the layoff that got me, just got whacked. So more educated, hard working people scrambling for work. The company has been imposing austerity on the employees for 10 years. It's been lavishing riches on the executives during that time.

I don't think we're going to see an FDR. I really don't see a Hitler coming around either, as I don't know who somebody like that would be able to scapegoat. No, I just see it sliding downhill, less civility, less society for the masses.

[HiPointDem]

30. Pay the bills? No. The money we receive for our work is illusory and mostly given right back

to its 'owners' in order for us to live. It's the hook they use to get us to work for them and increase their power.

We are here to build their power. We build the buildings and factories they own; we build the roads, the communications networks, the implements of war, the space satellites, etc that they control -- and that they use to increase their control over us.

We staff the local agencies of control -- police, social services, schools, etc. And we carry out their policies, policies that empower them and disempower us. As willing tools; we call their policies and beliefs our own.

[Tsiyu]

19. WE willingly gave away our power

but we still have power - if we choose to exercise it.

Stop buying corporate shit, but then we hear "Then I will lose my crappy job working for the crappy corporation if you stop buying their crappy products!"

So a few years ago, when some of us said to stop buying from bad corps, others said, "No! DOn't!" and they lost their fucking jobs anyway.

We have tremendous power to change the way things are. But Americans are self-absorbed and lazy when it comes to holding their leaders accountable, when it comes to voting, when it comes to putting their money where their mouths are, when it comes to organizing.

Everyone it seems is a coward who only worries about him or her self. About his or her own particular job.

Together we are a force. Separate, we are just fucking worms.

Take back your power or whine. Tough choice, apparently....

[Fire Walk With Me]

21. When you stand up and demand positive Change, suddenly they do. Very much so.

Occupy Denver. Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post




Occupy Portland. Steve Dipaola, Reuters




Occupy San Francisco. UPI Terry Schmitt




Occupy Phoenix.




Occupy LA.




Unknown Occupy Action.




Democratic National Convention.

[woo me with science]

73. There are no adequate words.

Just sickness.

[Moostache]

79. The horror to me was the recognition that they ALL have the same uniforms now...

Once upon a time, when this country was worth a shit and the future was still potentially more than a morass of human misery and strife, the police of different communities wore uniforms that reflected the character of the areas they lived in and the history of those places...

Pathetically, the neo-police state that was the United States of America became the Police States of America after the "Patriot Act" and "warrantless wiretapping" and "extraordinary rendition" entered the discussion and the "security" was sold to private contractors and the police were militarized nationwide.

We now literally have national jack-booted thugs who are police - to protect and serve the rich, to oppress and detain the poor.

I hope that when this all comes apart at the seams the police realize that they are not on the team with the 1%, they are the attack dogs and their masters will cut them off at the knees in a heartbeat even if they serve them faithfully through the coming storms.

[snappyturtle]

87. Yep....sadly. nt

[Fire Walk With Me]

104. It is possible to trace this trend to two sources.

The DHS who are turning PDs into tentacles via the "iWatch" program, and the extremely rich who are raking it in via the $1 trillion a year spy tech industry (TSA scanners, etc.)


How the Los Angeles Police Department are made into tentacles of Homeland Security.
http://occupyobservations.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-lapd-are-made-into-tentacle-of-dhs.html


Meet the Contractors Turning America's Police Into a Paramilitary Force

The national security state has an annual budget of around $1 trillion. Of that huge pile of money, large amounts go to private companies the federal government awards contracts to. Some, like Lockheed Martin or Boeing, are household names, but many of the contractors fly just under the public's radar. What follows are three companies you should know about (because some of them can learn a lot about you with their spy technologies).

http://www.alternet.org/meet-contractors-turning-americas-police-paramilitary-force?paging=off


Anonymous: Night Raid Equipment-Maker Lobbied for NDAA, Singles Out Sen. Rob Portman.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/19/1046972/-Anonymous-Night-Raid-Equipment-Maker-Lobbied-for-NDAA-Singles-Out-Sen-Rob-Portman#

Anonymous singles out Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) for receiving a particularly large sum from companies and PACs lobbying for the NDAA. From the RT report:

Robert J. Portman...we are truly disturbed by the ludicrous $272,853 he received from special interest groups supporting the NDAA bill that authorizes the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.

