Bill Moyers: "President Obama has conceded ground to Wall Street while expousing populist rhetoric"

[Better Believe It]

How Wall Street Occupied America
This article is adapted from a speech Bill Moyers gave in October at Public Citizen’s fortieth-anniversary gala.
by Bill Moyers
November 4, 2011

During the prairie revolt that swept the Great Plains in 1890, populist orator Mary Elizabeth Lease exclaimed, “Wall Street owns the country…. Money rules…. Our laws are the output of a system which clothes rascals in robes and honesty in rags. The parties lie to us and the political speakers mislead us."

She should see us now. John Boehner calls on the bankers, holds out his cup and offers them total obeisance from the House majority if only they fill it. Barack Obama criticizes bankers as “fat cats,” then invites them to dine at a pricey New York restaurant where the tasting menu runs to $195 a person.

That’s now the norm, and they get away with it. The president has raised more money from employees of banks, hedge funds and private equity managers than any Republican candidate, including Mitt Romney. Inch by inch he has conceded ground to them while espousing populist rhetoric that his very actions betray.

Let’s name this for what it is: hypocrisy made worse, the further perversion of democracy. Our politicians are little more than money launderers in the trafficking of power and policy—fewer than six degrees of separation from the spirit and tactics of Tony Soprano.



Please read the full article at:

http://www.thenation.com/article/164349/how-wall-street-occupied-america

See Bill Moyers keynote address at Public Citizen's 40th Anniversary Gala at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOIQ5-W1Epw&feature=player_embedded

[aquamarina]

1. Yep. Just telling it like it is.

[Autumn]

2. Yes he has.

K&R

[ixion]

3. Yep, that's exactly what he has done

k/r

[Divernan]

4. Even Tony Soprano had enough smarts not to destroy his customer base.

[Better Believe It]

5. Wall Street and corporate America is President Obama's base.

[Divernan]

25. Agreed. I was referring to the customer base which "Big" interests are destroying

Corporations, their boards & their top level executives' greed for immediate bottom line profit each quarter has turned them into cannibals.

[uponit7771]

6. I get sick of bashers leaving out congress as if it doesn't exist. If we had a 83% congress like FDR

...had then this wouldn't be an issue, we don't.

People who HATE Obama would say he would fight against said 83% congress without any proof of such notion.

Get a left leaning congress and most bashers would get shut down, not totally...they'll make some shit up but it'll be 10 times harder

[Better Believe It]

8. Under the bus with Bill Moyers! Just another Obama bashing "professional leftist" speaking out.

Move along folks .... nothing to see here .... just another Obama hater who pretends to be progressive .... move along now.

His comments don't even deserve a rebuttal and besides it's hard to refute facts.

[bvar22]

33. Et Tu, Bill Moyers ?

Then,
Under the BUS with that Right Wing Firebagger Troll!


I used to really like Moyers when he was criticizing Bush,
but NOW Moyers is Hanging out with Grover Norquist
and helping the Republicans!

Bill Moyers is now on IGNORE!
Unrec!!!!


Solidarity99!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[proverbialwisdom]

107. Delete.

[leeroysphitz]

70. Moyers didn't get his pony and could he be any more racist?

[girl gone mad]

22. If only Congress hadn't forced him to appoint Geithner and Summers.

Poor Obama.

[Cali_Democrat]

48. Or forced him to pick Bill Daley (former JP Morgan Chase bankster) to be his chief of staff

[mmonk]

61. LOL. Yep, can't blame Congress for that one.

That was a dead give away to me we were in deep trouble (progressives).

[Doctor_J]

73. The HEAVILY DEM Congress at the time

The apologists must have some sort of list of talking points, just like the wing nuts

[Duct Tape]

41. Let's not forget the fact that FDR had to deal

with a Supreme Court that was ruling against many of his programs.

