Chris Hedges: Rise Up or Die

[marmar]

from truthdig:


Rise Up or Die

Posted on May 19, 2013
By Chris Hedges


Joe Sacco and I spent two years reporting from the poorest pockets of the United States for our book “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt.” We went into our nation’s impoverished “sacrifice zones”—the first areas forced to kneel before the dictates of the marketplace—to show what happens when unfettered corporate capitalism and ceaseless economic expansion no longer have external impediments. We wanted to illustrate what unrestrained corporate exploitation does to families, communities and the natural world. We wanted to challenge the reigning ideology of globalization and laissez-faire capitalism to illustrate what life becomes when human beings and the ecosystem are ruthlessly turned into commodities to exploit until exhaustion or collapse. And we wanted to expose as impotent the formal liberal and governmental institutions that once made reform possible, institutions no longer equipped with enough authority to check the assault of corporate power.

What has taken place in these sacrifice zones—in postindustrial cities such as Camden, N.J., and Detroit, in coalfields of southern West Virginia where mining companies blast off mountaintops, in Indian reservations where the demented project of limitless economic expansion and exploitation worked some of its earliest evil, and in produce fields where laborers often endure conditions that replicate slavery—is now happening to much of the rest of the country. These sacrifice zones succumbed first. You and I are next.

Corporations write our legislation. They control our systems of information. They manage the political theater of electoral politics and impose our educational curriculum. They have turned the judiciary into one of their wholly owned subsidiaries. They have decimated labor unions and other independent mass organizations, as well as having bought off the Democratic Party, which once defended the rights of workers. With the evisceration of piecemeal and incremental reform—the primary role of liberal, democratic institutions—we are left defenseless against corporate power.

The Department of Justice seizure of two months of records of phone calls to and from editors and reporters at The Associated Press is the latest in a series of dramatic assaults against our civil liberties. The DOJ move is part of an effort to hunt down the government official or officials who leaked information to the AP about the foiling of a plot to blow up a passenger jet. Information concerning phones of Associated Press bureaus in New York, Washington, D.C., and Hartford, Conn., as well as the home and mobile phones of editors and reporters, was secretly confiscated. This, along with measures such as the use of the Espionage Act against whistle-blowers, will put a deep freeze on all independent investigations into abuses of government and corporate power. ........................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/rise_up_or_die_20130519/

[xchrom]

1. du rec. nt

[graham4anything]

2. People shooting or blowing us up takes away our basic right to life and pursuit of happiness

leaking is 100% illegal

I bet this altmedia writer wanted to go after Valerie Plame's leaker (and so did I.)

When my toilet leaks, I find out why and get it fixed.

[marmar]

3. Rinse. Repeat.

[graham4anything]

4. If my sink leaks while brushing/flossing, I make sure to immediately stop the leak.

Floods can ruin my house and if people are sleeping, floods in wide areas do and can lead to an explosion in the house possibly which can lead to injuries or death.

[djean111]

10. So you make no distinction between leaks exposing malfeasance and leaks

intended to harm? They are all just leaky sinks that should be repaired immediately?
Yeah, a leak can cause a metaphorical flood - and sometimes that is exactly what is needed.
Are you saying that the bad thing about "Deep Throat" was not that Watergate was revealed, but that the leak happened at all?
Or is this a broad brush anti-leak position taken because a leak might discredit Obama?

[graham4anything]

16. I have made my view well known about breadcrumbs thrown by deep throat

and why Bernstein wasn't part of that.(Bernstein was too honorable).but Woodward the stooge was.

I bet Hedges was against the Valerie Plame leak.
The AP leak is the same thing as the Valerie plame leak.
There is no difference.

[TomClash]

149. Also note . . .

. . . The Nixonian tenor of the metaphor.

[Fuddnik]

6. Please don't feed the loony birds.

[deutsey]

9. lol

[AnotherMcIntosh]

55. Well said.

[rhett o rick]

105. Sadly some welcome the security of fascism. nm

[Doctor_J]

108. That poster doesn't welcome fascism because it's "secure"

(s)he welcomes it because it has been ramped up by his/her favorite person in history. If tomorrow Obama invoked martial law, g4a would be cheering

[rhett o rick]

110. There is a common misconception that Hitler forced fascism on the German people.

The majority went willingly. Certainly not the Jewish Germans.

[struggle4progress]

140. Actually, no German majority ever voted for the Nazis. The German Reichstag ended split between

various parties, after the July 1932 elections, no party holding a majority of seats, and the Nazis worked hard to make sure no coalition government could successfully form. The Reichstag was dissolved and new elections were held in November 1932: in that election, the Nazis actually lost votes and seats. The Nazi political strategy paid off when President Hindenburg appointed Hitler Chancellor at the end of January 1933. A new election was scheduled for March 1933, but about a week before the election, the Reichstag was burned. The Nazis used the Reichstag fire to convince the President to grant Hitler emergency powers, which were used to arrest and intimidate thousands of political opponents before the election, which naturally affected the outcomes. The emergency powers continued to be used after the election against political opponents, as a result of which the Enabling Act passed in late March, granting dictatorial powers

[rhett o rick]

151. And the majority of German citizens were happy to go along with the new Germany. nm

[jtuck004]

132. Because...

[TomClash]

148. Hilarious

Thanks for the early a.m. chuckle!

[cali]

5. Not that I agree with Chris Hedges most of the time or even here completely

but do you even know who he is?

Of course not. You're not well informed at all. Not even a little fucking bit.

He's hardly just some alt media writer- not that is an indictment except in the minds of fools

Chris Hedges is currently a senior fellow at The Nation Institute in New York City.[1] He spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than fifty countries, and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News, and The New York Times,[2] where he was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years (1990–2005).

