The Ocean Is Coming

[WilliamPitt]

(Photo: Lance Page / Truthout )

The Ocean Is Coming
By William Rivers Pitt
Truthout | Op-Ed

Thursday 27 February 2014

(snip)

I believe the minimum wage should be somewhere between $15 and $20 an hour, and that all the so-called business "leaders" crowing against any raise to that wage are self-destructive idiots. Commerce needs funds in the hands of consumers to survive and thrive, and consumers today are barely handling rent. Put more money in the worker's pocket, and he will spend some of it at your store, because he can. The minimum wage has been stagnant for 30 years, and is due for a right and proper boost. If people don't have money, your store won't sell any goods. Get out of your own way and pay your people, so they can have money to spend on what you're selling. This strikes me as simple arithmetic.

I believe the weather is going crazy because there is an enormous amount of moisture in the atmosphere due to the ongoing collapse of the Arctic ecosystem. More water in the atmosphere leads to fiercer storms and higher tides, and every major city on the coast is under dire threat. The ocean is coming, higher and higher each year, so we can either run for high ground, or we can adjust our behavior. The ocean is coming, and it brooks no argument. It is stronger than all of us, and will take what it pleases.

I believe the Keystone XL pipeline, the drought-causing national practice of fracking, the coal-oriented water disasters in West Virginia and North Carolina, the serial poison spills nationwide, the oil train derailments, and the entire practice of allowing the fossil fuels industry to write its own regulations so as to do as it pleases, are collectively a suicide pact that I did not sign up for. The ocean is coming, unless we find a better way.

I believe President Obama, who talks about the environment while pushing the Keystone pipeline, who talks about economic inequality while demanding fast-track authority for the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, is a Hall-of-Fame worthy bullshit artist. I believe the sooner people see this truth for what it is, the better. He is not your friend. He is selling you out.

I believe the 50% of eligible American voters who can't be bothered to turn out one Tuesday every two years should be ashamed of themselves, because this is a good country, but if that goodness doesn't show up at the polls, we wind up in this ditch with a bunch of self-satisfied non-voters complaining about the mess we're in. Decisions are made by those who show up, and lately, the small minority of hateful nutbags showing up become a large majority because they're the only ones pulling the lever.

And that's for openers.

These things are happening nationally, but they are also happening locally, right in your back yard. These are your fights, in your communities, involving your air and drinking water and basic rights. The ocean is coming, boys and girls, and it will sweep us all away with a flick of its finger - rich and poor, powerful and powerless alike - unless we figure out a few home truths at speed and make serial changes to the way we operate on this small planet.

The rest: http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/22126-william-rivers-pitt-the-ocean-is-coming

...and: http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/27/the-ocean-is-coming/

[Jackpine Radical]

1. OMG, Will. You done gone & stepped in it now.

A K&R, of course, from this antiquated fellow victim of ODS.

[Coyotl]

32. Joined the "Kesha Rogers" wing, have we Will?

Meet "Democrat" Kesha Rogers: Worse Than Ted Cruz
Wednesday, February 26, 2014 - http://progresstexas.org/blog/meet-democrat-kesha-rogers-worse-ted-cruz

We’ve pointed out before why Ted Cruz doesn’t deserve your vote or political support. However, there’s someone else running for office - as a Democrat - who could make it onto the ballot...and makes Cruz look like a stand up citizen in comparison.

Her name is Kesha Rogers and she thinks Obama starting a thermonuclear war is a legitimate concern. So she wants to execute him.

Running for the U.S. Senate as a “LaRouche Democrat” Rogers has already been rejected by the Democratic Party. The State Democratic Executive Committee’s released its official party position on Rogers’ candidacy. “The Texas Democratic Party will have no relationship with the campaign of any person identifying him or herself as aligned with the LaRouche Movement or Lyndon LaRouche…”

Now, being rejected by your own party isn’t the greatest thing in the world, but sometimes ideological differences can get in the way. What was this Senate hopeful’s ideological difference? Well, to start there’s the fact that her main focus is the impeachment of President Obama ..........

[tex-wyo-dem]

81. Jeesh...feeling a little over the top today, are we?

Hardly what Will was trying to say, which is a basic truth...PBO is a politician, and therefore speaks out of both sides of the mouth. Out of one side he appeases his base by speaking about environmental concerns and for workers basic rights to a fair wage, yet out of the other side he appeases the monied interests that funded his and his party by supporting the TPP and siding with big energy.

Just a politician...but as Will points out, we the people need to make sure our bet interests are served, otherwise we are all in a world of hurt.

[llmart]

211. "PBO is a politician"....

What on God's green earth do you expect is going to run for President? A major league baseball player? A musician? Of course he's a politician.

What would you prefer? A "businessman" (think Mitt Romney). I've had enough of political offices being filled by businessmen. All they care about is profit and the last thing they care about is the environment.

Would you prefer Dennis Kucinich? He's a politician. Has been since the first time I met him at Cleveland State University when we were oh, around 18 or 19 years old. He is an avid environmentalist, took on the big power company in Cleveland, but he is extremely unelectable. He stands for everything liberal Democrats would like, but doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of ever becoming President.

There is no such thing as utopia.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. But, the slogans were cute. K&R

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. They really weren't.

[rhett o rick]

3. I hear you. But isnt it too late to stop climate change? Seriously?

I dont mean we should give up, but really what can we do? Ask anyone if they are willing to cut their standard of living in half to save the planet and guess what they will say? "Dont bother me, Dancing with the so-called stars is on."

And even if you got the 99% to cut their standard of living, you wont get the greedy, wealthy, elitist, capitalist to give up a nickel.

And let's talk about getting people to vote. What do you have to offer? Gerrymandering, voter disenfranchisement, vote stealing, Citizens United, etc. And then you end up voting for either of two candidates beholden to the PTB.

Dont get me wrong, I am not advocating doing nothing. In fact I think it's time to rebel. No violence, but ci vil dis obed ience (think that will fool the NSA computers?).

Voting isnt enough.

[hatrack]

4. We will be extremely lucky to hold it to 2C (no, not a scientist, but obsessive on topic)

Run through E&E for a few days and you'll know the feeling.

[AverageJoe90]

30. The problem is, E & E is still full of doom-and-gloom and other fearmongering.

So of course people are going to be super depressed after they look at the average pseudo-intellectual doomer pontification("Humanity is doomed! Accept! Give in! Rejoice!" or attention grabbing scare piece("It's much worse than we thought! Much worse than we thought!!&quot .

Hell, if you want my views, I'd be surprised(though not happy) if we surpass 3*C this century at the rate things have been going so far. Solar energy's starting to boom, wind is taking off, overall coal usage is still going down(even with temporary bumps in the other direction), etc.

In short, let's try to focus more on the good news, shall we? It wouldn't kill us.....to the contrary in fact.

[fleabiscuit]

6. Perhaps it's time to discuss what a "standard of happiness" really is.

Opps, I meant "standard of l living."

Or maybe not.

K&R

[rhett o rick]

67. Sounds like a great topic. Why dont you start an OP? nm

[Whisp]

80. I second that.

[fleabiscuit]

106. Exactly.

I’ve never seen those happiness index type of treads go far, on any board. It’s much to alien and programing has been quite effective. If others are on the elevator when I get on to go to the job most are smiling and seem happy. Until they look up from their iPhone. I must have missed something along the way.
YMMV

[defacto7]

12. It is too late to stop climate change

because it's here now and has just begun. But we fight it anyway because we are not going down without a fight and we are not going to be the reason for the end of civilization. If fact there is still hope we can save humanity from extinction and that is what we have to do because some of us are responsible.

Why is this answer relevant? Because that same responsibility is what gets us to vote. It's the same responsibility that gets us off out asses to spit fire at the jackass politicians, rally on the streets against Citizens United, stop disenfranchisement, vote stealing and all the other RW bull shit. Most of all, it's the same responsibility that makes us fight and destroy "stupid" in this world because that is what makes people irresponsible and incapable of doing more with their lives than be entertained.

I don't care if we are going down as a civilization or not... but I sure as hell will fight as if I did.

(this comment is not personal, it's global yelling.)

[rhett o rick]

66. I agree all the way.

[Logical]

158. True nt

[Jasana]

188. I may lose but I will fight to my dying breath. Hear you loud and clear. nt

[aquart]

221. Stop it, yeah. Too late. BUT...

We are not too late to stop being suicidal morons and FUCKING DEAL WITH IT!

I just saw a short documentary on the 500 Club of all places about the way Israel deals with water. HIRE THOSE PEOPLE, CALIFORNIA. Hire them, Obama. Pay them every dime we're wasting on terrorists and Halliburton, those pikers. GO AFTER THE REAL MURDERERS: DROUGHT, FAMINE, FLOOD, HEAT, COLD, CONTAGIOUS DISEASE....