[sabrina 1]

49. Obama had a majority in both houses when he was elected

and a huge mandate from the American people to begin to reverse the horrors of the Bush years. From day one, we saw him backtracking, making excuses, not only not fighting, but conceding to Republican ideas, talking about 'bi-partisanship, moving forward from war crimes, compromising, with the very people the American public threw OUT of office.

It was a shock at first to those of us who supported him for so long. But over time, it became clear that he was on board with the Third Way, or Republican Lite.

Now the people have begun to realize that individual politicians don't matter much as no matter who wins an election, the SYSTEM doesn't change.

To get to a high office in the current system, a candidate HAS to be willing to 'go along'. When those who control our government begin putting their money behind someone, that is when WE should begin to question that individual.

The first thing that will have to happen is to take the money out of politics before any of the other horrors we attributed to Bush, can even begin to be addressed.

Wall street will not put money behind a genuine candidate who intends to put the people's interests first. That is how we can tell who will be working for us, and who will be working for them. The people have become aware of this now. Which is why they are on the streets realizing that without drastic action from the American people, things are only going to get worse. Signing petitions, writing letters, making calls, all are worthless exercises that only serve the purpose of making us think we are doing somethign. How many times eg, has any elected official responded to any of these petitions, letters, calls, emails? Other than electronic computer generated 'we really care what you think' nonsense, not a thing has been accomplished.

To get to the WH, Obama had to have assured those who fund our government, that they could depend on him not to rock the boat.

[pmorlan1]

60. Excellent post Sabrina1

Thank you so much for the excellent post. It is so obvious how the system works that it blows my mind how many people still cling to the belief that Obama is working for us. In addition to harboring this delusion they then lash out at anyone who tries to explain to them what they're missing.

[sabrina 1]

138. In some ways I understand them, because not so long ago

I did not want to listen to people telling me what I know now. I wanted to believe that things were not this bad, that the system was so broken it did not matter what we did, nothing would change. That was just too depressing. But for me, and many others now, I can't go on being willfully blind, the whole game they are playing is just too transparent. The good thing is, that millions of people now see it for what it is also, which is why we have the OWS movment, and I hope it grows so strong that power will return to the people and we can begin to reverse the damage at last. :-)

[truth2power]

90. You are on-point with every paragraph of your post, Sabrina...

To add to what you said: I think it was Michael Parenti who stated in one of his videos that it doesn't matter who is (s)elected...nothing changes. Also, Michael Ruppert - if anybody remembers him - remarked that no matter who is elected, it's just same ol', same ol' only with more pleasant background music. And I'll admit that Obama is easier on the ears than GW, whose malappropisms were uniquely significant indicators of his psychopathy (see: Dr. Michael Hare for more on this).

As to petitions - I don't sign them anymore, because, as you noted, it doesn't make any difference. They (the politicians) don't care. I get a kick out of how often Obama says, "The American people want...." But when the American people present him with 10,000+ signatures on a petition - not a peep about what they think. That should be a clue as to whose interests are being served.

For years I've been saying that three things need to happen to bring about reform: Get the money out of the system, repeal corporate personhood, and allow for instant runoff voting. This last would allow for third parties to be considered, which is the exact reason why TPTB will never let it happen.

You are one of the sane voices on this board. Don't give up.

[sabrina 1]

137. Thank you, excellent post, I just wish it had not taken us so long

to wake up. But yes, even a great politician with the best of intentions, cannot work under the current system. That is where the energy of the people needs to go, imo.

[truth2power]

140. Regarding the current system, Gote Vidal, known for his acerbic wit, once said

"Anyone who can get elected under the current system ought not be allowed to serve." :P

[Hotler]

102. I wish I could rec this post. Well said. eom.

[Peregrine Took]

112. I can never forgive him for misrepresenting himself as a progressive.

What a duplicitous fellow he is.

As I recall he used to tout up the fact that he was a DLC'r on his website when he was in the Illinois Legislature but as soon as he got the idea to run for the presidency he knew he would have to run to the left to get the people revved up so the DLC membership was removed.