In 2002, Hedges was part of the team of reporters at The New York Times awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the paper's coverage of global terrorism. He has taught at Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University[2] and The University of Toronto. He writes a weekly column on Mondays for Truthdig and authored what The New York Times described as "a call to arms" for the first issue of The Occupied Wall Street Journal, the newspaper giving voice to the Occupy Wall Street protests in Zuccotti Park, New York City.

[Fuddnik]

8. He's also probably the best journalist in America today.

He's been around the block more than a few times.

[graham4anything]

11. Yeah, I know him. He supported Jill Stein in 2012.& was tossed from the NY Times

I wasn't going to bother, but since you asked, well it would behoove me to say indeed I know who he is and what his angle is. And it's no secret.
I will rise up to the media and altmedia 20%.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hedges

Hedges is a critic of Israel's policies towards Palestinians, and was also an early critic of the Iraq War. In May 2003, Hedges delivered a commencement address at Rockford College in Rockford, Illinois, saying: "We are embarking on an occupation that, if history is any guide, will be as damaging to our souls as it will be to our prestige and power and security."[8]

His newspaper, The New York Times, criticized his statements and issued him a formal reprimand for "public remarks that could undermine public trust in the paper's impartiality."[9] Shortly after the incident, Hedges left The New York Times to become a senior fellow at The Nation Institute, and a columnist at Truthdig, in addition to writing books and teaching inmates at a New Jersey correctional institution.[9][10]

In his December 29, 2008, column for Truthdig, Hedges identified himself as a "socialist" in contrast to what he sees as "ruthless totalitarian capitalism."[11] On November 4 2011, Hedges was arrested with others in New York as part of the Occupy Wall Street demonstration.[12][13] Hedges has appeared on the syndicated Democracy Now! television program.[14] [15] and George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. [16]

In October of 2012, Hedges publicly supported Jill Stein, the candidate of the Green Party of the United States, in the 2012 United States presidential election.[17] On April 7, 2013, Hedges delivered the keynote address at the Green Party of New Jersey state convention

[cantbeserious]

14. And How Is Any Of That Relavent

eom

[Egalitarian Thug]

113. If you're looking for relevance, you're definitely looking in the wrong place.

But here's some easy entertainment, bring up Ralph Nader...

[cantbeserious]

126. Yes - The Mere Mention Of Ralph Sets Some Into A Tizzy

eom

[marmar]

15. "I will rise up to the media and altmedia 20%."

Can someone translate this for me please? I haven't had my coffee today.

[Fuddnik]

19. Too much radon buildup in the basement.

[CrispyQ]

56. DUzy!

[cali]

23. I'll try. graham seems to believe that he's part of some mythical

80% that will be voting democratic from 2016 on with Hillary as the vanguard.

Or something like that.

[Solly Mack]

121. I've been wondering what that meant.

I'm not any better off for the knowing, but I have been wondering.

Thank you.

[LuvNewcastle]

26. You've got to have you're coffee, marmar.

Cook you eggs and bacon, or maybe have a pastry. You can't face the day on an empty stomach.

[Starry Messenger]

27. Coffee isn't going to help either.

Just walk on by.

[CrispyQ]

54. He lost me on sink & toilet leaks.

[rhett o rick]

106. I think he was saying that he is willing to break the toilet to find the leak. nm

[marmar]

122. LOL

[fasttense]

44. OMG....he identifies himself as a SOCIALIST....He can not be trusted, that commie pinko.

Never mind his qualifications, and his observations of how this has played out in other countries.
Just how long will the American People willfully turn their eyes away from what is happening in our country and all over the world? Have we forgotten how much blood has been spilled to give us those freedoms? I guess it is ok though, as long as it is someone else's blood is spilled and not mine.
I DO happen to agree with him, if "We The People" do not rise up and take back OUR government then as Ben Franklin said (paraphrased)
If we are willing to give up our freedom for security then we do not deserve either.

If we do not wake up soon to the reality that capitalism has turned the entire world into a commodity then when corporations start selling us, it will be too late.

[djean111]

13. I think, in this case, "alt-media" is anything or anybody who does not praise Obama, or points out

problems with the current administration.
And is not "mainstream media", with commercials and fake journalists and such.
New slur tag. Means zilch. Can be countered with "veal pen", actually!

[graham4anything]

17. altmedia is the minor league bench of the mainstream media. All are paid to do what they do

and if the altmedia got an offer to be bob Woodward, they all would jump at it and eagerly devour the money/fame increase they would get.

as Billy Joel sings "It's still rock and roll to me"
(to paraphrase before "Left wing, right wing, libertarian, msm, alt or not, it's still the media to me&quot
and they are paid for their angle.

When one is a witness on a jury, if the witness has been paid, their testimony is disgared as having an angle.
I choose to disregard it especially when seeing Jill Stein's and her Ralph Nader'ish 3rd party name associated with it.

[djean111]

21. Are you saying mainstream media is not bought and paid for? Bwah!!!!!!!!

You think MSM doesn't slant the news or just not report things they are uncomfortable with or are told not to?
That's pretty naive.
Actually, I consider MSM the whores and prostitutes.

[graham4anything]

22. didn't you just read what I wrote? The alt media is the media.

Just minor league looking to be major league in their paycheck.

[djean111]

29. yes, I read what you just wrote.

Looks like Hedges spoke truth to Power and was kicked out.
And, hate to break it to you, but ALL MSM is in this for the money.
ALL of it. Some will happily fellate anyone to get access to power.
And they will just as happily dispose of those who don't fall into line.
Big veal pen, is all they are, these days, for one master or another.
But thanks for the info on Hedges - I tend to agree with him!