Even in Washington terms, over a quarter million is a ridiculous amount of money from special interest groups supporting an issue to any single legislator. Congressmen have been bought for far less, with around $50,000 considered a serious ante at anyone's table, and much less merely keeping you in the game.

snip

“Among the supporters of NDAA are California-based manufacturer Surefire, L.L.C., who won a $23 million contract from the Department of Defense three months ago.

[KT2000]

22. Yes

It is becoming absurd that every election the populace is flattered into enthusiasm but the truth is our country is owned by the corporations and their bought and paid for politicians. There are a few exceptions of course - Sanders, Grayson, Warren to name a few.
Corporations can make their money on any eventuality - even our demise. And most politicians don't care.

[TheKentuckian]

23. Neglect seems like an improvement. I tend to think they are actively trying to milk us.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

24. They're looting the place with our approval.

(When we vote for them.)

[woo me with science]

45. +1 That's the bottom line of corporate rule.

We are given the illusion of freedom because we are allowed to pick our jobs, but it's absolutely required that we produce for them. And it's not just milk anymore...They are finding ways to profit from every single aspect of our lives.

And now they're rejecting the expense of maintaining us past the point when we can be milked anymore.

We are living under corporate ethics now, and there's no need to keep a cow that doesn't profit you.

[Fuddnik]

25. Here's the deal.

'nuff said.

[Jamaal510]

31. That's false equivalence.

Democrats are not the ones trying to make it harder for minorities to vote, close down public schools, denying women access to birth control, denying gays rights, or running up unemployment and the deficit every time they get elected into power.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

36. yep. +100 n/t

[Shankapotomus]

41. +1

Republicans always use the false equivalency - "Well, they're all bad" - when their side gets caught with anything.

No, they're not.

[cliffordu]

59. What you said.

[great white snark]

64. Thank you.

[Jennicut]

71. Absolutely true. But some just want to believe the parties are exactly the same. They are not.

Did we learn nothing from Bush against Gore? Dems are not perfect. But they are far from what Republicans are.

[mountain grammy]

85. Thank you! There are differences. I'll remain realistic, but refuse to be so pessimistic and cynical

It would make me a Republican, and they are different.

[snappyturtle]

90. Sometimes they're different in what they say but the outcomes....not so much.

Of course, imho. I say this with great sadness. Yes, we ratchet forward at times in good ways but over all my life is going into a sink hole. How's it working out for you?

[mountain grammy]

103. I'm ok, but we've been really lucky to have been healthy with decent union jobs.

Lucky to have prospered under the Clinton Administration, selling our business at the beginning of 2000, before W was appointed. We struggle, but we are collecting our social security and I turned the majic age of 65 last year, so that's saving us a bundle. We both still work part time, but without Democratic policies, we'd be a lot worse off. We're better off than our parents were.

[Number23]

107. You're banging your head against a wall with this crowd. But good luck

and good post.

[Jamaal510]

117. I know,

but I just wanted to make it plain for anybody else who lurks on this site, who happens to be feeling cynical or on the fence.

[Spirochete]

26. Get the feeling?

No, I take it for granted, nowdays.

[Kennah]

27. I only feel that way the first seven days of the week

[defacto7]

32. Yeah... I'm with you all on this one.

I have always looked into every persons eyes with an interest that we are humans with a life and a story and a history, and every person is of a value no greater or less than myself. Unfortunately, the look rarely comes back with the same intent.

I sincerely doubt few politicians see the crowd as anything but a crowd.

[snappyturtle]

96. ......

It didn't have to be this way but............

[Skittles]

33. what kills me is how many DUers still swoon

I swear they need an intervention

[840high]

123. That yep.

[Sherman A1]

34. Yup,

Pretty much, I am a vote & a campaign contribution. Beyond that it's lip service at the very best.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

35. nobody *without power* does either!

[struggle4progress]

130. +

[BlancheSplanchnik]

136. was having a bum out night

So it kind of came out here.

[struggle4progress]

138. I planned to post the same, just on general grouchy principle, but you beat me to it!

[Autumn]

37. They remember us every election, and then promptly drop us like

a hot potato right after.

[hobbit709]

38. I've had that feeling for years-since Nixon.

Some years are better, some are worse, but the feeling stays.

[AngryOldDem]

39. Every damned day.

Government just works for the few anymore. The many can just go fuck themselves.

[Zax2me]

40. President Obama cares - and he has changed things

Lighten up!

[MannyGoldstein]

47. When Paul Krugman lunches at the White House as often as Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blankfein

there'll be grounds for me to reconsider.