[bvar22]

128. I believed him at the time he claimed to reject the DLC.

Then he did THIS:

The DLC New Team

(Screen Capped from the DLC Website)
http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=254886&kaid=86&subid=85

That is when I realized "Hope & Change" was ALL just a phony Marketing Scam.
His handlers realized that Brand DLC had been exposed and tainted by those who were paying attention.




You will know them by their WORKS.
Solidarity99!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Jakes Progress]

117. His biggest sin is wasting the best chance for a progressive advance.

The judgement on his term in office will be "He blew it".

[bvar22]

124. I agree. The Epitaph for the Obama Administration will be...

"Oh, What could have been."
Obama will share a page in history with Neville Chamberlain.

Opportunities like 2008 come only once a generation,
and this one WAS wasted.
Whether it was wasted through incompetence,
or deliberately wasted is still undetermined in my book,
but the results are the same.

Obama's Army, Jan. 21, 2009

"Oh, What could have been."


We will be forced to live for a long time with:

*Mandates with NO Public Option,

*For Profit Health Insurance Corporations as the Gate-Keepers to Health Care in America,

*a whole slate of phony Regulations in Name Only for the Corporate Elite,

*an entrenched and enhanced Unitary Executive with frightening Extra-Constitutional Powers,

*an expanded and even MORE powerful "Patriot Act",

*A Faith Based Economic System of mythological "Giant Invisible Hands", "Free Markets",
"Free Trade", and Tax Cuts for the "Job Creators",

*Austerity, Poverty, No Benefits, No Safety Net, and Slave Wages for the Working Class,

*The Un-Doing and Reversal of The New Deal & The Great Society ,

*A Continuous State of Perpetual WAR.


There will be NO Fixing it Later.
ALL of the above has NOW been endorsed by the Leadership of BOTH Political Parties as The New Normal for America.



He Coulda been a Contender!


They will be remembered by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.

Solidarity99!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[woo me with science]

123. Excellent post,

but he has done a hell of a lot more than not rock the boat.

After thirty years of warmongering, tax breaks for the wealthy, and general theft from the 99 percent, who here would imagined he would offer up cuts to our social safety nets during the worst economy since the Great Depression?

Who would have expected that the ACLU would be issuing a report documenting destruction of our civil liberties at a pace equal to or even faster than the Bush administration?

He was a Third Way con, and, as DUer Kaleko has perfectly stated, it appears that we need even more "eye openers to rattle the last remaining Democrats still high on hopium out of their trance."

[DeSwiss]

126. Excellent critique.

- As always.......

[Jakes Progress]

136. Please save the text of this post. Use it

every time the lame argument about how poor Obama didn't have FDR's majority comes up. Every time the "group" conveniently forgets history.

Fact is we got scammed.

[cui bono]

52. I get sick of people saying anyone who criticizes Obama HATES him.

Leaving out the fact, yes fact, that he has plenty to criticize. And several of those people like to throw around the saying "It was 'Yes WE can', not 'Yes HE can'" but when we state what he is doing wrong and how things should change we are HATERS instead of doing our part. WE are out in the streets and what has Obama done in response besides "understand our frustrations"? When is he going to do his part?

[Peregrine Took]

115. Its a planned strategy that is so obvious. "Defend Obama" phrase of the week.

[Pooka Fey]

62. DU Dictionary: "Obama Basher" - 1. a person with critical thinking skills

2. A person who expresses opposition to right wing presidential policy from the candidate who ran on a left wing platform

[Donnachaidh]

89. +1000 exactly! n/t

[Puglover]

68. Yup

Bill Moyers is a HATER! And a BASHER! And he LIES. :eyes:

[GOTV]

69. How did the congress force the Obama Admin to try to undercut state AGs and protect the banks?

http://www.salon.com/2011/08/22/banks_10/

[Doctor_J]

72. Did you read the 2nd line of the posted excerpt?

You apologists are really scraping these days

[chervilant]

79. If, if, if...

How helpful is it to assert that 'if' certain conditions were similar to the conditions during FDR's administration, "then this wouldn't be an issue..."?