And those FEMA camps the crazies keep talking about? Maybe it's time to get them ready for the people of New York, Miami, Boston....

Subsidize solar power 99%. Leave the oil in the ground. Find something other than plastic. Shoot to kill anyone who interferes with an aquifer or any other water supply. This means you, Exxon. Keystone. Billionaires.

Get hopping and HIRE PEOPLE TO SAVE OUR FUCKING LIVES. And look! Total fucking employment.

[Champion Jack]

5. K&R

Seems like the effort is not so much how to stop it, but, how to survive it

[jsr]

7. Recommend

[Autumn]

9. home truths Will, home truths

Recommended. Fucking Wow

[xiamiam]

10. one person waking at a time has been too slow but at least it is happening

good post will

[blkmusclmachine]

11. Pray harder.

[Tx4obama]

13. SHAME ON YOU!

From your OP...

-snip-

I believe President Obama, who talks about the environment while pushing the Keystone pipeline, who talks about economic inequality while demanding fast-track authority for the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, is a Hall-of-Fame worthy bullshit artist. I believe the sooner people see this truth for what it is, the better. He is not your friend. He is selling you out.

-snip-

[WilliamPitt]

14. Thanks for kicking my thread.

[Tx4obama]

15. I hope everyone on DU sees this and also the names of the folks that have rec'd this BS.

[WilliamPitt]

19. Thanks for kicking my thread.

"and also the names of the folks that have rec'd this BS"

You were the kid who took names for teacher when teacher was out of the classroom, weren't you.

[840high]

51. I kicked and rec'd ur post

[chervilant]

239. How ironic!

This:

I believe President Obama, who talks about the environment while pushing the Keystone pipeline, who talks about economic inequality while demanding fast-track authority for the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, is a Hall-of-Fame worthy bullshit artist. I believe the sooner people see this truth for what it is, the better. He is not your friend. He is selling you out.

is why I recced your post. Eloquently put, Will. Eloquently put.

[Autumn]

20. I would like to recommend Will's excellent OP a hundred times.

But one will have to do.

[fascisthunter]

22. Yes... I Hope They Do Too

Because I recommended it, and I recommend others do the same.

[sabrina 1]

27. Do you have a 'list'? Thanks for reminding me to rec this thread. I saw it and can't see how anyone

who claims to care about American jobs on the one hand, while fast tracking legislation that is a US Job destroyer can make that claim, same thing with the pipeline. However with enough work on the part of Progressive Dems and anyone else who is concerned about this country we have managed to force the WH to take cuts to SS off the table, only temporarily, during this election year, but keeping the pressure on is essential. Kudos to all the activists, most of whom are not here posting all day in defense of these policies, for continuing to try to save SS, the Environment and Jobs from Corporate takeover.

[Tx4obama]

29. List...

Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=thread&address=10024576897&info=1#recs

What a sad day on DU it is today.

[sabrina 1]

38. What a sad day it was for Dems, especially those who rely on SS when they found out that the party

they relied on to protect them from illegitimate cuts to their SS checks, was joining, possibly for the first time airc, Republicans in first, wrongfully blaming SS for the deficit, always mentioning both in the same sentence, hoping for plausible deniability, assuming the people are that easily duped and putting cuts to SS 'on the table' opening the door now forever to making it legitimate for Congress to touch that fund other than making sure it is protected and any surplice goes to those who own it, not to war mongering, corporate Wall St gamblers.

Priorities, the poor, the elderly, the most vulnerable. Protecting Democratic policies that have for decades kept many people from starving to death. We were so proud of those policies, the ones hated by the selfish, greedy Right Corporate tools.

Then it was a sad day when the Offshore Drilling Ban, hard fought for for 30 years, was lifted, not by a Republican, but by a Democrat.

I guess we all have our priorities. I will stand up for any politician who stands up for the people, for SS, for the Environment, for protecting American jobs, for ending tax cuts and subsidies for Corporations who outsource those jobs etc etc and I will be very sad when I see any of those issues being abandoned by my Party. Because we sure can't rely on the other party to protect them.

When President Obama joins Progressive Dems in opposing the destruction of our environment by refusing to support the Keystone pipeline, and the TPP, and permanently ends any discussion of cuts to SS, I will be behind him 100%.

[pa28]

44. Gosh. That list is getting very long.

I'll sleep easier knowing you are on the case.

[Jim Lane]

64. I wasn't going to bother to rec because it already had 91 recs

But with the Obama-can-do-no-wrong wing of DU mobilizing to compile an official Enemies List, the situation changes. I have reacted to your post by adding my rec as the 92nd.

Maybe you should post a few more denunciations, see if you can get us into triple digits.

[Tx4obama]

69. As far as I know no one is mobilizing or compiling an enemies list. My comment above...

... only said that folks can see who rec'd the OP.

[defacto7]

77. Could you repost that list

so I show up on it?

Thanks

[Tx4obama]

78. All you have to do is click on the 'NUMBER' in the DuRec icon up in the OP...

I have NOT posted any list anywhere - I posted a LINK to the DU Rec page - that is a DU list.

[1awake]

85. She did not mean it that way. It's just a link where it's compiled.

I would not believe for a second she would do that... ever.

[defacto7]

86. I was too subtle I guess....

Other than the technical aspect what's the difference? (rhetorical)

but Thanks...

[1awake]

88. There would be a big difference,

And while I disagree with her strongly on one or two issues, I do not believe she would do that. It's about intent, and the technical difference between the two is worlds apart. I mean no offense to you at all, but I respect her and wanted it to be clear.

[defacto7]

91. I don't know the difference but...

I'll not argue. I understand watching out for people and your intent is appreciated. I stand down.

[1awake]

93. Your awesome ty. nt

[G_j]

149. mmm...

many of the best and brightest....

[Coyotl]

34. Indeed. Someone should alert on this poser.

[cherokeeprogressive]

87. So what were the results of your alert?

[1awake]

35. Ill out myself.. I rec'd it. Awesome article Will!!!! nt

[scarletwoman]

36. Make sure you spell my name right on your list. nt

[Tx4obama]

39. DU spells your name automatically when they put you on the list...

Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=thread&address=10024576897&info=1#recs

[xocet]

41. Count me in on your list. n/t

[840high]

54. Who made you hall monitor?

[progressoid]

71. I Only Regret That I Have But One Rec to Give This Thread

[1awake]

79. Most of the people on DU ARE on that list. nt

[Number23]

99. "Most of the people on DU ARE on that list." Not even close

[1awake]

100. Give it time, though I was speaking those that are on DU now lol. nt

[Octafish]

128. Can you be any more UNDEMOCRATIC?

Your post reads like it was ghost written by J Edgar Hoover and Allen Dulles, both of whom live on in spirit in American politics.

[JackRiddler]

174. I hope they also recognize McCarthyism in its many forms.

Disgusting.

[Autumn]

181. It's almost like you think we should be ashamed for

recommending Will wonderful post. I think everyone who hit rec is very damn proud of doing so.

[LiberalLovinLug]

194. Oh...thanks for reminding me to rec!

Almost forgot.

The truth hurts...I know.

[Sentath]

195. WooHoo, I'm on a list ( : !

“The cure for anything is salt water - tears, sweat, or the sea.”
― Isak Dinesen, Seven Gothic Tales

Isak Dinesen Quotes

[SomethingFishy]

200. And then what?

Are you going to take away my liberal card?

K&R Will...

[AgingAmerican]

203. That 'threat'

Earns this thread another rec

[MrMickeysMom]

240. Here's a piece of paper with my fucking name on it...

Everyone can have a good look.

K and R, too. There….

Cause… there's no more room for the bullshit.

[Curmudgeoness]

246. You do realize that you are responsible for

(at last count) 284 recs. Well, possible not all of them, but I would bet at least 1/2 of them.

[uppityperson]

24. One kick to say thank you for pointing that out. Sorry Will, you have lost me with that.

Now you get to snarkily say "thank you" and others get to call me a hater.

Nope. Just disagreeing civilly.

[winter is coming]

56. Do you disagree that the President's rhetoric is at odds with his actions, to our cost?

Or are you perturbed by the idea that the disconnect is intentional?

We've been repeatedly told that Obama is highly intelligent and a good communicator. Unless that's a lie, the contradiction between his words and his actions could hardly be accidental. I don't know that I'd phrase it as bluntly as Will has, but his conclusion that we're being led down the primrose path is inescapable. The "shame" should be on the President.

[woo me with science]

141. Wow.

How childish and embarrassing for you this McCarthyite schtick is.

Wish I could rec again.

[Whisp]

175. who are you kidding with this McCarthyite crap

the software of DU makes that fucking list which is available to anyone any time they choose to 'click', not someone compiling it on their own. Take it up with Skinner and call Him a McCarthyite, why don't you?

jeezus fuck sake this place is nuts.