[ancianita]

113. AMEN TO THAT.

[woo me with science]

72. Hope and Change

Corporate and bank-cozy appointments, over and over again
Bailouts and settlements for corrupt banks (with personal pressure from Obama to attorneys general to approve them),
Refusal to prosecute even huge, egregious examples of bank fraud (i.e, HSBC)
NDAA to allow indefinite detention,
"Kill lists" and claiming of the right to assassinate even American citizens without trial
Maintaining Guantanamo Bay and the Patriot Act,
Expansion of wars into several new countries
A renewed public support for the concept of preemptive war
Drone campaigns in multiple countries with whom we are not at war
Proliferation of military drones in our skies
Federal targeting of Occupy for surveillance and militarized response to peaceful protesters
Fighting all the way to the Supreme Court for warrantless surveillance
Fighting all the way to the Supreme Court for strip searches for any arrestee
Increase of media consolidation into the hands of corporate giants
Internet-censoring and privacy-violating measures like ACTA and the new CISPA-like executive order
Support for corporate groping and naked scanning of Americans seeking to travel
A new, massive spy center for warrantless access to Americans' phone calls, emails, and internet use
Support of legislation to legalize such spying
Skyrocketing of the budget for prisons.
Billions in federal grants for the expansion of for-profit prisons
Militarized police departments, through federal grants
Marijuana users and medical marijuana clinics under assault,
Supporting a bipartisan vote in Congress to gut more financial regulations.
Passionate speeches and press conferences promoting austerity for Americans, while the
Bush tax cuts were extended for billionaires.
Support for the payroll tax holiday, tying SS to the general fund
Support for the vicious chained CPI cut in Social Security and benefits for the disabled
Social security, Medicare, and Medicaid offered up as bargaining chips in budget negotiations, with no mention of cutting corporate welfare or the military budget
Multiple new free trade agreements, including The Trans-Pacific, otherwise known as "NAFTA on steroids."
Growth of the power of lobbyists to prevent government regulation of corporations.
Support of drilling, pipelines, and selling off portions of the Gulf of Mexico
Expansion of military support into Mali
Corporate education policy including high stakes corporate testing and closures of public schools.

In every major policy area that interests the one percent (i.e., that can be translated into profits), this administration has fought aggressively for an agenda that would make George W. Bush proud.

[CanonRay]

43. All the time.

Might have something to do with it being the truth. 95% of our elected officials just do not give a shit about us, until it is time to vote.

[raccoon]

44. I don't believe they do. nt

[99Forever]

46. It's not a feeling, it's an absolute certainty.

We have two parties taking turns screwing us.

We have the self-absorbed, interested only in keeping their offices party and the much worse one.

This movie will not end well.

[Puzzledtraveller]

48. I never thought they did in the first place, not once, not ever

As my signature makes clear. Basically humans are motivated first by self interests, even the most self proclaimed altruistic person is motivated by self interest. All of us are, you, me, the person next to you.

[deutsey]

49. Carlin said it all: "They don't care about you at all"

But there’s a reason. There’s a reason. There’s a reason for this, there’s a reason education SUCKS, and it’s the same reason it will never, ever, EVER be fixed.

It’s never going to get any better, don’t look for it, be happy with what you’ve got.

Because the owners, the owners of this country don't want that. I'm talking about the real owners now, the BIG owners! The Wealthy… the REAL owners! The big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions.

Forget the politicians. They are irrelevant. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice! You have OWNERS! They OWN YOU. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought, and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the state houses, the city halls, they got the judges in their back pockets and they own all the big media companies, so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the balls.

They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying, lobbying, to get what they want. Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else, but I'll tell you what they don’t want:

They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. Thats against their interests.

Thats right. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table and think about how badly they’re getting fucked by a system that threw them overboard 30 fucking years ago. They don’t want that!

You know what they want? They want obedient workers. Obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork. And just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shitty jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it, and now they’re coming for your Social Security money. They want your retirement money. They want it back so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street, and you know something? They’ll get it. They’ll get it all from you sooner or later cause they own this fucking place! It's a big club, and you ain’t in it! You, and I, are not in the big club.

By the way, it's the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long beating you over the head with their media telling you what to believe, what to think and what to buy. The table has tilted folks. The game is rigged and nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care! Good honest hard-working people; white collar, blue collar it doesn’t matter what color shirt you have on. Good honest hard-working people continue, these are people of modest means, continue to elect these rich cock suckers who don’t give a fuck about you….they don’t give a fuck about you… they don’t give a FUCK about you.