Our species--viewed from the macro-level as an organic, evolving entity--is not what it was when FDR was president, and Mr. Obama is not FDR.

In the face of our species' imminent, catastrophic economic collapse, Mr. Obama is a simulacrum, a mere mortal who must struggle to appease a vast array of opposing factions, not the least of whom are the corporate megalomaniacs--whose money and power hold a great deal more sway with Obama, and our politicians du jour, than the eager and often futile machinations of the hoi polloi.

POTUS... NOT a job I would want to take on...

I'm beginning to suspect that whoever was elected on the fateful day Mr. Obama became our 44th President would have become a lightning rod for controversy and criticism. We have a defining set of expectations about our 'world leader,' grounded in decades of past presidencies, and the very inception of this nation. Spice that up with the epic fail that was the Bush administration, and most of us have waited with bated breath to see how the new guy would measure up. Some of us are still waiting...

That being said, we tend to forget that we're living in exponential times, and that our technology allows us to witness, discuss, dissect and judge every event as it is happening. We the People sometimes cannot see our forest for the trees...

Finally, we humans ARE facing a catastrophic shift in our global economy, with all of the attendant repercussions we MUST anticipate in every aspect of our lives. We know it's here, despite the fact that so many of us are still in denial. Many of us who've long recognized this inevitability fervently hoped for a leader who would think outside the box, and innovate. Can anyone honestly assert that Mr. Obama has been--or is being--innovative?

As I contemplate Obama's performance thus far, I must assert to those who dismiss our criticisms and concerns as 'hatred' and 'racism,' that you should be reminded of Teddy Roosevelt's rather erudite observation (May 17, 1918):

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."

(emphasis mine)

[SidDithers]

7. Unrec...

keep trying.

Sid

[G_j]

9. under the bus

Bill... :eyes:

[tpsbmam]

11. Countered with my rec. Moyers is absolutely right, and Obama's appointments & policies

are the proof.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

12. Sorry. Moyers is unimpeachable. Youre not. n/t

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BigBearJohn]

45. I couldn't agree more. Wish I said that!

[WilliamPitt]

13. Who the what the where the when the why the what???

[SidDithers]

15. Toronto Police shoot protester POINT BLANK!!...

Derp.

Sid

[Admiral Loinpresser]

18. Is there a rationale for unreccing?

My rationale for reccing is that Obama has not attempted to prosecute anyone on Wall Street and has not done anything significant to break up the capital monopolies or regulate the ongoing shenanigans on Wall Street. I am truly interested as to the rational basis for your unreccing position.

[Enthusiast]

57. President Obama's primary function since taking office

has been protecting Wall Street bandits and the Bush Administration from investigations and prosecution. He has been the white knight for the status quo.

[Name removed]

87. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[xiamiam]

104. exactly..and Bill Moyers is a national treasure..has been intelligently

and lovingly providing us with the truth for decades..and I mean decades. If we had actually paid attention to his reporting on the mic amd its black ops after the iran contra scandal, we wouldn't be in the current situation with the mic run amok. I love and absolutely respect Bill Moyers. Those 'same folks' you are talking about, well..they love celebrity more than the truth.

[radiclib]

133. Hey, it's Sid

Expect crickets.

[chervilant]

141. And,

dithering...

[Jakes Progress]

27. Just what do you believe in?

And can you offer any reason for anything you say?

[NorthCarolina]

37. Unrec?? Really???? LOL Truth hurts doesn't it? Big K&R for Truth. nt

[Number23]

43. Trying to get the flies off of you.

Might take a minute before they're gone...