[woo me with science]

178. In the native BOG language you will comprehend...

Pathetic.

[Whisp]

186. Laughter of embarassment. n/t

[Hissyspit]

199. This sounds pretty McCarthyesque:

Last edited Fri Feb 28, 2014, 03:22 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4578897

[JackRiddler]

173. Get him! Get the commie!

Heretical thoughts! Not allowed! Malfunction!

[antigop]

16. cue the "hater/basher" posts. nt

[hatrack]

31. No, I think they're all on another thread

nt

[woo me with science]

140. Furiously logging in personas

to up the rec count.

[jsr]

147. Trying to shore up virtual support

[woo me with science]

184. vir·tu·al (adjective)

vir·tu·al (adjective) \ˈvər-chə-wəl, -chəl; ˈvərch-wəl\

: very close to being something without actually being it

: existing or occurring on computers or on the Internet

[jsr]

187. Yep, smoke and mirrors:

[antigop]

17. K&R nt

[Cleita]

18. Various agencies in California are actually having meetings about

rising on our coast. They finally noticed.

[Bluenorthwest]

120. Actually since 2009, the West Coast Governors Alliance on Ocean health

has been conducting studies and public workshops on sea level rise:
•In 2009, the states of California, Washington, and Oregon; NOAA; USGS; and USACE commissioned a study by the National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council on the effects of Sea Level Rise on the West Coast. The NRC committee provides an evaluation of sea level rise for California, Oregon, and Washington for the years 2030, 2050 and 2100, and covers both global and local sea level rise.
http://www.westcoastoceans.org/index.cfm?content.display&pageID=118

As you will note, it is not 'various agencies in CA finally' but the entire region, for sometime now. A few months ago, all three US West Coast Governors met along with their counterpart in British Columbia Canada around climate change and environmental issues. The meeting took place in your own San Francisco, but most of CA ignored it while residents of the other States took both note and action.
So while you say they 'finally' noticed, the sea level rise study by your State and it's neighbors is 5 years running.
Of course more should be done, etc, but claims that no one is doing anything while your whole region is doing something is sort of sad, these are large Democratic accomplishments. We should all be praising the actions taken and supporting them by calling for more funding and more action.

[mountain grammy]

21. Well, looks like "The Road" it is, death, destruction and cannabalism..

Or, maybe, just maybe, there are forces at work not "selling us out." Let's watch the president go full blast into the environmental mess and demand the funds and support to clean up the planet, or just part of America, and see how long he lasts. 50% of Americans don't exercise their right to vote, but, really, 50% of Americans are kind of stupid. Almost half of Americans don't believe in evolution! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/05/americans-believe-in-creationism_n_1571127.html Now, I'm not knocking anyone's religion, but really?

We have a lot more problems than the ocean coming because this really is not such "a good country." People are sliding into stupidity, fear, and hate at an alarming rate and they're armed.

I do love your post, I'm just not so quick to call out the president as a "sell out." He's president of all the people, and a huge number of Americans are non believers.. in any science at all!

[pscot]

23. Rightious rant!

[pscot]

28. The bluff erosion around here is shocking

And now they're planning to run oil and coal trains along the Puget Sound shorelines to get to the energy export terminal at Vancouver/Bellingham.

[truebrit71]

25. Spot on Will...

..spot on mate..

[pa28]

26. Looks like this one made all the right people angry.

And yes, I've noticed the man is a master bullshitter for the reasons you've cited and more. Unless your name is Lloyd, Penny or Jamie the odds are he is not your buddy.

[Autumn]

33. I think this is one of your best. Not since the run up to war have I seen

you write with such passion and truth.

[xocet]

46. Why do you believe that $20 as minimum wage would be destructive to the economy?

What is the value of work in your mind? If a person works 2 or 3 jobs and a total of 40+ hours a week, should that person be impoverished? What is your break even wage? Do you want people to have no ability to do anything other than work their jobs, eat, sleep and repeat? What about retirement? Should they have a hope of saving anything and retiring at some point or would you prefer that they just 'fall in the harness' to paraphrase Seneca?

[Coyotl]

48. inflation

[xocet]

101. Thanks for your reply. What though is the correlation of inflation to minimum wage?

Is there an acceptable increase in minimum wage according to your theory of inflation?

[glinda]

72. Will was speaking in "short speak" meaning for effect and taking short cuts. I love this post!

And Will...living in the woods has done you good man.

[mbperrin]

76. So high wages are bad? That must mean low wages are good.

So let's cut wages to zero and see what happens. I bet not good. Actually, the purchasing power of the 1957 minimum wage would be a bit over $25 per hour today, and I see those days as pretty good days.

Fracking is certainly draining the water tables here in Texas, and that is from the people in the industry I worked with for a decade. Every well uses 3-5 million gallons of water - the city of 186,000 I live in uses 14 million a day, so the thousands of wells being drilled in this area will use billions of gallons, or a year's worth, at a gulp.

Just keep saying, the dikes are holding. They will, right up until they don't. I'm 3600 feet above sea level, so no worries.

[QC]

146. That hidden post is quite the right wing manifesto.

Ocean levels are not rising, wages are not low enough, fracking is not harmful, etc.

And anyone who disagrees must be a drunk!

We used to have to go to Free Republic to read such crap....

[fleabiscuit]

234. Yes, a bowl of non sequitor soup. ~ eom

[SHRED]

42. " Hall-of-Fame worthy bullshit artist"

There it is. The naked truth.

[SHRED]

43. Dear Will,

I remember a time when you wouldn't get any shit for a post like this on the DU.

[Coyotl]

49. People who post like this get banned from DU too.

[WilliamPitt]

50. You want to ban me?

Put me on the list.

Jesus. Getting kinda scary around here.

In that people who make lists are people who are scared.

Find a mirror.

[SHRED]

58. "sober up"

That's not a personal attack.

Nah...not at all.

[1awake]

55. this^^^^

And it has been getting worse.

[arely staircase]

229. you banned?

That's crazy talk. That would never happen.

[MrMickeysMom]

242. Wooooooo…..

Maybe I just better watch my own damned self, cause I SURE wouldn't want you to (gulp) t-t-t-take notice!!!

[dotymed]

127. Me too.

Thank you for some TRUTH Will.
DU used to be all about truth, transparency in politics, education, environment, etc.
Of course that was when shrub was POTUS.

Now that a democrat is POTUS, THE PARTY is all that matters. Obama (who I worked hard to get elected, initially) has taken the worse of bushs' mandates and doubled down on them.
Obama was a great candidate, promising sanity and transparency. After elected, it was another bush term, maybe even worse.

Party no longer matters when 90% of "our" leaders are corporatists, achieving millionaire status before or shortly after being elected.

DU'ers used to see through the bullshit and pay attention to actions.
Austerity under a repub? No way. Under a proposed democrat? great to many.
Thank you Will, as an FDR Democrat whose party disappeared, I agree with your assessment 100%.

[swilton]

45. So true

I believe it is important to continue trying but we won't consume our way out of the crisis. The problem is more systemic than changing a few lightbulbs and driving Prius' cars.

To not try a different approach is to continue digging our (collectively, humanity's) own grave....We can do better.

[WillyT]

47. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

[WilliamPitt]

53. This thread has become an interesting exercise in the power of my Ignore file.

It keeps getting kicked, but I see no new posts.

The same folks clearly travel in the same pack. As one. With focus.

Hm.

Have at it, gladiators. I can't see you, and don't wish to. You're on my list for all the reasons you're certainly displaying now.

Thanks for kicking my thread.

[msanthrope]

126. Can you disclose the interactions you've had with G. Greenwald, who is a Board Member

of Truthout? also with Laura Poitras, who is also a board member?

[WilliamPitt]

129. Zero.

[WilliamPitt]

130. ...and by the way

1. I love the way you talk about Greenwald as if he is some kind of evil radioactive sea monster, which is moot because:

2. He is not on our Board: http://truth-out.org/members/about

Not even an adviser. Nor is Laura Poitras.

You Fail. Again.

[Warren Stupidity]

224. Yes but he could have been, you can't deny that, can you?

[qwertyq]

135. you're quite the investimagator!

[WilliamPitt]

144. No response?

[msanthrope]

190. Some of us work during the day, Will....good to clear that up. nt

[bvar22]

227. If somebody had proven that I had posted FALSE information at DU,

I would go back,
amend my post to to remove the FALSE information,
and offer a Mea Culpa for my FALSE accusation.

Letting FALSE information continue to stand
AFTER it has been PROVEN False
is not something for which I have any respect.

Knowingly posting False Information at DU,
or letting FALSE information stand at DU
is something I take seriously,
and DU should take seriously.

Good Post, Will.
Good debunking of the FALSE accusation.




You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their promises or excuses.