[graham4anything]

33. So will the altmedia. That is the point. Fox, NY Post, NY Times, Chris Hedges,Jill Stein=100equal

Hey, if you want me to change my view, pay me.
I don't get paid, therefore, I am not the media.

Rush Limbaugh could have equally been a liberal progressive instead of a
conservative progress if the media world had been different back then

and Hedges isn't working for free. None of them are.
Same with any talking head on tv.

[djean111]

36. So, if EVERYONE is a paid hack - who do you believe? Jay Carney? (he is paid too, btw)

You are really just dismissing Hedges because you disagree with him, then, it seems to me. Or because he disagrees with the current administration.
How he, like everyone, earns a living, has nothing to do with anything.

[graham4anything]

47. President Obama. and his FORWARD agenda.

everything else is backward.

[ucrdem]

48. BINGO.

You got it.

[pmorlan1]

96. LOL

Graham, surely you jest? LOL

[Fumesucker]

53. Limbaugh's persona doesn't sell to liberals

Randi Rhodes or Mike Malloy probably come closest to Limbaugh in rhetoric on the "liberal" side that I can think of and neither hold a candle to that waste of pustulence.

Limbaugh isn't smart enough or a good enough actor to convince a liberal audience of his sincerity to nearly the extent he can a conservative one. Bluster sells far better to Republicans than Democrats.

I used to listen to Radio Moscow on the shortwave sometimes back in the seventies, Rush very much reminds me of that self important tone they often had although the rhetoric is different.

All a liberal has to do is tell the truth, Rush has to manufacture lies on a nearly minute by minute basis, a far more difficult task and an impossible one to accomplish with any degree of consistency.

[cali]

25. more bloviating bullcrap inanity

there are lots of people in the so called alt media who have rejected the MSM- and the money, honey.

Your ignorance and your politics do a disservice to this board.

[graham4anything]

50. Everyone is in it for the 15 minutes as the legendary super duper Andy Warhol used to opine.

Now Andy was someone to idolize.
What a talent
He invented spin before spin was spin
(of course it would behoove me not to mention the talent behind the movies with Andy's name on them, Paul Morrissey, without whom, the movies wouldn't have been the movies that had Andy's name on it.)
(Paul put the the in the the.)

I'll take ONE President Obama over a zillion Jill Stein's anyday.
I am not here to support her or her extremist agenda.

This is after all NOT a Jill Stein site.

This is a democratic site, in a world with a democratic president who's agenda I myself back 100%.

[cali]

58. no you don't. you support a corporate fascist agenda and EVERYONE is on to that

[ucrdem]

59. Please don't do this.

Lay off the personal stuff okay? Maybe you don't like g4a's style but in my 100% honest view Hedges' hyperbole casseroles are just as gonzo as anything g4a writes. You happen to like Hedge's slant, fine. I find it deceptive and I distrust his intentions. Álso, he writes the same column every week, changing only the RW talking points.

[sabrina 1]

65. You're not very familiar with Hedges, are you?

It's really something when an actual journalist who has always been attacked on the right for telling the truth, which he did consistently during the Bush years and was a hero to the 'left' continues to tell the truth and suddenly the truth becomes 'hyperbole'.

I notice you have not addressed anything Hedges says which is exactly what happens when the truth is inconvenient, make hyperbolic, non-fact-based nonsensical statements about the PERSON. That of course only works if the audience is ignorant. DUers are well educated when it comes to real journalists and the Corporate Media.

[ucrdem]

66. Here you go.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2870194

[marmar]

70. Reposting the same BS from elsewhere in the thread doesn't diminish its BS-ness.

nt

[ucrdem]

73. I posted a link. n/t

[marmar]

74. A link to BS elsewhere in the thread.

[ucrdem]

75. It's a factual error and hasn't been refuted.

So I wouldn't call it BS.

[graham4anything]

85. +1

[graham4anything]

84. disliking Bush does not mean anything but disliking Bush. Cheney disliked W too.

there are NO real journalists.
Truth is hedges supported Jill Stein who has zero to do with the democratic party

Hedges isn't working for free.

Richard Clarke was a hero too. Til he said drones are the most humane form of warfare.

I am not an echo chamber.

Maybe on Hedges site one can all say YUP! AYUH! to him. I don't.

Investigative journalism? Like 60 minutes? Who sold Dan Rather down the river after he did investigative journalism?

I am not buying what Hedges is selling. He can peddle his wares to those who do.

No one gave Hedges one vote in any election. Let him run for office and see if he gets any votes.

[HangOnKids]

87. Cheney disliked W? Have some inside information on that?

Please do not cite any journalists because according to you " there are no real journalists." So where do you get that information?

[grahampuba]

133. Why the discrediting then,

If he's 'peddling his wares' then keep walking. You're not refuting any of the assertions, none of which are hyperbolic I might add, or is Chris Hedges not granted the same audience as you, oh gatekeeper of DU.
And then you add that despite your claim of all paid journalists being shills or in the waiting room, you suggest he seek some credence by.... running for the hallowed samctum of public office.
Okeee dokee..

This Hedges article times out with a few thresholds being met. The nun looking at 50 years and being hit with the sabotage and terrorism charges really did it for me. But, hey.. She deserve it because its illegal right?

[rhett o rick]

107. Please dont do what? Speak out? Shame on you.

If you think we shouldnt speak up when we lose freedoms and liberties then you are in the wrong Party. The Democratic Party is the party of freedom and liberty. If you want the party that ignores the Constitution, that's the other party.

It's interesting that instead of refuting the argument posted in the OP you want to rely on calling it "RW talking points". Seems to be the go to when anyone dares to speak out critical of our current Administration.