[WorseBeforeBetter]

46. With shit like a predictable SD unrec, not likely. (n/t)

[Number23]

47. Is that supposed to be English or something new you're trying there?

[fascisthunter]

86. no... it was a smack down of you... and it was deserved.

[Number23]

129. LOL Obviously you couldn't understand it either

Hint: the SD was in reference to SidDithers, not Number23 (which would be me). Great reading skills you got there...

[fascisthunter]

135. nope... haha

nailed

[Enrique]

65. automatic unrec for Bill Moyers?

:rofl:

[bvar22]

84. Bill Moyers has been working for Nader and Norquist ALL ALONG!!!

I KNOW this because that HYPOCRITE Bill Moyers does business with a BANK and is from TEXAS!
He is a Firebagger & a Racist!

That is the only sensible, pragmatic explanation for those of us
who live in The Reality Based World.

We are the only ones who understand how Congress works,
and it takes a long time to turn a big ship around!!!

[Puglover]

91. Pretty much tells you all you need to know doesn't it? nt

[RetroLounge]

92. Rec

keep trying

:rofl:

RL

[whatchamacallit]

132. What will you do when DU drops unrec?

Your only mode of communication will be gone. I'm a little concerned for you...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. But..but..Obama is just a delicate flower and the presidency has no power.

Except that granted by the constitution which enables him to veto the bills the congress sends to him rather than agreeing to the "compromises" made by the Blue Dogs and Republicans.

[JoeyT]

23. Unless something good happens.

Then he deserves all the credit, even if he fought it every step of the way or caused the problem in the first place.

[Pooka Fey]

59. +1

[Donnachaidh]

88. THEN it's *historic!!!!!!!!!* n/t

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Autumn]

36. Every single time

:rofl:

[Carolina]

17. K&R

[TriMera]

19. K&R. n/t

[Blue Owl]

20. As much as I like President Obama, he's too corporate

America is about PEOPLE not corporations, and corporations are made up of individual people, corporations are not a single person.

[Jakes Progress]

116. He's a likable guy.

I like to think he is easily led by his corporate-loving advisors. If he is not a gullible novice, then he is way too much of a reagan democrat - corporate friendly and union dismissing.

[deaniac21]

21. Yes, he can.

[Uncle Joe]

24. This should be required reading for anyone interested in the historical origins of our

current Guilded Age.

It’s heartbreaking to see what has become of that bargain. Nowadays it’s every man for himself. How did this happen? The rise of the money power in our time goes back forty years. We can pinpoint the date. On August 23, 1971, a corporate lawyer named Lewis Powell—a board member of the death-dealing tobacco giant Philip Morris and a future justice of the Supreme Court—released a confidential memorandum for his friends at the US Chamber of Commerce. We look back on it now as a call to arms for class war waged from the top down.

Kudos to the honorable Bill Moyers.

Thanks for the thread, Better Believe It.:thumbsup:

[newspeak]

121. I greatly respect and admire Bill Moyers

Why we need to pay attention to history. Yes, the corrupt, greedy, selfish gilded age is back and stronger than ever. "Same as it ever was." Thought the problem was controlled under the regulations of FDR, but step by step the beast was allowed out of the cage. It not only hurts the country, it hurts the american people. And those who damage us economically are not americans, they could care less about us or the country as long as they have the power and the profit.

[workinclasszero]

26. Didn't President Obama and the democrats control both houses

in his first two years? If so the talking point about him not being able to do anything because the dems don't control congress is weak.

I figured we were screwed when the President packed his white house and cabinet with wall street insiders and then they proceeded to insult and belittle progressives.

If the President's actions would have matched his election rhetoric, the Occupy movement probably would not have happened.

Not stopping the wars and letting the Bush tax cuts for the rich live on really killed all hope for me in President Obama.

I will still vote dem over any teathuglican but I no longer think the democratic party will save us. Its up to Occupy now.

[RetroLounge]

93. YEs, how do you think we got single payer

universal health care?