[Zorra]

156. Next on that script comes the $64 question: "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the

Communist Party?"

[deutsey]

159. That's what I was thinking

Do you now, or have you ever had, contact with Glenn Greenwald?

Before you answer, remember: we have LISTS!1!1!!!

smh

[Hissyspit]

177. As I posted in reply to you last night, they are NOT on the board of Truthout:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4578334

...and so what if they were??

http://www.truth-out.org/about-us

Board of Directors
President: Robert Naiman
Members: Henry A. Giroux, Lewis Gordon, Victoria Harper, Maya Schenwar
Board of Advisers
Valerie Anderson, Dean Baker, Beverly Bell, Scott Blau, Cynthia Boaz, Alan Breslauer, Rinaldo Brutoco, Maxon Buscher, Marjorie Cohn, Henry Crapo, Jodie Evans, Jaclyn Friedman, George Lakoff, Bryan Lockwood, Anne Elizabeth Moore, Richard Power, Robert Reich, Roberto Rodriguez, Mark Ruffalo, Graham and Mariesa Ryan, T.M. Scruggs, Mikey Weinstein and Richard D. Wolff.

Truth-out is "bundled" with other organizations by the Freedom of the Press Foundation to receive donations, occasionally, crowd-funded by the public. Greenwald and Poitras are on THAT board of directors.

https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/about

Freedom of the Press Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to helping support and defend public-interest journalism focused on exposing mismanagement, corruption, and law-breaking in government. We accept tax-deductible donations to a variety of journalism organizations that push for transparency and accountability, and we work to preserve and strengthen the rights guaranteed to the press under the First Amendment.

Freedom of the Press Foundation is built on the recognition that this kind of transparency journalism — from publishing the Pentagon Papers and exposing Watergate, to uncovering the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program and CIA secret prisons — doesn’t just happen. It requires dogged work by journalists, and often, the courage of whistleblowers and others who work to ensure that the public actually learns what it has a right to know.

Crowd-Funding

In a changing economic and technological age, media organizations are increasingly susceptible to corporate or government pressure. This can lead to watered-down or compromised coverage, or worse: censorship.

Increasingly, non-profit media and transparency organizations are emerging as a critical component of the journalism landscape. Leveraging the power of the Internet, these organizations are helping to reinvent and reimagine independent watchdog reporting.

Right now, too many of those organizations are struggling for funding, relying on a few large foundations or competing for donors. Our goal is to broaden the financial base of these types of institutions—both start-ups and established non-profit organizations — by crowd-sourcing funding and making it easy for people to support the best journalism from an array of organizations all in one place.

Using the same networked, collaborative approach, the Freedom of the Press Foundation will also provide support for organizations and individuals that have been unjustly censored or cut off from funding for doing their job as journalists. Given the variety of corporate and government pressures on journalism outlets around the world, the need has never been greater.

How It Works:

The process is simple. On our website, you can donate to as many as four journalism and transparency organizations at once. We’ll feature a “bundle” of four organizations and provide a bit of background on each. Every two months we will release a new bundle of deserving organizations or individuals. Once you enter the total amount you wish to donate, you can use the sliders to determine the percentage you want each entity to get.

You can also donate directly to the Freedom of the Press Foundation to help further our mission. Twice a year, we will distribute a grant to projects our Board of Directors has vetted and selected.

Freedom of the Press Foundation takes 7% from each donation, which goes to our 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor to ensure your donation can be tax-deductible in the United States.

Criteria for choosing organizations:

- Record of engaging in transparency journalism or supporting it in a material way, including support for whistleblowers.
- Public interest agenda.
- Organizations or individuals under attack for engaging in transparency journalism.
- Need for support. The foundation’s goal is to prioritize support for organizations and individuals who are in need of funding or who face obstacles to gaining support on their own.

Asking for donations for investigative journalism organizations from the PUBLIC. That seems to be the only connection.

Freedom of the Press Foundation Board of Directors:

Board of Directors

@DanielEllsberg
Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg is a co-founder of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. He is best known as the whistleblower who gave the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times in 1971. Ellsberg is also the author of three books: Papers on the War (1971), Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers (2002), and Risk, Ambiguity and Decision (2001). In December 2006, he won the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” in Stockholm, Sweden, “for putting peace and truth first, at considerable personal risk, and dedicating his life to inspiring others to follow his example.”

@ggreenwald
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald is a lawyer, journalist, blogger, and author. He worked as a constitutional and civil rights litigator before becoming a contributor to Salon, and now writes for The Guardian about civil liberties issues. He is the author of three New York Times bestselling books, including his latest, With Liberty and Justice for Some. Greenwald was named by The Atlantic as one of the 25 most influential political commentators in the nation. He was the recipient of the first annual I.F. Stone Award for Independent Journalism, and won the 2010 Online Journalism Association Award for his investigative work on the arrest and oppressive detention of Bradley Manning. Along with Laura Poitras, he received the 2013 EFF Pioneer Award for chronicling NSA spying.

@johncusack
John Cusack
John Cusack is an actor, director, producer, and screenwriter who has appeared in over 60 films. He's also a political activist and regularly speaks out and writes on issues of human rights, government transparency, and accountability—amongst other things.


@JPBarlow
John Perry Barlow
John Perry Barlow is co-founder of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. He is also a retired Wyoming rancher (and native), a former lyricist for the Grateful Dead, and the co-founder and board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties organization which has been protecting the free flow of information on the Internet since 1990. He was a founding Fellow at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. He has been writing about Cyberspace since 1988 and was first to apply that name to the global social space it presently describes. Barlow's piece on the future of copyright, “The Economy of Ideas,” is taught in many law schools, and his “Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace” is posted on thousands of websites. Recently, The Guardian named him one of the twenty most influential champions of the Open Internet. He is presently engaged in starting a company, Algae Systems, that aspires to turn sewage into carbon negative jet fuel. He is the father of three daughters and his primary aspiration is to be a good ancestor. He dreams of a world where all general useful knowledge can be available to anyone, of any station, merely for the price of curiosity.

@jcstearns
Josh Stearns
Josh Stearns is a journalist and organizer working for press freedom and the future of news through media and tech policy. As the Journalism and Public Media Campaign Director at Free Press, Stearns runs national advocacy campaigns to amplify the voice of local people in the policy debates that shape our media. Since 2011 he has been tracking journalist arrests and press suppression across the US, an effort the earned him “Storify of the Year” and the Lew Hill Media Ally Award for his use of cutting-edge technology and First Amendment advocacy. His articles have appeared in Mother Jones, Orion Magazine, Yes Magazine and the Columbia Journalism Review.

Laura Poitras
Laura Poitras is a documentary filmmaker. Her 2003 film Flag Wars won a Peabody Award. Her 2006 film My Country, My Country was nominated for an Academy Award. Her 2010 film The Oath was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding investigative journalism. She is currently working on a documentary about state surveillance, WikiLeaks, Internet freedom, and whistleblowers. She is the recipient of a 2012 MacArthur Fellowship. Her work was included in the 2012 Whitney Biennial. Along with Glenn Greenwald, she received the 2013 EFF Pioneer Award for chronicling NSA spying.

She has been detained and interrogated about her work at the U.S. border over 40 times.

@micahflee
Micah Lee
Micah Lee is the chief technology officer and a board member of Freedom of the Press Foundation, and the author of Encryption Works. An avid GNU/Linux user, he has been writing code in a variety of languages for a variety of platforms for over a decade. He takes a keen interest in computer security, cryptography, privacy, Free Software, and Internet freedoms. He recently left his job as a technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation to join Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and others at First Look Media.

@RaineyReitman
Rainey Reitman
Rainey Reitman is a co-founder and chief operating officer of Freedom of the Press Foundation. She's also a founder and steering committee member for the Bradley Manning Support Network, a network of individuals and organizations advocating for the release of accused WikiLeaks whistleblower Pfc. Bradley Manning. She serves on the board of the directors for the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, a nonprofit whose mission is to organize and support an effective, national grassroots movement to restore civil liberties, and on the steering committee for the Internet Defense League, which organizes Internet users to combat imminent threats to online rights. Reitman is also Activism Director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

@TrevorTimm
Trevor Timm
Trevor Timm is a co-founder and the executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. He is a writer, activist, and lawyer who specializes in free speech and government transparency issues. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, Al Jazeera, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, Harvard Law and Policy Review, Politico, PBS MediaShift and Salon.

Trevor formerly worked as an activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Before that, he helped the longtime General Counsel of The New York Times, James Goodale, write a book on the Pentagon Papers and the First Amendment.

In 2013, he received the Hugh Hefner First Amendment Award for journalism.

@xeni
Xeni Jardin
Xeni Jardin is a founding partner and co-editor of award winning blog Boing Boing. Executive Producer and host of Webby-honored "Boing Boing Video," online and in-flight on Virgin America. Has contributed to such diverse venues as NPR, Wired, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and a frequently-sought tech expert in broadcast news.

