Corporate Control of both parties???

[tedzbear]

Very interesting new book out, folks:

When Corruption is a One-Way Street
David Sirota: Despite the Hostile Takeover of the Party, He's Still Shackled to the Democrats

By CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER

Al Gore, Thomas Frank, George Lakoff, Arianna Huffington, William Greider, and Jim Hightower all have nice things to say about David Sirota's new book: Hostile Takeover: How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government--and How We Take It Back (Crown, 2006).

With corruption stories in the mainstream press almost daily, this book should be a best seller.

Sirota documents the hostile takeover by big business of the country on every major issue that matters to every American.


http://www.counterpunch.org/

[Greyhound]

1. Maybe folks are getting around to realizing what's going on.

[kansasblue]

2. See Ralph Nader.

he's been preaching that for years. But that same corporate media has made him look like a freak.

[FloridaPat]

3. Corporations have always controlled the country. Somehow

FDR got in and actually helped the little guy. Then after WWII, things got so good that the middle class actually got ahead. We had an economy where everyone could get a piece of the pie. The less pie thought, the more congress people vote for the corporations. If the general public cared enough to keep up with what's going on and vote, things would change. But then we'd also need a MSM that reported truth,which is also nothing now but big corporations.

This was never a country of the people, by the people, or for the people. Originally only landed gentry could vote. By 1900, 90% of the citizens were self-employed - or corporations. When the Great Depression hit 60% of the citizens were poor and little help from congress. It took big riots to get unions going.

[Douglas Carpenter]

4. well it's true and it is hardly anything new

I guess there were brief periods of time when popular demand forced the hand of one or both parties. But that seems to be completely off the radar screen right now and anyone who suggest real rather than phony economic populism is going to run into hell from the media and a good deal of the party leadership.



http://www.dontattackiran.org

[OneBlueSky]

5. why the question mark? . . . of course it's true . . .

and the function of the BushCo Congress has been to reverse any and all regulations governing how corporations conduct their business and pay (or, more accurately, don't pay) their taxes . . .

regulated capitalism in the US created the largest and most robust middle class in the history of the planet . . .

unregulated capitalism, however, is ugly and violent, and leads to nothing but war -- war on other nations, class war, wars against concepts (terrorism), wars against substances (drugs), wars against free expression, etc. . . it is the antithesis of what this nation used to stand for . . .

[azygous]

6. Google Democratic Leadership Council

and select one with the membership list and financial backers. You'll see at a glance that many of the same big corporations that back the DLC also back the Republican Party. This was one of the first questions that crossed my mind after Kerry failed to challenge the obvious corruption of the 2004 election. That's only the beginning. The two parties are linked in an incestuous manner beyond mere corporate money. The people running the campaigns of both parties seem to be linked in ever so many ways that it really makes you wonder if we're only watching a charade, a fictional drama staged merely to make us think we still have a functional democracy.

[BeHereNow]

7. Welcome to DU azygous- Yes it is a charade, and the technique has a name

Do a search on 'Hegel" and another search on the "delphi" technique.
The Delphi technique is standard training for corporate execs and
educational administrators. It is rampantly used in every corner
of American life by the powers that be against, we, the people
who are rarely educated or well read enough to recognize the
technique when it is being used on us.
That is the brilliance of the technique, which is designed to
perpetuate and maintain the illusion of "two-sides" while one
power controls them both, therefore the outcome of the debate
is decided before the resolution, although there appears to be
a process of "democratic" participation by both sides.
BHN

[madfloridian]

9. "oneness of mind"

Before I retired from teaching, this technique was being used in faculty meetings and forums. Very obvious.

"In group settings, the Delphi Technique is an unethical method of achieving consensus on controversial topics. It requires well-trained professionals, known as "facilitators" or "change agents," who deliberately escalate tension among group members, pitting one faction against another to make a preordained viewpoint appear "sensible," while making opposing views appear ridiculous."

http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/1998/nov98/focus.html


How to Diffuse the Delphi Technique

Three steps can diffuse the Delphi Technique as facilitators attempt to steer a meeting in a specific direction.


"Always be charming, courteous, and pleasant. Smile. Moderate your voice so as not to come across as belligerent or aggressive.

Stay focused. If possible, jot down your thoughts or questions. When facilitators are asked questions they don't want to answer, they often digress from the issue that was raised and try instead to put the questioner on the defensive. Do not fall for this tactic. Courteously bring the facilitator back to your original question. If he rephrases it so that it becomes an accusatory statement (a popular tactic), simply say, "That is not what I asked. What I asked was . . ." and repeat your question.

Be persistent. If putting you on the defensive doesn't work, facilitators often resort to long monologues that drag on for several minutes. During that time, the group usually forgets the question that was asked, which is the intent. Let the facilitator finish. Then with polite persistence state: "But you didn't answer my question. My question was . . ." and repeat your question. "

[BeHereNow]

10. YES! You know it well! "Delphi" is based in the Hegelarian Dialectic.

Anthony Sutton wrote extensively on the use of Hegelariaian dialectic
in bringing about the "New World Order."
It is happening right under our collective noses on a daily basis-
even here- on DU.
Make no mistake, there are professionals at it among us,
and I would say say 90% of the posters here fall for the bait
without ever realizing that it IS bait, in true Hegel form.
BHN
http://members.iimetro.com.au/~hubbca/public_html/hegemony.htm
""

[BeHereNow]

12. The Deliberate Down of America- Use of Hegelarian dialect by adminstrators

Madfloridian- Check out this link:
http://members.iimetro.com.au/~hubbca/public_html/education2.htm
BHN

[madfloridian]

15. By the time I retired...

"good" teachers taught from the script, so to speak. One almost needed never to even think that much.

I remembered back to my first years of teaching before all the dumbing down started. We had marvelous discussions, thoughts flowed. We used common sense, did not have to follow a rigid set of memos. I don't know how it changed so fast. Don't know if it is all over the country that way or if our fundamentalist area was just easier to manipulate.

Doesn't happen any more.

[NoFederales]

11. "That is not what I asked. What I asked was . . ." PERFECT, and

necessary; you have to be a broken record during these meetings. Many younger professionals are uneasy about appearing to be beligerent, but it is PERSISTENCE. After many long years, however, I am wearing down from the strain of opposition. Who will be there to take up the slack?

NoFederales

[BeHereNow]

13. Oh, how I HEAR you!!! CAN'T tell you how many of those meetings

I have been through.
See my link above:
The deliberate dumbing down...
It's maddening, this infiltration of Hegelarian and Delphi
technique in EVERY corner of our society, and I repeat,
EVEN HERE ON DU!!!
BHN

[NoFederales]

14. Thanks for the link, I will refer it to those who have "ears to hear and

eyes to see." The most insidious nonsense I've recently encountered has been "conceptual" science (physics, biology, chemistry). Sounds nice, yeah? Higher order thinking, you bet. Except there ain't no math, and yet we are "guaranteed" that success is at hand for those willing to take that next step into Advanced Placement, or Honors Sciences. If I do not suffer a stroke over this stupid insistence that "we" know what is best ("we" being the non-science-formerly-inept-in-the-classroom-raised-to-exalted potentatious-lumenarial-administrator). Gak!

NoFederales

[newyawker99]

16. Hi azygous!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[NoFederales]

8. Realization that BOTH major political parties need to divorce themselves

from corporate America has had a minority screaming, but whether it will ever be mainstream again doesn't seem hoepeful. Work on the grassroots upwards seems to be the best bet for progressives.

NoFederales