They don’t care about you at all… at all… AT ALL. And nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care. Thats what the owners count on. The fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white and blue dick thats being jammed up their assholes everyday, because the owners of this country know the truth.

It's called the American Dream,because you have to be asleep to believe it.

http://shoqvalue.com/george-carlin-on-the-american-dream-with-transcript

[GiveMeFreedom]

105. Carlin was a prophet

It's called the American Dream,because you have to be asleep to believe it.

Thank you. Peace and love.

[deutsey]

126. In the truest sense of the word.

[woo me with science]

141. +1

[cali]

50. Aside from both my Senators, my Congressman, my guv, the vast majority

of the state legislature.

And yes, I'm lucky too

[ProSense]

51. Look at how long it has been going

This is just 25 years: The Titanic Wealth Gap Between Blacks and Whites
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022437928

Not a lot of interest there, never was. The thing that's absolutely clear is that for many Americans, that's not going to change overnight. To attempt to reverse decades of inquality would require a enormously drastic change. Every other positive step, even significant ones like increasing the minimum wage, looks like baby steps incomparison to the problems.

President Obama's policies: big savings and smart spending
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022424843

[Javaman]

52. It's not a feeling to me. I live in Texas. It's a reality here. nt

[Comrade_McKenzie]

53. Because they don't.

The best thing we can do is elect people that will throw us the most crumbs on their power trip.

[samplegirl]

54. Somedays it feels as if there is

no hope at all. Living in Ohio and trying to replace a 31 year position with decent pay seems to never be an option again. Most nights I lay in bed wondering why it is never the middle classes turn to recover.

[treestar]

55. No, I do not

They have to - they are elected.

They care about right wingers too, unfortunately, and this is how they end up doing things I don't agree with.

[Myrina]

57. Yes. Daily.

Listening to NPR just now and they're talking about how the US is funding & arming 'rebels' in hopes of a 'post Assad Syria' ... and thinking, my country overthrows governments and it's ok with everyone? .... this is just one example.

I could go on and on about gun control, Social Security, OT pay, tax-evaders, reproductive freedom etc etc ... it just seems like elected officials aren't even bothering to pretend they're listening to average folks anymore.

[erinlough]

58. There was a scene in House of Cards on Netflix

The horrible congressman is leaving the senate and a disheveled homeless man in handcuffs is screaming on the sidewalk, surrounded by police. The senator approaches him and quietly says, "no one cares about you, no one will hear you, and nothing you are doing will ever work. Go home with the officers". When I heard it I knew it was a scene for all of us who are screaming to our congressman and the people who should be working for us. It made me sad.

[woo me with science]

65. Thank you. nt

[roguevalley]

60. when revolution comes i hope our overlords arent too surprised

[AngryAmish]

61. The universe is indifferent to us

The government, likewise.

[Jackpine Radical]

62. Rub it in, Manny.

Just fuckin' rub it in.

Actually, I'm lucky to live in a state where government actually functions well and gives a shit, probably because 80%+ of the legislature is Democratic. We're those crazy Ted-Kennedy-lovin' moonbat Liberals, don't 'cha know!

[RevStPatrick]

63. They are paid to not give a crap about us...

...by their corporate masters.

GET THE MONEY OUT OF POLITICS!!!

He screams for umpteenth (umpmillionth?) time.

[dreamnightwind]

125. Thanks, and keep screaming it, others will join in - nt

[great white snark]

66. No but I can see why people who don't like either party rationalize it in that way.

Rationalize

Attempt to explain or justify (one's own or another's behavior or attitude)
with logical, plausible reasons, even if these are not true.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

68. Every minute of every day. n/t

[woo me with science]

69. +1000000 It's not a feeling. It's a sick, nausea-inducing reality,

borne out every day by the choices they make.

And it's so fucking unnecessary. This country has more than enough to free every single one of us from terror of destitution, homelessness, hunger, and lack of medical care. There is more than enough to educate every child.

But greed trumps everything.

[Initech]

74. Every day more and more George Carlin was right: it's a big club and we're not in it.

[HomeboyHombre]

76. "I tell people to hell with charity, you only get what you're stong enough to get."

Saul Alinsky

[MannyGoldstein]

101. True enough.

So true.

[Rex]

78. Ever get the feeling? Manny don't tell me you think they care?

I've never felt that the 'powers that be' gave a crap about me or the people in the surrounding area or the region or state or nation. I think all they ever care about is 'power' and 'money'; 'the people' are just instruments in making those two things happen for them. We are nothing but cattle or human capital to the power structure.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

80. Conservatives consider us all to to have only one function. Consume....

That's why Bush said the response to 9/11 was to go shopping.