Horrible, horrible people, all.

[msanthrope]

191. So, he's on the Board of the org that funds Truthout? nt.

[Hissyspit]

197. He's on the board of AN organization that HELPS raise PUBLIC funds for Truthout. And others.

Anybody can donate to Truthout, or to the Freedom of the Press Foundation, if they want. And so what??

[Warren Stupidity]

225. Oh well that's close enough. Any degree of association with the TOXIC MONSTER GG

ought to be enuff for a complete and total BANISHMENT!

WE HAZ HIM NOW!

[bobduca]

277. Smear merchant scores great success!

It's only a matter of time before these countless loyal opinions change reality!

[fleabiscuit]

237. Thank you for that.

An affirmation that I have picked well with my limited resources.

[AgingAmerican]

204. Your forgot one question

"Have you ever been a Communist sympathizer?"

[MrMickeysMom]

243. Here's something for your warm night...

[baldguy]

57. Would you prefer to have Romney - or any Republican - as President?

You make the perfect out to be the enemy of the good.

[WilliamPitt]

59. Yes.

You got me. Pinned me right down with that novel new approach to political debate.

[baldguy]

61. And your OP is so Palin-worthy, too.

[Raffi Ella]

60. Excellent piece Will, thank you.

K&R

[Egalitarian Thug]

62. "He is not your friend. He is selling you out."

And that's where we end up.

Struggling with the day-today fight to survive while hearing these parasites, that have never known even one day of want, tell us that it's all good. The "recovery" is gong along fine, and just you wait, it'll be sunshine and lollipops just as soon as this next election is done.

I'm done with all of them, a pox on both their houses.

[gulliver]

63. This won't pay the bills either.

It's time to give up. Politics is not your genre.

[dionysus]

160. !!!!!

[Number23]

250. Damn. Just... damn.

[WilliamPitt]

256. You were saying?

[Le Taz Hot]

65. Alright,

dueling threads:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024577046

You stirred up the swarm, Will.

[winter is coming]

70. He sunk their battleship. n/t

[Rex]

84. Yeah but hey Pro finally got some easy attention!

I'm sure all those months of self-kicking your own thread must take a toll.

[woo me with science]

139. Wasn't much of a duel,

even with an army of personas.

[Le Taz Hot]

185. True.

On one side you have hard facts and reasoned arguments, on the other it's variations on a theme of: "Don't talk bad about the president!" followed by various insults directed toward said offender(s), and ends with pats on the back for all for a job well done.

Rinse. Repeat.

[MisterP]

192. and then off to the Safe Haven!

heck, walled-garden structures and thinking is how we got two world wars and Argentina's Dirty War--we're lucky people just lose their parents to Fox

[woo me with science]

259. +1

[llmart]

226. I can't believe we're all supposed to be Democrats.

We laugh and giggle and take great joy in how the Republican Party is so divided between Tea Party members and Conservatives and high five one another when that divide causes them to lose elections. Then we finally get a Democratic President after 8 long years of total disaster and ruin of our country, and what do we do? Start bashing the President and how he hasn't given everyone a pony and a job as if he is the supreme ruler with no Congress or Supreme Court which makes up 2/3 of the branches of government. So here on DU, let's pit the supposedly "liberal Democrats" against the supposedly "Republican lite" Democrats and give our opposition (the Republican party) ammunition to win more elections.

When you get to be my age, you do garner some wisdom from all the hard knocks you've gotten in life and all the experiences you have had. One of the things I've learned in life from my hard knocks and just from living is that idealism is great but not realistic. We can strive to make our country better, but we will never live in what we think of as an idealistic/utopian society. Most people do not fall within one category or another re: liberal vs. conservative. They fall somewhere in between. But I came of age in the '60's when we set out to change the world and we did in some ways, and didn't in others, and that, my friends is something called "reality".

My parents always told us that life isn't fair. It also isn't perfect and neither is any one person. I think Will Pitt is probably a very decent person whom I've never met, but who has the best interest of our country in mind. However, I have noticed that Will likes to garner attention by using a lot of four-letter words in his opinion pieces and believe me when I say I'm no prude, but it is offputting to me when he starts his threads with "f***" this or that or calls our President who was duly elected by the vast majority of people in this country with the term he used. It is unworthy of a journalist and he would be well-served to tone that sort of rhetoric down. I have no trouble with people who post replies on DU with the occasional swear word, but trying to draw people in to read your stuff by using it? Not so professional and really not so helpful to the Democratic Party and winning elections. You can criticize the President's policies in a mature, dignified manner without resorting to a level usually used by Freepers.

[winter is coming]

268. Drinkable water is not a "pony".

Actually, use of the term "pony" in pretty much any context other than children's birthday parties is a credibility-destroyer.

[Starry Messenger]

68. I dedicate my k&r to Prosense, without whom I might have missed this OP.

[Autumn]

73. Wow 99 recs

I hope someone is keeping track.

[cherokeeprogressive]

97. Track is being kept... CAREFULLY. Of that you can rest assured. Revenge is being plotted...

Remember that scene in The Ten Commandments? Where Moses stands before the burning bush, watching the commandments being burned into the stone? That's going on every time a new name is added to the rec list for this post. When this thread finally dies, those tablets will be taken from the wall and stored where they can be accessed later.

[Autumn]

151. That is such a cool visual. I wonder if that's where

the Holy Grail is at?. When The thread dies they can gather in a circle and read the names and take a sip out of it.



Your response was awesome.

[abelenkpe]

137. Are you making a list?

DUs own NSA?

[Autumn]

145. No, there are others who keep

track of that.

[jsr]

150. It's best left to the professionals

[Autumn]

154. I found that out this morning.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4578140

[jtuck004]

74. K&R, of course. But I think most people will work past the point where the water is over their

ankles before it even occurs to them that maybe they will concern themselves with this, someday. Or choking from the fumes, no water for the lawns, etc.

Unless something takes away their cable tv before then. Then there will be some action.

But yeah...

[longship]

75. R&K nt

[ReRe]

82. K&R

Yes, it is coming, Will. Add this to your greatest. My minimum would be $22, though.

[Zorra]

83. “Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it.

To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness – and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we’re being brainwashed to believe.

The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling – their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability.

Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them.

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”

― Arundhati Roy

The Only Solution Is World Revolution

[bobduca]

255. My favorite Arundhati Roy quote

"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”

[woo me with science]

283. Marvelous.

Thank you.

[Rex]

95. Must be a conspiracy!

nt.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

98. Which shows that William Pitt is in good company with real journalists.

[grasswire]

105. Indeed. Published by Bill Moyers.

That's damned fine company for truth tellers.

[BelgianMadCow]

115. Word

Bill is about as good as they come. As is Will - well, there was a time I didn't recognize the firebrand from DU Bush years, but he's back. And I'm very glad about that.

[Hissyspit]

107. No, they are NOT.

http://www.truth-out.org/about-us

Board of Directors
President: Robert Naiman
Members: Henry A. Giroux, Lewis Gordon, Victoria Harper, Maya Schenwar
Board of Advisers
Valerie Anderson, Dean Baker, Beverly Bell, Scott Blau, Cynthia Boaz, Alan Breslauer, Rinaldo Brutoco, Maxon Buscher, Marjorie Cohn, Henry Crapo, Jodie Evans, Jaclyn Friedman, George Lakoff, Bryan Lockwood, Anne Elizabeth Moore, Richard Power, Robert Reich, Roberto Rodriguez, Mark Ruffalo, Graham and Mariesa Ryan, T.M. Scruggs, Mikey Weinstein and Richard D. Wolff.

Truth-out is "bundled" with other organizations by the Freedom of the Press Foundation to receive donations, occasionally, crowd-funded by the public. Greenwald and Poitras are on THAT board of directors.

https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/about

Freedom of the Press Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to helping support and defend public-interest journalism focused on exposing mismanagement, corruption, and law-breaking in government. We accept tax-deductible donations to a variety of journalism organizations that push for transparency and accountability, and we work to preserve and strengthen the rights guaranteed to the press under the First Amendment.

Freedom of the Press Foundation is built on the recognition that this kind of transparency journalism — from publishing the Pentagon Papers and exposing Watergate, to uncovering the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program and CIA secret prisons — doesn’t just happen. It requires dogged work by journalists, and often, the courage of whistleblowers and others who work to ensure that the public actually learns what it has a right to know.

Crowd-Funding

In a changing economic and technological age, media organizations are increasingly susceptible to corporate or government pressure. This can lead to watered-down or compromised coverage, or worse: censorship.

Increasingly, non-profit media and transparency organizations are emerging as a critical component of the journalism landscape. Leveraging the power of the Internet, these organizations are helping to reinvent and reimagine independent watchdog reporting.