Apparently you agree with graham that stepping on Constitutional rights is acceptable if the government wants to catch bad guys. Or is it only when a Democratic (?) government wants to catch bad guys?

Apparently security is more important than freedom. Fascism is so much easier if you dont struggle.

[TomClash]

150. "I distrust his intentions"

Wow. What possible basis would you have?

He quit two great career gigs to write books and columns that have a limited audience.

[TheKentuckian]

80. What is extremist about Stein's agenda? How is yours not by definition since it will be

supported not just by the lion's share of TeaPubliKlans but according to what you throw out, at least half of Bush's 27% that supported him to the gates of hell?

[TBF]

94. lol @ Jill Stein as extremist -

Man, you need to get out more.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

90. Do the employees of the DOJ get paid? How about press secretaries?

Do they follow the orders of their bosses?

[rhett o rick]

103. Would you say the same if it was Bush doing the illegal searches? nm

[cantbeserious]

7. Chris Speaks A Truth Americans Should Understand - Will America Listen?

eom

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

34. Should understand...but not willing

to understand.

IMHO, most Americans cannot even hear the message over the shouts and clamor of corporate America (marketing). Most are blinded by the sparkle of the new stuff that's being forced upon us the bigger tv, the shinier smartphone, etc.. Most Americans cannot balance the difference between want and need. We want it all and descend deeper into debt to get what will be yesterday's news the day before yesterday.

He speaks of revolting. Give us a plan, give us a little direction. All well and good to spout the words but balance the words with an action plan.

Voting in the "right" people, that's a joke, we all know the voting process is bought and paid for and we have, in effect, no say at all.

General strikes? Like throwing ping pong balls at a battle cruiser. Protests? I believe any protest of note will be crushed.

This may sound like I'm not on Hedges side, not at all, I believe what he says is true.
We need a common mans leader to step up now.
We need someone to direct and coach people in the battle against corporate domination.
I do not believe that leader will be found in the political arena.

[ananda]

12. Hedges speaks truth.

It is uncomfortable, even painful, but it is the truth.

[drynberg]

18. Yes, Amanda, that is correct

Furthermore, CH is a true Patriot, acting to sustain our Nation while curtailing the most odious aspects, which are many. For cheap shots to diminish him and discount him is typical sniping and should be ignored by our intelligent DU followers.

[randome]

31. What is he doing to curtail anything? He's selling a book.

I don't see any solutions in this article. 'Sacrifice zones'? LOL! Sounds like he's been reading The Hunger Games again!

He is not 'acting to sustain our nation'. That's a bit of hyperbole. All he writes about is how terrible the world is. We should 'rise up' to do what? Any ideas from him? None that I can see.

Rise up and insist that we are treated unfairly? Yeah, that's going to make things all better.

Sorry, I don't see CH as a leader at all.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[annabanana]

40. I think "sacrifice zones" is not an inaccurate representation.

You HAVE been to the places mentioned, I assume.

[randome]

42. Detroit lost manufacturing jobs, plain and simple. People deserted it in droves.

If Hedges wants to identify that, and have us feel something, then he needs to offer a suggestion on how to reverse it.

Although I don't see that it's possible. It's the Information Era. We don't have as much need for manufacturing as before. That's the unpleasant truth.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[annabanana]

45. We don't have as much need for manufacturing HERE.. Since there

is near slave labor available overseas.

"Information Era"..pfft

[OnyxCollie]

120. Right on cue with the character attack.

He's selling a book! Don't believe anything he says!

A common tactic used to dismiss people ranging from Joe Wilson to Scott McClellan.

Randome, the one trick pony.

He's a one trick pony
One trick is all that horse can do
He does one trick only
It's the principal source of his revenue
And when he steps into the spotlight
You can feel the heat of his heart
Come rising through

See how he dances
See how he loops from side to side
See how he prances
The way his hooves just seem to glide
He's just a one trick pony (that's all he is)
But he turns that trick with pride

[randome]

123. My point is that he's simply saying things are bad without offering anything constructive.

So it's not really much in the way of writing, IMO. It's just a few pages of misery-prose.

Geeze, what did I do to you to piss you off? Every time you respond to a post of mine, you sound furious. Or maybe that's how you respond to everyone?

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[OnyxCollie]

152. I am quite calm, I assure you.

My responses to your posts are nearly involuntary; a swift swat of a bothersome gnat.

If my actions appear unduly forceful, it is only because the situation requires such application, as one would aggressively brush off a stubborn piece of lint.

You've been here since 2001. You should have a thicker skin.

[LuvNewcastle]

30. It is the truth, that's why it pisses some people off mightily.

[Junkdrawer]

52. The Moby Dick references really hits home.

***Holding my hands over my ears***

la la la la

[Joe Bacon]

20. Hedges is warning that the US will go the way of the USSR.

If we continue on this path of unchecked corporate greed, we are finished as a nation. We will see the collapse of the United States and it will break into pieces the same way as the USSR did.

[LuvNewcastle]

28. And then we'll have a dictator.

When you have a legislative branch that can't or won't get business done, someone always comes along to take up the slack. And they always say it's just temporary. I see it coming when our ass gets kicked in our next war.

[graham4anything]

86. the OPPOSITE-Hedges saying the USSR broke up-it became a DEMOCRACY and NOT a dictatorship

however, after the revolution, the silly protesters and instant gratification crew brought back what the revolution won.

Which is what the 3rr partists and republicans want to do after the revolution of 2008- bring back what was before.