[felix_numinous]

81. Exactly like an abusive relationship

where people are so loyal to their marriage contract and other family members, and intimidated into compliance, we cannot see our way out. We defend this contract we have as if those we are in partnership with are acting in our best interests.

I have learned about abuse and recognize this dynamic. We the People have got to stop contributing, enabling, and believing in people who demonstrate over and over that they do not have our best interests at stake. It is much easier to go back to sleep and endlessly complain about the latest outrage, and the next, and the next. We FEED this relationship by paying into it with our money, our soldiers, and by debating as if there is any chance we will be heard.

How do people deal with abuse? First they have to identify it, admit that it is going on, and this requires putting your foot down and saying NO. Then you have to hold your ground, because people resist change, and hold onto the familiar even if it hurts. Americans are in this stage--we are looking around and seeing our infrastructure collapsing, we do not feel safe, and do not believe this trajectory will support future generations of our families.

We have to do what is most uncomfortable--to have the courage to change the dynamic, to change the relationship we have with those who have taken too much from us. This has gone on for too long.

I think we have a lot to learn from Iceland. People do have the power to make changes.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/15/lessons-from-iceland-people-power

[ancianita]

120. Has anyone thought of a national tax revolt. Refusal Refusal of the middle class to give up one dime

until all money is taken out of politics by Constitutional amendment. Until 50 states re-align their spending priorities with Occupy Official Demands. Until oil and health care are nationalized and gun ownership is a privilege to be regulated, not a right. Until the military returns to serving the civilian leadership, not the weapons industry. I could go on, but that's the gist...

[WillyT]

84. Yep... K & R !!!

[snappyturtle]

86. I think this is one of your best posts! Couldn't agree more nor could I be more envious.

I live in Texas. Need I say more?

I'm holding on tight and hope that I don't live as long as my parents did....90yrs. & 95yrs old.

[woo me with science]

88. Wow.

That last sentence sort of drives it home, doesn't it.

[snappyturtle]

91. Yes, it does but it is true. My grandfathers both lived well into their 90's also.

I have done what 'they' said to do. Studied, work hard. Got a college education. Worked hard some more even started my own business. But, I can't keep this up forever and I lost plenty in the last decade so my statement is true. I will some how bow out before I become a burden to my children.

It's a bit liberating in a way. I don't worry so much anymore about my bad habits as they may keep me from becoming burdensome.

[woo me with science]

94. I understand what you are saying.

I am very serious about holding for myself the option of leaving on my own terms, as well.

I just am angered, horrified, and saddened beyond measure that it is becoming something that more and more of us find ourselves needing to think about, rather than choosing to think about, for our own protection.

[snappyturtle]

97. I couldn't agree more woo.....nt

[forestpath]

89. It's not a feeling. It's reality.

[FarCenter]

92. Politics is not one of the caring professions

Democrats pretend to care, while Republicans don't bother.

They both care about getting elected, keeping their supporters happy, gaining power, and making money through their friends and families.

[Scootaloo]

99. I was raised with that feeling

And spending time homeless didn't clear it up at all.

I think that the Robespierre way is more likely at this point than FDR or Hitler.

[obxhead]

100. I always KNOW that virtually nobody with power gives a shit about my life.

In fact I listen to the news every day where the people with power over my life go OUT OF THEIR FUCKING WAY to impact my life in a negative way.

You can attach a D or an R before the name, other than a hand full of "powerful" individuals they are out to fuck me to help their obscenely rich friends.

[Arctic Dave]

106. But Manny, didn't you see the latest pictures of Michelle

or barack with a baby photo!!!!!!!!!!!!

[socialist_n_TN]

108. Sure I do..........

That's why I'm a communist. I'm going to try to go out fighting.

[ancianita]

110. We are a stock entity that gets the 'pump and dump' routine every election cycle.

[99th_Monkey]

112. But, but ... OUR GUY won the election!!!!

At least we're in the "slow lane" rolling into dystopia.

[rucky]

114. The feeling is mutual.

[harkonen]

115. It's a Beeeg Club, & You & I Aren't In It!

.
and on that note...let's examine how we give "them" that power, and how they keep it:
.