Right now, too many of those organizations are struggling for funding, relying on a few large foundations or competing for donors. Our goal is to broaden the financial base of these types of institutions—both start-ups and established non-profit organizations — by crowd-sourcing funding and making it easy for people to support the best journalism from an array of organizations all in one place.

Using the same networked, collaborative approach, the Freedom of the Press Foundation will also provide support for organizations and individuals that have been unjustly censored or cut off from funding for doing their job as journalists. Given the variety of corporate and government pressures on journalism outlets around the world, the need has never been greater.

How It Works:

The process is simple. On our website, you can donate to as many as four journalism and transparency organizations at once. We’ll feature a “bundle” of four organizations and provide a bit of background on each. Every two months we will release a new bundle of deserving organizations or individuals. Once you enter the total amount you wish to donate, you can use the sliders to determine the percentage you want each entity to get.

You can also donate directly to the Freedom of the Press Foundation to help further our mission. Twice a year, we will distribute a grant to projects our Board of Directors has vetted and selected.

Freedom of the Press Foundation takes 7% from each donation, which goes to our 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor to ensure your donation can be tax-deductible in the United States.

Criteria for choosing organizations:

Record of engaging in transparency journalism or supporting it in a material way, including support for whistleblowers.
Public interest agenda.
Organizations or individuals under attack for engaging in transparency journalism.
Need for support. The foundation’s goal is to prioritize support for organizations and individuals who are in need of funding or who face obstacles to gaining support on their own.

Asking for donations for investigative journalism organizations from the PUBLIC. That seems to be the only connection.

[Tx4obama]

232. Thanks, I was going by what the other person said. n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

122. That's absolutely incorrect, you are bearing false witness, making things up which

other can check. What a lazy, crappy and dishonest tactic. Highlights your core truth.

[WilliamPitt]

142. You Fail.

http://truth-out.org/members/about

[truebrit71]

171. Except they're not...

....Swwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwing and a miss.....

[msanthrope]

193. Apparently on the Board to the organization that funds Truthout....according to Hissyspit.

Sweet, sweet Omidayar money!

[Hissyspit]

201. Jesus Fuckall!

NO.

Quit DELIBERATELY MISREPRESENTING!

Not according to me. According to the information on their websites, public information!

They are not THE source of money for Truthout. They are A source of funding, from PUBLIC DONATIONS!

Holy fuck. Just fucking STOP already!

[msanthrope]

215. But you are one who helpfully provided evidence of the financial link

between the two. So I thank you for doing that job for me.

[deutsey]

222. Keep following the money, there, Bernstein. Or are you Woodward?

[MrMickeysMom]

245. He's neither...

That would be a quote from the 5th century philosopher, Fucktard...

[deutsey]

247. How dare you deprive him of his devastating expose! n/t

[Autumn]

236. That is how it works. Get the lies and smears out there

and leave them, go on to something else and don't look back. Their brainless sheep will sniff it out swallow it up. A fine republican trick.

[Hissyspit]

238. I do indeed know.

[AgingAmerican]

206. They give money to the group

...that is run by their cousins, next door neighbors, half sister...who donates to Truthout

[AgingAmerican]

205. Except....they aren't

nt

[winter is coming]

252. and even if they were, it wouldn't make Will's points invalid. n/t

[Logical]

90. Kick

[ReasonableToo]

92. kick b/c I agree

I voted for the original candidate Obama but in a safely blue state, I could not vote for him a second time for all the reasons mentioned throughout the thread. I hope the planks of the Democratic Party are written by progressives - not corporate lobbyists or DLC hacks - and that we hold the candidates to OUR standards.

So sick of voting against the horrible candidate.

[Jim Lane]

94. Agree with much but disagree with this part...

I believe President Obama, who talks about the environment while pushing the Keystone pipeline, who talks about economic inequality while demanding fast-track authority for the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, is a Hall-of-Fame worthy bullshit artist.

Bullshit artist, yes; Hall-of-Fame worthy, no. He's no worse than most politicians. His problem is that his idealistic campaign rhetoric, coupled with every sensible person's horror at the Bush years, resulted in some unreasonably high expectations for him.

Of those who voted for him, some of us thought, "Well, he'll probably be a little better than Hillary, and certainly way better than McCain or Romney." We expected him to do some good things, to do some bad things, to be generally too conservative, and to be a typical political operative who would purvey a typical mixture of truth, half-truth, spin, misdirection, and expedient flip-flops.

But... the Hall of Fame? Consider the competition: Mitt Romney, quoting Obama's characterization of McCain ("If we talk about the economy, we lose&quot as if it were Obama's own view (and, for extra credit, his distortion of "You didn't build that&quot . His running mate, Paul Ryan, running against "cuts in Medicare" that he incorporated in his own budget. Darrell Issa and his Benghazi bullshit machine. All the phony Obamacare horror stories.

No way is a run-of-the-mill bullshit artist like Obama getting named on 75% of the Hall of Fame ballots.

[grasswire]

104. serious question

Where does Obama rank as a bull shitter when compared to Bill Clinton?

[Jim Lane]

109. On my scorecard, Bill Clinton was more of a bullshitter than Obama.

It's not 100% clear because, although neither of them governed as a genuine progressive, Clinton did less to present himself that way during the campaign. Nevertheless, his governance was even more conservative than Obama's, and represented more of a departure from his campaign stance. The Lewinsky matter was a sideshow but his emphatic denial, a flat-out lie, also gets him bullshit points.

[AgingAmerican]

207. All those grand bargains that Clinton made

Extending tax cuts for the rich and offering up SS. Now I remember.

[Jim Lane]

235. Let me give you some more to remember about Clinton.

In sarcastically "remembering" Clinton as doing things Obama did, you omit what Clinton actually did. His list would include, for openers, NAFTA, welfare "reform", DOMA/DADT, and the repeal of Glass-Steagall.

I completely agree with your two criticisms of Obama -- but let's not whitewash Clinton's record just to make Obama look worse by comparison.

[AgingAmerican]

258. DOMA DADT

Was a huge VICTORY when it passed. It was state of the art. glass steagal passed with a veto proof majority. you are obviously too young to remember, or you just didn't give a shit at the time.

and there were no grand bargains.

[Jim Lane]

262. The President and Congress

It's interesting to me that, in praising (or at least exonerating) Clinton to make Obama look worse by comparison, you make one of the assumptions that I've always criticized when it comes from the Obama-can-do-no-wrong crowd: that Congressional votes are immutable and the President has no influence over them.

If Obama, having said that he would insist on a "robust" public option in ACA, had sent Congress a bill that included one, and had pushed for it (TV address, appeals to party loyalty, etc.), would he have attracted enough votes to get it enacted? If Clinton had denounced Glass-Steagall repeal and similarly pressed his position, would he have swung enough votes to sustain a veto? In each case, we can't know for sure, but we can fault the President for not trying.

On DADT, you may have a point, but not as to DOMA. Ted Kennedy said at the time:

What is left of this bill is its real goal — it is a mean-spirited form of legislative gay-bashing designed to inflame the public four months before the November election. (quoted in this article)

It was certainly not "state of the art" for LGBT rights.

[MrMickeysMom]

248. Aaahhh… but it's the QUALITY of bullshittery we must consider...

"I didn't have relations with that woman", is so predictably. It's something you hear from the kind of a man who's brain is directly speaking on behalf of his dick…

Major league or Hall of Famer bullshittery is when you really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, truly believed any moment that a comfortable pair of shoes was about to be slipped on to walk with and stand up on behalf of the American labor movement and dwindling middle class… and all you got served was a cold plate of secret talks of the TPP and being carted off to jail with civil unrest of the XL pipeline.

Now… THAT'S some QUALITY bullshittery!

[Jim Lane]

261. You mean it's kind of like scoring that takes account of the degree of difficulty of a dive?

You're introducing greater sophistication into the measurement of comparative bullshittery.

I still think Obama is nowhere near most of the prominent Republicans, though.

[MrMickeysMom]

263. Bullshit is like that...

(yeah, it is)

The degree of sophistication is easier to compare than the result of the bullshit.

Example #1:
(me) "Thanks for saying you'll sign my petition for supporting this thing. I'll stop by tomorrow as you advised!"

(their house, later) NO…. B O D Y h o m e………..

Example #2:

(Somebody else) "I'll support you in public over this issue and we'll get the media event broadcast on the 11 o clock news for our issue!"

(Later on, me and others waiting for somebody else out in the cold)….

N O O O O O b o d y S H O W E D…..

Both of those were not as sophisticated as promises to the American people, but the outcome was not as far-reaching, because it basically pissed some people off who counted on other people.

A HIGH DEGREE of sophistication to decide whether the American people are being bullshitted was when FDR finally came through with his fight for the fall of the middle class after with programs, and for telling the fascists that he actually WELCOMED their hatred of him.

