Representative government, my ass.
America does not support strikes on Syria.
Congress is less popular than cockroaches, and strikes in Syria are less popular than Congress.
These corporate pod people we allowed to slither into office over the past 30 years do not represent us. They rule us. We are hostages at this point, not citizens, when it comes to most areas of policy.
Over and over again, we get the big FU from our government. They do whatever the hell they want and they use our money to do it. Our tax dollars poured into surveillance systems aimed at us, private prisons, bailouts for billionaires, assaults on journalism, and now yet another bloody war for profit. Meanwhile, they are replacing our paved roads with gravel, shutting down our children's schools, and dismantling our social support systems.
Our "representative government" is an obscene joke at this point, both parties. WE DID NOT VOTE FOR THIS SHIT.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Could we get sensible, intelligent humans who will work for the good of this entire (dying) planet for once?
It's getting awfully late.
I'll support you
Don't you get it?
We CAN'T have that!!!!!
We'll end up just like Stalinist Russia if we guarantee health care for all!!!
You need to listen to Rush and watch Fox more!!!
o nvmd.
Sad to say that this is how we're ending up, but if you look at them 30-50 years ago, they were what we are becoming now.
It is also why we cannot fix this thing. It is inherently corrupt because it relies upon an untenable economic system which demands that it function under manufactured scarcity in order to create profits for the few at the top. This model of governance has gone as far as it can go. It was an improvement over what came before it -- the monarchs and tyrants and despots, but we have now outgrown this selfish system of oligarchy and of greed and avarice.
- And it is time to move on.....
K&R
Resource-based Economy
to the countless times as a kid that i gave up playing Monopoly. Hated that game! It drove me nuts!! 
One can:
(1.) Raise hell about the mockery of the constitution (specifically) and of representative democracy (in general)
or, on the other hand, one can:
(2.) Support undemocratic, bad policy by mocking those who raise hell.
Interestingly, only one of these options has the endorsement of the President we worked to elect:
"Your job is to hold my feet to the fire. . . So, you need to be out there everyday raising these issues, telling us when we’re doing the right or wrong thing. . . My role is to be President of the United States. . . "
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2011/12/01/a-foot-in-two-worlds/
“The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”
Senator Barack Obama, 12-20-2007
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/specials/CandidateQA/ObamaQA/
"The reason that you have this principle is not to be soft on terrorism. It's because that's who we are. That's what we're protecting. . . Don't mock the Constitution. Don't make fun of it. Don't suggest that it's not American to abide by what the founding fathers set up. It's worked pretty well for over 200 years."
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/09/obama-to-palin-dont-mock-the-c.html
Blind support of bad policy is not the way to support our President.
Our President needs us to do our job.
Last edited Wed Aug 28, 2013, 10:51 PM - Edit history (1)
Thanks for the links.
The reasons for caution Warren expressed in the Globe article seem right on target to me.
It would appear, however, that whoever wrote the headline for the WBUR website is either bending over backwards to distort Sen. Markey's emphasis, or else they are just doing incompetent reporting by omitting to quote his actual statements which back up WBUR's pro-war spin:
Specifically,the WBUR headline states "Surgical Strike a Must to Punish Syria's Assad", and Barbara Howard begins the interview by summarizing Markey's position as "calling for surgical strikes".
Leaving aside the issues of whether or not a truly "surgical" strike is technically possible, and whether or not such action would result in achieving our goals without untended consequences (issues Markey's senior colleague has raised), the interview Markey gave actually had a totally DIFFERENT emphasis from what the WBUR headline writer and interviewer seem to want:
Specifically, Markey's position would be better summed up as stating that:
1. The use of chemical weapons is unacceptable & requires a response.
2. It is essential that we not become involved in a civil war, and that ground troups not be used.
3. That a "surgical" strike "could be used"
4. that there "has to be an end-game strategy" and there "has to be a clear understanding of what our goals are, that it’s limited in scope and duration..."
5. Sen. Markey clearly indicates acceptable action would involve an international coalition
Unlike the WBUR headline writer, an ethical journalist would have written a headline more along the lines of "Sen. Markey: Any military action MUST BE LIMITED", not distorting and amplifying his position with the misleading "Sen. Markey: Surgical Strike a Must to Punish Syria's Assad".
And a competent, ethical journalist might have included questions which (as done by the Boston Globe, in their appropriately titled "Mass. senators urge caution on Syria action"
conveyed Sen. Markey's positions that:
1. anything the US does should “just be limited to ensuring that chemical weapons are not used” and said he has “real reservations” about imposing a no-fly zone over the troubled, civil war-torn country, and that
2.Congress should be consulted before any military action on Syria is taken.
But the NPR interviewer was too busy trying to convince Sen. Markey that perhaps nothing short of regime change would work, or that perhaps we should have taken military action long ago, and could not be bothered with such matters.
The descent of NPR, in its pursuit of corporate dollars, and in its endless, impossible quest to disprove the RW's false charges of "liberal bias" continues to be nauseating.
But the above report is beyond nauseating.
They have transformed & distorted Sen. Markey's clear calls for caution ------ clear calls that if a military action is undertaken it must be limited ------ into a soundbite that demands a strike.
And that is incompetent, misleading, biased, warmongering propaganda for which WBUR should be embarrassed.
and the efforts to make it fool us are fading fast. Our "Reps" are now too busy pandering to the money outlets to even bother with maintaining the their costume. 
boatload all the while metaphorically giving we the people a middle finger with each and every obscenity. 
Fuck you Reagan.
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