Oh, wait...

Never mind.

RL

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProSense]

29. I don't expect Obama to win the MSM

"The president has raised more money from employees of banks, hedge funds and private equity managers than any Republican candidate, including Mitt Romney."

... messaging war when even people on the left are pushing bullshit lies.

[Number23]

44. Thanks. This thread (and seemingly others from this OP) seem to bring out the worst in people

here.

I like Moyers but your post in spot on. Thanks

[Name removed]

109. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProSense]

113. Exactly.

"I like Moyers but..."

"But" is exactly right. For some strange reason people seem to think pulling Obama to the left means portraying him as worse than the Republicans, and will distort the facts to do it.

It's beyond absurd.

[Number23]

131. All you have to do is look at who is hooping and hollering in this thread

and will distort the facts to do it.

They're all here. Loving every minute of it. A simple post of "unrec" upthread gets damn near a dozen replies each one stupider and nastier than the next. (And it's obvious that lots of people unrec'd this thread.) But we're all supposed to believe that all of this glee over an inaccurate comment from the very likeable Bill Moyers is because they're just "holding Obama's feet to the fire."

I don't think anyone here even pretends to believe that anymore.

[Puglover]

71. Aw bless your heart!

Here is Prosense to set us straight from Bill Moyers LIES! Let's see here, who has more credibility in Puglovers book, Bill Moyers or an anonymous poster with a big bunch of blue links on DU?

I'll have to get back to you. :dilemma:

[chervilant]

80. Thanks

for identifying the author(ess) of that post. Since s/he is on my ignore list, I cannot see that post, but I can imagine the content!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

74. What if you add the 2008 donations?

:think:

[Name removed]

94. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SharksBreath]

108. This chart doesn't show his 2008 contributions.

llinois Sen. Obama, who captured the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday after a lengthy primary battle against New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, has received $7.9 million (4.1 million pounds) n contributions from the securities and investment industries, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2008/06/05/analysis-shares-obama-idUKNOA53525520080605

[ProSense]

30. Romney’s Estate Tax Cut Would Save The Koch Brothers Up To $8.7 Billion Each

Romney’s Estate Tax Cut Would Save The Koch Brothers Up To $8.7 Billion Each

Cain: ‘I Am The Koch Brothers’ Brother From Another Mother’

Still, let's pretend that President Obama, who is pushing for a millionaire's tax and doing what he can to help Americans despite Congress, is the bigger problem.

[U4ikLefty]

53. So you admit that Obama is the problem?

[ProSense]

111. Yes,

he's obviously a bigger problem than the Republicans. So let's ensure that people see him for what he is: worse than Romney, Perry or Cain.

[bvar22]

127. "OBAMA 2012"

OBAMA 2012
...because he's NOT as big a problem as the Republicans!!!

Now GET OUT THERE
and GET TO WORK!
Yes. We. CAN!!!


Solidarity99!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ProSense]

130. "REPUBLICANS 2012"

.................................................................."REPUBLICANS 2012"
.........................................because there's no difference between Bush and Gore!!!

Now GET OUT THERE
and PUSH THAT HYPERBOLE!
Lesser. Two. Evils!!!

[bvar22]

134. See post #116 ^^^

It is ^ right up there^.
See it?

Does it ring a bell?
Post #135 is a simple, consistent restatement of post #116.

Solidarity99!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[dreamnightwind]

31. K & R

Love Public Citizen and love Moyers even more. National treasure.

[nashville_brook]

32. Well, he wouldn't want to disappoint his buddy Jamie Dimon

[gulliver]

35. Wonder how much McCain would have conceded.

Moyers is to boredom what Matt Taibbi is to talentless-ness.

[RetroLounge]

95. Under the bus, Bill!

:rofl:

RL

[gulliver]

99. That's going too far

He just doesn't seem to have much to say lately. He probably had to throw the one Obama bashing line into his stuff to wake up the yahoos.