[Whisp]

96. Oceanic flight 815 is coming Hurley!

[ibegurpard]

102. good op ed

the continual attempts to prop up Obama as anything other than a corporatist have gotten tiresome.
Did I vote for him? Yes. Do I regret it? No. But let's not pretend he's something he's not.

[Agschmid]

103. Kicked.

[davidthegnome]

108. We really don't agree about Obama

About everything else though, I'm with you.

[quinnox]

110. K&R, just because whenever I see some duers making lists or noting recs of threads, I want to be on

the list, damn it.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

111. Me too

[quinnox]

112. lol

[Ichingcarpenter]

132. I started a new list on people that make lists

or talk about lists

Now the question is?

Why doesn't Will ever kick my OP or threads?

Guess I need to start a new list.

Boy the shitstorm on these two opposing threads
are informative because nobody talks about what was originally written.

Time for another list.

[Bobbie Jo]

157. Here's another for your collection

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4560097

Lots of list-makers lining up here.

[Junkdrawer]

134. I'm Spartacus...

[Enthusiast]

113. K&R! Sorry sockpuppets.

But it's the truth.

[Junkdrawer]

114. Good for you, Will. About Obama...

it may still be true that the man, who, excuse me, never did strike me as up to the job yet, was and is being monstrously ill-advised, but he may yet grow up to the challenge.

Slim hope, but...

[arely staircase]

116. or "look at me!" nt

[BelgianMadCow]

117. I believe.

And will stand up.

[Scuba]

119. I worked for Obama's campaign in 2008 and 2012, and no, I don't want President Romney ....

... but anyone thinking we've not been sold out suffers from their own strain of ODS. Will only touched on part of it.

Thanks Will, great OP.

[QC]

143. But you don't understand--it's not enough to vote for the president,

or donate to him, or even campaign for him. One must love him.

But don't you dare breathe a word about personality cultism!

[jsr]

148. Half-heartedly clapping is unacceptable

[QC]

152. If you don't clap, Tinkerbell will die!

[ProSense]

163. Yes,

"But you don't understand--it's not enough to vote for the president, or donate to him, or even campaign for him. One must love him."

...you voting, donating and campaigning for him earns you the right to say that he is a: "Hall-of-Fame worthy bullshit artist."

The only alternative is to "love him."

Ludicrous.

[bvar22]

209. You gotta Stand by your Man!!!

&feature=kp


"You'll have bad times
And he'll have good times
Doin things that you don't understand
But if you love him
You'll forgive him
Even though he's hard to understand
And if you love him
Oh, be proud of him
Cause after all he's just a man"

[QC]

218. I love Tammy!

I don't look to her for citizenship advice though.

[ProSense]

161. "but anyone thinking we've not been sold out suffers from their own strain of ODS"

Classic bandwagon jumping. Seriously. If you don't think Obama has sold you out, you're delusional, right?

[Scuba]

162. I thought the "D" was for "deranged", but will defer to your greater expertise.

[ProSense]

164. Well, thanks for the clarification as to exactly what you meant. n/t

[Union Scribe]

121. Rec for vigorous feet-fire-holding.

For all of you fretting about the heat of the words, they are only proportional to the enormity of the mistakes coming from this administration. Not every criticism has to come with pacifying praise, sometimes dumb moves need to be put on blast.

[G_j]

123. K&R

[TBF]

124. I'm a fan -

Dear Will, I don't always agree with every word you write but you are doing a great job of putting what many are thinking into plain English. Particularly the environmental issues. We could go back & forth on Obama and whether he's useful in any sense (if he signs bills to raise minimum wage than yes I see him as helpful as opposed to total waste of space) - but frankly I just don't find him that critical. More critical is the fact that our economic system (capitalism) is the driving force in obliteration of the planet. It has to go.

Rosa Luxemburg noted that "the most revolutionary thing one can do is always to proclaim loudly what is happening" and this is one of the best OPs I've read in awhile on this site. Keep it up!

[Warren Stupidity]

125. kick in support of DU's Will Pitt.

[Divernan]

131. Outstanding OP - keep on testifying brother!

[bullwinkle428]

133. Late to the party, but happy to K&R.

[dembotoz]

136. damn just damn but you are correct k and r

[woo me with science]

138. Great piece, refreshing truth.

K&R

[Tien1985]

153. k&r nt

[ladjf]

155. This is a good post. nt

[Armstead]

165. I think President Obama can handle criticism better than a lot of DUers

Amazing that longtime DU stalwart Will Pitt writes a far-reaching column about the global environment crisis, and the Obama Protection Patrol jumps on one paragraph and gets all sweaty.

[dionysus]

166. thanks for watching, and don't forget to tune in to next weeks episode of Flight of the Popinjay. nt

[Champion Jack]

167. Kicked again to make sure I get on that list...lol

[CrispyQ]

168. This:

I believe the 50% of eligible American voters who can't be bothered to turn out one Tuesday every two years should be ashamed of themselves,

Fuckin' A they should.

[Whisp]

169. I bleeve that for every dwop of wayne a flower groooooooooooooooows....

[cali]

241. but do you believe that your comment says anything about the OP?

It does, however, say a great deal about you.

[magical thyme]

170. glad to join "the list"

I always wondered if I made Nixon's list.

Happy to know I made at least one list that matters.

[daleanime]

172. K&R....

[colsohlibgal]

176. Agreed

Saw Mike Lofgren on Moyers a week or so ago and he laid it out in a well thought out and completer manner. The sub title of his recent book "The Party Is Over" puts in plainly - "How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, And The Middle Class Got Shafted". This guy is, or at least was, a republican but he explains where we are now beautifully and obviously is way left of "democratic" people like Baucus and Schumer.

A lot of Obama loyalists like the surface rhetoric and just don't explore or dig deeper than this. A few supposed lib talkers had no idea about the TPP when callers brought it up.

The deep state, what Ike called the MI complex, Wall Street, big corporations - they are running things now. It all facilitated by corporate control of big media and legalized bribery as business as usual.

Anyone who is a progressive populist would not be pushing the TPP like Obama.

I don't see a good way out of where we are, a good way to get to a true democracy because what we have now isn't one at all, right from our screwed up voting systems and procedures.

And the ocean is indeed coming, places like the Maldives are going to be underwater, fossil fuels are fouling our waters, people can light their water faucets in our heartland, and still not a lot is being done to minimize what's going to happen. I fear for our children their children and even those of us with a good chance of being still around for a few decades.

[woo me with science]

180. It is beyond refreshing to see people finally laying it on the line honestly.

Seriously, the continued insistence that the politicians are still working for us, against all evidence and reality, was approaching the level of national psychiatric disorder.

That is the malignancy of a propaganda state.

[vlakitti]

198. Really good post.

And well written, thought out and informative.

How can any sentient human being capable of signing up on this forum NOT know the truth of Mr. Pitt's observation?

[BelgianMadCow]

179. concerning rising waters and Arctic collapse - the thread can maybe use this vid:

posted in vid & multimedia by thom

[Puglover]

182. Oh the outrage!

God almighty. Ask any adult what man, woman, Democrat or Republican could become POTUS without being a bullshit artist.

Woosh!

Only on DU.

[nolkyz]

183. And it doesn't give a fuck

Neither does the planet as a whole. I take a kind of possibly perverse comfort in that.

[Jasana]

189. If the ocean is not coming then why....

has my insurance company declared my area a flood plain and refused to offer us flood insurance? We've never had a flood here in the 88 years my grandmother has lived in the area but we are about a half a mile from the Atlantic ocean. Look to the insurance companies. They are no fools. They know global warming is going to kick our ass good.

As for the rest of your post, all I can say is K&R.

[11 Bravo]

196. So THAT's why the last time I held a sea shell to my ear I heard OH, YES, YES, YES!

[Kermitt Gribble]

202. K&R!

Great piece, Will! I agree 100%

[Autumn Colors]

208. K&R (nt)

[bvar22]

210. After Katrina, we moved to the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas,

...and, going by that popular map showing the coastline 100 years from now,
we'll have Water Front Gulf of Mexico property.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

212. "consumers today are barely handling rent."

Which is why you hear so many investors are buying up rental property.

In many cases more than half of a renter's paycheck goes into the pockets of those investors. With a big complex you give the on site manager a free apartment and under a grand a month and put them in charge of a higher population of people than a lot of small towns.

I've seen revenues of a half a million a month on a 300 unit complex.

[woo me with science]

253. +100000

[ProSense]

213. Kerry: Protecting World’s Oceans Isn’t Just Environmentalist, It’s ‘An Economic Imperative’

Kerry: Protecting World’s Oceans Isn’t Just Environmentalist, It’s ‘An Economic Imperative’

By Michael Conathan

HALF MOON BAY, CALIFORNIA — We know how to solve many of the crises facing the world’s oceans. Now all we need is consensus and enforcement, said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during a conversation via video link at the Economist’s World Ocean Summit on Tuesday.