So protesting against the president will lead to the Bush's. Exactly what President Obama got rid of in 2008

of course, the altmedia/media don't tell that part

[randome]

92. Right you are about the USSR! I hadn't noticed that disconnect!

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[LuvNewcastle]

144. Little has changed since Obama's been in office.

He isn't the anti-Bush; he's continuing Bush policies, most notably the Patriot Act, a part of which is the subject of this article. I know you're all in favor of the Patriot Act, though. I've seen others around here stating their support for it lately, and it makes me sick.

[graham4anything]

145. yawn.Tell that to 10s millions and millions of men and women that now can become President

Now 80% of the democratic party has hope that they can achieve the top.

whereas before Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, there was no hope if one was a minority or a woman to become President. None. Zero.
There was no hope for 80% of the democratic party to be equal.

And it took a village to make it happen, from Lincoln to LBJ to Obama.

Stop with the war soundbytes.
Stop the doom and gloom

As one is writing on a public world wide chat board with zero interference, there are no
curtailed rights. It is all just a stale soundbyte.
One is 100% free to howl at the sky whilst sitting on a beach (as in the true meaning of Kristofferson's "Freedom's just another word."

No freedom has been lost.

BTW, in case one missed it, Bush got on the helicopter and departed.
Protesting against those that got Bush out of DC, will only bring Bush back on a helicopter
to DC.

[LuvNewcastle]

146. LOL!

[dotymed]

46. Joe, you are exactly correct

It seems that was their plan starting with, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall.." Of course the collapse of the USSR was almost over by then.
We are in about that same historical spot. Our govt. is a criminal enterprise and rubles ..err.. money is all that matters.

[dotymed]

24. Thank you marmar.

Of course we outnumber the oligarchs about a million to one. Yet we sit back and eat their shit sandwiches that they tell us are caviar.

[ucrdem]

32. Just another tale told by an. . .

Well I'll let Shakespeare say it, from Macbeth:

. . . it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

So what has MacHedges cooked up for us today? Three paragraphs righteously condemning corporations, and then a stirring defense of the AP, a corporation.



And then there's this:

The government’s fierce persecution of the press—an attack pressed by many of the governmental agencies that are arrayed against WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning, Julian Assange and activists . . .

Memo to Chris: There are no US "governmental agencies" arrayed against Julian Assange, who is being very nicely taken care of in a London embassy. The US has brought no charges against Assange and there is no credible evidence, none, of any pending indictments.

[marmar]

41. 'There are no US "governmental agencies" arrayed against Julian Assange'

You don't think US government pressure was brought to bear in the attempt to get Julian Assange? LOL. ..... I've got some swampland to sell you called Naiveté Acres.

[ucrdem]

43. Yes I'm sure Julian will tell us all about them

in his next weekly broadcast from Knightsbridge.

[sabrina 1]

68. He doesn't have to, we saw the memos. Perhaps you did not. Btw, thanks to Anonymous

for those revelations.

Let's see we heard top US Government officials refer to Assange, an International, multiple-award-winning editor and publisher, as a terrorist, traitor, (that was funny considering his nationality) a criminal etc merely for publishing facts.

Thanks to the enormous support he received from all over the world and the condemnation of those who, shamefully in our own government, were prepared to treat him as an enemy revealing more about THIS country at the present time than anything else, they had to pull back from openly going after him and allowed their Swedish Right Wing (friends of Rove) Government do their work for them. No one has been fooled by what is going on re Wikileaks, except for those who want to be.

Wikileaks, like Robert Scheer, Glenn Greenwald, Hedges and so many other great journalists, to the left were all heroic, lauded for doing what the MSM did not do, until Bush was no longer in power.

The hypocrisy is amazing.

[ucrdem]

69. You have evidence of charges brought against Assange by the US?

May I see it?

[sabrina 1]

76. His American attorney saw the memos planning to try to get a GJ to indict him.

Who knows if that has continued, considering the secrecy of our GJ system. However the revelations themselves were embarrassing. You cannot indict an Australian under the sedition act of this country, can you? Unless you can get away with it.

There are no charges anywhere against Assange. So why is he not free like every other innocent person? Why would the same British Court that refused to hand over Pinochet, a genocidal criminal, for trial, do the opposite with someone like Assange?

Stop pretending that our 'allies' in Europe are not helping to try to shut down Wikileaks. We know that is not the case.

And the reason? Not the War Logs or the video, we don't much care about war crimes here since the public has been properly indoctrinated into approving of anything that will 'keep them safe', it was only when Assange revealed he had information on the Big Banks, or at least one of them, that the effort to silence him, and the propaganda here against Wikileaks, began.

[ucrdem]

77. May I see these memos, tia. n/t

[dreamnightwind]

102. Check this out

Closest thing I could find.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/wikileaks-stratfor-emails-a-secret-indictment-against-assange-20120228

I think you're off the mark with this discussion, Hedges is correct about the government's desire to get its hands on Assange.

[sabrina 1]

134. Thanks, I was about to post a few links in response to the outrageous denials we are seeing here.

I notice you got no response so far. But I expect the usual talking points we already have seen when this information was first revealed anyhow. So just as well not to see a repeat of the same old garbage. The world knows that once Assange mentioned the info he had on a Major Bank, they went into action to try to shut down Wikileaks. There really is no question about it but it's interesting to see the attempts to deny the facts.

[dreamnightwind]

143. Quite welcome

I don't get the denial about Wikileaks & the U.S. gov., at all. I could understand (though not agree) if the argument was that the government SHOULD be going after him. But to argue that they're NOT going after him, that's just denial, probably traceable to reflexive defense of the POTUS, though that's just a guess.

[graham4anything]

91. For all one knows, the man behind that V for vengence mask is Karl Rove.

every single one of those names supports a 3rd party.
Robert Scheer(he of Ron Paul fame) Glenn and Hedges.
All supporters of the Ralph Nader philosophy of electing a republican president then whining about it for years.