[RetroLounge]

100. Ah, so critical thinking is bashing now?

:rofl:

RL

[gulliver]

101. Nope

But what critical thinking were you referring to?

You should make the little rofl guy your avatar.

[Puglover]

103. Like I said up thread.

Critical thinking huh? Hmmmm Bill Moyers or an anonymous poster on the internet. It's tough I know. :dilemma:

[gulliver]

105. An appeal to authority then.

Critical thinking?

[newspeak]

122. It's The Nation magazine

it's from Bill Moyers, who gives a fek who posted it? We are not to see something written by Bill Moyers? I've been reading and watching Bill Moyers for a long time and I have the greatest respect for the man and what he has to say.

Taibbi, Moore, and now Moyers, are all suspect because obama really didn't appoint summers, geithner, duncan-the repugs made him do it. And Obama really doesn't listen to goldman sucks, only little boots considered them his base. And the Nation is another one of those rags.

[RetroLounge]

114. If you can't read the article, I can't help you...

Maybe Arne Duncan can fix a school for you.

RL

Oh, and upon edit: :rofl:

[gulliver]

125. That rofl emoticon is so annoying!

Anyway, I was much more interested in Moyers when he was interviewing Joseph Campbell and criticizing the Bush administration. Right now, I think he is caught up in an emotional miasma that is counterproductive. It is just incredibly boring to me at this point.

That line about the fat cats and the $195 dollar tasting menu or whatever? That was a cheap shot by Moyers—ind of a gut-wrenching rhetorical disappointment. Do you endorse it? I mean, reread it. The tasting menu runs to $195? I imagine the restaurant has a bottle of wine that runs more than $200. Why not make an issue of that? What is Moyers appealing to? Did he succeed with you? Not with me.

[U4ikLefty]

139. So you liked Moyers when he was against the other "team"?

good German

[Douglas Carpenter]

38. knr

[nilram]

39. Hmph. I don't think Moyers will be getting a holiday card from the Obamas this year.

[chervilant]

81. Bwahahahaha!! n/t

[DirkGently]

40. Truth.

[midnight]

42. K&R

[woo me with science]

50. Strong K&R

Obama's populist mask fell off a long time ago.

[DeSwiss]

51. Like the smell of fresh baked bread......

...I can never get enough of hearing the TRUTH. Once again, thank you Mr. Moyers.

- K&R

"You let one ant stand up to us, then they all might stand up! Those puny little ants outnumber us a hundred to one and if they ever figure that out there goes our way of life! It's not about food, it's about keeping those ants in line." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QexXe9NWO8Q">~Hopper, "A Bug's Life"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hklqkwyISuk">''All tyranny needs to gain a foothold, is for people of good conscience to remain silent.'' ~ Thomas Jefferson.

[xchrom]

54. Recommend

[democrank]

55. More Bill Moyers truth

Hypocrisy is hypocrisy is hypocrisy

[Enthusiast]

56. Kicked and recommended!

They have us by the ass. There is no one to vote for but Obama. The other side is like a freak show and worse. Worse is they are completely wrong on every single issue.

[Pooka Fey]

58. K&R

[tomp]

63. this is obvious, but thanks, bill, for saying it out loud. nt

[pmorlan1]

64. Huge K & R

A huge K & R for the truth! I wish people would stop looking at Obama through rose colored glasses and see him and his policies for what they are not for what they wish they were. Enough with the excuses. Join us in holding him and his administration accountable. Help him become a better president instead of allowing him to continue to sell us out.

[thesquanderer]

66. It's not about Obama. It's about the Lewis Powell memo.

And it's about what has really happened since 1971.

If you haven't read the article at the link, and you don't know who Lewis Powell is, READ it.

The possibly polarizing Obama quote used here as the subject is the LEAST important part of the article. I hope it doesn't prevent people from clicking through to the article.

HIGHLY recommended.