[KamaAina]

116. Only on days that end with a 'y'.

[stupidicus]

119. apathy is only rivaled by ignorance (often the willful kind) in this country

and they formally and figuratively replaced the twin towers after 9/11, casting their dark shadows across this land.

We've "evolved" a bit on an issue or two, and have taken a step or two backwards on others.

For example:

http://morallowground.com/2013/02/26/association-of-34000-black-churches-condemns-obamas-evil-drone-policy/

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/cutting-entitlements-is-in-dna-of.html

we're all dogs still worthy of a few bones, so we'll have find some solace in that

[abelenkpe]

122. Yeah yeah. Even if I did believe him (which I do not)

Especially now. Co I worked for just went bankrupt. So yeah

[sabrina 1]

128. Most of them are millionaires, so they cannot relate to the people they claim

to represent. I don't care about any of them except for a very few anymore either.

But it is OUR fault really. We get the government we deserve. Or at least it is the fault of those who insist on treating them as if they were in some way superior. They are not, far from it. They are, for the most part, from what I have seen over the past decade, selfish, insulated, certain they know better than the dreaded 'people' they supposedly represent.

Those who are not yet millionaires, want to be and the only way they can achieve that goal is to make sure they do nothing to upset the real owners of this country.

There are a few who do care about the people, but they have no power, the rest of them make sure they never will.

We COULD change that, but partisanship, something the FFs warned about, makes that impossible. Until the PEOPLE unite and stop fighting among themselves, nothing will change. It's up to us, we have the numbers, we have the power, but we are busy being distracted by trivia and then there are those who will excuse anything their respective parties do and makes it impossible to actually use the power we have.

Anyone who thinks that they care about us, only has to look at what went on after the financial collapse. Congress did everything they could possibly do to protect the criminals who caused it, while allowing the working class to fail. And we let them do it.

We could elect working class people to represent us, but we are told that the millionaires who are ensconced in DC are our best choice and kept in a state of fear of the 'other side' winning in order to ensure that they system never changes, with our assistance.

[RB TexLa]

129. I don't have a large enough ego to think anyone would or should give a crap about my life.

[1-Old-Man]

148. It is not your ego that elected them to Office, it is your vote and it is their job to care

[Pancho Schneider]

132. Most Democrats care

But I feel Republicans do not.

[DeSwiss]

133. ''Chaos is required for the veils to fall.''

- K&R





They Thought They Were Free

[MannyGoldstein]

134. Is that the Boston Marathon?

Looks like Comm Ave, near my house.

Good quote, BTW. And true, sadly.

[DeSwiss]

135. Not sure....

...found the pic here.

- Thanks, I read it somewhere a long time ago.....

[MannyGoldstein]

137. Ha! It is.

http://bostinno.com/2012/04/17/the-10-funniest-signs-of-encouragement-at-the-boston-marathon-images/#ss__137485_1_0__ss

That's right around where we hang out and watch each year, on Heartbreak Hill.

[woo me with science]

143. kick

[shcrane71]

149. America has been suffering from an empathy deficit for quite some time.

[graham4anything]

151. actually, I think its a small but vocal minority with limited power that believes that

the vast majority of people do not believe all this,all hyperbole aside, and every time,
all social issues are not discussed, just foreign ones.

I for one think Barack Obama and all of his Team(which includes Hillary and Elizabeth as members in good standing) are on my side.

But then i am not part of the small but vocal minority that feels otherwise.

The numbers are on my side.

And guns in the streets are much bigger problem to children than a few collateral damage from drones.
After all, 3000 did die on 911, including very many who had now one less parent than they did before 9-11.
And most of the 3000 were the 99% as were their children.
but its the small issues that are important.

economics go up and down in cycles.
And a good day economically is just one day or three away.
HOWEVER-
going backward on social issue, though, could take another 50 years to reverse.

So I say most people in the democratic party think they do have many on their side.

and hopefully one can make the other parties so small, that they are no longer a factor at all, and then nothing will stop the shape of things to come as the old song goes.
(c) Barry (who put the bomp in the bomp bomp bomp) Mann and Cynthia Weill, two of the best, Rock Hall of fame Brill building songwriters
God bless them.

[Peter cotton]

152. That's only fair.

After all, I don't give a crap about their life.

Now if those in power would just leave me alone, we'd all get along fine.

[WinkyDink]

153. As Lennie Briscoe once said, "All day long."

[limpyhobbler]

154. All the Republicans and half the Democrats are bought whores.

[woo me with science]

155. kick

[mmonk]

156. More like knowing instead of feeling.