NO I didn't laud any of them.

follow the breadcrumbs-all lead to Ron Paul and or Ralph Nader and or the Green Party

NONE of the breadcrumbs lead to the democratic party.

Ralph Nader led to W being elected no matter how much his fans say no.
Ralph Himself says YES he did. and he is proud of the fact.

[pmorlan1]

99. LOL

You are either on some good drugs or forgot to take your meds. I don't know which? lol Are you in the hot tub again? lol

Even though I rarely agree with you it's good to see you haven't lost your energy. lol Did you ever find the people you were looking for from CGCS website? I communicate with Sandra and ACE every now and then.

[sabrina 1]

135. I have to say your posts are some of the funniest I have ever seen on DU. I no longer bother

refuting them with facts, they are just too obvious by themselves. I never have a problem with humor so keep up the good work.

Lol, following your CT logic, YOU could be Karl Rove. He never did like real journalists like Hedges, Greenwald, Scheer, Parry, Amy Goodman et al, all of whom tell the truth no matter who is in power. Rove hates the truth more than anything else. So it wouldn't surprise me if he spent time on forums like this trying to smear real journalists. What else does he have to do other than try to protect himself and his fellow war criminals from the facts.

See how that works? When someone makes an outrageous claim such as you did above, it can lead to others wondering if they are not projecting. :hi

[rhett o rick]

138. I am impressed with your dedication to Ralph Nader. I guess it's hero worship. But I must disagree

that he was so influential as to control the election of 2000. He is a great man but not as great as you portray.

[Marr]

111. Thanks for posting right-wing sophistry.

You really think it's hypocritical to defend the AP in this situation while also condemning Wall Street, Oil companies, offshored manufacturing, etc.-- because the AP is a corporation?

I think just about everyone with a functional IQ understands that references to "corporations" imply corporate abuse of power. Did you honestly think that Hedges and people like him were complaining about your neighborhood florist who incorporated their business? Really?

The only thing more embarrassing than that pedantic nonsense is the smug, "they know not" top spin you put on it.

[ucrdem]

114. I just exposed it, but you're trying to defend it.

And you can't, because Hedges is openly lying.

But so what? Media snakes are a dime a dozen and nobody elected them. Frankly I don't see why this wouldn't make anyone here happy.

[rhett o rick]

139. Can I get some of whatever your drinking? nm

[snot]

35. You can deplore the leak AND condemn the egregious violation of rights.

Wish we could spend as much time figuring out what might fix the situation as we do defending those speaking the truth about it.

[madrchsod]

37. writing for the choir.....

the hard part is getting the people who he`s writing about to stop voting against their best interests.

the hard part is actually committing to actually work for the change.

[graham4anything]

147. They did in 2008. The revolution was won in 2008. Yet the Bush's want back in 2016

and voting against the one that won the revolution means going back to the originator
that was tossed in the 2008 revolution.

Why would one want jeb?

[HughBeaumont]

38. I think of something Charles Bowles said in 1946 that I read recently . . .

. . . from his book Tomorrow Without Fear (excerpt from The Rich Don't Always Win):

"Let us supposed that 1 percent of the population were to receive 95% of our entire national income, with the remaining five percent spread among the rest of us, " Boles invited his readers to imagine. "Could our system - could any system - work on that basis? One percent of the people couldn't possibly consume 95 percent of all the goods and services which the rest of us could produce." And if the top one percent affluent couldn't consume that output, Bowles went on, "they would have no reason to use their savings to build more and more plants and facilities to produce more and more goods which they couldn't consume either." In this unequal, unbalanced economy, Bowles reasoned in Tomorrow Without Fear, we would never see enough production to create all the jobs we need, a reality that "demonstrates the nonsense of the contention that the way our national income is divided among us has nothing to do with how much we produce or how many of us have jobs."

[xtraxritical]

60. This American obsession with the constant "growth" of jobs and consumption as the

measure of a "good life" is the fatal flaw in capitalism. This planet can not take any more "growth" and will not. More consumption of shiny crap will, only in the very short term, make a few temporary jobs. The emphasis needs to change to sustainability and quality of life or else you're children are going to be hurting and sad.

[ewagner]

64. In the late 60's....

I was almost kicked out of Econ 101...Macro...for making pretty much the same statement...in a room full of Business Majors, this was considered heresy

[HughBeaumont]

67. Aaaaaand, it's pretty much why I won't go back to school for finance.

It's even worse now that Harvard Business School wonk and Reaganomics-fellating educator Martin Feldstien got his grubby toxic claws on America's university cirriculums . . . it's all Friedman, all fiduciary duty to the shareholders (the notion itself is a choice, not a given), all laissez-fail, all the time. We're indoctrinating a generation of bean counter profiteers and these people go on to run businesses and become good little conservative square pegs.

[ewagner]

71. Friedman....

...the god-on-earth of the Republican party....

Recently on the floor of the County Board room, we Supervisors were debating a 1% pay raise for county employees who have gone three years without a pay adjustment of any kind, when a female Supervisor (who also happens to be the Republican Committee Woman from our County) stood up and opposed the raise because of our".. fiduciary duty to our shareholders, the taxpayers."

The poison has leached into the lowest branches of government...

[xtraxritical]

78. I have a degree in economics from the Catholic University of America in Washington D,C.

My econ. 101 prof. always expounded on the "other side of the coin" after presenting the status quo. CUA's an excellent school, equal to Georgetown in every way.

[ewagner]

63. Thank you

...had not read this...but I will forthwith...