[sendero]

76. Just because someone wrote a memo.....

..... that's no excuse for Obama to be the implementer in chief.

In only took a few months of Obama's tenure to see what a disaster of a president he would be. His sudden "conversion" to populism is LAUGHABLE.

There is no reason for him to be in office, his policies are basically Republican but he has accomplished the neat trick of transfering the blame for this debacle to Democrats, as well as letting it be a Democrat that HUGS the third rail.

Obama is gutting the Democratic brand. If you cannot see what he is doing you are BLIND.

[thesquanderer]

82. Not agreeing or disagreeing here

My point was simply that the article is important, regardless of which position you take on Obama's place in this, which is endlessly debated in other threads, and which I wish were not a distraction in this one.

[INdemo]

67. These are the reasons Democrats are saying there is no difference

between Obama and Romney. And reason enough for Democrats to stay home..As for me I will hold my nose and vote for Obama but I think we will have a....(never mind)...And to think Obama had it all..He could have been the first Democrat since FDR to have claimed credit for the the new era of the New Deal and we could be looking forward to a sweeping reelection landslide...but he gave it all away to Wall St.

[goforit]

75. Stand tall Moyers!

[Owl]

77. K&R

[MissDeeds]

78. Thanks to Bill Moyers for speaking the truth

I will never understand how any Democrat could support and endorse this. DU would be in meltdown mode if this was a Republican candidate.
Totally unacceptable.

:grr:

[Hotler]

83. What? No Nader haters.

Journalist Bill Moyers was the keynote speaker at the 40th anniversary celebration of Ralph Nader's Public Citizen.
I am honored to share this occasion with you. No one beyond your collegial inner circle appreciates more than I do what you have stood for over these 40 years, or is more aware of the battles you have fought, the victories you have won, and the passion for democracy that still courses through your veins. The great progressive of a century ago, Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin - a Republican, by the way - believed that "Democracy is a life; and involves constant struggle." Democracy has been your life for four decades now, and would have been even more imperiled today if you had not stayed the course.

Bill Moyers speaks the truth and many can't handle the truth. Wall St. crooks, war criminals still walk free. Tax cuts for the rich are still alive and well and president Obama can do no wrong.

Flame away.

[janet118]

85. The core problem is allowing our politicians to accept big $$$$

from corporations and the wealthy and, thus, creating a situation where massive campaign spending wins most of the time. If Obama, or any candidate, opted out of accepting donations from corporations and the rich, it would be a unilateral withdrawal. It's war out there on the campaign trail and the higher the office, the more money is involved to be competitive. It is a recipe for corruption. It turns our elected officials into whores who spend more time shilling for money than legislating and pass more legislation favorable to their donors than the rest of us.

Moyers is right as far as it goes. Yet as long as the law is on the side of rich contributors and insane spending, it will continue. The right wing would like nothing better than to have Democrats and progressives run against them without enough money for media ads, events, mailings, etc. It's not right, but it's legal. Moyers has also spoken eloquently about the built in bias of our campaign finance laws.

GOP Presidential candidate Buddy Roemer refuses to accept money from big donors. In fact, he has no donors contributing enough to make it onto Open Secrets. He has tried to get access to "free media" by appearing on television shows, but few invite him. The result? He is not even allowed to be in GOP debates, supposedly because of low polling. It's the system, stupid.

[Name removed]

96. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

97. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[emilyg]

98. Truth.

[bertman]

106. HUGE REC!!! nt

[proverbialwisdom]

110. Thank you for posting. I've missed hearing from Bill Moyers. Glad he'll be back on PBS in January.

[Better Believe It]

118. Do you have more information on his return?

[Blue_In_AK]

119. If there were a Department of National Truth-Telling,

Bill Moyers would be the secretary.

[Poll_Blind]

120. Heh heh, hell yeah. And I've been grateful for him all these years and I'm...

...grateful we've still got him with us, now.

:thumbsup:

PB