May 16, 2013

Every poll shows that Republicans are as angry as we are.

Our government, both parties, was purchased by the one percent, and 99 percent of us have been disenfranchised. They are not running Republicans and Democrats for office anymore. All major party candidates are corporatists, or they do not have the money to compete.

We are ALL being played and exploited by the one percent. The corporate media has been systematically divided so that we have our channels and pundits, and they have their channels and pundits, and we are each fed lies and propaganda to make us hate and fight each other rather than the ones who are impoverishing ALL of us.

The big unacknowledged secret on DU is that Republicans across the country are just as angry as we are.

Just as our politicians lie to us about wanting to protect public education and the social safety nets and unions and the environment, their politicians lie to them about wanting to stand for small government, limited government interference in private lives, and the defense of civil liberties. Yet no matter which party is elected, we get the same corporate direction of larger, more oppressive and authoritarian government, assaults on and privatization of public services, and more warmongering.

If we could agree across party lines on just one thing....that our representation has been stolen from ALL of us by the corruption of money in the system....we could join together as the 99 percent to get the corporate money out and demand our representation back. When elections are for the people again, and corporations are not allowed to select our candidates, we can have a real fight in the public square about Democratic versus Republican philosophy. And real Democrats will win.

Right now, we don't get any choice at all. We get two candidates pushing essentially the same corporate agenda, by and for the one percent.

April 14, 2013

The Obama administration's legal battle against whistleblowers, federal unions.

Obama administration divides over whistleblowers
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/obama-administration-whistleblowers-transparency-90025.html


This is an assault on unions, and on the employee civil protections of hundreds of thousands of federal workers. And the implications of this particular assault are *especially* chilling, because we're talking about stripping worker protections from those who are closest to what is going on in the halls of our government.

So much for being able to speak out when malfeasance is observed.

This is likely headed to the Supreme Court.


Obama administration divides over whistleblowers
Reuters
By JOSH GERSTEIN | 4/13/13 4:34 PM EDT Updated: 4/13/13 5:19 PM EDT

It’s a battle that pits President Barack Obama against whistleblower advocates, against some of the largest federal employee unions, and against a bipartisan contingent in Congress.
....
The Justice Department and Defense Department are arguing that federal employees like commissary managers and accountants, who don’t have access to classified information, can be demoted or effectively fired without recourse to the usual avenues of appeal if their jobs are designated as “sensitive.” The ripple effect of that — critics say it would effectively strip huge numbers of federal workers of civil service protections by treating them like those who have access to the nation’s most vital secrets — could hollow out legal protections that have allowed whistleblowers to speak out with less fear of being fired.
....
Whistleblower advocates, including some in Congress, contend that allowing agencies greater latitude to reassign or even dismiss workers in “sensitive” positions will open another way for employees to retaliate against those who report fraud, waste or abuse of power.
....Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, agreed: “Providing agencies with complete discretion to strip federal workers of whistleblower and other civil service protections would undermine Congressional intent and would be patently unjust,” Cummings said.

It’s unclear how many workers are potentially affected by the dispute, but some lawyers involved believe the number is in the hundreds of thousands....Critics say that if typical accounting and stockroom jobs are deemed “sensitive” because of their potential impact on national security, almost any job at any agency could be designated as such and any supervisor or agency could elude normal civil service protections by ginning up a concern about a worker’s background.

“The Obama Administration is seeking a blank check to expand this throughout the executive branch,” Devine said. If the administration’s approach prevails, he said, “any job that matters in the civil service will be outside the rule of law.”
....

April 14, 2013

We are like mere dogs trying to understand the internet.

April 11, 2013

War is Peace.

Freedom is Slavery.
Ignorance is Strength.
Drone murders are Ethical, Legal, and Wise.
Chained CPI is Superlative
and
Assault is Protection.

Corporate Propaganda will repeat the Mantras with Great Seriousness, despite having been corrected and corrected and corrected and corrected and corrected.

Why? Because that is the nature of Propaganda.

The chocolate ration will, always and forever, only have been increased.


Myths About Chained CPI, Debunked
http://www.thenation.com/blog/173786/top-5-myths-about-chained-cpi-debunked

April 11, 2013

Fuck "PROTECTIONS" from the President's policies.

How about a Democratic President who doesn't propose legislation that people need to be "PROTECTED" from?

How about a Democratic President who refrains from assaulting us in the first place?
.
.
.
In fact, here's a thought:

Maybe we deserve a Democratic President who actually works ON BEHALF of the people who elected him.

March 31, 2013

Yes you are, and don't fall for the incessant commercials.

Their purpose is to get you to doubt that you are in the majority. Don't buy it for a moment.

Part of what the one percent have created as they have purchased into our government is a devastating propaganda machine to create exactly the type of helplessness you express here. They have purchased both parties, and they have purchased our media, and don't think for a moment that "media" is limited to the cable television channels and newspapers. Corporate-political propaganda is as ubiquitous now on the internet as surveillance is now in our daily lives, and discussion boards like this are a major focus of the corporate political elite. Money talks, and these people have very deep pockets. You will have a very difficult time these days finding any major discussion board on the internet that is not heavily patrolled and propagandized by those who have an interest in shaping public opinion and responses. DU is no exception.

If you watch the board closely over time, you will see the patterns and the tactics coming from the very same group, over and over and over again. Their goal, quite simply, is to create the illusion that their views are mainstream and to intimidate people from expressing opinions critical of the corporate status quo in our party. But watch the actual recs, and you will see that you are very much in the majority when it comes to opinions about policy. The purveyors of Third Way corporatism will use every tactic to talk about anything but the policies; they will personalize the discussion, they will try to make it all about Obama and loyalty to the party, and they will try to swarm and intimidate and mock you. Their goal is to create the impression that everyone thinks as they do, and that you are in the minority.

But you aren't. Recs here on the actual policies coming out of this administration show clearly and devastatingly that you aren't. Polls of Americans across the country show clearly and devastatingly that you aren't.

You are part of a vast majority of Americans who recognize that something is seriously, seriously wrong with our "representative" system and the institutions, like our media, that have historically played the role of watchdog for corruption. We do not have a government that is using its resources to serve the people. We have a government serving the interests of a monied elite. They have an agenda for profit, and their goal is no longer to represent us, but to use every resource they have, and can buy, to keep us as passive and submissive as possible while they implement that agenda.

The propaganda has reached the point of being blatantly Orwellian. That is why you feel crazy and out of step. We are continually told that things are getting better, while we observe every single day a new, serious betrayal by those who claim to represent us. You are not crazy. Things are not getting better. They are getting worse. The chocolate ration has not been increased.

Trust yourself. Keep speaking out. Watch the board closely and see how the game works. Don't let the propaganda win.