[marmar]

79. Prescient. ...... I've got to get that book.

[annabanana]

39. Here is the section that most spoke to me.. Like Carlin, but without the nervous giggles:

We stand helpless before the corporate onslaught. There is no way to vote against corporate power. Citizens have no way to bring about the prosecution of Wall Street bankers and financiers for fraud, military and intelligence officials for torture and war crimes, or security and surveillance officers for human rights abuses. The Federal Reserve is reduced to printing money for banks and financiers and lending it to them at almost zero percent interest; corporate officers then lend it to us at usurious rates as high as 30 percent. I do not know what to call this system. It is certainly not capitalism.

[dotymed]

51. annabanana, you would think that the

average, uninformed (sometimes) voter, would hear this and get pissed off enough to want to help change the organized crime system. Not. That would entail critical thinking and a determination to change things.
IDK, if it is the 30+ years of non-stop propaganda or the feeling that they must "go along to get along" but it is a national disease and disgrace.
The press being persecuted? Hell, they have intentionally mislead us about the pillaging of our liberties for so long and they feign outrage when they are affected? They need to start using real, honest journalism to inform the people (continuously) about the injustices facing the multitudes. Then, we might actually give a crap about the abuses against them. Educate the people about the injustices that all non-elite suffer not just their corporate ass.
When progressive people practice civil disobedience, it is news and should be covered, examined and explained (usually slowly) to Americans.
They are (unfortunately) the fourth estate and should inform people. Fuck their corporate masters or accept that their rights are not more sacrosanct than ours.

[dembotoz]

49. sometimes truth is painful

often his reporting smacks me like a 2x4 across the head
suspect more truth than fiction

[dixiegrrrrl]

57. "These sacrifice zones succumbed first. You and I are next. "

Chris speaks with the hard edge of truth, having seen so much of the pattern of oppression throughout the world.

[KG]

61. AutoChrisHedgesDURec

[ewagner]

62. In a strange way, I understand Hedges' desperation...

I found writings I had undertaken for my own amusement/sanity going back to 2010 in which I referenced two works:

A Peace to End All Peace
and
Shock Doctrine

Those two works foreshadowed Hedges' recent article and, if I read them correctly, Hedges' essays, interviews and lectures have all pointed him in a more radical direction, step-by-step.

I understand why.

and I also have this terrible, gnawing feeling in my stomach that he is, above all, right in his conclusions.

There is a certain insanity going on in our great, beloved America these days. The insanity is based on an institutionalization of the premise that the most important thing to each and every American Citizen is "a job". There is a nasty little corollary to that premise, that, in order to "create more jobs", the entire society has be be organized around the needs and desires of business. Business, of course, means corporations who must be unchained from the manacles of regulation of health, safety, environmental concerns, unions and wages. All levels of Government must bow down before the demands of business. (Locally us minor public officials live in abject fear of having an opponent run against us on a platform that we are "anti-business&quot . In the past 20 years, it has become the sole purpose of government to worship at the alter of Economic Development; it is literally the Holy Grail of local government and thousands and perhaps hundreds of thousands of preciously few local dollars are spent every year on the retention, recruitment and subsidizing of local businesses in order to provide the mythical "job" for local citizens.

I've seen this coming for years but only in the past few years have I actually seen local ordinances presented to governing bodies which purported to serve "business" or "public job creation" which were really, and in fact, written by industry trade groups and sometimes by businesses themselves.

And who has the courage to stand up to them? Do we local officials forfeit our seat at the table (political death) in order to stand up to the Business/Corporate/Economic Development interests? Therein lies the dilemma: if we are not at the table, how can we change the course of events? Can we change the course of events from the outside?

[sabrina 1]

72. Good post. Imo, only by having a free and open press can we change the course this country

has been on for so long now. Once the media became Corporate owned and good journalists like Hedges and Amy Goodman eg, found they were persona non grata, the Corporate influences really had no one left to challenge the lies they tell, the policies they write for our Government etc.

Were it not for the internet, most of us would know very little about what is going on. That is probably the only hope of the truth emerging over time unless of course Corporate interests manage to prevent that also.

[Brigid]

81. This just says it all:

There is nothing in 5,000 years of economic history to justify the belief that human societies should structure their behavior around the demands of the marketplace.

I don't know what it will take to get more people to understand this simple fact, but maybe sooner or later things will get bad enough that they will.

[datasuspect]

82. no, no, no! YOU ARE WRONG!!!!!!!!!!1111111

just do this stuff:

1. write letters to your congresscreature

2. fill out online petitions

3. vote

4. convince your fellow inmates to vote for the A or B corporate candidate (after all it's US vs. THEM RAH RAH RAH!!!!)

5. post stupid word-o-graphics on facebook


THAT will solve the problem.

YEAH!

[Egalitarian Thug]

83. K&R For Truth, Justice, and the American way.

[Junkdrawer]

88. Kinda like that State Farm Commercial, huh?

"You have in the most free, equitable government on earth!"

"Where did you hear that?"

"The government"

On edit State Farm not Geico...duh...

[Egalitarian Thug]

89. Sounds right. Unfortunately, I see very few commercials since the only TV I watch is

in the waiting room or the occasional Hulu (and even on Hulu many of the commercials are blocked).

[Junkdrawer]

93. Classic. It was meant as a diss of the Internet....

[Zorra]

95. Occupy is waiting for y'all. Every day we have to wait for y'all, we

lose more ground to the 1%, making what most of us know we gotta do more difficult by the day.

Pay no attention to the Third Way corporate sponsored MIC trolls; they will continually and persistently try to convince you with their propaganda, with lies and strawman arguments, that justice and equality movements that challenge the MIC are senseless, evil, and stupid, and that standing up for your rights and freedom is wrong and un American, and that everything will be OK if we just watch TV and use the status quo system, and trust the wise and beautiful heroic political leaders that the MIC controls, to save us from becoming permanent indentured servants, or slaves to transnational 1% conglomerates.