“We know exactly what is threatening our oceans,” said Sec. Kerry who specifically pointed to overfishing, pollution, and climate change as the three major threats. “And we have a good understanding of what we need to do.” But political opposition and insufficient enforcement of existing regulations remain major hurdles to implementing known solutions.

As an example, Kerry pointed to his efforts with the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) to convince the United Nations to ban driftnet fishing. “Yet we know people are still fishing with driftnets,” he said, referencing statistics that suggest worldwide illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing activities — known as “pirate fishing” — cost U.S. fishermen as much as $115 million in market share annually.

“Environmental reasons for protecting the world’s oceans should be leaping out at people, but it’s also an economic imperative,” said Kerry, citing the more than one billion people, primarily in developing countries, who rely on fish for their primary source of protein.

- more -

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/02/25/3329311/kerry-oceans-economic-imperative/

Text and video: http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2014/02/222532.htm

FYI

[cali]

216. The Administration is continuing with its push for expanding drilling on public grounds

[bvar22]

228. ..which further illustrates the veracity of Will's post.

Saying & Promising One Thing,
...then doing the exact opposite.

The scale on which this is being done
does indeed make it World Class.

[madinmaryland]

244. Interesting...

the links you provide. nt

[bvar22]

214. DURec.

If I'm not mistaken,
this is the 2nd article of yours that has been featured on Bill Moyers WebSite.
You are now running in the very thin air at the peak, Will.
I don't know of another level.
Congrats!

...I wouldn't be surprised if you receive an invitation for a live interview on his show.
Wouldn't THAT be something?

I grew up in New Orleans and experienced all the street cons first hand,
and have always been fascinated by low budget traveling Carnivals chock full of scam artists and bullshit artists.
I have seen Cons, Hucksters, and Bullshit Artists at their worst... and at their best.
Sometimes, I will play just to see how good the bullshit rip-off artists are.
I have some respect for those who achieve the Artist level.

Of course, the very best are attracted to careers in Politics,
and your diagnosis of World Class Bullshit Artist is correct,
but he is no match for the very best....Bill Clinton.

The BEST Artists leave the victim believing that he has been done a favor,
and Bill Clinton was at the top of this field.
Bill Clinton managed to convince the American Working Class that competing with 3rd World Slave Labor for their JOBS would be GOOD for them.
He was so smooth that many still BELIEVE that today,
so it is no surprise that this scam is being repackaged and sold again in the TPP.


DURec!

[Warren Stupidity]

217. Kick, just for the eye-poking fun of it.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

219. K&R.

[leftstreet]

220. DURec

[suffragette]

223. Adding my name to 'the list.'

K&R

[sadoldgirl]

230. All very true

and extremely sad. If we have not yet reached the tipping point, we will in the next 2-3 years. Perhaps with a technological super effort we may prolong some survival. Most people will think that human survival is the most important issue. Little do they realize that we are only a small ( though dangerous ) part of nature. When the oceans are coming, they are already poisoned with radioactivity as well as disastrous chemicals.
"pity that monster manunkind" or something like that.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

231. K&R

Well done, you who the coyotes fear.

[Owl]

249. Kick. I rec'd earlier!

[flvegan]

251. *applause*

Well said.

[woo me with science]

254. 288 recs and still at the top of the board for discussion.

Bill Moyers knows a good piece when he sees it.

[neverforget]

257. Well said Will!

You sure stirred up the ROFL brigade!

[woo me with science]

260. Still great. nt

[woo me with science]

264. kick!

[Autumn]

265. I love this piece Will

and I am tickled that the Pope of DU has it on his website.

[WilliamPitt]

266. Ermahgerd

The perpe!

These people crack me all the way up.

[Autumn]

267. Yes indeed, the amusement factor has gone off the charts

lately.

[WilliamPitt]

269. As I just said to a pretzel

Just wait...wait...waaaaaait...

[Autumn]

270. Any minute.......

unification that's a killer

[WilliamPitt]

271. . . .

[Autumn]

272. That's THE unification factor some are striving for

[enigmatic]

273. Congrats

You brought me back out of my semi-permanent lurkdom to heartily recommend this outstanding piece of writing, which is one of your best ever pieces.

And of course, to get on The List.

[WilliamPitt]

274. (((hug)))

Hello, old friend.

[Beausoir]

275. $20 minimum wage? You've never had to meet a payroll in your life have you?

What a bunch of silly melodramatic nonsense.

[woo me with science]

276. kick

[rhett o rick]

278. It's time for another kick. nm

[raouldukelives]

279. K&R!

At this point, one can either support corporations or one can attempt to resuscitate our democracy.
The more of the first, the less of the latter.

[Autumn]

280. Monday kick.

[woo me with science]

281. kick

[apnu]

282. Simple solution: Make voting day a National Holiday

More people will go to the polls. More people will volunteer to work at the polls.

Heck, change Election Day to July 4th! Make celebrating our independence by making us exercise our voices and vote.

[woo me with science]

284. 295 recs.

[Goldfish]

285. Me too! Me too!

Add me to the list! Thanks for your great OP! Couldn't agree with
you more!

[woo me with science]

286. kick

[Agony]

287. he has lousy advisors, there are solutions and choices to make

http://thesolutionsproject.org

Professor Jacobson and his team have created 50 state plans for 50 states to transition to 100% renewable energy. Each plan identifies a custom mix of wind, water and solar (WWS) to power our energy for all purposes (electricity, transportation, heating/cooling and industry). The plans will stabilize energy prices, create jobs, minimize air pollution, and begin to eliminate global warming. They will also create enormous investment opportunities for clean energy, transportation and energy efficiency. For more information about the plans or to see additional research from Professor Jacobson, visit his Stanford University website.

individually we can only do so much, and some of us have. leadership is required.

Where the fracking living hell is the leadership cuz I am not seeing it.

[Agony]

288. 2 days left for public comment on KXL National Interest Determination to the US State Department

13,800 comment have been submitted so far to the US State Department on whether or not building the KXL pipeline is in the National Interest.

Below is a direct link to the federal online form for submitting comments directly to the State Department. As simple as pressing the Big Blue button in the upper right hand corner and filling in the form. Note that this is a PUBLIC comment so do not use any personal information that you do not want posted online.

http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=DOS-2014-0003-0001

"""
Executive Order 13337 (69 FR 25299) calls on the Secretary of State, or his designee, to determine if issuance of a Presidential Permit would serve the national interest. This decision will take into account a wide range of factors, including energy security; environmental, cultural, and economic impacts; foreign policy; and compliance with relevant federal regulations and issues.
The State Department invites members of the public to comment on any factor they deem relevant to the national interest determination that will be made for this permit application. Along with other factors such as those listed above, these comments will be considered in the final national interest determination. The public comment period will end 30 days from the publication of this notice.
Comments are not private. They will be posted on the site http://www.regulations.gov. The comments will not be edited to remove identifying or contact information, and the State Department cautions against including any information that one does not want publicly disclosed. The State Department requests that any party soliciting or aggregating comments received from other persons for submission to the State Department inform those persons that the State Department will not edit their comments to remove identifying or contact information, and that they should not include any information in their comments that they do not want publicly disclosed.
"""

We are going to have to make him do the right thing. We need 500,000 comments.

[Drew Richards]

289. MMmmm Testify!

[Catherina]

290. A little late but proudly rec'd n/t

[Autumn]

291. Get's better every time I read this.

kick

[woo me with science]

292. 300 Recs.

Back to the top.

[ProSense]

293. Yes,

"300 Recs. Back to the top."

The other thread isn't being kicked anymore. It has 157 recs. It was a response to a challenge in this thread.

I posted a comment (http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024577936#post71), which I'll taylor to this thread.

The other OP was in response to a claim that was challenged by someone. The person made the point in a rude way, but it was still valid: fracking doesn't cause droughts.

Here is the point from this OP that was challenged:

"the drought-causing national practice of fracking"

Here is the point in the other OP:

“Hydraulic fracturing is increasing competitive pressures for water in some of the country’s most water-stressed and drought-ridden regions,” said Mindy Lubber, president of the Ceres green investors’ network."

That's correct, and does not support the claim that fracking is "drought-causing."

Fracking is a practice of injecting water into the ground. The amount of water usage is of concern when the "competitive pressures for water' increase. Given the amount of consumption cited by the poster I responded to, this would be a grave concern in a prolonged drought, when water shortages become severe.

A drought is a climate phenomenon that has nothing to do with water consumption.

The orginal claim was challenged, but no one wants to hear the facts...because.

[woo me with science]

294. kick!

[Autumn]

295. Yes this article is still here. Yes it is fucking awesome

Rec