Like their MSM propaganda counterparts, their goal is to manufacture your meek and grateful consent to being ruled by morally rotten sociopathic plutarchs who regard you as nothing more than their expendable laying hens, milk cows, and beef cattle.

Many major cities have an active Occupy base. Simply search Occupy (your city) and you will find them. For example, Occupy Boston or Occupy Seattle or Occupy Wisconsin or Occupy Los Angeles or Occupy Phoenix etc

If you city/state does not have an active Occupy base, one will manifest when the time is right.

We need all y'all to be there to support ourselves, when the time is right to once again take serious non violent direct action to further our democratic process that will eventually allow us to control and subjugate the plutarchs and their economic conglomerates.

It's coming. Be ready. It's up to us. Don't miss our chance to take action to create a more equal, just, kind, and peaceful better world for ourselves. It's up to us to take it, because the 1% is going to hammer us mercilessly with their iron fist to keep from us what is rightfully ours.

[Fire Walk With Me]

98. +1

[Fire Walk With Me]

97. Truth. n/t

[Hotler]

100. Americans are to lazy to rise up. n/t

[abelenkpe]

130. Sad but true. Nt

[bvar22]

101. For the Working Class, NeoLiberalism = Conservatism.

Sorry, Virginia.
But there is no such thing as "Free Trade", "Free Markets",
and there never was a giant "Invisible Hand" that reached down from the heavens and corrected "errors" in the "market".
The RICH made that shit up,
and used smooth talking politicians to SELL their SCAM to a gullible America.


[font size=5]The Graven Image[/font]

[font size=3]of the New Church of the Invisible Hand[/font]


All Hail the Invisible Hand!
The Invisible Hand will save us all.
The Invisible hand demands a sacrifice!
The Invisible Hand demands that we kill our Working Class!
We must not make the Invisible Hand Angry!
Make it so!

Thank You, Bill Clinton & The "Centrist" "Democrats"!

Corporate Profits Hit Record High While Worker Wages Hit Record Low
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/12/03/1270541/corporate-profits-wages-record/?mobile=nc

The above ^ does NOT happen by accident.










[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]

[Brigid]

115. And the graven image is a bull, too.

Just like the old one.

[bvar22]

116. The difference is...

...that WE (the Working Class) don't have a Leader who can or will destroy the idol.
They ALL worship the "Graven Image" of the Golden Bull.

[Brigid]

118. You are quite right -- this was no accident.

Unfortunately, not enough people are paying attention. I do not know what it will take to change that.

[bvar22]

119. The Scandal DuJour, or Debunking the Scandal DuJour is much more fun and distracting.

...and gives the Team Partisans of each side the occasion to claim VICTORY and have a Mission Accomplished parade.

Meanwhile, the March-to-the-Bottom continues unabated.
The next round of "Free Trade" (NAFTA on Steroids) is being negotiated in secret
with ONLY reps of the Global Corporations & their Lobbyists and Lawyers in attendance.

[Corruption Inc]

104. People are rising up, but not in a revolutionary way

When the USSR fell apart, 70% of their economy was "black market". People didn't trust the powers that be so they avoided them in every way they could. The people in the U.S. will do the same thing and are already starting. Many people shop locally and no longer buy the corporate paradigm. Many people have turned off their idiot box/TVs and don't even care about them anymore. Many people could care less about Wall Street and all their criminal behaviors, they invest in other ways.

So there's already plenty of history showing exactly what's going to happen, and it is.

[randome]

112. The USSR fell apart by becoming more like the U.S.

It's not a valid comparison, IMO.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[DeSwiss]

125. +1000

[marmar]

127. Excellent points.

[Doctor_J]

109. The only reason the revolt hasn't started is that many are afraid

what we have afterward would be worse. The PTB have carefully provided us with enough bread & circuses to keep the guillotines in the shed.

[Brigid]

117. History teaches that the fear you speak of is well founded.

But I doubt many people know and understand history well enough to think of that. Just wait until they are angry and desperate enough -- then they won't care. And the 1% might be stupid enough to let it get that bad.

[DeSwiss]

124. K&R

''The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.'' ~Morpheus

[Brigid]

128. "Don't Starve -- Fight!"

-- sign I just spotted in a photograph of a Depression-era protest.

[JEB]

129. Way past time to stand up to these sociopathic greed machines.

Pull any plugs possible. Refuse to cooperate.

[marmar]

131. "Refuse to cooperate."

Ultimately, that's what it's going to take.

[toby jo]

136. No-growth economics, or steady - state economics. It's where we're going, it's what we're

working out. We'll get there, have faith.

Could never figure out the 'growth is good' meme they shoved down our throats in college. It's like a non-ending divisibility of form to sacrifice function. It's not good at all. It's a place for greed to get a handle on it all.

[RagAss]

137. Anger is only the first stage....

True change comes when people see themselves as already dead.

[DallasNE]

141. "They have turned the judiciary into one of their wholly owned subsidiaries"

This can't be said too much. If you have an issue that comes before the civil courts you have no rights. In fact, the courts don't ever open up the proceeding for a hearing to determine liability. You're given 30 days to settle up or the court will viciously seize your assets. Without any incentive to settle up the creditor simply runs out the clock. A real sweetheart deal.

[raouldukelives]

142. K&R Makes me feel like broken record but like I always say.

If you want to stand against something, not standing with it is a good start.
So, I would disagree that we are powerless. Many people just don't have the self-realization that they are the power, or if they do, money talks.